100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Serves: 4 standard loaves
Cook Time: 25-30 mins
Cook Temp: 350 F

Ingredients

2 cups

hot water

2 cups

milk

1 Tbsp

yeast

1/4 cup

sugar

—

1 Tbsp

lemon juice

1

egg

1/4 cup

sugar

1/2 cup

oil

1 Tbsp

salt

About 10 cups

whole wheat flour

Instructions

1

Combine hot water with the milk in a bowl so the temperature is lukewarm. (if it’s too hot it will kill the yeast) Add sugar and yeast and let set for about 10 minutes.

2

In a large mixing bowl combine the lemon juice, egg, remaining sugar, oil and salt. Pour in the liquid yeast mixture and stir until combined.

3

Add 6 cups of the whole wheat flour and mix until combined.

4

Add the remaining 4 cups of flour, 1 at a time, mixing each time until combined. Keep adding flour until your dough is not longer sticky, but still soft. (you may have to add  more or less than 10 cups depending on altitude or humidity)

5

Knead the dough until it passes the “window pane” test. This will take longer than when kneading white bread. (YouTube bread     window pane test if you don’t know what that entitles. The time of kneading will depend on if you are doing it by hand or by machine. I never go by time, but instead by feel for best results)

6

Cover the dough and proof for about an hour. Knock the dough down and proof for an additional hour.

7

Knock the dough down and divide into 4 equal portions. Form the dough into loaves and place in greased bread pans. Cover the loaves with plastic wrap or a damp towel and proof for about an hour.

8

Preheat the oven to 350 F and bake bread until golden brown, about 25 minutes. You can tell when the bread is done when it makes a hollow sound if you tap the bottom of it. Cool the finished loaves on a rack. Store in airtight bags or in the freezer.

Notes

-Bake temperature and time vary according to your oven. My oven bakes hotter than normal, so I bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. You might have to play around a bit with your temperature and bake time to get the perfect result.

-Lemon juice is added as a preservative, it helps the bread stay fresh longer. It doesn’t overly affect the taste, so if you don’t have any it’s not a deal-breaker if you eat the bread in a day or two, or freeze it.

-You can omit the egg if needed, but I find it helps a little with structure.

-If you can’t find milk at the store (these are crazy times!), you can always substitute it with water, it just might not taste as awesome. You could also use less sugar. I’ve made this bread with only a 1/4 cup of sugar...it was okay. I wouldn’t recommend using less than 1/2 cup of oil though. 

-Feel free to half the recipe if you don't have enough loaf pans.

***If you are making bread from home-ground wheat, the bread will be a lot more dense, because (in my experience) I can't grind the wheat as fine as you would get in store bought whole wheat flour.
You can try and double grind your wheat (that's a lot of time/work!)
Also, be sure to DOUBLE THE YEAST! This is important in getting a good rise.
Adding a cup or two of store bought whole wheat flour, or white flour can help with gluten development as well. 

Good luck!

Keep in mind that it might take a few tries to get it just right...heck it took me a few years to make a bread that I would actually eat a sandwich on!

Scalloped Potato Casserole

I made these scalloped potatoes tonight, they were AMAZING and a huge hit with the kids, so I decided I'd better write down what I did so I can make them again.

Scalloped Potato Casserole
Bake Temp: 375 F
Bake Time: about an hour to an hour and a half

-1/4 cup butter
-1 medium onion, minced

-1 Tbsp garlic, minced
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp pepper
-1/8 tsp thyme
-1/3 cup flour
-1 cup chicken broth
-1 cup cream
-1 cup milk
---
-4-5 medium large potatoes, thinly sliced
-1 cup frozen peas
-1 cup frozen corn
-2 cups chopped baked ham (I used our leftover ham from Easter dinner)
-2 cups shredded cheese

-Melt the butter over medium heat, in a medium sized saucepan and add the onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme. Saute for a few minutes, allowing the onion to soften a bit. Mix in the flour and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Whisk in the liquid and continue to cook for about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat.
-In a 9X13 casserole dish, layer half of the potato slices to cover the bottom. Top with 1/2 cup frozen peas, 1/2 cup frozen corn, 1 cup chopped ham, and 1 cup shredded cheese. Pour half of the sauce mixture evenly over the top. Layer on the rest of the potatoes, peas, corn, and ham on top and then pour the remaining sauce mixture evenly over everything. Top with the remaining cheese.  Bake at 375F for about an hour or until the potatoes are cooked through.

