Baking cookies is a fun family project anytime of the year, but especially exciting before Christmas, because not only family and friends enjoy them, Santa expects some as well.

If you are getting ready to do some baking, and not sure where to find “winner” recipes, Suburbangrandma will help y0u out by providing you with links and pictures of her favorite recipes.

 

These are my two most favorite cookies.

Cream Wafers     and       Butter Cookies    (heart shaped for Valentine)

Pecan Butterballs    and    Tea Tassies.

Pecan Butterballs are very easy to make, but the Tea Tassies require a little more time and patience.  They both are so scrumptious.

Dycio Crescents    and   Sugar Cookies.

These crescents are lightly sweetened, and require a little more playing with than the sugar cookies, but so worth it.

If you prefer to make truffles, rather than baking cookies, both of these recipes are easy, and decadent.  How can anyone go wrong with chocolate, right?

Oreo Chocolate Truffles   and   Ginger Chocolate Truffles.

Here you have two more no-bake recipes for delicious desserts anytime, or for the holidays.

This is a great baking project with your young children, or grandchildren.

Chocolate Scotcheroos   and   Chocolate Oatmeal cookies.

If you like a little citrusy  flavor to your cookies, you will find a perfect balance between lemon and sugar in these Glazed Lemon Cookies.

My list would not be complete, if I did not include America’s favorite cookies, the ever so popular Chocolate Chip cookies.

These are jumbo size, but you will agree that they are the best chocolate chip cookies you ever tasted.  So soft, chewy, and full of chocolate goodness.

I am sure this list will suffice for this holiday baking, and by next year I will have additional recipes to share with you.

I am always looking for new recipes, your favorite, to share with ME.

Please send me your favorite cookie recipe to try out, and to post.

Thank you.

Merry Christmas!!

Happy Holidays!!

 

 

 

Celebrating my daughter’s Birthday always involves  CHOCOLATE and salted CARAMEL…..she loves this combination.

I wanted to try a new recipe, rather than baking the same cake third year in a row, and found these very easy Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes, with salted caramel frosting, via picture on Pinterest.  

You may check out the recipe on the original site, but I will also list the ingredients and directions, since I made some minor adjustments.

This project could not get any simpler, since even though it requires some work from scratch, the main ingredient for the batter is Devil’s Food Cake Mix from a box.

Sometimes it is good to welcome in some simplicity to complete a special project, and to share it with all of you.

 

   

This is my daughter’s most favorite Birthday Cake, Chocolate Cake with Fleur De Sel Caramel. Click on this link to view the full recipe.

Now lets get back to the Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes.

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 box Devil’s Food Cake Mix
• 1 small box of Jello Chocolate Fudge instant Pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use Canola)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup sour cream

Cake Directions:

1. In a large mixer bowl, place all the above ingredients.
2. Beat on medium speed about 2 minutes, until well incorporated.
3. Line 2 cupcake pans with cupcake liners (I used 22 liners).
4. Fill each liner with about 1/4 cup of cake batter.
5. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
6. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool off.

Salted Caramel Frosting Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup dark brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
• 1/3 cup heavy cream (whipping cream)
• 1/4 tsp. salt (I used 1/8 tsp)
• 2 -3 cups powdered sugar, sifted (I used 2  1/2 cups)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)
• 22 chocolate chip morsels, for decoration (optional)

Directions for Salted Caramel Frosting:

1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter, on medium heat.
2. Add brown sugar, and heavy cream, and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves.
3. Add salt and vanilla extract (if using).
4. Once it begins to boil, forming bubbles, cook for 1 minute, continuously stirring.
5. Remove from heat, and cool completely (I poured it into two soup bowls for faster cooling).
6. Pour the cooled caramel syrup into a medium mixing bowl, reserving 2 Tbs to drizzle over frosted cupcakes.
7. Gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing well until creamy.
8. Frost cupcakes.
9. Drizzle frosted tops of cupcakes with reserved caramel. I also placed a chocolate chip morsel on top of each frosted cupcake, as a special touch.

