Cinnamon Waffle Cookies

I don’t know where I saw it but today (March 25) is International Waffle Day! This holiday originated in Sweden and its official name is Våffeldagen (I don’t speak Swedish but I’m going to wish everyone a Happy Vaffledagen today because its fun to say even if I am mispronouncing it). The holiday coincides with the Feast of the Annunciation and is also considered the start of spring in Sweden. It became a custom for Swedish families to celebrate the two events by making waffles on this day.

I don’t know what waffles have to do with the Annunciation or spring. I’m not Swedish. My church does celebrate the 25th as the Feast of the Annunciation. And I love anything having to do with waffles. So I’m going to celebrate this holiday!

I thought about making waffles for the kids for breakfast but then decided it would be more fun to surprise them with non-breakfast waffles. There are cookbooks dedicated to using your waffle maker for non-breakfast items. I don’t have one of those but I had a couple of ideas in mind. So I did what I always do when I have a recipe notion… I searched the Internet to confirm my assumptions. And then I picked these for our after school snack:

• 1/2 cup of butter softened (two sticks)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups of flour
• 1/2 cup of cinnamon chips

In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar at medium speed for three minutes.

Scrape the bowl and add eggs one at a time. Continue to beat on medium for another 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as necessary.

Set the mixer to stir and spoon in the flour. The finished batter should have the consistency of a sticky cookie dough. Stir in the cinnamon chips by hand.

Preheat your waffle iron and lightly coat with cooking spray. Place generous tablespoon-sized scoops onto each section of the waffle iron. Bake for about 90 seconds – until golden brown (you’ll know after the first batch if you need a little less or more time, I baked mine for 1:40).

Remove and place on a wire rack to cool (they will crisp up on the rack).

Tasty Throwback Thursday

Yes, I’m mashing together two memes today to bring you the first recipe I ever posted on this blog nearly five years ago. It’s still something that is made in this house every few weeks and it’s as tasty as ever:

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

Ingredient list:
2-3 ripe bananas
sugar
butter
lemon peel
flour
baking powder
salt
egg
chocolate chips

First, mash 2-3 bananas

Then if you’re lucky enough to have a stand mixer, get this started (if you don’t have a stand mixer, you’ll probably want to measure & get everything out before you start mixing):
2/3 cup sugar
6 TB butter, softened
3/4 tsp lemon peel

While that’s mixing – lightly mix together (I toss it all in one 2 cup measuring cup to minimize the clean up)
1.5 cups flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
.5 tsp salt

Your butter & sugar should be creamy now so go ahead and add 1 egg and the mashed bananas. Once it’s all mixed together add the dry ingredients in about 3 parts, beating until smooth between each.

Take it off the mixer and stir in approx 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 52 minutes. YUM!

You prefer muffins you say? Here’s the recipe adapted for Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins.

Tasty Thursday: National Pie Day

It’s national pie day! My oldest requested a chocolate cream pie for her birthday last month and I spent quite a bit of time digging through recipes to come up with one. It was delicious and the dark chocolate was a great twist. Today seems like the perfect day to share it.

Dark Chocolate Cream Pie

Credit to Betty Crocker for the filling.

1 refrigerated pie crust (or see pie crust recipe at bottom)
2 1/4 cups skim milk
1 6 serving size chocolate pudding mix
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
Rich & Creamy Cool Whip for topping

1. Bake pie crust according to instructions. Let cool.

2. Cook milk and pudding mix over medium heat 5 to 8 minutes or until mixture comes to a full boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add chips; stir until chips are melted and smooth. Pour into your cool pie crust and cover the surface with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least two hours.

