just helen

Cake Batter Krispie Treats

I'll have to say that I don't usually try a recipe as soon as I find one, but I was baking things for the school play treat table and came across this recipe.  It sounded easy and yummy...and cute!  I found the recipe here.

Cake Batter Krispie Treats

3 Tablespoons butter

1 - 10 oz. bag miniature marshmallows

1/3 cup white cake mix - not prepared, just the dry mix

1 - 1.5 oz. container of sprinkles (Jimmies) - these are mixed colors, but you could use what ever kind you like

6 cups Rice Krispies

Put parchment paper inside a 9" x 13" pan; set aside.  Melt the butter in a 3 qt saucepan over medium heat; add marshmallows and stir, coating with the butter, until completely melted.  Add the cake mix, a spoonful at a time, mixing well.  Don't overheat.  Pour over the Krispies, and stir in about half the Jimmies; mix well.  Press into the pan, sprinkling the rest of the Jimmies over the top.  I butter my hands a little and then it won't stick on my hands as I press the treats into the pan. 

I wanted the Krispie Treats to be tall, so I pressed it into just half the pan...you could use a smaller pan, if you like.  When I'm doing something for a bake sale, I like to make the presentation nice.  Taste is important, but it's just as fun when I hear everyone talking about how cute something is.  Instead of cutting them into a square treat, I used a 2 1/8" round biscuit cutter, put them in a 2 1/2" unbleached baking cup and tied it up with some red and white baker's twine...too cute!

I like the round shape and the fact that these are cake batter (like cupcakes, get it?) in flavor, makes the baking cup papers quite appropriate.  Another side benefit of cutting these out like this?  There are the trimmings left behind for the cook (and her minions) to polish off!

These are really yummy.  I think I need to make more of these for the bake sale because these are apt to go fast - at the bake sale and before they ever get there!

Update:    I have officially died and gone to sprinkles heaven!

It's true...after I discovered the Cake Batter Krispie Treat recipe, I have been on the hunt for good deals on candy sprinkles so that I will always have them on hand.  Just this afternoon I found some pretty, springy sprinkles at the 99centsonly store - about 1.7 oz for just under a dollar.  Good deal, right?  I thought so, too...that is until Megan bought me a box of these...

Yep...a whole 10 pound box of the prettiest candy sprinkles EVER for just $15.99 for the whole box - Costco Business.  Aren't they beautiful?  I feel an urge to make some more Cake Batter Krispie Treats...and not share!

It could just be the beginning of a quest for desserts with sprinkles included.  Who needs a ticket for Mega Millions when you have a box of these!  I am the luckiest girl around!  Thanks, Megan!

Jell-O Cookies

Jello Cookies...Lemon, Orange, Lime and Raspberry.  Rolled in sugar and then sprinkled with more chunky, colored sugar before baking.  These are the sugariest of sugar cookies.  Tangy, sweet, soft and yummy.  Beautifully colorful and delightfully different from my usual favorites...anything with chocolate chips. 

I got the recipe from a friend at least 30 years ago.  I don't know why I haven't made them (for years!), I  just haven't.  The kids got all opinionated about what they wanted and I got busy, so I started making less of the seasonal sorts and stuck with the stand-bys.  Plus, there are all those others sweets that have been discovered/developed in the last few years and I started infusing them into the time used for making sweets.  But sometimes it's good to revisit those old favorites.

Jell-O Cookies

1/2 cup shortening

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 - 3oz. pkg of Jell-O ( I used raspberry, orange, lemon and lime flavors...but my very favorites are raspberry and lime)

Cream the above ingredients.  Add:

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream the eggs and vanilla into the sugar mixture.  Add:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Mix well.  The dough will be fairly soft, but not sticky.  You don't need to refrigerate the dough before rolling.  I like to use a scoop to make my cookies more uniform in size. 

Pre-heat oven to 400°.  Roll dough into 1" to 1 1/4" balls and then roll in a bowl with about 1/2 cup of granulated sugar in it, completely covering the exterior of the dough ball.  Place on the pan about 2" apart.  Using a flat-bottomed glass (or bowl) press the dough to about a 3/8" thickness. 

Sprinkle the top with colored, chunky sugar.  Mine all matched the different colors of dough, but you could contrast the colors if you like.  Take the bowl (or flat-bottomed glass) and very lightly tap the chunky sugar into the cookie.

Bake the cookies for 6 - 8 minutes.  Those 6 minutes are plenty long enough unless you like your cookies crisp!  Cool on a rack.  It takes about an hour, start to finish.  If you get one batch in and start rolling the next, it will go fast enough that you can start working on the next flavor/color before you finish the first.  Store in a air-tight container.

If you are feeling ambitious, you can shape these into more of an oval shape, then when you flatten them, they will look more like eggs.

Yummy!

Blueberries For Breakfast

Just a couple weeks ago, I discover Pinterest...yes, I know.  That's me, slow but sure!   I have a sneaking suspicion that this could become a serious addiction...but what a great way to go!  It seems that some brilliant person/team figured out the perfect way for me to identify and store all those great ideas that I come across on the Internet, and better still, make it easy for me to share with friends!

