PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CAKE

 Wanting to make sure our Cafe Treats are available for those who might have nut allergies, it has been a while since I made anything that included peanut butter as an ingredient. Since our canasta group was meeting at Friend Fran's house and I always supply the dessert for her, I figured it was a good time to get out the peanut butter. 

And it turned out so goooood. I had almost forgotten what peanut butter tasted like. An added feature was that the cake was low fat and I substituted some sugar free ingredients so we all enjoyed the cake with a little less guilt.

Friend Janice cut the generous servings but you could easily serve 24 with it. I think a little scoop of ice cream would be a nice addition, too.

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PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CAKE

1       package chocolate cake mix (I used a Zero Sugar Devil's Food Cake mix)

1-1/4 cups water

1/2    cup reduced-fat sour cream

2       egg whites

1       package (8 ounces) 1/3 less fat Neufchatel cheese

1       egg, lightly beaten

1/2    cup sugar (You could use stevia)

1/2   cup reduced-fat creamy peanut butter (I used no-sugar-added creamy peanut butter)

1/4   cup fat-free milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 - inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and dust with flour. (I used Baker's Joy cooking spray with flour.) Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, stir the cake mix, water, sour cream, and egg whites until all ingredients are moistened.

Scrape the sides of the bowl, and 

increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes.

Scrape the sides of the bowl.

Pour the batter into the pan and spread out evenly. Set aside.

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, sugar, peanut butter, and milk until smooth.

(Oops, I almost forgot the egg.)

Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat some more if necessary.

Drop by tablespoonfuls over the cake batter and

swirl with a knife. 

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake. (I just press lightly on the center of the cake.)

Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cut into squares to serve. 

Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

KILLER LEMON SUGAR COOKIES

 It is fun to be serving the Cafe Treats and people come up asking for a particular treat or even say something about wanting the recipe. That's what happened yesterday with Baker Brenda's Lemon Sugar Cookies.

Brenda had told me whenever I needed some cookies made, she would make her "killer" lemon sugar cookies. I asked her to make them the next week. I even had someone come and ask for the Killer Lemon Sugar Cookies.

I decided I had better put one back so I would be sure to get one to eat later. All I can say is Killer Lemon Sugar Cookies is the perfect name. I definitely will be making them myself sometime soon.

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KILLER LEMON SUGAR COOKIES

1       cup butter, cold and cut into 1/2 inch slices

2       cups sugar

2       eggs

1       teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (or 1 tablespoon lemon extract)

1        tablespoon lemon zest (may put more lemon zest for extra flavor) ( may use dried lemon peel)

3        cups flour

1-1/4  teaspoon baking powder

1/4     teaspoon baking soda

1/2     teaspoon salt (omit if you use salted butter)

Course sanding sugar and regular sugar

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

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar for 4 minutes until light and fluffy. (Very Important)

Add the eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest and stir to combine.

Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix just until combined.

Place the bowl of dough in the refrigerator for 10 minutes or so. (You could also wait until now to preheat the oven and prepare the cookie sheets to allow the dough to get a little cold.)

Using a tablespoon cookie scoop to measure out the dough, drop the "scoop" into a bowl of decorative sugar and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. 

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes. Cool a minute before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Brenda's personal notes: She always uses Kerry salted gold butter and King Arthur's flour. If she makes these cookies in the winter and can't get good lemons, she uses the dried lemon peel for the zest. Sometimes she uses the lemon flavoring for the lemon juice. She bakes the cookies for 10 minutes and not a minute more. She also lets the cookies set a minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool. She also returns the bowl to the refrigerator while she prepares her cookie sheet for the next dozen. She says she only has one good cookie sheet, her silver Caphalon cookie sheet so she lets it cool slightly and then gets a new sheet of parchment paper.

Some more interesting information about Brenda that she said I could share with you...She grew up in rural Missouri where all of the kids were in 4-H. Her mother was a home economics teacher who eventually turned to being a full-time mother of six. She had a full garden, canned and butchered. She always had a home cooked meal on the table. Brenda also got the Betty Crocker award in high school. Her mother also taught them to sew and Brenda crocheted as a high schooler. She said her three sisters loved to cook but she preferred to play the piano. (and she does a beautiful job of that also, I might add)

This has been such a fun post to write. Brenda and I agree that being particular is what makes a good recipe a "killer" recipe. I hope you will give Brenda's cookie a try. The recipe is definitely a keeper!

Since I am writing this the evening of Mother's Day, it seems like the perfect post to write.

LEMON GOOEY BUTTER COOKIES

I wonder how many different recipes you could find for a lemon cookie? We have had several different Lemon Cookies shared in the Cafe Treats and none of them the same recipe. 

