Apple Cake

I know that the picture of the Apple Cake isn't very appetizing, and it's probably not really selling itself, right now!  If you could only smell the delightful cinnamon, apple aroma as it's baking, and taste the gooey, warm yumminess.........you'd be HOOKED! I had a bowl of soft semi wrinkly apples that I didn't want to toss in the garbage. What better way to get your family to eat potential trash than turn it into, DESSERT! Of course, I found the recipe in my new favorite cookbook, "The Taste Of Home Baking Book". I did tweak it a little, I added brown sugar in place of white sugar in the recipe,which is why the top of the cake looks like it is burned. It's totally worth it, the cake is very moist, and dense. I served it warm with vanilla ice cream for dessert, but I have to confess I ate some warmed up the next morning with half and half poured over it,and it was HEAVENLY! You could also add raisin or dried cranberries into the batter, but my family considers that highly offensive (the big Babies).

Apple Cake

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour (this would be a good recipe to use half whole wheat half white flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 cups diced apples (chopped mine up in the food processor)

1/4 cup nuts ( I used sliced almonds leftover from Christmas); optional

1. In a large bowl cream together butter, sugar, until light and fluffy. 
2. Beat in egg and vanilla. 
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
4. Add to creamed mixture. The batter will be thick.
5. Stir in apples and nuts.
6. Spread into a greased 8 in  square baking dish
7. Bake at 350 for 35 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

I 1 and a 1/2 timed the recipe and that filled a 13x9 inch cake pan.

Make Your Own Pumpkin Pie Spice

With Thanksgiving (and holiday) baking just around the corner, I like to go through my spices and replace or replenish what I am running low on. I'm lucky to have a bulk food section at my local grocery store that carries a good selection of basic spices.  I can usually stock up on spices for dirt cheap! However pumpkin pie spice is not one they usually carry, and if they do it's kind of pricey. I really like using pumpkin pie spice in my fall baking. I decided I could probably make my own fairly inexpensively. I found the original recipe for it on Living On A Dime. I tweaked the ratios and increased the quantities to make a larger amount (it's just as easy to make a little as to make a lot!). It is quick and easy to stir up a batch, and now I'm ready to start my baking frenzy! I store my  pumpkin pie spice in an old peanut butter jar (just make sure to label your jar, so you know what's in it)!

Pumpkin Pie Spice

(this makes one teaspoon of spice)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground clove

Pumpkin Pie Spice

(this makes 40 teaspoons of spice)

3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon nutmeg

5 teaspoons ginger

5 teaspoons ground clove

Mix ingredients together and store in a cool, dry place.

Baking Day And Home Made Yogurt

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Spiced "Pumpkin" Chocolate Chip Bars

This week I have been trying to use up my pantry stockpiles, garden, and Bountiful Basket produce. I have done fairly well. I did go to the store for milk, eggs (Winco had them on sale for $3.24 for 5 dozen medium eggs), butter( I had coupons so I got 5 boxes for $1.73 a box), dill, and garlic (to make dilly beans). We have been having above average temperatures for our area, and my garden has reacted accordingly. I have a bazillion tomatoes that decided to ripen (all at the same time), more green beans (hence the dilly beans), jalapeno and green peppers galore! Tomorrow I will be in the throws of salsa making!

I have still been sharing a weekly Bountiful Basket with my sweet friend. The last couple of weeks our basket has contained sweet potatoes and butternut squash. I personally, like to eat both vegetables all by themselves with butter and brown sugar. However, it is the general consensus of the rest of the troops, that this method of consuming squash and sweet potatoes is a crime against nature. I can usually get Dear Hubby to eat them this way (if only to set a good example), but the Jr. division will have none of it. There has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth when either item is placed before them. So, I have taken to disguising them in soups, casseroles, and baked goods. I found this recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip bars in the Taste Of Home Cookies cookbook.


I loved that it called for applesauce (an item I have massive amounts of in my storage room) instead of oil. The applesauce also makes them incredibly moist. It calls for 4 eggs, but you could substitute egg whites for part of the whole eggs. Splenda could be substituted for half of the sugar if you want to "healthify" it even more. The original recipe does not call for chocolate chips, but I added some in. Chocolate makes the world go round, after all.

Spiced Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

2 cups all purpose flour (of 1 cup all purpose flour and 3/4 cups whole wheat flour)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
(or omit the above four spices and add 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice)
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups pumpkin (or squash) puree
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients, set aside. In another bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin, and applesauce; mix well. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread into a greased 15x10 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes.

