Faux Cracker barrel casserole

Copycat Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole via  Cincy Shopper
1 bag (about 30 oz) Frozen Hash Browns, thawed
1 stick Butter, melted
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 small Onion, chopped
8 oz Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 cup Sour Cream

Grease 9x11" baking dish. Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl mix onion, soup, pepper and all but 1c cheese. Add sour cream and mix well.Add hash browns and melted butter. Mix well. Transfer to prepared dish. Bake 45-55 min til bubbly.

Crockpot Breakfast Casserole

Crockpot Overnight Breakfast Casserole via the gracious wife
1 30 oz package frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
1/2 lb ground sausage I used Italian sausage, browned and drained
1 lb bacon cooked and chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 onion diced
1 red pepper diced
12 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon sugar

Grease 6 qt slow cooker w spray. Layer half hash browns in bottom.Top w half sausage, bacon, cheese, onions, and pepper. Repeat layers w remaining ingred. Whisk eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and sugar. Pour egg mix over hash brown and cheese layers. Cook on low for 6-8 hrs or low or 4 hrs on high

bubble up biscuits and gravy

Biscuit and Sausage Gravy Bubble Up via plain chicken
1-1/2 pounds ground pork sausage
5 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 (16oz) can refrigerated Grands! biscuits
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350F. spray 9x13 pan w pam. Cook sausage in lg skillet over med-high.remove from skillet, and drain. Melt butter in skillet over med-high heat; whisk in flour. Whisk constantly for 1 min. Grad whisk in milk, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Bring to boil, whisking constantly; cook 2 min. Remove from heat. Stir in sausage. Cut each biscuit into 6 pieces. Toss w sausage and gravy. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. (this prob needed to be baked way more than 30 min. these bubble up casseroles tend to need a full hour.)

choc zucchini muffins

another zucchini muffin recipe, this one with just zucchini.

chocolate chip zucchini muffins via passion for savings
2 Eggs
1/2 C Vegetable Oil
1/2 C Sugar
1/2 c Brown Sugar
2 tVanilla
1 1/2 C. Zucchini
1 1/2 C. Flour
1/2 C. Cocoa
1/2 t Baking Soda
1 t. Baking Powder
1/2 t. Salt
1 Bag of Mini Chocolate Chips (or big ones if you arent fancy)

preheat oven 350F. Combine Eggs, Oil, Sugars, Vanilla in a bowl and mix well. Slowly add Zucchini. Combine Dry Ingred. Slowly add dry to wet. Add  Chips. use scoop in sprayed muffin tins. bake 350 22-25 min.

Chocolate banana bread or muffins

I'm pretty sure this is one of the recipes i would use to use up bananas and zucchini.  I would make it in muffin form and adjust the baking time. checking after 15 min. and then every 5 min.  Probably bakes 25 min?

CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BANANA BREAD via if you give a blonde a kitchen
1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa
1 1/2 cups  flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c granulated white sugar
1/2c lt br sugar
2 large eggs
1 t vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini
3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas  about 2 med bananas)
1 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a 5x9 loaf pan with non-stick spray, set aside.In med bowl, mix cocoa, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. In large bowl, mix oil, vanilla and both sugars. Stir in eggs, bananas and shredded zucchini.  Fold in dry ingredients just until combined. Fold in chips. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake in preheated oven for 45 to 60 mins until a toothpick comes out clean with a few moist crumbs sticking to the toothpick.

PB Butterscotch Bread

Peanut Butter Butterscotch Bread via Today's Creative life
2 c flour
½ c sugar
1 t salt
2 t baking powder
1 c peanut butter
1 egg
1 c milk
1 c butterscotch chips

Stir flour, sugar, salt, baking powder into med  bowl. Using a fork, blend peanut butter into mixture until crumbly. In separate bowl, blend egg and milk .Add egg mix to pb mix and stir until moistened.
Fold in chips Pour into 9x5 bread pan. Bake at 350° for 45 min til toothpick comes out clean. You may need to use tin foil tent to prevent browning. Once it's finished, remove bread from pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting.

notes: this bread is highly addictive, so consider yourself warned!

