Gingerbread Sheet Cake

Recipe Adapted from Serious Eats
INGREDIENTS
1 cup light brown sugar
3 ounces unsulfured molasses
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon dried orange peel
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, fresh grated
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/8 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
3 large eggs, straight from the fridge
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled to about 100°F
5 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour
2 1/2 ounces whole wheat flour
8 ounces buttermilk

DIRECTIONS
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350°F. Line an anodized aluminum half sheet cake pan with parchment, then grease lightly with pan spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine brown sugar, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves, five-spice powder, black pepper, and eggs. Mix on low until moistened, then increase to high and whip until foamy and thick, about 8 minutes.

Reduce speed to low and drizzle in melted butter, then add all-purpose and whole wheat flours, followed by buttermilk. Once combined, shut off mixer and fold batter once or twice from the bottom up with a flexible spatula, then scrape into prepared pan.

Bake until cake is puffed and firm (though crust will retain a light impression when pressed with a fingertip), about 20 minutes. Cool in pan until firm, top with cream cheese frosting.

I love all things gingerbread. Gingerbread cookies- soft, snappy, I'll take them all, the gingerbread churro at Disneyland, Gingerbread Spice Life Cereal… so I knew I wanted to find a gingerbread cake that will make my heart the happiest. BUT in all the recipes I tried, it just wasn't quite spicy enough. Yeah, gingerbread needs to be spicy! To balance the of the sweetness of the holidays. So, I used the cake recipe that I enjoyed the texture of the most (the addition of whole wheat flour gives it such great texture) and used my favorite gingerbread spices.

Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

Recipe Adapted From Alina Design Co

INGREDIENTS

1 package (2 sheets) puffed pastry

2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup butter (melted)
Cinnamon Sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla.
Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Unfold then use a rolling pin to spread out the puffed pastry. Place one sheet of puffed pastry onto parchment. Spread cream cheese mixture onto puffed pastry, top with other sheet of puffed pastry.
Seal sides by pinching them together. Spread melted butter over the top, and generously sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool. Serve warm.

Once upon a time, I pinned the recipe for this on Pinterest, and it became my mom popular pin. Like, it was on the Most Popular Page for like 3 weeks. It was the most annoying thing of my life! And then Pinterest stopped being an invite only website, and the jets were cooled. Unfortunately, the annoyance caused me to resent the pin, and I never made the recipe. What a foolish decision that was, because this is AMAZING. The original recipe says to use Crescent Roll Dough, but I think that it's too greasy and too savory of a thing, AND when I made this in a bind, all I had was some Pepperidge Farm Puffed Pastry Sheets. Best ingredient swap of my life! Make this, you will not be disappointed! 

Cranberry Apple Pie

adapted from A Bountiful Kitchen

INGREDIENTS

7 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup fresh cranberries, washed
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons lemon juice
dash salt

2 9-inch pie crusts

Egg wash

Sugar

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place rack on bottom third of oven.
Place bottom crust onto 9-inch pie plate. Set aside.
Place apples in large bowl and mix with cranberries. Add rest of filling ingredients and mix well. Fill bottom crust with apple cranberry mixture.

Place other half of dough on top of filling in pie plate. Crimp edges. Make slits on top of pie for steam to escape.

Brush with egg wash if desired, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar.
Place pie onto foil lined cookie sheet (important, this usually bubbles over a bit.
Bake for about 60 minutes. Cover loosely with foil if pie is getting too brown.
Continue baking for about 10-15 minutes or until pie is bubbly and golden.

Remove from oven and let sit for at least four hours. This will prevent the pie from becoming a gooey mess, and help to keep it's shape when cutting and serving.

Tortilla Chicken Soup

INGREDIENTS
1tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, small dice
1 tsp minced garlic
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 23-oz box chicken stock
2 cups water
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can sweet corn
1.5 lbs shredded chicken*
1 16-oz tub of sour cream
Shredded colby-jack cheese
Crushed tortilla chips

DIRECTIONS

Sauté diced onion in canola oil over medium high until fragrant, add minced garlic and continue to sauté until onions are translucent. Add crushed tomatoes, and spices. Stir continuously while cooking for at least a minute. Add chicken stock, water, black beans, corn and shredded chicken. Bring to a boil for one minute, then turn heat down allowing soup to simmer for at least 15 minutes.
Remove from heat, add sour cream, and stir until sour cream is fully blended into the soup.
Serve with crushed tortilla chips and colby-jack cheese, and enjoy!

For my shredded chicken, I cooked up some boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a tiny bit of canola oil in the pot I was going to cook the soup in. Threw them into my KitchenAid Stand Mixer with the paddle attachment and shredded the cooked chicken at the #2 setting. Perfectly shredded chicken without having the sit with a couple of forks shredding for forever!

Berry Muffins

adapted from Art Bar Blog

INGREDIENTS

3 cups whole wheat all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/4 cups milk
2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2 cups frozen berry mix
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar

turbinado sugar

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together in a large bowl. Whisk together to be sure the ingredients are combined. In another bowl, combine the milk, eggs and melted butter.

Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture, pour the wet mixture into the well, and stir until just combined. There will be some lumps but don’t over-mix the batter. Add the frozen berries and white sugar; stir gently to combine.

