Peach Cobbler

The BEST Peach Cobbler!  (Adapted from Southern Living Recipe)

Do not let this order of elements throw you.  YES... add the butter first to the 13x9 baking dish (I use a foil pan).  NO... you do not mix in the butter with the crust, you place the melted butter and then LEAVE IT ALONE!  And YES... add the butter first, then the crust mix and do NOT stir together, and then spoon on the peach mixture, and do not mix together.  It is weird!  I was certain I was screwing this up. No.  It's heaven! I wavered from the Southern Living recipe a bit so here is what I did, and will do forever!

Peach Mixture:
8 Peaches, ripe but not over-ripe.  (give or take, depends on size) or 2 large cans sliced peaches
1 cup Sugar
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
Dash Nutmeg
1 Tsp Vanilla (GOOD vanilla!  Call me if you don't know what this is!)

Crust Mixture:
1/2 cup Butter, melted  (1 Stick).  This does not go in the mixture, it is melted and goes into the 13x9 by itself
In a medium size bowl mix: 
1 cup Flour
1 cup Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
Dash Nutmeg
Dash Salt
1 cup Milk

Start with the peaches.  Peel them.  Only a fool does this with a knife as I have seen on some recipe sites.  Rookies!  Slip the skins.  Wash them well, and bring a pot of water to a boil.  Insert 4 peaches at a time and leave them in the boiling water for about 45 seconds or so. Remove them onto a paper towel or a paper plate.  Cool slightly and then with your fingers just pull apart the skin. It will slip right off.  On a cutting board, slice the peaches in half and remove the pits, remove any pit remaining inside the middle of the fruit and slice the peaches into smaller sections.  When they are all pitted and sliced, I like to give them a final rinse in a colander to make sure no hard parts of the pits are remaining.  

Rinse the pot of the boiling peel water out, wash and dry, and use the same pot for the peach mixture.  Add sliced peaches, 1 cup Sugar, 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice, 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon, and a dash of Nutmeg.  Heat and stir until all the sugar is dissolved.  Do not overcook, leave the peach mixture in the pot and remove from heat.  Stir in 1 tsp of Vanilla to the peach mixture.  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare the crust mixture.  In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup Sugar, 1 cup Flour, 1 Tbsp Baking Powder, 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon, Dash Nutmeg, Dash salt, and 1 cup milk.  Whisk together until combined but do not overmix.

Assemble the cobbler.

Melt the 1/2 cup (one stick) butter, and put in the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish or foil pan.  Spread it around and the LEAVE IT ALONE.  Then place the crust mixture on top of the butter, as evenly as possible but do NOT mix it.  It will look weird. It's ok.

Last, spoon the peach mixture onto the crust mixture, again you are NOT mixing, just spooning it on top evenly over the whole 13x9. 

Bake 40-45 minutes and get a good golden brown top before removing it.  The crust makes its way to the top because of the rising of the baking powder (SCIENCE!!) and results in a crust that has absorbed the delicious peachy syrup in the process. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.  The cobbler stays fresh for days, if covered.  Easy!

You have now, rightly, made a perfectly healthy fruit into a decadent dessert as it should be. Carry on!

THE Chocolate Icing

I've found it.  A chocolate icing that should be applied to the cake or brownies when they come out of the oven, warm.  It will work on sheet cakes or brownies.  I have not, however, found a favorite cake or brownie recipe that is family tested and Trent approved.  Came close with the mayonnaise cake, black magic cake, and texas sheet cake, but for some reason or other, we both had critiques of each recipe.  We shall continue the search.  But, this icing is TDF.

Start the recipe so it coincides with the cake/brownies coming out of the oven.  Brownies/cake should be frosted as soon as it is removed from the oven, CAREFULLY!  You will tear apart a hot cake so go slow and easy.  Plop the icing on and spread, carefully, carefully.

