Root Beer Float Cupcakes

Our church is having a 50's sock hop pitch-in dinner.  I decided to try to make root beer float cupcakes for a dessert.  I found a few recipes and decided to tweak them and create my own.  This is what I came up with through trial and error.

Root Beer Float Cupcakes

Root Beer Float Cupcakes

1 c packed brown sugar

1 t. molasses

1/2 c. butter (room temperature)

2 eggs

1 1/4 c. root beer

1 1/2 t. root beer extract
1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

1 1/2 t. baking powder

Cream together with a mixer brown sugar, molasses, and butter in a bowl until light and fluffy.  Add each egg one at a time until combined.

Mix root beer and extract and set aside.

 

In another bowl sift together (or whisk) flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

Add the dry ingredients and root beer mix to egg-butter-sugar mixture alternating each until all is combined. 

Scoop into baking cups 2/3 of the way full. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes

Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes then remove and cool on baking rack.  Ice and decorate.  Enjoy!

Mom's Sugar Cookies

I dug this old recipe out of the archives.  This is the sugar cookie recipe that my mom used to make for us.  I made some and man did it bring back memories of my mom in the kitchen.  I miss my mom.  She lives in a neighboring state but suffers with Parkinson's and no longer has the ability to eat or talk.  So I made these for her from the heart.  I'm passing down all my family recipes to my daughter and anyone else that wants to share them with their family.  Who knows some of the recipes on here might just become someone elses new family traditions.  Enjoy!

Mom's Sugar Cookies

Close-up (these are a crunchy cookie)

Mom's Sugar Cookies

1 c. margarine

1 c. powdered sugar

1c. sugar

1 c. oil

Cream above ingredients together until smooth.

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Add to above mixture until combined

1 tsp. cream of tarter

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

4 c. flour

Sift ingredients together and add to above mixture gradually.  Chill over night or at least 4 hours.  Make one inch size balls and place on cookie sheet.  Using a glass dipped in sugar, press down the cookies slightly. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes until edges are lightly brown.

*can be made soft by puting in a sealed container with a slice of bread.

Baked Potato Skins

We love potato skins.  I was wondering what to fix for dinner.  It was an easy day not too busy.  So I decided  to fix potato skins.   It takes a good amount of time to fix them so I don't have that opportunity very often.  They just hit the spot.  Hope you enjoy.

Baked Potato Skins

Baked Potato Skins

6 medium baking potatoes

1-1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

8 slices cooked bacon (cut into small pieces)

oil

salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using a fork poke each potato two times on each side.  Cover with foil and bake on oven rack for 1 hour or until tender when softly squeezed. 

Let cool enough to handle.  Hollow out the center of each potato leaving 1/4 inch with a spoon.  Brush each potato inside and out with oil. 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 

Place potatoes on a cookie sheet with skin side up.  Bake for 10 minutes then flip each potato and bake an additional 10 minutes. 

Top each potato with cheddar cheese and bacon pieces.  Return to oven for 3-4 more minutes until cheese is melted and serve with ranch dipping sauce or sour cream.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This Christmas season has been eventful to say the least.  I thought I'd have more time to bake but that hasn't happened this year.  I found a chocolate chip cookie recipe and tweaked it a bit.  I wanted a chocolate chip cookie that wasn't cakey.  I wanted it to be lumpy but not too flat.  I came close with this one.  It also has a good taste too.  I hope you enjoy.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. (2 sticks) butter softened

1 c. brown sugar (packed)

1/2 c. sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 t. vanilla

3 c. flour

1 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips (may use full 12 oz. bag for a more chocolaty cookie)

Preheat oven to 35 degrees.

Beat butter, brown sugar, sugar until creamy.  Add eggs one at a time and vanilla until blended well. 

Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in separate bowl. 

Mix flour mixture to butter mixture until well blended.

Fold in chocolate chips.  Place dough by tablespoonful on cookie sheet and bake for 11-13 minutes or until lightly golden around edges.  Let cookies set on cookie sheet for 3 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.  Enjoy!

*hint- store in airtight container with a piece of bread torn into four pieces to keep cookies soft and moist.

Turkey Bacon Club Pizza

I've been racking my brain trying to come up with turkey leftover dinners.  My darling husband suggested that we just have turkey bacon club sandwiches.  That made me think.  What if I turned a turkey bacon club sandwich into a pizza.  So then I thought what kind of sauce would you put on a pizza like that?  So I decided to use mayo.  Well I was out of mayo so I decided to try to make my own.  I looked up how to make your own mayo/miracle whip.  I came up with a tweaked recipe for homemade mayo.  I added a four cheese Rosa sauce to the mayo to create my pizza sauce.  I've listed the recipes and pictures below.  I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Turkey Bacon Club Pizza

Turkey Bacon Club Pizza Slice

Turkey Bacon Club Pizza

(2) 6.5 oz. Pizza crust packages

1 c. homemade mayo (recipe below)

1/3c. Four Cheese Roma Sauce (Bertolli)

5 slices swiss cheese

4-5 c. dices cooked turkey

3 medium tomatoes

8-10 slices cooked and crumbled bacon

2 c. package pizza blend cheese

Make pizza crust according to package directions.  Baking until lightly golden brown.  Mix mayo and Roma sauce in bowl.  Spread evenly over cooked pizza crust.  Layer five slices of swiss cheese on sauce.  Then layer turkey evenly then half of bacon pieces.  Top with sliced tomatoes.  Spread pizza cheese blend over top of tomatoes and then sprinkle remaining bacon on top.  Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and turkey is heated through.  Cut and serve.

