Tag: brown sugar

Categories
Cookies Dessert

You won’t have to ‘mull’ over trying this recipe

Oat “mull” cookies use mulling spices for flavor along with plenty of butter and oats to create chewy cookies.
Oat “mull” cookies use mulling spices for flavor along with plenty of butter and oats to create chewy cookies.

I have to confess to a new addiction. 

I’m hoping that if I say it out loud, I will have more of a will to fight it, but I’m pretty sure I’m in too deep.

In true addict form, though, I want you to know that it isn’t my fault. The blame lands firmly on the shoulders of a local business and supporter of ours: Main Street Co. & Kitchen Corner in Newton, Kan.

Owner Tina Ostrander has set up her website for extremely easy online shopping, and if there’s one thing I love more than shopping at local businesses, it’s not having to leave my house to do so.

On one of several recent shopping “trips” to their site to try to satisfy my Christmas shopping list, I, of course, found something on sale I needed to purchase, because not only did it sound delicious, but Tina promised a cookie recipe to come along with it. Not only that, but the title of the recipe was a pun, and if you’ve been reading my column for any length of time, you know how much I love a good food pun.

So this week’s recipe for oatmeal cookies comes from Main Street Co. & Kitchen Corner and uses the Aspen Mulling Spice they carry in store and online. I used the original flavor, but they also have caramel apple and sugar-free versions that you could totally use instead. I doubled the vanilla in my version below.

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Oat “Mull” Cookies

Oat “mull” cookies use mulling spices for flavor along with plenty of butter and oats to create chewy cookies.
Course Dessert
Keyword cookies, mulling spices, oatmeal

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cup butter
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup Aspen Mulling Spice
  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3 cups quick oats or rolled oats

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Beat the butter, vanilla, brown sugar, egg and mulling spice until it’s well combined.
  • Beat in the flour and baking soda. Mix in the oats.
  • For about two-inch cookies, drop by the teaspoonful about one-inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
  • Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
  • Let cool for a bit before transferring to an airtight container.

These were so delicious. I’m guessing that had something to do with how much butter was in the recipe, but the mulling spices gave them a light, autumn-like flavor that we really liked. They were just a little crispy around the edges and were a good, chewy cookie.

Plus, the recipe made just over four dozen cookies, so if you are planning on a cookie exchange or giving some treats to folks this holiday season, you’ll get a lot of mileage out of this recipe.

Also, this didn’t use the whole container of mulling spice, which means I will definitely be making myself a nice steaming cup of apple cider one of these evenings.

Shopping locally is important all of the time, but it’s especially essential this year, if we want to make sure that our favorite local businesses are still around after the pandemic is over.

Getting into the stores is sometimes tough, especially for those who aren’t comfortable getting out and about right now, but there are plenty of local businesses who have adapted to the times and have online shops and will ship or let you pick things up locally.

Before you shop on “Amazon” or another online retailer, do a quick search for local entrepreneurs you can support with your dollars. Those big box stores are doing fine without your contribution, and they certainly aren’t going to send you a great recipe to try with your order.

This piece first appeared in print on Nov. 26, 2020.

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

Banana dessert can foster sense of warmth for ice cream

Bananas foster is a great, warm dessert, which is easy to make and fun to light on fire.
Bananas foster is a great, warm dessert, which is easy to make and fun to light on fire.

I believe it was sometime during college that I first got to experience going to one of those Japanese restaurants where the chef makes a big show while cooking in front of you.

If you’ve never been, I recommend it. It’s nice to be entertained and fed at the same time.

One of the tricks they inevitably do is to stack the rings of an onion up to resemble a volcano, dump in some flammable cooking liquid, and then light it on fire. The result is an inferno that shoots straight up for a moment, and it’s a big crowd pleaser.

I’ve always been fascinated by recipes that let chefs light things on fire. It’s just the right amount of danger I need in my life—a very, very low amount—and it satisfies my inner desire to safely play with matches every once in awhile.

So, since I still needed to get rid of lots of bananas this week, I decided to try my hand at one of those fire-lighting recipes: bananas foster.

I will warn you that bananas foster includes the use of alcohol, which you can totally leave out if it’s not your thing, but then you’ll also skip the fire lighting step, too. The recipe I used is on the blog “Baking a Moment.” You can find the original post at https://bakingamoment.com/bananas-foster/. I doubled the cinnamon in my version.