1 stick butter

4 Tbsp Cocoa powder

6 Tbsp milk

1 lb powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt butter in saucepan on low heat (not microwave).  Add cocoa and milk to the saucepan, Stir/whip until mixture is combined and just bubbles,  Remove from heat immediately. At this point, if necessary, transfer cocoa mixture to a bowl to accomodate the sugar.  Beat in powdered sugar and then vanilla.  (If your saucepan is big enough, simply mix it in the saucepan!)

Spread icing carefully onto brownies/cake within ten minutes of being removed from the oven.  This is a careful process, maybe let the cake/brownie sit for a few minutes and then spread the icing.  CAREFULLY!  

Did I say that enough?  It is hot and will tear.  Plop it in several areas onto the cake and let it warm a bit, then distribute the icing around.

Baklava

I thought Baklava to be the elusive snow leopard or giant squid of the baking world.  Insert Richard Atennborough's voice "Baklava, while delicious, is impossible for a common cook to bake, and cannot be reproduced in any palatable form by anyone except dedicated greek grandmothers..." 

It was my pinnacle, my white whale.  Then I tried making it.  <headsmack> It's not that hard.  The Greeks and Turks have us all bamboozled.  This recipe adapted from a you tube video, Robin makes Baklava.  Thanks to Robin!

 

Ingredients:

1 package of phyllo dough, defrosted (2 hours at room temp or overnight in the fridge)
NOTE: One box contains two rolls, I use one roll per recipe and make a 9X13 pan.
3 cups of raw nuts of your choice, I used a mixture of walnuts, almonds and pecans
1/2 to 1 cup butter, melted
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves

Syrup:
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Make the syrup first by adding the water and sugar to a sauce pan over medium high heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Add the honey.   Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Let syrup cool completely, even setting it in the refrigerator if necessary.

Place the nut mixture on a cookie sheet in a single layer and then bake for 8 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees F. or until the nuts are a golden brown. Be careful not to burn the nuts.

 

Let the nuts cool completely and then place in a food processor until they are ground up. Do not over grind and make paste.

Pour the nuts into a bowl and add the cinnamon and cloves and stir to combine.

Now to assemble the baklava.

Unroll the phyllo dough. Cut the dough with scissors if necessary to fit the baking dish. Count and remove 10 sheets of the dough, then cover the remaining phyllo dough with a very slightly damp towel so it doesn't dry out as you work with a portion of it.

Brush the bottom and sides of the baking dish with butter. Don't over-do it in the butter department as it will make the baklava soggy.

Then lay 10 pieces of phyllo dough, one at a time in the dish. Lightly butter each piece of dough after you place it in the dish.

After the 10th piece of dough, 4-6 tablespoons of the nut mixture to the layer. Spread the nuts out with your hands to cover the layer.  (I had enough dough to do three nut layers, so portion out as you wish).

Then add 3 more pieces of phyllo dough, one at a time, buttering each piece as you place it in the dish. Then add another layer of nuts.

Alternate between 3 layers of dough to one layer of nuts until all the nuts are used.

Finish with remaining sheets of phyllo dough for the top. Butter the last piece on top too. Then cut the baklava into squares or diamonds before baking in the oven.

Bake for 40 to 55 minutes or until it is golden brown.  (mine was about 45 minutes in a glass pan).

Once you remove the baklava from the oven, pour the cooled honey mixture over the top. Let it sit for at least 4 hours before eating. Store on your counter, uncovered.

Tips:

Remember to butter each dough layer lightly with melted butter.
Cut the baklava before baking. It's just easier.
Roast the nuts, do not skip this step.
Make sure to cool the syrup completely and add it to the hot out of the oven baklava.

Minced Fruit (Credit Brett Jensen and Family) (They called it Mincemeat)

I was never a mincemeat fan until THIS....THIS is DELICIOUS!  I'm going to try making baklava this year with it, it's SO delicious.  Mincemeat has no meat in it.  It's just fruits and spices, cooked to delicious sticky satisfaction, and it's so good.