Baker Caroline made these Lemon Gooey Butter Cookies. She had two trays like the picture below. They were so pretty the way she arranged them I didn't dare redo them on my trays. 

They also must have been really awesome. I say that because I didn't even get a chance to eat one. I have a feeling I really missed out this time. I guess I will just have to make them myself.

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LEMON GOOEY BUTTER COOKIES

1/2       cup unsalted butter, softened

8          oz cream cheese, softened

1-1/2    cups granulated sugar

2          large eggs

1          teaspoon lemon extract

1          lemon, zested

2-1/2    cups flour

1/2       teaspoon kosher salt

1          tablespoon baking powder

3/4       cup powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until creamy, about 3 minutes.

Add in the eggs and lemon extract, beat until fluffy. Add the lemon zest.

Mix in the flour, salt, and baking powder until well combined.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Once chilled, line  cookie sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Scoop out cookie dough with a 2 tablespoon scoop. (Caroline only used a tablespoon scoop so she could cook more at a time.) Drop the dough into the powdered sugar and roll until generously coated.

Place on cookie sheet and bake for 11 - 13 minutes. (Check after 9 or 10 minutes if using a smaller scoop.)

Remove and cool completely on a wire rack.

ANGEL LUSH WITH PINEAPPLE

 I love angel food cake! It is so light and doesn't feel like you are eating any calories. 😄 My mother made angel food cakes but I don't think I have ever actually made one. It seems so scary getting it out of the pan. I think it will end up falling apart. Friend Janice makes them all of the time so I just need to jump in there and give it a try.

This recipe is a favorite of Friend Vicky and I'm so glad. In fact everyone at canasta thinks so. It was the perfect dessert after an afternoon of fun canasta. I don't remember if I were on the winning team or not -- that's how good this dessert was.

(A personal note...if you want to reduce the calories, just use a sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix, sugar-free whipped topping, and crushed pineapple in its own juice.)

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ANGEL LUSH WITH PINEAPPLE

1     package (4 - serving size) vanilla flavor instant pudding

1     (20 oz) can of crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

1     cup thawed whipped topping

1      package (10 oz) prepared angel food cake

10    small strawberries (optional)

Mix the dry pudding mix and the pineapple with juice in a medium bowl.

Gently stir in whipped topping.

Cut the cake in half horizontally.

Place the bottom half of the cake on a serving plate. 

Spread a generous layer of the "frosting" on top.

Place the top layer of the cake on top and "frost" the cake on top and sides.

Refrigerate for at least an hour or until ready to serve.

(optional) you can decorate the top of the cake with fresh strawberries cut in half, if you wish)

MIGHTY MUFFINS (SF)

 Some people dropping by the Cafe Treats aren't interested in the treat that is zero-sugar or no-sugar-added. They tell me they want sugar and I can definitely understand that. Others though will ask me if one is less sugar or no sugar. So I know they are appreciated too.

These Mighty Muffins have no sugar added since they contain wild blueberries and bananas. That makes them no-sugar-added since they contain the natural sugar in blueberries and bananas. I substituted stevia for the granulated sugar that the recipe calls for. 

I omitted the walnuts and made them mini-muffins so I would have more to share. The recipe goes together so easily and are just the cutest things being mini muffins. 

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MIGHTY MUFFINS 

2     cups flour

1/2  cup stevia or sugar

1     teaspoon baking powder

1/2  teaspoon baking soda

1/2  teaspoon salt

2     large eggs

1/2  cup low-fat buttermilk

14   cup oil

1     cup ripe bananas, mashed (about 3 bananas)

1     cup frozen blueberries

1/2  cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place paper liners in a muffin pan or spray with a non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients with a whisk.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, and oil. (I used a 4-cup glass measuring cup measuring the buttermilk and oil first and then the eggs. That way I only messed up one measuring cup.)

Mix in the bananas until creamy.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and

then pour in the liquid ingredients.

Stir until dry ingredients are wet.

 

Fold in the frozen blueberries (and nuts if you are using them.)

Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, fill each cup with a level scoop of batter.

Bake about 15 minutes for the mini-muffins. If you are making twelve (12) regular sized muffins, bake for 0 to 25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Store in an air-tight container. 

I didn't have enough batter to make a complete second pan of 24 mini-muffins. Whenever this happens, pour some water in the empty cups so the muffins will bake evenly. 

With the Cafe Treats...

the Mighty Muffins, Cherry Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies (to be shared soon), and Funfetti Cookies.

FUNFETTI COOKIES

 Since I started the Cafe Treats at church, I have tried to share the recipes of the treats here and then tagged the church when I shared the post on Facebook. That way if anyone from church who was interested, they would have access to the recipe. 

