My daughter works in the healthcare industry and we all know how busy healthcare workers are right now. I thought it would be fun to bake up a batch of mini-donuts for the folks that work in her department. I’m told these were a big hit.
These couldn’t be any easier to make. The maple glaze is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!
I found the recipe here:
I recently purchased a bag of pears, brought them home and placed them in the fruit bowl on my kitchen table. Those pears sat there all week as the family seemed to choose every other fruit in the bowl when snacking. I watched as the pears began to get overly ripe. Not wanting to waste the fruit, I remembered an apple cake recipe that I frequently make during the fall months. I thought I could easily substitute the pears into the apple recipe. So, I peeled and chopped the remaining pears and tossed them in. I was making a Father’s Day meal and thought this would be a lovely dessert.
Well, I was right… this cake was super moist, and tasted delicious pared with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I’ll definitely be making this one again!
Glazed Pear Cake
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 cups pears, peeled and diced (apples work well too)
1 cup chopped walnuts
TOPPING:
1⁄2 cup brown sugar
1⁄4 cup milk
1 stick of butter
Cake:
Preheat over to 350 degrees. Grease a 9X13” baking pan. Mix all cake ingredients by hand in order the listed. Pour batter evenly into prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes; remove.
Topping:
In small saucepan mix topping ingredients; bring to a slow boil for 3 minutes.
Pour over hot cake and return to oven for 4 minutes. Cool completely before slicing.
Over the years, I have had a few favorite “go to” cutout cookie recipes. Most have similar ingredients and use specific techniques for preparing a crispy, yet tender almond flavored disk. Recently, we purchased a 3 pound package of bees and placed them in a backyard hive. Since then, I have been testing recipes that have a very special ingredient in the mix…that ingredient is honey. I recently made this recipe for a baby shower that my office hosted for a co-worker. While I don’t eat a lot of sweets, I’m told these crispy, tender morsels tasted divine. 
Glazed Almond Cutouts
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cups butter, softened
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda; set aside. In a separate bowl, beat butter, sugar and salt until creamy. Beat in yolk, then honey and extracts until smooth. Carefully beat in the flour mixture until smooth. Divide the dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic and refrigerate 15 to 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough to a 1/4″ thickness. With a 2″ cookie cutter, cut shapes and place on cookie sheets. Optional: freeze for 30 minutes before placing in preheated oven. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden.
Let cookies cool on cookie sheet 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Glaze cookies and decorate cookies as desired. The recipe that I use for the glaze can be found here.
For the longest time, I’ve wanted to try making baked donuts. This past Christmas, I ordered two donut baking pans to put under the tree as a gift to myself. (How many moms out there have done that before?)
I did my homework before ordering the pans… I wanted something that was non-stick and had no seams in the donut bed so that the batter could lay evenly without getting trapped in the metal seam. I found the perfect pans at Norpro.
This past week, as my oldest daughter celebrated a birthday, I decided to make a tray of donuts in lieu of a traditional cake. She was scheduled to have back surgery the afternoon of her birthday and I wanted to bring a special bite-sized treat along so that she could nibble on a mini-birthday-donut the morning of the procedure.
As I scoured my cookbooks and kitchen files for a suitable recipe, I spied a boxed muffin mix that carried a small picture of a basket of mini-donuts posted on the back of the package. To my surprise, the recipe posted beside the picture was for baked donuts. I thought…well, let’s give this a try.
So after a few alterations, I came up with this recipe adapted from Krusteaz Guilt Free Baked Donuts.
Sweet Cranberry and Pecan Glazed Donuts
Donuts:
1 package Krusteaz Cranberry Orange Fat Free Muffin Mix
1 can cranberries (enclosed in the box), drained and liquid reserved
3/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon almond extract
Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Reserved cranberry liquid
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray with cooking spray, the donut baking pans. For the donuts: In a medium bowl, carefully stir together the muffin mix, cranberries, orange juice and extract. Combine just until blended. Place the batter in a gallon-sized sealable bag (or a pastry bag). Snip the plastic bag 1/8″ from the corner. Evenly pipe the batter into the mini-donut baking pans. Bake 8-12 minutes or until donuts spring back when touched. Cool and remove to wire rack.
For icing: Place all icing ingredients (except nuts) in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Drizzle or dip donuts into the icing then sprinkle with chopped nuts.
Note: I also used the regular sized donut baking pan for this recipe. Alter baking time by adding 10 minutes or until light golden brown and donuts spring back when touched.
