Whole-grain Oatmeal Carmelitas

Here's another family favorite made over to be a little more healthy and big enough to take to a pot luck or youth acitivity. These freeze well so when I make them just for us, I always package some up in snack baggies and keep them in the freezer to use for school lunch treats. I hope you enjoy them too.

Pumpkin Cream Pie

You know that if this pie showed up at the next potluck dinner, you would want to serve you up a piece before anything else just to make sure you got one. As you can see, it was devoured at our house almost before I was able to capture a picture of the final piece!

Blackberry Pie Filling

We are growing blackberries. Our patch is now 4 years old and doing very well. Our berries are huge! I have been picking and freezing every few days until I have enough to do something significant with them. It's tricky to save very many each picking though because we have quite a few berry snitchers who just want to eat one more before they are put away FOREVER.

Dutch Oven Caramel Chocolate Crumb Bars

We've been experimenting with some Dutch oven recipes to get my husband ready to go to Scout Camp for a week. Some of our experiments have flopped and some have become new favorites! These Dutch oven caramel chocolate crumb bars are one of those new favorites. The scouts have already requested them for their next (and every other) campout! My kids love them too.

Sour Cream Apple Pie

I was in charge of the pies for our recent Easter gathering. I come from a very large family which I love, but pies for 40+ was going to mean a lot of rolling out of pie crust. I opted to adapt a

Bubbling Hot Lava Chocolate Fudge Cake

Who can resist a warm chocolate cake that bubbles up with it's own hot fudge sauce? No one at our house! This is a recipe that tastes fabulous, but is very easy to make. Don't we all want a few more recipes like that?

Peanut Butter Passion Bars

Today I will share with you another one of our favorite bar cookies. As usual, I made over the recipe to include bean puree to add protein and fiber and reduce the fat. I also made the sweetened condensed milk using my powdered

Blackberry Sour Cream Squares

I taught a powdered milk class the other day and had many ladies request the recipes I had as tasting samples. It was hard for any of them to believe that this delicious, nice-enough-for-company dessert was made using powdered milk

Coconut Milk Ice Cream

We have many family members with food allergies so it can be challenging to feed them when they come for a visit. I always like to do my best at being a hostess and allow my sister-in-laws a bit of a break from planning all the meals so they can have a bit of a vacation. They always jump in and help in the preparation of meals when they are here, but they are so thankful that the planning and shopping has been done.

Coconut Crispy Ice Cream Crunch

We all need a dessert recipe in our collection that allows us to make it well ahead of the occasion. This is a perfect one for that! You can trade it up by choosing a different flavor of ice cream. Using gluten-free rice crispies makes it a gluten-free choice. This is one recipe I turn to when my family members come to visit who have celiac disease and have to avoid all gluten - (Dessert without gluten is tricky to pull off for those of us who don't have to think about it everyday. It would also work as an egg-free dessert which is also tricky to think of on the spot.) It's ready in a snap and can be pulled out of the freezer whenever you need it. This was my version of a gluten-free birthday cake. I made one using Mountain Blackberry Ice Cream and another using Maple Nut. Both were delicious and devoured!

Coconut Crispy Ice Cream Crunch
½ cup butter or margarine	2 cups flaked coconut
½ cup brown sugar, packed	1 cup chopped nuts, optional
3 cups crisp rice cereal	½ gallon ice cream, softened (any flavor)
In a pan over medium heat, cook butter and brown sugar until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Press half of mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan.  Spread ice cream over crust and top with remaining mixture.  Freeze until firm.

Our Very Own Fair Experience - Homemade Funnel Cakes

Our kids all chose to enter some items into the state fair this year. It was fun to go see their projects - each one of them received some sort of ribbon for their category. My one son took first place in the yeast bread category using my Fabulous Homemade Bread recipe. They were all pretty excited.

Before leaving for the fair, we discussed the amount of money it was going to cost to get in, ride the rides, purchase food, etc. We talked to the kids about needing to make some choices to be able to stay within the amount we had budgeted for this activity. They all decided to forgo any food purchases at the fair knowing we could make something at home for a lot less. For breakfast the next day, we made funnel cakes.

After mixing the batter, pour it through a funnel into hot oil, swirling a little as you go. I used a plastic cup for a funnel - just poke a hole in the bottom. It worked great and I could just toss it when we were done.

Fry until it is golden brown on one side and then flip it over to complete cooking.

Drain it on a paper towel when it is done.

The kids were so quick at grabbing them that I had to settle for pictures of half eaten samples. You can top them with powdered sugar like the recipe suggests.

