FRESH STRAWBERRY BREAD

 This is the second recipe I have made from the Holiday Cookbook, 2019 that I picked up in Tennessee when we visited one of Wayne's relatives. It was a collection paperback cookbook published by the Assisted Living place where she was living. The first recipe was Hershey's Great American Chocolate Chip Cookies that I made for my MO gkids' godfather.

The chocolate chip cookies were awesome so I decided to try one of the other recipes I had tagged in the book, Strawberry Bread.

The recipe made one large loaf but since I was making it for the Cafe Treats and like to have smaller than normal serving sizes, I thought I would make it in my metal mini loaf pans. 

I usually can get three mini loaves from a recipe that calls for a large loaf pan, but there wasn't enough batter left for a third loaf. I weigh my pans when I am making more than one loaf so that I can make them the same size. 

My two loaves were about 16 ounces each after filling them. I checked on them as they were baking and saw they were rising above the top of the pan but also sinking in the center and I was not sure what they were going to look like.

BUT they were beautiful and perfect. The recipe said to line the pan with wax paper but I skipped this step. It did mean I had to work a little harder to get them cleanly out of the pan. I ran a knife around the inside edge, but still had to beat fairly hard on the bottom of the pan with my hand to loosen the bread. I might try the wax paper next time, but they did come out nicely and didn't stick to the pan.

The recipe didn't say to slice and chop the strawberries, but I wanted to make sure that I had enough berries in the cake, so after I sliced them, I cut the slices in half. End result was they looked great and were distributed throughout the bread.

I baked the bread on Wednesday and after it cooled I wrapped it with plastic wrap and then put the two mini loaves in a ziplock bag and froze them until Saturday evening when I just took the bag out of the freezer and stored it in the microwave (so the cats wouldn't find it on the counter and decide to give it a try - ha) until the next morning when I took them to church to slice and serve at the Cafe. The last two pictures were taken at church so you can see how nicely the bread sliced and held together. And the bread was so moist and it  tasted  like  you were eating fresh strawberries.

After having such success with my first two selections, I can't wait to try another one of the recipes I tagged.

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FRESH STRAWBERRY BREAD

1/2     cup (1 stick) butter

1        cup sugar

1/2     teaspoon almond or vanilla extract

2        eggs, separated

2        cup flour

1        teaspoon baking powder

1        teaspoon baking soda

1        cup fresh strawberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease or spray a 9 x 5 - inch glass loaf pan. Line with greased or sprayed wax paper. (I used two mini-loaf metal pans. I prepared for three, but didn't have enough batter.)

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and almond extract.

Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time,

mixing until light and fluffy.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and baking soda into the creamed mixture.

Mix well.

Stir in the strawberries. (I sliced the berries and then cut the slices in half.)

In a small mixing bowl, beat the egg whites

until stiff.

Fold in the strawberry mixture.

Pour into prepared pan. (Divide batter evenly between the two mini-pans.)

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes for the large loaf and about 45 minutes for the mini-loaves. Test doneness with a toothpick.

Cool for 15 minutes in the pan before removing, then cool on a wire rack to let the bread completely cool before

slicing...

ITALIAN COOKIES

 These Italian Cookies that Friend and Cafe Treats Baker Mary made for the Cafe Treats last Sunday were the prettiest treat we had to offer. With the glaze and sprinkles they were very festive and inviting for the children and for the adults. I heard "yum" after several took their first bite.

If you use a 1-1/2 tablespoon to form the balls, the recipe only makes about eighteen cookies, so Mary doubled the recipe to have three dozen cookies for the Cafe.

Except for the wait time to chill the dough, the cookies go together easily and quickly. You could use the chill time to clean up most of your kitchen items you used to prepare the dough if you wanted to. The end result is a deliciously, pretty cookie.

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ITALIAN COOKIES

2       large eggs

7       tablespoons oil

1/2    cup sugar

1       teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla extract)

2       cups flour

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4    teaspoon salt

*       *       *       *       *

Glaze

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2    teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla extract)

4       tablespoons milk

1/8    teaspoon salt

sprinkles

Whisk the eggs, oil, sugar, and extract together in a large bowl.

Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt to form a dough.

Divide the dough into 18 sections (about 1-1/2 tablespoons each - use a 1-1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop) and roll balls of dough for at least an hour. (You can also freeze for 20 minutes instead.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Place cold dough balls on the cookie sheets and bake for 8 to 10 minutes only, or until the tops are set. The tops of the cookies should still be white. Do not overbake.

Carefully remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Prepare the glaze by combining all the ingredients except the sprinkles in a small bowl and whisk until smooth and combined. 

