Orange Cranberry Bread

Don't hate me... This isn't really "bread". This is straight up cake, complete with a mouthwatering glaze. Why do I call it bread? Good question and there are 2 answers; 1) Because I can and 2) because I made this delight in a bread pan.

This recipe came about as an accident. It's based on a lemon poppy seed bread that would make a church lady swoon at a potluck. I went to make it and realized I had neither lemons, nor did I have poppy seeds. I did, however, have a bag of cranberries in the freezer and a bowl full of oranges and, thus, the bread was born! It's a favorite, here, especially during the holidays. You can, pretty much, chuck everything in a bowl and get perfect results, every.single.time.

So, here's my method:

For the bread:

3 cups all purpose flour
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup coconut oil, melted
1 TBS melted unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped cranberries
Zest of 1 orange

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour 2 bread pans. Mix the baking soda and salt with the flour and then mix in everything else, except the zest and the cranberries until it's fairly smooth and well incorporated. Gently fold in the zest and the cranberries and divide the batter between the pans. Bake for about 50-55 minutes, or until set in the middle. Remove from pans and remove to a cooling rack,

For the glaze:

1/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbs butter, salted
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract

Chuck all but the vanilla and almond extracts into a sauce pan and stir, over medium-low heat and the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and add extracts and then spoon over the warms loaves of bread and spread it until it covers the top of each loaf.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Fall is most definitely on it's way to North Texas. I have finally managed to turn the air off and open a window, which is HUGE, because this summer was more than a little warm. But, it is finally fall and that means loads of pumpkin-ish goodies fly out of my kitchen!

These muffins are the result of an informal challenge from a friend. She posted a status about a certain coffee chain's pumpkin muffins with the tag line of, "I bet Shannon can make these.". Challenge accepted. Unfortunately, I have never actually eaten this chain's version, so I had to trek out to go get one. It was yummy... A little sweet, but good. Dense, spicy notes of cinnamon and cloves and a delectable cream cheese core.

I felt up to the challenge after 1 bite and the resulting muffins were close, but infinitely better, in my opinion. I usually reach for the brown sugar, when making anything with pumpkin. I just think it offers a deeper flavor profile. But, these muffins needed more depth, so I opted for white sugar with a boost of molasses, which is all brown sugar really is... No, really, it is. I amped up the spices and added ginger, which I felt was missing from the chain's version. What I produced was a very moist, spiced pumpkin muffin with a slightly sweet cream cheese core. Not a thing wrong it that! Only thing missing were the scattering of pumpkin seeds on top.

Here is my method:

Makes 24Cream Cheese Filling:

1 8oz brick of cream cheese

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Muffins:3 cups flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

1 15oz can pumpkin puree

1.5 cups sugar

1 cup oil

1 tbs molasses 

With a handheld mixer, blend the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla together. Scoop into a piping bag with a round tip and chuck in the fridge to firm up. 

Mix all your dry ingredients together and set aside. In a mixer, beat together pumpkin, eggs, sugar, mollasses, and oil and then mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. Divy the batter between 24 lined muffin cups. Now, here's the fun part! Go get the cream cheese mixture and pipe some into the center of each muffin. Put the tip a little lower than half way down the middle and squeezw until it just a wee bit peeks out. It expands like crazy during baking. 

Bake at 350 for about 18-20 minutes. Allow to rest a few minutes before removing them to a cooling rack. 

Fluffy Sugar Cookies

Don't lie to me, now, who here hasn't devoured those sugary-soft fluffy cookies they sell at the grocery store? I know I have and my kids love them and ask for them every time I have to take them into the store. And, though I'll admit to totally eating my weight in them, I knew there had to be some way to make these at home with ingredients I could pronounce and make enough that I didn't feel as though I was losing money, or my fair share of cookies, every time they disappeared the same day I brought them home from the store. Having a large family often means cage matches to see who reigns supreme and gets the last cookie!

So, I set about trying 11ty billion "soft sugar cookie" recipes and, in some way or another, they all seemed to fall short of the mark, at least in my opinion. In all that research, one thing became very clear... A "sugar cookie" can be many things, but it is not consistently defined around this country. A lot of the recipes I found used shortening. I have a large issue cooking with that stuff, I really much prefer using butter and other fats.

So, in efforts to make a lightly textured cookie with an irresistible flavor, I put my smarts to work and came up with a recipe that beats out any pre-packaged cookie, hands down! And the best part? The recipe makes a LOT of cookies, so cage matches aren't required and I always have enough to share with anyone who drops by to visit.

Here is my method:

For the cookies:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp salt
1 cup canola oil
2 tsp almond extract
2 eggs
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour


In your mixer, beat the butter on high until it's lightened in color and fluffy. Add in the powdered and granulated sugars, baking soda, cream of tartar and the salt and beat again until it's lightened in color and fluffy. Stream in the canola oil as the mixer is going. Then add in the eggs and the almond extract. Take a moment to scrape down the sides to make sure it's all one cohesive batter. Then gradually add in the flour a cup at a time until it's all combined. The dough will be pretty stiff. Cover and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

When it's chilled, preheat your oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment, scoop out dough balls in 2 tbs portions and roll them to make smooth. Press them flat with your fingers or a glass. I aim for about 1/3 inch thick and bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow them to sit on the cookie sheet for a minute or two before transferring them to a rack to cool. Keep the unused dough in the fridge in between baking.

For the frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt

Beat the butter and extracts together and gradually beat in the powdered sugar until it's light and fluffy. Spread on cooled cookies and decorate however you wish.

Note: When making these for a bake sale, I double the frosting recipe.

Layered Cinnamon Biscuits

My family LOVES cinnamon rolls. What's not to love, right? Chewy, sweet, spicy, and decadent. You really just can't be sad when eating one. Who else remembers gravitating toward the cinnamon roll counter at the mall and drooling over the freshly baked rolls? Hell, I still gravitate there, on the rare occasions we ever get to a mall. They're a treat I have always associated with Fall or special occasions, or trips to the mall for a new school wardrobe.

Cinnamon rolls are a very commonly requested treat around here. And, though I do love them, I don't always have time to make them and I really don't like the ones in the tubes at the store. So, I devised a cheat and created a flaky layered biscuit with just the right amount of spicy cinnamon sweetness. My husband and kids refer to them as "Cinnabiscuits". They're really just a sweet take on a traditional buttermilk biscuit and are smothered with a salty-sweet vanilla glaze that will just make your mouth water.

Here's my method:

**For the biscuits**

2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbs sugar
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 Tbs lard or shortening
2 Tbs unsalted butter, cold
1 cup cold buttermilk
1 egg
2 Tbs cinnamon sugar**

**For the glaze**

2 Tbs salted butter, melted
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-2 Tbs whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat your oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with parchment. Crack the egg into the buttermilk, whisk and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together. Cut in the lard and the butter until you get a texture of fine crumbs. Using a fork, stir in the buttermilk mixture until you get a shaggy dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times. Pat it down into a rectangle about a 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle the top with half the cinnamon sugar and fold into the thirds. Pat it flat again to about 1/2-3/4 inch thick and sprinkle with the remaining half of the cinnamon sugar. Fold into thirds and pat it out to about 3/4 inch thick. Cut as many as you can and line them up on your baking sheet so they're close, but not quite touching. Bake about 15-18 minutes. When they're done, spread on a bit of glaze and devour.