Snickerdoodles

1 1/2 cups sugar + 3 tablespoons
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream together 1 1/2 cups sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs. Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt and mix together. Combine cinnamon and 3 tablespoons of sugar in a bowl. Roll dough into balls the size of quarters and roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture. Place on cookie sheets about two inches apart and bake 8 to 10 minutes.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza Bites

I want to start by saying these are REALLY good. However, they are kind of a pain in the bahookie to put together. In the future I will probably just use this recipe to make a regular pizza instead of bites with ranch sauce for dipping. If I was to do them for a party for appetizers or something I think I'd do them in little muffin tins since cooking them side by side sometimes you break them while pulling them apart.

I got this recipe from Our Best Bites I have another recipe from their website planned for this week. I'll let you know how that goes.

1 roll refrigerated pizza dough* (or make your own)
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 T olive oil or melted buttersharp cheddar cheese (I used 50% sharp cheddar and 50% mozzarella)
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
about 1 C shredded, cooked chicken.
3/4 C mayo
3/4 C milk

First take 1 teaspoon of your ranch dressing mix and combine it with 1 1/2 T parmesan cheese. Set aside. Combine the remaining ranch mix with 3/4 C mayo and 3/4 C milk and place in the fridge to chill.

Preheat oven to heat specified on pizza dough package. Usually it's 400-425 degrees.

Unroll your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll the dough so it's about 12" by 8". You're going to want to cut it into 24 squares, so just eyeball it if you need to. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 24 squares.

Place cheese and desired toppings on each square.
When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings.

I grab the four corners first and then squeeze the seams shut. Then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie pan (or similar sized dish). Brush with melted butte

r or olive oil and sprinkle with themparmesan-ranch mixture.

Place your rolls in the oven. I've noticed baking time really depends on the type of dough I'm using. Whether it's different brands from the store, or homemade dough, they all take different amounts of time. Set your timer for 10 minutes and check on them after that. They may take up to 15 or 20 to be done. Take them out when they're lightly golden on top.
Serve them warm with a side of freshly made ranch dressing for dipping.

BTW: I cooked these in a 9x13 pan. They definitely would not all have fit in a pie pan

Our Best Bites

I came across this super fun blog this morning (to be honest I can't remember how exactly I got there!) I thought I'd share with you since she has lots of fun holiday recipes and ideas as some yummy looking dinners.

This is what caught my eye....I thought Alex would love it.

Our Best Bites go check it out! :)

Caramel Apple Cake

I got this recipe from my friend Danita Berg.

1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 apples pealed and cut into chunks
3 cups flour
1cup of pecan pieces (optional)

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and mix well. Add dry ingrediants and apples and mix until just blended. Pour into a greased pan.

(I made this last night and my cake batter wasn't much of a batter, but more crumbs. So, I added a splash of vanilla and about 1/2-3/4 cup of milk to make it a batter.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Cool completely and top with warm caramel.

Caramel Sauce
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Bring all ingrediants to a boil in a saucepan. Boil 6-7 minutes. Remove from heat and cool about 5 minutes. Pour over cooled cake.

Spiced Apple Cobbler

Lynne and I had seen this recipe on Rachael Ray last year (or maybe longer ago). Lynne tried it first and they really liked it so I made it last night. It's SO GOOD!

Ingredients

• 6 large (about 8 cups) Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and sliced (use Granny Smiths for a more tart flavor)
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 1/2 cups sugar, divided
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup whole milk
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 quart store-bought pumpkin ice cream
• Store-bought caramel sauce

Preheat the oven to 350

Place apples in a 13x9” baking dish. Sprinkle with lemon juice and toss to coat.

In a medium bowl, mix together 2 cups sugar, flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt and the cinnamon. Add milk and melted butter, and mix well. Pour batter evenly over apples and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix remaining 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch and 1 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle over batter. Evenly pour the boiling water on top then transfer to the oven and bake for 50 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling.

Can be served warm or at room temperature, topped with a scoop of pumpkin ice cream and drizzled with caramel sauce.

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French Loaves

I didn't think to take a picture of this until we'd already eaten half of it, but I guess that says how yummy this hot fresh bread was! It reminds me a lot of the English muffin bread my Mom made us as kids. It's pretty quick for yeast bread and makes two loaves. One for you and one for a neighbor! :)

Ingredients:
2Tbsp. active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
2tsp. salt
1tsp sugar
4.5-5 cups bread flour
1tsp cornmeal

Directions:
In a large bowl dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the salt, sugar, and 2 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly flour surface; divide in half. Shape into 12-in long loaves.

Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cornmeal. With a sharp knife, make four shallow slashes across the top of each loaf. Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

I got this recipe of my friend Sydney's blog The Drinkwater Kitchen. She has some other yummy looking recipes on there you might want to check out! I made these tonight and they are super yummy!

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. pumpkin puree
3 T. oil
1 1/4 t. cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350F and spray a 9″x9″ cake pan with nonstick spray.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add chocolate and remove from heat. Let sit for a few minutes, then stir until smooth.

In a large bowl beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla for 3-4 minutes, until thick and pale yellow. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and beat until just combined.

Put about a third of the batter into another bowl and stir the pumpkin, oil, and cinnamon into it. Stir the chocolate mixture into the remaining batter and spread a little more than half of it into the prepared pan. Top with the pumpkin mixture, then drop large spoonfuls of the remaining chocolate mixture on top. Swirl a toothpick through both to create a swirled effect.

Bake for 55-60 minutes, until just set and starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Makes 16 brownies.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Topping
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick) room temperature
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Cake
2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, (1 stick) room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 can of pumpkin (15 oz)

1. For the topping, combine flour, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl. Mix until crumbly. Add chocolate chips and toss together. Set aside.

2. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour a 13x9 inch baking pan. Sift 2 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt into a small bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup of butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Gradually add 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar, beating until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend after each addition. Add vanilla extract and stir in entire can of pumpkin. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients and stir until just blended.

3. Spread half of the batter into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle around half of the topping mixture and spread the remaining batter on top. Distribute the leftover topping evenly over batter. Bake until tester inserted into center comes and clean and topping is golden brown, about 40 minutes. Cool cake. Serve room temperature.

Tara's Dinner Rolls

These are really convenient because you can make them ahead of time and then bake them when you're ready. They have come out perfectly every time I've done them. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1c warm water
1 package active dry yeast (2.5tsp)
1/2 c melted butter
1/2 c sugar
3 eggs
4-4.5c flour
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Combine water and yeast and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in butter, sugar, eggs, and salt. Beat in flour one cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours up to 4 days.

Grease a 9x13 pan. Roll dough out and shape into 24 balls. Cover and let dough rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375.

Bake 15-20 minutes.

The Results are In....

I have to say I was underwhelmed with the results of the tortilla recipe below. Maybe it was me, the humidity in the air, the pan I used, or maybe just a bad recipe. Anyone have a good recipe for tortillas? Something tried and true? I'm open to suggestions.