Birthday Cake

I made a pretty! And I’m very excited about it!

I made a cake for my sister’s birthday, and it turned out pretty well.  

I used a recipe from here, and added pink and green food coloring instead of red.

I also used cream cheese frosting, but as little as possible while still covering the colors. My sister is very strange and doesn’t much like frosting.  

Banana Bread

The other day when I was making brownie cookies the Directional Driller asked me if I’d left a banana on his desk.  It had been there for a few days and was looking a bit past it’s edible date.  He also had a small collection on the kitchen table that was quickly heading toward “black”. 

When I said that the one on the desk was not mine, he asked if I wanted to use it to make some banana bread.  So after a day or two of putting it off my night hand brought some disposable bread pans and I went to the store for butter.  

Once the bread was done I cut a few pieces for the guys in the trailer and attempted to take some to the Company Man.  I had to fight to get past Dane.  He didn’t want to share any of it.

The top is crispy, so it crumbles less if you turn it
upside down and cut the bottom side first.

Ingredients

4 Ripe Bananas

2/3 c Butter, melted

2 c Sugar

2 Eggs, beaten

2 t Vanilla

2 t Baking Soda

1/2 t Salt

3 c Flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*F. Prepare 2 bread pans (4x8 inches).

Mash the bananas with a wooden spoon. When they are the desired texture add the butter and mix.  Then add the sugar, egg and vanilla. 

Add the baking soda, salt and flour and mix together until the dry ingredients are just moist.

Divide the batter between the two pans and bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. 

Cool slightly and turn out onto a cutting board.  

The bread will crumble a bit when you cut it, but it is best when it is still toasty.

It is also good toasted in the toaster with butter.

Base recipe found at Simply Recipes

Cinnamon Brownie Cookies

I made cookies yesterday. Christmas cookies to go with some gumbo that the mud guy made. It was really good, and the 5 dozen cookies were gone in about 3 hours, maybe 4.

Ingredients:

12 oz. Semisweet Chocolate Chips

4 T Butter

4 Eggs

1 1/2 c Sugar

1 t Vanilla

1/4 t Salt

1 t Cinnamon

1 c All-Purpose Flour

1/2 t Baking Powder

Directions:

*Preheat the oven to 350*F. Prepare cookie pans with parchment paper, or spread with butter and shake flour over the pan to cover the entire surface.

Combine the chocolate chips and butter. Melt in a microwave safe bowl, cooking for 30 seconds at a time, stirring well and adding time as necessary, until the mixture is smooth. This can also be done in a double boiler. Set aside

Beat the eggs and sugar together, until they begin to turn pale. Add the vanilla and salt.

Mix in the chocolate mixture.  

Add the flour and baking powder and cinnamon and mix until combined. The mix will be quite runny, about like brownie batter.

Drop by rounded teaspoon onto prepared cookie pans. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are set around the edge and soft in the middle.  

Let sit on the pans for 2 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Marshmallows

I have been making a lot of goodies this week, and wrapping them up to give away as holiday gifts.  I made my gramma’s Caramel Corn, I found a recipe for Muddy Buddies, sometimes known as Puppy Chow. And I made some Cocoa Mix and Marshmallows to go with it. 

Leaning tower of spongy sugar.

I am very excited about the Marshmallows, I have been wanting to make those for a long time.  I knew that they were supposed to be pretty easy, but I was still hesitant.  I don’t know if I was scared of making a mess, or a mistake, or ending up with something that is inedible.  

I did end up making a huge mess, but it wasn’t all Marshmallows, and I did make a mistake and have to double the batch right from the beginning.  But the inedible part didn’t happen.

These Marshmallows are really good.  They taste like store-bought marshmallows, but so much better.  So much better.

I used the recipe from Annie’s Eats - Vanilla Bean Marshmallows.  It is a very good place to start.  She explains steps clearly and talks about her experience with them.  I go to Annie’s Eats for a lot of inspiration.

So, so many left.

Vegan Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

I found a recipe for chocolate sugar cookies, or brownie cookies, or chocolate wafer cookies, whatever you want to call them. The recipe comes from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. They looked amazing. Turns out they ARE pretty amazing.

My original plan was to use the cookies to make a pie shell for a chocolate cream pie. 

Naturally plans changed and I never got around to it. So when my sister asked me to go for a bike ride and have dinner with her vegan roommates, I took advantage of my lack of eggs, random can of coconut cream and powdered sugar.

I sandwiched those cookies like crazy.

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes, Two Ways

I am a bit addicted to all things chocolate and cherry right now. As long as the cherry part is not actual cherries. I don’t like the mushyness of maraschino cherries or the way pie filling has whole cherries. I spend most of my time with cherry pie eating the goo around the cherries. 

But I love chocolate and cherry shakes, and malts and Blizzards. 

Yum.

I’m adding cupcakes to the list, also.

I used the recipe and instructions from Annie’s Eats for the first set of cupcakes, pie filling.

 I cheated for the frosting. I used store bought because I don’t have a hand mixer at the rig. 

The second batch I swirled some blended pie filling into the cupcake before baking. 

Then I mixed some into the frosting, too.

Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I am getting better at making up recipes. They are closer and closer to what I want them to be on the first try. Which is good because then I forget what I used in them and have to start all over.

However, occasionally I remember to take my notebook into the kitchen and write things down as I add them. Sometimes I even measure as I add ingredients. 

Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Recipe:

1 c Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 c Cocoa Powder

1 sticks Salted Butter, softened

1 c Sugar

1 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 c Milk

1/2 c Peanut Butter

1 1/2 c Old Fashioned Oats

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Prepare cookie pan with cooking spray or parchment paper.

Combine the flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and mix well. Add vanilla and milk. 

Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture.

Add the peanut butter and mix well.

Add oats and combine.

Drop by large tablespoon onto the prepared cookie pans. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the edges are starting to turn golden. Remove from oven and let cool for 1 minute on the pan before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

These are quite crumbly, but delicious.