Zucchini Pineapple Muffins

Zucchini Pineapple Muffins- makes 24 via Bless This Mess
2 c sugar
1/2 c applesauce
1/2 c oil
3 eggs
2 t vanilla
3 c flour
2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t  cinnamon
1 t salt
1/4 t baking powder
2 c shredded zucchini, water squeezed out
One 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, well drained

Preheat oven to 350F. In med bowl add sugar, applesauce, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Sprinkle flour across top of wet ingredients and then sprinkle baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder across top of flour. Stir everything just until combined. Add zucchini and pineapple and stir .
Pour batter into 24 muffin cups and bake until center is set and a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 20 min. (Make sure zucchini and pineapple are drained well or the muffins will be gummy.)

30 Days of Pumpkin-Day Twenty-four: Crusted Pumpkin French Toast

This recipe is a mash up!  I got the idea from The Dainty Chef  and  Tastes Better From Scratch.

The pumpkin made the French Toast a little bit on the soggy side.  I prefer a crunchy, more toast like texture to my French Toast.  A lot of people seem to like the soggier variety though.  I used homemade bread which probably aided in the soft structure of the final product.

Crusted Pumpkin French Toast 
10-14 slices whole wheat sandwich bread (the heartier the bread, the less soggy the final product)
3 eggs
1/2 c milk
3/4 c canned pumpkin
1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla
2-4 c crushed cornflakes (Amt will depend on size of bread slices


In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, pumpkin and pie spice until smooth. Place crushed flakes on plate. Quickly dip each side of the bread in pumpkin mixture, then in crushed flakes. Cook on a hot, greased griddle or skillet. Flip after 1 – 2 minutes, toast until desired crispness achieved.

30 Days of Pumpkin-Day Twenty-three: Oatmeal Pumpkin Mug Cake

Mrblocko is not the biggest fan of mug cakes.  This Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Mug Cake from French Press has totally made a convert out of him.

I'm calling this a mug cake, but it's really somewhere between a mug cake, cookie and oatmeal.  What's not to love with that sort of hybrid!

Oatmeal Pumpkin Mug Cookie Cake via French Press
1 T butter melted
2 T brown sugar
1/4 t vanilla
2 T pumpkin puree
1/4 c oats
1 T flour
pinch of salt
pinch of pumpkin pie spice
handful of chocolate chips

Combine all the ingredients in a microwave safe mug. Nuke on high 45-60 sec depending on the strength/wattage of your microwave. 

30 Days of Pumpkin-Day Twenty-one: Crockpot Pumpkin Oatmeal

This was the first time I'd ever cooked using a Bain-marie method in the crockpot.  I had seen lots of recipes for steel cut oats in the crockpot using this method but never thought to use it.  Then I discovered that my souffle dish fits nicely inside my large oval crockpot.

I thought if I could make steel cut oats in the crockpot, surely I could make a pumpkin version.  A google search yielded 4 recipes that caught my eye ( Carrie This Home, Closet Cooking, Kitchen Treaty, and Crockpot Ladies.)  So I took the bits I liked from each one and came up with this recipe.

Mrblocko and Blockette really liked this oatmeal.  I didn't particularly care for it, but I think that it's because most food makes my stomach churn in the morning.  I'm sure if I had a bowl of this for lunch I would have thought it was the bee's knees.

Pumpkin Crockpot Oatmeal
1c steel cut oats
2c water
2c milk
1c pumpkin
1/4c molasses
1/2c brown sugar
1/2 t ginger
1t cinnamon
1t apple pie spice
pinch of salt
1t vanilla

combine all ingredients in a heat proof dish that will fit inside your crockpot.  place dish inside crockpot.  Fill slow cooker with water one inch below the top of the dish that contains the food.  Cover and cook for 9 hours (or overnight) on low.

30 Days of Pumpkin-Day Thirteen: Pumpkin Dutch Baby

The recipe for today is a pumpkin dutch baby from Minimalist Baker.  I'm not sure what I did wrong but it didn't rise up the sides like my favorite dutch baby did.

This could have been because I baked it in too small of a pan?  The directions stated to use a small skillet, but I only have a jumbo oven safe skillet.  I improvised and used an 8" cake pan. 

Perhaps the batter needs to be really thin across the pan for it to rise up the sides?  Or maybe the metal in the cake pan didn't retain the heat like a skillet would.

For some reason, the original recipe of sprinkling chocolate chips on top of the pancake didn't appeal to me.  (I guess I just wasn't in a chocolate mood.)  I decided on powdered sugar and cinnamon instead.