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Bananas Foster

Bananas foster is a great, warm dessert, which is easy to make and fun to light on fire.
Course Dessert
Keyword banana, brown sugar, cinnamon, dark rum

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 bananas
  • 1/4 cup dark rum
  • vanilla ice cream for serving

Instructions

  • Combine the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large skillet (you’ll need to fit the bananas in there later, too) over low heat.
  • As the butter melts, keep whisking the ingredients together until they’re smooth and fully combined.
  • Slice the peeled bananas in half lengthwise and crosswise to get four equal pieces out of each banana.
  • Add the bananas to the sauce and gently stir to coat them in the sugar mixture.
  • Let them cook for about five minutes or until the bananas are fully warmed through.
  • Now, you could skip this next step and go straight to the ice cream, but I highly recommend doing it.
  • Remove the bananas from the heat, and drizzle the rum over the top. Using a long match or a wand lighter, light the surface of the liquid on fire (you’ll barely be able to see a flame, and you’ll be able to hear a soft whooshing noise). Let the fire burn until it burns itself out.
  • Serve the bananas over scoops of vanilla ice cream, making sure to drizzle the sugar mixture over top, too.
  • Refrigerate any leftovers to reheat and use later on.

This was nice and warm and perfect for a cold evening while still getting to enjoy a little ice cream. If you’re not a big fan of the taste of rum, what I would describe as the “alcohol taste” burns off, so it really just adds some depth of flavor. It doesn’t taste like you’re taking a shot of liquor.

And, if you have no use for a full bottle of dark rum, I’d recommend buying one of those mini bottles like you’d see in a hotel bar. They are generally about 50 milliliters, and since 1/4 cup is about 59 milliliters, you could get away with just using one little bottle and not have to deal with leftovers. Plus, they’re often about $1, so that’s a pretty cheap, quick investment for a delicious dessert.

Also, in my case, bananas foster gives you a chance to light something on fire, if just for a moment, and that’s just the kind of excitement I need in my life these days.

This piece first appeared in print on Oct. 22, 2020.

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

I ‘Congo’ on and on about these great cookie bars

Congo bars combine brown sugar, chocolate chips and pecans into a delicious, soft cookie bar.
Congo bars combine brown sugar, chocolate chips and pecans into a delicious, soft cookie bar.

I’m always on the hunt for easy recipes to feed a crowd, and as I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I found a great cookie bar recipe that fit the bill.

And then I forgot to take a photo before my crowd inhaled every last one.

So, with the Super Bowl in my sights, I whipped up this recipe once again and made sure that I snapped a photo long before they hit the snack table.

With the added experience of baking these a second time, I can say with absolute confidence that not only are these incredibly easy to make, but they’re definitely a crowd pleaser, as well.

I suppose you could say the outcome of the game and the full bellies leaving our house afterwards were a win-win.

This awesome recipe comes from the blog “Six Sisters Stuff.” If you haven’t heard of their site, I highly recommend it. It’s written by six sisters who now live in various parts of the country. They co-write the site as a way to keep in touch, which I think is a fantastic idea. You can find the original post at https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/congo-bars-recipe/. I doubled the vanilla in my version.

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Congo Bars

Congo bars combine brown sugar, chocolate chips and pecans into a delicious, soft cookie bar.
Course Dessert
Keyword bars, chocolate, pecans

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup butter softened
  • 2 cups packed brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 12 ounces semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Prepare a 9×13-inch baking pan by spraying it with cooking spray and set it aside.
  • In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until it’s light and fluffy.
  • Beat in the eggs and vanilla, and then beat in the flour, baking powder and salt.
  • Once everything is well incorporated, mix in the chocolate chips and pecans.
  • Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is nicely browned. (You don’t need to do the toothpick test on this one. The bars will finish setting up as they cool.)
  • Let the bars cool completely and slice for serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container.

I told Joey that I don’t remember making cookie bars that used 100-percent brown sugar and no granulated sugar before this recipe. I think that addition is what made these really soft and chewy.

This particular recipe is getting its own card in my recipe box, which is my way of giving a gold star to a dish.

This time, after our friends exited and we started cleaning up, I actually had a few bars left over, but those were easily taken care of the next morning for breakfast along with a nice cup of coffee.

And really, I don’t think it would have mattered what dessert landed on our table for the Super Bowl last weekend. The victory was already sweet enough.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 6, 2020.

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
Side Dish

You’ll be sweet on these roasted potatoes

Roasted sweet potatoes have just the right amount of sweetness to be a nice addition to dinner.
Roasted sweet potatoes have just the right amount of sweetness to be a nice addition to dinner.

Despite it being the week before Christmas, I have yet to make my normal pile of sweets.

I generally bake at least a double batch of peppernuts, and there’s often something that requires melting almond bark in my double boiler and spreading waxed paper on every open counter space.

I actually have a variety of baking chips and some nuts already sitting out, ready to be mixed into some delicious treats, but I just haven’t gotten into my Christmas baking spirit yet.

But I did have some nice sweet potatoes sitting on my counter that I decided needed to be part of dinner this past week, which I suppose loosely counts as holiday cooking.

I wanted to make them as a side dish, and while I was a little nervous that the brown sugar in the recipe I chose would produce something more dessert-like, I was pleasantly surprised. It had just enough sweetness to highlight the flavor of the potatoes but not enough to make you feel like adding some whipped cream on top.