Banana Bread

Banana Bread

Bake Temp: 325-350F (depending on your oven)
Bake Time: 40-60 minutes

-1/2 C butter

-1/2 C white sugar
-1/2 C brown sugar

-1/4 tsp salt
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 tsp nutmeg
-1/4 tsp ginger
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-2 eggs
-1 tsp baking soda
-2 cups flour
-2 cups mashed banana
-1 cup chopped walnuts (opt)


-Cream the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla and spices. Mix until light in color and fluffy in texture. Add the eggs and mix until fluffy.
-Sift together the baking soda and flour.
-Add the flour mixture and mashed bananas alternatively to the batter by first adding about a forth of the flour and mixing just until combined. Add one-third of the mashed banana and mix, just until blended in. Repeat this process until all the ingredients are mixed together.
-Line 2 loaf pans with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Evenly distribute the batter between the 2 pans. Bake at 325F-350F until the center of the loaf springs back when lightly touched or when an inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 40-60 minutes.

Chocolate Waffles with White Chocolate Raspberry Whipped Cream

So this morning I was making waffles as was requested by my kids. I was thinking of how to change it up a bit and decided adding chocolate was a good choice. My kids made me "Star Baker" for the day, if you've ever seen the Great British Bake-Off you know that is quite the compliment 😄


-I used whole wheat flour as my kids can pack down endless waffles if I use allpurpose flour, and nobody needs to eat more than 2 Belgian sized waffles...especially kids less than half my size! I've found the whole wheat flour fills them up faster and they eat less. Me too, which is good because I too can pack in the waffles. I'm sure this recipes is amazing with white flour, but it's still delicious with the whole wheat variety as well.
-As a side note, the recipe calls for melted butter because that is what tastes best. Those of us who can't afford to chuck butter into everything that they eat can use oil in place of the butter. I use canola oil because I cannot stand the taste of vegetable oil...but it's all up to personal preference.
-Another note, sometimes you don't have the joy of having buttermilk in your fridge. If you mix half sour cream and half milk, you get a lovely result. You could also do the whole milk+lemon juice or vinegar trick, but I've found the taste and texture doesn't compare to using cultured buttermilk or the sour cream.

Chocolate Waffles

-1 1/2 C flour

-1/2 C cocoa

-1/4 C white sugar
-2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp vanilla
-3 eggs, separated
-1/2 C melted butter
-1 3/4 C buttermilk

-sift together the dry ingredients in a bowl and create a well in the middle.
-in a separate mixing bowl, separate the egg whites from the egg yolks and place the yolks into the "well" in the dry ingredients
-add the rest of the wet ingredients to the well and mix until smooth-beat the egg whites on high until soft peaks form
-fold the beaten egg whites into the batter (be careful to not loose the volume!)
-cook the waffles according to your waffle maker

White Chocolate Raspberry Whipped Cream

-1 1/4 C whipping cream
-1/4 C white chocolate chips
-1/4 C raspberry jam

-1/2 C fresh or frozen raspberries 

-melt 1/4 C of the whipping cream with the chocolate chips and mix until smooth. Mix in the raspberry jam until smooth and set aside for a moment
-whip the cream on high until it thickens and turns into whipped cream, slowly pour in the white chocolate raspberry mixture while still whipping the cream, on low.
-fold in the raspberries and serve on top of the chocolate waffles.

Almond Joy Brownies

These gourmet brownies are perfect to share...they are also perfect if you want to eat the whole pan by yourself.