If I make this again, not only will I cook it in a larger diameter pan, but I'll add 1T of sugar and a pinch of salt.  I thought the pancake was a little bit on the bland side, compared to other dutch babies I've had in the past.  In doing some research, I found that most recipes, for this type of pancake, contain a small amount of salt and sugar.

As a final note, this recipe states it is for two.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's a meal for one.  It contains two eggs and less flour than 2 thick slices of bread would have.  I think this is a standard amount of food for an average adult to eat at breakfast or dinner. I think you'd have to have a lot of sides or small appetites for this to satisfy two people.

Pumpkin Dutch Baby from Minimalist Baker
2 T butter
2 T pumpkin puree
1/4 c milk (i used almond milk)
1/4 c unbleached all purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry)
1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
cinnamon and powdered sugar, or semisweet chocolate chips for topping

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and melt butter in a small skillet/pan over low heat.
Add eggs, pumpkin, milk, flour and pumpkin pie spice to blender and blend well. Once oven is preheated, swirl butter around sklilet to ensure all sides are coated. Add batter to skillet and place directly in oven. Bake for 15-20 min or until golden brown. Top with chocolate chips or powdered sugar and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon and serve immediately. Serves one.

30 Days of Pumpkin-Day Eleven: Pumpkin Carrot Ginger Muffins

I've never cooked with Candied Ginger before.  This is mostly because I'm cheap.  I see the containers of candied ginger in the store and think, "They want to charge HOW much for that small amount!!!"  Then I walk away.  Sad.  And Ginger-less.  Until the grocery store decided candied ginger was a seasonal item they no longer wanted to stock.  I scored a 4 oz container for 89 cents!!

Of course, when I got home I had no idea what to make with it.  So I googled around and found a recipe for coconut, carrot, pumpkin spice bread from The Gouda Life.  I changed things up and made muffins instead!

The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of chopped candied ginger.  I thought this was going to use up the entire container, but to my surprise, it barely made a dent in it!

I didn't think these muffins had a carrot or a pumpkin taste to them at all.  The veggies are completely masked by the coconut, pecans and ginger.  I find that it's dishes like this that convince kids veggies aren't bad, they're just prepared that way.  Kind of like Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but not.

Pumpkin carrot ginger muffins adapted from The Gouda Life makes 22 muffins
3 eggs
1 c vegetable oil
1 c brown sugar
2 t vanilla
½ c pumpkin puree
1 c whole wheat flour
2 c all-purpose flour
2 T ground flax
¼ c rolled oats
2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1/2 t baking powder
2 t cinnamon
3/4 t nutmeg
½ t cardamom
2 c coarsely grated carrots (this is about 2 carrots)
¼ c diced candied ginger
½ c shredded coconut, toasted
1/4 c pecans, toasted and rough chopped

Preheat oven to 350.  In small bowl, whisk eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla and pumpkin til smooth. Set aside.
In large bowl, mix flours, flax, oats, baking soda/power, salt and spices. Add wet to dry along with carrot, coconut and pecans. Fold together just until you can’t see flour anymore. Don’t over mix . With a large cookie scoop, place one scoop of batter in a muffin cup lined with a paper muffin cup. Bake 20-35 min until toothpick comes out clean.  Extra muffins can be stored in the freezer.  To defrost peel off paper, wrap muffin in paper towel, and microwave for 15 seconds.

30 Days of Pumpkin-Day Seven: Vegan Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Muffins

Vegan Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Muffins is a mouthful, but one I don't mind saying as long as they wind up in my mouth. 

I found this recipe over at Bakeaholic Mama.  Originally, the recipe calls for baking them in 2 loaf pans.  I don't do so well with quick bread.  Ahem, let me rephrase that, my restraint doesn't do so well with quick bread.  I will eat the whole loaf in one sitting.  For some reason I feel able to stop after 2 with muffins.  Although, with this recipe, it was still a strain on my will power.  I'm pretty sure it's the cinnamon...aka the crack of spices.

