Category: <span>Sweet Treats</span>

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon plus 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon for topping

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar plus 2 tablespoons sugar for topping

1 cup canola oil

3 cups chopped peeled apples (use a variety of baking apples, if possible)

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and salt. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, 1-1/2 cups sugar and oil. Stir in apples; let stand for 5 minutes. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in pecans.
2. Pour into two greased and floured 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: 2 loaves (12 slices each).

Notes: I make this in small loaf pans to give as gifts. Makes 5 loaves. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness. Don’t let them over bake.

Be sure and let the apples stand in the egg mixture for the full 5 minutes. Adds extra sweetness and flavor to the apples.

Originally published as Apple-Nut Quick Bread in Country Woman Christmas Annual Cookbook 2007

Celebrate March Madness by making this yummy, fudgy, and sinfully rich pie – even if you’re not a Tar Heel fan!

• Pastry for a 9-inch, single-crust pie (store-bought)
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 cup (2 ounces) chopped pecans
• 2 eggs, beaten well
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350˚. Line a 9-inch pie pan with crust and then crimp the edges decoratively.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat, tilting and swirling the pan to melt it evenly. Remove it from the heat and add chocolate chips. Stir quickly to melt the chocolate chips in the warm butter and combine them well. * see note

In a medium bowl, combine the flour and sugars and stir with a fork or a whisk to mix well. Add the pecans and toss to coat evenly with the flour mixture. Add the eggs, vanilla, and the chocolate mixture. Stir to mix everything together evenly into a thick, rich, nutty chocolate filling. Pour the filling into the piecrust.

Place the pie on the lowest shelf of the oven. Bake until the pie is puffy, handsomely browned, somewhat dry, and firm in the middle, 30 to 40 minutes. Place the pie on a cooling rack or a folded kitchen towel and let cool to room temperature.

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

From Southern Pies: A Gracious Plenty of Pie Recipes, from Lemon Chess to Chocolate Pecan by Nancie McDermott (Chronicle Books, 2010).

* I always melt butter and chocolate in the microwave using a 8 cup Pyrex™ measuring cup.  I put both in the cup and melt on low power – 30-40% – for a minute or less at a time, checking and stirring until just melted.

This yummy cheesecake-style pie was shared with me by my client Sarah Kueffer, co-owner of Integrity Midwest Insurance in Lawrence, KS. It’s delicious!

 (2) 9” graham cracker crusts

16 oz cream cheese

¾ cup sugar

3 eggs

¾ tsp salt

1 ½ cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix the above ingredients and pour into the crust. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until the center is almost set. Remove from oven and increase the temperature to 425 degrees.

Combine the next set of ingredients using electric mixer on slow speed and spread on pie. Bake 5 minutes and cool on wire rack.

1 ½ cups sour cream

3 T sugar

¾ tsp vanilla

1 can mandarin oranges, drained (11 oz)

Before serving, pies can be decorated with additional mandarin oranges and chocolate chips.

from Nordic Mini-Scone Pan Box

2 C flour

1/4 C sugar

1 1/4 tsp baking  powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 C cold butter, cut into pieces

3/4 C mini-chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 C buttermilk

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray pan with butter spray. (I use a mini-scone pan)
• In large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Blend butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse meal.
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• In a small bowl, combine buttermilk and vanilla, then add to the flour mixture.
• Stir just until the dough comes together.  Do not over mix the dough.
• Divide evenly among the wells in the pan. Dough will be sticky. Use teaspoons to scoop and place in pan sections.
• Bake for 13-18 minutes until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool 10 minutes in the pan. Remove from pan and serve.

Twenty years ago at Christmas time, Sherry Jackson, the wife of my boss Steve, gave all the marketing reps at Aetna Life and Casualty a loaf of this pretty, delicious, and moist bread. I’ve been it making it every year since!

One batch makes at least six small loaves and freezes well so you can do it well ahead of holiday giving. Enjoy!

Combine in a large bowl:

3 C flour

2 C sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix together with an electric mixer:

3 beaten eggs

1 C vegetable or canola oil

After eggs and oil are combined, fold in 2 C thawed frozen strawberries with juice. I buy the big 20 oz. container and remove 4 oz. Strawberries should remain in tact.

Add later: 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients a cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
• Fold in 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans.
• Pour batter in greased 6 small gift-size pans. Pans should be 2/3 full.
• Bake for 40 or so minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool bread on racks (keeping them in the pans) for 10 minutes. Take breads out of pans to finish cooling to room temperature.
• Wrap in festive plastic wrap and a holiday ribbon.

