Katie – Page 38

Amish Cinnamon Bread Recipe (A Quick Amish Friendship Bread Alternative)

July 10, 2014 By Katie 37 Comments

Quick Amish Cinnamon Bread Recipe: It’s moist, sweet, tasty, & loaded with cinnamon & sugar.

I don’t know about you but I love eating Amish Friendship Bread but I don’t love having to wait 10 days before I can eat it. It’s such a long process & although it tastes incredible I find it to be a big hassle so I never make it. I love this alternative recipe because you can whip it up in no time & enjoy it the same day! It makes a great breakfast & tastes marvelous smothered with butter or plain (seriously, it doesn’t even need butter to taste scrumptious).

It’s a quick and easy Amish Friendship Bread Alternative. No 10 day wait. You just mix it up & bake it. It’s moist, sweet, tasty, & loaded with cinnamon & sugar. Swirled with cinnamon & sugar on the inside. Topped with cinnamon & sugar on the outside.

Amish Cinnamon Bread Recipe (Amish Friendship Bread Alternative)

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour

Makes 1 Loaf

Recipe type: Bread

Ingredients

Batter:
½ cup butter, softened (salted)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk plus 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Cinnamon/Sugar Mixture:
⅓ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

Cream butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg together. Add milk, flour, & baking soda & mix well.
Pour ½ of batter into a greased loaf pan.
In a separate bowl mix ⅓ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon together to create the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Sprinkle ¾ of the cinnamon/sugar mixture on top of the ½ full pan. Add remaining batter to pan; sprinkle with rest of cinnamon/sugar on top.
Swirl batter using a knife (You can use a butter knife to make long horizontal swirls or swirl however you like).
Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Let cool in pan for about 20 minutes before removing.

Recipe Source: this recipe was adapted from Redfly Creations.

Lunch Lady Frosted Brownies

July 5, 2014 By Katie 13 Comments

I love to bake from scratch so that’s why I’m a little embarrassed to admit that when it comes to brownies I usually make them from a box mix. It just seems so convenient to make them from a box and I don’t normally keep cocoa around. But that was before I made this recipe…now I think I need to stock pile cocoa in my pantry so I can make these whenever I want. I was amazed at how simple these were to make & how delectable they were. The first batch of brownies I made disappeared very quickly and I’ve had several requests to make them again. I can safely say this recipe is now my go-to brownie recipe!

The story behind this recipe: I found this recipe at Saltbox House. They are called Lunch Lady Brownies because they really were served in a school cafeteria. This recipe is over 50 years old & comes from a small town in Idaho where these brownies were made in the cafeteria of Bonneville Jr. High school.

Lunch Lady Frosted Brownies

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

35 mins

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

Brownies:
1 cup butter, melted (I used salted)
½ cup cocoa (I used Nestle Toll House Cocoa)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Frosting:
¼ cup butter, softened
¼ cup milk or evaporated canned milk
¼ cup cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
dash of salt (if you used unsalted butter)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13" baking pan.
Melt butter in microwave (takes about 30 seconds) and pour into a mixing bowl, add cocoa and beat with an electric mixer until smooth.
Add flour and sugar and beat together. Add eggs and vanilla (and nuts if your adding them). Mix until just combined. Be careful not to over mix!
Pour into greased 9x13 baking pan. *Note* Batter will be thick. I had to use a rubber spatula to spread it into pan.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (Mine took 30 minutes, if you live in high altitude these should get done quicker more like 20-25 minutes).
Wait only 10-15 minutes to frost brownies, you want to frost them while they are still warm so the brownies can absorb the frosting.
To make the Frosting combine the ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth.

PS. If your looking at the recipe and wondering if I left out the baking soda/baking powder from the ingredients list, I didn’t, this recipe doesn’t call for any and trust me it doesn’t need any. :)

Layered Red, White, & Blue July 4th Drink (Kid-Friendly)

June 27, 2014 By Katie Leave a Comment

A layered Red, White, & Blue Drink for the 4th of July (Kid-Friendly too).