Vegan Snickerdoodle Pumpkin Muffins from Bakeaholic Mama
2 c flour
1 3/4 c whole wheat flour
2 c brown sugar
2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
2 T cinnamon
15 oz fresh pumpkin puree
1 c vegetable oil
1/3 c honey (To make it vegan substitute maple syrup)
1/3 c water

TOPPING:
1/2 c flour
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 t salt
2 T cinnamon
2 T vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray or line 2 muffin tins with paper wrappers. In lg bowl mix flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl mix pumpkin, oil, honey, and water. Add wet to dry.  Using large ice cream scoop, portion batter into muffin cups. In sm bowl mix topping ingredients with a fork until slightly crumbly. Sprinkle over tops of each muffin. Bake for 45 min - 1 hr 15 min. (you can also bake in 2 loaf pans for the same time)Or until a tooth pick is inserted and comes out clean. Allow muffins to rest for 20 min before removing from pans. (you can also bake in 2 loaf pans for the same time)

30 Days of Pumpkin-Day Five: Pumpkin Spiced Butter

I've made pumpkin butter before on this blog.  Am I reblogging?  No way!  That pumpkin butter was a sort of jam made of pumpkins, much like apple butter. 

This pumpkin butter from Style Sweet Ca is butter that has been flavored with pumpkin and spices! I think it's so much more tasty than the classic pumpkin spread.

Originally I tried to roll the butter in log forms, wrapped in wax paper, much like one would do when making flavored butters.  I do NOT recommend this.  The pumpkin makes the butter much too soft.  Put your whipped flavored butter in a lidded container.  You'll be much happier and it will be a lot easier to use.

Make sure that you emphasize to the people that you serve this to that it is not Pumpkin butter made from mostly pumpkin.  Mrblocko did not listen to me and put margarine on his toast first.  Don't be like him.  Eat your toast just like this:

One more word of advice: Don't be like me and try to whip your butter when it's not room temp.  The butter won't combine very well with the other ingredients.  Sure it will be tasty, but not as pretty as it could be.

Whipped Pumpkin Spice Butter from Style Sweet Ca
1 c butter, softened (don't try to skip this step)
1/4 c pumpkin puree
2 T brown sugar
2 T honey
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/8 t clove
salt to taste

Whip butter with electric mixer on high 5 min (til lt and fluffy) with whisk attachment. Add remaining ingred. Whip again to combine.

30 Days of Pumpkin-Day Three: Rye Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin and Rye sounds like a strange combination, but they make a great team.  I found this recipe for pumpkin bread on the PBS food site.  I prefer muffins for portion control so I made the batter into muffins instead.

Sometimes bread that contains rye is a little dry or gritty.  Not this bread!  The pumpkin keeps the bread moist. I think the rye must soak up the moisture enough to puff up the flour bits to prevent the baked bread from having a gritty texture.

The muffins themselves taste surprisingly pumpkiny.  Sometimes when you make pumpkin bread you can't taste the pumpkin at all because the sugar is so overpowering.  The sweetness and pumpkin flavors are quite evenly balanced in this recipe.

We Blockos found that the taste of the muffins was so flavorful on its own, and they were so moist as well, there was no need for butter at all.

Rye Pumpkin Bread/Muffins from PBS
1 c flour
1/2 c rye flour
1 t baking powder
1 c pumpkin pureé
1/3 c veg oil
2 eggs
1 t cinnamon
1/8 t freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 t cloves
1/8 t ginger
1/8 t cardamom
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F. spray 9x5 loaf pan (or line muffin tin with papers.) Set aside.
In med bowl, whisk flours and baking powder. In another med bowl, add pumpkin, oil, eggs, spices, sugars, baking soda and salt; whisks smooth. Fold in flour mix until just combined. Over mixing will result in tough bread. Fold in walnuts. Transfer batter to pan or 12 muffin cups.  Bake the loaf for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they are puffed, golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes and serve warm.(It took 25 min for the muffins to cook as well.)

Hot Mess Circus Donuts

I got sick of grazing on Easter jelly beans so I thought I should make something out of them to be done with them in one fell swoop.  After much searching I settled on these Jelly Bean Donuts from Melanie Makes.

Oh. My. Word.

What a hot mess they turned out to be.

First, they stuck to the pan and broke apart as a result of the stickage.  Second, the ratio of jelly beans to donut was way way off.  There were more beans than cakey donut!  Third, the jelly beans got so chewy after baking it was almost like eating taffy.  Last of all, they just looked plain ugly.

See.

Hot mess.

I think they look like a circus threw up on them.

Blockette thought they were great.  Mrblocko and I not so much.

Here's what might have went wrong:

First, I made quite a few substitutions.  I had cream in the fridge that needed to be used up so I used that instead of milk.  I also used sour cream instead of yogurt.  This may have made the batter thicker than it should have been.  The thing is that the actual donut part tasted great, so I'm pretty sure these substitutions were not the problem. 

