Baking Junkie

September, 2010

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding

For me, bread pudding = comfort food! Growing up my mom used to make huge pans of it, loaded with cinnamon sugar on top. For years I have been asking for her recipe, but she can’t really give it to me, because she uses the “just dump” method of cooking and baking. You know what I’m talking about right? People who never measure things out, they just pour and add until it seems right…that’s my mom.

*Sidebar- I can no longer pick on my mom for this style of cooking because I now do it too*

A few years ago I was searching for a bread pudding recipe but was too afraid to just make it plain for fear that it would never be as good as mom’s, so I went with this apple cinnamon bread pudding instead. I can honestly say I have no idea where I got the recipe, so if it looks familiar to any of you let me know! This is such an easy recipe, and the flavors just scream “fall”! In almost four months of blogging this is the first recipe Derek didn’t sample, because can you believe he doesn’t like bread pudding! That just meant I got to eat enough for the both of us Enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding
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3 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 loaf cinnamon bread (15 slices)
1 can (21 oz) apple pie filling
1 small box (1.5 oz) raisins
2 packets instant apple cinnamon oatmeal

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together eggs, milk, salt, and brown sugar. Pull bread apart into smaller pieces and add to mixture. Add apple pie filling, raisins and oatmeal. Pour into a greased 9×13 inch pan. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

*I’m sharing this recipe over at Recipe Swap Thursday*

Tags: Apple, Bread, Cinnamon, Fall recipes, Oatmeal

Posted in Bread | 6 Comments »

Monday, September 27th, 2010

Cinnamon Oatmeal Zucchini Bread

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home

I don’t have a garden. Mainly because until recently I have not eaten many vegetables. And also because I fear being able to keep house plants alive and in decent condition, let alone vegetables. Then there is also the fact that I get really excited about maintaining our yard and landscaping for about two weeks in spring and after that could usually care less (that’s what I have a husband for). I am thinking about trying one of those”garden in a box” things next year to see how it goes, but for now I am completely comfortable receiving gifts from other people’s gardens!

Some of our good friends just started their garden this summer, and when they came to visit a few weeks ago I asked if they wouldn’t mind bringing me a cucumber and a zucchini. What I got was a massive cucumber and two GIANT zucchinis! I really wish I would have taken a picture just to show you all that I am not exaggerating, and to prove that these things were as big as my arm! I had to give one of them to a coworker, and then I started on making multiple loaves of zucchini bread!

I had never made my own zucchini bread before, so I set out to find a recipe with a little flair to it. Honestly, if you put the word cinnamon in front of anything I am bound to try it so I didn’t have to search very long.I was perfectly content to make cinnamon zucchini bread, until I thought, hey, I like oatmeal with cinnamon so why not add some of that too. Because of the spices this is a perfect recipe for early fall. It also uses half oil and half applesauce, plus egg whites, making it more waistline friendly as well. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Oatmeal Zucchini Bread
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3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cup peeled, shredded zucchini
1/2 cup quick cooking oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl beat together the sugar, applesauce, vegetable oil, egg whites and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and baking soda. Slowly combine into liquid mixture. Add in zucchini and oats. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Tags: Bread, Cinnamon, Fall recipes, Oatmeal, Zucchini

Posted in Bread | 3 Comments »

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

Carrot Cake

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens

The things we do for those we love….

Me personally, I am not a huge fan of carrot cake. I will eat it, yes, but I certainly never crave it and one piece is always enough.

My sister-in-law however, LOVES carrot cake. She sent me an adorable email a few weeks ago telling me how much she loves carrot cake, and reminding me that she had a birthday coming up. She even sent me her favorite carrot cake recipe, saving me loads of time trying to search for one I thought would impress her. Her birthday was actually two days ago, and the cake is sitting safely in my refrigerator just waiting to be delivered to her tomorrow (we’re two hours away). I hated the idea of giving her a birthday carrot cake with a piece missing, so while I was leveling the cake I saved some scraps for myself to eat with the frosting, and have now figured out why I’m not a huge fan…the frosting! I know there are a lot of people out there who love cream cheese frosting, but me? I’m just a good ol’ buttercream kinda gal. The actual cake though…delicious! Jen likes to add 1/2 cup of finely crushed pecans to the batter, and I had every intention of doing that as well, but of course I forgot until 10 minutes after putting the cakes in the oven (oops).

Happy (belated) birthday Jen!

I also have to do a birthday shout out to my younger brother, whose birthday was also two days ago. He requested these fabulous lemon bars for his birthday treat!

