Snickerdoodle Muffins with Crunchy Topping

My fall break is over, which means I only have 8 more weeks until I’m a big kid.  Graduating in December is so scary and exciting at the same time.

I’m still enjoying not waking up until 10, having the cafeteria make my food, going to formals with Kellen, and having advisors and teachers help me make my schedule.  Siiighhh…I will miss it all, but I’m also excited about having a career and makin’ some monaaayyy.

Anyway, to console myself, I made some delicious muffins.

Snickerdoodle Muffins with Crunchy Topping
Adapted from: Lil Luna

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 ¼ cups flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Cream butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon until fluffy. Add egg and mix well.
2. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix well.
3. Mix flour, cream of tartar, and baking powder in a separate bowl.
4. Add to wet ingredients and mix until all combined.
5. Spoon batter into 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake tin.
6. Mix 3 tbsp sugar and 3 tbsp cinnamon in a bowl and sprinkle even amounts over each muffin.
7. Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool and devour.

 

Easter Lemon Cake with Whipped Frosting

As I started to make this cake, I realized that I didn’t have two cake pans.  I also realized that I didn’t know how I was going to make this cake Easter themed.

That’s when I thought, “Well, why not make cupcakes and set them on top?”  It solved both of my problems!

The flower for Easter and the cupcakes to make up for my missing cake pan.

The cake is super light and fluffy, which goes great with the lemon flavor and the frosting is heavenly.  It’s the perfect light cake for Easter.

Also, I have a surprise for you guys!  The awesome people at Tropical Traditions are letting me do another giveaway.  Except this time, you guys get to pick what you want.

Pick from the following list and leave a comment letting me know what you’d like for the next giveaway:

Household Products:
•       All Purpose Household Cleaner – http://www.householdtraditions.com/all_purpose_non_toxic_household_cleaner.htm
•       Dish Liquid – http://www.householdtraditions.com/dish_liquid.htm
•       Dishwasher Detergent – http://www.householdtraditions.com/powdered_dishwasher_detergent.htm
•       Glass and Surface Cleaner – http://www.householdtraditions.com/glass_surface_cleaner.htm
•       Laundry Detergent – http://www.householdtraditions.com/laundry_detergent.htm
•       Oxygen Bleach – http://www.householdtraditions.com/oxygen_bleach.htm

Foods:
•       Atchara – http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/atchara.htm
•       Coconut Cream Concentrate – http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/coconut_cream_concentrate.htm
•       Coconut Flour – http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/organic_coconut_flour.htm
•       Coconut Chips, Coconut Flakes, or Shredded Coconut – http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/organic_dried_coconut.htm
•       Coconut Water Vinegar – http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/organic_coconut_water_vinegar.htm
•       Palm Shortening – http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/organic_palm_shortening.htm
•       Raw Honey – http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/organic_raw_honey.htm
•       Whole Golden Flaxseed – http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/organic_whole_flaxseed.htm
•       Whole Grains (Whole Grains only, flours unavailable for review.) – http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/organic_grains.htm
•       Virgin Coconut Oil Book or eBook – Includes 85 recipes! (Please indicate preference) – http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/book_virgin_coconut_oil.htm

Health & Beauty:
•       Antioxidant Omega 3 Greens (Please indicate preferred flavor) – http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/antioxidant_omega3_natural_greens.htm
•       Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil Hair Treatment – http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/virgin_coconut_oil_for_hair_treatment.htm
•       Hair Oils (Please let me know which scent.) – http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/organic_hair_oils.htm
•       Herbal Breath Spray – http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/organic-herbal-breath-spray.htm
•       Skin Care Products (Please indicate which individual product & preferred scent) – http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/organic_skin_care_products.htm

Have a Happy Easter! 🙂

Easter Lemon Cake with Whipped Frosting
From: Martha Stewart 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup margarine or butter
• 1/2 cup coconut oil or vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pans
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs plus 3 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons  lemon juice
• 1 cup buttermilk
• Whipped frosting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Important: Butter and flour two 8-by-2-inch cake pans, tapping out excess flour. )I didn’t put enough and mine got stuck)
3. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest.
4. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy.
5. With mixer on low, beat in eggs and yolks, one at a time.  Beat in 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined.
6. Divide batter between cake pan and cupcake tins; smooth tops.
7. Bake until cakes pull away from sides of pans, cake- 32 to 35 minutes, cupcakes- about 15 minutes.
8. Let cool in pans 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of pans and invert cakes onto a wire rack.
9. While cakes/cupcakes are baking, bring remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil in a saucepan.
10. Simmer 25 minutes. Stir remaining 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice into syrup.
11. Using a fork, poke holes in warm cakes on rack. Brush with lemon syrup. Let cool completely.
12. Prepare frosting, substituting 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice for vanilla extract.
13. Top cake with cupcakes and frost.

