Categories
Breakfast Dessert

Try a great mini sweet that’s perfect to have ’round

Mini pumpkin spice donuts are completely addictive, with tons of delicious spices and a fabulous cinnamon-sugar coating.

When I was a kid, our Sunday morning breakfasts before church would often be something special from the day-old bakery we had in town.

One of my personal favorites was when we’d get mini donuts. I would dip them in milk, trading off between chocolate-covered and cinnamon sugar flavors.

I have been thinking about those donuts ever since I found a mini donut pan at our local thrift shop, and I finally took the plunge on baking some of my own.

Around Thanksgiving this year, I accidentally bought pumpkin pie filling instead of regular canned pumpkin, and it has been sitting in my pantry ever since, so I decided it was high time to both use up that can and break in my new pan.

The recipe I made is from the blog “Lovely Indeed.” You can find the original post at https://lovelyindeed.com/mini-donut-recipe-baked-pumpkin-spice-mini-donuts/. I added extra spices in my version.

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Mini Pumpkin Spice Donuts

Mini pumpkin spice donuts are completely addictive, with tons of delicious spices and a fabulous cinnamon-sugar coating.
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Keyword baked donuts, canned cinnamon rolls, cinnamon-sugar, cloves, donuts, ginger, mini donuts, pumpkin

Ingredients

Donut Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ginger
  • 1 teaspoon cloves
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour

Coating Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup butter melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Spray the wells of a mini donut pan with cooking spray and set it aside.
  • In a mixing bowl, beat the oil, eggs, sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and baking powder until the mixture is smooth. Beat in the flour just until it’s all incorporated.
  • Transfer the batter to a piping bag or a large zip-top plastic bag with the tip snipped off.
  • Fill each well on the pan about three-fourths full, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
  • Remove the donuts from the pan and let them cool.
  • In another zip-top bag, combine the sugar and cinnamon.
  • Lightly brush each donut with melted butter, and then drop them (a few at a time) into the bag, and gently shake to coat them in cinnamon-sugar. Serve immediately, and store any leftovers in an airtight container.

This took some time to make, as my donut pan only has nine wells, and this recipe easily made several dozen donuts, but it also gave me plenty of time to wash up my dishes and listen to a podcast.

And these were worth it. We shared them with our guests for a mingle at our office, and then we shamelessly snacked on the leftovers for a few days afterwards. They were moist, full of flavor and very addictive. I had a few with a cup of coffee, and it was the perfect pairing.

I didn’t get a chance to dip any of these in milk like when I was younger, but it was still nice to remember those Sunday breakfasts with my family. And the best part? I didn’t even have to share these with my sister.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 29, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

This gooey, fancy souffle can’t possibly fall flat

Making this chocolate caramel pecan souffle takes some time and energy, but the deep bitter chocolate flavor, along with the sweetness of homemade caramel and the nuttiness of pecans makes all the effort worth it.

If you have been reading my column for very long, you might remember a fancy lemon tart I made last year about this time.

It was a French recipe and included making everything from scratch. I decided to try it as a donation to one of our local non-profits, Peace Connections, for their annual soup supper and dessert auction.

When the group contacted me this year to see if I wanted to come up with another dessert for the auction, I turned to my “complicated” list to see what I should make.

With most of the recipes I choose, I try to pick things that are fairly easy for anyone to make and don’t take hours in the kitchen to create, but my feeling on dessert auctions is that I want to make a recipe that most people have no desire to try to do themselves but would gladly pay for the opportunity to try.

So I decided this was my week to try something I have never made before: a souffle.

I was intimidated by the project, but I figured that the auction isn’t until next week, and this was just my test run, so if I failed miserably, I had time to come up with a new idea.

But it turned out really, really well, and in case you can’t make it to the auction, I’m sharing the recipe so you can try it, too.

This comes from the blog “Bake or Break” by Jennifer McHenry. You can find the original post at https://bakeorbreak.com/2012/09/chocolate-caramel-pecan-souffle-cake/. I actually followed this recipe to the letter, because making a souffle for the first time scared me.