2 pints chopped green tomatoes
3 pints chopped tart apples, peeled.
2 lbs. raisins
1/2 cup vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
6 cups sugar
4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground allspice

Run green tomatoes, apples, and raisins through a meat grinder or food processor.  Mix everything in recipe together in a large pot.  Bring to a boil and simmer several hours until it's thick.  Mine took about 6-8 hours.  Made a dozen pints.  I filled hot sterilized jars with the very hot mince, and inverted them to promote seal.  Only one didn't seal, used that for the cookies I'm posting next!  

Chex/Crispix Puppy Chow

1 Cube Margarine

6 oz. peanut butter chips

12 oz or larger Crispix cereal

3 cups wheat chex (I would say this is one small box)

2/3 cup peanut butter

6 oz chocolate chips

1-1/4 cups powdered sugar...

then 1/1/4 cups powdered sugar again

Place cereal in a large bowl. In another bowl, melt butter, peanut butter chips, and chocolate chips in the microwave at 50% power, one minute at a time, until smooth and melty. Pour over cereal. Stir until coated well. Mix 1-1/4 cup powdered sugar onto the coated cereal mixture. Place this mixture in a PAPER grocery bag. Add the other 1-1/4 cup powdered sugar gradually and shake to mix and coat the cereal to look like puppy chow.

Cody's Chocolate Dessert

This has been called a lot of things, like the Robert Redford, but I think that is a silly name so I named it after my son, who always requests it. Most people do this dessert differently than I do, they bake the crust. I prefer a dry crumb-ish crust, so I do the crust in the microwave.

There are four steps to this. Make the pudding layer, make the crumb layer, make the cream cheese layer, then assemble. Doing it in this order helps because the pudding sets up a little while you do the crumb crust, and the crumb crust cools as you do the cream cheese layer, then you put it together.

Also get your butter and cream cheese to room temp, I get them out the night before and have the cool whip in the fridge, not the freezer so I can work with it.

2 bigger boxes Jello Chocolate Pudding Instant (5.9 oz)

2 bigger boxes Jello Vanilla Pudding Instant (5.9 oz)

6 cups Milk

2 cubes butter, room temperature

2 cups flour

4 Tablespoons sugar

2 8 oz packages cream cheese

2 cups sugar

2 cartons Cool Whip12 oz. each

Mix chocolate layer:

the 2 bigger boxes Jello Chocolate Pudding Instant (5.9 oz)

the 2 bigger boxes Jello Vanilla Pudding Instant (5.9 oz)

the 6 cups cold milk (Note that this is exactly half of what the package calls for, don't do package directions!)

Mix well with beaters for two minutes. Set aside to thicken.

Make Crumb Crust Layer:

In food processor combine

2 cubes room temp butter

2 cups flour

4 Tablespoons sugar

Pulse together until crumbly, transfer to a microwave safe bowl. Cook mixture on high, setting the microwave for five minutes. Stop the microwave every minute and stir the mixture vigorously with a fork to crumb it.

Spray a jelly roll pan very lightly with Pam spray. Place the crumb crust in the bottom of the pan and spread to distribute evenly, reserving about a half cup of the crumb mixture to use on the top at the end. Allow it to cool while you make the cream cheese layer.

Make the Cream Cheese Layer:

Combine two 8 oz packages cream cheese with two cups sugar and 1 1/2 (one and a half cartons) Cool Whip.

Assemble. This is a little tricky. Using a big spatula, carefully plop the cream cheese mixture over the crumb crust all over it, getting it distributed as evenly as you can. Carefully spread it with a smaller spatula without disturbing the crumbs very much, this takes a light hand, but is not too tough to do...just be gentle moving it around. I get this cream cheese layer all the way to the edges of the pan so I can use the side of the pan to scrape my spatula off, it helps. Then use a paper towel when you are done with that and clean the sides of the pan off so it looks nice.

Then on top of the cream cheese layer, add the chocolate layer exactly the same way, only I leave a little border of the white layer peeking out, it looks pretty. Be careful not to disturb the cream cheese layer too much.

Use the other half carton of the cool whip that is left and spread it evenly over the top, leaving a little of the chocolate layer peeking out.

Sprinkle the reserved half cup of crumb crust on the top. Chill until ready to serve.

