March 22, 2020

Classic Lemon Bars

by penji1

Classic Lemon Bars

I have been in Mississippi for the past month working on a movie that got shut down with only a week to go due to the Corona virus but I did get in some baking while I was there before the virus starting disrupting all of our lives. The hair and makeup ladies asked if I could make them lemon bars and I realized that I didn’t have a traditional lemon bar recipe on my blog so found this one which was perfect!

crust

1 3/4 cups flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

filling

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup flour

4 eggs

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray.

2 For the crust, whisk together flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Cube butter into small pieces and add to dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter or two forks, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it’s crumbly and starts to come together. Dump mixture into prepared pan and press into bottom in an even layer.

3 Bake 20 – 25 minutes or just until top is set and edges are light golden brown. Remove from oven.

4 For the filling, whisk together sugar and flour. Add in eggs and lemon juice and mix until fully combined. Pour lemon filling over crust carefully and return to oven.

5 Bake 18 – 22 minutes or until filling is set and no longer jiggles. Remove from oven and let cool 1 – 2 hours then cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Sift powdered sugar over top before serving.

recipe from Live Well Bake Often

February 17, 2020

Gold Sprinkle Wedding Cake

by penji1

Gold Sprinkle Wedding Cake

I think this is one of my favorite wedding cakes that I’ve ever done. I love the look of the uniformity of the sprinkles on the top layer and then the randomness of them on the bottom layer.

The cake was Funfetti made from this recipe here.

The buttercream icing was made from this recipe here.

The gold sprinkles were from Michaels.

Congratulations to Charlie and Tyler! Thank you for letting me be a part of your big day!

February 11, 2020

Easy Chocolate Chip Brownies

by penji1

Easy Chocolate Chip Brownies

Is there anything better than a homemade chocolate chip brownie right from the oven? Well, maybe a few things but you get my point, right? These will go into the regular rotation, they were that good.

2 cups sugar (or 2 cups Monkfruit Sweetener for a lower calorie version)

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon salt

5 eggs

1 cup canola oil (or 1 cup unsweetened applesauce also for a lower calorie version)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chips – I used 1/3 cup semisweet, 1/3 cup milk, and 1/3 cup white

1 Heat oven to 350. Spray 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray.

2 In mixer bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa and salt and mix on low until combined.

3 Add eggs, oil (or applesauce), and vanilla and mix on low until combined.

4 Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle chips over the top.

5 Bake 30 – 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs. The edges will pull away from the pan and center should look set, not wet at all.

6 Let cool completely before cutting.

If you cut the brownies into 24 pieces and follow the original recipe, the calories count is 230 per brownie. If you use the two substitutions, the calorie count goes down to 92 calories per brownie!

recipe from Together as Family

February 4, 2020

Chocolate Cake Mix Cupcakes

by penji1

Chocolate Cake Mix Cupcakes with Gumballs

Made some cupcakes yesterday for a couple of birthdays.

Chocolate Cake Mix Cupcakes with Gumballs

The ones with the gumballs were for my friend Reed who was celebrating his 10th birthday.

Chocolate Cake Mix Cupcakes with Kit Kats

These with the Kit Kats were for my friend Rebecca.

Chocolate Cake Mix Cupcakes with Kit Kats

I saved one to sample and it was delicious!

cupcakes

1 box chocolate cake mix

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1 cup water or cooled coffee

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sour cream

1 cup mini chocolate chips

frosting

I used this frosting here.

decorations

sprinkles

gumballs (I bought a giant bag of gumballs on the Christmas clearance rack at Home Goods after Christmas knowing I would find a use for them!)

mini Kit Kats (I bought a bunch of bags of Halloween candy after Halloween on the clearance rack also knowing I would find a use for them!)

1 Heat oven to 325. Line muffin pans with paper liners.

2 Whisk together cake mix, sugar, flour, and cocoa in bowl of mixer. Add water, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream and beat on low for 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips.

3 Scoop batter into paper liners. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until center springs back when lightly touched. Allow to cool before decorating.

recipe from Love From the Oven

January 31, 2020

Sheet Pan Lemon Chicken and Potatoes

by penji1

Lemon Chicken and Potatoes

This was yummy and easy and required only one pan so win, win, win!

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons Greek seasoning

1 pound small new potatoes, halved or quartered

2 tablespoons green goddess dressing or Greek vinaigrette dressing

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 1 1/2 pounds

1 tablespoon honey

4 cups fresh baby spinach

toppings

sliced lemon

sliced red onion

crumbled Feta cheese

chopped fresh oregano leaves

1 Heat oven to 425. Cover sheet pan with foil and spray foil with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix oil and 1 teaspoon Greek seasoning then add potatoes and toss to coat. Place potatoes on sheet pan, skin sides down in single layer.

2 Roast uncovered, 16 – 18 minutes or until potatoes are just tender when pierced with fork. Remove pan from oven and stir.

3 In same large bowl, mix dressing and remaining teaspoon of Greek seasoning. Add chicken and toss to coat. Arrange chicken in single layer on pan with potatoes.

4 Roast 20 – 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (at least 165 degrees) and potatoes are browned and tender.