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Chocolate Caramel Pecan Souffle

Making this chocolate caramel pecan souffle takes some time and energy, but the deep bitter chocolate flavor, along with the sweetness of homemade caramel and the nuttiness of pecans makes all the effort worth it.
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Keyword bittersweet chocolate, bourbon, caramel, fancy dessert, pecans, semisweet chocolate chips, souffle, vanilla

Ingredients

Cake Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter melted
  • 1 cup butter room temperature
  • 1 cup superfine sugar divided, plus extra for coating pan
  • 16 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chopped (I used bittersweet)
  • 8 eggs separated, room temperature
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons bourbon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Caramel Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • pinch cream of tartar
  • 1 cup pecan halves
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons bourbon

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Brush the melted butter generously over the entire inside of a 10-inch springform pan.
  • Pour about a tablespoon of superfine sugar into the coated pan and rotate it until the entire inside is coated with a thin layer of sugar (add a little more to the pan, as needed). Tap out any excess sugar and set the pan aside.
  • Add the cup of butter and chocolate to a large, microwave-safe mixing bowl, and microwave for 90 seconds at half power. Stir the mixture, and if it’s not yet melted, microwave at half power again, 30 seconds at a time and stirring after each time, until the mixture is smooth and everything is melted together. Set the chocolate aside.
  • In another mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and salt on medium speed until the mixture is smooth. While continuing to beat the mixture, slowly add 1/2 cup of the superfine sugar, and continue to beat until the mixture turns a pale yellow color. This will take several minutes.
  • Beat in the bourbon and vanilla, and then hand stir the egg mixture into the melted chocolate.
  • In another mixing bowl, add the egg whites and the cream of tartar (it’s recommended to use a stainless steel bowl for this). Start with your mixer on low and beat until the egg whites are a bit foamy, then turn the speed up to high and beat until peaks begin to form. Add in the other 1/2 cup of superfine sugar, a little at a time, continuing to beat the mixture on high, and once it forms stiff peaks, you’re ready for the next step.
  • Stir about one-third of the whipped eggs into the chocolate mixture until all of the white disappears, and then gently fold the rest of the eggs into it, just mixing until all of the white is incorporated but being careful to keep the mixture as airy as you can.
  • Pour the batter to the springform pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cake puffs up, the top is firm, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs.
  • Let the souffle cool for at least 15 minutes before removing the sides of the pan. (Don’t worry if it falls a bit while it cools; that’s supposed to happen, and we’ll cover it all up with caramel soon.)
  • While the cake cools, make the caramel. In a heavy saucepan, add the sugar, water and cream of tartar and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the sugar is fully dissolved.
  • Turn the heat up to high and let the mixture boil for several minutes, continuing to stir intermittently, until it turns a deep amber. Remove it from the heat as soon as it reaches that color so that it doesn’t burn.
  • Off the heat, stir in the pecans, cream and salt. (Mine fizzed up a bit when I did this. Just keep stirring.)
  • Put the pan back on low heat and stir continuously for about five minutes or until the caramel thickens. Stir in the bourbon, and continue to stir for a couple more minutes until the sauce thickens again. You’re looking for a gooey consistency like an ice cream topping.
  • Pour the caramel mixture evenly over the cake, and let the cake cool completely before serving. Store in an airtight container.

This was definitely a several-hour project, but not only did my souffle turn out beautifully, it was absolutely delicious, too. It was extremely decadent with the bitter chocolate and the sweet caramel. It was amazing with a cup of coffee, and I bet it would be great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, too. This is one of those desserts where a small piece is the perfect amount because of how rich it is.

And if you don’t want to try to make this one yourself, I’ll be making another that could be yours.

The Peace Connections soup supper begins at 5:30 p.m. and is by donation. The dessert auction will go from 6:15 to 7 p.m. Everything will take place Thursday, Feb. 29, at Newton Nazarene Church, 1000 N Main St., Newton, and the proceeds will benefit Harvey County Circle of Hope, which helps community members reach financial stability. You can learn more at peaceconnections.org.

Plus, I can cross a souffle off my list, along with a French cream tart. Now I just have to figure out what I’ll make next year.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 22, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Breakfast Dessert

Roll through your cinnamon cravings with a simple cake

A cinnamon roll cake is an easy way to accomplish the great flavor of homemade cinnamon rolls without all the work.

Do you have those friends in your life where you have to try several times to plan a get-together before you can actually find a date on the calendar that works?

This past weekend, the stars aligned for us to finally spend an evening with just such a pair. They were gracious enough to invite us to their home, where they had a delicious bowl of chili and fresh cornbread waiting for us.

Knowing that chili was on the menu, I started to wrack my brain earlier in the day about what kind of dessert goes with it, and my mind just kept going back to cinnamon rolls.