I also don't think these substitutions would have made a difference in the volume of batter.  The donuts on Melanie Makes look the same size as the ones I made, however her recipe states that it makes 12 donuts.  I only got 6.

The substitution that may have caused the biggest problem was the jelly beans.  Her recipe calls for Laffy Taffy Jelly beans.  Mine were some other brand.  Perhaps Laffy Taffy Jelly beans react differently to baking than the brand I used. (I think it was Jolly Rancher flavored Jelly Beans.)

Second, I think the jelly beans may have been better if they had been chopped up in the dough.  Maybe they would have dissolved a little bit more upon baking.

Third, there were just too many jelly beans.  If I were a brave baker, I'd use 1/2 c of jelly beans instead of the 1 c the recipe calls for. 

Let me know if you are bold enough to test out these theories.  I promised my husband that I would NEVER make these donuts again.

Carrot Cake Waffles

Fat Tuesday is known in some parts of the world as Pancake Tuesday.  I think it comes from the time when people were using up their eggs and milk before the season of fasting began.  We don't really fast but I thought it would be fun to incorporate the concept into our Fat Tuesday celebrations.

Except I Fail at pancakes.

So, I did what any creative cook would do...make Waffles.  Because Waffles are Awesome!

I went through my recipe to do list and found 5 great waffle recipes.  I let Blockette make the selection and she chose Carrot Cake Waffles.

This recipe makes nice thick waffles.  Some waffles are light and fluffy as air.  Those can be nice, but sometimes you want a nice substantial hearty waffle.  These babies are it for sure!

I really liked the maple walnut cream cheese on the waffles, but Blockette did not.  It was regular old butter and syrup for my girl.

My favorite waffles are still the gingerbread waffles, but I think these are a close second.

Yields: about 7 waffles (using 1/2 cup batter for each)

Carrot Cake Waffles from Willow Bird Baking.  Makes about 7 waffles using 1/2c batter for each
2 c flour
2 T sugar
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1 t allspice
1 3/4 c buttermilk* or 1 1/2 c sour cream/plain yogurt thinned with 1/4 c milk
2 eggs, separated
4 T (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 t vanilla
1 c walnuts, chopped
1 1/2 c grated carrots

Maple Nut Cream Cheese Spread:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3-4 T maple syrup
1/8 c chopped walnuts

Heat 4 T butter in skillet over med heat til melted, 1-2 min. Continue to cook, swirling pan constantly, til butter lt brown and has faint nutty aroma, 2-4 minutes. Add spices stirring constantly, 15 sec. Remove from heat and cool to room temp, about 30 min. (I sped this process up by slowly adding some of the milk to the melted butter.)  Combine flour, salt, sugar, baking soda. Mix buttermilk and egg yolks. Stir in spiced butter and vanilla. Spray iron well and preheat. Stir wet into dry ingred. Beat egg whites in a separate bowl with a whisk or electric mixer (make sure bowl and mixer are spotlessly clean) til hold soft peaks. Stir them gently into batter. Fold in carrots and  walnuts. Spread a 1/2c batter onto waffle iron and bake til waffle is done, 3-5 min. Spray iron w between waffles as needed. (I found I need to spray the iron after every other waffle.)

Maple Cream Cheese:  combine nuts, syrup, and cream cheese and mix well.

Croissants - The real deal

 Croissants.

We're talkin' the kind the Frenchy French eat, not the pop 'em out of the the tube kind.

I made them.

From Scratch.

I totally feel like I've "arrived" in the culinary world.

They were the most difficult thing I've ever made.  All the rolling and rolling and rolling of the dough.  It did a number on my hands and arms.  I don't recommend making them if you have carpal tunnel.  You'll be in pain for at least a week.

But man...were they good.  Eye-rolling in the back of your head good.  Every so slightly crispy on the outside, and tender on the inside.  Layers and layers of flaky buttery goodness.

I used the recipe from Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen.  I'm not going to re write all the directions, they are just too long and don't make much sense without the step by step pictures.  Ellie from Home Cooking in Montana has some brilliant instructions and lovely pictures.  Head on over to see what I'm talking about.

 

The directions and ingredient list are this way for a reason.  Deviating from them will result in mediocre croissants.  If you're going to go through all the effort to make the croissants you don't want to be let down with a less than heavenly pastry.  When they say to use the expensive European butter, do it!  The high gluten flour...yup.  Swap out skim milk for whole? No way!  Skimp out on all that chilling and waiting time...you'll be sorry if you do.