Or honey is tasty - 

My favorite and many of the kids' favorite is raspberry freezer jam. Honey butter would also be delicious! We don't make these very often - once every year or two probably, but when we do, we devour them! Perhaps your family will love them too.

Funnel Cakes
2 eggs, beaten	1 tsp baking powder
1 ½ cups reconstituted powdered milk	½ tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour	2 cups cooking oil (for frying)
Combine milk and eggs. Stir in dry ingredients. Drip through a funnel into hot oil, swirling the funnel a little as you go. Fry until lightly browned, turning once with tongs. Remove to a paper towel covered plate. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. I use an electric frying pan with the temperature set at 350° F to help control the temperature of the oil. Note: I use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour

Snickerdoodles for an Army or just a Family Reunion

When put on kitchen duty for our family reunions, you can feel like you're in the army assigned to KP! We had 90 people this year from my Mom's side of the family at the reunion - and that is only about 1/3 of us. My grandmother is still living and is 93. (This is a recipe I copied from her box many years ago.) She has 68 grandchildren and well over 100 great-grandchildren with more on the way! We are so glad she was healthy and able to make the trip. I love taking my kids to these events because it is important to understand that they are part of something so big and that there are literally hundreds of people who know who they are and love them.

I had my daughter mix up the cookie dough. We tripled the batch since I have a large enough mixer to handle that size. I did have her add some cinnamon into the dough. We added 1 tsp per batch so 3 tsp for our big mixer full. Instead of rolling them into balls and then in cinnamon/sugar, I decided to try shaping them into a log and slicing them. I knew this would be faster for the number of cookies we needed to bake. This is why I put the cinnamon in the dough. I wanted to be sure they had enough cinnamon flavor. 

After rolling into logs, refrigerate the dough until firm - it will be easier to slice. Slice into thin, even slices and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. (I keep a bottle mixed up in my spice cupboard. Mix 1 tsp cinnamon with 4-5 Tbsp sugar.) Then bake as directed. Depending on how thin you sliced them, you may need to adjust the baking time. 

They turned out delicious and very fast to do. If you don't want to bake all the dough at once, just freeze the logs and pull one out of the freezer when you are ready to bake. You can have fresh tasting cookies in a flash! 

Snickerdoodles are also one of the least expensive cookies to make since they don't call for any chocolate chips or other more spendy ingredients so when cost is a factor, this is a recipe I turn to.

Snickerdoodles
½ cup butter	2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup shortening	¼ tsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar	1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
Cream butter, shortening, sugar, and eggs. Add dry ingredients. Roll into balls and place on cookie sheet to freeze. Transfer to ziplock bag when frozen. To use frozen dough: Take out as many as you want to bake. Thaw just until sticky. Roll in cinnamon and sugar. Place on a greased cookie sheet to thaw a little longer; press down lightly. Bake at 400° F 8–10 minutes. Makes 3-4 dozen.

Berry Cream Cheese Danish Pull-Apart Bread

I attempted a recipe I came across on the web. I couldn't get the image out of my mind so after a few days, I tackled it. You can find the original recipe here.

I made a batch of my basic bread dough instead of using pre-made dough. I also followed the suggestion to mix freezer jam with cream cheese for the filling. The result was amazing! The only thing I will do differently next time is drizzle the whole pan with frosting - it won't keep it healthy, but it will be soooo good. You could also make the presentation a little cleaner by baking them like cinnamon rolls instead of jamming them all into the pan. But, hey - no one complained at our house. The entire 9x13 pan was devoured for breakfast!

We will most definitely be making this again.

Apple Cherry Pandowdy and Pie Crust Recipe

Pandowdy is a fun word to say - it is also very easy to make. I always try to keep some pie crust in the freezer so this becomes a quick dessert. Double crust pies have always intimidated me a bit because I always have a tricky time getting my top crust to look just right. With a pandowdy, there is no "perfect" about it - so no reason to be afraid.

Fill your pan - whatever shape or size you want with pie filling. I used 1 quart of home canned cherry pie filling and sliced in a few apples to cut down on the sweetness of the pie filling a little.

Then roll out your pie crust. (Mine is 1/2 white flour 1/2 whole wheat flour which is why it looks a little darker.) Cut your crust with a pizza cutter into small pieces about 1 1/2 inches square - remember there is nothing perfect about this. Lay them across the top in a haphazard pattern, covering most of the filling.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes - until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown.

Enjoy warm with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream - delicious!

