Cinnamon Coffee Cake

This is my tried-and-true coffee cake recipe. It's sweet and cake-like with a delicious cinnamon swirl. You can bake it two different ways (see hint below.)

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

1 C butter or margarine, softened
2 ¾ C sugar, divided
2 t. vanilla extract
4 eggs
3 C flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 C (16 oz) sour cream
2 T cinnamon
½ C chopped walnuts (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and 2 C sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt; add alternately with sour cream, beating just enough after each addition to keep batter smooth. Spoon 1/3 of batter into a greased 10-in. tube pan. Combine cinnamon, nuts and remaining sugar; sprinkle 1/3 over batter in pan. Repeat layers two more times. Bake at 350 degrees for 70 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Serving: 16-20 servings
Recipe Given By: Taste of Home
Hint: I also make it in a 9 x 13 pan and cook it between 55-60 min.

Maple-Butter Frosting

Oh, my stars! You haven't had frosting until you've tried this one! We bake up a batch of chocolate cupcakes and top with this delectable sugar feast! Watch out, you may want to eat it right out of the bowl.

Maple-Butter Frosting

Ingredients:
1 C unsalted butter (softened)
3 oz. cream cheese (softened)
2/3 C dark-brown sugar
¼ t. salt
¾ C maple syrup
¾ t. vanilla extract
1 C confectioners sugar

Beat the butter, cream cheese, brown sugar, and salt in a medium bowl with a mixer set on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Continue beating, and add the maple syrup and vanilla. Gradually add the confectioners sugar, increase the speed to high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Chill for 1 hour before using.

Serving: makes 4 cups
Recipe Given By: Country Living

Seafood Chowder

Don't know about you, but it's cold where we live! Brrr... This soup is a tummy-warmer and delicious too!

Chunky Seafood Chowder

Ingredients:

1 med. onion, chopped
2 T butter or margarine
2 pints half-and-half cream
1 can (10 ¾ oz) cond New England clam chowder
3 med. potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 t salt
¼ t white pepper
1 pkg (8 oz) imitation crabmeat, flaked

In a saucepan, sauté onion in butter until tender. Add cream and canned chowder; bring to a boil. Stir in the potatoes, salt and pepper. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 min or until the potatoes are tender. Stir in crab and heat through.

Serving: 8 (2 qts.)
Recipe Given By: Quick Cooking M/J 1999 p. 28

I need to invest in some colored bowls to show off my beige food! Check out the Quick Cooking link above to see this yummy soup delightfully photographed.

Palmiers

Ina Garten has a can't-stop-at-one yummy little coffee cookie: the Palmier.

You can get the recipe here.

Cover your work surface with the stated amount of sugar...

Lay your puff pastry on the sugar and add more...

(I know, I know!)

Roll the dough out to the designated size... (workin in that sugar!)

Fold once...

Twice...

Three times a lady...

Slice, lay on parchment

Flip during cooking ...

Viola!


Sorry I put them in a red container...that didn't work too well.
Hopefully, you can imagine the goodness.
Their little heart shapes would make a fun Valentine's morning treat.

Try to eat just a few; they're addicting!

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Oh, Pioneer Woman...I wish I could like your recipes! They look so good, but so far...well, it's just not workin' for me. Sorry.

I decided to give this recipe a try. I already have a Texas Sheet Cake that I like, but I thought maybe PW could improve upon it so I gave her Chocolate Sheet Cake a try. I even took it to a work staff meeting. Everyone was nice about it. Some loved it; others left it on their plate after one bite.

It was just too sugary! It fell apart (for some that's good), but I thought it was too moist & crumbly. This is a pic of my attempt at her cake:

I'm going to stick to my tried and true recipe...until another one comes along to tempt me! :)

Texas Cake

Ingredients:

2 sticks margarine
4 T. cocoa
1 C water

Mix these ingredients and bring to a boil.

Add:
2 C flour
½ t. salt
1 t. baking soda
½ C sour cream
2 C sugar
2 eggs

Put in ungreased cookie sheet (large) and bake 20 min at 350 degrees.

Frosting:
Melt 1 stick margarine, 4 T. cocoa and 6 T milk and bring to a boil. Add 1 box powdered sugar, 1 C nuts (if desire), and 1 t. vanilla. Frost cake while warm.

Recipe Given By: Mom Underhill

Chicken Cordon Bleu

I was working at church today and found out when I got home that my husband, who loves to cook, had cooked Chicken Cordon Bleu with my two girls. They told me all about pounding the meat with a pan and putting toothpicks in it. I gave a little taste and yum! Good job, everybody!

Here's a link to the recipe they used and some pictures of the finished dish!

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

Bake this treat for your kids; they'll love you for it!

This is my son's favorite breakfast! I often serve it with scrambled eggs, but it can stand alone. My family likes it so much that I usually have to make two at a time. There's usually a little leftovers, but they don't last long around our house. I've shared this recipe with family & friends and it's quickly become a favorite for them, as well.

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

Ingredients:

3 T. butter, melted, divided
3 T. maple syrup
¼ C brown sugar
½ t. cinnamon
¼ C chopped pecans, optional
¼ C chopped almonds, optional
2 tubes of regular buttermilk biscuits
cinnamon/sugar mixture

Brush a 10” fluted tube or bundt pan with 1 T. butter. In a small bowl, combine syrup and remaining butter. Drizzle 2 T. into pan. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon & nuts (optional); sprinkle about 1/3 of this mixture over syrup mixture. Separate biscuits; cut into 4ths, and toss in a Ziploc filled with cinnamon/sugar. Place in prepared pan with edges overlapping. Top with remaining syrup and brown sugar mixtures. Bake at 375 for 15 min or until golden brown. Cool 1 min, invert on plate. Serve warm.

Serving: 4-8
Recipe Given By: Angie’s Original!

Chicken Pot Pie

Have you ever seen Chicken Pot Pie look more festive?

My mom had purchased a chicken pot pie from Costco that was delicious, but it fed 8 of us twice - a little large for a standard weeknight meal. So I went searching for a recipe that I could make myself that was a little smaller, but equally tasty. This is a yummy pot pie!

My mouth is watering already.

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

1-10 oz. can Valley Fresh Premium Chunk White Chicken, drained
1-15 oz. package refrigerated pie crusts
3 T. butter or margarine
½ C peeled, diced potatoes
½ C chopped onions
¼ C sliced celery
½ C frozen peas and carrots
1-10 ¾ oz. can cream of chicken soup
1/8 t. ground white pepper
¼ t. each ground sage and crushed rosemary

Bring pie crusts to room temperature, per box instructions. Melt butter in large skillet. Add all vegetables and sauté 5 minutes. Combine soup, herbs, spices, and chicken and stir into vegetable mixture. Unfold one pie crust and fit into pie plate. Fill with mixture and cover with second pie crust. Trim crust if necessary and press edges with fork. Bake 10 min. at 400 degrees, then reduce heat to 350 degrees for an additional 40 minutes.

Serving: 6
Recipe Given By: valleyfreshkitchen.com