Laney's Georgia Peach Cobbler

A couple of years ago I read a book called Under a Summer Sky by Nan Rossiter.  Set in Cape Cod, Laney goes back to her family farm in Georgia to get peaches to make peach cobbler.  I have been meaning to catch the peaches at the store and make it myself since I read it.  And I love a book that includes recipes to the dishes talked about.  So I made the version Laney makes (although she has five boys - she must have made the doubled version!)  I started with measuring out the dry ingredients in two bowls.  As I added the peaches to the sugar and spices, I would give it a stir to coat the new pieces.  After I put the peaches in the oven, I just had to cut in the butter and add the water to cobbler portion.

Peaches:
7-8 fresh peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
sprinkle of nutmeg
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 Tablespoon cornstarch

Cobbler:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter cut into small pieces
1/4 cup boiling water

Sprinkle:
2 Tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Lightly butter 9-by-9-inch glass baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch..  Spread peach mixture in bottom of pan.  Bake for ten minutes.

While baking, sift together 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until evenly crumbly.  Stir in boiling water until blended.

Remove peaches from oven and drop the dough in spoonfuls onto the hot peaches.  Spread a bit and sprinkle with both sugar and cinnamon.  Bake for 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.  Yum!

Recipe can be doubled for a 9-by-13-inch pan.

Chocolate Chip Pie

I recently discovered this recipe on Pinterest and Chris has already made it twice!

He prepared it as written, but baked it a few minutes less in our oven to avoid over browning the crust.  He warms leftover pieces for a few seconds in the microwave.  YUM!!

Click here for the original link to the recipe on the blog The Girl Who Ate Everything.

Chocolate Chip Pie

Ingredients

1 unbaked 9-inch deep dish pie pastry

2 large eggs

1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour

1⁄2 cup granulated sugar

1⁄2 cup brown sugar, packed

3⁄4 cup butter, softened

1 cup Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy and pale in color. Beat in flour, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in butter until combined.

Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into pie shell. The mixture will be thick.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. You may want to make a foil tent over the pie towards the end so the crust doesn't brown too much. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Better Than Sex Cake

Today is my husband's birthday and Facebook is telling me that I made this cake for him in 2008!  I barely remember it, so I thought I better blog it ASAP before it disappeared again until next October 20!  I have no clue where the recipe came from.

Better Than Sex Cake

1 chocolate cake mix prepared as directed in a greased 9x13 glass pan
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 12 oz jar of caramel syrup ice cream topping
1 small container of Cool Whip
4 Heath Bars crushed into bits

After cake is baked and still a little warm, poke holes all over it using the handle of a wooden spoon. Pour the can of milk over the cake, allowing it to seep into the holes. Next pour the caramel over the cake. Put it in the refrigerator for several hours or over night. When you are ready to serve it, top with the Cool Whip and sprinkle with the candy bits.

Sticky Buns

These JUST came out of the oven.  And they are DIVINE.

All of the woman's clubs around here are known for their sticky buns.  Chris loves them.  So when I was making dinner rolls the other day, I started flipping through Gold Medal's Best Bread Machine Recipes cookbook for other ideas.

The dough for this is very similar to the dinner rolls.  But the finishing process is much different.

This recipe takes a lot of time, but not active time.  There is a lot of waiting for rising.  Since I'm not a morning person, this will never be breakfast for us fresh out of the oven!

I put the ingredients in the order that my bread machine wants them.  Make sure yours is the same.

Sticky Rolls (I call them Sticky Buns)

1 cup water
1 egg
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp yeast

Caramel Topping
nuts (if desired)
2 Tbsp butter or margarine, softened
Cinnamon Filling

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

Select Dough/Manual cycle.  Do not use Delay cycle.

Remove dough from pan, using lightly floured hands.  Cover and let rest 10 minutes on lightly floured surface.  Make Caramel Topping.

Roll or pat dough into a 15 x 10 inch rectangle.  Spread 2 Tbsp butter or margarine over dough.  Make Cinnamon Filling.  Sprinkle over butter or margarine.  Roll dough up tightly, beginning at 15 inch side.  Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal.  Stretch and shape roll to make even.  Cut into 15 1 inch slices.  Place slightly apart in pan.  Cover and let rise in warm place about 1 hour or until double.  (Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.)