I mean, yeah, cinnamon rolls are a perfect compliment to a big bowl of chili, but they’re also generally pretty time consuming, and time was not on my side that afternoon.

Thank goodness I found a recipe for a cinnamon roll cake that came to my rescue instead, and I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

This comes from the blog “The Country Cook” by Brandie Skibinski. You can find the original post at https://www.thecountrycook.net/cinnamon-roll-cake/. I doubled the vanilla and quadrupled the cinnamon in my version.

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Cinnamon Roll Cake

A cinnamon roll cake is an easy way to accomplish the great flavor of homemade cinnamon rolls without all the work.
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Keyword brown sugar, cake, cinnamon, cinnamon roll, coffeecake, easy cinnamon roll, vanilla

Ingredients

Cake Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups milk I used skim
  • 1/2 cup butter melted

Filling Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup butter softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 4 tablespoons cinnamon

Glaze Ingredients

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 5 tablespoons milk I used skim
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a nine-by-13-inch baking pan by spraying it with cooking spray. Set it aside.
  • For the cake, in a mixing bowl, beat the flour, sugar, baking powder, eggs, vanilla and milk until everything is smooth and well combined.
  • Hand stir in the butter, and then spread the batter evenly into your prepared pan.
  • For the filling, in another mixing bowl, beat together all of the filling ingredients until it forms a smooth paste.
  • Drop the cinnamon mixture by the tablespoonful onto the cake batter, and then swirl it into the batter using a knife.
  • Bake the cake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • When the cake comes out of the oven, whisk the glaze ingredients until it is smooth. If you want a thicker glaze, add a little more powdered sugar. If you want it thinner, add a little more milk.
  • Pour the glaze over the cake and serve warm. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

This was very much like if a coffee cake married a cinnamon roll. The main difference is because you put the glaze on the cake while it’s still warm, it melts into the cake instead of staying visibly on top like a normal cinnamon roll. If you’d rather have that look and texture, I’d recommend letting the cake cool completely before glazing and making a bit of a thicker glaze.

I ended up making an eight-by-eight pan of this by halving the recipe. There was only going to be four of us, and I really didn’t need the leftovers in my kitchen all week, so that made it perfect.

Even better, we had an excellent meal with excellent people. Being able to spend time with friends, cinnamon rolls or not, is so, so sweet.

This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 11, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

Become ‘nut’orious for simple pecan brownies

Pecan brownies are flavored with butter, unsweetened chocolate and vanilla, along with lots of pecans to create a great dessert for a small gathering or cookie exchange.

We had a bit of a scaled-down celebration for Christmas this year, with several of our family members traveling outside of Kansas, so I very carefully considered what treats I would be making.

Normally, I overdo it with several types of candies and baked goods to share, but knowing that our group would be a bit smaller, I promised myself I would stick to only three things.

Well, I had to, of course, make my yearly batch of peppernuts. It just wouldn’t feel like Christmas without them.

Then I decided that I would go easy on myself and make just a few peanut clusters. You know, a couple dozen or so—a small batch.

And finally, I had to throw in a new recipe to try, and sticking to my simple theme for the year, I landed on what looked to be a yummy pan of pecan brownies. The recipe made a nice, eight-by-eight-inch batch of brownies that were perfect for our small celebration, and it’s a great one to keep in the recipe box for future gatherings.

This comes from Taste of Home. You can find the original at https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/pecan-brownies/. I doubled the vanilla in my version.

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Pecan Brownies

Pecan brownies are flavored with butter, unsweetened chocolate and vanilla, along with lots of pecans to create a great dessert for a small gathering or cookie exchange.
Course Dessert
Keyword baker’s chocolate, brownies, butter, cookie exchange, easy dessert, pecans, small dessert, unsweetened chocolate, vanilla

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Prepare an eight-by-eight-inch baking pan by lightly greasing it with butter, shortening or cooking spray. Set it aside.
  • In a medium-sized pot, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring constantly. Once they are completely melted, remove the pot from the heat and stir in the sugar.
  • Let the mixture cool for a few minutes.
  • Lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl, and add the eggs, vanilla and flour to the pot, stirring to combine everything well.
  • Finally, fold in the pecans (save a few to sprinkle on the top of the batter).
  • Spread the mixture into your prepared baking pan and sprinkle the top with a few pecan pieces.
  • Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Let the brownies cool before slicing them and storing them in an air-tight container.

