As much as I love to cook, I have never really been one for baking. It’s way too exact for me. I’d much rather make something where I can throw in a dollop of this and a dash of that and a heap of something else and then stick it in the oven until it smells like it’s done.
Plus, baking sometimes requires special equipment like candy thermometers and double boilers. And also baking doesn’t involve nearly enough cheese.
But.
There’s something about Christmastime.
And for the last couple of weeks, I have been baking up a storm. At least by my standards. Compared to your standards, I’ve probably just been baking up a light shower. Nonetheless, I thought I’d share a few bake-y recipes that I love.
Note: you will not see any homemade candy on this list. I draw the line at having to use a candy thermometer. It’s bad enough that baking requires me to do all sorts of math.
– Mama’s Pound Cake – It’s a classic.
– Hummingbird Cake – This is one of the first layer cakes that I ever made, and it’s still one of my favorites. The pineapple in the layers makes me so happy.
– The Bar – I made this recipe for the first time tonight, and OH. MY. WORD. I don’t know when I’ve ever tasted something and thought, Well, this is just butter in all its glory. I’m taking these to a Christmas party tomorrow night, and then I’m going to make another batch next week because my mama WILL. LOVE. THEM. Three sticks of butter makes everything better, you know.
– Coconut Cake – I’m not usually a fan of coconut. But these cake layers are so delicious that they totally won me over.
– Peanut Butter Blossoms – Peanut butter. Chocolate. Sugar. Butter. What’s not to love?
– Lucy’s Chocolate Pie – My grandmother’s chocolate pudding recipe is the best. THE BEST. And in a baked pie shell? With some homemade meringue on top? Perfection.
(Just FYI: for my meringue, I whip four egg whites with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar. When the egg whites make stiff peaks, I spread the meringue on top of a cooled chocolate pie, then put the whole thing in the oven until the peaks start to get some color on them.)
– Apple Dumplings – These are so good that I talked about them for two days after I made them. Could not get over how something so simple could be so delicious. I’m planning to make them this Christmas Eve, in fact.
– Chocolate Citrus Cake with Candied Oranges – I made this cake last week. I skipped the candied oranges step because it was after 10 at night when I iced the cake and MAMA NEEDED SOME SLEEP. My cake didn’t turn out nearly as pretty as the picture next to the recipe, but let me tell you what: the layers of this cake – and the chocolate ganache in between – are ABSOLUTELY DIVINE. I think when I make this cake again I’ll probably just do the cake with some whipped cream and candied oranges on top. No icing. The layers are THAT good.
So those are my favorites – what are some of yours?
my aunt sandra’s cinnamon breakfast cake
1 pkg duncan hines plain yellow cake mix
1 small pkg. vanilla instant pudding
3/4 c oil
3/4 c water
4 large eggs
1 t vanilla
1/3 c brown sugar
2 t cinnamon
1/2 c chopped pecans
mix cinnamon & sugar together. set aside in bowl. mix cake mix, pudding mix, oil, water, eggs and vanilla in large mixing bowl. blend with mixer. mix until thick & smooth. pour 1/3 batter into Bundt pan. sprinkle part of cinnamon sugar over batter. sprinkle nuts next. pour another 1/3 of batter and sprinkle on cinnamon, sugar and nuts. pour on remaining batter. sprinkle remaining sugar on top. swirl once with knife. bake at 350 for 50-60 min.
this recipe is so simple yet so delicious! it’s the moistest cake i’ve ever been able to make, despite it being partially from a box mix. we’ll eat this Christas morning before we head to our big formal family breakfast, and it’s a weekend staple for a quick before-church breakfast on Sundays. freezes well, too!
You have definitely baking up a storm according to my standards. My favorites…anything that is baked by someone else. I don’t mind baking, but it makes such a mess. I haven’t done any this year.
I ate THE BAR for breakfast this morning with a tall glass of milk. I don’t know if it gets better than that!
I have been trying to make spritz cookies with my cookie press. Regardless of what Martha says it is not that easy.
I think if you use the word ganache you can qualify as a baker.
I have too many favorites to name but this is a new one my daughter made last night and it is divine and easy and I love a bar cookie because you get a lot of cookies for only one trip to the oven…
Peanut Brittle Bars
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter
Topping-
2 c salted peanuts
1 c. milk chocolate chips
1 12.5 oz. jar caramel ice cream topping
3 TBSP flour
1. Heat oven to 350. Grease 15 x 3 x 1 inch baking pan. In a large bowl combine all the base ingredients except butter and mix well. Using pastry blender or fork, cut in the butter until crumbly. Press evenly in bottom of greased pan and bake 8-14 minutes or until golden brown.