Almond Joy Brownies

Brownies
-1 C soft butter -1 C white sugar -1 C brown sugar -1 tsp salt -1 tsp vanilla -4 eggs, room temp -1 C cocoa -1 C flour -1 C slivered or chopped almonds

-mix sugar, salt, vanilla and butter just until creamed together -add the eggs and mix until smooth but don't overmix as you don't want to incorporate air into the mixture. -fold in flour and cocoa mixing until combined. -fold in nuts -pour into greased 9X13 pan

Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes

Coconut Layer
-2 tbsp butter -1/2 C condensed milk -1 tsp vanilla -1 to 1 1/2 C powdered sugar -1 3/4 to 2 C flaked coconut -mix together and spread over cooled brownies. (Add more powdered sugar or coconut depending on preference) Chocolate Topping
-1 C milk chocolate chips -1/4 C cream

-Melt chocolate chips and mix in cream until smooth. Spread over coconut layer -garnish with about 1/4 C sliced almonds over the chocolate -refrigerate for a few hours and allow to harden before cutting

Homemade Oreo's

Usually homemade Oreo's are made from a cake mix. Since this blog is dedicated to baking without a box, I am presenting a homemade Oreo recipe made from scratch. The filling is my favorite part!

Homemade Oreo's

Cookie

-1 C Butter, softened
-1 C White Sugar

-1 C Brown Sugar  
-1 tsp Salt              
-2 tsp Vanilla          
-2 Eggs, room temp   
-1 tsp Baking Powder
-1 tsp Baking Soda
-1 1/2 C Flour
-1 3/4 C Cocoa

-cream together butter, sugars, salt and vanilla until light in color and fluffy in texture.
-add eggs, one at a time, mixing until the mixture is light and fluffy.
-add the baking powder, soda, flour and cocoa and mix.
-roll into equal sized balls and place on a cookie sheet

Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes 

removed from cookie sheet and allow to cool

Cream Filling

-1 pkg of white chocolate chips
-1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, room temp

-mix the cream cheese until it is soft and fluffy
-melt the white chocolate chips and mix them into the cream cheese
-whip the mixture until it resembles frosting

Frost one side of the cooled cookies with the filling and sandwich it with another cookie. ENJOY!

Vegetable Soup

This soup is perfect for a cold winter day. It freezes well once cooked and also makes a perfect crock pot meal. 

Vegetable Soup

-1/2 to 1 lb stew meat (beef, deer, lamb, whatever you have laying around...we seem to eat a lot of venison over here)
-2 cans beef broth
-1 can tomato sauce
-1 can diced tomatoes
-1 C frozen peas
-1 C frozen corn
-1 C chopped carrots
-2-3 diced potatoes
-1 C frozen or canned green beans 
-1 medium onion, diced
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-3 stalks of celery, diced
-salt and pepper to taste

-in a large pot, brown the meat over medium high heat with about a tbsp of oil
-after the meat is cooked, add the rest of ingredients and simmer over medium heat until the vegetables are cooked through.

Brown Sugar Oat Muffins

One day while I was browsing Pinterest, I came across a pin for brown sugar oat muffins. The picture looked yummy and so I clicked on the link to check out the recipe. As I read through the ingredients, I was highly disappointed as the recipe called for things like "sugar free breakfast syrup" and "soy or almond milk" and didn't contain eggs, or butter! I'd say I'm pretty traditional when it comes to baking, meaning I like to use butter, eggs, sugar and flour. So using the title of the recipe as my inspiration I came up with this awesome brown sugar oat muffin recipe that is fantastic.

Brown Sugar Oat Muffins

-1 C Butter, room temp
-1 3/4 C brown sugar
-1 tsp salt
-2 tsp vanilla
-2 eggs, room temp
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 1/4 C buttermilk
-1 C whole wheat flour
-1 C flour
-2 C old fashioned oats
-1 C chocolate chips



-Cream the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla together until the mixture is light in color and fluffy in texture.
-add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until the batter is nice and fluffy
-add about 1/2 of the flour and baking powder to the batter and fold in
-add a 1/3-1/2 C of the buttermilk and fold it
-keep folding in the flour and milk alternatively until it is all incorporated, try not to over mix!
-fold in the oats and chocolate chips
-spoon batter into lined muffin tins

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean

Classic Chocolate Walnut Fudge

Like my Cookies 'n Cream fudge, this fudge also is based off of the Guittard Choc-Au-Lait Vanilla Milk Chips bag, only I've switched a few things up to make a milk chocolate fudge instead of a creamy vanilla fudge. I've found the recipe is fairly versatile, and you could probably make any kind of fudge you desire using it. I plan to do a rocky road type fudge, and a turtle fudge, and whatever else I can think of that sounds delicious sometime in the future. Anyway, enjoy!