I liked these, because they were chocolatey and nutty and not sickeningly sweet. I also sliced them into small squares, which made them perfect for the Christmas snack table.

In addition to sharing these with our family, they were a nice addition to some Christmas gifts we dropped off with friends on Christmas Eve, and I was very happy with how they turned out.

Even better, they’re already gone and not hanging around on my kitchen counter, tempting me to have just one more.

I can’t quite say the same for the peanut clusters, but hey, at least I tried.

This piece first appeared in print on Dec. 28, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

We now know for whom the pie shell tolls

Toll House chocolate chip cookie pie is a rich dessert based on the classic cookie, with a chewy filling, crunchy walnuts and pops of sweet chocolate.

It turns out, chocolate chip cookies are a much newer invention than I would have thought.

An article on the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library website notes that the famous cookies were first invented in 1938 by Ruth Wakefield.

Wakefield and her husband, Kenneth, ran the Toll House Restaurant in Massachusetts, hence the enduring “Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie” name.

There’s apparently plenty of debate surrounding the true lore of how Wakefield managed to create them, but that’s kind of how all of the stories of famous recipes seem to play out.

Regardless, her invention has become such a part of culture that most of us probably don’t even think about them having an origin. The only reason I looked into it was because I wondered where this week’s recipe for a Toll House chocolate chip cookie pie originally came from and stumbled on the history of the cookie. It makes for good reading along with a slice of pie.

The version of this recipe I tried comes from the blog, “A Family Feast” by Jack and Martha Pesa. You can find the original post at https://www.afamilyfeast.com/toll-house-chocolate-chip-pie/. I added vanilla and whipped cream to my version.

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Toll House Chocolate Chip Pie

Toll House chocolate chip cookie pie is a rich dessert based on the classic cookie, with a chewy filling, crunchy walnuts and pops of sweet chocolate.
Course Dessert
Keyword brown sugar, chocolate chip cookie pie, chocolate chips, cookie pie, semisweet chocolate chips, Toll House cookies, vanilla, walnuts, whipped cream

Ingredients

  • 1 pie crust
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup butter room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips plus a few for decorating
  • 1 cup walnuts chopped
  • about 2 cups whipped cream

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
  • Roll out your pie crust and place it in a deep, nine-inch pie plate. Crimp the edges to your liking and set it aside.
  • In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs for about two minutes or until they are light yellow.
  • Beat in the flour, sugar and brown sugar, and then beat in the butter and vanilla until the batter is smooth.
  • Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts, and spread the batter into your pie crust.
  • Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
  • Let the pie cool completely and top with whipped cream and some extra chocolate chips.

When my pie came out of the oven, I didn’t think the top was very pretty, which is why I decided to slather it in whipped cream and chocolate chips. It gave it a real visual wow factor, and the flavors were great together.

This is also a great recipe for a beginning pie baker to try. It’s really easy to put together, and it’s easy to tell when it’s done.

It’s also a great way to enjoy a classic, 85-year-old recipe in a slightly different way. The only drawback is that you probably can’t dip this into a glass of milk, but I won’t fault you for trying.

This piece first appeared in print on Dec. 7, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Breakfast Dessert

Breakfast bars are ‘apple’utely great for a morning treat

Apple crisp breakfast bars are not overly sweet. The warm cinnamon flavor, along with the nuttiness of oats, makes these a fabulous morning treat with a hot cup of tea.

Recently, I had the chance to meet one of our readers from Hesston.

We had a fairly short (but very pleasant) conversation, and before I left, he gestured to a bag on his kitchen counter.

“Do you like apples?” he asked me.

And that’s how I became the excited owner of four huge, beautiful golden delicious apples. He said he bought an entire case of them recently and had been working through them, little by little. I was happy to take these off his hands.

I was very tempted to just eat all of them, but instead, I felt like the gift deserved a spot in a new recipe, and after searching for an apple recipe that used sweet apples instead of tart, I landed on the one I’m sharing with you this week.

The recipe I tried comes from the blog “Healthy Family Project” by Amanda Keefer. You can find the original post at https://healthyfamilyproject.com/recipes/apple-crisp-breakfast-bars/. I added extra maple syrup and cinnamon in my version.

