Monkey Bread

I've been baking lately.  This weekend I made a Monkey Bread.  I can't even remember how long it has been since I baked one of these... my husband estimates 5 years.  Once upon a time, I used to make this quite often, so often that I have a fleet of budnt pans so I can make several at once. 

I learned to make Monkey Bread from my Aunt Bettye when I was a little girl, I am thinking I was around 8.  Her recipe is identical to the one found on the Pillsbury bisquit can except she adds pecans or walnuts.  The recipe is a classic and can be found here on the Pillsbury website.

I posted this picture on my Facebook page and I was shocked that I had around 30 of my friends and family "like" the picture and another 10 or so make comments... people dating back 20 years that knew me back when I made Monkey Bread often... even my former boss from 1995!

Hopefully posting this here will bring back memories of a recipe you haven't made in a while too.  Thanks for stopping by  Hope you had a great weekend.   

Pretty Halloween Cookies

My friend Rhonda (mentioned here) hosted a Halloween Party for her little girl. She had a incredible food spread, everything was delicious and lovely. My favorite thing was her cookies. Don't these look picture perfect? Mine never look that good!

Thank you Rhonda for inviting us. Happy Halloween everybody!

Andes Chocolate Chunk Cookies

We've been so busy lately and I haven't had much time to bake like I usually do this time of the year. Needless to say, I am playing catch up. I am a big fan of chocolate mint so this afternoon Micaela and I experimented by making some cookies using the Andes Mint chips. I've had this bag for a while and everytime I opened the pantry, they were screaming "bake me, try me".

Micaela is always happy to "help me" in the kitchen, here she is proudly holding a sheet full of cookies before we put them in the oven.

I am happy to report, these cookies got a thumbs up from the whole family. Micaela even let Maxi sample them.

The recipe can be found on the package, here it is for your reference.

Andes Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2 sticks of butter or margarine

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups Andes Baking Chips

Beat butter, sugars, egg and vanilla in bowl with mixer. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in Andes Baking Chips. Drop by spoonful, 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes-- til golden brown. Makes 5-6 dozen.

I hope you will take time out of your schedule to try these! Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!

Pumpkin Harvest Loaf Pan

Enabler Alert.

If you are a baker, you need this!
Williams Sonoma has the cutest loaf pan for Pumpkin Bread, check this out! It even fits in the toaster oven! It was $29.99 but now it's $14.99.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving...

We're getting ready for Thanksgiving at our house! We're having the entire Fipps gang over for dinner here... 10 people total. DH will handle the bird and I will help with side dishes, make desserts and get the house ready. I am excited!

I've been trying to decide on some new side dishes and dessert. Tonight I decided to try out the Truffles recipe featured in the lastest issue of Kraft Foods magazine. The truffles turned out okay, but they are pretty labor intensive. I want to try a second batch with a white chocolate outer layer because I didn't like dark chocolate inside very much.

Here's the recipe I tried.... It's super easy to put together, the hard part is making the balls.

Simply Sensational Truffles
-

Ingredients:

2-1/2 pkg. (20 squares) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
decorations: chopped PLANTERS COCKTAIL Peanuts, multi-colored sprinkles

Instructions:

• MELT 8 chocolate squares. Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Blend in melted chocolate. Refrigerate until firm.


• SHAPE into 36 balls. Place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet.


• MELT remaining chocolate. Use fork to dip truffles; return to baking sheet. Decorate, then refrigerate 1 hour.

Witch Hat Treats

In keeping with the witch theme, here's another EASY recipe to try. This one is from Betty Crocker.

32 Hershey®'s Kisses® milk chocolates, unwrapped
1 package (11 1/2 ounces) fudge-striped shortbread cookies (32)
1 tube (4.25 ounces) orange or red decorating icing

Attach 1 chocolate candy to chocolate bottom of each cookie, using decorating icing.

Pipe decorating icing around base of milk chocolate candy. TaDa, how much more simple can it get?

You can access the recipe at the Betty Crocker website by clicking here.

Spooky Brownies

Here's a fun recipe I found at the Betty Crocker website. Aren't these adorable!