2. Sprinkle peanuts and choc. chips over warm base. In a small bowl, combine caramel sauce and 3 TBSP flour, blend well. Drizzle evenly over chocolate chips and peanuts.
3. Bake at 350 for an additional 12-18 minutes or until topping is set and golden brown. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled. Cut into bars (about 48)
Two math related items… Total number of sticks of butter used, please. And…
http://www.signals.com/signals/Gifts_1DA/Gifts-under-30_1DK/Item_English-Major-Sweatshirt_HE2681S_ps_cti-1DK.html
I’ve made the coconut cake before and it was really good. The coconut cake I make now uses paula’s seven minute frosting piled on the outside, but I fill the layers with a vanilla buttercream. I like having two different frostings and textures in the cake, because one can never have enough frosting, no, no.;o)
Pecan tarts and my Mom’s sugar cookie recipe. Mmmm, good!
Try this: Mississippi Mud http://www.totalmomsense.net/2009/03/sunday-supper-edition-10_15.html
or this: Fudge Pie (Easy, quick, & makes fabulous gifts!!!
http://www.totalmomsense.net/2008/12/sunday-supper-edition-4.html (and you want the center to be gooey- not cooked dry- 20 minutes in the oven usually does it- I swear it will make your tongue slap your brain!
Seriously, ever since I made the switch from fake margerine to butter, I can’t seem to lose any weight.
Ok, after I bought some choc covered ritz crackers and paid top dollar for like 7.6 crackers in the box, I decided to make my own. Easy, just melt chocolate and dip crackers. So very yummy.
PW’s pumpkin spice muffins. Yummy.
And this has nothing to do with baking, but I just discovered a new coffee brand and flavor. Christopher Bean (new to me) and the flavor is Winter Wonderland. Yummy too. (Not to be confused with “Coffee Bean” brand. If you live on the west coast please know you are blessed to have such perfection at your fingertips. I’ll gladly skip the starbucks anyday if I had a coffee bean around the corner. i love you starbucks!!)
White Trash or aka Puppy Chow! Yum!
Ok…..now that my stomach is convinced that my throat is cut (that’s bumpkin talk for I’M STARVING!!).
I AM MAKING THE BARS….immediately this weekend! Period! Thankyouverymuch!
And the Apple Dumplin’s…..girl, those dudes ROCK! I make them after church on Sunday’s as part of our COLTS football game food! They are so easy and there just is no way to describe how yummy they taste.
PEOPLE GO……COOK NOW!!! :)
Yum!!! One of my hubby’s favorites is Peppermint Bark. Unbelievably easy, but really good!
Hi Sophie! Question about the chocolate cake….I HATE coffee. Will I taste it? Can you think of a substitute? I’m also not a fan of chocolate and orange….do you taste the orange liquer in the filling? I know, I know, if I hate coffee and the chocolate/orange combo, WHY am I bothering?? It’s the photo….it looks wonderful….
Please help!
You don’t just entertain, you educate and I appreciate that. Thank you for the butter.
My husband had a heart attack a year ago and I am doing my part by not using butter….except on my toast….. That leaves out most of your recipes along with those from Pioneer Woman.
Often I will make an angel food cake in a large cookie sheet type pan. I fix my strawberry glaze pie filling, or a lemon filling, or even chocolate and spread that on it and then roll it into a roll. I love angel food, he doesn’t, but does like it when I make the fillings.
These all sound deeeeelicious! I am not a huge fan of baking at any other time but Christmas!
Blondies from the Smitten Kitchen blog – so good and SO easy!
Oh, I want to make The Bar too, but haven’t gotten around to it yet!
I don’t think I’ve ever agreed with a title more. The only that could have made it better would be if it said Butter,Cheese,Bacon,Milk are Our Friends. :) And The Bar?I have got to try that one!
Oh my gosh… if this represents only a light shower of baking, then I can’t imagine what a storm would look like. Good for you on all the baking!
My exciting/addictive recipe for this Christmas season has been this gingersnap cream cheese frosting sandwich thing. The gingersnaps are soft and chewy (not hard and crunchy) and it goes superbly with cream cheese frosting. I made some for the mailman the other day, and will drop some off at the neighbors today.
http://www.examiner.com/x-28212-Nampa-Cooking-Examiner~y2009m11d25-Spicy-holiday-sandwich-cookies
You are going to love this. It’s SOOO EASY!