Zucchini Bread

This recipe base is from Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook but I added a few things.

NOTE to self, triple this and it makes two big loaves and two small loaf pans (the matching set of small loaf pans, round the allspice, nutmeg and clove UP to 1 tsp total if tripling, yes-1 tsp each!)

Recipe as is makes one loaf, 8x4x2. Or two smaller loaves, or four mini loaves. May be doubled easily for more loaves.

2017 Note to self:  USE CAST IRON LOAF PANS!
Also, after shredding the zucchini in the salad shooter, drape a dishcloth or three layers of paper towel in a large bowl.  Place shredded zucchini in it, sprinkle with a bit of salt, let sit for 30 minutes and squeeze out excess water.  Results in a more uniform bread.

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp clove
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 beaten egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 cup unpeeled zucchini, finely shredded or ground
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts if desired (we don't add the nuts)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease the bottom of the pan (s) and up the sides. I use shortening, not cooking spray. In your mixer combine flour, cinnamon, allspice, clove, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine. Make a well in the flour mixture. In a separate mixing bowl stir together egg, vanilla, sugar, zucchini, and oil. Add zucchini mixture all at once to the flour and mix just until moistened, batter will be slightly lumpy. Fold in nuts if desired.

Spoon into loaf pan(s). Bake 50-55 minutes (less for the small mini loaves, watch them carefully! I think they were done in 30 mins). Loaf(s) are done when toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on racks for 10 minutes. Loosen sides with straight spatula and turn loaves out. Cool before slicing. Unliced bread freezes well in freezer bags (remove as much air as possible from the bags).

***Note: Zucchini can be ground or grated and then frozen, but it the ice crystals in the freezing process damage the pulp a little so it releases more water when it's thawed. This is ok, but the water must be drained off when it's thawed and the zucchini measured after it's thawed and drained. ***

Pull Apart Sticky Buns (Aunt Shirley Asper's)

My kids die for these! Make the night before you want to bake them for breakfast.

18 frozen rhodes rolls (don't try and do more, this is experience talking here...)

One 3 oz. butterscotch pudding mix (the COOKED kind, NOT INSTANT)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Any kind of nuts if desired (we aren't fans of nuts, so we don't)

Before you go to bed, spray a bundt pan with Pam. Layer the rolls and nuts in the bundt pan. Sprinkle them with the butterscotch pudding mix packet, set aside. In a small saucepan, melt the margarine and brown sugar together, add the cinnamon and combine. Drizzle this mixture on the rolls. Cover very loosely with plastic wrap. Let set overnight. Rolls will raise and will fill the pan. Bake in the morning 350 degrees for 30 mins. Cover the top with foil if they start to brown too much or you can turn it down to 325 after 15 mins and keep watching them.

Buttercream Frosting

Buttercream Frosting

I think I got this from Wilton back in the days when I did wedding cakes...excellent basic icing. I always use butter, not margarine, because the flavor is better and it's more consistent. Can be colored easily with paste or liquid color. This covers a jelly roll pan of banana bars, double the recipe for larger cakes.

1 stick butter, very soft
1/2 bag powdered sugar
1 tsp good vanilla
1 tbsp milk

Add butter to mixer and blend with the vanilla and milk. Add the powdered sugar and mix, add more milk if needed to thin it up a little.

Banana Bars

This is a great way to use up over-ripe bananas! Very moist and everyone loves them.

1/2 cup butter (one stick, softened)
1-1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 medium or 2 large bananas, mashed

Cream butter and sugar in your mixer. Add eggs,sour cream and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients, then add bananas and mix together. Pour into a jelly roll pan that is sprayed with Pam or baking spray.

Bake 350 degrees for 25 minutes. cool completely and frost with buttercream (recipe on this blog) or cream cheese frosting.

Brown Sugar Frosting

My husband's favorite icing for a chocolate cake! He loves this. Makes enough to cover one 13x9 cake in the pan. This should not be made ahead, so make sure the cake is cooled enough to frost before starting this recipe...