Heat oven to 350.  Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.  Immediately place heatproof platter or tray upside down onto pan.  Turn platter and pan over.  Leave pan over rolls 1 minute.  Remove pan.  Serve rolls warm or let stand until cool.

Caramel Topping

1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup dark corn syrup

Place melted butter in ungreased rectangular 13 x 9 pan that is 2 inches deep.  Stir in brown sugar and corn syrup until well blended.  Spread evenly in pan.  Sprinkle with nuts, if desired.

Cinnamon Filling

2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix all ingredients.

Peanut Butter Balls

Chris dipping the peanut butter balls in chocolate!

We are not Christmas cookie baking people.  Sure, Chris makes chocolate chip cookies from time to time, but we don't "do" the frantic baking thing at the holidays.  As a result, I never get as many peanut butter balls as I require.

This year, I saw this recipe floating around Facebook, and I asked Chris if he would make it for our Christmas party.

I will warn you, it was a bit of mess! But these are THE BEST peanut butter balls I've ever tasted!  He did use his hands to mix the peanut butter part, as directed in the recipe.  He used milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet, which makes them just a little bit sweeter.  I actually prefer milk chocolate, so maybe that's why I loved these so much!

So here's the recipe.  (The personal notes are from the original poster -- I'm sorry I don't know who that was to give her/him credit!)

No Bake Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls

1-18 oz. jar of smooth or chunky peanut buter - I prefer smooth
1 - 16 oz. bag of confectioners sugar
1/4 c. butter, melted
 
chocolate almond bark
or
chocolate candy melts
or
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips & 2 tsp. shortening

In a large bowl, stir together the peanut butter, confectioners sugar and melted butter until the mixture is crumbly. For the next step, the best way that I've found to make a smooth filling is to use your hands to mix everything together.

Line a baking sheet with foil. Roll the peanut butter filling into 1 inch balls and line the baking sheet with rows of the balls. Set the baking sheet in the freezer for 5-7 minutes to chill the peanut butter balls for easier dipping.

No Bake Nutella Cheesecake

Chris made this amazing cheesecake for our Valentine's Day dinner!  

The recipe comes from the website My Baking Addiction.  It calls for making adorable little individual cheesecakes, but we didn't have enough small bowls to use up the filling.  So Chris just put it in a pie pan and made a big cheesecake instead.

This recipe is DIVINE.  Make it.  It's rare to find a recipe that is so simple and this good!!!

No Bake Nutella Cheesecake

For the Crust
12 Oreo cookies, crushed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling
1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup Nutella
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce) tub frozen whipped topping, thawed

For the Garnish
whipped topping, optional
chocolate shavings, optional
toasted, chopped hazelnuts, optional

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the Oreo cookie crumbs and melted butter. Evenly divide the crumbs between your individual serving dishes and press into the bottoms of the dishes to form a crust layer.

2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and Nutella until smooth. Add vanilla and mix to combine. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the whipped topping until well blended and no streaks remain.

3. Evenly pipe or spoon the filling into individual serving dishes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

4. If desired, garnish with additional whipped topping, chocolate shavings, and/or toasted, chopped hazelnuts.

"German" Apple Crisp

This recipe isn't exactly "German."  That's my friend's last name, and this is her mom's recipe!

It is just WONDERFUL.  I went to the orchard less than a week ago to buy apples and I have made this TWICE.  I will probably use up all the apples I bought making this recipe, again and again and again...

I used the full 3/4 cup of brown sugar.  And while I like nutmeg, I don't love nutmeg, so I only sprinkled it in rather than using 3/4 tsp.  My apples were huge, so the first time 4 apples was a bit too much for an 8x8 pan.  Should have known better!  The second time I made it, I only cut up 3 apples.  And I cut the slices in half the second time so I didn't have to cut them into bite-sized pieces with my spoon while eating it.

It tastes a lot like the stuffed apple recipe I used to make from Rachel Ray, except this is way easier!

 

“German” Apple Crisp

Ingredients

4 cups sliced pared tart apples (about 4 medium)
2/3 to ¾ cup brown sugar (packed)
½ cup flour
½ cup oatmeal
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¾ teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

Directions

Heat oven to 375. Grease 8 x8 pan. Place apple slices in pan. Mix remaining ingredients thoroughly. Sprinkle over apples.

Bake 30 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden. Serve warm and if desired with light cream or ice cream.