Gluten Free Monster Cookies

From a patron at the Mt. Royal Library

1 1/2 C peanut butter (I use creamy)
1 C brown sugar
1 C white sugar
1 stick butter, softened

Mix

then add:
3 large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla

Next add & mix
4 1/2 C quick cooking oatmeal (my old fashioned oats worked fine)
2 tsp baking soda

Stir In
1 C M&Ms
1 C choc chips (optional)

Drop in small mounds to make medium sized cookies. Bake at 350 on a greased cookie sheet (who does this??) or parchment paper for 10-12 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes on a cookie sheet before moving to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Editor's Note: I did not have M&M's so used a cup of butterscotch chips & a cup of chocolate chips. Next time I think I would do 1/2 cup of each...I also would maybe reduce the amount of sugar (2 cups!!) but I don't know how that would affect the texture. Since there's not many other ingredients (ie: flour) I didn't want to muck it up my first time making them.

They are chewy & delicious!

Aunt Ellen's Irish Soda Bread

via Katy Foley

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp sugar
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp Shortening (like Crisco)
3/4 cup raisins (plumped)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk

*To plump raisins: soak in boiling water 1/2 hour (boil water, dump raisins, take off stove) Drain and dry thoroughly with paper towel before adding to bread

Sift dry ingredients. Cut in shortening with pastry blender. Add raisins (toss with small tsp of flour first). Add milk and mix together (by hand) to make a moist batter. Spread in a greased round pan (I use my aunt's old metal pan - it's higher than a round cake pan but no hole in the middle or anything like a bundt pan and not as high).
Bake 400 degrees 25-30 minutes. Decrease oven temp to 375 if using glass pan.
Enjoy! (the top should be crusty and bumpy)

Favorite Coffee Cake

(Via my Mom; via Betty Crocker)

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
Topping (below)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8x8 or 9x9 inch cake pan. Blend all ingredients except topping; beat vigorously 1/2 minute. Spread in pan.

Sprinkle topping over batter. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden toothpick unserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm.

Topping:

Mix 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 3 Tablespoons firm butter until crumbly.

Carrie's 6th Grade Popovers

From my 6th grade Home Ec class, courtesy of Miss Winslow

3 eggs
1 C. milk
3 T. oil
1 C. flour
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 400. Heavily grease 6 small custard cups [I use a regular muffin tin these days].

2. Stir eggs, milk & oil together with a fork in a medium bowl.

3. Stir in flour & salt & beat the combined mixture just until smoth with a rotary beater.

4. Pour batter into greased cups that are spaced far apart on a cookie sheet or large pan.

5. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until deep golden brown in a hot oven [isn't 'hot oven' a given?]

6. As soon as pan is removed from oven, jab a hold in the raised popover to let the steam escape.

7. Serve hot with butter (popovers should be crisp on the outside but soft on the inside!)

Deceptively Delicious Banana Bread

From Deceptively Delicious



Prep: 10 Minutes
Total: 70 minutes
Makes a 9x5 inch loaf or 2 mini loaves

Nonstick cooking spary
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/2 C. firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/4 C. canola or vegetable oil
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups banana puree (about 3-4 med bananas)
1/2 C. cauliflower puree
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x5 inch loaf pan, or 2 mini pans, with cooking spray.

2. In a bowl or zipper-lock bag, mix the flours with the baking soda, baking powder, salt & cinnamon, if using. Set aside.

3. In large mixing bowl, mix the sugar & oil with a wooden spoon until well combined. Mix in the egg whites, banana & cauliflower purees, & vanilla. Add the flour mixture & mix just until combined.

4. Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes for the large loaf, 25 to 30 minutes for the mini loaves. Let cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn the bread out of the pan to cool before serving.

**I didn't have whole wheat flour, so I just used my regular flour. I baked for about 58 minutes, but the inside is still a bit gushy - even though I checked with a toothpick. Oh well, it still tastes good & is pretty healthy too!

Baking Powder Biscuits

from Taste of Home Baking Book

Prep/Total Time: 25 min; Yield: 10 biscuits

2 C all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C shortening (I use butter)
1 egg
2/3 C milk

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder & salt. Cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Beat egg & milk; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

2. turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; roll our to 12 in thickness. Cut with a floured 2 1/2" biscuit cutter. Place 1 in. apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

**I use these for Chicken ala King...but next time I am going to omit the sugar as I feel they are a bit sweet for that recipe.

