Peanut Butter and Jam Muffins

I really liked these muffins! They had a very different texture and flavour from regular muffins, and the jam in the middle was such a nice surprise!

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk, I used skim
1 egg
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
Jam

Method:

In a bowl whisk together dry ingredients.

In another bowl mix the rest of the ingredients except for the jam and add to the dry ingredients and mix just until moistened.

Spoon half of the mixture into a greased muffin pan.

Spoon 1 teaspoon jam into each muffin cup and spoon the remaining batter over the jam to cover.

Bake at 400º for 25 minutes.

Cool a few minutes in the pan, remove and cool completely on a cooling rack.
These muffins freeze well.
Yields: 12 muffins

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

This bread is sooooo good! I love how the swirl looks! It's basically a cinnamon bun, in bread form. It tastes good with butter, or icing, or by itself.

To make:
1/2 cup warm water
2 packages dry yeast
(1 tablespoon sugar)

Combine and stir until dissolved. Set aside. (Use 1 tablespoon of the sugar listed below.)

1 cup milk, scalded
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt

Combine and stir until melted. Cool to lukewarm, then add to yeast mixture.

1 egg, slightly beaten
2/3 cup orange juice
2 cups flour

Add, beating until smooth. Let rest 10 minutes.

5 to 5 1/2 more flour.

Add and knead until smooth and elastic.

Grease top and place in greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled. Punch down. Divide dough into two balls. Let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each ball into a 7 by 15 rectangle, 1/2 inch thick.

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Mix.

2 tablespoons melted butter.

Spread over dough. Then sprinkle with brown sugar mixture (mentioned above).

Roll up rectangles jelly-roll fashion and place in 2 greased 9 by 5 loaf pans, sealed side down. Grease tops with oil or melted butter. Let rise until double again. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Grease tops with butter while hot. (May omit orange juice and use additional milk instead.)

Yield: 2 loaves

The Cookie Fiasco: How To NOT Make Cookies

I'd like to say I made this mistake when I was still young and inexperienced in the baking world, but I actually made it just this afternoon.

I haven't made cookies for a very long time, so you can imagine how happy I was when I was allowed to make Marshmallow Filled Chocolate Cookies. I eagerly began the baking process, mixing together all the ingredients. I then proceeded to line the sheet with parchment paper. All good, right? WRONG! I unknowingly used wax paper instead of parchment paper. And, of course, I didn't know that until after the cookies were done baking.

Okay, that's not a real sign, but it should be! Then it would stop poor bakers like me from using wax paper.

Caution to all you bakers out there: Never, ever, ever use wax paper. If the wax paper bakes into the cookies, it could prove rather fatal to your health.

Next, I found out, AFTER I had already begun the marshmallow filling, that I didn't have enough butter to finish. That would have been good to know BEFORE I started the recipe. And if that wasn't enough, the oven started smoking because I had used wax paper instead of parchment paper and it was melting.

And THEN I pulled the cookies out of the oven, turned it off, and found out too late that they weren't cooked enough. My mom and I went through them, pulling each one apart, to see which were cooked enough to be eaten. Fortunately, exactly one half was cooked enough, the other half I'd rather not talk about.

This picture is of all the unbaked cookies, broken in half.

NOTE: IN THE END I MADE MARSHMALLOW ICING, I DIDN'T ACTUALLY FILL THE COOKIES. AND MY ICING WAS COMPLETELY MADE UP, BUT IT STILL TASTED ALRIGHT.
ANYWAYS, if you would like the recipe, here it is:

Marshmallow Filled Chocolate Cookies

2 cups sugar
1 cup softened butter or margarine
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups milk
4 cups flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 º
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or grease.
In mixer bowl, beat together, margarine, sugar vanilla and eggs. Beat until light. Add milk.
Add dry ingredients and mix well. This is a soft dough, more like a thick cake batter.
Using a scoop or teaspoon, drop dough about 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets.
Bake at 375º for 7 - 9 minutes, baking until cookies are soft but spring back when touched.
Wait a minute or two before removing from cookie sheets to a rack. Cool completely.
Fill with marshmallow filling and store in tightly covered containers in your freezer.

