Apple Pie Muffins

This week, the kids and I spent a few days with my parents since its spring break. While we were there, I helped Mom with a few projects. One of those projects was cleaning out and tidying up her pantry. During this project, she decided there were several things in her pantry that would most likely expire before she used them. So, since I cook a LOT more than she does, such items were donated to the needy (me). I came home with a couple bags of stuff, including a few cans of apple pie filling and lots of oats. This is the first thing I came up with.

Get this:

1/2 cup oats

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter

1 can Pillsbury caramel or cinnamon rolls (8-count)

1 can apple pie filling, coarsely chopped

Do this:

Stir together oats, flour, brown sugar & cinnamon. Cut in butter. Set aside. 

Grease or spray 8 muffin cups. Press/flatten each roll and place one in each greased muffin cup.

Fill each with pie filling and top generously with oat mixture. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until rolls are beginning to brown around edges. 

Microwave Lemon Curd

See that beautiful little jar beside that plate?  Oh my!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE all things lemon.  And this lemon curd was oh so easy and super yummy.  AND, I made it in the microwave!  It may have taken a total of 30 minutes including clean up.  I got a little more than 2 cups of lemon curd.  I divided it between 2 of the little jars like in the above picture (each held about 2/3 cup) and a couple of 1 cup Pampered Chef bowls with lids.  This worked well for me because I was able to give some of it away since I DO NOT need that much lemon curd in my house.  I would have eaten it...all of it...with a spoon (sans scones).  Well, that and it only keeps for 3 weeks in the fridge.  So, there would have been added pressure to eat it because I'm not gonna throw food away.  (o;  Ok, so if you love all things lemon as much as I do, then you MUST make this.  TODAY.

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 cup fresh lemon juice

zest of 2 lemons, finely grated

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

In a very large microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until very smooth. Stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest and melted butter. Cook in the microwave for one minute intervals, stirring after each minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 4 minutes total. Remove from the microwave and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface. Cool for one hour. Store for up to three weeks in the refrigerator in a sealed container. It will thicken a little more once it has been refrigerated. And it just gets better the longer it sits!

Cranberry Scones

I found this recipe at the Taste of Home website. I had been looking for a scone recipe so I could smear from of my homemade lemon curd on it.  Really I am always looking for an excuse to bake something and well...you get the point.  So, these are quite tasty.  I have found that most people either love scones are not so much.  I am a lover of scones.  Enough of that...here ya go.

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powderr

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cold butter

3 tablespoons 2% milk

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 teaspoon coarse sugar

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  In a small bowl, combine milk and 2 tablespoons of the beaten egg; add to crumb mixture just until moistened.  Stir in cranberries.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead gently 6-8 times. Pat into a 6-in. circle. Cut into four wedges. Separate wedges and place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Brush with remaining egg; sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake at 425° for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Yield: 4 scones.

My notes:
Yes, you really do beat the egg, then spoon out 2 tablespoons of it into the 3 tablespoons of milk.  Strange, but that is what you do. After I added that to the dry ingredients, I was in the process of combining "just until moistened." However, it never got moist.  So I added more milk...can't give you a precise measurement here, because I just poured...probably a couple of tablespoons.

I followed all the other directions and they turned out beautiful and oh so yummy!  If you like strong lemon or citrus, you have got to make the lemon curd as well so you can smear it on each delicious bite!!!!

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Ingredients

• 1 box Lemon Cake mix with pudding in the mix
• 1 pkg. Lemon instant pudding mix (4-serving size)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup water
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/8 cup poppy seeds

Instructions

1. Grease 2 loaf pans and instead of flouring, use sugar.
2. Mix all ingredients together until well combined. Note: I like to add 1 teaspoon lemon oil for an extra lemon “kick”.
3. Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350° F.
4. Test with toothpick for doneness.

My notes:

The recipe above is taken directly from Southern Plate and is another easy "Quick Bread" recipe.  I follow the recipe (shocker, I know) except that I didn't have any lemon oil on hand.  So, I squeezed 1/2 a lemon into mine and just stirred it in.  If you need to whip something up in a hurry to take somewhere or because company's comin', then this one is great!