Chocolate Walnut Fudge

-1 1/2 C sugar
-1 Tbsp light corn syrup
-1/2 C evaporated milk
-1/4 C heavy cream
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 Tbsp butter
-2 C milk chocolate chips
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 1/2 C chopped walnuts

-Line a 8X8 pan with foil

-Combine the sugar, corn syrup, evaporated milk, cream and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
-While the mixture is boiling, use a pastry brush dipped in warm water to brush down the sugar that has collected on the sides of the pot. Do this 2-3 times while the mixture is boiling
-Boil the mixture until it reads 225 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
-remove the pot from the stove and mix in the vanilla, butter, and chocolate chips, stirring until smooth
-fold in the chopped nuts and pour into your foil lined pan
-cool in the fridge for at least an hour before cutting and eating.

Cookies 'n Cream Fudge

I have to admit, I haven't had much luck with fudge in the past. But since I'm a little old fashioned when it comes to baking and like to make things from scratch, it just doesn't sit right with me to cheat when making fudge and use marshmallow puff. I finally found a super easy fudge recipe that uses boiled sugar. I found it on the Guittard Choc-Au-Lait Vanilla Milk Chips bag. Not only is it super easy to make, but it's absolutely delicious to eat! I've tweaked the ingredient amounts because I wanted a cookies 'n cream fudge and also, I didn't have the right amount of ingredients suggested on the recipe. Nevertheless, it turned out fantastic, so I'm going to keep my changes to the original recipe.

Cookies 'n Cream Fudge 

-1 1/2 C sugar
-1 Tbsp light corn syrup
-1/2 C evaporated milk
-1/4 C heavy cream
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 Tbsp butter
-2 C white chocolate chips
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 1/2 C crushed chocolate cookies

-Line a 8X8 pan with foil

-Combine the sugar, corn syrup, evaporated milk, cream and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
-While the mixture is boiling, use a pastry brush dipped in warm water to brush down the sugar that has collected on the sides of the pot. Do this 2-3 times while the mixture is boiling
-Boil the mixture until it reads 225 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
-remove the pot from the stove and mix in the vanilla, butter, and chocolate chips, stirring until smooth
-fold in the crushed cookies and pour into your foil lined pan
-cool in the fridge for at least an hour before cutting and eating.

Variation:
Maple Walnut Fudge
-replace the crushed cookies with walnuts and the vanilla with 1 tsp of maple extract. 

Sweet Potato Pie

So I didn't make up the recipe, I got it from my mom ages ago who got it from...someone else...and this isn't technically a pie either, it's a casserole. But I put it in a pie dish and since I really dislike the word casserole, I call it a pie. This year I will be adding a bottom pie crust to mine to truly make it a pie (because I LOVE pie) but you can try it out either way, with crust or without, this stuff is pretty tasty. My husband will eat it, and if he will eat it, it must be fairly decent.

Sweet Potato Pie

-unbaked pie shell
-3 C pureed sweet potatoes (you can peel, cut up, boil and mash, or wrap in foil and bake, and then peel and stick in a food processor)
-1/2 C sugar
-1/2 C melted butter
-1 tsp vanilla
-1/3 C evaporated milk
-2 eggs

Topping:
-1/3 C melted butter
-1 C brown sugar
-1/2 C flour
-1 C chopped pecans

-mix the sugar with the butter, vanilla and milk until the sugar has dissolved. Mix in the pureed sweet potatoes.
-add eggs, one at a time, mixing until smooth
-spoon mixture into the pie shell or large pie dish if you wish to omit the bottom crust