Carrot Cake
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2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 cups finely shredded carrot
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

Cream Cheese Frosting
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla
5 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl beat together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon. Add in carrot, vegetable oil and eggs and combine with an electric mixer. Add pecans if desired. Pour into two well greased 9 inch round cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

To make frosting, beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Add in powdered sugar in one cup increments, until desired sweetness and consistency is reached. Place frosting in between the two cake layers and use remaining frosting for the top and sides.

If desired place crushed pecans around the edges of the cake (use your hands to press them into the frosting). To make carrot curls for garnish: use a vegetable peeler to make long, thing strips of carrot. Roll the strips and secure with a toothpick. Place in a bowl of ice water in the refrigerator for several hours. Remove toothpick before using as garnish.

I’m sharing this recipe at Recipe Swap Thursday

**Updated recipe and picture here**

Tags: Cake

Posted in Cake | 9 Comments »

Monday, September 20th, 2010

Peanut Butter Butterfinger Cookies

Recipe adapted from Sugar Cooking

We all have some kind of food or treat that reminds us of our childhood. One of those treats for me are Butterfingers. As a kid my paternal grandfather used to watch my younger brother and I a lot. There was a restaurant right down the street from him house and we used to walk there for breakfast as a treat. If we behaved (which we always did of course ), he would let us pick out a candy bar to eat after breakfast. I don’t remember what my brother would choose, but I would always get a Butterfinger, and to this day they remain one of my favorites.

When I started this blog I knew I wanted to make some sort of creation that involved these candy bars. I have a Butterfinger cupcake on the list, but when I saw these cookies I knew I had to try them. The combination of the peanut butter and the candy bar compliment each other really well. When you chop these up they will crumble into flakes, similar to how they tend to dissolve in your mouth. I actually like how there really aren’t any “chunks” of candy bar in the cookie, but instead just flavor and texture. I personally just used these in my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe, and you could easily do the same. If you don’t have a favorite yet I think this one works really well. These cookies got rave reviews and I can’t wait to make them again! Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Butterfinger Cookies
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1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 3/4 cup flour
5 miniature Butterfingers ( or approximately 1 1/2 regular sized Butterfingers)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Cream together shortening, sugars, and peanut butter. Add egg, vanilla and milk. In a separate bowl combine the salt, baking soda, and flour, then add to dough. Chop Butterfingers. They will fall apart and become very crumbly instead of in individual pieces. Add to dough and mix with spoon. Using a cookie scoop or spoons, form into balls and place onto cookie sheets.Use your fingers to flatten cookies just a little. Bake 10 minutes.

Tags: Butterfingers, Cookies, peanut butter

Posted in Cookies | 6 Comments »

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

Cinnamon Glazed Doughnut Muffins

Recipe adapted from My Baking Addiction

I love doughnuts. Always have. Always will. My favorite doughnuts are actually maple long johns from a small bakery in Winona, MN, but glazed doughnuts are a close second.

Warm glazed doughnuts, mmmmmmmm.

I like muffins too. Not as much as doughnuts, but they are still tasty. They are also a little easier to make than doughnuts, and easy usually wins in my book. But imagine my taste buds jumping off my tongue when I saw this recipe for a doughnut muffin. A glazed doughnut muffin! This was one of those recipes that I instantly knew I would try, and love. It sounds like it would be complicated, right? Not at all! This recipe is very easy, not too time consuming, and delicious!

The only major change I made was to leave out the nutmeg and add a little extra cinnamon (the truth is, I thought I had nutmeg but didn’t, and didn’t want to waste time going to the store). I think the taste was still fabulous, and a little extra cinnamon never bothers me. The glaze is a simple powdered sugar frosting. You could certainly only put one layer of glaze on the muffins if you wanted to cut back on the sweetness, but seriously, two layers makes these divine. Next time I make them I may even get daring and try three! I had some extra glaze that Derek just started pouring onto the muffins after biting into them. I think these would make a fabulous quick fall breakfast treat, and would be great with some apples or maple syrup added to the mix. Enjoy!

Glazed Doughnut Muffins
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1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 2/3 cup flour
1 cup milk

Glaze:
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp hot water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line muffin pan with muffin cups (or lightly grease). Beat together the butter, oil and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, then add baking powder, soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir in flour and milk, alternating between the two, starting and ending with the flour. Pour mixture into muffin cups until nearly full. Bake approximately 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
While the muffins are cooking, mix together the melted butter and vanilla. Add powdered sugar (mixture will be thick), and then add water. Stir together until smooth.
Once muffins have cooled slightly, dip the domes of the muffins into the glaze. Let harden. If you prefer you can dip them again (highly recommended).

Tags: Cinnamon, Fall recipes, Muffins

Posted in Muffins | 8 Comments »