1 box Betty Crocker® Supreme brownie mix (with chocolate syrup pouch)
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for in brownie mix directions
1 container Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy creamy white frosting
Neon green, pink and blue food colors
24 large marshmallows
Miniature candy-coated chocolate baking bits
Black decorating gel
1 roll Betty Crocker® Fruit Roll-Ups® chewy fruit snack (any red variety)
Gummy worms candies


Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F. Bake and cool brownies as directed. Cut into 24 brownies, 6 rows by 4 rows.
Remove lid and foil cover from container of frosting. Microwave frosting uncovered on High about 20 seconds or until frosting can be stirred smooth. Divide warm frosting among 3 small bowls, 1 for each color. Decorate as directed below, using 8 brownies for each.Franken-Brownies Add 5 drops green food color to frosting in 1 bowl; mix well. Top each of 8 brownies with 1 large marshmallow. Spoon 1 tablespoon green frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Decorate with green baking bits for eyes and ears. Use black gel for mouths and centers of eyes. Cut fruit snack to use for hair. Boo-Brownies Top each of 8 brownies with 1 large marshmallow. Spoon 1 tablespoon white frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Use black gel for eyes and mouths. Spider Brownies Add 5 drops pink food color and 3 drops blue food color to frosting in 1 bowl; mix well. Top each of 8 brownies with 1 large marshmallow. Tuck gummy worms candies under each marshmallow for legs. Spoon 1 tablespoon purple frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Use orange baking bits for eyes. Use black gel for mouths, centers of eyes and eyebrows.


You can access the website by clicking here.

Fall Baking

I went to visit my local Sur La Table store over the weekend. They have the cutest mini pumpkin pans by Wilton. I just love individual serving molds and I think these are adorable.

Halloween is around the corner

Halloween is around the corner. I was visiting my local Williams Sonoma store over the weekend and they have a whole collection of fun baking items for Halloween.

My favorite was this set of Stamped Cookie Cutters. They are a set of four cookie cutters, a flying witch, pumpkin, cat and skull (not too crazy about skull).

-

-

First, you use the nylon cutters to shape a flat cookie from rolled dough. Then gently press the spring-loaded stamp to add imprinted detail. Pressing harder creates a cutout surface. You can also sandwich a flat cookie and cutout cookie, with a filling of frosting or jam in between. Aren't these adorable?

Flip Flop Cake

This was the cake I had made for my boss's going away party. Originally I was going to try to do it myself but with company here and us trying to leave town, I decided my friend Traci would do a much better job. I got the original idea from the Betty Crocker website, they have a video tutorial on how to make it and many others.

Jazzed up brownies

This is a version of one of the Brownie recipes I did for a freelance project last month.

The actual recipe can be found here on the Betty Crocker website.

1box (1 lb 6.5 oz) Betty Crocker® Original Supreme brownie mix
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on brownie mix box
1/2 cup Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy creamy white or vanilla frosting (from 1-lb container)
2 tablespoons star-shaped candy decors

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray or shortening. Make and bake brownies as directed on box for 13x9-inch pan, using water, oil and eggs. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

In small microwavable bowl, microwave frosting uncovered on High about 20 seconds or until drizzling consistency. Drizzle frosting over brownies; sprinkle with star decors. For brownies, cut with plastic knife into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered at room temperature.

It's a tough job....

It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. I am sorry I have not been blogging as regularly. I am in the middle of a big assignment with General Mills. I am baking nine different desserts for them. I've been doing practice runs for the last week and today I am making the final dishes that will be presented at a special buyer's meeting for a major retailer tomorrow. I'll be back with a fun report and some recent stamp projects in the next day or two. The oven timer just went off, gotta get another dish out of the oven! See ya...

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Micaela and I did a little baking tonight. You know how much fun it is to bake with a 2.5 year old! We made Daddy's favorite, "Oatmeal Raisin" cookies. I have tried lots of different recipes and we like the Quaker Oats' "Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookie" recipe the best. I found the recipe on the bottom of the Quaker Oats lid and it's the only recipe I've used for the last several years. Try these out, I promise-- they will vanish!

You can access the recipe online by clicking here.

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from Quaker Oats

Ingredients:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup raisins

Preparation:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.
2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Note: I add about 1 cup+ of chopped pecans.... I love pecans!

Servings: ABOUT 4 DOZEN

Holiday Snowball Cookies by Nestle Toll House

These cookies are really good! We had alot of fun baking. Micaela had fun "helping", she loves to see the KitchenAid mixer in action! When she was younger she would cry while sitting in her high chair because she wanted to watch it run-- Our little story even made it on a KA employee website. Anyway, she loves to be in the kitchen and this recipe was perfect because we had to make balls out of the cookie dough. She's had alot of practice making balls because she plays with PlayDoh often. The biggest challenge was keeping her from picking out the morsels!