-Mix the flour with the brown sugar and add the melted butter and mix until crumbly. Add the pecans and mix again.
-Top the sweet potatoes evenly with the crumble mixture

Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes

Zucchini Bread

For the record, I don't like zucchini bread. I actually don't really like zucchini at all, except for maybe once a year. However, I planted 3 zucchini plants in my garden this year and they grew better than just about everything else. Which means we had A LOT of zucchini. After we got tired of having fried zucchini, my husband convinced me to make some zucchini bread. Even though I dislike zucchini bread, I gave it a go anyway. It was actually pretty good. It still ain't got nothing on banana bread, but if you are a fan of zucchini, you will LOVE this stuff. I blend my zucchini up a food processor because I like the texture better, but I'm sure it will still taste lovely if you grate it instead.

Zucchini Bread

-1 C Butter                
-1 C Brown Sugar     
-1 C White Sugar       
-1 tsp Vanilla            
-1 tsp Salt                            
-1/2 tsp Nutmeg
-1 tsp Cinnamon
-2 eggs
-3 C flour
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-1  1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/4 C buttermilk
-2 C zucchini puree (or grated zucchini)
-1 C chocolate chips
-1 C chopped walnuts

-Cream together butter, sugars, vanilla, salt and spices until light and fluffy
-add eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated
-sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda
-starting with the flour mixture, add a little bit and mix just until combined. Add the buttermilk and mix again, just until combined. Add more flour until combined and then alternate adding the zucchini with the flour until it is all combined. DO NOT OVER MIX or your bread will be tough.
-gently fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
-spoon into 2 greased bread pans
(this recipe usually makes 2 loafs, AND 10-12 muffins or 24 mini muffins)

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes

(or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean)

Variation: if you want more spice flavor, feel free to add more to taste...or less depending on personal preference.
You can omit the chocolate chips and add 2 C chopped walnuts to the recipe, or omit the nuts and add 2 C of chocolate chips

Nanaimo Bar Pie

I was trying to think of a good name for this tasty pie, and since it's a Nanaimo Bar inspired pie, I went with that as the name. Although I might be super creative when it comes to inventing tasty recipes, I am seriously lacking in the naming of said goodies. This pie has the same delicious crust as a normal Nanaimo Bar, but I churned things up a bit by replacing the regular filling a white chocolate custard filling (so you can actually eat a whole piece of the pie, because nanaimo bars tend to be quite rich) and topped with a thin layer of dark chocolate ganache. Basically, it's quite delicious.

Nanaimo Bar Pie

Crust Layer:                         
   -1/3 C Butter                              
   -1/3 C Sugar                              
   -1/4 C Cocoa                              
   -1 Egg, slightly beaten                
   -1 3/4 C Graham Cracker Crumbs
   -1 C Coconut
   -1 C chopped, slivered or sliced Almonds

 Middle Layer:
   -1 C Milk
   -1 C Cream
   -1/3 C Sugar
   -4 egg yolks
   -3 Tbsp cornstarch
   -1 tsp vanilla
   -1 C white chocolate chips

Top Layer:
    -1/3 C Chocolate Chips
    -3 Tbsp Heavy cream


Crust Layer:
-in a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the sugar and cocoa until the sugar is dissolved.
-add the egg and cook until the mixture has thickened slightly
-mix in the graham crackers, coconut, and almond, and press into a pie pan. let cool.

Middle Layer:
-whisk the cream, sugar, egg yolks, corn starch and vanilla and until smooth in a bowl
-in a medium sized saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat until it starts to simmer, but doesn't quite boil.
-SLOWLY pour the heated milk into the cream and egg mixture. I like to pour in a small amount and whisk it until smooth, and then slowly add the rest of the heated milk in a small stream while vigorously mixing. You want to slowly raise the temperature of the eggs so they temper and don't scramble
-return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes
-pour the mixture onto the crust layer of the pie and refrigerate for a few hours until the pudding sets up.
Top Layer:
-melt the chocolate chips with the cream and stir until smooth. Spread on top of the custard layer. Chill a few hours or over night.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Fall is in the air! I am SOOO ready for all things pumpkin! I feel like pumpkin pie should be saved for Thanksgiving, but these little treats are delicious and will certainly satisfy your craving of pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes

Crust:

- 1 1/3 C Graham Cracker crumbs
-1/4 C sugar
-1/3 C melted butter

-combine the crumbs sugar and butter and mix thoroughly. Press into desired lined muffin tins.
-bake crust at 350 degrees F for about 8 minutes

Filling:
-2 pkg cream cheese, softened
-1 can of condensed milk
-2 C pumpkin puree
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1/8 tsp ginger
-1/2 tsp nutmeg
-1/8 tsp ground cloves
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 eggs

-Mix the cream cheese until it is fluffy, add the condensed milk, pumpkin and spices and mix until it is well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing only until fully incorporated.
-Spoon the filling out over the crust 

Bake at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes. The top should not look wet or glossy to be fully cooked as the pumpkin adds a lot of moisture.

-Allow to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for at least 2-4 hours before serving. Top with whipped cream before serving. 

Whipped Cream

-1 C heavy whipping cream
-1/4 C sugar (add more or less depending on how sweet you like your whipped cream)
-2 tsp vanilla

-mix on high until thick and fluffy 

Questions? Sometimes I'm not the best at explaining things, so if you have a question, feel free to comment or e-mail me at cakencandies13@gmail.com and I will get back to you as soon as possible!

Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes

They taste as good as they sound.

Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake 

Crust:

- 1 1/3 C Graham Cracker crumbs
-1/4 C sugar
-1/3 C melted butter

-combine the crumbs sugar and butter and mix thoroughly. Press into lined muffin tins.

Filling:
-2 pkg cream cheese, softened
-1 can of condensed milk
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 eggs
-1/4 C raspberry jam
-1/3 C white chocolate chips

-Mix the cream cheese until it is smooth, then add the condensed milk and vanilla. Mix until it is well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing only until fully incorporated.
-Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave or in a bowl over a simmering pot of water on the stove top.
-Drop spoonfuls of the raspberry jam and melted chocolate into the cream cheese mixture and swirl in gently with a spoon. You want to fold the jam and chocolate into the cream cheese so you have bits of raspberry and chocolate, but not mix it in completely.
-Spoon the filling out over the crust 

Bake at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes until the whole cupcake looks more dry than wet.
*Tip: fill a pan with water and put it on the lower rack while cooking the cheesecake*

-Allow to cool to room temperature in an non drafty area, and then refrigerate for at least 2-4 hours before decorating and serving.

Topping:
-1 C frozen raspberries
-1/2 to 1/3 C juice from raspberries (add water to get at least 1/2 C)
-2 tsp cornstarch
-sugar, to taste
-1/4 C white chocolate chips
-1 Tbsp heavy cream

-thaw the frozen raspberries and drain off the juice into a saucepan. If you don't get enough juice, add water to equal about 1/2 to 1/3 C of liquid.
-whisk in cornstarch and cook on medium low until the mixture thickens.
-add sugar to taste and continue to cook until sugar has dissolved.
-while the mixture cools, make a white chocolate ganache by melting the white chocolate chips and mixing in the heavy cream until it is smooth.
-spoon the raspberry sauce on top of the cupcakes and decorate with the raspberries. Drizzle with the white chocolate ganache.
-chill until ready to serve.

Fresh Raspberry Pie

Last summer I was living in the great state of Washington where blackberries were an invasive plant and we were able to pick loads of berries and fill our freezer with those wonderfully tasty morsels. This summer I am missing the blackberries, but have been blessed to have a raspberry patch in my backyard, so all was not lost. Because raspberries gets crushed a lot easier than blackberries, I've found getting raspberry juice for fresh raspberry pie is A LOT easier than Fresh Blackberry Pie, but the recipe is fairly the same. This recipe works well for both fresh and frozen raspberries.

