Apple Cranberry Cake

It's no secret that my favorite thing about fall is the variety of apples that are available. Anything I can make with apples is a winner to me, so recently when I needed to make a dessert to take to a friend's house I knew apples had to be involved. This bundt cake is everything you want in a great fall recipe. The apples make the cake extremely moist, & the cranberries offer that perfect tart bite. The original recipe didn't specify the types of apples, but Honeycrisp are my favorite so that's what I used. I also made the addition of cinnamon because everything's better with a little cinnamon. I highly recommend that you try this very soon; I've made it twice & have gotten rave reviews both times.

Apple Cranberry Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups apples, peeled and diced
1 cup canola oil
1 cup fresh cranberries, chopped
1 cup pecans, chopped
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Topping
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a bundt pan. Mix together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir until blended; batter will be stiff. Spread into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour 25 minutes. Mix all topping ingredients together until well blended. Pour over and down sides of hot cake while it's still in the pan. Let cool for 30 minutes before removing from pan.

Donut Muffins

Muffins? Donuts? Muffins that taste like donuts? Yes please! For the first time in I don't know how long I actually had the chance to try a new recipe tonight. I came across this one a while ago on The Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen. If you've read this blog, you know that I'm all about the easy recipes, & this one is so easy. And the taste...cinnamon-sugar cake donut deliciousness. You have to try these!

Donut Muffins

1-¾ cup Flour
1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoons Nutmeg
½ teaspoons Cinnamon
⅓ cups Oil
¾ cups White Sugar
1 whole Egg
¾ cups Milk
_____

FOR THE TOPPING:
¼ cups Butter
⅓ cups White Sugar
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees & grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
Combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Combine oil, sugar, egg and milk. Add dry ingredients and stir only to combine.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a bowl. Combine the white sugar with the cinnamon in another bowl.
Shake muffins out while still hot. Dip muffins in butter, then into the sugar/cinnamon mix. Let cool.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

I recently came across a post by Risa from Baked Perfection with a recipe for Snickerdoodle Blondies that she had found. I love snickerdoodles, so I bookmarked the recipe. I had a little free time this evening, so I decided to whips this recipe up. The original recipe called for 2 cups of brown sugar, but I only had 1 so I had to substitute with a cup of granulated sugar. These blondies are so delicious & super easy to make!

Snickerdoodle Blondies

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and/or line a 9x13 inch pan. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars for 3-5 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, and beat until smooth.

Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Combine the granulated sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the batter.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Makes 20-24 bars.

TWD - Dressy Chocolate Loafcake

Well there's no TWD post for me this week because of all things for a baker to own, I don't have a loaf pan. I know...I'm just as shocked as you are! How to any respectable baker not have a loaf pan?! I didn't realize it until I went to bake this cake. Ah well...such is life.

This week's recipe was chose by Amy of Amy Ruth Bakes, so head over to her blog for the recipe. Also be sure to visit the TWD blogroll for everyone's gorgeous cake creations.

TWD - Raisin Swirl Bread

No TWD for me this week...I've been swamped with cake/cupcake orders. I'll be back next week!

Check out Susan of Food.Baby for the recipe, & the TWD blogroll for everyone's beautiful loaves.

TWD - Tender Shortcakes

Well well...look who's finally back in the blogging game. What better reason to come back to the blog than for a delicious shortcake/berry treat? This week Cathy of The Tortefeasor chose Dorie's Tender Shortcakes. This has been by far the easiest recipe we've had on TWD. The key was to not mix it a lot, but I had a problem with getting a lot of the flour incorporated into the dough. It was extremely loose & crumbly so I just piled the dough up as best I could & prayed that it would bake correctly. Sure enough...those little beauties baked up perfectly! I've been craving blackberries lately so I chose to put them with these shortcakes. Talk about heaven on a plate. These are the perfect summer treats, & they're great ways to impress your family & friends at your next dinner party. They look so hard to do, but they're so simple & oh so delicious!

 

Check out Cathy's blog for the recipe, & the TWD blogroll for everyone's creations!

TWD - Dulce de Leche Duos

Happy Tuesday!!

This week's TWD recipe, Dulce de Leche Duos, was chosen by Jodie of Beansy Loves Cake. I was a little concerned at first about whether or not I would be able to find dulce de leche at my local grocery store, but it was super easy to find in the ethnic foods aisle. I loved this recipe because it only had a few ingredients & was so easy to put together. My only issue came when scooping out the dough onto the cookie sheets...the dough was extremely soft & a little hard to work with. I was afraid that the cookies wouldn't hold their shape, but they turned out beautifully. They were soft & perfect with my Sunday morning cup of coffee. These cookies are absolutely delicious & a great addition to anyone's cookie repertoire.

Head on over to Jodie's blog for the recipe, & check out the rest of the TWD blogroll!