Yesterday, while I was present in the Cafe, a young man came up and asked me if I had the recipe for the Funfetti Cookies. I told him the recipe would be on the church's Facebook page the next day. That's a first, but I'm glad someone liked one of our treats enough to ask for the recipe.

The cookies were very popular and I noticed several came back for a second one. One young lady brought a friend up to get one. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get one so I guess I will have to make them myself sometimes to see.

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FUNFETTI COOKIES

1     box Funfetti cake mix

2     cups whipped topping, thawed (I (8-oz) carton)

1     egg

1     teaspoon coconut flavoring

1/2  cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl, add the cake mix, whipped topping, egg, and coconut flavoring. Beat with a mixer until the ingredients are combined and the batter is smooth. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. Set aside.

Pour the powdered sugar in a small bowl and using a tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop balls of the cookie dough and drop them in the powdered sugar. Roll the ball to fully coat.

Place the cookie dough balls about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.

Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown. Do not overbake. The centers will be soft when you take them out of the oven. Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing them to finish cooling on a wire rack.

The cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months after they cool completely. Place them in a single layer in a ziplock freezer bag and freeze flat.

Hope you will check back over the next week for the recipes for the Mighty Muffins (with blueberries and banana) and Cherry Chocolate Chip Shortbread - two other treats we served. I made both of them. The Mighty (Mini) Muffins were made with stevia for the sugar so they only had the natural sugar of the blueberries and bananas. There were only three of the mini-muffins left when a young man came up and reluctantly took one. He walked away to eat it, but came back and got the last two. Guess he thought they tasted okay.

CHOCOLATE BUTTER COOKIES (SF)

 These Sugar-Free Chocolate Butter Cookies were so good and only required 3 ingredients. I made them for the Cafe Treats and for the less or no sugar eaters. They are so fast and easy to make and definitely a keeper and were most appreciated. 

For variety, you can use any flavor of cake mix; the cookies just won't be sugar-free as I have only found the Devil's Food Cake mix and a yellow one that is zero sugar. I think you could come up with some really interesting and tasty cookies though.

CHOCOLATE BUTTER COOKIES (SF)

1       Zero Sugar Devil's Food Cake mix

1       stick of butter, melted

2       eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the dry cake mix, melted butter, and eggs in a mixing bowl. 

Stir on low with electric mixer to combine and make a dough.

Using a tablespoon cookie scoop,

drop scoops onto a cookie sheet.

(I tried out a cookie sheet liner.)

Bake for 12 minutes.

Remove to cool on wire rack.

Can dust with powdered sugar after cookies cool (I did use a sugar-free powdered sugar made from stevia) or serve plain. 

And here they are with some OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES and CHERRY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

SHARON'S BLONDE BROWNIES

 If this is your first time at My Patchwork Quilt -- Welcome! If you have been here before -- well -- so glad to see you again. 

I started this blog back in 2012 because I missed teaching after being retired for a few years. I shared a recipe for a Fresh Strawberry Cake and I only had one picture -- the picture of the finished cake. Eleven years later and My Patchwork Quilt is so much more. I have people say they love all of my pictures and that is so good to hear. I am a visual learner myself and I know how much pictures mean to me. Sometimes though if I am sharing a recipe from a friend, I will usually have just one picture -- the finished product. I sometimes mention the name of products but I am not being paid to do so. I'm not doing this for the money. 

Even though it took a while for the post to appear, my main goal in starting My Patchwork Quilt was to let people know how easy it is to make a rag quilt. Funny. I know. But I had read so many tutorials and they made it seem so difficult and I also didn't agree with everything they said. My first rag quilt POST wasn't my usual tutorial (I did a lot of talking but did share pictures of a beautiful one I made for my sister-cousin) but two years later I did finally write up a post with pictures and everything. I updated the first post with a link to my tutorial. If you have the time, you might enjoy checking them out.

I still do tutorials when I make the time to write them up. It does take quite a bit of time because I know the skill level of my audience is probably different and I don't want to make it sound so difficult that I would discourage anyone from trying it. And my tutorials do bring most of the traffic to my blog. But most of my blog posts are recipes some extremely popular and some not so much. The interesting thing is that often a recipe that I think would be a Blue Ribbon Recipe, won't have very many people view it. That makes me sad.

At the beginning of this year, I started taking treats to church for the coffee "cafe". I call them Cafe Treats. After doing it by myself a couple of times, I realized I needed help and started asking friends if they would like to help. No one I asked said no. The list now has 22 people on it. One of my requests was to share the recipe with me so I could share it here. Most of the people have done so. That means I am back to writing almost four posts a week again. (At one time I was writing six posts a week. #getalife)

Today I am sharing a blonde brownie recipe Friend Sharon made. Blondes are so popular and Sharon's didn't disappoint everyone. The recipe made a smaller amount, but Sharon doubled the recipe so we could serve more people. In place of the nuts, she added white chocolate chips. (She omitted the nuts because that is one of the requirements in the guidelines for the Cafe Treats. You never know who has allergies and I don't want to leave anyone out.) I will share the original recipe because there may be many of you who would like making a smaller amount, and you can double it to make a larger amount.