All-Day Apple Butter

Ingredients 5 1/2 pounds apples - peeled, cored and finely chopped
4 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Place the apples in a slow cooker. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Pour the mixture over the apples in the slow cooker and mix well.

Cover and cook on high 1 hour.

Reduce heat to low and cook 9 to 11 hours, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and dark brown.

Uncover and continue cooking on low 1 hour. Stir with a whisk, if desired, to increase smoothness.

Spoon the mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate or freeze.

Water bath for 10-15 minutes.

My notes:

I have made this one twice now.  I got 12 jars (half-pint) the first time and about 15 the second time. Used 5 1/2 to 6 pounds of apples the first time.  Second time just crammed as much as possible into the crockpot...probably around 6 1/2 pounds.

The spices...Well, as far as cinnamon goes, I'm one of those "if a little's good, a lot's better" people.  Can you really get too much cinnamon in something?  Just askin.  So, here's what I did on the spices. 2-3 tablespoons of cinnamon, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon each of cloves, nutmeg & allspice, and about a 1/2 teaspoon of ginger.  Now then, that's better!

Before I did this, I knew just enough about a water bath to look stupid in a conversation.  So, I did some online research, read up on it, and poof...now I know what I'm doing.  The original recipe did not require a water bath.  But what I discovered in my research was that IF you do a water bath, whatever is in the jars will last longer.  Now, I know this stuff ain't gonna last long at my house.  BUT, I did give several away and I don't know how long it's gonna sit on someone else's shelf.  So, there ya have it.

If you ever had a hankerin' to make jams or jellies of any sort, this is a really easy place to start.  The only previous experience I had was strawberry jam with a friend a couple of summers ago...and she knew what she was doing.  I was just there for moral support.  (o:  Let me know if you try this one.  I would love to hear whatchya think.

Deep-Dish Layered Southern Banana Pudding

Oh my!  This is NOT your Grandma's banana pudding!  And, to be completely honest, I was never a huge fan of traditional banana pudding.  It lacked texture.  I know, that sounds crazy.  But I really like to chew my food and after it chilled for a few hours, then there really was no chewing required.  Well, after you taste this one, you may never make Grandma's banana pudding again.  I certainly won't!  This is phenomenal and is one that, after we all had our serving, I had to give the rest away just to get it out of the house.  If I hadn't, then we'd all be miserable AND fat!

30 vanilla wafers
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 pkg (3.4 oz each) Jello vanilla flavor instant pudding
2 cups cold milk
1 tub (8 oz) thawed Cool Whip
4 bananas, sliced
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Crush vanilla wafers; mix with next 4 ingredients.  Spread onto bottom of large rimmed cookie sheet or jelly roll pan sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake 5 min; stir.  Bake 3-5 min or until golden brown; cool completely.

2. Beat pudding mixes and milk with whisk 2 minutes.  Pudding will be thick.  Stir in 1 cup cool whip.  Layer 1/3 of the crumb mixture and half each of the bananas and pudding in serving bowl; repeat.

3. Beat cream cheese and granulated sugar in medium bowl with mixer until blended.  Gently stir in 1 cup of remaining cool whip; spread over top, sealing to edge of bowl.  Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.  Refrigerate 3 hours.  Top each serving with remaining cool whip and whole wafers just before serving.

My notes:
I knew that one teaspoon of cinnamon in the crumb mixture would not be quite enough for my taste.  I used close to a tablespoon, but I can't tell you for sure because I didn't measure.

It took 12-15 minutes to get my crumb mixture as toasted as I wanted it.

I did not have 2 small boxes of vanilla pudding mix on hand.  I had one small box of cheesecake pudding mix and one large box of vanilla pudding mix.  So, I used the one small box of cheesecake pudding mix (which I measured it to be 1/2 cup) and 1/2 cup of the vanilla one.  That was equal to the 2 small boxes.  And I usually substitute cheesecake flavor for vanilla in recipes.  It just tastes less artificial to me.

Make it!  You'll move up in the ranks with a lotta folks!

Peach Cobbler Muffins

Ran across this recipe on Southern Plate and knew immediately it was one I was gonna have to try.  After tasting it, I knew immediately it was one I would make again and again.