1 cup packed brown sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar

Place powdered sugar in mixing bowl.
In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar and butter. Heat, stirring to mix together. bring to a simmer and cook for two minutes to combine and dissolve sugar. Add the milk, stir to combine, remove from heat.

Pour brown sugar mixture into the powdered sugar in the mixer. Beat until smooth and creamy, ice cake while frosting is warm, as it will harden slightly upon cooling.

Chocolate Cake

Shhh...don't tell your kids there's mayonnaise in this cake. Best chocolate cake!

2 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1-1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder

3 eggs
1-2/3 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla
1 cup mayonnaise
1-1/3 cup water

Measure dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, soda and baking powder) in a separate smaller bowl and stir together, set aside.
In mixer, combine eggs, sugar, and vanilla, mix together at medium speed then add mayonnaise and mix on low until combined.
Add flour mixture alternately with water, beginning and ending with dry mixture. Pour into a prepared 13x9 cake pan (sprayed with Pam is ok).
Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, until firm in center.

Shea's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm not a chocolate chip cookie fan. I know, how Un-American is that? But...my family is. I just never found a recipe that I was interested enough to make, poor deprived family. So, Shea took charge. Last year she found a "recipe in a jar" gift that she made for everyone for Christmas. We made the cookies and they were so good! I know this is on every post I type.....but it's......wait for it......Trent's favorite :) Thanks Shea!! Oh, a note about the margarine...DON'T use butter here (wait, have I EVER said that before?!!?) Use margarine..oh that's painful to say...but true. Use room temperature margarine sticks, much better cookies are the result. But just for these! Ow. Ok, better now.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 - 3/4 cups flour

3/4 tsp soda

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup brown sugar lightly packed

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup margarine, softened ( one and a half sticks)

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups chocolate chips (you can use 1/2 choc and 1/2 white chips for fun)

Mix flour, soda, salt, brown sugar, and sugar in a bowl. Add room-temperature soft margarine, egg, and vanilla until it's a dough consistency. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheets in heaping tablespoon-full sized portions. Bake 350 for 12-14 mins.

Note to self: Trent likes 14 mins...it's a crunchy/chewy texture he preferred to the 12 min soft cookie that I did first.

Makes around 2 dozen.

To do the recipe-in-a-jar gift:

Place brown sugar in the bottom of a jar, then the flour/white sugar/salt/soda, then on the top put a cup or so of chocolate chips. (I added more when we made them). Add a tag with directions to add one and a half sticks of margarine, an egg, and a tsp vanilla. Bake 350 for 12- 14 minutes.

Flaky Pie Crust

Pie Crust

First pie crust I’ve tried that wasn’t the pre-made kind, and it is very good. Highly recommended for sweet pies. This is the recipe for a single crust pie, double this for a covered pie. The refrigeration chill time is 4 hours, so plan accordingly. Don’t skip the refrigeration process, as it is necessary for the gluten to develop.

Keep in mind that a pie crust is flaky because of tiny pockets of cold butter that melt during the cooking process. It’s important to keep this cold and not overwork the dough. Run hands under very cold water before kneading to preserve cold temperature.

1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
½ cup butter, very cold and diced
¼ cup ice water/vanilla…place 1 tsp vanilla in measuring cup, add very cold water to make ¼ cup total.

In large bowl, combine flour,salt, and sugar. Cut in very cold, diced butter with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add water, one teaspoon at a time, and toss with a fork, until all the water is incorporated. There should be small bits of butter visible. Run hands under cold water, then gather the crumbs into a flat ball, kneading only a little. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Roll out on lightly floured surface, and line pan with the bottom crust, fill with pie filling. Make an egg wash with 1 egg and a few tablespoons water, beaten together very well. Brush edges with the wash and add top crust. Crimp, fold, or decorate edges as desired. Don’t forget to cut a few vents. Bake as directed by pie recipe.

Pie tip: I always cover the outside edge with a gently pressed on lining of tin foil and let it the pie bake halfway and then pull the foil off so the edges don’t burn. Also, I egg wash the top of the pie with a light layer and sprinkle sugar on top before baking, looks pretty!