Marshmallow Filling

1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
6 Tablespoons milk, divided
3 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup softened butter or margarine
1/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Place mini marshmallows and 3 tablespoons of milk in a microwave bowl or saucepan.
Gently melt, over medium heat - stirring frequently.
Just before marshmallows have melted completely, remove from heat and stir until all the lumps are gone. Set aside.
In mixing bowl, beat together margarine, shortening and vanilla.
Add icing sugar and 3 tablespoons milk, beating well.
Add marshmallow mixture and continue to beat. You may need a bit more icing sugar or milk to make it of spreading consistency. It should be thick but still spreadable.
Fill cookies.
Enjoy!

Oh well, in the end it all worked out. And the cookies still tasted good!

Bon Appetit!

Coconut Clouds

Coconut Clouds R

  

• 67 Servings
• Prep: 45 min. Bake: 10 min./batch + cooling

45 10 55

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup flaked coconut, toasted
• 
  FROSTING:
• 1/3 cup butter, cubed
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoons evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups flaked coconut, toasted

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and extracts. Stir in sour cream. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in coconut.
• Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool.
• In a small heavy saucepan, cook butter over medium heat for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown. Pour into a small bowl; beat in the confectioners’ sugar, milk and extracts.
• Frost cookies; dip in coconut. Let stand until completely dry. Store in an airtight container. Yield: about 5-1/2 dozen.

Contest Winners!!!!

Well, here are the contest winners to my food photography contest!

First off, I will talk about each picture...

Nela's picture of Cinnamon Buns:

I really liked this picture! You can clearly see the glaze and swirls, and the close up is perfect! If you get too close it will sometimes get blurry if you are not careful.

Amy's picture of Pavlova:

Love this picture! It's slightly blurry, but I kind of like that. It gives it a nice look. I love how the chocolate is dribbled on top... it makes my mouth water.

Savories of Life's picture Meat Pie:

Great picture! I like how you had the other plate just barely in the picture and centered the main plate. The food looks delicious and the picture has lots of colour! I'll have to try and make it some time!

And now, for the winners... *drum roll please*

First place goes to NELA @ "Beloved Star." Be sure to check out her blog. It's awesome! Here's the address: desiringgodsdesires.blogspot.com

And here's the medal! Thanks for participating!

<center><a href="" target="_blank"><img alt="First place!" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/FishyBC/untitled.jpg"/></a></center>

Honourable Mention goes to:

AMY THOMSON @ Amy's Prayer Blog. Be sure to take a look at her blog! The address: amysprayerblog.blogspot.com

And here's the medal!

<center><a href="" target="_blank"><img alt="Honourable Mention" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/FishyBC/Pavlova2.jpg"/></a></center>

Contest!!!

I've decided to host another contest! The theme is food photography!

Rules:

-The picture must be taken by you

-It must be of food, but you can have anything else in the pictures for decoration.

-You don't have to give me the recipe along with the photo... but I would appreciate it!

-You can enter as many pictures as you like!

-HINT: I love bright colours!

Contest Begins: Right now!
Contest Ends: May 3, 2011
Winners announced: May 4, 2011

Thanks in advance for entering!

Carrot Gold Cake

I LOVE carrot cake! And this is the best carrot cake recipe ever! It was made for a choir concert that my sister was in... Sooo good!

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 - 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 eggs, well beaten
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 - 1/2 baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons ground cimmamon
2 cups finely grated raw carrots
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup angel flake coconut
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Beat together sugar and oil. Add in the eggs, beating unti fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Finally, fold in the carrots, pineapple, coconut, and nuts. Pour into 3 greased and floured 8-inch layer pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Or bake in a 9 by 13 pan for 40 to 45 minutes. Ice with cream cheese frosting.