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SHARON'S BLONDE BROWNIES

1/3      cup margarine or butter

1         cup brown sugar

2         eggs

1         teaspoon vanilla

1         cup flour

1/2      teaspoon baking powder

1/2      teaspoon salt

1/2      cup chocolate chips

1/2      cup nuts (optional) or 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 - inch square pan. Set aside.

Melt the margarine or butter, remove from heat and add the sugar. Mix until the sugar is dissolved. 

Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. 

Add dry ingredients and mix well. 

Pour into pan and bake for 30 minutes.

BANANA SNACK CAKE

I never imagined how my days would change just by taking some sweets to church in January to have available in the Cafe with the coffee being provided. I realized that if it were going to be successful, treats needed to be available each Sunday which was more than I wanted to tackle. So after doing it for three times, I asked a few friends to help me out. Now I have twenty-one people on the volunteer list and we have gone from three treats to at least six treats in just four months. I had been helping with the treats for the Greet and Treats since last summer. I brought something with little or no sugar and someone else brought the sugar treat. So it seemed only natural that I should do the same for the Cafe Treats. So now when I am looking for recipes to make, I also find myself having to find something that I can take for the Cafe Treats each Sunday with little or no sugar.

I usually find a recipe with less sugar and just substitute it with stevia. That way anyone reading the post, can make it as it was originally written with sugar if they prefer. This recipe I found in a cookbook I bought on Friday when Wayne and I went to an estate sale. I have found several recipes I want to try so you will be hearing about it in future posts. The cookbook? Pillsbury The Complete Book of Baking.

The cake wasn't as sweet as I expected it to be, but when I warned people Sunday who was choosing it, one teenage boy told me it was the best. He tasted the banana immediately, also. Instead of mixing the chocolate chips in the cake batter, I sprinkled them on top so the cake would look pretty with no frosting.

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BANANA SNACK CAKE

1       cup sugar or stevia

1       cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2       eggs

1/2    cup buttermilk

1       cup mashed ripe bananas, (3 bananas)

1       teaspoon vanilla

2       cups flour

1       cup quick-cooking rolled oats

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2    teaspoon salt

1       cup chocolate chips, 6 oz bag (I used zero sugar baking chips)

1/2    cup chopped nuts (I omitted)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13 - inch pan.

In a large bowl, combine, the sugar, butter, and eggs; mix well.

Stir in the butter, bananas, and vanilla; blend well.

Stir in the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt;

mix well.

Spread the batter in the pan. 

Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. 

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan on wire rack. 

Cut in squares to serve. (I made mine the night before and covered the pan with foil until the next morning.)

WHIPPED YOGURT AND TANGY BERRY PARFAITS

 

One of the groups that I met regularly in for a bunch of years and stopped with COVID has finally started back up - Mexican Train.  In ways it seems like forever ago that we played together but in other ways like yesterday. 

Before we met once a month on the second Thursday afternoons of the month. No I don't remember that; I had to go back on my calendar on my phone to 2018 to see. That's when I feel like it has been forever ago that we met.

Now we are meeting on the fourth Monday afternoon and for some reason I can't get that imprinted on my brain. I should remember that it meets the day before Blankets of Hope meets for the second time of the month. Now that I have made that relationship, hopefully I will remember this month. 

Well, when we met this past month, I was made aware of it when Friend Janice sent me a text asking me if we were playing the next afternoon. She said she had not gotten any notice for it, but I checked my calendar and ended up sending a message to the hostess Carla that Janice and I would be there.

I'm hosting this month so I had better not forget the date.

I also have to come up with a fabulous dessert to follow up Carla's delightful weight watcher dessert that she served. It was just what the afternoon called for. 

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WHIPPED YOGURT AND TANGY BERRY PARFAITS

5     strawberries, cut into quarters

1/2  cup blueberries

1/2  cup raspberries

1/2  cup blackberries

2     tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1     tablespoon maple syrup

1     cup fat-free vanilla yogurt

1/2  cup fat-free non-dairy whipped topping

1/4  cup low-fat granola

Mint sprigs

Combine the strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, chopped mint and the maple syrup in a medium bowl.

Combine the yogurt and whipped topping in another bowl. 

Alternately layer the berry mixture with the yogurt mixture, ending with the berries, in four 6 - ounce parfait glasses. 

Sprinkle each with a tablespoon of the granola and garnish with the mint sprigs.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.