Fresh Raspberry Pie

-Pre baked pie shell
-4 C raspberries
-3/4 C raspberry juice
-2 Tbsp + 1 tsp of corn starch
-1/4 C brown sugar
-1/4 C white sugar
-1 tsp vanilla

-wash your raspberries (if fresh) place in a strainer and let the extra juice collect in a bowl. Add water to the juice to get 3/4 of a cup of liquid. *after washing I usually put the berries in a bowl and stick it in the fridge or a day or two until I get the time to make pie, I then drain the berries and get more juice because the berries have been worked over a bit*
-sift the corn start and sugars into the juice in a saucepan and whisk until smooth
-bring the mixture to a boil over med-low heat and continue to boil until the mixture is thick. about 3 minutes.
-Remove from heat and cool
-Gently fold in the berries and spoon into a baked pie shell.

Cherry Pie

I have a sour cherry tree in my backyard and I absolutely LOVE it! I've made LOADS of jam and like 12 pies. A few of my pies were fantastic, but a bit on the sour side. (a bit as in, it was so sour I had to put like a tbsp of sugar on top in order to eat it!) Then I made some that were definitely sweet enough but I realized that because I added SO much sugar, the filling was a bit too liquid. But I did manage to make a few perfect pies that tasted pretty fantastic. So for my own future reference and your enjoyment, here is the recipe:
*If using sweet cherries, add half the amount of sugar*

Sour Cherry Pie

-3 to 4 C fresh cherries, pitted
-1 C of cherry juice 
-3 Tbsp corn starch
-1/3 C brown sugar + 1/3 C brown sugar
-1/4 C white sugar
-1/2 tsp almond extract
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-double pie pastry

-To get the cherry juice, drain the cherries after you have pitted them. Add water to get 1 C or boil some extra cherries in a little water and drain the juice off that. (imperfect cherries are good for this)
-Sift together the corn starch and sugars into a saucepan. Whisk in the cherry juice.
-Stir over med-low heat until the mixture thickens and starts to boil. Continue to boil for about 2-3 minutes,
-Add the extra 1/3 C of brown sugar and mix until smooth and the sugar has dissolved, about 1 minute.
-Remove from heat and mix in the flavorings
-Let cool and then fold in the cherries

-Roll out the pie dough and place into the bottom of a pie pan. Fill with cherry mixture to just below the top (you DO NOT want to over fill or your cherries will boil over TIP: bake your pie on a cookie sheet to avoid possible overspill and mess)
-Brush the edges of the pie with milk
-Roll out the remaining dough and place on top, or cut strips of dough out and make a lattice crust for the top.
-Brush the top with milk and sprinkle a little sugar on top.

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until the crust is a nice golden brown in the middle. OR you can wrap the pie in plastic wrap and freeze it. 

Note: You will probably get enough sauce for about 2 pies, depending on your sauce to cherry ratio. I like less sauce and more cherries, so I can make the sauce stretch for about 2 8in pies. It really depends on personal preference. Sometimes I add more sugar to the sauce after it thickens if I'm in the mood for a sweeter and less tart pie. If you do add more sugar, make sure it's after the mixture thickens (speaking from many trials and errors, do not do this before it thickens because it will literally take FOREVER for the starch to cook) If you do add more sugar, the sauce won't be as thick, so you should sprinkle about 1-2 tsp of flour over the cherry mixture before adding the top crust and it should help thicken the sauce so it's less runny.
*Update* I made the pie again today, adding the extra 1/3 C brown sugar to the sauce after it had thickened (I added this to the recipe because I didn't think it was sweet enough and it was the sauce was almost too thick without it) I had also tossed my sour cherries with a little white sugar, just enough to coat them after I pitted them, so I then also sprinkled 1 tsp of flour over the pie before I put a lattice top on and it turned out quite nice, not too runny and not too thick.

This sauce freezes well and can be used at a later time to make pie or use as a filling for Black Forest Cake.

