Blueberry Cobblercakes

by Anne

Before I even knew I was moving back to Minnesota, a friend of mine in Chicago threw a Minnesota hot dish party. And while my friend is technically not a Minnesooooota native, she’s definitely one of the state’s biggest fans, so Christopher and I knew we had to “bring the goods,” as it were.  

So even though it was June, in Chicago, we fired up the oven. Christopher whipped up a couple of batches of his family’s New York Spaghetti Pie recipe (yes, it IS a Minnesota hot dish despite the name), and I made a couple of desserts- Minnesota-shaped cookies (sorry, no pictures!) and blueberry cobblercakes. Yum! 

These cobbler cupcakes couldn’t be easier to make… or harder to eat! Be sure you use the foil muffin cups - and serve with a spoon- ‘cuz you really don’t want to unwrap these guys, trust me.

Blueberry Cobblercakes
•    1 box of cake mix. Vanilla, white, yellow- whatever you prefer!
•    Butter
•    Blueberry filling. You can buy it canned or make your own!

Fill each muffin cup about halfway with blueberry filling. Top each ‘cake with a generous spoonful of dry cake mix. Remember, since you’re not actually turning the mix into a batter, nothing will rise- so don’t worry about filling close to the rim. Place a small, thin pat of butter on the top of each cobbler. Don’t be too skimpy here, the butter needs to melt into the cake mix and form a warm, golden crust. But, don’t OVERindulge either, unless you just want to taste butter. Ew.
 

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are golden. The filling will probably bubble up a bit. Don’t worry, that’s a good thing.

A Perfect Baker's Dozen

by Terese
 

Pretty late Tuesday night I got a special request for chocolate cupcakes for the following evening. Seeing as I teach and work on Wednesday's, I knew fitting in a complicated chocolate cake recipe in an hour and then decorating them in a manner that won't embarrass myself was kinda out of the question. PLUS I was out of butter. F***. What to do?! What to make?!

One Bowl Chocolate Cake of course. The recipe has the shortest list of ingredients possible, only uses one bowl and tastes better than any mix would. And it would leave me enough time to throw together a frosting  and make these little babies beautiful. Or as beautiful as could be expected after a 10 hour day and with only 20 min. Mission accomplished.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup Kahlua or coffee (optional, if not gonna use then just do 3/4 cup milkie)

1 egg

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

• Mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, soda, powder and salt in an electric mixing bowl. 
• Add the milk, Kahlua (if using), egg, oil and vanilla. 
• Beat on medium speed for 2 min. 
• Scrape down bowl, then beat for another 2 min. 
• Pour into 12 paper-lined muffin tins. The recipe filled them up perfectly, hence the perfect this baker's dozen. 
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 min. 
• Allow to cool, then frost. 

I used the Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Frosting recipe off that back of the box because I needed something that didn't use too much butter. (Aaron stole me one single stick from his mom, don't tell anyone.)  

That's it. Maybe not the most exciting thing I've ever made, but they took me all of 1 hr total and they looked pretty... pretty... pretty... nice.  

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

by Anne

Feeding my fascination* for all things Amish,** my mom gave me this Amish Cooking book as a wedding gift.  While these Pumpkin Streusel Muffins were the first recipe I tried from the book, they certainly won’t be the last. In fact, I can honestly say that I’ve never made a better batch of homemade muffins. They were dense but not dry, and full of flavor.

The original recipe called for a loaf but... it was already 10:30 am on Saturday and I didn’t want to wait 50 minutes for a darn loaf of pumpkin bread when I knew muffins would only take 20 minutes. And I like muffins. ‘Cuz they’re like breakfast cupcakes.

The muffins will keep for a few days. I baked these guys on Saturday and we brought a batch over to my mother-in-law on Valentine’s Day. And, they still tasted amazingly fresh!  None of that day-old-and-already-dry nastiness that so often plagues my homemade baked goods. Sigh.

Some tips… 

• Line your muffin tin with liners and spray the liners with baking spray. Don’t over-spray or the muffins will separate from the liners and you won’t be able to take cute pictures. A light misting should do. 
• Use an ice cream scoop like this one to scoop batter into the muffin cups. It’s easy. It’s clean. And it results in well-portioned little muffins.
• Apply the streusel generously, please. It adds a nice texture and flavor –and really, who doesn’t want a muffin covered in warm, gooey brown sugar?

I definitely plan to bake these again- but maybe I’ll plan ahead and actually make it in loaf-form. Or, if I’m feeling really adventurous, I’ll make a pumpkin bundt. I’m not quite sure how to streusel a bundt, but you better believe I’m gonna learn. So stay tuned...

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

Muffins:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin (from the can, but the real stuff not the pie filling)
• 1 tsp vanilla

Streusel:

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup almonds 

Preheat the oven to 350. Prepare your muffin tins (or, if you want to make a loaf, grease and flour a loaf pan).

For the muffins...

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in small bowl. Beat butter and granulated sugar in mixer until fluffly. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla extract. Gradually add the flour mixture.


For the streusel...

Combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender (two knives, or even a food processor will do), until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in nuts.

Scoop batter into muffin cups and sprinkle streusel topping over each muffin. If you're making a loaf, the recipe suggests you layer the streusel (spoon half of the batter into the loaf pan, add half of the streusel, then spoon the remaining batter into the pan and top with the rest of the streusel)- but this seemed WAY too tedious for muffins. And, c'mon... if it's 10:30 on a Saturday and I haven't made breakfast yet... I'm obviously feeling too lazy to do something like this.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. If you want to make a loaf, bake for 45-50 minutes.