Will I make these bad boys again?  I'm undecided. Maybe, in a few years, if I can convince Mrblocko to help out with the dough rolling.  I am glad that I didn't talk myself out of making them.  I felt invincible in the kitchen...at least until I burnt a pot of rice!

Jalapeno Bagels

Last year Blockette's class read a book called Jalapeno Bagels.  At the end of the discussion period, the teacher brought in jalapeno bagels and cream cheese.  Blockette could not stop talking about how great those bagels were, and "when would I make them?"

I found a great recipe over at Veggie Mama, but the timing was never right.  It was too hot, I didn't have the ingredients, we had too many other bread products in the house, I was lazy, etc.  Over one of the many cancelled school days we had this winter, the universe aligned, and Blockette and I made Jalapeno Bagels.

As neither one of us is all that keen on heat, I erred on the side of caution and used only 1 jalapeno.  I think they would have tasted better with a bit more of a kick to them.  Next time I will use 2 jalapenos.

While I was mixing up the dough, Blockette exclaimed, "Where are the red bits?!  The ones we had at school had red bits."  As luck would have it I had some roasted red peppers in the freezer.  I used 1/4 of a pepper, but I think 1/2 a pepper would have been better.

 

Jalapeno Bagels adapted from Veggie Mama

1 3/4 c lukewarm water

1 t dried yeast

2 t salt

1 1/2 T sugar

5 c flour

1-2 jalapenos, minced

1/4-1/2 roasted red pepper, diced

:

Mix water, yeast, salt and sugar and let proof for 5 min. Add flour.  When all the flour is combined, add jalapenos and red peppers. Knead for 10 min on low speed, adding more flour if needed until dough is stiff. Let dough rest 10 min, then divide into 12 pieces.  Roll dough pieces into balls and make into "O" shape by sticking your thumb through the middle and gently stretching out the circle.  Alternately you can roll into a snake and overlap the ends to make a ring.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1-1 1/2 hrs. Fill large pot with water and bring to a boil. Place bagels in boiling water until they float to the top – about 20-40 seconds.  Remove bagels to drain on parchment.  Transfer to baking sheet.  Bake at preheated oven at 375 for 30-50 min, or until outside is golden brown.  Let cool before slicing. 

Cherry Coffee Cake

This Cherry Coffee Cake from Controlling my Chaos was amazing.  Yes.  It IS ugly as sin.  But don't let that fool you.

I made this for Mrblocko to take as a dish to pass for breakfast with the 8th graders who are going through Confirmation at church.  There was a LOT of food so I thought it was a great testament to the goodness that he only came home with half the pan as leftovers. 

Poor us.  Forced to eat half a pan of Cherry Coffee Cake!  The horror! 

Actually, Blockette didn't want to try any at first.  She "hates" cherries.  I convinced her to take a taste test and I think her eyes rolled back in her head with delicious delight.

Truth be told, I don't like cherries either.  I didn't think I was going to like it, especially since it looked so hideous.  The cake mix is so sweet that it balances out any tart from the cherries.  Also, the crumble on the top tastes like cake batter.  I love cake batter.

I made one minor change to this recipe.  I used about half the glaze as a drizzled topping.  The cake was already so sweet with the cake mix and canned cherries.  I felt too much glaze would have made the cake overly sweet.  I say this and I have the biggest sweet tooth of anyone I know.  Half the glaze was just enough to help moisten the crumble topping and keep it in place for transport. 

Cherry Coffee Cake from Controlling my Chaos
1 box yellow cake mix, divided
1c flour
2 1/4 t yeast (or one package)
2/3 c warm water
2 eggs, beaten
1-21 oz can cherry pie filling
1/3 c cold butter cut into cubes

Glaze (use sparingly)
1c powdered sugar
1T corn syrup
1 t vanilla
1-2 T water

Mix 1 1/2 c cake mix, flour, yeast and water til smooth. Add eggs.  Pour in greased 9x13 pan. Top w cherries.  In small bowl mix remaining cake mix and butter with hands til crumbly.  Sprinkle over cherries.  Bake at 350F for 35-40 min.  (at 35 min the contents of the pan giggled a bit, after another 5 min they had firmed up)  Once cake is cool, combine glaze ingredients and drizzle liberally over the top of the cake.