Try some other flavor combinations. We like apples mixed with any kind of berry. We have also done apple, cherry, rhubarb. And when the garden is going crazy with zucchini, we use it in place of the apples - that is a recipe for another post another day. Enjoy!

Pie Crust
This crust recipe freezes very well. Double or triple the batch and freeze in individual crust sizes. It will keep for 6 months or more in the freezer.
2 cups all-purpose flour	1 cup shortening
½ tsp salt	Ice water
Cut the shortening into the flour and salt mixture with a fork until the pieces of shortening are between the size of quarters and nickels (no smaller.) Add ice water a tablespoon at a time. Toss the moistened area with a fork until it begins to pull together into a ball. Set it aside and add more ice water to the dry parts, tossing as you go. When all the dough is moistened, but not sticky, separate into two parts. Shape into disks about 4 inches across and wrap in plastic wrap. (You can freeze the dough at this point to use later. Thaw and roll out when it is still cold.) Refrigerate the dough for at least 10 minutes, but 2–3 hours is best. (The trick to a crispy crust is larger pieces of fat that are cold so they can create pockets of steam in the crust when it bakes.) Roll out between two pieces of plastic wrap to fit the pan. If baking empty, place a piece of foil over the crust and fill with a hand full of dry beans. This will keep bubbles from forming in the crust. Bake at 400° F for 8–10 minutes until lightly browned. If filling crust, use a precooked filling that is already thickened to speed up the baking process. Top with crust, cut a few vent holes, and bake at 400° F for 30–35 minutes or until golden brown. Check after 25 minutes and cover edges with foil if crust is browning too quickly.

Preparing for holiday baking

There are lots of preparations going on in everyone's homes this time of year. The last couple of weeks, I have been preparing for all the holiday baking. 

I made 3 batches of my All-purpose Christmas Cookie Dough. It is in the freezer for later. We did cook up a few dozen pinwheel cookies that we took to the kids' piano recital.

I made extra bean puree so I could give more "healthy" treats to neighbors and friends.



I made a double batch of the dough for these Molasses cookies. It is also in the freezer.




Yesterday, I made a large batch of this Chocolate chip cookie dough. I only added chocolate chips to some of it so I can play with the other dough. It can be an all-purpose dough also. I plan to put a Hersheys kiss in some of the cookies as well as add some of the other fun flavored chips they have available this time of year. I have put a Rolo candy in the top of each cookie, similar to what you do with the Hersheys kiss. I have also used the green and red M&Ms and pressed them in the top of each cookie before baking. There are lots of possibilities once you have a great flavored dough!



The final kind of cookie dough I hope to get to today is my Chewy Cinnamon Cookies.

Since cookie dough freezes so easily, I usually begin my preparations in November. When it comes time to take a platter to a recital or dinner party, I can pull 2-3 kinds of dough from the freezer and bake a dozen of each kind. The platter looks like I worked hard in the kitchen all day, when in reality it only took me the few minutes to form the cookies and bake them. Some years, I have even given the frozen dough as a gift to neighbors and friends. They love the chance to do some baking with their kids or grandkids without the full time commitment.

Once cookie preparations are done, I will move on to the homemade candies. All the decorating, card writing, and package wrapping also has to fit in. I'm using my crockpot most nights to give me a bit of extra time. I'll be posting some of those new recipes soon.

I learned long ago that I have to find joy in the preparations - the years that pregnancy kept me in bed over the holidays helped me realize how much I counted on the preparing as part of the actual holiday for me. Hopefully some of these recipes or tips can help you enjoy the preparations as well.

Chewy "Healthy" Chocolate Chip Cookies

I finally snagged some time to post this recipe you have all been asking for. These are the most amazing tasting chocolate chip cookies! No one ever believes that they are lower in sugar and contain only half the fat of a traditional recipe. They are also egg-free, which for some is important.

Chewy "Healthy" Chocolate Chip Cookies
You and your kids can eat all the dough they would like since there are no eggs! These cookies are lower in sugar, lower in fat, and lower in cholesterol. You can't get much healthier than that and still enjoy a cookie! This is the result of a year's worth of experiments. I'm so glad I didn't give up!
½ cup butter	2 tsp baking soda
½ cup white bean puree	1 Tbsp vanilla
⅔ cup sugar	¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar, packed	1 cup chocolate chips
3 cups all-purpose flour	Oatmeal, coconut, chopped nuts (optional)
Cream together butter, bean puree and sugars. Add flour, baking soda, and vanilla. It will look pretty dry at this point. Slowly add in the oil and mix until it has pulled together into cookie dough consistency. Stir in chocolate chips and any other optional ingredients you'd like. Roll into balls and place on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° F for 8–10 minutes. Pull them out of the oven just as they are beginning to turn light brown in a couple of spots. They still look pretty doughy overall. Allow to rest on baking sheet for about 5 minutes to set and them move to a wire rack to cool. Makes 3 dozen.

