Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

My daughter made these. Oh my word, get ready for the cookie of your dreams!! We found a basic cranberry-white chocolate cookie recipe and then, as is our custom, tweaked it to perfection. We dried our own cranberries for this (in a dehydrator, it’s SO less expensive than buying the packages stuff, which also tends to have additional sugars and preservatives). If you’re interested in how a dehydrator works, I wrote a review of the Nesco product that I bought.

Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies
makes 24 cookies

• 1/2 cup butter (no margarine!)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (we make our own, see our brown sugar recipe here)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of each: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger
• 1 Tablespoon brandy (we used whiskey; you can also use pure vanilla)
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup dried cranberries

In one bowl, mash the butter. Add the sugars to make a grainy cream. Add the egg and mix well.

In a second bowl, add the flour, baking soda, and spices. Combine the bowls and add the brandy/whisky/vanilla.

Add the chips and berries and mix lightly.

Scoop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Don’t allow the cookies to overbake.

You may want to stock up on the diet supplements before making these– they are SO good that you may easily eat half a dozen without even realizing it!!! They are not heavy in the stomach. Best served with hot, regular tea. YUMMMMMM!

Granny’s Apple Pie

I saw this photo and it made me totally crack up! Haaa!!! I will have to do one like this sometime!

photo credit: L. Marie

I made apple pie late last night on this crazy whim. It was a cold evening, and I was desperate to bake something. I enjoyed it so much I almost broke out the led christmas lights and started playing carols! Well, about the pie: this is all that is left.

I have posted my recipe for “industrial-sized” apple pie, but I have never posted my really easy recipe for “regular” apple pie. It’s a little different than the standard pie, because I reduce the sugar and add molasses. This gives it a heartier, less sweet flavor. It’s very good, especially with vanilla ice cream. I use store-bought pie crusts for the pie. I don’t bother making dough, rolling it, etc. Too much work. The pre-made crusts are always flaky, and they cut the pie-making time down to 1/3 of what it would be, making it all from scratch. I also have bags of pre-sliced apple in the freezer. Whenever we want to make a pie, we thaw out the apples, throw the ingredients together, and lay out the pre-made crusts. SO EASY! It takes me about 15 minutes to get a pie in the oven, from start to finish.

Granny’s Apple Pie

6-7 cups peeled, diced apples
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon tapioca
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
Pinch of salt

Mix the ingredients quickly in a large bowl. Dump into the pie pan lined with a crust. Lay another crust over the pan. Pinch the two crusts together firmly, to keep juices from bursting the seams. Make a few slits on the top (or carve out a fancy Macintosh apple as in the photo above) to allow steam to escape.

Place in a preheated oven set to 375 degrees. Bake for about an hour. Allow to cool slightly. Serve warm with ice cream!

Ideas for Cupcakes

photo credit: FUNKYAH

Cupcakes are just so much fun! Unlike cakes, cupcakes are easy to decorate. You can sprinkle or plunk just about anything on a cupcake. I was having a cupcake epiphany last week after browsing my local grocery store for sprinkles. I was FLOORED at the cost of the things. $4 to $7 for a little jar of sprinkles?! No way! Do they know how many birthdays we celebrate around here?! A couple of jars of little sprinkles should not cost as much as a cell phone booster or

So here are some ideas I had for decorating cupcakes. The first one is my favorite.

• Sweet, colored cereal, like Fruity Pebbles, Froot Loops, or Cocoa Puffs. What a cheap, colorful alternative!
• Small cookie-type cereal pieces, such as Cookie Crisp.
• Cut-up chunks of chocolate and white chocolate.
• Crushed nuts
• Shredded coconut
• Sliced bananas (great with chocolate frosting)
• Sweet-tarts candies
• Crushed Malted Whoppers

I like things that are easily munched and are not too crunchy. I think the cereal idea is great. Plus, they probably have as much sugar content as actual sprinkles, so they are a good replacement. :-p

Do you have any special treats you put on your cupcakes?

Wow Chow Rum Cake

Oh wow. This is GOOD Rum Cake. I never had it or made it before this. Yum Rum Cake! I found a conventional recipe and altered it a little. It’s a tiny bit more “rummy” than the regular kind, but it’s not bitter or overly rum-tasting. This is an incredibly moist cake, too. My family eats it up immediately. I barely got a few photos in before it was gone!

Wow Chow Rum Cake

1 box of yellow or white cake mix (they are about 18oz or so)
1 1.75oz instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup cold milk
3/4 cup rum

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Grease a Bundt cake pan.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Blend with an electric hand mixer for 2-3 minutes, until batter is smooth and there are few lumps. Pour the mix into the Bundt pan, and bake for one hour.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan, then invert on a serving dish.

You can serve this cake with various things: warmed strawberry jam (yum!), vanilla yogurt, orange glaze, or a rum glaze.

Rum Glaze:
1/2 cup butter (not margarine)
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup rum

In a small saucepan, melt the butter; stir in the sugar and the water. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the rum. Drizzle onto the rum cake.

I personally prefer an orange glaze or strawberry glaze, or even sprinkle with fresh blackberries from the garden! It’s a great and easy dessert. I can’t say it’s exactly the most healthful of things; you’ll probably need some serious health insurance leads after eating too many slices… but OOOHHHH it’s sooo good! Enjoi!

Cranberry Apple Crisp

Mmm I love crisps, especially crisps with cranberries in them. A dollop of vanilla ice cream on top of warm crisp is SO luscious!! It’s a terrific comfort food, especially after a long, cold winter’s day at the office, or for the weary housewife who has been haggling over term life insurance comparisons all day. And crisps are easy and cheap! Here’s my absolutel favorite crisp, just in time for autumn’s apple and cranberry season!

Cranberry Apple Crisp
serve 6

2 cups fresh cranberries
4 cups apples, peeled and diced
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 packed cup Homemade brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cook oats
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons wheat germ or ground flax seed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 Tablespoons butter or margarine (but butter is better), at room temperature

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2-quart baking dish. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the cranberries, apples, granulated white sugar, and salt. Dump into your baking dish.

In the bowl that you just emptied, combine the brown sugar, oats, flour, wheat germ or flax seed, and cinnamon, and mix well. Cut in the butter until it looks like gravel. Dump this on top of your cranberries/apples mix in the dish.

Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, until the fruit is tender and the kids start salivating heavily. Serve while warm, with fresh cream, or ice cream. OH MY WORD, this is SO GOOD!!! It’s great after a turkey dinner.

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