I am loving the fact that I substituted pureed sweet potato and butternut squash for the pumpkin. Nobody is the wiser either. You can substitute cooked, pureed sweet potatoes or winter squash in any baked good calling for pumpkin, including pumpkin pie! I have been doing this little trick for years! The recipe was a hit! My family (and the kid's friends) have been devouring them. They have made a nice addition to packed lunches this week, too.

Fabulous (and Moist) Cornbread

The other day a friend of mine shared her amazing idea for making cornbread moist. I thought it was ingenious, so I am passing it along to you. She adds a 1/2 cup (1 cup if you are making a 13x9 inch size) of unsweetened applesauce into the wet ingredients right before she stirs them into the sifted dry ingredients in her favorite cornbread recipe. I gave it a try the other night when I whipped up a batch of cornbread to go with the broccoli cheese soup I was making for dinner. It was very moist, and there was not an applesauce taste at all. It has also lasted a couple of days without getting dry and stale, like cornbread sometimes does. In fact, leftover cornbread is great for breakfast warmed up and served with butter and syrup (it is one of my favorite breakfasts!).
Here's my favorite cornbread recipe:

Fluffy Cornbread

2 cups of flour
2 cups of cornmeal
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2/3 cup powder milk

Mix these ingredients together in a larger bowl until combined.

2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup applesauce
2 cups water (you can use milk and omit the powdered milk)

Whisk together wet ingredients and add to dry ingredients. Mix until just combined (over mixing makes cornbread tough). Pour batter into a greased 13x9 in baking pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes, or until like brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Gourmet Pancakes

I have found that stirring leftover bits of fruit into pancake batter is a great way to use up leftovers, and (bonus) your family thinks you have become a gourmet chef (at least mine does. Don't let them in on the secret, okay.). I like to make breakfast for dinner on Sunday nights, and pancakes make an appearance quite often (some times french toast if I have an abundance of bread, or find cinnamon bread on the day old rack at the grocery store). Tonight, for instance, I had two apples that had been sitting in the fruit basket for awhile; they were on the verge of becoming shrunken apple head people. I cut out the bruised spots and grated them (making about 1 cup). Then I stirred them into 6 cups pancake batter with 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon ( I know that sounds like a lot, but I am usually feeding an army, plus I freeze the leftovers so the kids can have a quick hot breakfast before school or for after school snacks). Other popular combination's (these ratios are added to six cups already prepared pancake batter) at our house are:

1 cup thawed frozen blueberries (I buy them on sale in the summer when they are cheap and toss them in the freezer or water bath can them in light syrup in pint jars) with 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
1 cup canned cranberries ( I buy them when they go on sale after the holiday's and water bath can them in light syrup in pint jars). You can also simmer them until they are tender with a little bit of sugar and water and freeze them) with 1 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 cup applesauce with 1/4 nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup melted peanut butter (microwave it for about 35-45 seconds) and mini chocolate chips
1 cup mashed banana with 1/4 nutmeg
1 cup finely chopped fresh or canned peaches with 1/4 nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

I have to confess that I use pancake mix. I use to make them from scratch, but my family prefers their Aunt's recipe, and when I asked her for it she showed me the blue bag of Krusteaz! So I picked my battle and now buy it a Costco (the 10lb bag) or make my own mix:

Homemade Pancake Mix

9 cups all purpose flour (or 4 cup all purpose flour and 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour)
1 cup sugar ( or 3/4 cup Splenda)
2 2/3 cup powder milk
1/4 cup baking powder
1 tsp. salt
Combine ingredients and store in an airtight container. Makes 10 2/3 cups mix.
To make pancakes mix together:
2 2/3 cups pancake mix
1/4 cup melted butter or oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 water
Combine wet ingredients and stir into pancake mix until combined. Makes 12 pancakes.

Don't forget to whip up a batch of Homemade syrup or melt a jar of jelly(or use the freezer jam that didn't set quite right) to pour over your delicious gourmet breakfast treats!

Diet Coke Chocolate Cake

Thought I'd share a fun recipe today. Sunday I was craving a chocolate treat, and Jessica suggested that we make the cake that she had eaten at Mutual. She had been raving about it. Since anything with the words Diet Coke and chocolate in it have my 100% approval; I thought we would give it a whirl! I called my friend who gave me the recipe (she got it from her sister who is a heart health educator at the hospital. So apparently, it is also a healthy choice option! Hooray for me!). It is very simple:

1 box of chocolate cake mix (we used devil's food)
1 (120z) can of Diet Coke

Mix together. Spread batter in a greased 13x9 in cake pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Just warning you it does not come out light and fluffy, it is fairly dense. It tastes wonderful, though. It is best with a dollop of whipped cream on top (so much for healthy options. Oh, well!).
You can replace yellow cake and Diet 7 up if you are not a chocolate fan. I'm thinking about adding a can of light cherry pie filling into to the batter next time for variety.