This is my “go to” recipe for icing cookies, cupcakes, coffee cakes, and apple slices. The almond extract compliments so many pastry flavors. Add a touch of food coloring to make things a little more festive.
Powdered Sugar Glaze
2 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 Tbls milk or cream
1/2 tsp almond extract
Food Coloring, optional
In a medium mixing bowl, combine ingredients and mix well. If glaze is too thick, carefully add extra milk or water (a 1/2 teaspoon at a time) until mixture is smooth and creamy. Lightly spread or drizzle glaze on cooled cookies, cupcakes, etc.
Did you know that you can spruce up a cake mix by adding a package of flavored gelatin to the batter?
These semi-homemade cupcakes are quick and easy to whip up and they’re so moist and yummy. During the holidays, many weekly sale ads feature greatly reduced pricing on baking supplies. So stock up on white cake mix when it’s on sale and keep lots of different flavored gelatin in the pantry for a variety of flavorful treats.
Kate’s Favorite Glazed Strawberry Cupcakes
1 box of white cake mix
1 3 oz box of strawberry gelatin
2/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup water
4 eggs
1/2 cup chopped strawberries
Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer beat in remaining ingredients until fully combined. Pour batter into prepared cupcake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 17-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool and drizzle cupcakes with powdered sugar glaze.
While watching a local public television show, I was fascinated by the easy at which these pan biscuits came together. They aren’t cut out individually like traditional biscuits but they are incredibly fluffy, moist and flavorful as they are baked in a pan under high heat and slathered with a scrumptious glaze of butter and honey. The batter is made with simple ingredients and is perforated with a bench scraper to section out 9 biscuits and baked for 45 minutes until dark golden brown. Find this Cook’s Country recipe here. …Just so yummy!
It’s blueberry picking time and this is my new favorite recipe. Super moist and delicious…. I hope you give it a try!
COFFEE CAKE
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1⁄2 cup packed brown sugar
2⁄3 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, well-drained
BLUEBERRY TOPPING
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1⁄2 cup pecans, chopped
1⁄2 cup brown sugar, packed
1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13×9” baking pan; set aside. In medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.
In large bowl, stir together sugar, brown sugar, oil and eggs. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, stirring after addition. Fold in pineapple. Spoon batter into prepared pan.
For blueberry topping: Stir together all ingredients; sprinkle evenly over batter.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
Cool in pan on wire rack for 45 minutes.
Optional: Drizzle a glaze over the top of coffee cake after completely cooled.
While the blistering summer temperatures have risen to well above 90 degrees, I’m itching for cooler weather. I couldn’t resist making this delicious fall coffee cake while the kids were home this weekend. K whipped up the recipe and we sliced into the warm cake during Sunday breakfast. So good!
Cake
4 eggs
1/4 cup water
1 package yellow cake mix
1 package instant Pumpkin Spice Pudding
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sour cream
Crumble
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Glaze
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 to 3Tablespoons milk
Grease a 9×13” pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To make the topping: In a small bowl, toss together the topping ingredients until mixed well; set aside.
To make the cake: In another larger bowl, mix the eggs, water and cake mix together until blended and smooth.
Add the dry pudding mix, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, oil, and sour cream; mix until combined.
Put half of the batter into the pan and then add half of the mixed topping. Carefully spread the rest of the batter on top and finish the cake off with the rest of the topping.
Bake the cake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes or until the cake tests done with a toothpick inserted in the center. Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack.
When the cake is no longer warm, mix up your glaze. Whisk together the confectioner’s sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Add two tablespoons of milk. Drizzle the glaze over cake.
If you are looking for an easy coffee cake recipe that you can get to the table in no time at all, this is it! The base of the batter uses a boxed baking mix to add to the ease to which this coffee cake comes together. Great for the holiday season as you might have a few early morning guests in the house. It’s a winner!
Easy Cinnamon Crumble Coffee Cake
Cake:
2 cups baking mix
⅔ cup milk
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 egg
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
Topping:
⅔ cup baking mix
⅔ cup brown sugar 4 tablespoons butter, cold and cubed
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup walnuts, chopped
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a deep 9-inch pie pan. Combine baking mix, milk, sugar, egg, cinnamon, and vanilla in bowl; mix well. Spread into the bottom of the prepared pan.
For topping, in a medium sized bowl, combine baking mix, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and walnuts. Using a fork or pastry blender until crumbly. Spread topping mix over cake batter.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. (Optional: Drizzle with powdered sugar/water glaze.
Simply Made Kitchen and Crafts 