Baking Archives - Page 3 of 10 - home is where my story begins...

Best Peach Cobbler I’ve Ever Made

August 8, 2014 By Becca Leave a Comment

When we were in Ellensburg, last week, we bought a box of local Regina peaches at a farm stand just off of the freeway. We took them over to my cousin’s house with us and just about devoured them in the the two days we were there. On the way home, we figured that we should probably buy another box since they were so good. The day after we got home, my hubby requested peach cobbler. I’m not a huge fan of warm fruit, but I figured I’d give it a try. This recipe is a combination of a peach cobbler recipe that I found on Pinterest and another cobbler recipe that is a Pioneer Woman recipe. I took my favorite things about both recipes and combined them into one.

Friends, when my hubby tasted it he told me it was hands-down the best thing I have ever made. Not just the best cobbler I’ve ever made, but the all-around BEST THING – out of anyting that I have ever made. Now, you should know that I bake and cook A LOT. So, saying that this recipe was the best thing ever is really saying something. The topping tasted kind of like a warm cookie and the peaches were absolutely perfect. I chose the least ripe peaches I could find in the box so they wouldn’t be smooshy. My hubby drizzled his ice cream and cobbler with caramel sauce, but I didn’t think that sounded very good, so here’s the picture without caramel.

Here’s the recipe:

6 fresh peaches, sliced

1/4 cup sugar to sprinkle on peaches

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup self-rising flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a large baking dish. (I used my large round Pampered Chef Stoneware.) Place sliced and peeled peaches in the pan. Sprinkle the peaches with 1/4 cup sugar. Set aside. Cream butter and 1 cup of sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt. MIx well. Drop by spoonfuls onto the peaches and spread it around. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Cool slightly and serve with ice cream. Top with caramel sauce if you think that sounds good.

Honestly, I can’t say it was the best thing I’ve ever made. It was pretty tasty though, and you just can’t beat fresh peaches!

Happy baking!

Dinner Group in August

August 7, 2014 By Becca 2 Comments

Last night was my turn to host the dinner group that I do with a few friends. I posted about this dinner group before, explaining how it is the best way ever to host a dinner party. My friend, Krystal, came up with the plan. She said a friend had done a dinner group like this one and loved it. We started about a year ago, with the intention of getting together once a month. Some months are crazier than others and we have to skip, but I was excited to host this month! Everything is just easier in the summertime.

For those of you who aren’t regular readers of my blog, the whole idea behind our dinner group is that the host chooses the recipes and purchases the ingredients, but doesn’t do any of the cooking ahead of time. Each guest and the host cooks one of the dishes. The rule is, that you can’t choose recipes that you’ve ever made before. It has to be something new. Now, those of you who know me know that I am NOT an adventurous eater. Sometimes the recipes have really prompted me to venture out of my comfort zone!

I decided we would have a honey themed party this time. Each recipe I chose involved honey in some way. We started off with a honey and cheese table.

I went down to my local Central Market, which has a lot of specialty items. I told the people in the cheese section what my plan was and they got REALLY excited. Honestly, I think I made their day! They guided me in my cheese and honey pairings and explained way more about the flavors of cheese and honey together than I would really ever need to know. Williams-Sonoma also has a great blog post on honey tasting. One of the cheese blocks I bought (the one that practically made the cheese man jump up and down with joy) used crushed honey comb from bees outside of a monastery in France, around the edge of the cheese. (At least I think that’s how his story went. I started hearing, “Wah, wah, wah. Waaaah. Wah. Wah.” It was a little overwhelming.) By the way, when you go to a fancy cheese store and they show you the cheese you should buy, look at the cheese but then ask for something less expensive. Wow! Who knew cheese could be so expensive!

We were all kind of shocked by different flavors that the different honey had. We used Clover, Raspberry, and Blackberry honey. Obviously, the cheese had different flavors too. I should have kept track of the different types of cheese, but I forgot to write them down for later! I tried to remember which honey was supposed to go with certain cheeses, but in the end, I couldn’t remember. We just snacked and enjoyed our cheese and honey pairings.