“Pi”neapple Impossible “Pi”e & “Pi”elets

Happy π day!

I made Pineapple Impossible Pie.  It’s “impossible” because it creates its own crust… so basically, it’s really, super easy for people who don’t have time to whip up a pie crust (ME).

Check out the other awesome pi(e)s around the blogosphere today:

(The following pictures belong to the owners of the blogs they are linked to.)

Chocolate Covered Katie:

A Periodic Table Blog:

Not Martha:

vanevalentine FOOD:

Sweet and Crumby:

Super Healthy Kids:

And lastly, my contribution:

Pielets!

“Pi”napple Impossible Pi(e)

From: Worth the Whisk (Don’t you love that title!? I do.)

If you don’t like custard, you won’t like this pie.  I’m not really a fan of custard, but my love of coconut made it bearable for me. 

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups cold milk
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• ¼ cup butter
• dash salt
• 2 tsp pineapple extract
• 1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or not – your choice)

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350º degrees. Prepare a well-greased 10″ Pyrex pie dish. (Or a 9″ and a 6-cupcake pan… hence the “pielets”)
2. Put all ingredients in blender, blend at high speed for the count of 10, then turn off blender and pour mixture into the prepared pie plate
3. Bake for 40 minutes or until edges are brown. Cool (in dish) on wire rack.

Do you like custard??

P.s. Don’t forget to enter my coconut oil giveaway!! It’s easy; all you have to do is comment.

Guest Post: Spinach and Eggs Baked in Tomato Cups

Hey guys!  Just thought I’d let you know that I’m still on ‘vacation’ and enjoying every moment of it. 😉  

I miss you guys, though!  It’s weird not being on blogger every day!  Anyway, I’ll be back next week with pictures and recipes.  I promise!

Until then, I’m lucky to have a delicious guest post from Sheila.  If you haven’t visited her blog, you’re missing out.  Her photos are gorgeous and she always seems to pick the best recipes!  

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Hello everyone! My name is Sheila from Elements, and when Katie asked me if I would be a guest blogger, I was honored! I love all her tempting and mouth-watering recipes, and I always look forward to seeing the next thing she’s baking.

Anyway, I had a hard time deciding what to share with you today, but I finally decided on something that I think not only looks beautiful on your plate but also tastes great!

It’s a spinach and cheese mixture that’s stuffed inside a cored out tomato and baked with an egg on top.

Every bite is packed with flavor, and it’s a meal we certainly plan to enjoy again and again. 🙂

Spinach and Eggs Baked in Tomato Cups

Adapted from: Recipes from my Mom

Ingredients:

• 5 large tomatoes
• 5 large eggs
• 8 oz. fresh baby spinach leaves
• feta cheese
• ricotta cheese
• Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup finely diced onions
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 2 tbsp. pesto paste (I used Amore pesto paste)
• salt and pepper to taste
• dried basil and oregano for sprinkling
• Optional: 1/2 cup crushed saltine crackers (add them if you end up making your filling a bit too leaky)

Instructions:

Step One:  Prepare the Spinach

• Wash the spinach leaves, and then place them in a large pot with about 1 quart of water.
• Cover with a lid, and cook on medium high heat until the spinach wilts.
• Drain the water off the spinach, and then set the spinach aside so it can cool.
• After the spinach cools, squeeze the excess water out of it.

Step Two:  Make the Filling

• Mix some crumbled feta cheese, ricotta cheese, and Parmesan cheese into the spinach. We didn’t measure…just added a little of each.
• Then stir in the pesto paste, nutmeg, and some salt in pepper.
• Add some crushed saltine crackers to thicken up the mixture if needed. You want it to be creamy…not thin and watery.