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Apple Crisp Breakfast Bars

Apple crisp breakfast bars are not overly sweet. The warm cinnamon flavor, along with the nuttiness of oats, makes these a fabulous morning treat with a hot cup of tea.
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Keyword apples, breakfast bars, cinnamon, Golden delicious apples, maple syrup, quick oats, sweet apples

Ingredients

  • 1 cup quick oats
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup and 4 tablespoons maple syrup divided
  • 4 tablespoons butter room temperature
  • 4 teaspoons cinnamon divided
  • 1 egg
  • 2 sweet apples I used golden delicious, diced
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an eight-by-eight-inch baking pan by lining it with parchment paper, and set it aside.
  • In a bowl, mix the oats, flour, salt, one-fourth cup maple syrup, butter and two teaspoons cinnamon, and mix until everything is well combined and the texture resembles coarse crumbs.
  • Set aside one-half cup of the mixture.
  • In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg with a fork, and then pour it into the remaining crumb mixture, stirring to incorporate it completely. Spread the dough into the prepared baking dish into an even layer.
  • In another bowl, mix the apples, remaining maple syrup, remaining cinnamon and cornstarch until the apples are well-coated.
  • Spread the apple mixture evenly over the dough in the pan, and then top it with the oat mixture you set aside, crumbling it evenly over the top. (It won’t completely cover it; just get it evenly over the entire thing.)
  • Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the apples are fork tender.
  • Let the bars cool completely before slicing them into squares.
  • Store the bars in an airtight container.

These are not overtly sweet, even with the extra maple syrup I added in my version. They truly are a great breakfast bar, even though you could totally get away with sharing them as a dessert, too.

I ended up doubling my batch of these bars and sharing them as part of a brunch with friends. It’s an incredibly easy recipe to double.

It was nice to be able to take a simple gift and turn it into another gift for others. (I’m sure there’s a small-town metaphor in there somewhere.)

And it was a doubly sweet experience to have a nice conversation on a cold afternoon. Thanks again, Harvey; I hope we will chat again one day.

This piece first appeared in print on Nov. 9, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Cookies Dessert

Try a cookie recipe that is a piece of cake

Spice cake cookies are made very simply with a cake mix and a couple other ingredients. These are a great recipe when you need to bake something in a hurry.

For a recent get-together at our office, I decided I wanted my snack table to look ready for fall.

I set up a mini scarecrow, laid a garland of orange and red leaves along the back of the table and sprinkled candy corn strategically around the plates of goodies.

To compliment the look of fall, I decided it was time for some fall spices, too, but I had almost zero time leading up to the event to do a lot of baking.

Thank goodness for this week’s recipe, then, that let me use a cake mix and a few other ingredients to create some yummy cookies to share with our crew.

The recipe comes from the blog “Sizzling Eats” by Amy Desrosiers. You can find the original post at https://www.sizzlingeats.com/spice-cake-mix-cookies/. I did not add anything this one, because it was so easy. I did, however, roll my cookies much smaller than the original directions, which resulted in small, crispy cookies rather than big, soft ones. I made sure to note both options below.

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Spice Cake Cookies

Spice cake cookies are made very simply with a cake mix and a couple other ingredients. These are a great recipe when you need to bake something in a hurry.
Course Dessert
Keyword cake mix, easy cookies, fall dessert, fall spices, spice cake

Ingredients

  • 15.2- ounce spice cake mix
  • 1/2 cup oil vegetable or canola
  • 2 eggs
  • 3-4 tablespoons sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and line a couple cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  • In a mixing bowl, beat the cake mix, oil and eggs until everything is well combined.
  • Pour the sugar in a separate, small bowl.
  • Roll the cookies into about golf-ball-sized balls for larger, soft cookies or about one-inch balls for small, crispy cookies, and roll them in the bowl of sugar to lightly coat each.
  • Place the balls one to two inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
  • Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned and set. Let them cool a bit before transferring them to an airtight container.

This made a ton of cookies, especially with making them a bit smaller, and they were perfect for everyone to have a few on their snack plates while they chatted and nibbled.

I do think you could still get a soft cookie out of the smaller option, but you’d want to under-bake them a bit to make sure they stay more pliable. I want to try these again sometime with the soft option—I’m a sucker for chewy cookies.

I was really happy with how these turned out, and I was especially excited to have cookies with a hint of cinnamon and clove sitting on the snack table. No matter how many mini scarecrows or candy pumpkins you have, it’s just not really fall until the right spices make their debut.