I’m not a drinker, but my friends usually serve some sort of yummy drink when they host the dinner group. I found a recipe for a peach and honey drink that sounded good. It called for Jack Daniels’ Honey Whiskey. Ummm. That’s a $32 bottle of alcohol that I will never use again! My local Safeway had Jim Bean Honey Whiskey for $10, so that’s the one I chose to use. I forgot to take a picture of the drinks but they were very pretty. The recipe called for equal amounts of whiskey, peach nectar, and sparkling water, with a little honey mixed into the drink. Yes, I tried the drink! I took a taste and it was very honey/peachy. I had about half of the drink and then I promptly handed it over to my hubby. I just don’t like the alcohol flavor. Bleck.

I set up a little table on my deck so we could eat dinner outside. I love that tablecloth. It’s a pretty linen cloth that was my grandma’s from many years ago. The folding chairs were my grandparents’ too. I just love the antiquey feel.

On the menu tonight was grilled corn with honey basil butter, chicken with a honey Thai rub, and a pear and blue cheese salad with honey glazed walnuts. Overall, I LOVED the salad and HATED the chicken. I thought the grilled corn was really yummy. I’ve never grilled corn right in the husks so that was something new for me.

For dessert, we had a apple tart drizzled with honey.

I’ve never been a huge fan of honey, so this was something new for me. I’ve used honey in recipes, but I don’t usually put honey on anything and just eat it. I have to say, I kind of like it, especially the honey and cheese pairings. That was surprisingly yummy!

It was such a nice party and a perfectly relaxed evening. Thanks for coming, friends!

Happy party planning!

Homemade Bread Recipe

March 16, 2014 By Becca Leave a Comment

In addition to Cookie Friday, I also had some homemade bread rising when the kids came home from school. I use the same recipe that my mom always did when I was growing up. Sometimes I will use whole wheat flower instead of white, but it’s always the same basic recipe. I make the dough in my bread machine, on the dough cycle, because it makes the process SO much easier. Once the dough is ready I put it into bread pans to rise again. I don’t like the way my bread machine cooks the bread, so that’s why I just use the dough cycle.

On Friday, I tried pulling up the recipe on my blog and I couldn’t track it down! I tried several different key words and nothing seemed to pop up for me. It’s been a while since I’ve posted this recipe, so I thought it might just be buried in blogland somewhere. This recipe is such a staple in our house, that it’s certainly worth a repost.

Ingredients:

1 package yeast

1/4 cup warm water

2 cups scalded milk

1 Tbsp shortening

6 cups flour

(white, whole wheat, or a combination)

2 Tbsp sugar

2tsp salt

Combine yeast and warm water. Let it rest for about 10 minutes. Scald the milk and add the shortening so that it melts. Put the milk mixture into the bread machine first. Add the rest of the dry ingredients on top of the milk. Then, pour the yeast mixture on the very top. Set your bread machine to the dough cycle and wait for it to beep at you! Once it has risen in the machine, form into loaves and let rise again until it has doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Tips:

DON’T BE AFRAID OF YEAST!

Yeast is very easy to work with and shouldn’t be intimidating. When I dissolve the yeast in the warm water, I make sure the water feels slightly warmer than bathtub water. If it is super hot, it will kill the yeast. If you use cold water, it won’t activate. I also make sure the milk is about that same temperature. Finally, when I let the bread rise in the pans, I usually turn on my oven to preheat and just set the pans on the stove. It gives the pans just enough warmth to help them rise.

Happy baking!

Snow Day and My New Cookie Press

December 31, 2013 By Becca 1 Comment

The Friday that school was ready to end for the Winter Holiday, we had a sudden snow day. The weather man told is it was coming, so we sent our teacher gifts to school on Thursday, in case school was canceled. I woke up at 2am and checked outside. No snow. Then, at 5:15, the phone rang and it was the automated system telling us that school was cancelled. It had snowed a few inches in a very short time and the snow was still coming.

