Coconutty Pumpkin Snack Cake

Even the deliciousness of this cake cannot erase the sadness I must share.  I have baked my last this summer, and in one day I must return to college.  To ring in the new school year I decided to make something reminiscent of autumn and all its warm flavors, yet I wanted something easy and with as little mess as possible.  Snack cake! 

I suppose it is called snack cake because you can throw it together, like a snack; but this cake really sticks to your bones, so don't let the name fool you.  For a little extra decadence I added a broiled coconut and almond topping.

The cake is prepared in the pan, leaving you with barely any clean up and more time to enjoy your dessert!

Cake adapted from Betty Crocker's Cookbook; and "Broiled Coconut Topping" from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

Cake ingredients:

1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.  Mix flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices with fork in an ungreased square pan, 8x8x12".  Stir in remaining ingredients.

Bake for 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  While cake is baking prepare broiled coconut topping: beat 1/4 cup packed brown sugar and 2 tablespoons softened butter until combined.  Stir in 1 tablespoon milk, 1/2 cup flaked coconut and 1/4 cup chopped nuts (I used almonds because that was all I had).  Immediately spread mixture on top of cake when it comes out of oven.  Broil for 3 to 4 minutes about 4 inches from heat until golden brown.

Cool in pan on wire rack.  

Serve warm.

For even more decadence, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

 

Baked Banana Splits

Craving the symbol of old-timey ice cream parlors but missing a key ingredient, ice cream?  Well, even if you aren't, you should make this and eat it anyways.  It is yummy, easy, and fast to make.  Don't let the garish black peel scare you off, obviously you don't eat that.  The peel is simply the vessel in which warm, gooey, sugar heaven is preserved until reaching your mouth via spoon. 

Ingredients:

Ripe bananna

(everything that follows is optionable, tweakable, etc.  The flavor combinations are only limited to what you find in the cupboard)

Cinnamon

Sweetened shredded coconut

Peanut butter chips

Chocolate chips

Mini-marshmallows

(other fillings: butter and brown sugar, dried fruit, candy pieces, nuts...)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350-375 deg. F (depending on how firm/mushy you want the banana).  Cut off banana stem.  Slit peel at base of banana (where stem would be) and slit lengthwise cutting into fruit, but not through the peel on the other side.  Fill center with anything that pleases your fancy.  My only suggestion would be, if you are using marshmallows, save that for the very top, as that creates a nice crunchy crust that is fun to crack into, and that also helps to keep everything below from melting out. 

 

Prop bananas up on an upside down donut or muffin pan.  Bake for 8-12 minutes.  You can tell when the bananas are done because the skin will have turned black, and the bottom of the banana should be soft to touch.  If you are worried about the marshmallows burning, drape tin foil over top in last 2 minutes of baking.  Serve warm. 

Frosted Peanut Butter Cookies

Earlier this summer, my mom and I were invited to a Pampered Chef party.  If you have never been to one, you are truly missing out, especially if you are the kind of person who likes to eat, or the kind of person who likes kitchen gadgets (very inclusive, you see).

After an hour of munching away on snacks, oohing and awing over the power of a special kitchen chopper, and socializing, it was time to buy something.  Mom insisted that I pick something out as a souvenir type thing.  I went with the miniature cookie cutters.  After waiting for five weeks for the little tin of cutters to arrive, I couldn't wait to use them.  Naturally, sugar cookies seemed logical, but I was in the mood for something a bit more decadent.

Recipe(s) adapted from Gold Medal No. 42: Cookies and Bars,

"Peanut Butter Spring Baby Cookies with Vanilla Frosting":

Ingredients:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Vanilla and/or Chocolate Frosting

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 deg. F.  Beat sugars, butter, peanut butter, vanilla and egg in bowl on medium speed until creamy.  Stir in baking powder and salt. 

Divide dough in half.  Roll each half of dough about 1/4" thick on lightly floured surface with a flour dusted rolling pin.  Cut into desired shapes.  Place about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 6-7 minutes or until light brown.  Cool 1-2 minutes on cookie sheet.  Remove from sheet and cool completely on wire rack before frosting (about 30 minutes).

Vanilla (Chocolate) Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

(for chocolate, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder)

Mix all ingredients until smooth.

Rocky Road Cake

In my pantry I have a box filled with magic.  While others may call it "cheating," I prefer the phrase "taking a short cut."  In the end, what matters is that it tastes good (which this cake does).  Using Bisquick I made a cake that is fluffy, not doughy like one would expect when using a biscuit/pancake mix.  Mixed with some brown sugar and binders for a few minutes you get a perfect cake base with which to top with almost anything.  In this case, I followed the recipe, covering the cake surface with everything that a good ice cream sundae of Rocky Road ice cream should have.  Those of you who like the "ice cream" parallelism will appreciate my mother's slice in the background of the photo, topped with a dollop of whipped topping.

Adapted from Betty Crocker's Bisquick Makes it Easy!