It’s that time of the year where everything is red, white, & blue & I was feeling patriotic. So, when my sister & niece decided to make those cute Patriotic Strawberry Marshmallows in the picture above I knew I had to make this layered drink to go with them. I first saw this layered drink idea at In Katrina’s Kitchen. Her recipe calls from Sobe Pina Colada for the white but I looked at the grocery stores & gas station & couldn’t find it anywhere so I used Gatorade Glacier-Cherry instead.

All you need are 3 drinks with different sugar contents. You need one with low/no sugar, one with medium sugar content, & one with high sugar content & lots of ice. Who knew layered drinks where so easy to make?

Sugar content for the drinks I used:
Cranberry Juice……………………..29 grams per 8 fl oz
Gatorade Glacier-Cherry……………13.6 grams per 8 fl oz (approximately)
Gatorade-G2-Blue Pomegranate…..4.6 grams per 8 fl oz (approximately)

Here are a few more options for different drinks you can also use: Hawaiian Punch, Powerade Berry Blast, & Sprite Zero/Diet 7UP.

I found smaller ice works best, I used a mix of regular cubes & crushed. The festive firework straws are from Hobby Lobby.

Layered Red, White, & Blue July 4th Drink (Kid-Friendly)

Ingredients

Cranberry or CranApple Juice (Red)
Gatorade-Glacier-Cherry (White)
Gatorade-G2-Low Calorie-Blue Pomegranate (Blue)
Ice

Instructions

Start by filling a glass ⅓ the way with ice/crushed ice. Start with the highest sugar content drink which in this case is the Cranberry. Pour the Cranberry juice ⅓ of the way up.
Next fill the glass all the way to the top with ice.
Take your drink with the medium sugar content (the white Gatorade) and Slowly, Very Slowly pour down over the ice so it runs slowly through the ice, til your glass is ⅔rds full.
Lastly, Slowly pour your blue Gatorade with low or no sugar to the top of the glass.
Enjoy. Happy 4th of July!

More 4th of July Recipes:

The Best Moist Banana Bread Recipe

June 17, 2014 By Katie 6 Comments

The best banana bread recipe I have ever made, super moist with a cinnamon and sugar crust.

I have always been a huge fan of banana bread. Before this recipe came along my go to recipe was always a classic buttermilk banana bread recipe. However now that I’ve had this bread I never find myself going back to make the buttermilk kind. I think there are two things that make this recipe stand out above the rest, the sour cream because it keeps it super moist and my favorite spice, cinnamon. Cinnamon compliments the flavor of bananas so well that it makes each bite a match made in heaven. But please, don’t take my word for it; give this recipe a try for yourself.

I used a potato masher to mash the bananas; I find it works really well.

One of my favorite parts about this recipe is the cinnamon & sugar crust. Just grease the loaf pan & dust with cinnamon & sugar.

This recipe makes 2 loaves. No mixer required, you can hand mix the whole thing. Don’t forget to grease those bread pans and coat them with cinnamon and sugar. The cinnamon and sugar crust is one of my favorite things about this recipe so I don’t want you to miss out on it (can you tell? I’m kind of obsessed with the crust). This recipe is also very forgiving, sometimes I use 2 bananas for this recipe sometimes I use 3; it just depends on how many bananas I have around to use. Honestly sometimes I use bananas that aren’t really ripe at all (yup, they are still pretty yellow) because I’m craving this recipe & I don’t want to have to wait another day or two to make it.

The Best Moist Banana Bread Recipe

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

For Dusting the Pan:
2 tablespoons white sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
For The Banana Bread:
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1-1/2 cups white sugar
1-1/2 eggs (or you can just add 2 eggs*)
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
Grease two loaf pans. (My loaf pans are 8.5x4.5") In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture. It should stick easily with the sides greased.
In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar together. Stir in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in baking soda and flour. Stir in nuts if you are adding them. Divide batter into the two prepared pans.
Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

*This is half of the original recipe, the original recipe makes 4 loaves of bread & calls for 3 eggs. I usually add 1 1/2 eggs when I make it but I’ve also made it using 2 eggs, it still turns out great.