These cupcakes were one moist chocolaty goodness, topped off with a perfectly salted caramel frosting.

My daughter was very happy with this selection, even though it was not a close match to her favorite cake.

Trying new recipes is a lot of fun for me, so I am always on a lookout for something new to cook or bake, and then share my experience with all of you.

Lately I have been interested in new recipes that are on a healthy side, to accommodate my family and readers, who are inquiring about these type of foods.

The Red Velvet Cupcakes recipe originated from a website I visit frequently,  however I modified it slightly to fit the mini cupcakes I was making, to cut down on the total fat and calories per serving.

The icing for these cupcakes is in a form of a little rosette, and made with low fat cream cheese.

This recipe yields 24 mini cupcakes.

Cupcakes Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup cake flour (I used Softasilk)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2  tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. white vinegar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/8 cup butter, softened
• 1 tsp.  egg yolk
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup light buttermilk
• 2 tsp. red food coloring

Cupcakes Directions:

1. In a medium bowl mix cake flour, whole wheat flour, salt, cocoa, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In another bowl beat sugar, butter, and applesauce.
3. Add egg yolk and whites to sugar mixture, and beat well until creamy.
4. Mix in vanilla extract.
5. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the egg mixture, and mix well.
6. Mix in buttermilk and food coloring, until well incorporated.
7. Add the remaining flour mixture, and mix well.
8. In a separate container mix baking soda and vinegar.
9. Fold this mixture into the batter.
10. Line a mini cupcake pan with liners, and fill each almost to the top (leave about 1/8 inch space to the top).
11. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
12. Bake cupcakes for 15 minutes.
13. Remove onto a cooling rack to cool off completely.

Cream Cheese Icing:

• 4 oz.  light or fat free cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 Tbs. butter, softened, not melted
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Add vanilla, and gradually beat in confectioners sugar until icing is creamy.
2. Add a drop of water at a time, if needed for creaminess.
3. Use a cake decorating tool to dab each cupcake with a decorative icing rosette.

 

Enjoy these guiltless, skinny cupcakes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It has been a while since I made cream puffs, so today seemed like a perfect day to make a batch.

The dough for cream puffs is rather simple, but the preparation technique is interesting, since it requires cooking of some of the dough ingredients, before turning them into the actual dough for baking.

The filling for cream puffs can be as simple as instant pudding of your choice, scoop of ice cream,  freshly whipped cream, or  filling made from scratch, which I will post with this recipe.

This recipe yields 12-15 medium size cream puffs.

Cream Puffs Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, unsifted
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 eggs

Cream Puffs Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, add water, butter, and salt.
2. Bring to rolling boil.
3. Add vanilla.
4. Stir in flour, all at once.
5. Reduce heat, and continue stirring vigorously, until the mixture no longer sticks to the sides of the pan, and forms a soft ball-like mass.
   
6. Remove from heat.
7. Cool until just warm.  At this stage, the dough resembles cold, thick,  lumpy porridge. Don’t panic, it will improve its texture in the next step.
8. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until mixture is smooth, as shown below.
   
9. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
10. Grease 2 baking sheets, 13 x 18.
11. Drop a spoonful of dough onto a greased baking sheet, spreading it about 2 inches apart.
12. Bake 15-17 minutes, or until browned and quite firm to the touch.  The crust must be rigid to prevent collapse on removal from oven.
13. Remove from the pan, and cool on a cooling rack.
14. Slice off the tops of each cream puff (about 1/3 down from the top)
15. Set aside until ready to fill.

You can use chocolate instant pudding filling, for simplicity and ease.  However, if you wish to make your own filling from scratch, please follow the recipe below.

This Chocolate Filling is NOT suitable for freezing. 

I tried it and it turned into wet, spongy, mess!

I also froze cream puffs filled with Lemon Instant Pudding Mix, and those were fairly OK, but not as good as before freezing.

You can freeze the unfilled cream puffs, and fill them the day of serving.

