Happy 90th Again!

So, here is a cake I made this weekend for a dear woman who just turned 90 years old!! She is a sweetheart and definitely deserved a sweet cake. They wanted something feminine and simple yet celebratory. I was so honored to make this cake because I had made her husbands 90Th birthday cake about a year and a half ago. The cake was my special lemon filled. What a way to celebrate. Happy Birthday!!

Cinnamon Sour Cream Raisin Bars

So whatever happened to our friends the raisins? I am so surprised these days that when people order cinnamon rolls they usually don't want any with raisins. I have always liked raisins in baked goods. I think it stems from when I was little and my Mom would buy me a cookie at ZCMI. If she wouldn't let me have an eclair (which she usually didn't because I had a bad habit of squirting filling all over myself) then I would pick a m&m cookie or a raisin filled cookie. They were sweet, and gooey and chewy. All the things that kids love. I obviously have carried that love into adulthood. The sugar cookie version of raisin cookies can be a bit tedious, so I came up with a cookie bar version to make things more simple. I love it if any cookie I like can be made into a bar!! So here is my "healthy" recipe for the new year, and let's hear it for raisins!!

So here are all the components together. The baked crust then the filling and the crumbly top. MMMM.

Spread out the filling and if there is extra you know what to do with it.

Sprinkle on the rest of the crumble, bake and finish off with an icing drizzle.

Cinnamon Raisin Bars

Filling -Place the following ingredients in a small pot.

5-6 Cups Raisins

1 Cup Sugar

3 Eggs

2 1/2 Tbs Cornstarch

1 1/2 Cups Sour Cream

1 tsp. Cinnamon

Cook over low heat until raisins are plumped up, sugar is dissolved and mixture is heated through thoroughly and well blended. Stir well so you don't get scrambled eggs. Set aside while you get your crust together.

Crust

2 Cups Flour

2 Cups Quick Oats

1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 1/2 tsp. Salt

1 Cup Melted Butter

1 tsp. Cinnamon

Press half of the crust mixture into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for about 8 minutes. Remove and spread raisin mixture all over the top, then sprinkle with the rest of the crust crumbles. Bake again for another 8-10 minutes. Cool and drizzle with vanilla frosting.

Snow Ball Cookies!!

So here is the perfect cookie for Christmas. These are coconut lime butter cookies and they are delish!! I found them on a blog I follow called a www.abountifulkitchen.com . I loved them because they were bright and refreshing. It seems that everything we eat this time of year can be so rich and heavy that it was definitely a nice change. Try them out and Santa will thank you!!

Coconut Lime Snow Balls

2 1/2 Cups Flour
2 tsp Lime zest
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 tsp. Salt
2 Sticks Butter cut up
2 tsp Vanilla
2 Tbs. Cream Cheese

Glaze
1 Tbs. Cream Cheese
3 Tbs. Lime Juice
1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar

1 1/2 Cups Coconut

Combine your dough ingredients and roll into small balls. These cookies do not spread so you can bake them close together. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes until the bottom is golden. Remove and cool. Combine glaze ingredients and dip the top of the cookies in the glaze. After dipping immediately dip in coconut.

By the way, I said they tasted light, we need to enjoy our cream cheese and butter before all those crazy new years resolutions start!!

Tangled Cake

So I did this cake last minute for my Niece and she definitely picked a cute theme. I will admit that I had a cooler looking tower built, but it was too heavy for the top of the cake so I had to improvise a bit but it still turned out really cute. My favorite it that Pascals tongue is the writing for Happy Birthday. I love you my sweet Elise!!

Mr. Pascal

Rapunzel's head popped out of the window.

Flynn doing the "smolder" smile. Pretty silly.

Frosty Frosting!!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, but now it is time for Christmas baking!! Here is an idea I came up with this week. I made a new frosting that is versatile, delicious, and perfect for this time of year. It involves mini York peppermint patties, can't get any better than that. It was an experaMINT that turned out beautifully! It is sooo good because you get the creaminess of the frosting, the dense York center, and then a sprinkling of soft chocolate pieces throughout. YUM!

Peppermint Patty Frosting
1 Cube Butter melted
4 Cups (or so) Powdered Sugar
Milk as needed
1 pkg. Mini York Peppermint patties

Pour your melted butter into a bowl and mix in powdered sugar a little at a time. Add little splashes of milk as needed to keep thinning it out while you get all your sugar added. (Tip: really add just a very small amount of milk at a time or you will have enough frosting to frost until next Christmas.) If you need more frosting for whatever you are baking just add more powdered sugar until you get there. Once you have the amount of frosting you want and the consistency right it is time to throw in your peppermint patties. I made my frosting in a mixer so I just threw them in whole and it broke them up for me. If mixing by hand break them up first. Spread on brownies, homemade oreos, cupcakes or just eat it with a spoon!!

My Cup Runneth over cookies!!

Hey there! May I be the first to wish you a early Happy Thanksgiving. I made these cookies this weekend hoping to use up some Halloween candy. I had bought two XL bags of full size Reese's peanut butter cups after Halloween on clearance. I new I would eat them all so I incorporated them into a cookie so I could give some away. I still ate my fair share though. This recipe is from my awesome sister in law Amy. She definitely knows how to make some sweet eats so believe me when I say this is the best peanut butter cookie ever. Usually you use this recipe to make Hershey kiss cookies. I made the dough balls extra large so there would be room for the whole peanut butter cup. We came up with our name because of the upcoming holiday and the full size peanut butter cup. All your friends will be giving you thanks when you make these babies. Enjoy!!!

This is about how big I rolled the dough out. Don't forget to roll them in sugar. Then you get the soft cookie, the gooey chocolate, and the crunch from the sweet sugar!!

Here they are lined up in all their chocolaty goodness!!

My Cup Runneth over Cookies!!

1 1/2 Cups Shortening

2 1/4 Cups Peanut Butter

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Brown Sugar

3 Eggs

6 Tbs. Milk

3 tsp. Vanilla

4 1/2 Cups Flour

3 tsp. Baking soda

1 tsp. Salt

2 Large bags of full sized peanut butter cups

Mix all but the peanut butter cups together and form into balls rolled in sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press in a peanut butter cup while hot!

Pumpkin Pie with a twist!

Ok, so I was craving pumpkin pie and got a bit carried away. I decided to try it in my cookie pans again to have plenty, and it worked great!! One batch of my dough made two pans and then I just used the Libby's pumpkin pie recipe for my filling. I tripled it for the two pies. Now, here is where the twist comes in. I topped one with a sweet sour cream topping and it was AWESOME!! You could even throw this topping on a store bought pie and throw it in the oven for a few minutes. Everyone will be impressed with this one!

For my pie crust recipe click here
For Libby's Pumpkin pie recipe click here

Sour Cream Pie Topping (double if using on a cookie sheet pie)
16 Oz Sour Cream
4 Tbs Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
Spread on top of baked pie and return to oven for another 3-5 minutes.