Here it is just before adding the oil.

Slowly add the oil, and watch the dough pull together. (I have also made these cookies using 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour. When I use the whole wheat flour, I sometimes have to add just a touch more oil to see the dough come together.)

Here it is all ready for chocolate. Isn't it beautiful!

Add the chips and any other goodies you would like.

I always roll some of the dough up in plastic wrap and freeze to bake later.

Form into balls by pressing the dough together. Place on a baking sheet and flatten slightly with your hand.

Bake for about 8 minutes. You just want them to barely be turning brown. They still look quite fluffy. Allow them to sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes after pulling them from the oven so they can finish the baking process.

Cool on a wire rack.

This recipe consistently make these gorgeous cookies!

Sometimes I bake a few trays of just plain chocolate chip cookies, and then I add some other goodies to the rest of the dough. Here I added oatmeal, coconut, and chopped pecans. Be careful not to add too much or else you won't be able to press the dough together into a ball. (This batch was right on the edge of too much.)

I was still able to press the dough together, but the cookies didn't spread out much on the tray. They were still good, but know that you have been fairly warned - too much of a good thing can be too much. Enjoy!

Valentine's Day Marble Heart Cookies

I had some frozen cookie dough in the freezer from when I made a huge batch ahead of Christmas using my All Purpose Christmas Cookie dough recipe. My daughter, Sarah, and I got creative and turned it into some fun marble heart cookies for Valentine's Day.

We had less red dough than the neutral color. We rolled the neutral color dough out between two pieces of plastic wrap and then tore it into pieces. We then rolled the red dough into "snakes" and placed them between the pieces of neutral colored dough.

At this point, we replaced the top piece of plastic wrap and rolled it flat again to about 1/4" thick.

We cut hearts out using a cookie cutter. 

We collected the scraps of dough and rolled them again. This time we got a great marble effect.

The third time we rolled the dough, the marbling was almost too much leaving them more pink. My favorite hearts came from the 2nd rolling. You can see them on the right in the photo below.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8-11 minutes our until just barely turning brown on the edges. Mine only took about 8 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. No frosting needed. These freeze very well after being baked so don't hesitate to plan ahead next year and get them done a week or two early for the parties at home or school.

Protein Filled Pumpkin/White Bean Pie

Some of the best recipes arise out of the need to pinch hit in the kitchen. By "pinch hit," I am referring to when you need to substitute one ingredient for another. This pie is a perfect example. I was short on frozen pumpkin by about 1/2 cup so I thought about what other ingredients I had that would take on the flavor and texture I wanted. "Aha," I thought, as I opened the freezer, - "white bean puree!" It was as delicious as ever and no one even noticed I added all that protein and fiber.

Begin by rolling out your pie crust. I happened to have one in the freezer - it made a quick dessert to prepare! My family loves just about anything made from pumpkin. For my favorite pie crust recipe, click here. For pictures of how I roll it out, click here. Place the prepared pie crust in the fridge to keep it cold while you mix up the filling. A cold pie crust will cook up more flaky which is what everyone loves!

Whisk all the filling ingredients together.

Prepare a piece of foil to place around the edge of the pie, covering the crust so it won't burn while the filling cooks. Fold a square piece of foil in half and cut as pictured above.

Open it flat.

Place a baking sheet on your oven rack to catch any spills. Place your prepared pie crust on the baking sheet. Pour your filling into the crust.

Carefully cover the edges - it doesn't need to be tightly crimped down. Just shape it enough that it will stay on while you slide the pie in and out of the oven.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove the foil.

Bake an additional 20 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the pie to cool before serving.

Pumpkin/White Bean Pie

Prepared pie crust

1 1/2 cups pumpkin or squash puree (canned or frozen)

1/2 cup white bean puree

2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

3 eggs, slightly beaten

6 Tbsp dry milk powder

2/3 cup hot tap water

Whisk together the hot water and milk powder until no lumps remain. Add remaining ingredients and whisk well. Pour filling into prepared pie crust. Bake at 375 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cover the edges of the crust with foil for the first 25 minutes of baking to prevent over browning.