Step Three:  Assembly

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Grease a glass baking dish with a little oil.
• Horizontally cut the tops off the tomatoes, and then core out the centers. (Use the centers that you cored out for another meal.)
• Place the tomatoes in the greased dish.
• Add stuffing to the insides of the tomatoes, filling them up almost to the top, making sure to leave enough room at the top for the egg.
• Crack an egg onto the top of each stuffed tomato.
• Sprinkle some dried oregano and basil on the top of each each egg.

Step Four:  Bake the Tomatoes

• Bake uncovered until the egg whites are firm.
• Sprinkle with a little bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Serve warm.

Yumm, these look amazing Sheila.  Thank you!! 🙂

P.S. Yesterday was Kellen’s 21st birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him! 

Breakfast Pie

I’m so honored because I received the Operation Beautiful Award from Lizzie.

She’s a wonderful new blogger so go check her out! 🙂  Thanks, Lizzie! ❤

This is what you have to do:

-Write 3 things you like about your looks.
1. I like my face.
2. I like my hair.
3. I like my nails.

-Write 3 things you appreciate about your personality.
1. I like that I’m honest.
2. I like that I can (sometimes ;)) make people laugh.
3. I like that I would be willing to help anybody out that needed it.

-Write about something you find beautiful in other people.
I love when people are caring and compassionate.  I think that anybody can be beautiful as long as they’re pretty on the inside.

-Award as many other people as you like and let them know!

Oh gosh, there are too many people that I want to give this to!
How about if you’re reading this, you can do it on your blog and say it’s from me! 🙂  You’re all deserving of it.

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In other news, I made a breakfast pie.

Kellen hates pie.  Somehow we got to talking about whether or not he would like a savory pie and he said he didn’t know.  So… I made one.  And it was delicious!!

🙂

Breakfast Pie

Ingredients:

1 unbaked pie shell
4 sausage patties
4 eggs
1 potato
3/4 cup cheese
Seasoned salt to taste

Topping (optional… I kind of thought it was too much with the crust):
1 cup all-purpose flour1 teaspoons baking powder1/8 teaspoons salt4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces1 tbs milk or buttermilk

Directions:

1.  Peel potato and cut into small pieces.
2.  Boil potato until it starts to get soft, but not completely cooked.  Set aside.
3.  Cut up sausage patties and microwave for 1 minute, or until warm, but not completely cooked.
4.  In a saucepan, combine potatoes, sausage, and eggs.  Keep stirring on stove for about 1 minute.
5.  Layer pie shell with the 3/4 cup cheese and potato, sausage, and egg mixture.  Salt to taste.
6. *Optional: Mix first 3 ingredients in a small bowl.  Cut in butter with a pastry cutter until it forms small crumbs.  Add milk.
7.  Layer topping over the pie.
8.  Bake 30-40 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

EatStrong {Veggie & Egg Quinoa}

 
I was fortunate enough to be able to sample EatStrong’s new Trail Mix and Energy Bar. 

The Energy Bar is basically a huge bar of peanut butter with a nice crunch to it and “chocolate chips” (organic cocoa) liberally incorporated throughout, but still only has the average 230 calories most energy .  I didn’t know what to expect when I opened it because the color is a bit off-putting… but the taste is so good!  And it kept me full for a few hours. 

The snack mix includes cashews, flax, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pistachios, almonds, and organic cocoa drops.  The bag has the perfect amount to satisfy and is full of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.  The chocolate drops were obviously my favorite, but the rest was good, too.  The snack mix is a little more calorie dense, but only by a little bit at 260.  It also kept me full for quite a while.

I was pretty impressed with the products and the simple ingredient list.  It’s convenient and delicious.  Try it out!!

I figured I’d keep with the healthy topic and give a healthy recipe today because I do actually try to eat well aside from all the baking I do. 
 

Veggie and Egg Quinoa (For one)

Ingredients 

1/4 cup quinoa
1/2 cup water
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 a medium sized onion
1 plum tomato
1 egg
Seasoned Salt to taste
Garlic Salt to taste

Directions

1.  Bring the water to a boil and add your quinoa.  Cook quinoa until the water has soaked up.
2.  Chop the veggies and heat in the microwave 1-2 minutes.
3.  Cook your egg however you want it.  I scrambled mine.
4.  Add all ingredients in a saucepan and saute for 2-5 minutes.