Recipe source: adapted from allrecipes.com

Old Fashioned Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe

June 11, 2014 By Katie 4 Comments

A thick, soft, old-fashioned sugar cookie topped with buttercream frosting and sprinkles.

My obsession with sugar cookies continues…I’m pretty sure that I have made more sugar cookies than any other type of cookie out there. My collection of sugar cookie recipes really needs it’s own recipe box. When I come across a good sugar cookie recipe you know I’m going to have to share it with you, I can’t keep it all to myself! I know I am not the only sugar cookie lover out there.

Just this week I made two different types of sugar cookies. I was craving a thick, soft, old fashioned sugar cookie, like the awesome one’s that my Grandma used to make for me when I was a kid. Yes, sugar cookies are my comfort food. They bring back good memories. This recipe was just what I needed to cheer myself up after having what felt like the longest cold ever.

Old Fashioned Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

20 mins

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

¼ cup butter, softened
¼ cup & 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1¾ cups & 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2½ teaspoons baking powder
Frosting:
1½ cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
sprinkles for decorating (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheet or line with a non-stick baking mat.
In a large bowl, stir butter and sugar together. Mix in the eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla, milk and oil. Stir in the flour and baking powder.
Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Place on cookie sheet, using the bottom of a glass or a fork flatten out the cookies to about ¼" thickness.
Bake for 9-12 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are golden brown.
To make the frosting, cream together the powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla . Beat in milk until frosting is smooth & creamy. Frost cookies when cool. Decorate with sprinkles (optional).

PS. This makes a small batch of cookies, if you want a larger batch just double the recipe.

This recipe was adapted from allrecipes.com.

White Chocolate Dipped 4th of July Pretzel Rods

June 1, 2014 By Katie 4 Comments

A quick & easy Red, White, & Blue 4th of July treat.

I am so excited summertime is finally here! Out of all the seasons summer is my favorite so naturally the 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. My sister and I are going to be posting some new recipes for the holiday over the next couple of weeks. I’m starting off with this quick & easy but very festive white chocolate dipped pretzel recipe. These only took me 5 minutes, 10 at the very most to make. You just melt some white chocolate in the microwave, dip or drizzle the chocolate over the pretzel & decorate with some sprinkles.

This recipe is very versatile you can make it for just about any holiday by changing the color of sprinkles you use. And you don’t have to use white chocolate like I did, you can also use chocolate flavored candy coating/almond bark instead.

White Chocolate Dipped 4th of July Pretzel Rods

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

15 mins

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

-1 Package of Pretzel Rods
-1 Package of Almond Bark, Candiquik Candy Coating, White chocolate candy melts, or any white chocolate that is for dipping or coating (I used Candiquik Vanilla Candy Coating).
-Sprinkles for decorating

Instructions

Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper or a baking mat & set aside.
Using a microwave safe dish, melt your white chocolate in the microwave according to the directions on your package. (For Candiquik Candy Coating I microwaved mine for 1 minutes, then another 15 seconds).
Dip each pretzel into the melted white chocolate & then hold it vertically over the dish for a few seconds so the excess chocolate can drain off the end. (Or using a spoon you can scoop up the melted chocolate & spread it over your pretzels).
Coat with sprinkles & place on your prepared cookie sheet.
Allow the pretzels to dry, you can put them in the refrigerator for a few minutes to speed up the process.

*I highly recommend using almond bark, candy melts, or candy coating for this recipe because bakers chocolate & chocolate chips don’t melt as easily or dry as quickly. Also you can easily make a small batch of these if you want, one square of candiquik candy coating coats about 6 pretzels.

More 4th of July recipes:

Layered Red, White & Blue 4th of July Drink

Patriotic Sticks-Strawberry, Marshmallow Kabobs

Connect With Us