Infamous 7-Layer Bars

From Buffy Brown & Paul Helstrom

1/4 C. melted butter
1. C graham crackers, crushed
1 C. shredded coconut
6oz pkg semisweet chocolate chips
6oz pkg butterscotch chips
1 15 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 C. chopped nuts

Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Layer ingredients in the order listed above.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

**These are CALORIE loaded and perfect for backpacking/paddling/hiking trips!

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

From The Taste of Home Baking Book

Prep: 20 minutes
Bake: 1 Hour + cooling
Yield: 16-20 servings

1 C. butter, softened
2-3/4 C sugar, divided
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 C (16oz) sour cream
2 Tblsp ground cinnamon
1/2 C chopped walnuts

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter & 2 cups sugar until light & fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternatelly with sour cream, beating just enough after each addition to keep batter smooth.

2. Spoon a third of the batter into a greased 10-in tube pan. Combine the cinnamon, nuts and remaining sugar; sprinkle a third over batter.

Repeat layers twice. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

The Infamous No Knead Bread

No Knead Bread Recipe

"No Knead Bread Recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman of NY Times who got it from Sullivan Street Bakery. When the recipe first came out, it was the blogging community who took the bread to new heights, especially Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of The Bread Bible. I followed Rose’s experiments through the weeks and learned from her recipe adjustments and the why’s of how this bread works".....and I stole this from SteamyKitchen

Yield: one 1 lb loaf

3 cups bread flour (I like Harvest King bread flour)
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
3/4 tablespoon kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon table salt)
1 1/2 cups warm water

Covered pot (five-quart or larger cast iron, Pyrex, ceramic, enamel…something that can go into a 450F oven.)[I used my cast-iron camping dutch oven!]

1. Mix dough: The night before, combine all ingredients in a big bowl with a wooden spoon until the dough just comes together. It will be a shaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on countertop.

2. Shape & preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky and bubbly. With a wet spatula, dump the dough on a floured surface. Fold ends of dough over a few times with the spatula and nudge it into a ball shape. You can use your hands if you like, just keep your hands wet so that the dough does not stick. Generously dust a cotton towel (not terrycloth) with flour. Set dough seam side down on top of towel. Fold towel over the dough. Let it nap for 2 hours. When you’ve got about a half hour left, slip your covered pot into the oven and preheat to 450F.

3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size. Remove pot from oven. Holding towel, dump wobbly dough into pot. Doesn’t matter which way it lands. Shake to even dough out. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15-20 minutes or until the crust is beautifully golden and middle of loaf is 210F. Remove and let cool on wired rack. If not eating right away, you can re-crisp crust in 350F oven for 10 minutes. Best way to eat it? Smear a warm slice with some good butter.

Applesauce Muffins

from Deceptively Delicious

Prep: 20 minutes
Total: 40 minutes
Makes 12 Muffins (I got 18 but who's counting?)

TOPPING:
2/3 Cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 Cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons trans-fat-free soft tub margarine spread, melted

BATTER:

1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 Cup old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup nonfat (skim) milk (I used 1%)
1/2 cup butternut squash or carrot puree (I used squash)
1/2 Cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/4 Cup vegetable or canola oil
1 large egg

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

2. To make the topping, stir together the oats, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the margarine.

3. To make the batter, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl or zipper-lock bag and stir or shake to mix. IN a second bowl, mix the applesauce with the milk, vegetable puree, sugar, oil and egg with a wooden spoon. Add the flour mixture slowly, stirring until just moistened. Do not overmix - the batter is supposed to be lumpy.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle with the streusel topping. Bake until the topping is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffins, 18-20 minutes. Turn the muffins out on a rack and serve warm or cool.


**I made up a bunch of my own vegetable purees when I got this cookbook and froze them in 1/2 cup amounts. Comes in very handy! If you don't want to mess with your own purees you could always use baby food.

These muffins were DELICIOUS and the house smelled of cinnamon & apples all day.