This piece first appeared in print on Oct. 26, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Cookies Dessert

Chewy cookies can be a real ‘raspberry’ in blue

Raspberry white chocolate cookies feature fresh raspberries in a soft, chewy cookie, with plenty of white chocolate chips to take these to a whole new level of delicious.

“They have some gross cookies over here,” a gentleman said into his cell phone at a Hesston event we held this weekend, making sure to say it just loud enough for me to hear.

Luckily, he was joking. Or at least I think he was.

The cookies, made with lots of fresh raspberries ended up with a little bit of a strange, green-blue hue from the fruit juice spreading throughout the dough, and he teased that I was trying to give away moldy cookies. I guess that’s what I get for using fresh fruit instead of buying something fake or freeze-dried.

But, darn it, they were far from gross. Instead, they were downright delicious, and I ended up being very happy I doubled the recipe, since my first Tupperware container emptied out extremely quickly. Plus, doubling let me use a full bag of white chocolate chips and a full 12-ounce container of raspberries. I always appreciate not having random bits and pieces of ingredients sitting around after trying a new recipe.

If you want to give these “gross” cookies a try, the recipe comes from the blog “Erhardt Seat” by Caitlyn Erhardt. You can find the original at https://erhardtseat.com/raspberry-white-chocolate-cookies/. I doubled the vanilla, added a few extra chocolate chips and added some salt in my version.

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Raspberry White Chocolate Cookies

Raspberry white chocolate cookies feature fresh raspberries in a soft, chewy cookie, with plenty of white chocolate chips to take these to a whole new level of delicious.
Course Dessert
Keyword brown sugar, fresh raspberries, raspberry, soft cookies, vanilla, white chocolate chips

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons butter room temperature
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup raspberries chopped

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a couple baking sheets by spraying them with cooking spray or lining them with parchment paper.
  • In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy.
  • Beat in the vanilla and egg until they are well combined.
  • Beat in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Once the dough is smooth, carefully fold in the white chocolate chips and raspberries, trying not to squish them too much.
  • Using a one- to one-and-one-half-inch cookie scoop, scoop the dough into about ping-pong-ball-sized mounds onto the prepared cookie sheets, placing them about two inches apart.
  • Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are starting to turn golden brown. Let the cookies cool almost completely before storing them in an airtight container.

Like I said, these were fantastic. Joey hates raspberries as a general rule, and even he really enjoyed these. The fruit and the white chocolate paired great together, and the cookies were soft and chewy, just how I like them.

I suppose another benefit, if you want to keep these all to yourself, is if yours turn a little bluish, too, you can just sadly tell your family how disappointed you are that the cookies went bad, and you’ll have to dispose of them before anyone accidentally eats one.

I won’t spoil your secret, but there is a guy in Hesston who might.

This piece first appeared in print on Oct. 12, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

There is no point(s) to this easy ‘cheesecake’

Zero-point cheesecake is a low-sugar, low-calorie dessert that can satisfy your sweet tooth even if you’re trying to stick to a healthy diet.

Although I have never joined an official weight loss program—tracking points, writing down my calorie counts and eating only pre-portioned foods delivered to my door—I have always been fascinated how they work for so many people to slim down.

For me, when working on trying to eat healthier, I normally just follow the rules of “eat more veggies” and “eat less sugar.”

But I am definitely addicted to sweets, and it’s a struggle some days to keep myself from indulging—especially since I know how to bake, and my pantry is well-stocked with supplies.

This week, though, I took a page out of the weight loss program handbook and tried a “zero-point” dessert, which for those unfamiliar, means that a person on Weight Watchers could eat it with no penalties on their diet for the day. It’s low fat, low sugar and low calorie.

The recipe I tried comes from the blog, “Our Wabi Sabi Life.” You can find the original post at https://ourwabisabilife.com/0-point-weight-watchers-cheesecake/. I chose to add some fruit to our cheesecake, doubled the vanilla, and I substituted the cheesecake-flavored pudding mix for a vanilla one, because my local grocery store didn’t have it.

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Zero-point Cheesecake

Zero-point cheesecake is a low-sugar, low-calorie dessert that can satisfy your sweet tooth even if you’re trying to stick to a healthy diet.
Course Dessert
Keyword cheesecake, diet dessert, eggs, instant pudding, low-calorie, low-fat, low-sugar, non-fat Greek yogurt, Splenda, sugar substitute, vanilla, Weight Watchers

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons sugar substitute
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3 cups plain fat-free Greek yogurt
  • 3.4 to 3.9 ounce box instant sugar-free pudding (cheesecake flavor or just your favorite)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a glass pie dish by lightly greasing it with butter or margarine.
  • In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar substitute and vanilla extract until everything is combined well.
  • Beat in the yogurt and pudding mix, and once the mixture is smooth, pour it into your prepared dish.
  • Bake for 30 minutes. Once the cheesecake cools enough to handle it, place it in the refrigerator for at least two hours or overnight.
  • Serve with fresh fruit. Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an air-tight container.