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups Bisquick baking mix (I used the HeartSmart variety)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg (or 1/4 cup EggBeaters - Say No to Salmonella! and lick the bowl of raw batter)

1/2 cup flaked coconut

1/2 cup miniature marshmallows

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup peanut butter chips

1/3 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 deg. F.  Grease and flour round pan, 9x1-1/2".  Beat baking mix, brown sugar, water, shortening, vanilla and egg in bowl on low speed for about 30 seconds; scraping bowl frequently.  Beat on medium speed for about 4 minutes; scraping bowl occasionally.  Pour mixture into pan.  Sprinkle remaining ingredients over batter.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

                                          

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are such an American classic.  I would go so far as to argue that chocolate chip cookies are more American than apple pie.  Sure, the chocolate is grown in South America, and the sugar comes from somewhere in the Caribbean, but I would guess that more servings of chocolate chip cookies are eaten by Americans per year than servings of apple pie.

I made these on the same day as the ratatouille, and several days later they are even better.  They are easy to make, the dough is delicious, and they even facilitate aroma therapy.  Could you ask for more of such a humble dessert?  I think not.

I used Better Homes and Garden's recipe which calls for a little more brown sugar than the classic toll house version. I like a carmel flavor in my cookie, and these had just that.  This recipe makes the perfect milk dunkable cookie: crispy edges, chewy middle. 

White Bean Ratatouille

This meal is kind of special.  It is the first dinner meal (not heated up in a microwave, mind you) that I have ever made with zero assistance from my sous chef, Mom. 

Last Thursday everyone was out of the house, and I fully took advantage of this time to cook and bake (be watching for a cookie posting!)  It took me an obscene amount of time to chop the vegetables, particularly to figure out how to cut up garlic and how to peel eggplant.  I have never cooked eggplant before.  In fact, I'm not even sure if eggplant has ever been cooked in my house even by someone who isn't me.  The kitchen has been christened.

Another reason why this meal is special?  It has a (minor) connection to the exciting news I am about to share.  Several times I have eaten the "white bean ratatouille" served up in the dining halls at my university, which is where I got the inspiration to add the delicious little beans to this recipe. Come fall quarter I will be working in the dining hall!  First real job! This may not seem exciting to those of you who understand "dining hall" to be code language for "cafeteria," but hey, I'd rather work around vegetables and desserts that I love than filing cabinets and office phones that I detest.  Think about that, and in the meantime, feast your eyes.

White Bean Ratatouille adapted from "Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book"

BH and G says that this recipe is "Mediterranean," but anyone who has ever seen that movie with the rat knows this is a bunch of bologna.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

5-6 cups cubed, peeled eggplant

1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 14 oz can sliced tomatoes, undrained

3/4 cup chopped bell pepper (I like green)

3 tablespoons water

Salt

Pepper

Basil

In a large skillet cook onion and garlic in hot oil over medium heat until soft.  Mix in eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, bell pepper, and water.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, over medium-low heat until vegetables are tender.  Uncover and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally.  Stir in basil.

This recipe serves about three people.  If you only have two people, that's better because in my opinion the leftovers were better, especially eaten cold!

Granola

I think that of all the textures of food, crunch would be my favorite.  So, ever since recovering from the whole popcorn/gum fiasco, I have been craving crunchy food.  Crusty bread, cereal, crackers...nothing could quench the desire until yesterday, when I made my own granola.  That's right, I didn't pay $4 for a box of oats covered in partially hydrogenated soy bean oil and sugar.  What I made was much more delicious.

I did my research on the Internet.  Most granola recipes that came up from Google had several things in common: oil, butter, sugar, molasses (i.e. more sugar).  Why was this necessary?  Granola has become synonymous with "health freak" in our society, but could it be that this was a misnomer?  I mean, surely any "health benefits" one garnered from eating the good oats and nuts would be negated by the fat and sugar.

So I did some more research, and after tweaking a few recipes, I came up with a recipe for granola that does not use oil whatsoever.  Eureka!

Recipe adapted from the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/dining/101mrex.html?_r=1>

Yield: 8 servings (1/2 cup size)
Ingredients:

• 3 cups of rolled oats (I had no problem using quick cooking, though some people don't advise it, and feel free to substitute some other grains if you don't have enough; for example, I used about a 1/2 cup of Grape Nuts cereal for added crunch with 2-1/2 cups of oats)
• 1 cup of mixed nuts and seeds (basically whatever I had around, some pecans, almonds, and sunflower seeds)
• Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
• 1/2 cup of dry shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
•  Dash of salt
• 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of maple syrup (I used sugar free syrup, plus a few packets of Splenda to taste.  Using sugar free syrup surprisingly still resulted in a crunchy granola, so have no fear!)
• 1/2 cup dried fruit (I prefer raisins and craisins)

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a bowl, mix together all ingredients except dried fruit.  Place on a sheet pan in center rack of oven.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, stirring every five minutes or so to prevent burning.
2) Remove pan and add dried fruit.  Allow pan to cool on a rack, stirring occasionally until granola reaches room temperature.  Keep in sealed container in fridge; it will last forever this way.