3. Serve with whipped topping. I recommend the Rich & Creamy Cool Whip option.

Pie Crust

I’m one of those people that is afraid of pie crust. However, if anyone can cure me of this fear – it’s Smitten Kitchen. Check out her easy (yes really) pie crust recipe and then leave her a note and thank her for it. If you use this recipe, here’s how you bake the crust for your cream pie filling:

1. Use a fork to lightly prick the bottom of the pastry. Take a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper and press it into the pie plate, gently pushing it right up against the pastry. Fill the sheet of foil or parchment paper with pie weights, dried beans or even uncooked rice to hold it in place. This weight helps the pie dough hold its shape.
2. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and take out the pie weights, return to the oven for 10-15 more minutes until pie is golden.

Happy Pie Day!

Tasty Thursday: Christmas Baking

Each year at Christmastime many of us bake loads of cookies and other treats. I have a confession to make: As much as I enjoy eating cookies, I rarely enjoy baking them. It just takes so much time. I’m kind of over it by the third cookie sheet. In fact, my cookies tend to get larger & larger as the day goes on just so I don’t have to bake as many.

To counteract this issue I’ve done two things: 1. I no longer bake as many types of cookies. 2. I look for other things to bake that are equally delicious but only require putting one thing in the oven leaving me free to move on to other tasks & activities. With that in mind, I bring you a delightful recipe that will make your kitchen smell wonderful and would be a welcome treat for any friends or family who happen to stop by. It’s also a great breakfast accompaniment over the holidays when you might have extra people in your house and a welcome hostess/teacher gift.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Dough:

• 7 cups flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs

Cinnamon mixture:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Frosting:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-2 tablespoons milk

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine 3 1/2 cups of flour with yeast. In a sauce pan, heat milk, sugar & shortening – stirring constantly, don’t bring it to a boil, just warm it. Add milk mixture to flour and mix together. Add in two eggs and mix in then beat at higher speed for 3 minutes. Add in the rest of the flour to make a stiff dough – at this point you’ll probably need to start mixing by hand as the dough becomes stiff.

2. Kneed until smooth and elastic (~10 minutes). Place in a lightly greased, large bowl. Cover with a clean towel and set in a warm place to rise for one hour.

3. Dough will have doubled in size. Punch it down and divide in half. Cover with the towel and let rest for 10 minutes.

4. Roll each half into a 12×8 rectangle and brush the surface with water. Sprinkle with your cinnamon mixture. Roll dough from the short side, seal the edges and tuck the ends under to fit in your loaf pan. Place sealed end down in a greased loaf pan. Cover and let rise for 30-40 minutes.

5. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned.

6. When cool drizzle it with the powdered sugar frosting.

Tasty Thursday: Pumpkin Bread

So every October I post a recipe for something using pumpkin. There’s just something about pumpkin flavored foods as the weather turns chilly. Plus, we are big fans of pumpkin around here. The other day I was searching for a recipe on this blog and came across a few others that are from five or more years ago. I forgot all about them – and it’s my blog! – so I figure you all could use a friendly pumpkin reminder as well.

Get out the bread maker (you know the one you got as a wedding gift but hardly ever use) and make this bread. It will make your whole house smell so good that your family will be thanking you before they even try it. And then when they have some warm with butter they will hug you. And then tomorrow when you lightly toast a slice and put apple butter on top… you’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven.

Pumpkin Bread

From the Betty Crocker Bread Machine Cookbook. I believe in big portions so I’ll give you the 2 pound recipe – if you want the smaller one go find the book.

• 1 cup canned pumpkin (pumpkin – not pumpkin pie filling – pumpkin)
• 1/2 cup plus 2 TB water
• 3/4 tsp vanilla
• 2 TB butter, softened
• 4 cups bread flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (see note at end)
• 1 3/4 tsp bread machine or quick active dry yeast

Measure carefully, placing all ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer.

Select the sweet or basic/white cycle on your machine with the light crust color. Do not delay the cycle.

Remove baked bread when the machine beeps and eat it hot. It’s really yummy with some apple butter too.

note: if you don’t have pumpkin pie spice: mix 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/8 tsp allspice and 1/8 tsp nutmeg. voila! pumpkin pie spice