Easy Cream Cheese Danish
Ingredients:
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
2 rolls of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (8 count)—do not be cheap and buy the cheaper brand. It makes a difference! (Pillsbury’s is bigger)
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
**OPTIONAL** 1 can fruit pie filling (apple, cherry, blueberry, peach)(you can use 2 cans if you want it thicker, but I wouldn’t)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13×9 inch pan, then open one roll of crescent rolls and spread out (in ONE PIECE!) on bottom of pan.
In mixing bowl, blend together the 2 packages of cream cheese with 1 cup sugar until fluffy (about 2 to 3 minutes). Spread on top of crescent roll layer in pan. At this point, you can add fruit pie filling and spread it across the cream cheese layer (it tastes good without any fruit, too—totally your preference!). Open the other roll of crescent rolls and put on top of the cream cheese/fruit filling, spread out the best you can without tearing the perforations.
Dot with 1 stick of butter (yes I know it’s a lot.. that’s why it’s so good!!!!) and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or more, until browned.
Allow to cool about 5 minutes, and drizzle a glaze of 1 cup confectioner’s sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, and 1 tsp. vanilla (make this glaze as thin or thick as you like by adjusting the amount of confectioner’s sugar) over the warm Danish.
(**note– I was out of butter the other day (I know, horrible isnt it) and HAD to make this for an office party– it still turned out pretty good!)
ENJOY!!!
I will happily give you my link to Christmas baking happiness:
http://baileysleaf.blogspot.com/2009/12/wfmw-christmas-cookies-recipes-and-gift.html
My friend tells me that you can’t go wrong when you combine fat and sugar. I think she’s right.
Yummy! I need to bake something sweet for Christmas with family on Sunday afternoon, so I will try one of your recipes!
I LOVE to bake…but after all the cookies have made in the past week I may not be baking again for a while! I love to make gingerbread men at Christmas with my kiddos…and everybody loves chocolate chip cookies no matter what time of year it is!
I just moved to the mountains and I’m having a HORRIBLE time trying to cook anything (insert sobbing here)
I think I need to go to the library and try to find a “Mountain Cooking for Dummies” although I’m not sure it would help.
Fortunately I have several candy recipes that are super simple, a little microwaving here and there, no thermometers and voila!
Mostly the same as you:
PW’s Cinnamon Rolls
PW’s Apple Dumplings (You can make these with peaches in the summertime, too!)
Peanut Butter Blossoms
PW’s The Bar (I left the first comment there cause my parents have a mission in the Philippines. This is typical Filipino fare.Gotta make these for them.)
Pound Cake Cookies
Paula Deen’s Not Yo Mama’s Banana Pudding
Molasses Cookies
Breakfast Casserole
I. LOVE. BUTTER. Here’s my fave. I give these away to everyone:
PEANUT BUTTER BALLS
2 sticks BUTTER
1-1/2 cups peanut BUTTER
1 box 10X sugar
1 bag chocolate chips
1/2 bar paraffin wax
Mix butter (softened), peanut butter, and sugar. Refrigerate for several hours.
Melt chocolate and paraffin over double boiler.
Roll peanut butter mixture into 1-inch balls. Dip with toothpicks in melted chocolate. Cool on wax paper. Refrigerate. Serve and enjoy! :-)
If anyone will understand my plight, it is you…
… I’ve recently developed a severe [like, throat-closing] allergy to whey. Want to know what contains whey? Milk, butter, cheese, among others.
It’s ok, you can gasp. That’s how I felt, too…
:)
Thank you for the recipes! I just don’t have any original delicious ones to share. I am the girl who copies everyone else’s goodness. But I never claim it as my own!
Recipe printed and filed. Baking on saturday- thanks for the inspiration!
All I have to say is that you have to love a girl who makes not one, not two, but three layer cakes!! I consider that a baker friend!
Love, love, love butter
Dislike heaps of laundry
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You got me back in the kitchen and baking with my son! What a great way to spend the holidays! We made the pound cake and I have to say it is the first time we couldn’t finish licking the bowl. Too yummy and oh so good that it blew our minds!
I love to make pumpkin cranberry bread, but I am super excited about the hummingbird cake! Thanks for sharing these fabulous recipes!