My Grandma's Heavenly Frosting

This frosting is called heavenly frosting for a reason.  It's amazing!!  It's my Grandma's old recipe and I think of her every time I make it.  It is meant to top Red Velvet Cake and that combination is unbelievable, but I've used the frosting for other cakes as well.  Just try it, you will be in "HEAVEN"!  This is coming from someone who normally scrapes frosting off of cakes and cookies, but this I could eat with a spoon.

5 Tablespoons flour
1 Cup milk
1 Cup sugar
1 Cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Cook flour and milk in a saucepan stirring constantly until really thick.  Let cool.
2. Cream sugar, butter and vanilla together with an electric mixer.
3. After flour mixture has cooled, add to butter/sugar mixture and beat on high speed until it is the consistency of whipped cream.
4. Spread on cake and be sure to lick the bowl and beaters!

Maple Orange Gingerbread Cupcakes

We had a family Cupcake Wars a couple months ago.  It was super fun!  We had a list of ingredients and we had to use at least two of them.  We even had un-biased judges (they didn't know any of us), one of who was a personal chef!  They judged on appearance, creativity of ingredients and taste.  These little babies won first place!  These are definitely not quick and easy like most of my meals, plan to spend some time in the kitchen.  Enjoy!

Cupcakes

1 3/4 Cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons fresh ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt 

3/4 Cup molasses (or less)

3/4 Cup sugar

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg, room temperature

1 Cup Buttermilk, room temperature

Zest from one orange 

Juice from one orange (but save the other orange for the frosting)

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Whisk the flour spices, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.

3.  Squeeze the juice from two oranges into a 1 or 2-cup measure and then add molasses until it fills up to 3/4 Cup.  Beat mixture together with the sugar and melted butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until combined.  Then beat in the egg until incorporated.

4. Add the flour mixture and beat until the batter is smooth and thick.

5. Pour the batter into greased muffin cups and cook for about 20-30 minutes until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Frosting

The frosting recipe was an adaptation from my Grandma's Heavenly Frosting recipe, which you can find here.  There are two modifications to this recipe for these cupcakes.  In addition to the ingredients in the original recipe, you'll need:

1 Orange

Mapelline (maple extract)

1.  Use a 1 or 2-cup measure and squeeze in the juice of one orange (first remove the zest in long strands for the topping, if desired). Then fill it up to 1 cup with milk.  Use this mixture in place of the plain milk in the recipe.

2.  Add mapelline in place of the vanilla.

Topping

The toppings are certainly not necessary, but it was a fun addition to these cupcakes.  We candied ginger and orange zest.  You can find instructions for that all over google.  We also added pomegranate seeds for color and crunch.  

Crumble Topping

This recipe was given to me a long time ago by a girl that used to live in my neighborhood.  I made it and LOVED it.  Unfortunately, I lost the recipe and she moved out of the state (this happened before the days of facebook).  Well, a few years later I was telling some friends about this delicious recipe and we were discussing how I might be able to get my hands on it again.  I'd tried plenty of recipes online and none of them were the same as what I remembered.  I couldn't even remember her name, so I didn't know how I could reach her.  Well, one of my friends knew who I was talking about and somehow got this awesome recipe for me!  I made it again and it tasted just as good as I remembered.  So as not to lose this recipe ever again, I'm posting it here.  Luckily, you all get to enjoy it as well! 

1 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Oats
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/8 tsp. Salt
1/2 Cup Butter, softened

1.  Mix all dry ingredients.
2.  Add dry ingredients to softened butter and mix until crumbly.
3.  Pour into baking dish over desired fruit mixture (see below).
4.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.
 
For the fruit mixture, you can use anything you want.  When I ate it originally, it was made with apples.  Since then, I've also made it with berries and apples together.  Peaches would also be delicious.

Cut up whatever fruit you like and sprinkle some granulated sugar, a little flour, lemon juice and salt (tiny bit) over it.  Stir it all together.  Put that in a baking dish and put the crumble mixture over it before baking.

Oh. My. Gosh.  It's amazing!  Enjoy!

Figgy Pudding

I got this recipe from my boss after he brought it to a Christmas party for work.  It is DELICIOUS and the three times I've made it since then, it's gotten rave reviews and the bowl is wiped clean.  I made a couple of slight changes.  I put in less sugar (it was a little too sweet for me) and added figs (what?!  No figs in figgy pudding?  Ya, madness!  I had to add them in).  What a fun, festive Christmas treat!  This will certainly be a Christmas tradition at my house.  Sorry, I didn't take a picture.  I will post one when I make it again (it will surely be sooner than next Christmas).

Batter Mix:

3/4 Cup sugar
1 Cup flour
1/2 Cup milk
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 Cup chopped dates
1/2 Cup chopped figs
1 Cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Mix together and spread evenly in a deep baking dish.

Meanwhile, boil for three minutes:

2 Cups water
3/4 Cup brown sugar
1Tablespoon butter

Pour over batter and bake for 30 minutes @ 375 degrees.

Top with ice cream or whip cream

Serve and enjoy!  It's best when served warm.

