Archives for April 2015

Brown Sugar Cookies

April 27, 2015 By Katie 14 Comments

Soft Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies

So my sister (Holly) made me these cookies a few days ago & I liked them so much I just made them again! When she first made them she set a plate in front of me with 4 cookies on it & I ate them all! My sister had walked away after she set the plate down so she didn’t know I ate them all in like 2 minutes flat, when I told her she just laughed. I knew I was going to be asking for the recipe from her immediately.

I think it’s been 2 days since I first tried this delicious recipe & I just had to make them again. I’m crazy over sugar cookies & these cookies tasted so good with the brown sugar in them that I loved them at first bite! They are soft, just a little bit chewy & they have a nice buttery flavor to them. This recipe is basically a chocolate chip cookie recipe without the chocolate chips, weird right? But if your craving a slightly different flavored cookie or you’ve ever wondered what a chocolate chip cookie would taste like without the chocolate chips then give this recipe a try!

It makes a big batch, about 50 cookies so if you don’t want that many you could make half a recipe.

Brown Sugar Cookies

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

15 mins

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 50

Ingredients

1 cup soft butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups all flour
2 teaspoons hot water
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F
Cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth
Beat in the eggs one at a time
Add vanilla
In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water, then add to batter
Add salt, then slowly stir in flour
Drop by heaping teaspoon full onto ungreased cookie sheet
Bake for 10-12 min. or until edges start to brown.

Auntie Anne’s Mall Pretzels Copycat Recipe

April 26, 2015 By Katie 12 Comments

A copycat recipe for those famous mall pretzels that are so hard to resist!

So I’ve been craving pretzels for weeks but haven’t been able to find the time to make them until now. My sister & I made these together because last time I made them mine didn’t turn out very photo worthy. My sister is much better at rolling our the pretzel dough than me. I couldn’t figure out why mine always turn out thicker looking. After watching my sister roll out the dough we think that the trick is to roll the dough forward with the palms of your hands then bring it back, roll it forward again, until it gets about as thin as a pencil. Also DON’T use flour to roll out the pretzels, use oil! It works great, seriously!

If you want Auntie Anne size pretzels then this recipe makes 6 big pretzels. However this time we decided to make ours a little smaller so we ended up with 12 pretzels. I think this recipe tastes pretty close to the real thing, I have 2 different recipes I use to make copycat ones but I love this version because it’s quicker!

If your wanting something sweeter these taste really good sprinkled with cinnamon & sugar instead of salt! They reminded me of elephant ears that they sell at fairs. They are probably like the Auntie Anne’s cinnamon & sugar pretzels but I’ve never had one of those.

*If you don’t want to knead the dough by hand you can just pour all the ingredients into a bread machine or a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook & let it knead for about 5 minutes.

Auntie Anne's Mall Pretzels Copycat Recipe

Prep time

1 hour 20 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

1 hour 30 mins

Serves: 6

Ingredients

The Dough:
1 cup milk
1 package (2¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon fine salt
----------
The Soda Bath:
¼ cup baking soda
2½ cups warm water
----------
4 tablespoon melted butter for brushing
coarse salt for topping

Instructions

Make the pretzels: Warm the milk in microwave (about 30 seconds); pour into a medium bowl & add yeast. Let it sit about 2 minutes; stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup flour with a wooden spoon. Add 2 tablespoons softened butter; mix. Add the remaining 1¼ cups flour and salt to make a sticky dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface & knead, adding more flour if needed, knead about 5 minutes. Shape into ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap or kitchen towel. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper, non-stick mat or grease with butter.
Divide dough into 6 pieces. Use a lightly oiled surface to roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands into a 30-inch rope. Form each rope into a pretzel shape.
For the soda bath: dissolve the baking soda in warm water in a shallow baking dish. Dip each pretzel in it, then arrange on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until tops are turning golden brown.
Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a shallow dish. Brush pretzels with butter or dip them in the butter. Sprinkle with coarse salt.

Recipe adapted slightly from Food Network.

Streusel Coffee Cake

April 14, 2015 By Katie 4 Comments

A Classic Coffee Cake Recipe with a delectable streusel topping.

I don’t know about you but one of my favorite things to have for breakfast is coffee cake. I love this recipe because it has loads of crumb topping. The cake is topped with a crunchy cinnamon streusel. If you love crumb topping then I think this coffee cake will have the perfect cake to crumb topping ratio for you! The cake itself stays super moist with all the yogurt & sour cream in it. The first time I made this recipe I knew it was a keeper!

I have 3 coffee cake recipes that I love making. Which one I make really just depends on my mood & what sounds the best at the moment. My favorites are: Streusel Coffee Cake, Sour Cream Coffee Cake, & New York Style Crumb Cake. They are all amazing & they all have one thing in common: lots of crumb topping!

Streusel Coffee Cake

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

Serves: 9

Ingredients

-TOPPING-
⅔ cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
5 tbsp. butter, melted (I used salted)
-CAKE-
2 tbsp. butter, softened (I used salted)
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup vanilla or plain yogurt
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the topping first. Mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, & cinnamon together in a bowl. Add melted butter & mix until dry crumb mixture forms. Place in the refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8x8" square baking dish.
Make the cake: Using an electric mixer, cream butter & sugar together. Add in egg.
In a separate bowl mix sour cream, yogurt, & vanilla together. In another bowl sift flour, baking powder, & baking soda together.
Add sour cream mixture to the butter/sugar & mix. Then add in flour mixture & mix until smooth.
Pour into prepared dish. Take the topping out of the frig & crumble between your fingers onto the top of batter.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Crock-Pot BBQ Meatballs (Only 2 Ingredients!)

April 7, 2015 By Katie Leave a Comment

The Easiest BBQ Meatballs you will ever make!

I make these for every family holiday dinner, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter. I just made them for Easter so I thought I would share my recipe with you. I’ve been making it for years & everyone always goes crazy over them. It really is the easiest recipe to make! You just buy a bag or two (depending on how large of crowd you are feeding) of regular frozen beef meatballs & a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey BBQ Sauce.

If you have the time, thaw the meatballs overnight by taking them out of the freezer & placing them in the refrigerator. Then the next day you just dump them in your crock-pot or slow cooker & pour the BBQ sauce over them. Heat on low setting for about 1.5-2 hours then place on warm until ready to serve. You will want to stir it a couple of times so the meatballs get covered in the BBQ sauce & to make sure the sauce it’s burning on the bottom. If you don’t have time to thaw the meatballs in the frig overnight then follow the instructions on the packaging on how to thaw the meatballs.

Crock-Pot BBQ Meatballs (Only 2 Ingredients!)

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

2 hours

Total time

2 hours 5 mins

Author: Katie

Recipe type: appetizer

Serves: about 40

Ingredients

1 package frozen beef meatballs (usually about 40 meatballs)
1 bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ Sauce (I used an 18oz bottle)

Instructions

If you have time thaw the frozen meatballs in the refrigerator overnight. If not then follow instructions on packaging on how to thaw meatballs.
Place meatballs in slow cooker or crock-pot & pour BBQ sauce over them. Cook on low heat setting for 1.5-2 hours. Stir a couple times to make sure the meatballs stay covered in BBQ sauce & make sure it isn't burning. Place on warm setting until ready to serve.

Archives for April 2015

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