Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This is one of my favorite treats to make! I found the recipe while looking for a petit fours recipe for Chloe's birthday party earlier this year and, while the petit fours are too much work for a day to day treat, the pound cake is utterly fabulous! You can find directions and pictures here. But here is the synopsis in case the link ever goes away.

3.5 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter, room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
3 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
6 eggs
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Using a mixer, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar for about 6 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla and milk until combined. Add baking powder and flour until completely combined. Pour into two greased and floured 9 X 5 loaf pans.

(You can also stir in 2-cups diced berries or fruit lightly coated with flour if desired. I have done this with strawberries and it is so so so good).

Bake for about 60 minutes or until done.

You can top with cream cheese frosting, drizzled icing or just slice it up and eat it plain. Delicious!

Cookie Dough Cupcakes

This is my new favorite dessert!!!

For the cookie dough:

2 sticks softened butter

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

4 tbsp milk

1 tbsp vanilla2

1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup mini chocolate chips

For the cupcakes:

3 sticks softened butter

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed

4 large eggs

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the frosting:

3 sticks softened butter

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
To make the cookie dough, combine the butter and sugars in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 mins. Beat in milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Beat in the flour and salt until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Using a 1.5 tbsp scoop, shape the dough into balls or tubes. Freeze on a parchment lined baking sheet overnight.

**If you don't feel like doing the cupcake batter from scratch, you can use a cake mix and just prepare as directed for cupcakes**

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners (24 total). In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated. Blend in the vanilla.
Using a 3 tbsp scoop, fill the prepared cupcake liners 2/3 full with the cupcake batter. Place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake.
Bake at 350 for 16-18 mins.

To make the frosting, combine the butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in the salt, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined.
Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips!

Makes 24 cupcakes.

Pumpkin Cake

We were in charge of throwing a Thanksgiving for our ward (for more than 150 people) last Thursday. We served this Pumpkin Cake and these Pumpkin Cookies and people are still calling me to request the recipes every.single.day. In fact, one of the 18 year old boys in the ward asked Seth to have me make the cookies for a post-Thanksgiving-Morning-Football treat...now that is saying something! We cut it into squares and topped it with whipping cream for the party, but you can also top it with cream cheese frosting (listed below).

1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin puree
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes in a jelly roll pan/1" deep cookie sheet.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (3 oz.) package cream cheese frosting
5 Tbsp. softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
3-4 Tbsp. milk

BEST Corn Bread Ever

I am on a posting roll today! My sweet friend, Aania, threw a birthday party for her little guy and had the yummiest spread of food there...so of course, I asked her for the recipes and she was wonderful enough to share them!

So, on behalf of Aania, I give you.....the BEST cornbread I have ever eaten (if you happen to be in my ward and are coming to the chili cookoff this weekend, feel free to use this recipe for cornbread to bring along as a potluck dish! wink, wink!)

1 1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn Meal
1 Tbsp. baking Powder
1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup oil
3 Tbsp. butter, melted

honey
butter

Combine flour, sugar, corn meal, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together milk, eggs, oil, and butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well.

Pour into a WELL greased glass pan (not floured) and bake at 350' for about 35 minutes.

Remove from the oven, poke holes in cornbread with toothpick and pour melted butter and warm honey over the cornbread. Use as much melted butter and honey as you would like (because that is what makes it so yummy!)!

Orange-Raspberry Cream Cupcakes

I made these for a bridal shower this past weekend, and they turned out great!

*Cake:
1 Duncan Hines orange supreme cake mix
Ingredients called for on package

**Cream Filling:
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 pint fresh raspberries

***Frosting:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. orange zest
juice of 1 orange
2 lbs. powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325. Line nonstick muffin tins with paper cups.
2. Mix cake batter according to package directions, but follow the high altitude directions (usually a little extra flour and water).
3. In a separate bowl, mix together filling ingredients. For a smoother filling, add raspberries before mixing everything together with an electric mixer. For bigger raspberry chunks, whip filling together before stirring in raspberries by hand. I like to go half and half--put half the pint in and blend with mixer, then stir in other half by hand.
4. Fill muffin cups half full with cake mixture.
5. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of cream filling on top of each muffin cup.
6. Tap muffin tins on counter so everything settles in--they should be about 3/4 full.
7. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean except for a few very tiny, moist crumbs.
8. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then loosen edges to remove cupcakes from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack.
9. To make the frosting, combine all ingredients except powdered sugar in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer. Then gradually add powdered sugar until it is stiff yet still spreadable (about 2 lbs.).
10. Frost and decorate as desired. I like to use a pastry bag because it looks clean and really is a lot faster.
11. Store cupcakes in the fridge--it makes the cream cheese filling taste better and is there anything yummier than cold cake? I think not.

*I adapted this recipe from one of my mom's for "black bottom cupcakes". The original recipe used a devil's food cake mix, but I've done this with white cake, yellow cake, lemon cake, spice cake, carrot cake, etc.

**The original recipe just calls for the sugar, salt, cream cheese, and egg, plus chocolate chips. But I've added cinnamon, mint extract and green food coloring, orange extract and orange food coloring, etc. You can change this up a million ways.

***This orange frosting is really just a dressed-up version of vanilla buttercream, which is my favorite frosting ever. Just omit the orange zest and juice for plain vanilla, or add mint, cocoa powder, various extracts, or food coloring to customize it.

Poppy Seed Cake

I am really into baking lately so I have been dusting off the all my recipes for sweets. This is another family favorite on my mom's side - it is present at EVERY family party! I have never actually made it before, but as I am typing it is baking in my oven!

1 cup + 2 Tbsp. oil

1 1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. butter extract 

2 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3 cups flour

1 1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 Tbsp. poppy seeds

In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, oil, sugar, and flavorings and beat for 2 minutes. Add baking powder and salt and mix. Alternate adding flour and milk and then mix until just combined. Add poppyseeds and mix until just combined. Pour into a well greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. While still hot, remove from bundt pan onto serving plate and pour glaze over top.

Glaze:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp butter extract

Whisk all ingredients together and pour over cake while hot.