 

 Chocolate Filling Ingredients :

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely cut
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2+ 1/3 cups milk
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 2 Tbs. butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Filling Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
2. Add chopped chocolate.
3. Gradually stir in milk.
4. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.
5. Stir a little of the hot mixture into egg yolks, to temper it.
6. Add the tempered egg yolk mixture to the remaining hot mixture in the saucepan.
7. Cook 1 minute longer, stirring constantly. Do not overcook, as not to thin it out too much.
8. Remove from heat.
9. Stir in butter and vanilla.
10. Cool , until just warm.
11. Spoon warm filling into the bottom half of the pastry shell.
12. Replace the sliced off top, over the filled pastry bottom.
13. DO NOT FREEZE.  Refrigerate filled cream puffs until ready to serve (preferably the same day).
14. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, or drizzle with melted chocolate.

Enjoy!!

TIP:  Cream puffs can also be made smaller, using a teaspoon, and used for appetizers, filled with meat or fish salads, (in which case you would not add vanilla to the dough). 

 

Our youngest grandson just turned ONE, hence a big celebration to honor this special occasion.

His mom chose a very appropriate theme for this Birthday Party, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”, because our “little caterpillar” loooooves to eat.

It was a fun party for the kids, because they had a chance to listen to the story about the Very Hungry Caterpillar,

and snack on the different foods the caterpillar was eating each day.

I will be inserting a quoted section of the story from the book, and accompanying it with a corresponding party food served.

” In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf” 

Deviled Eggs - were served.

 

 

“On Monday he ate through one apple. But he was still hungry”

 

Platter of sliced apples, in a shape of a caterpillar, sprinkled with lemon juice.

 

 

“On Tuesday he ate through two pears, but he was still hungry”

 

 

“On Wednesday he ate through three plums, but he was still hungry”

Plum tomatoes were used, in place of plums.

 

“On Thursday he ate through four strawberries, but he was still hungry”

Nice large bowl of farm fresh strawberries was served for everyone to enjoy.

 

“On Friday he ate through five oranges, but he was still hungry”

A bowl of juicy orange slices was part of the food selection.

“On Saturday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream cone,”

We had delicious, homemade, low fat, chocolate cupcakes, prepared by the Birthday Boy’s Godmother.

 

 ” one pickle,”

 

” one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami”,

 

 

 

“one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie”,

 

” one sausage”,

The adults and the little “caterpillars”, enjoyed grilled sausages served on buns, with peppers and onions.

Nirchi’s Pizza , from upstate New York, is always a must in our family, plus a delicious Broccoli Salad.

….back to the story now….since on Saturday, the Very Hungry Caterpillar still was hungry for:

“once slice of watermelon.  That night he had a stomach ache!”

 

 

“The next day was Sunday again.  The caterpillar ate through one nice green leaf, and after that he felt much better.”

Tossed salad took the center stage, with an adorable caterpillar created out of cucumber slices,  and  a tomato.

 

“Now he wasn’t hungry any more – and he wasn’t a little caterpillar any more. He was a big, fat caterpillar.

He built a small house, called a cocoon, around himself.  He stayed inside for more than two weeks.

My daughter was very creative with the “cocoon”, as she baked little bundles made out of mini wieners, wrapped in pastry.  They looked cute, and tasted delicious.

 

Then he nibbled a hole in the cocoon, pushed his way out, and he was a beautiful butterfly!”

 

Hopefully you enjoyed the “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” story, and now I will show you the very special Birthday Cake my daughter put together for the Birthday Boy.

She baked individual cupcakes, used here to make up the body of the caterpillar, twizzler pieces became the legs, and the head was actually a personal “smash cake” for the little prince.

He enjoyed tasting the icing on his cake, then he turned the whole thing into a heap of mush, a mixture of cake and icing.

 

Last but not least, are the personalized bags with party favors for the kids, plus a story book to read, and M&M covered pretzels, as thank you favors for everyone.

 

Happy Birthday to our ” Little Caterpillar”!!!