Million Dollar Fudge

Use a big pot to make this hot mixture.  I also tried this last night and this particular fudge is not temperamental when using metal. I used a metal bowl and a metal pan to set it. It was fine. Refrigerate several hours before cutting into neat squares, it has to be set very well before it will cut, use a hot knife.

Million Dollar Fudge SINGLE RECIPE

Makes one 13x9 baking dish about half full
23 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or coarse chopped chocolate
1 jar marshmallow crème (7 oz)
4-1/2 cups sugar
1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. very good Mexican vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt

Million Dollar Fudge DOUBLE RECIPE

Makes one 13x9 baking dish very full, I prefer to make this thickness of fudge.
2- 23 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or coarse chopped chocolate
2 jars marshmallow crème (7 oz each)
9 cups sugar
2 cans evaporated milk (12 oz each)
4 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. very good Mexican vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt

Butter a 13 x 9 baking dish.  If desired, line with parchment paper and butter the parchment paper lightly. 

In a large bowl stir together chocolate and marshmallow crème. Set aside. In a 4-qt or bigger saucepan, mix sugar, milk, and butter. Over low heat, gradually bring mix to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves, scraping down the sides if necessary. Boil for 6 minutes while stirring constantly without touching the sides of the pot, use the hot mixture to melt itself off the sides.  Pour hot mixture over the chocolate mixture in the bowl. Add vanilla and salt. Stir until smooth. Spread into buttered pan. Cool in refrigerator until set.

Caramel Corn

This is the best caramel corn recipe I have ever tried! It is from my sister Rae, I don't know where she got it! Very good soft caramel popcorn. Can be shaped into popcorn balls that stay soft for days.  SELF:  This amount covers one giant silver bowl full of popped corn.  Pop the corn then use the same pot to make the caramel or it will boil over.

4 cubes butter
4 cups brown sugar
2 cups regular karo syrup

Boil to soft ball stage (bring to a boil, boil three minutes), remove from heat.
Add:

2 cans of sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla.

Pour onto a large bowl of kettle popped popcorn. (Don't try air popped or microwave popped, it doesn't work, it kind of disintegrates!)

Sugar Cookies

Growing up it was a tradition at our house to frost and decorate Christmas Cookies. All our cousins would come over and we'd all frost angels, christmas trees, ornaments, stars, santas, whatever cookie cutter shapes my mom had. Mom carried this tradition on with her grandkids, and I carried it on with my kids. It's fun, and this is the best roll-out cookie dough recipe I have ever used. My mom's! Makes a good cookie to frost and decorate. I always double this, but here is the basic recipe if you don't need quite as many cookies.

Sugar Cookies, Rolled
Makes about 3 Dozen

1 Cup Sugar
½ Cup Butter or Margarine (I use butter, of course!)
1 Egg
1 Tsp Vanilla
½ Cup Milk
3 ½ - 4 Cups Flour
½ tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda

Cream together butter and sugar in mixing bowl. Add egg and vanilla and mix.Mix 3 1/2 cups flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda together in a separate bowl. Alternately add dry ingredients and milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Form dough into a fat roll, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours, up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough out on floured surface using a floured rolling pin to about 3/8”. Cut and bake on ungreased sheet for 10-15 minutes. (I start at 12 minutes and then check every minute.) For soft cookies, don’t allow them to brown, bake for 12-13 minutes.


Buttercream Frosting

1 cube butter, softened
½ bag powdered sugar (two heaping cups)
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp milk

Blend all together and add more milk, ½ tsp at a time. My mom liked a bit thinner icing for these, it was easier for kids to spread. Divide into small bowls and color with food or paste color.

Apple Crisp

My weekly produce basket had waaaay too many apples for us to eat so I took some perfectly healthy apples and made them into a perfectly unhealthy (but delicious!) dessert. Got this recipe online and I rate it very high. We loved it.

APPLE CRISP:

10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup water
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2.Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.
3.Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together to form a crumb mixture. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
4.Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.