Coffee Cake

Another week, another recipe to try! With things still be as they are and trying to stick close to home as much as possible, I have found baking to be one of the things to look forward each week. Today I have for you a basic coffee cake. This is great with afternoon tea and to include in a brunch (when you can finally have one again). It’s simple and plain but very moist. One recipe makes a lot so luckily it’s easy to freeze!

Ingredients

For the cake:

3 cups of flour

1 tbsp. of baking powder

1 tsp. of baking soda

1 tsp. of ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. of salt

1 ¾ cups of plain yogurt or sour cream

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of granulated sugar

3 eggs

7 tbsp. of melted and cooled butter

For the topping:

1/3 cup of brown sugar

1/3 cup of granulated sugar

1/3 cup of flour

4 tbsp. of softened butter

1 tbs. of ground cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Butter two round 9 inch cake pans.

I like to mix my topping first and set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, add all of the topping ingredients and then squish with your hands until you’ve got a chunky sand consistency.

In another mixing bowl, add all of your dry ingredients and whisk.

In another bowl, add the sugars, eggs, yogurt/sour cream, and butter and whisk up until all combined.

Slowly add the dry mixture into the wet and stir until all incorporated. Distribute evenly into both the prepared pans and top with your “sandy” topping. Divide the topping between the two cakes. It may look like a little much but it’ll be fine. 

These cakes puff up when cooking so it might be a good idea to put them on a cookie sheet just in cake of overflow which I have had and then the smoke and burning begins! Allow to cool and then slice. I like to keep the cakes in the pans to store and slice if I'm not freezing them otherwise it can get messy. Enjoy. 

Classic Brownies

 

What day is it? I totally have lost track. Everyday seems like it is the same as before and they all run into each other nowadays. Haha.

We are just starting November and the weather has gotten colder and we are all inside hibernating once again. I have been trying out some new recipes, the fluffy muffins from last time for example, and now I have tried out another, classic brownies. These are the brownies that are similar to the ones from the box that we are all used to having in our childhood. They are fudgy on the inside and crackly crunchy on the top. Take a look and make a batch to have on a cozy day inside with a nice big glass of cold milk.

Classic Brownie Recipe

You will need…

1 ¼ cup of flour

¾ tsp. of baking powder

½ tsp. of salt

1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

12 tbsp. of butter

2 cups of sugar

4 eggs

1tbsp. of vanilla

Butter a glass baking dish, 13x9 in size.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together.

Melt the chocolate and the butter together in a large glass measuring cup or bowl in the microwave, stirring often.

Whisk the sugar into the chocolate mix and then the eggs.

Then fold the flour mix in this mixture in three separate additions.

 

Give the batter a good stir and then spoon into the glass dish.

                                                               

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Cool completely, about 2 hours and then cut and serve.

Cool Lemonade

                                                           

Ah! It’s been two weeks again. I think the heat has gotten to me. We have had some very hot days and then it’s been busy with back to work as well. It’s important to be drinking lots of water in such heat but it is also nice to have a cool sweet drink every once in awhile as well. I’ve been loving Gerolsteiner. It’s not a sweet drink but a sparkling mineral water that has lots of magnesium in it for my sore and aching body at the end of the day. Plain, it’s kind of boring and like any bubbly water but if you add it to some juice it’s very refreshing on a hot Summer day. Try some of the combinations that I did and relax with the feet up.

I love lemonade on a hot day but it can be a little too sweet so I like to dilute it with the Gerolsteiner. If I don’t make my own I like the Simply Lemonade. I like to add different things to it. Try lemon, lime, or orange slices, sliced strawberries, and frozen or fresh mixed berries.  

I also love the Simple Raspberry Lemonade and adding Gerolsteiner to that is a delicious combination.

Try out this fresh lemonade recipe if you prefer to make your own. Adjust the sweetness accordingly.

                                                         

1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice

8-10 cups of water

½ cups of sugar

In a large pot, combine the water and sugar. Stir and heat until the sugar just melts.

Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice.

Mix well and then chill.

You can serve this with lemon, lime, or orange slices as a garnish.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy June!

Ok, so the kitchen is still being worked on. I swear it will take another month before I can get in there to bake again.

Today I have a recipe for you that I tried a little while back at the urging of my father who said it looked really good. It’s a different take on chocolate chip cookies. When you think of double chocolate you think of dark/milk and lots of it, but these cookies are double because they have both white chocolate and dark chocolate in them. If you are a white chocolate fan then these are a must try.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

You will need:

½ cup of butter or margarine

1 1/3 cup of white chocolate chips or chunks

4  eggs

1 ¼ cup of sugar

2 tsp. of vanilla

1 ½ cups of flour

½ tsp. of baking powder

¼ tsp. of salt

1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips

In a glass bowl or measuring cup, melt your butter with the white chocolate. Stir up well.

Whip the eggs with the sugar and the vanilla in your mixer with the whisk attachment. Make sure it becomes pale and thick.

In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Now whisk the melted chocolate into the egg mixture.

Next, whisk the flour mix in and finally stir in the semi sweet chocolate chips.

Cover the batter and chill for at least 4 hours.

Once chilled, scoop and roll the dough into balls and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 325 degrees for 18-20 minutes. They will look pale and cracked on the top but underneath 

will be nice and golden.

Cool and enjoy.

Bread Maker Rolls

Happy Thursday! I’m making good use of my rediscovered bread maker and I tried out a dough recipe this time. We were having some pasta, so I thought I’d make some fluffy rolls to go with it and it they were a huge success! I actually have made them twice since pulling out my bread maker a few weeks back. Take a look at my adventure in roll making below.

Bread Maker Roll Recipe

You will need...

1 cup of warm milk (microwave for 1 minute and 50 seconds)

½ cup of margarine

¼ cup of sugar

2 eggs

1½ tsp. of salt

4 cups of sifted flour

2 ¼ tsp. of active dry yeast

Warm the milk and then add to the pan.

Add in the soft margarine.

Then add in the sugar, salt, eggs, and flour.

Finally, make a little well in the center of the flour and spoon in the yeast.

Select the dough setting on your maker and then wait for it to mix up, about 1 hour and 30 minutes depending on your machine.

While the machine is working its magic, grease a 13x9 inch pan or glass dish. This is where your rolls will rise and eventually be baked in. 

When you hear the final beep and the dough is ready, turn the dough onto a floured surface.

Divide into 24 balls and placed in rows of 6 in your 13x9 inch prepared pan/dish. The balls may look “rough” and they may seem super close, but all will be fine in the end.

Cover the balls of dough in your pan/dish with a dish towel and place in a warm spot. Allow to rise for about 45 minutes. Since it isn’t Winter and we don’t have any heat on or super consistent sunny spots, I allowed my rolls to rise in my oven on the Warm and Hold setting which is a very low temperature just enough to keep food warm. If you feel more comfortable then you can dampened your dish towel before placing it in the oven if you’re using this as your warm spot.

Once risen, the dough balls will look like very pale dinner rolls all connected together.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 16 minutes. I like my rolls to be a bit more golden so I let them bake for about 3 extra minutes. You can do what you like though. Add extra time for extra golden rolls. 

You can let them cool for a bit in the dish and then break them apart (they have natural “division lines” where you can separate them) but if you’re like me and my family, we pretty much started snacking on some as soon as they came out of the oven. They’ll be super hot so be careful but they are so tasty warm with melted butter on them!