Gingerbread Cake

I was looking around online and stumbled across a recipe for eggnog gingerbread trifle. I searched high and low for a boxed gingerbread cake mix, but couldn't find one. So why not make one from scratch! I searched for a gingerbread cake recipe and found one on McCormick's website.

2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup molasses
2 eggs
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) round cake pans. Mix flour, baking powder, ginger, baking soda and cinnamon in medium bowl; set aside.

Beat butter, brown sugar and molasses in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well mixed. Add eggs; beat well. Add flour mixture alternately with boiling water, beating on low speed after each addition until smooth. Pour into prepared pans.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire rack.

Bacon-Cheddar Pinwheels

My daughter's daycare was having a holiday party and I was trying to think outside the box and decided on making pinwheels. After browsing Pillsbury's site, I came across this recipe. They smelled so good - unfortunely I forgot to keep one to try myself! I doubled the recipe to make 32 pieces.

1 can Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations refrigerated seamless dough sheet

2 Tbsp ranch dressing

1/4 cup real bacon pieces

1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese, finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped green onions (I omitted)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll dough, cut lengthwise into 2 long rectangles. Press each into a 12x4 rectangle.

Spread dressing over each rectangle. Sprinkle each with bacon, cheddar cheese and onions. Starting with one short side, roll up to each rectangle, press edge to seal. With a serrated knife, cut each roll into 8 slices; place cut side down on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 12 to 17 minutes or until edges are deep goldent brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm.

Baked Potato Soup

There's a local restaurant that makes incredible baked potato soup - I mean out of this world good! This is my first attempt trying to copy it - it's close, but I need to make it a little thicker and it will be close.

4-5 russet potatoes

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

½ cup all-purpose flour, divided

6 cups 2% milk

2 tsp. salt

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

¾ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/3-½ cup light sour cream

For topping:

Sour cream

Shredded cheddar cheese

Chopped green onions

Bacon pieces

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Prick the potatoes with the tines of a fork. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit until cool enough to handle. Scoop the insides of the potatoes into food processor, discarding the peels. Pulse until the pieces are broken into small chunks.

In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, melt the butter. Add ¼ cup of flour to the pot and whisk into the butter. Cook, whisking constantly, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and the rest of the flour. Cook until thick and bubbling, about 6-8 minutes. Mix in the potato chunks. Whisk in the salt, pepper, and cheddar cheese and stir until the cheese is melted. Remove from the heat, stir in the sour cream.

Serve immediately. Garnish with sour cream, cheddar cheese, green onions and bacon as desired.

Adapted from Annie's Eats blog.

Lemon Cranberry White Chocolate Biscotti

I've been wanting to try making biscotti for awhile now and finally did. I had leftover ingredients from all the cranberry hootiecake cookies I made earlier this month and found this recipe to use up some of them. I gave them as gifts to my daughter's daycare teachers. Hopefully they liked them as much as my husband!
3¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp salt
1½ cups sugar
10 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp Watkin’s dried lemon zest
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl; stir together with a fork and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the sugar, melted butter, eggs, vanilla extract and lemon zest until well combined. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Stir in the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries with a rubber spatula.

Divide the dough in half. Working with one portion of dough, shape into a 12″ x 3″ log on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough so that the logs are laying parallel and spaced apart on the baking sheet. Bake until the logs are golden brown, 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 25 minutes, maintaining the oven temperature in the meantime.

Carefully transfer the logs to a work surface and remove the parchment paper from the pan. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs into ½-inch slices on the diagonal. Lie the slices on one of their cut sides back on the baking sheet. Return to the oven and bake for 12 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Adapted from Annie's Eats.

Spinach Balls

Ok, it's been awhile since I posted a new recipe. Things have been a little crazy around here - I was sick and Madeline was sick over the last 2 weeks so I didn't do much baking or cooking.

But....I'm back with a couple new recipes!

This week is my company's pot luck luncheon. I usually go all out and make something labor intensive, but I have a meeting before the luncheon so I really don't have the time to prepare everything before the lunch. I wanted something quick and simple to make and easily reheats, so I decided on spinach balls. My dad's family usually makes these as an appetizer on Christmas.

2 boxes frozen spinach, thawed and drained (use a clean kitchen towel and squeeze all the excess juice out)

2 cups italian bread crumbs

1 cup parmesan cheese topping

3/4 stick butter, melted

6 eggs

salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Shape mixture into desired sized balls. I usually use a cookie scoop to make similar sizes. Place balls on a greased baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Flip over to brown and cook for an additional 8-10 minutes. Serve warm.