Cookies 'n Cream Cheesecake

I just don't know how some people can manage to pull off blogging all the time, especially Mom's with small children. I've got 4 kids under 5 years old, and we recently moved to a new country. I believe it's safe to say that I am more than busy. Whenever I get a chance to breath I don't think "hey I'll go catch up on my blog now" instead I either go to bed early, or more realistically, I'm cooking, baking, cleaning or pulling weeds in the garden. (in Canada you can do that later at night since it's so light out!) Anyway, it's been a LONG while since I've posted any new recipes, but I figured I'd better write down some and share them before I forget the recipes. But since I'm the kind of person who checks out a baking blog solely for the recipes, and NOT to read a super LONG post about how amazing the specified recipe is (obviously it's good or you wouldn't post it...right?) I'm going to cut my "I'm so busy rant" short and give you the goods. Enjoy!

Cookies 'n Cream Cheesecake

Crust:

-1 1/3 C Oreo or dark chocolate cookie crumbs 

-1/3 C melted butter

-combine the crumbs and butter and mix thoroughly. Press firmly into a 9 in cheesecake pan. (if you are doing mini cheesecakes, press into the muffin tins)

Filling:

-3 pkg cream cheese, softened
-1 can of condensed milk
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 eggs
-1 1/2 C crushed chocolate cookies or Oreos

-Mix the cream cheese with the condensed and vanilla until smooth.
-Add the eggs, one at a time, only mixing until fully incorporated. Don't over mix.
-Fold in the crushed cookies pieces
-Pour over top of the crust.
Bake at 300 degrees for 30-45 minutes until the center is almost set. You want about the size of a quarter to still look a little wet in the middle. If you are making cupcakes or mini cupcakes, you will want to cut the time down considerably, depending on the size of cupcakes.

-Allow to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for at least 2-4 hours before serving. Top with white chocolate whipped cream and garnish with cookie crumbs before serving if desired.

White Chocolate Whipped Cream

-1 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
-1 C white chocolate chips (add more or less depending on how sweet you like your whipped cream)-1 tsp vanilla

-Mix the chocolate chips with 1/2 c of the cream and melt in the microwave or stove top until smooth. (stirring frequently) Allow to cool to room temperature.
-Whip the remaining cup of cream and vanilla until thick.
-While still whipping the cream, slowly add the melted chocolate mixture to the whipped cream. Mix until smooth.
-Top cheese cake and chill until ready to serve. 

Chicken Soup with Rice

The kids love to go to story time at the Library and a while ago, the Librarian read a book called Chicken Soup with Rice. The kids have of course been asking for chicken soup with rice ever since. I finally made it and they gobbled it right up!

Chicken Soup with Rice

-1 large chicken breast
-1 C onions, diced
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 C celery, diced
-2 C carrots, diced
-1 tsp dried parsley
-3 C chicken broth
-1 C rice
-salt and pepper to taste

-in a soup pot place the rice in the chicken broth and bring to a boil
-dice the chicken breast and in a separate frying pan, brown the chicken with the onions, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.
-dump everything into the soup pot with the rice and add the celery and carrots.
-simmer over medium heat until the rice and vegetables are cooked through. Add more water or chicken broth if you'd like more liquid in your soup. 

Cornmeal Muffins

This is one of my first recipes that I made up and the experience then snowballed into me making up a lot of recipes. This one took a few months to get just the way we wanted it  Buttery, moist, and they don't fall apart when you take off the muffin liner. They are pretty darn tasty, especially on the side of baked beans and pulled BBQ pork!

Cornmeal Muffins

-1 C butter (room temp)
-1 1/4 C sugar
-3/4 tsp salt
-2 eggs (room temp)
-1 1/2 C corn meal
-1 1/4 C buttermilk
-1 tsp baking powder
-2 C flour

-Cream butter, sugar and salt until light in color and fluffy in texture
-add eggs, fully incorporating one at a time
-add cornmeal and mix thoroughly
-sift together baking powder and flour together in a separate bowl
-starting with the flour mixture add it alternatively with the buttermilk to the batter, mixing only until just combined between each addition. (ie add a little flour, mix until just combined, a little buttermilk mix until just combined, a little more flour, mix, a little more buttermilk, etc until everything is mixed together)
-drop into lined muffin tins

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until done