Using a large cookie scoop, disperse batter into the muffin cups to fill the liners. Top with turbinado sugar, to make a pretty crust. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, remove muffins from tin and cool on wire rack. Enjoy!

Okay guys, I originally used this recipe because it said "dairy free" but it didn't say dairy free because they used dairy free products that they just noted in parentheses on the side. Any recipe can be "dairy free" if you do that. However, I'm extra glad that I tried this recipe. I added more spices, and topped each muffin with turbinado sugar because I thought they were too sticky and moist on the tops, and I was just really craving some crunch! They're great without it, but the added sugar just puts them over the top, so try it. :)

Cinnamon Candied Almonds

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp water
2 large egg whites
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups sliced almonds

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 300ºF.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, spray with coconut oil; set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg white and water until frothy, about 2 minutes; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine almonds and the egg white mixture until well combined. Stir in brown sugar mixture until evenly coated.

Spread almond mixture evenly onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring at halftime.

Let cool completely before serving.

Okay guys, Christmas time is my favorite time of the year because of candied nuts. The mall always smells like what I imagine heaven smells like, and candied nuts are the reason for the season! And they are one of the best thing about BYU football games. Unfortunately, eating candied nuts has become a challenge for me. My jaw always kills me after eating a handful or two. So that, and the fact that my sister had a giant bag of sliced almonds inspired me to make these.

White Chocolate-Gingerbread Blondies

adapted from Martha Stewart
INGREDIENTS
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
3 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs, plus 1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
10 ounces white chocolate

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 17-by-12-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment cut to fit, and coat parchment. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Beat butter and brown and granulated sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and yolk, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in white chocolate.

Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake until edges are golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 2-inch squares or desired shape.

I am secretly an old man due to my unnatural love of all things gingerbread. I could definitely live off of gingerbread. Nothing makes my heart as happy as gingerbread cookies. So, when I saw that Martha had a recipe for gingerbread blondies, I had to jump on that train. Although I despise all things white chocolate, I used a bag of white chocolate chips in the blondies, because I had a bag, and I might as well use them now. My bars kind of exploded over the sides while in the oven, so I think I'll reserve some of the batter next time. And there will definitely be a next time, because these were amazing.

Pecan Pie

adapted from Completely Delicious

INGREDIENTS
1 prepared pie crust in 9-inch pie dish
3 large eggs
1 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Dash of cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, corn syrup, brown sugar, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Then stir in the pecans.
Gently pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell. Bake until the edges are completely set and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45-55 minutes. 

Let cool before serving, serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Pumpkin Pie

INGREDIENTS
2 cups pumpkin purée
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust

DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 425°F.

Prepare pie crust, and pie dish.

Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust.
Bake 15 minutes, then REDUCE oven temperature to 350°F; bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1-inch from crust comes out clean. Remove from oven, and let cool.

Enjoy your pie!

My nephew, Nathan, wanted to bake a pumpkin pie FROM a pumpkin. Being the amazing aunt that I am, I took that as a challenge. So, I cut up a sugar pumpkin, scraped the innards, chucked it on a baking sheet and roasted it in the oven for like an hour (until the pumpkin is fork tender) at 350ºF. When I removed the pumpkin from the oven I peeled the skin off, and went to work on pureeing that s.o.b. in my TINY food processor. My pumpkin was a little dry, so I had to add some water to get the consistency I wanted. Then I pushed it all through a sieve, because it was still pretty fibrous. The Pioneer Woman recommends freezing it in one cup increments, just so that you know how much you have. I had a little under two cups from the one pumpkin, and used it in this pie recipe. This may not be the prettiest of pies, but I still love it because of how much hard work went into making it.

Pumpkin Spice Sheet Cake with Penuche Frosting

adapted from i heart nap time
INGREDIENTS
Pumpkin Sheet Cake:
4 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 16 oz can pumpkin puree
2 cups flour sifted
2 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Penuche Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

DIRECTIONS
pumpkin bars:
Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan, set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix eggs, oil, and sugars until sugar is wet. Add pumpkin, and stir until smooth.
Add flour mixture to pumpkin, and stir until just combined.
Spread mixture into prepared jelly roll pan. Bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Remove from oven, and cool on cooling rack while preparing frosting.

frosting:
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar.
Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low, stirring continuously for 2 minutes.
Stir in heavy cream. Return to a boil, stirring constantly, then remove from heat.
Transfer mixture to the bowl of a KitchenAid, and allow to cool to lukewarm.
Using the wire whisk attachment, add confectioners' sugar until frosting has reached your desired consistency.
For a thicker frosting, add more powdered sugar; to thin it out, you can always add a bit of milk.
Frost cake while frosting is still a little warm, it will start to set up as it sits.

This sheet cake remind me of my Cedar Family. We started a tradition of eating pumpkin anything for breakfast during the Sunday Morning Session of October General Conference, and this sheet cake is perfectly pumpkin-y, and I think would make a wonderful start to any day.
The penuche frosting reminds me of my favorite baker from the Cedar Family, Kim. She always made cake for our Cedar Family Functions, and one of the first cakes she brought had a penuche frosting. Which is really just a fancy way of saying brown sugar "caramel" frosting.