5 Drizzle chicken and potatoes with honey. Add spinach to pan and roast 1 -2 minutes longer or until spinach wilts slightly. Serve with toppings.

recipe from Betty Crocker

January 28, 2020

Blondies with Caramel Chips

by penji1

Blondies with Caramel Chips

If you’re looking for something rich and gooey, you’ve found it! I made them for my neighbor Amber’s birthday but kept just a couple for us to try, they were yummy.

1 cup butter, melted

1 3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoon corn starch

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups caramel or butterscotch chips

1 Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray.

2 Combine melted butter and brown sugar in large bowl and stir until combined.

3 Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

4 In another bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Gradually stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until completely combined. Stir in chips.

5 Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake 25 – 30 minutes or until edges begin to turn golden brown.

6 Allow to cool before cutting.

recipe fromI Am Baker

January 27, 2020

Annie’s Soft Pretzels

by penji1

Annie’s Soft Pretzels

I’ve been wanting to give homemade pretzels a try and my friend Ann had a recipe for them so I gave it a shot and they were so yummy! The top one is cinnamon and sugar and the bottom is salty, the cinnamon and sugar were the winners, they were gone ASAP.

dough

3 1/2 – 4 1/2 cups flour

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon salt

egg wash

1 egg white

1 tablespoon water

toppings

cinnamon and sugar

coarse salt

Parmesan cheese

poppy seeds

1 Preheat oven to 450. In mixer bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups of the flour and the yeast.

2 In a saucepan over medium low heat, stir milk, sugar, oil, and salt until warm, 120 – 130 degrees. Add to flour mixture in bowl.

3 Using bread hook attachment, turn mixer on low for 30 seconds. Continue to add flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough forms a ball on the bread hook attachment. Do not add too much flour or over mix.

4 Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead enough of remaining flour in to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic.

5 Shape dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size or place in a Ziploc bag and let rise in fridge over night.

6 Punch dough down. Turn out on to lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Roll dough into 12 x 10″ rectangle. Cut into sixteen – twenty 12 x 12″ strips. Gently pull/roll each strip into a 16″ long rope.

7 Shape each pretzel by crossing one end over the other to form a circle. Tuck ends under edges to make a pretzel shape. Moisten ends and press to seal.

8 Combine egg white and water to make egg wash. Brush pretzels with egg wash and top as desired.

9 Bake for 14 minutes, turning halfway for even baking.

Yield: 16 pretzels

January 20, 2020

Churro Cake with Chocolate Sauce

by penji1

Churro Cake with Chocolate Sauce

I hosted book group last week and made this delicious cake for our treat. (I started slicing pieces and then remembered that I hadn’t taken a picture yet so that’s why you’re only seeing half the cake.)

Churro Cake with Chocolate Sauce

It was yummy with or without the chocolate sauce.

Churro Cake with Chocolate Sauce

Here you can see that oh so sweet churro cinnamon and sugar on the side which you could really taste better without the chocolate sauce.

cake

2 sticks butter, softened

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

4 eggs plus 2 egg yolks

1/2 cup sour cream

2 3/4 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

cinnamon sugar topping

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter, melted

chocolate sauce

1 1/4 cups half and half

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of salt

4 – 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 For the cake, preheat oven to 350. Spray 10 cup Bundt pan with cooking spray for baking.

2 Beat butter, sugar and vanilla on medium until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then egg yolks. Beat in sour cream until combined. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with milk. Beat until combined.

3 Pour into prepared pan, smoothing top and tapping pan on counter a couple of times to release any bubbles. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes then invert onto serving platter.

4 For the topping, combine sugar and cinnamon. Working in sections, brush cake with melted butter then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, pressing to adhere.

5 For the chocolate sauce, combine half and half, brown sugar, cocoa, vanilla and salt in small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves, 2 – 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Let stand 2 minutes, the stir until smooth.

recipe from Food Network

January 8, 2020

Chocolate Caramel Nut S’more Bars

by penji1

Chocolate Caramel Nut S’more Bars

First treats of 2020 and they did not disappoint!

Chocolate Caramel Nut S’more Bars

Give them a try, they were easy and delicious!

2 cups finely crushed chocolate wafer cookies (36 cookies) or finely crushed graham crackers (2 sleeves of graham crackers)

1/2 – 3/4 cup melted butter

1 (11 oz) package caramel baking bits or 1 (14 oz) package caramels

1/4 cup whipping cream if using caramel baking bits, 1/3 cup whipping cream if using caramels

2 – 2 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

1 1/2 cups nuts, I used almonds

1 cup chocolate chips

1 Preheat oven to 325. Spray 9 x 13″ pan with baking spray.

2 Stir together cookie or cracker crumbs and butter then press firmly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes then cool for 5 minutes.

3 Heat caramel bits or caramels and whipping cream over medium heat until melted and smooth. Pour evenly over crust. Sprinkle with nuts, chocolate chips and then mini marshmallows.

4 Bake about 12 minutes or until marshmallows are just beginning to brown. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

recipe from Better Homes and Gardens

Penny's Food Blog

so many recipes, so little time . . .

Classic Lemon Bars

Gold Sprinkle Wedding Cake

Easy Chocolate Chip Brownies

Chocolate Cake Mix Cupcakes

Sheet Pan Lemon Chicken and Potatoes

Blondies with Caramel Chips

Annie’s Soft Pretzels

Churro Cake with Chocolate Sauce

Chocolate Caramel Nut S’more Bars