Cowboy Cookies

Hailee watched an episode of Dora The Explorer, where they apparently made "cowboy cookies". I didn't see the episode myself, so whether these are anything like what she was referring to, I don't know. However, she asked me for days to make her some "cowboy cookies", so this is what I came up with. Actually, they turned out so good that I'm very glad she asked me to make them! Now I have a new recipe I'm sure to use again and again! I took a standard oatmeal cookie recipe (from America's Test Kitchen) and threw in "cowboyish" things like nuts & sunflower seeds and then topped them with frosting. Oh. My. Gosh. Trust me, these are good. So, here you go.

Cookies
1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
16 Tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted Butter, softened
1 Cup Light Brown Sugar, packed
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Large Eggs
3 Cup Oats
1/2 Cup Walnuts
1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds, seeded (obviously)
1/2 Cup Raisins (optional-I don't like raisins in my cookies, but if you do, they'd go in here nicely).

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg together in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Beat the butter and sugars together in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the eggs until combined.
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined. Mix in the oats, nuts and seeds until just incorporated.
6. Working with 1/4 cup of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls and lay on two baking sheets spaced about 2 1/2 inches apart.
7. Flatten the cookies slightly using your palm.
8. Bake until the tops of the cookies are lightly golden, but the centers are still soft and puffy, 22 to 25 minutes, rotating and switching the baking sheets halfway through baking.
9. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting
2 8-oz. pkgs. Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 Cup butter, softened
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla

1. Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer until combined.
2. Frost cookies.

Peanut Butter Fingers II

I had posted recently about a treat I remember eating from my childhood days in elementary school. I had a similar recipe, but it wasn't quite what I remembered. Well, my friend Whitney came through for me! She happens to know someone who was a cook for Weber County School District and got me the official recipe from my childhood! I made them and they are sooooooo good...just the way I remember them.

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Cup Margarine or Butter

2 Eggs

1 Cup Peanut Butter

2 Cups flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon Salt

2 Cups Oats

1. Mix all ingredients and press in a large cookie sheet.
2. Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes. When crust is done, it should be soft to the touch and don't over-bake.
3. When crust is cool, spread a desired amount of peanut butter on top and then top it with chocolate frosting.

Kix Cookies

I went to a party tonight and Cherie (Ty's cousin) made these delicious cookies. I couldn't get enough of them. She gave me the recipe and they are soooo easy! They're along the sames lines as Rice Krispie Treats, but better! 1/2 Cup Light Karo Syrup
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Cream Peanut Butter
3 Cups Kix Cereal

In medium saucepan, bring Karo syrup and sugar to a hard boil. As soon as it boils, immediately remove from heat, add peanut butter and blend well. Stir in cereal, then drop by tablespoonfuls onto wax paper. Makes approximately 30.

Tip: She uses just a little less than 3 Cups of cereal so there's plenty of peanut butter! Yum-O!

Easter Chick Nests

These are a perfect treat to make with the help of your kids. Hailee loved helping me make these. I always like to give credit where credit's due, but I got the idea for this out of a magazine and for the life of me, I can't remember which one. Have you ever heard of "moose poop" (or a more appropriate name is "oatmeal munchies")? Well, it's delicious and here's the recipe:

1/4 Cup Margarine or Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Sugar
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Milk
2 Tablespoons Baking Cocoa
Dash Salt
1/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 1/2 Cups Oats
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cup Flour

1. Mix first 7 ingredients and bring to boil on medium heat. Boil for 1 minute.
2. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.
3. Stir until well mixed.
4. Using 2 teaspoons, drop small portions of mixture on cookie sheet lines with waxed paper. Allow to cool in refrigerator before eating.

So instead of dropping them onto a cookie sheet as you normally would, you drop them into muffin tins and form them against the bottom and sides of each tin to make a "nest". Put them in the fridge until you're ready to serve them, then pop them out of the pan and fill them up with robin eggs and top with a Peep! So cute!

This yields about 9 nests.

Iron Chef Part II

For dessert we made a fruit pizza. Everyone has a different recipe for this, but ours turned out really good. We used 2 pillsbury sugar cookie dough rolls, rolled them out onto a cookie sheet & cooked according to package directions. We mixed 8 oz. Cool Whip, 8 oz. Cream Cheese & 4 oz. Vanilla Yogurt. After the cookie cooled, we spread the mixture over the top. Then you can use your creativity. Top the entire cookie with an assortment of whatever fruits you like. We used raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, oranges, green apples, grapes, kiwi fruit & apricots. Then to make it shine, we brushed corn syrup thinned with a little lemon juice & juice from the canned apricots all over the fruits. Very pretty!

Peanut Butter Fingers

I love these. They remind me of the peanut butter fingers I used to get in elementary school. I think this particular recipe needs to be tweaked just a little bit, because I don't think it's the best it can be. I'm posting it because I do think they're definitely worth trying. However, if you make them and think you have a better recipe or you have found a way to make these a little better, leave a comment or email me at cookinbrooke@gmail.com.

3/4 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 1/3 Cups Brown Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
2 Eggs
2 Cups Flour
2 Cups Oats
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/8 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Cream Peanut Butter, whipped
Chocolate Frosting

1. Cream together first 6 ingredients, then add next 4 ingredients.
2. Spread into butter jellyroll cookie sheet (12X7). Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.
3. While hot, spread with 1/2 whipped peanut butter. Cool or freeze to harden the peanut butter.
4. Frost with chocolate frosting.