One of the first things I came across on Pinterest was a pinned recipe for Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake.  The pictures looked quite delicious and I had just purchased 4 pints of fresh blueberries - perfect!  My problem is that, unlike Alexandra , I rarely buy or use buttermilk in my cooking.  If I do, I use it for one recipe and then the rest goes to waste.  But here's another great thing about Pinterest...someone commented right after I "repinned" the photo that they had made the recipe and used yogurt and milk instead of buttermilk.  I just so happened to have plain yogurt!

With all the ingredients gathered, including some fresh lemons for zest from my friend's tree (thanks, Jenn!) I whipped some of this blueberry yumminess.

Here is where I changed the recipe.  When I started paying attention to the original recipe's ingredients, I noticed that it called for 1/2 cup of buttermilk.  I was doubling the recipe, so I would need to double that as well.  However, my friend had said something about using milk and yogurt with lemon juice.  I wasn't sure about proportions, so I went online to see about substitutions for buttermilk.  About.com said that you could use yogurt, volume for volume (equal amounts) for buttermilk.  So that's what I did.

Here's the recipe, originally from Alexandra's Kitchen.

Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Serves 6 to 8

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 tsp. lemon zest or more - zest from 1 large lemon

7/8 cup sugar* + 1 tablespoon sugar** 

1 egg, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup buttermilk (I used 1/2 cup plain yogurt)

*7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons

**This tablespoon is for sprinkling on top (I used Tahitian Vanilla Sugar on top)

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.

2.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.  Meanqhile, toss the blueberries with 1/4 cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.

3.  Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk (or plain yogurt.  The batter was very thick...almost too thick.  I thought it might have to do with using the yogurt instead of the buttermilk.  It work out okay in the end...just be aware that it might seem a little like mortar.)  Fold in the blueberries.

4.  Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray.  Spread batter into pan.  Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar.  Bake for 35 minutes.  Check with a toothpick to see if done.  Alexandra said it might take as long as 10 minutes longer...mine took almost 15 more.  Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Since I needed to go out running errands and was just waiting for the breakfast cake to get out of the oven to leave, when I finally got to taste it, it was barely warm.  But it was delicious even at room temperature and just as good when it was cold later in the day!

This is a keeper.  Who knows...one day I might even try it with buttermilk to see the difference!

Down On The Farm

There is nothing like the aroma of turkey in the oven Thanksgiving Day.  However...it can seem like cruel and unusual punishment if all you have for breakfast is a bowl of cold cereal!  I don't know about all the rest of you moms/hosts/cookers of the Thanksgiving turkey, but with the full spread ahead of me, cooking for breakfast is not something I would normally consider.  But being able to prepare this recipe the night before makes it a no-brainer in the "nice-mom, good-cook, ward-off-the-whining" department.   The anticipation of a sumptuous feast later in the day is much easier to take if you have a belly full of Farm Breakfast Casserole!

I have an exciting announcement!  I have been given the opportunity to be a guest blogger at the Rhodes Bake N Serv Blog, and really cool...wait...wait...wait...I have my first post there today!  Please visit their website for step-by-step directions on how I intend to make this year's Thanksgiving wait just a little bit easier on my family!

 Because of my new "guest blogger" status, Rhodes has generously offered another cookbook for me to give away.  Two ways to enter...first, by leaving a comment here.  Next, by leaving a comment on the Rhodes blog.  I'll keep the giveaway open until Sunday night, then I will announce the winner Monday morning.  So somewhere on this long weekend, in between cleaning, cooking, enjoying the company of family and friends, eating, football, decorating for Christmas...did I cover it all...wait - and for all you crazy Black Friday shoppers...shopping, click through on over to the Rhodes blog for my first -I hope of many - guest blog spot!  But if you want a great recipe for tomorrow morning, click through today!

Be safe, be happy and be thankful...have a great weekend!

Mini Monday???

I have created a monster with this Mini Monday feature!  It's not a bad thing, it's just been difficult to keep up with it and my current schedule.  But not wanting to disappoint you with nothing today, I'm going to switch out with an easier post, something that I have had a request for...I'm just having trouble knowing what to call it!  It is a recipe that I got from the Fago's a long time ago and it has become one of our family's favorites.  I recently took it to a potluck and someone needs the recipe.  The recipe is called "Chicken Tortilla Soup"...the picture is how I make it, but it is minus the fresh, fried corn or flour tortilla strips that I make when we are eating at home, but that I don't venture to make when I'm away because I would never be allowed to leave the hot oil!

 
Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 large onion, chopped

4 large cloves of garlic

1/3 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons oregano

1 teaspoon cumin

salt and pepper

Saute the above until the onions are translucent.  Add the following:

1 large rotisserie chicken, de-boned and cut up into bite-sized pieces

1 quart chicken broth

3- 15oz. cans diced tomatoes (if you like it spicy, use the Rotelle tomatoes with chilies) - use the whole contents of the can

Simmer the above for about 20 minutes, then add:

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1- 15 oz. can of corn (including the water)

1-15 oz. can of black beans

Simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

Fresh, hot tortilla strips are delicious with this soup, but if you are watching your calories, you can garnish with a little avocado, a sprinkling of grated cheese and a few green onions...like in the picture.

My daughter Liz swears this is a great diet soup...without the tortilla chips, of course!