Ingredients
•1 1/4 cup self rising flour
•1 cup brown sugar
•1/4 cup quick cooking oats
•1 teaspoon cinnamon
•2 eggs
•29 ounce can peaches, drained well and coarsely chopped
•1 teaspoon vanilla
•3/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions
Prepare muffin pan by spraying with Pam. In large bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, oats and cinnamon. In separate bowl, mix beaten eggs, peaches, oil and vanilla. Pour egg mixture all at once into flour mixture: stir just until flour is moistened. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees or until tested done. Makes one dozen.

My notes:
First let me say, if you are hoping for something as sweet as traditional peach cobbler, then please don't make these.  You'll be disappointed.  That is one thing that I really liked about them...they are not sickeningly sweet.  They are REALLY good with a cup of coffee (and a beautiful friend) and much more of a breakfast or snack muffin than a dessert.


I did not have "quick cooking oats".  I used what I had on hand..."Old-fashioned oats"...and it worked just fine.  I used extra large eggs and I also added about 1/4 teaspoon each of ground cloves and ground nutmeg...because I love the flavor of both and I find myself constantly looking for places to use them.


The tops of these muffins get really brown and the sugar almost caramelizes as they bake.  You might be able to tell from the awesome pics made by my friend over at Lulu Photography.  (There's a subtle plug for you, Becke'!)


Oh yeah, one last thing.  The recipe says it makes 12.  Now I don't know what size muffins she made, but they obviously were a bit larger than mine 'cause I got 18!  And I was proud to have those extra 6!!!

Strawberry Cream Pie (aka frosting from Cream Cake)

The first time I made the Cream Cake I have posted about before, I knew the frosting was SOOOO good it could easily stand alone.  I finally did something with that thought.  I made the frosting and was able to fill 6 mini graham cracker crusts and a full-size one as well.  Then, because I was pressed for time, I popped them in the freezer to firm up while we were eating dinner.  GREAT!  They were fabulous...exactly as I expected they would be.  I reposted the recipe below for your convenience.  Another thought I had, but haven't tried yet, is to make parfaits with graham cracker crumbs, this frosting and more strawberries!  WOW!  Can't wait to try that one.  I may have to make them in little disposable shot glasses so they are single-serve/single-bite desserts...and cute too!  Would love to hear your comments when you share this one with your family!

Strawberry Cream Pie (aka frosting from Cream Cake)

Combine 2 1/2 to 3 cups of frozen sweetened strawberries (thawed) with 1 small box instant vanilla pudding.  Stir well then fold in 8 oz. whipped topping.

Oatmeal Fruit Bars

1 package yellow cake mix
2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
3/4 cup softened butter
1 egg
2 cans Solo Cake & Pastry Filling

Preheat oven to 375F.  Grease a 13" x 9" x 2" pan.  Combine dry cake mix and oats.  Add butter and egg and stir until crumbly.

Put 1/2 of mixture in pan.  Press down lightly.  Spread filling over mixture in pan.  Top with remaining mixture.  Press down lightly.

Bake for 22-26 minutes.

Cool before cutting into squares.


My notes:

I got this recipe from the label of a can of Solo Raspberry Cake & Pastry Filling.  I bought it at Kroger a while back just because it looked good and it said it had recipes inside the label.  It was a really easy recipe and I would think you could get very similar results with just a jar of your favorite preserves or lemon curd or some sort of cream cheese filling...oh my, my mind is racing.  Nonetheless, there were several different flavors that sounded pretty darn good.

In my oven, I had to bake it for 27 minutes.

Jewish Apple Cake

I got this recipe from the Relish insert in the Wednesday edition of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette several weeks ago.  I try to make it a point to browse both that insert and the Food section of the paper on Wednesdays.  Sometimes there are some great recipes and even when the recipes don't sound so good, I often get inspiration at the very least.  This cake recipe ranks pretty high.