So, what do y’all think? Would you give these guys a whirl or are you the kind of person who prefers a granola bar or banana bread for breakfast?

*Pun intended. Obviously.
** Sorry, Claire.

Cake Mix Snickerdoodles

by Anne

As promised, here’s the final post of the “farewell Chicago party/baking extravaganza” trilogy (don’t forget to check out Part 1: Blonde Brownies and Part 2: S’more Cupcakes). And now for Part 3: Snickerdoodles!

Cake mix snickerdoodles, to be exact. Fun stuff here, folks. And super easy to boot!

Mmmm. Aren’t they pretty? Can you tell these pictures were taken a while ago…in the soft lighting of the warm Chicago summer sun? Not like the latest batch of photos snapped in the ever-fleeting light of the Minnesota winter. Bah humbug. Or something like that.

Anyway, here’s the scoop…

Cake Mix Snickerdoodles (from this blog)

• 1 box cake mix (vanilla, white, yellow- whatever you prefer!) 
• 1/3 cup oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• Cinnamon and sugar for coating

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients (except the cinnamon and sugar) in a medium bowl.  Chill batter for at least 30 minutes. Roll batter into balls and coat with cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Bake for about 10 minutes... or until they look done.

I made these little guys twice and while the flavor and texture was consistent from one batch to the next, the cookies remained small the first time 'round and spread out during round two. I’m not really sure why, since both were chilled and similarly-portioned on a cool baking sheet. Oh well, most of the chemistry behind baking remains a mystery to me.

Enjoy!

Oatmeal-Craisin-Chocolate-Almond Bliss

by Anne

I got this cookbook for my birthday last year and I have solid plans to bake my way through the entire thing. Seriously, not a single recipe has failed me. In fact, I’ve revisited multiple recipes multiple times- a rare occurrence for this somewhat restless baker.

These cookies are faaaaan-tastic. And while I didn’t follow the recipe exactly as it was written, I’ve had absolutely no complaints from the household cookie monster (his mom liked them too!). They’re great as-is or crumbled over a big bowl of vanilla ice cream.  And because they have oatmeal, nuts, and craisins, they kind of taste like a granola bar. So you can definitely justify having a few of them with your morning coffee, right? 

A couple of notes:

• The dough will be stiff. And I mean, STIFF.  That’s a good thing- it means the cookies will be nice and dense.
• Use whole, rolled oats. Not the instant kind. I’ve used both and the former have a far better texture and way more flavor.
• I use "Baking Spice" from Penzey's instead of straight cardamom. If you can get your hands on some of it, do. It’s amazing stuff.
• Let the dough chill. Seriously. I usually bake my cookies in small batches so that I don’t eat all of them in one sitting “overindulge.” The dough will keep in your refrigerator for up to a week or you can freeze it for up to two months.

 Oatmeal-Craisin-Chocolate-Almond Bliss

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking spice
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups oats
• 1 cup craisins
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped almonds
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars in an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add half of this mixture to the butter mixture and beat for 15-30 seconds. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until incorporated. Add the oats and beat for another 15-30 seconds. Fold in the craisins, almonds, and chocolate chips. Cover the bowl and chill for 6 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375 and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Form the dough into balls and place an inch or so apart on a cookie sheet. If desired, sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Be sure to rotate the pan halfway through the baking time to ensure even heating.

Not Quite Homemade Chili

by Anne

Well, last Sunday was the Super Bowl. And from what I can tell, it has something to do with football. At least that’s always what they seem to play between the commercials. But really, who knows.

Mysteries aside, ‘tis the season to make chili. While, I usually prefer something completely homemade (like my sister-in-law Claire's Turkey Chili Recipe- yum!), this recipe is not too shabby. It's easy, pretty tasty, and makes enough for a crowd – or, if you don’t want to share, enough for about a week’s worth of single-serving chili. But, really, that just sounds intense.

Anyway, grab a bag of “Darn Good Chili Mix” at the store, a couple cans of tomato paste, and ground chicken, turkey, or beef (all optional but highly recommended). 

Brown the ground meat- add some seasoning during this process or else the chili will taste really meat-y. Eish. Follow the directions on the package for the chili- boiling water, adding mix etc. Feel free to add some ingredients to taste- I usually opt for some extra green pepper, onion, and a can of corn. The mix is good, but if you want it a little spicy, add some chili powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes.

Top with sour cream and cheese like so:

Oh, and serve with some corn bread muffins. I don’t have a picture of the muffins, but they couldn’t be easier, honestly. Buy that oh-so-trusty box of jiffy corn bread mix, add an egg, 1/3 cup milk (I only had heavy whipping cream, so I was forced to use it…sigh), and about half a can of sweet corn. The muffins are kind of crumbly, but delicious.

What? Someone's been reading this?!?

by Anne

I just found out that my Red Velvet Whoopie Pies are featured on A Foxy Wedding's Whoopie Pies post! Whoohoo!

Now, I probably should have figured this out a while ago, since the post was way back in October 2009... but obviously I've been a little slow to the whole blogging thang. Meh.

Anyway, THANKS Foxy Wedding. You made my day!