Dip the tops of the cookies in the glaze, then top with sprinkles.

COWTOWN CHEESECAKE CO'S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

 

I hope you aren't thinking, "What? Not another recipe for chocolate chip cookies?"

I'm sorry. I can't help it. I keep finding recipes that are so good. (I have another one to share with you, but I will wait until at least next week before I share it with you, but it's a really awesome chocolate chip cookie also.)

This recipe came from Friend and Cafe Treats Baker, Dorene. She made the cookies and brought them to church for the Cafe Treats. I also ask the bakers to share the recipe with me, but I took one bite of this cookie and told Dorene to make sure she sent me the recipe.

If you follow me, you know I am in a bartering situation with my MO grandchildren's godfather - fresh eggs for chocolate chip cookies. I make different recipes for the cookies instead of always using the same one. That's why I have so many different recipes. 

Anyway, I needed eggs again so I made the recipe Dorene had used and made Martin cookies on Friday before we went to their house for our "5th" of July celebrations. He asked his wife Jamie if he had to share them with everyone and she told him "No". Just as we were getting ready to leave, he called my name and grinned and nodded approval as he was eating one of the cookies.

The Write-up with the recipe was entitled World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies and said, "These chocolate chip cookies are soft and chewy with a little bit of crispiness at the edges and a not-too-sweet flavor," says Chef Terry Mille of CowTown CheeseCake Co. "I don't know if they-re the best in the world, but they're pretty darn good!"

I agree with Chef Mille completely and I think Martin would agree also.

The recipe is so easy and comes together so quickly. They don't require any refrigeration and while they are puffy when you take them out of the oven, they flatten during that rest time on the cookie sheet before removing them to finish cooling on the wire rack. And as Chef Mille says they are chewy but which a slight crispy edge.

I think you will want to add this recipe to your collection.

(FYI for my local followers...I googled CowTown CheeseCake Co and was surprised to find it is a restaurant just over in Kansas in Bonner Springs.)

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COWTOWN CHEESECAKE CO'S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

3/4       cup packed light brown sugar

3/4       cup granulated sugar

1          cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1          teaspoon vanilla extract

1          large egg

2-3/4    cups flour

1          teaspoon baking soda

3/4       teaspoon sea salt

1          (12 -oz) bag dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Using a mixer, blend until creamy the sugars, butter, vanilla, and egg.

In another bowl stir until well blended, the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and sea salt).

Add the dry ingredients to the creamy mixture and stir slowly until well blended.

The dough will be dry and stiff.

Add the chips. (There will be lot of chips in the mixture.)

Using a small cookie scoop (1 tablespoon) drop dough onto the cookie sheets a few inches apart.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes until edges just begin to brown. (I did bake mine the full 10 minutes.)

Cool 2 - 3 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

Store cookies in a tightly covered container.

RED/WHITE/BLUE/GOLD STAR CUT-OUT SUGAR COOKIES

I don't remember the last time I made cut-out cookies. I guess I just have settled into drop cookies because they are so easy to make since I bought the tablespoon sized cookie scoop. I really need to make the effort. I will put that on my to-do list.

Cafe Treats Baker Dorene must love to make cut-out cookies because she has made them several times for us for the church's Cafe Treats and by different recipes each time.

This time she went festive for the 4th of July and made these cut-out stars. She sprinkled sugar sprinkles on them and it melted making it look like she had iced them. Cute.

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RED/WHITE/BLUE/GOLD STAR CUT-OUT SUGAR COOKIES

3     cups flour

3/4  teaspoon salt

1     cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1     cup sugar

1     egg, beaten

1     tablespoon milk

powdered sugar for rolling out dough

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Place butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat until light in color with an electric mixer.

Add egg and milk and beat to combine.

Put mixer on low speed and gradually add the flour mixture and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl.

Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle work surface with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from the refrigerator at a time. Sprinkle a rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick.(Make sure the dough is not sticking to your work surface.)

Cut with desired shape and place the cut cookie at least 1 inch apart on a greased cookie sheet or parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies or just beginning to turn brown around the edges. Rotate the cookie sheet half way thru the baking time.

Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Serve as is or decorate as desired. (Dorene just sprinkled the cookies with sugar sprinkled.)

 

STRAWBERRY DROP COOKIES

I'm so glad I found this versatile recipe submitted by Betty Steinmeyer the in Sugar Creek Anniversary Cook Book, 1920 - 1970 that I got at an estate sale. The recipe was actually called Pineapple Drop Cookies and used pineapple preserves. 