This was decently good. I would not say that it was a perfect substitute for full-fat cheesecake, although it might have been a bit closer in flavor if I would have had access to cheesecake-flavored pudding.

That being said, it was a bit like a custard texture, and especially with some fresh cherries I had in my freezer from this summer, it was a nice, guilt-free option. It would also be a nice option for people who are low-sugar.

I wondered if it would be good with a lemon or chocolate pudding mix, too, or even with a fat-free Greek yogurt with some flavoring to it. The possibilities are vast.

I still don’t think I want to jump into a structured diet plan, but it’s nice to have some recipes in my repertoire for those times when depending on my own willpower isn’t hacking it.

And, yeah, I know there’s irony in the fact that I’ll probably share something high-calorie, high-fat and delicious with you in this space again very soon. Sometimes you just have to live a little.

This piece first appeared in print on Oct. 5, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert Snack

It’s good to have a fallback recipe for whatever pops up

Popcorn balls are simple to make and easy to customize with tons of sweet or salty mix ins.

On a recent free evening, Joey and I decided to watch a movie together, and I wanted popcorn.

Of course, I couldn’t just toss a bag of microwave popcorn in to cook; I needed to make the real stuff on my stovetop.

I melted a spoonful of coconut oil in a pot and waited for it to be nice and hot, testing it with a couple kernels, just like you’re supposed to.

But then it came time to add the rest of the kernels, and honestly, I couldn’t remember how many to dump in. After a bit of time thumbing through my mental Rolodex, I somehow determined that popcorn kernels were measured out like rice, and I dumped a full cup of kernels into the pot, figuring I would make about two cups of finished popcorn.

I added the lid and waited. Soon, my popcorn was popping.

And then it kept popping.

And popping.

It wasn’t long before the lid started lifting off my pot, and I realized the error of my ways.

Joey walked into the kitchen just in time to see me frantically scooping popcorn into several bowls on the counter while more popcorn flew out onto the floor and our schnauzer, K.C., excitedly performed clean up duties. It was a bit crazy, and the aftermath left me with a ton of popped kernels.

So, with that in mind, I decided to opt for a great recipe for leftover popcorn: popcorn balls.

The recipe I used is from Martha Stewart’s website. You can find the original post at https://www.marthastewart.com/339167/popcorn-balls. I simplified the mix-ins a bit.

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Popcorn Balls

Popcorn balls are simple to make and easy to customize with tons of sweet or salty mix ins.
Course Dessert, Snack
Keyword brown sugar, Halloween treat, honey roasted peanuts, mini marshmallows, popcorn, popcorn ball

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup stick butter plus more for your hands
  • 10 ounces mini marshmallows
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 10 to 12 cups popped popcorn
  • 1 cup nuts dried fruit and/or baking chips

Instructions

  • Spread a large piece of waxed paper or parchment paper on your workspace.
  • In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, melt the butter over low heat. Once the butter is melted, stir in the marshmallows and brown sugar, and continue stirring until it’s all melted.
  • Remove the pot from the heat.
  • Add the popcorn and whatever mix ins you want to add, and stir well.
  • Butter your hands, and then shape the mixture into about two- or three-inch balls. Lightly press them together so they stick, but be careful not to crush the popcorn.
  • Place the balls on the waxed paper to cool. Either individually wrap the popcorn balls or store in an airtight container.

I really liked these, and the nice thing about making your own popcorn balls is you can make them whatever size you want for snacking.

I ended up using some honey roasted peanuts I already had in the pantry, and it was delicious.

Plus, I managed to get rid of all of the extra popcorn on my counter. Despite eating a nice, large bowl during our movie night and receiving lots of gracious help from K.C., there was no way I was going to get through all of it on my own.

The next time I decide to make popcorn, I’ll actually look up the measurements so I don’t end up in a cartoon-like situation again. But at least now I know what to do with the extra.

This piece first appeared in print on Sept. 21, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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