Food Blogger Bake Sale - Less Than 1 Month!

April 17th is quickly approaching, & I couldn't be more excited about our Oklahoma Food Bloggers Bake Sale! Vivian Boroff from Island Dreaming in Oklahoma has been amazing enough to help me plan this whole thing. She has secured some amazing door prizes for us as well as some sweet bling. Our friends at Samuel Gordon Jewelers will be donating a beautiful piece of jewelry, and our friends at Trichology Salon, Iguana Mexican Grill and Rococo Restaurant and Fine Wine will all be donating gift certificates as door prizes.

Now we are looking for bakers to participate! I've had people ask me if you have to be a blogger to participate...absolutely not. We want blogging & non-blogging bakers from all over to help us out with this great event! Share Our Strength is a fantastic organization, & our bake sale is just a small way for us to be able to give back.

If you would like to participate, please feel free to e-mail myself or Vivian. We can be contacted at...

Ashley - abates1113@gmail.com
Vivian - islandgirlok@gmail.com

TWD - Soft Chocolate & Raspberry Tart

No TWD for me this week because I've got too many orders to fill. I'll be ready next week though!

TWD - Thumbprints For Us Big Guys

*Editors Note: I'm a complete ding-dong & forgot to hit the Publish Post button late Tuesday night when I originally typed this thing. It's been one of those weeks.*

This week's selection belongs to Mike of Ugly Food Dude, & he chose Dorie's Thumbprints For Us Big Guys. I had to make a minor adjustment to this recipe & substituted pecans for hazelnuts. Let me just tell you, it's nearly impossible to find hazelnuts in my small town grocery store. I also made sure to chill the dough in the fridge before I baked the cookies...they stayed perfectly shaped & didn't spread all over the pan.

These cookies are light & buttery & yummy. I topped them with some strawberry all-fruit spread (I'm not a jam girl...I need chunks of fruit), & they were absolutely perfect.

Thanks Mike for the great pick! Check out his blog for the recipe, & the TWD blogroll for everyone's delicious cookies.

We Have a Location!

Our little bake sale officially has a home! On April 17th we will be at the red barn at the Canadian County Historical Museum in El Reno, OK. The El Reno Convention & Visitors Bureau has been an amazing help thus far. Now I'm just ironing out some of the details. We've got big plans for the sale including a cake contest, so stay tuned for more info!

National Food Bloggers Bake Sale

I'm putting a call out for all Oklahoma food bloggers & bakers.  Gaby from What's Gaby Cooking has organized the first annual National Food Bloggers Bake Sale to benefit Share Our Strength.  I am heading up the bake sale for the state of Oklahoma.  It looks like the OK sale will be held in El Reno, & I will post more information on the exact location as I get it. What I need right now it people that want to help bake & work the sale; if you think you would like to be a part of this great fundraiser, please e-mail me at abates1113@gmail.com. Any & all help would be greatly appreciated...it's going to be a lot of fun! I will keep this site updated as information comes in.

National Food Bloggers Bake Sale Official Site

Perfect Pound Cake & Valentine Sweets

Last week I actually had some down time which is completely unusual for me these days, & all I wanted to do was bake. I had seen a recipe for pound cake on The Pioneer Woman's website that looked good, so I decided to give that a try. You can't go wrong with a good pound cake...it's buttery & dense with a nice crumb. The recipe came together very easily, but I had to bake my cake for about 30 minutes longer than the recipe called for. The cake itself is very delicious, but it was a little too lemony for me. I would like to make it again but use less lemon extract. You can find the step-by-step recipe here.

After the pound cake, I decided to whip up some sugar cookies for my best friend & I to enjoy on our Valentine's Day date. (Our date consisted of eating junk food & laying on her couch watching movies.) The only sugar cookie recipe I ever use is the one from the book Cookie Craft. The cookies have turned out perfectly every time I use the recipe, & this batch was no exception. I just used some simple colored sugar & heart sprinkles that I had to decorate them, & I think they turned out really cute.

TWD - My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Three months since I've blogged...really?! Gees I am such a slacker. I've been doing pretty much every TWD recipe but obviously haven't been posting them. Shame on me!

This week Kait of Kait's Plate choose My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies, & girl you picked a good one! I have tried many many different chocolate chip cookie recipes, but this is by far the best ever. E-VER. I made these a few weeks ago when the snow/ice storm came through, & I was stuck in the house for 4 days. It's a good thing I got out when I did so I could bring the leftover cookies to work & quit eating the damn things! Of course the girls at the office loved them (but when do they not love baked goods?), & they all asked for the recipe. (Which is the true test when I bake something...if they love it they want the recipe so they can make it over & over.) These cookies will definitely be my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe from now on.



Thanks to Kait for the fantastic choice! Check out her blog for the recipe, & the TWD blogroll for everyone else's creations!