Caramel Apple Cake

CARAMEL APPLE CAKE

This warm apple cake is rich and comforting, perfect for fall! 

Ingredients:

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3 eggs 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil 2 cups white sugar 2 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla ½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg 2 apple - peeled, cored, and chopped 1 cup shredded coconut 1 cup chopped pecans    Caramel Sauce: 1/4 cup butter 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/3 cup heavy cream 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

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	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Generously grease and flour a bundt pan.
	In larger mixing bowl blend eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla, salt, spices, and baking powder until creamy. Add flour, a little at a time. Blend well. Batter will be stiff. Fold in apples, coconut, and nuts.
	Pour into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool 30 minutes in the pan, then remove.  Poke holes all over the top of the cake, with the tines of a meat fork, or other long thin fork tines.
	Caramel Sauce: Melt butter, sugar, and milk in saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in vanilla until bubbles calm down.  Allow to sit for 5 minutes, and then gently spoon the caramel over the cake.  Serve warm or room temperature.

Chocolate Bread Pudding with Nutella

Chocolate Bread Pudding with Nutella

This warm, luscious bread pudding has just enough chocolate to be comforting without being overly sweet.  Truly comfort food! 

INGREDIENTS:

1 loaf of stale french bread 2 tablespoons butter, melted 4 eggs, beaten 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/3 cup Nutella

1 cup milk 1 cup heavy whipping cream 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup hot cocoa mix 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 DIRECTIONS:

	Slice 8, ½ inch slices of from loaf, out of the middle. **Tip: A loaf of Jimmy John's day old bread is perfect for this bread pudding!  Cube the rest of the bread.  Add cubed bread to bottom of 9x9 baking dish.  Drizzle melted butter over bread. Spread Nutella over the 8 slices of bread, add on top of cubed bread, with 4 slices Nutella down, the other 4 facing up.
	In a blender combine eggs, cream, milk, sugars, hot cocoa mix, salt, and vanilla. Blend for 1 minute, until fully combined and the milk and eggs are frothy.  Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.  Cover with foil, and place a weighted object on top of the pudding, forcing the egg and bread to combine fully.  Wait one hour before baking.
	Preheat oven to 350F.  Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving warm.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
So this was a new recipe, and being a lover of both peanut butter and oatmeal, this was a must try.  It's as good as anticipated!  In reality, you could make these cookies without the filling/sandwiching and they are still terrific.  Very easy to make, quick simple recipe! 

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup peanut butter 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup quick cooking oats FILLING-- 3 tablespoons butter, softened 1 cup confectioners' sugar 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter 2 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Directions:

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In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars.  Add peanut butter, vanilla, and egg until all is well incorporated.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir. Add oatmeal and stir.

Drop by teaspoons onto a parchment lined baking sheet, and press each mound down with a fork to form 1/4 inch thick cookies. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes, or until cookies are a light brown.

To Make Filling: Cream 3 tablespoons butter with the peanut butter and whipping cream.  Add confectioners' sugar and stir together until a thick filling forms. When cookies are complete cooled, spread 1/8 inch layer of filling on flat bottom of one cookie, top with a second flat bottom, forming a sandwich.

Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles
Ok, so this isn't a new recipe, and I'm already "cheating" on this blog's premise, however, these are a fan-favorite, and one my favorite people requested these cookies.  You really can't go wrong with this classic cookie recipe! 

Servings: 36, 3 inch cookies

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
½ cup butter flavored shortening/Crisco
1 ½ cups white sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons of white sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon

DIRECTONS:

      1.      Preheat oven to 375F.

2.      In mixing bowl, cream together sugar, butter, shortening until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Add the flour, baking powder and soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and salt. Mix together until fully combined and no flour is showing. 

3.      Mix together the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a rounded plastic dish with a lid, shake until fully combined. 

4.      Refrigerate dough for up to 1 hour to allow the dough to firm up. 

5.      Using a tiny ice cream scoop/disher or a tablespoon, create walnut sized balls of dough, add them 2 at a time to the cinnamon sugar mixture, and shake/roll the dough until completely covered in cinnamon sugar. 

6.      Place dough on a parchment covered cooking sheet, with at least 2 inches in between the cookie dough.  Bake for 8-10 minutes until set, but not too hard.  Remove from the oven; allow to sit on the baking sheet for approximately 2 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. 

7.    Store in air-tight container, if they last that long!