I didn't have any pineapple preserves but did have several other fruit preserves to choose from. I chose strawberry preserves to use, but any of the other preserves would have worked. That's why I said it is so versatile. I love recipes like this and I already know I will be making them often.

They went together so quickly and easily and flattened so pretty when they baked. I shouldn't be surprised though because they used butter. Cookies with butter usually flatten when they bake while ones made using shortening don't. You need to flatten the latter before you bake them.

 

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STRAWBERRY DROP COOKIES

1       cup sugar

3/4    cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter, softened

1       egg

1/4    cup strawberry preserves (or your favorite)

2-1/4 cups sifted flour

1       teaspoon baking soda

1/2    teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and the preserves and

mix well. 

Sift the flour and then measure 2-1/4 cups. Sift again the measured flour, soda, and salt.

Add all at once to the creamed mixture.

Stir on low until dough forms.

Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, drop level scoops of dough about 2 inches apart. The dough does spread as the cookies bake so don't crowd on the cookie sheet. (sorry no picture)

Bake 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes before removing the cookies to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Recipe made 36+ cookies.

 

LEMON POPPY SEED MINI-MUFFINS

 People stopping by the Cafe for a Cafe Treat at PWUMC often compliment us on the variety we have and we do. Usually.

I say usually because occasionally that doesn't happen. For example, one Sunday the majority of the Treats were chocolate. One time we had several mini-muffins. Another time chocolate chips were popular.

Most of the time though we do have quite a variety. I think that is because we usually have at least six different people contributing. That also means I get to try things I might not want to make myself.

Cafe Treats Baker Alyssa has recently joined the group. She and her husband just joined the church and she said she was interested in the Cafe Treats and making the Unleavened Bread for Communion on her information sheet.

For Alyssa's second Treat she chose to make these cute Lemon Poppy Seed Mini-Muffins. One young girl came up and quickly chose one the mini-muffins, took a bite, and said, "Now, that is really good." 

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LEMON POPPY SEED MINI-MUFFINS

3       cups flour

1       cup sugar

2       tablespoons poppy seeds

1       tablespoon baking powder

1/2    tablespoon baking soda

1/2    teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups vanilla Greek yogurt

2       tablespoons fresh lemon juice, optional

1-1/2 tablespoons grated lemon zest

2       large eggs

8       tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

*     *     *     *     *     *

For the Glaze:

1/4    cup sugar

1/4    cup lemon juice

coarse sugar for sprinkling, optional

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or spray two mini-muffin pans. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk the yogurt, lemon zest, and eggs until smooth. Gently fold the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. Fold in the melted butter. Do not overmix, the batter will be thick.

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. A tablespoon cookie scoop works great. 

Bake for 18 minutes. Rotate the muffin tin halfway through baking.

While the muffins are baking, simmer the sugar and lemon juice together in a small saucepan over medium heat until it tuns into a light syrup, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Brush the tops of the muffins with the lemon syrup. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Let cool in the tins about 5 minutes. Then remove the muffins to finish cooling on the wire rack.

BUTTERMILK MAPLE BISCUITS

 

A good biscuit is priceless! As far as my family (and a few friends) is concerned my buttermilk biscuits are priceless. When I got married, I started with a simple recipe from my mother that made just a few. It used self-rising flour. I still have it, but rarely have self-rising flour so I haven't made it in ages. Instead I started experimenting with all-purpose flour until I finally came up with my own recipe.

That being said, I am willing to try new recipes when they look interesting. But they don't quite make the mark when we eat them. When we go out to eat and order biscuits, we can't help ourselves but start comparing them with mine. Occasionally we might find one close, but still not a 10.

The recipe I am sharing today, is one Friend and Cafe Treats Baker Dorene found and brought to share at church with the Cafe Treats. I have to say even though it is so different from my recipe in looks and taste, I would give it a 9.9 rating.

I love my biscuits crusty and these aren't. I love to break it in half with a fork and slather lots of butter on it and finally adding a little homemade jam is the "icing on the cake". 

These little biscuits are not crusty.

You won't be adding any homemade jam on them either. They don't need it. The maple mixture you spread over the biscuit is awesome!

But don't take my word for it. Just try them yourself.

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BUTTERMILK MAPLE BISCUITS

3       cups flour

1       teaspoon sugar

1       tablespoon baking powder

1/2    teaspoon baking soda

1       teaspoon salt

12     tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced (1-1/2 sticks)

1-1/4 cups cold buttermilk

*     *     *     *

3       tablespoons heavy cream

1-1/2 tablespoons maple syrup

large pinch of flaky sea salt

In a small bowl, combine the cream and maple syrup. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Using a large spoon, stir in the buttermilk just until the mixture is evenly moistened.

Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and flatten the dough to 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Fold the dough in half, then repeat again three more times, for a total of four folds.

Roll the dough into a 1 - inch thick rectangle. Using a lightly floured 3 - inch round biscuit cutter *, cut out the biscuits as close as possible. Reroll the scraps of dough to cut more biscuits. 

Place biscuits on baking sheet and brush with the maple cream and sprinkle with the sea salt. Bake until golden brown for 17 - 20 minutes.

*Dorene made small ones for the Cafe Treats using a small round cutter and baked them about 15 minutes (watch carefully).  

EGG FRIED RICE

 Sometimes the easiest recipe creates a very impressive dish; at least my husband was impressed. 

I often get fried rice when I eat Chinese food. Most Chinese food I don't like, but I will eat fried rice with orange chicken or shrimp of some sort.

I actually saw a picture of this Egg Fried Rice on Facebook with the recipe and it caught my attention. I wrote down the ingredients and the amounts with plans to make it sometime.

"Sometime" came the very next day. I was given the choice to go out to get something to eat or come up with something to prepare for us. Normally I would have jumped at the chance to go out to eat (which we do way too much), but I thought about the fried rice recipe and went to work and made the recipe my own with a few shortcuts.

We buy precooked brown rice in a package that cooks for 90 seconds in the microwave at the grocery store, add black beans and shredded cheese and pretend we have gone to a nearby restaurant. I had a package and so I used it for the two cuts of rice.

I also had a bag of frozen mixed vegetables that I opened and removed a heaping 1/2 cup and steamed on the stove with a little water. 

To make our dinner complete, I cooked a package of frozen breaded shrimp in the air fryer. Afterwards I truly felt we had been out to dinner as it all went together so easily.

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EGG FRIED RICE

2     cups cooked rice

1/2  cup mixed vegetables

1     egg, beaten

2     tablespoons oil

minced garlic to taste

Add the oil to a large skillet and heat over medium heat. Add beaten egg and cook in the skillet,

breaking up into small pieces as it cooks.

Add the cooked rice and

the mixed vegetables.

Sprinkle with minced garlic and stir again.

Serve as a side dish with your entre.

VICKY'S MOTHER'S LUMBERJACK CAKE

 Do I have a treat for you today! I love old recipes and I love recipes that people's mothers or grandmothers, etc made. 

This recipe for Lumberjack Cake fits both of those characteristics. 

Friend Vicky and her husband are from Canada who moved to the United States years ago and became citizens of the U.S. She told me her sister got all of their mother's recipes so she is constantly asking her to find one that Vicky remembers from her childhood. She won't always remember the name but she will remember ingredients and then her sister looks for it. 

This Lumberjack Cake Vicky remembered apples, dates, and chocolate. Her sister told her when she sent the recipe that it contained apples and dates but not chocolate. Vicky said she wondered about adding chocolate chips to it because she thought she remembered it was chocolate like a brownie. We told her she could probably just add the chocolate chips or substitute them for the nuts.

Vicky laughed when she was serving it to us at canasta at her house, that she could only find a big thing of dates so she substituted prunes instead. Prunes or dates, with or without chocolate, the cake was a big hit with the rest of us (and Vicky also since it was the first time she had made it since her sister had sent her the recipe.) Vicky also reduced the sugar by half, but we all agreed it was sweet enough with the fruit.

I will definitely be trying this recipe for myself. The cake was not only thick, moist, and yummy, it was really pretty.

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LUMBERJACK CAKE

1     apple, peeled, cored, and chopped

1     cup chopped dates (prunes work well also)

1     teaspoon baking soda

1     cup boiling water

*     *     *     *

1/2     cup shortening 

1/2     cup sugar

1        egg

1/2     teaspoon cinnamon

1        teaspoon vanilla

1/2     teaspoon salt

1-1/2  cups flour

1/2     cup chopped walnuts

Combine the first four ingredients in a bowl and allow to set for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix well, add fruit and nuts. (Don't you love it? Sounds just like a recipe my mother might have made with little instructions.)

Vicky's instructions:

She used 1 stick of salted butter instead of the shortening. She creamed the butter and sugar first. Then added the egg and mixed it in. Then she added the cinnamon, vanilla, and a half cup of flour at a time. She omitted the salt since her butter was salted. She coated the pan with butter but said she could have sprayed it instead.

Bake in an 8 x 8 - inch pan for about 50 minutes.

Vicky cut in 9 squares and served with ice cream.