I used:

• KitchenAid Stand Mixer to mix the ingredients
• KitchenAid Food Processor to finely chop the pecans
• Reynolds Parchment Paper on my cookie sheets (makes cleanup a snap)

You can view the recipe online here

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® SWIRLED™ Holiday Morsels
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts
Powdered sugar

Directions:PREHEAT oven to 375° F. BEAT butter, 3/4 cup sugar, vanilla extract and salt in large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in flour. Stir in morsels and nuts. Shape level tablespoons of dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheets. BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set and lightly browned. Remove from oven. Sift powdered sugar over hot cookies on baking sheets. Cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar, if desired. Store in airtight containers.

Pictures of my little baker, below....

Pumpkin Roll 6x6

I have been in the process of making a 6x6 book with my favorite seasonal recipes since last fall. Here's the page I made (last year) for my Pumpkin Roll recipe. The first time I had some of this pumpkin roll I begged my co-worker's wife for the recipe. She kindly took me aside and said, "it's the recipe off the Libby can". So I came home and found the recipe on the Libby website and it's been a favorite ever since. You can see it by clicking HERE. I will say that it is a little time consuming but oh so worth it! Try it, I think you'll agree!

Here are the recipe details:

.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)

.

DIRECTIONS

,

PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle towel with powdered sugar.
COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and slat in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.
BEAT cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

.

Supplies Used for 6x6 page: More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive and Very Vanilla card stocks. Wrought Iron corner Punch (retired), both Oval Punches, both Circle Punches, More Mustard brads and Fall Whimsey stamp set (retired)

A TEXAS Size Cupcake!

My feet hurt tonight. Today I spent the day demo-ing at Sur La Table in Dallas. SLT is one of my favorite trade partners. The store was extremely busy since this is the last weekend of a special promo. They have all their holiday stuff out and it's really cute. You can't imagine how difficult it is to be forced to spend hours in a kitchen specialty store. It's torture for me because I want everything! The neatest thing that caught my eye was a new GIANT or should I say Texas Sized Cupcake pan by Wilton. These are extremely popular since there is such a cupcake craze right now.


The pan has two sections, the bottom and top. One regular cake mix fills both. You assemble the cupcake by spreading a thin layer of icing in between the halves and just decorate. This pan can be used for just about any occassion.

You can see the pan on the SLT website by clicking HERE.

Check out http://www.cupcakefun.com/ for a bunch of great ideas for many different themes.


Here are pictures of two completed cupcakes from the SLT website. (sorry I could not enlarge more)

3-D Halloween Cookies

As I mentioned before,
I've been making
the rounds with all our trade partners.
You know, this is dangerous work because every store I walk into, I want to buy something. This past week I visited several Williams Sonoma stores. All the stores had these fabulous displays showcasing their new line of 3-D cookie cutters. These are so darn cute!

The 8 pieces come in this adorable Haunted House shaped box. Included are a pumpkin, a black cat, a haunted house and a witch. And they are on sale for just $17.99! These are exclusive to Williams Sonoma, you can't find them any where else.

Click here to see their website.

Quick Apple Crisp

I've been meaning to share this recipe all month. This is one of my favorite apple recipes. I've been thinking about it since Holiday Mini Collection catalog came out with the Apple Cider Designer Paper pictured here. I love making this recipe using my KitchenAid Food Processor to slice all the apples! I can literally slice a dozen apples in less than 3 minutes. The original recipe is from Pampered Chef, I got it when I hosted my first cooking show back in 1995. I have modified it over the years. I hope you enjoy it!


Quick Apple Crisp

Ingredients:
5 Granny Smith apples
(I have used all kinds of apples, Red Delicious and Gala. Use more if you would like your servings to be taller)
1 package (9 ounces) yellow cake mix (basically a half of a box)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use more like a full cup and typically I use pecans)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Peel, core and slice apples. (I use my food processor to do the slicing). Place apples in Deep Dish Baker. If you really like pecans, sprinkle them throughout the apples.

Combine cake mix, sugar, cinnamon, butter and nuts in a bowl. Mix until crumbly. Sprinkle mixture evenly over apples.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped topping, if desired.

Banana Bread Anyone?

We had some very ripe bananas in our fruit bowl this afternoon. Normally I would just throw them out but since I had the evening free (no stamp club tonight) I decided to bake some Banana Bread. I tried this recipe and it was great. Very simple, not too sweet and quick.

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cup of flour

Of course I used my KitchenAid mixer to mix all the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve. Enjoy!

No Crust Coconut Pie

I wanted to share this recipe for a crustless coconut pie. I've made it several times and my husband loves it.

No Crust Coconut Pie

4 eggs beaten
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups milk
2 tbsp margarine melted
1 tbsp vanilla
2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl. Pour into 2 9 inch pie plates. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Refrigerate after cooling.

Enjoy!