I found this recipe on the blog “Wine and Glue.” It’s by Lisa Longley. You can find it at https://www.wineandglue.com/brown-sugar-roasted-sweet-potatoes. This was such a simple, straight-forward recipe that I didn’t change it from her original. Also, don’t let the cayenne pepper make you nervous, it just enhances the flavors rather than making the overall dish spicy.

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Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Roasted sweet potatoes have just the right amount of sweetness to be a nice addition to dinner.
Course Side Dish
Keyword brown sugar, cayenne, cinnamon, roasted, sweet potatoes

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter or margarine melted
  • 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • salt to taste
  • 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and cut in half-inch cubes

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 450 and line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleanup.
  • Dump the cubed potatoes and all the ingredients onto the pan and mix together with a spoon or your hands until the potatoes are evenly coated.
  • Spread the potatoes out evenly and bake about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the potatoes are fork tender.

The caramelization on these sweet potatoes was really pretty, and while I rarely peel any kind of potatoes for recipes, I think that was a good step in this case.

We ate these alongside some perfectly cooked steaks, and it was a fantastic dinner. There were also leftovers that reheated well out of the fridge for a later meal.

I’m sure I’ll find myself mixing up plenty of sugar-filled treats sometime in the next few days, filling my plastic containers with all kinds of goodies to share.

The smell of anise, cloves and cinnamon filling the house is one of my favorite parts of the holidays. I wish you luck with your own holiday baking (and eating) and a very, merry Christmas.

This piece first appeared in print on Dec. 19, 2019.

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

Vintage recipe will be ‘raisin’ spirits in no time

War cake comes from the era of wartime rationing, when eggs, butter and milk were scarce, but it doesn’t skimp on flavor.
War cake comes from the era of wartime rationing, when eggs, butter and milk were scarce, but it doesn’t skimp on flavor.

Recently, I scrolled through Pinterest—as I often do—looking for recipes that I could try. A picture of a well-worn, yellowed piece of paper caught my eye. It was a handwritten recipe with the words “War Cake” written in a beautiful script across the top of the page.

I was intrigued by it and clicked on the link.

There, on a quilting website, I found a post from Marge Campbell of Littlefield, Texas, who recently used this recipe from her Aunt Almo Duncan Buren.

I’ve always loved history and especially the parts of historical events that don’t end up in textbooks.

War cake is one of those things. Recipes for cake during the World War I and II varied across different communities, but they had the same thing in common: they all use limited fats, limited milk and limited eggs, due to wartime shortages.

Much like depression-era cakes or desserts that people would make when times were rough, war cakes were something people could bake to help make life happier, despite having limited resources.

I read several articles on war cake. Many of the authors mentioned that not only was war cake something to be eaten at home in the States but something that was eaten on the front as well, when families would send care packages to their soldiers overseas.

Considering how dense and moist this cake was when I made it, I could see how it would easily survive the journey to Europe.

That being said, even with no tie to history, this cake is pretty darn good.

I did find it takes a deceivingly long time to make this than other types of cake you may have made before. That is because you make a raisin mixture to start off with that will need to be cooled before you can continue with the rest of the steps. For that reason, some people may have this recipe in their cookbooks as a boiled raisin cake, too.

If you want to see Campbell’s original post and the copy of her aunt’s recipe, you can go to https://www.quiltingboard.com/recipes-f8/war-cake-wwii-recipe-t169745.html. I doubled the spices when I made it and added a lot more raisins.

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War Cake

War cake comes from the era of wartime rationing, when eggs, butter and milk were scarce, but it doesn’t skimp on flavor.
Course Dessert
Keyword brown sugar, cake, cinnamon, raisins, ration recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 cups packed brown sugar
  • 2 cups hot water
  • 2 tablespoons shortening or lard
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 heaping teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons cloves
  • 10 ounces seedless raisins
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 teaspoon hot water
  • 3 cups flour

Instructions

  • Begin by bringing the brown sugar, water, shortening, salt, cinnamon, cloves and raisins to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, let it continue to boil for about five minutes, stirring to make sure everything is well combined.
  • Remove the mixture from heat and let it cool completely before continuing to the next step.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Add the dissolved baking soda and flour to the raisin mixture and stir until completely combined.
  • Divide the mixture evenly between two loaf pans, and bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Once the cakes are cooled enough to handle, remove them from the pans and cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container.

I gave quite a bit of this cake away, and it got rave reviews. It’s a simple flavor profile, but I think that’s what makes it so good. It’s one of those desserts that just makes you feel satisfied.

It’s a good reminder that, even in hard times, people find ways to make life happy.

As I enjoyed my first piece of war cake, I imagined all of the different families around the United States who enjoyed the same recipe or ones like it while dealing with so much stress and worry in their lives.

It just goes to show that sometimes a good recipe can make us forget about our troubles for a while.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 8, 2018.

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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