Suddenly, my crazy-busy-jam packed day became the greatest Christmas gift I could possibly be given. There were Christmas cookies baking, music playing, snowball fights happening, and the happiest kids I could imagine. My stress level melted (just like the snow would by later in the day).

Spritz cookies were up on our list of cookies for the neighbors.

I had eager helpers too.

Spritz are super simple, and the kids love to do these on their own.

Speaking of Spritz, I have a fabulous new product to share with you! My cookie press broke earlier this year, so I needed a replacement. This was the first time I tried my new one and I LOVE it! It’s the Cuisinart ELECTRIC cookie press. Honestly, my kids got to do this more than I did because they thought it was really cool and kept asking if they could have a turn. You can’t see the cord in the picture, but it plugs in and does the work for you. This may sound lazy, but the manual-hand cranked cookie press just never seems to produce even cookies for me. The electric cookie press is no-fail.

I was rather impressed with this fun little product. It was the same price as the manual cookie presses that I was looking at, but it worked so much better than my old one.

Pretty cookies for the neighbors make me happy.

Nothing makes me happier than a snow day, unless it’s a snow day and I get to play with my new kitchen toys!

Happy baking!

Sundried Tomato, Pesto, and Cream Cheese Spread

July 12, 2013 By Becca 1 Comment

Here’s a super-simple recipe for you to tuck away until you need a last minute appetizer for a party. It’s almost embarrassing to call this a recipe, because it’s that simple.

Start with a block of softened cream cheese.
Chop a small handful of basil and mix it into the cream cheese.
Spread the mixture on a plate.
Top with pesto (homemade is best, but store bought will do just fine).
Dice up a few sundried tomatoes and spread those over the top.
Garnish with a sprig of fresh basil.

We served this dip with Pita chips and it was pretty yummy. One of my hubby’s coworkers asked for the recipe and I was truly embarrassed at how easy this was.

The mint brownies we brought to the party took quite a bit more work, so at least I didn’t feel too guilty!

I loved being able to use the fresh mint and basil from my garden for these two dishes. Fresh herbs make everything pretty. Here’s the link to the mint brownie recipe if you missed that one.

Happy gardening, cooking, and baking!

I’m linking up to Fertilizer Friday to share my herbs!

Ice Cream Sandwiches

July 10, 2013 By Becca Leave a Comment

This was our treat this past weekend.

Homemade chocolate chip cookies, with homemade ice cream sandwiched in between, rolled in mini chocolate chips…. does it get any better than that?

Here’s the link to my cookie recipe. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of white chocolate and macadamia nut for this recipe. You’ll have to keep checking back for my homemade vanilla ice cream recipe. That’s coming in a future post.

Thin Mint Brownies – Using Herbs From My Garden

June 25, 2013 By Becca Leave a Comment

It’s no big secret that I love to garden. Herbs are definitely my favorite things to grow. I use fresh herbs all the time in my cooking. Last year I ran across a chocolate mint plant at the garden center. CHOCOLATE MINT, friends! I decided to plant them in planters on my deck for a couple of reasons.

1. Mint will overtake everything! I knew it needed to be in a container so it wouldn’t get out of control.
2. It would smell wonderful, in the summer, when we’re sitting on the deck.
3. Anytime you brush up against fresh herbs, you can smell them.
4. It’s a very sunny spot on my deck.

(Side story: Since we’ve moved into our house, the tree directly behind us has gotten huge. It’s not our tree, so I can’t cut it down. It would be so nice to have that tree gone because my garden is not getting nearly enough sun! At least the pots on my deck still get plenty of sunshine!)

Back to the chocolate mint…

I cut a few sprigs for this recipe.

I infused the milk and the melted butter for this recipe with the chocolate mint, and let them sit for about an hour. I made a big batch of the minty milk so that I could use some later in milk shakes. The recipe for this came from Six Sister’s Stuff, although I did not use peppermint extract. I just used the herbs from my garden to add the flavor.