Homemade Tangy Mayo

Homemade Tangy Mayo

2 egg yolks

1/2 t. salt

2 1/2 T. powdered sugar

1 T. lemon juice

1 T. vinegar

1 1/2 c. oil

1 1/2 T. cornstarch

1/2 t. Dijon mustard

1/2 c. boiling water

2 T. vinegar

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/4 t. paprika

Using a food processor or whisking by hand (by hand may take several minutes).  Blend egg yolks, salt, and 1 T. lemon juice until well combined. 

Slowly pour 1 cup oil a few drops at a time while mixing thoroughly.  Add remaining 1/2 cup oil pouring at a slow drizzle.  Blend 1 1/2 T. vinegar until blended.  Mixture should be close to mayo consistency. 

Bring a little more than one 1/2 c. water to a boil.  Measure out 1/2 cup/

In a small bowl whisk cornstarch, mustard, and 2 T. vinegar until blended.  Add boiling water and whisk until combined.  Place mixture in small pan used to boil water and reheat mixture until it forms a smooth paste (doesn't take long).  Add paste to food processor mixture and blend together until well blended. 

Store in airtight container in refrigerator.





Super Easy Loaded Baked Potato Soup

I was given this recipe by a friend from church and tweaked it just a bit.  It's really good and perfect for a cool or cold day.  It's a great soup for vegetarians.  My husband and I loved this soup better than my potato soup recipe I've been making for years.  I hope you enjoy this warm, creamy, and filling soup.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Super Easy Loaded Baked Potato Soup

7-8 medium baking potatoes (peeled and cut in half)

4 oz. cream cheese (cut into small pieces)

1/2 c. milk

3 c. milk

4T. butter

2 T. flour

4 oz. Velveeta (cut into small pieces)
1 t. onion powder
1/2 t. garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Baked Potato toppings (ex: sour cream, bacon, green onions, etc.)

In a large microwavable bowl or crock, stir potatoes and 1/2 cup milk with salt and pepper to taste, onion powder, and garlic powder.  Microwave covered for 8-10 minutes. 

Cut potatoes pieces in thirds and microwave another 8-10 minutes. 

Add 3 c. milk, cream cheese, and 2 T. butter.  Stir and return to microwave for 6 minutes. 

Taste and add salt if needed.  In a small bowl mix together the flour and remaining butter into a paste.  Stir flour paste into the soup until dissolved.  Microwave 4-6 minutes until cheese is melted.

Serve and top with toppings of your choice.

Chicken Noodles

It's fall and the nights are cooler.  My husband asked for homemade chicken noodles at noon.  Since it takes 8 hours to cook my chicken for the noodles, I decided to take a short cut with the chicken.  I bought rotisserie chicken but I did make homemade noodles.  Some people think that it's hard to make homemade noodles.  I've taken some pictures of my process.  I hope this can help give at least one person enough confidence to try to make their own noodles.  My recipe does not have specific measurements because my grandma showed me how and it's about texture.  I hope you are willing to try to make your own noodles.  They are so much better than store bought. 



 Chicken noodles

Egg Noodle Dough

Rolled Dough

Cut dough into 2" strips

Floured strip

Layer strips and repeat for each layer

Stacked strips with flour between each layer

Cut stacked strip in half

Cut noodle strips 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide pieces

Separate noodles by tossing gently

Separated noodles

Sprinkle noodles into boiling broth while stirring

Add chicken pieces to half cooked noodles

Stir in chicken and boil until noodles are done

Noodles

4 large eggs

1 c. (approx.) flour

1/2 t. salt

In a medium bowl mix eggs with fork.  Add salt and mix until blended.  Add flour and mix with fork until dough is sticky and firm.  Separate in half.  Knead flour into dough until not sticky.  Roll out dough thin like pie crust.  Cut into 2 inch strips.  Beginning with the longest strip, cover generously with flour and stack each strip of dough starting from the longest and finishing with the shortest piece on top.  Cover each strip with flour before placing the next strip to avoid sticking.  Cut stacked dough in half.  Using a sharp non serrated knife, cut both stacks of dough into 1/4 to 1/2 inch strips.  Each strip should be 1/4" x 2" strips.  Separate each strip by gently tossing between fingers until separated.  Repeat with second ball of dough. 