Not that it concerns this Southern Baptist girl, but "the cake uses vegetable oil instead of butter, and orange juice in place of milk, to meet kosher laws saying that diary cannot be eaten at the same meal as meat."  Just wanted to share that interesting tidbit found in the article accompanying the recipe.  The article also stated "apple and cinnamon flavors infuse the cake, making it even better the second day."  I will most definitely have to agree.  It was a really good cake a couple hours after I took it from the oven, but the next morning it was AMAZING!

Ingredients:

6 cups peeled and thinly sliced Granny Smith apples (about 3 large)

1 1/2 cups, plus 5 tablespoons, granulated sugar, divided

4 teaspoons cinnamon

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup orange juice

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease, sugar and flour a 10-inch Bundt o tube pan.

2. Combine apple slices with 5 tablespoons granulated sugar and cinnamon; set aside.

3. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.

4. Beat eggs with remaining granulated sugar and brown sugar.  Add vegetable oil, orange juice and vanilla; beat well.  Gradually blend in flour mixture and mix until well blended (about one minute).

5. Pour one third of the batter into the pan. Top with half the apple slices, draining off any liquid.  Pour in half the remaining batter and top with remaining apple slices.  Top with remaining batter, making sure the apples are covered.

6. Bake 55 to 60 minutes, until the top turns golden brown and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  let cool 10 minutes in pan.  Turn out onto a wire rack and let cool completely.  Serves 16.

Banana Nut Bread/Cake

You can call it bread or cake.  I call it bread when it's baked in a loaf pan and cake when it's baked in a bundt pan.  Whatever makes you happy though.  Either way, this is one REALLY EASY and VERY DELICIOUS way to use up some over-ripe bananas and have a nice treat on the table in no time.  ONLY FIVE INGREDIENTS!  That is enough to get my attention right there.  I have made this one several times before and, to me, it is as good as, or better than, most "from scratch" banana breads I have eaten.  Hope you enjoy!  If you make it, leave me a comment.  I'd love to know what you think.

Ingredients

1 box cake mix with butter

3 eggs

1 stick of butter, melted

4 mashed bananas

1/2 cup nuts

Directions

Mix well and bake in a loaf pan at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour or until golden brown.

My notes:

Yes, that is all of the directions that were included with the recipe.

That is a "butter recipe" cake mix.  Oh, and do not substitute margarine for the butter.  It gives it a very artificial taste.  Your bananas do not have to be over-ripe.  When I made this today, I used 2 that were over-ripe and 2 that were just fine for eatin'.  I peel mine and toss them in a mixing bowl then get out my handy-dandy potato masher and don't stop til it's banana soup.  I bake mine in a bundt pan just because that's my preference.  It only takes 45 minutes when in a bundt pan and unless you have a really big loaf pan, I think I would divide this between 2 loaf pans.

Cream Cake TWEAKED

Go check out the changes I made to the CREAM CAKE recipe.  It's a better cake now...although I didn't think that was possible!

Brownie Shortcake

1 pkg (19.5 oz) brownie mix
1 container (16 oz) sour cream, divided
1 cup whipped topping
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups fruit (your choice)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare brownie batter as directed on package then stir in 1/2 cup sour cream.  Spoon into greased and floured 9-inch round cake pan.

Bake 45 minutes; cool 10 minutes.  Remove from pan to wire rack; cool completely.

Mix remaining sour cream, whipped topping, sugar and vanilla.  Cut brownie horizontally in half.  Place bottom half on plate; spread with half of the sour cream mixture.  Cover with top of brownie, remaining sour cream mixture and fruit.  Store in refrigerator.

My notes:

My brownie mix was something like 19.27 oz.  Of course, this wasn't an issue.

I didn't have quite enough whipped topping on hand, and I was a little heavy handed with the sour cream, so I ended up having to put a little more powdered sugar in my sour cream mixture.  My suggestion is just taste of it and see what you think.  It is supposed to have a little bit of that sour cream "twang" though.

I didn't use the 9-inch round pan as suggested.  I used my Pampered Chef tart pan because I thought it would work well (with the "tray" it creates in the brownie) and the fluted egde would be pretty.  It, in fact, did work well and was very pretty.  Since I used the tart pan, I did not split mine horizontally. I just put ALL of the sour cream mixture on top.

The whole thing was gone in less than 24 hours.  I think it was a hit.