Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Honey Cornbread Muffins

You've probably noticed a lot of cornbread recipes on this blog. I like cornbread. I keep trying new recipes even though I've tried plenty that I've liked because I'm on a quest for the perfect one. I actually made this one a few weeks ago so I don't remember my exact thoughts on it but I do remember that I liked it. They were very moist and the honey gave them a different taste. Here's the link to Confabulation in the Kitchen which is where I found the recipe.














Honey Cornbread Muffins

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, eggs, butter and honey. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Place paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin. Pour batter into liners. Bake 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Thin and Crispy Pizza Crust

It was thin and very crispy. I cooked it on the bottom rack for the first 10 minutes to ensure maximum crispiness. I found it at Brown Eyed Baker and I will be trying this one again.

Thin n’ Crispy Pizza Crust


1 package active dry yeast (2-1/4 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees)
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons yellow cornmeal

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Stir 1-1/4 cups flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt into yeast mixture to form a soft dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands.

Place dough in a large bowl coated with coil, turning dough to coat. Cover; let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.)

Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Roll dough into a 14-inch circle on a lightly floured surface.

Place dough on a pizza pan or baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Crimp edges of dough with fingers to form a rim.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Drizzle dough with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Place pan on lowest oven rack; bake at 450 for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven; top with desired toppings and bake an additional 10 minutes or until crust and cheese is lightly browned. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.


Saturday, March 26, 2011

Carrot Spice Muffins

Thia is a Dorie Greenspan recipe. I've seen  her recipes all over the food blogs and since I had some carrots that needed to be used I decided to try this one  that I found on the blog Sidewalk Shoes. The texture was nice, more cake like than muffin and I didn't think it had enough flavor to stand alone without frosting. I did forget the nuts which would have made it better and I thought it could use more raisins. I don't think I'll make these again but they were okay.


Friday, March 11, 2011

Cake Mix Cookies

In had a box of red velvet cake mix that had just expired, so it was make something or throw it out, and I hate wasting food, so cake mix cookies it was. There are only 4 ingredient in these cookies, so they were pretty easy to make. They looked like cake inside and were a little chewy. Not bad, not in my top ten. I would have liked them better with chocolate cake mix, I'm not really fond of red velvet, tastes too much like food coloring.


Found the recipe at Abby Sweets

 
Cake Mix Cookies
 
1 box cake mix, any flavor
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 (8 oz) Cool Whip, thawed
2 cups powdered sugar
 
     Mix the cake mix, egg, and cool whip together until combined. This will be thick, but not so thick that you can roll it into balls. Put the powdered sugar into a shallow bowl.
     Once you mix the dough, put the scoops of dough into the powdered sugar and roll it to coat. You can shape it once it is covered with the powdered sugar.
     Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
 
The batter looks a bit like Play-doh.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cookies are ready to be baked.





















 
 
Baked up very pretty!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Pink Lemonade

Another Cat Who... recipe. I really didn't car for this one. First I made a simple syrup, added the lemon juice and then added maraschino cherry juice. I thought it was too sweet and didn't taste much like lemonade, so I added extra lemon juice, which I think made it worse. Maybe it would have been better if I had used fresh lemons instead of bottled juice.


Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Mrs. Cobb's Legendary Lemon-Coconut Bars

I love cookbooks. I especially love cookbooks that relate to books or tv shows that I like, such as the Little House on the Prairie cookbook. There is a series of called The Cat Who... by Lillian Jackson Braun and there happens to be a Cat Who Cookbook, actually there are two. It's been hit and miss as to how I've liked the recipes. I'm on the fence about these bars, the crust wasn't as heavy and rich as some lemon bars I've tried which I liked, but I prefer plain lemon bars. Still these were worth trying. I also recommend putting parchment in the bottom of your baking pan, I haven't tried that myself, mostly because I forget until I'm trying to pry the sticky edges from the pan.


Mrs. Cobb's Legendary Lemon-Coconut Bars

3/4 c. butter or margarine
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. all-purpose flour
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. bottled lemon juice
1 c. coconut
powdered sugar

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, powdered sugar, and salt. Stir in vanilla extract and flour. Press into 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan. Bake 20 min. Remove from oven. Beat eggs slightly. Add sugar and beat until thick. Add lemon juice and coconut. Pour on baked crust. Bake 30 minutes longer. Sprinkle top with powdered sugar when cool.
    Makes 24 bars.