From the 1950 Betty Crocker cookbook

¾ cup sugar

½ cup softened butter

1 egg

Cream shortening and sugar; add egg and beat until light and fluffy. Set aside.

Sift together and set aside:

2 cups flour (reserve 2 tablespoons to toss with blueberries)

2 ½  tsp. baking powder

¼  tsp salt

½ cup milk

2 cups flash frozen fresh blueberries (if they aren’t frozen they get mushy when you mix them in the very stiff batter)

Mixing instructions:

Using a mixer, alternately add flour mixture and milk to the creamed butter, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

Toss the reserved 2 T flour with the blueberries. Using a wooden spoon, carefully fold blueberries into stiff batter. Spread in 9” greased pan or use 4 small loaf pans. I line the small pans with foil first and they come out of the pan easily.  Sprinkle with crumb topping.

Crumb Topping – mix together with fork

½ cup sugar

½ cup flour

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ cup softened butter

For 9 “ pan, bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes checking at 40 minutes to see if you need to put a tent foil over it to slow browning. For smaller pans, bake about 40 minutes, and check at 30 minutes to cover with foil, if needed. Check for doneness with a toothpick in center of pan. When toothpick shows crumbs or comes out clean, breads are done.

Delicious warm or at room temperature. Freezes well.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup cherry preserves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• GLAZE:
• 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tablespoon 2% milk
• 2 teaspoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Place cranberries, preserves and cinnamon in a food processor; process until smooth.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture.
3. Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough into a 12×8-in. rectangle. Spread each with half of the cranberry mixture; roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a short side.
4. Place rolls 4 in. apart on a lightly greased baking sheet, seam side down. Bake 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.
5. Carefully transfer rolls to a cutting board; cool 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut crosswise into 1/2-in. slices. Place slices upright on lightly greased baking sheets.
6. Bake 15-20 minutes longer or until centers are firm and dry. Remove from pans to wire racks.
7. In a small bowl, mix glaze ingredients. Drizzle over warm cookies; cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Yield:about 2-1/2 dozen.

Nutritional Facts

1 cookie equals 120 calories, 4 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 23 mg cholesterol, 58 mg sodium, 20 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 1 g protein.

© 2015 RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC
Read more: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/cranberry-swirl-biscotti/print#ixzz3RRQblFA1

From allrecipes.com

 3 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 lemon

————————-

1 1/8 cups sugar

4 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup whole milk

—————————-

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 pinch ground cinnamon

3/4 cup boiling water

——————————

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 11×7 inch baking dish.
2. Spread the blueberries out to cover the entire bottom of the baking dish. Squeeze the juice from the lemon over them.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the butter and 1 1/8 cups sugar until smooth. Stir in flour and baking powder alternately with the milk until smooth. Batter will be thin. Spoon over the berries and spread evenly.
4. In a small bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups of sugar, salt, and cornstarch. Sprinkle over the top of the batter. Dust with a pinch of cinnamon, then pour the boiling water over the entire dish.
5. Bake 45 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Saltine crackers as a pie crust? Yes!  The combination of salty, sweet, and citrus is a perfect summer dessert.

Read the August 2014 article from Our State magazine to learn how this decade-old pie became an overnight sensation when NC chef Bill Smith from Crook’s Corner restaurant in Chapel Hill improved the recipe. 

For the crust:

·         1½ sleeves of saltine crackers

·         ⅓ to ½ cup softened unsalted butter

·         3 tablespoons sugar

·          

For the filling:

·         1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

·         4 egg yolks

·         ½ cup lemon or lime juice, or a mix of the two

·         Fresh whipped cream and coarse sea salt for garnish

·          

Preheat oven to 350˚.

Crush the crackers finely, but not to dust. You can use a food processor or your hands. (I put the crackers in a plastic bag and crushed with a rolling pin.) Add the sugar, then knead in the butter until the crumbs hold together like dough. Press into an 8-inch pie pan. Chill for 15 minutes, then bake for 18 minutes or until the crust colors a little.

While the crust is cooling (it doesn’t need to be cold), beat the egg yolks into the milk, then beat in the citrus juice. It is important to completely combine these ingredients.

Pour into the shell and bake for 16 minutes until the filling has set. The pie needs to be completely cold to be sliced. Serve with fresh whipped cream and a sprinkling of sea salt.

Yields one pie.