In a large dutch oven or a stock pot, bring noodle broth to a boil.  Sprinkle noodles covered with flour into boiling noodle broth while stirring (recipe listed below).  The excess flour on the noodles will help thicken your broth.  Stir frequently until noodles are almost done.  Add chicken and bring to a boil.  Boil chicken and noodles until noodles are done and serve.

Noodle Broth

8-14.5 oz. cans of chicken broth

1 t. onion powder

1/2 t. garlic powder

5 chicken bullion cubes

1/4 t. poultry seasoning

1/2 t. pepper (to taste)

Easy Banana Bread

I've been a baking fool today.  I finally found the old recipe that my mom used to make her banana bread with.  She used to use that popular baking mix to make this easy one step throw it all in one bowl and mix banana bread.  So here it is.  It's great plain, with butter or cream cheese spread.  If you use the strawberry cream cheese, it makes it even more delicious.  Enjoy!

Easy Banana Bread

Easy Banana Bread

2 2/3 c. baking mix

2/3 c. sugar

1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. milk

3 eggs

1 1/3 c. ripe bananas

1/2 t. vanilla

1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven 350 degrees and spray loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray on bottom of pan only.  This will help prevent that valley around the edge of your bread. 

Mix all ingredients in a medium size bowl with electric mixer for one minute.  Pour into loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes.  Let set in pan for 10 minutes.  Run knife along sides of pan and flip onto cooling rack.  Cool 20 minutes before slicing. 

Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Apple Cream Sauce

I found another recipe to try.  I also created a sauce to go with it.  My mom used to make bread pudding in the fall.  I tried her recipe with cinnamon raisin bread instead of regular white bread and cut the sugar amount.  This past winter I tasted a bread pudding recipe that was so light and fluffy.  I found out that they soaked the bread in the milk first and not the milk and egg mixture.  So I tried this adjustment to my mom's recipe also.  My mom just drizzled icing over the top.  I decided to find an apple cream sauce.  I didn't find one so I created one with apple sauce and milk.  This was the result.  Believe it or not the apple cream sauce was delicious with the bread pudding.  You can make a diet friendly version of this recipe by using whole wheat bread, 4 egg whites, skim milk and evaporated skim milk, and  1 1/4 c. splenda.  I hope you enjoy. 

Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding w/ Creamy Apple Sauce

Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding



Small loaf of Cinnamon Raisin Bread (stale or slightly toasted)

1 can evaporated milk

1/2 c. whole milk

3 eggs

2 t. vanilla

1/2 t. salt

3/4 c. sugar

2 T. butter (melted)

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven 350 degrees.  Spray an 8x11 baking dish with nonstick spray.

Cut bread into one inch pieces.  In a large bowl, mix milk and vanilla together.  Add bread to the milk and push bread so that milk covers it completely.  Let bread soak 20-30 minutes until all the pieces of bread are soft.  In a small bowl, mix eggs, sugar, salt, melted butter and spices together until well blended.  Pour the egg mixture into the milk soaked bread and fold until combined.  Pour into baking dish.  Bake for 50-60 minutes or until custard is set and baked all the way through.  Let cool 20 minutes.  Cut and serve plain or with creamy apple sauce. 

Apple Cream Sauce

1 c. unsweetened apple sauce

2 T. sugar

2 t. corn starch

1/3 c. milk

1/2 t. cinnamon

2 T. butter

In a small sauce pan melt butter.  Add apple sauce and cinnamon and sugar.  Mix milk and cornstarch together.  Simmer apple sauce but not to a boil.  Add Milk/cornstarch mixture to apple sauce and mix until you bring to a boil.  Boil for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Pour over Bread Pudding and serve warm. 

Turkey Stomboli

One of my husband's favorite things to eat is a stromboli.  He remembers this place near his dorm from college that had the best strombolis.  I've tried to make healthier choices in our diet.  So I decided to make a white meat turkey stromboli on a wheat bun.  I used turkey pepperonis and low fat mozzarella cheese.  They were really good and so much healthier.

Turkey Stromboli

Turkey Stromboli

1 lb. ground white turkey meat

wheat hoagie buns

onion powder

garlic powder

seasoned salt

pepper

italian seasoning

pizza or spaghetti sauce

onion (diced)

mozzarella cheese slices

pizza toppings of your choice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook turkey in skillet with seasonings and diced onion until cooked through.  Add sauce and heat until bubbly.  Cut hoagies in half lengthwise to form sandwich top and bottom.  Top inside of buns both top and bottom slices with sauced meat and layer with pizza toppings.  Place cheese slices on top.  Bake on cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 11-15 minutes until cheese is melted and slightly darkened.  Put buns together like a sandwich.  Makes 2-3 strombolis depending on amount of meat on buns. 

*Variation to recipe: Place meat on bottom half of bun only and turn top half into garlic bread with butter and garlic salt.  Bake 11-15 minutes at 400 degrees.  Makes 4-6 sandwiches.