Once the brownies were cooled and cut, I garnished the plate with a few more chocolate mint sprigs.

We took this platter to a party over the weekend. Served with vanilla ice cream is definitely the way to go!

Just so you’re prepared, this recipe calls for 6 eggs! Yes, you read that correctly. It also requires several sticks of butter, so stock up!

Happy baking!

Shortbread Salted Caramel Bars

May 17, 2013 By Becca Leave a Comment

I made a batch of Shortbread Salted Caramel Bars the other day, for the Teacher Appreciation Lunch at my kids’ school. My daughter has informed me that a couple of different people have told her how much they loved them and that they’d like the recipe. Well, friends, here it is!

***WARNING: Lots and lots of butter used here!***

The recipe originally comes from Annie’s Eats. I made a few changes in my own version, but I’ll walk you through it.

For the shortbread layer:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
***I also added a 1/4 cup of water to the mixture because mine was a little too dry.***

For the caramel layer:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces (I told you there was lots of butter!)
1 cup sugar
***I also added 1/4 cup of brown sugar because I like a darker caramel.***
4 tbsp. light corn syrup
2 (14 oz.) cans sweetened condensed milk

For the chocolate layer:

8 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
***I used the whole bag of chocolate chips, because there’s no such thing as too much chocolate.***
1 tsp. light corn syrup
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
***I didn’t use a full stick, just because it’s a lot of butter. I cut it down to 6Tbsps. Whew! Think of all of those calories I just saved!***

Sea salt, for sprinkling

To make the shortbread layer, preheat the oven to 325° F. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir with a fork to blend, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until well blended, about 1-2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed blend in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. ***Add water if you do my version.***Transfer the dough to a 9×12 pan and press. Bake 15-18 minutes or until golden.

To make the caramel layer, combine the butter, sugar (***both sugars if you’re doing it my way***), corn syrup and condensed milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat, stirring CONSTANTLY, until the butter is melted. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, stirring constantly. Continue simmering and stirring until the mixture turns an amber color and thickens slightly. This step took me about 20 minutes of constant stirring. Pour the mixture over the cooled shortbread layer, smooth the top, and allow to cool completely and set. I refrigerated it for about 30 minutes.

To make the chocolate glaze, combine the chocolate, corn syrup, and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour evenly over the caramel layer. Allow to cool for a minute or two and then sprinkle with sea salt. Chill, covered, until ready to slice and serve.

Cutting the cookies works best if they are completely set. I let mine set over night and then cut with a very sharp knife. This time, I made a double batch and used almost every last crumb. There were a few little scraps for us to nibble on, but I was secretly glad we didn’t have half of a pan left over. I love these, and would have eaten my weight in ~~butter~~ cookies if they had been in my kitchen.

I hope the teachers enjoyed them and had a terrific Teacher Appreciation Week!

Happy baking!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

April 29, 2013 By Becca 1 Comment

I think I’m really missing Hawaii. I walked by the macadamia nuts, at the grocery store the other day, and I could almost feel the warmth of Hawaii again. I couldn’t pass them up. Ok, I saw the price of $8.49 and I did pass them by, but I kept thinking about them. Fast forward to a few days later. I was at the drug store, around the corner from our house, and they had a smaller container that was on sale for less than $5.00.
Sold.
I also had a package of white chocolate chips in the pantry, leftover from my Holiday baking. I smell cookies, don’t you?

Here’s the recipe:
1 Cup Crisco shortening (original, not butter flavor)
3/4 Cup brown sugar
3/4 Cup white sugar
Mix until soft and fluffy.

Add:
2 Eggs
1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla
Mix just until blended.

Dry ingredients:
2 and 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Mix it up and add a 6oz package of macadamia nuts (slightly chopped) and about 8 oz of white chocolate chips.

Bake for 10 minutes (or less) on 350 degrees. My oven is a standard oven, not convection, and this is what I do.

Happy baking!

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