You're the Snicker to my Doodle

Here it is. The long awaited "catch-up" post!! Get yourselves ready for two scrumptious recipes!! The lemon-coconut frosting....aaaaaaannnnddddd....SNICKERDOODLES!!! I am so happy for two reasons. First: Sharing these recipes is like sending little bits of joy into a world. Second: I made and ate said recipes :)

This frosting recipe really was a bit of an experiment. I started brainstorming by a typical icing base-powdered sugar and butter. Add honey and milk and a squirt of lemon and you are well on your way. The frosting this way was delicious...but needed something. Coconut, shredded sweetened coconut.

1/2 cup   butter
1    TBS  honey
3    TBS  milk
*combine these ingredients in a suacepan over medium heat. When simmering remove.
2+  cups  powdered sugar
*When contents of saucepan are simmering, remove from heat and sift in powdered sugar.
*Add squirt of lemon to taste
*Add coconut (as much or as little as desired. We put in about a cup)
I found that adding the lemon required adding more powdered sugar to thicken the frosting.



This tasted fantastic over a strawberry cake :)

...
!!!!!!!!
The best cookies deserve the best names. And how can anyone say that "snickerdoodle" is not the funnest and coolest name for a dessert??

Fer realsies though. I LOVE snickerdoodles! If made right, they top chocolate chip AND peanut butter cookies.

Not even joshing you on this one.

I mean, one of my favoritethings to do is make snickerdoodles and sit by a fire. In fact. I think I'll be taking the snickerdoodles I just made and going to sit by the fire with some hot chocolate as soon as I'm done posting! ...well maybe it's a bit warm for that here in sunny San Diego on a March afternoon...but still, don't think I'll be sharing these!!

Snickerdoodles
1       cup           shortening
2                           eggs
1 1/2   cups         granulated sugar
2 3/4    cups        all-purpose flour
1         tsp           baking soda
1/2     tsp           salt
2         tsp           cream of tartar
*cream shortening, sugar, and eggs together
* in a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar.
*mix wet and dry mixtures together.
BAKE @ 350°F for 8 min. 

~The baking part is always the tricksssiest part of this cookie. Don't leave them in too long or they'll be too hard and stiff. You might have to experiment a bit to find the perfect timing for your tastebuds :)

Happy snickering to you!
~Molly Marie

Happy St. Patty's Day Snickerdoodle Style!

I just had to make a quick post in honor of the greenest holiday of the year!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!! :D

I just love St. Patrick's Day! Every year the Leprechaun visits and leaves us gold wrapped candy. Yummy yum yum!

This year, Jon and I made a little treat to thank him...Snickerdoodles!! But not just any snickerdoodles!!!

GREEN snickerdoodles!

 

They are quite simple to achieve and don't take any special ingredients. Just a good snickerdoodle recipe (which I'll be posting next week, so stay tuned!) and some green food coloring :)

These are kid friendly too! Rolling the dough in the cinnamon sugar mixture is one of the best parts and is super easy for a child to help :)







These snickerdoodles are easy, fun, and a GREAT way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

Patrick O'Leprechaun's Snickerdoodles

   We didn't catch Patrick this time...maybe next year lol

Keep searching and someday you'll find your gold at the end of the rainbow :)

~MollyMarie

Recreating Glory

So. Confession time. Man vs Food makes me feel like I can take on anything! Most of my family gets grossed out watching that guy eat...me? Yeah, sometimes it hurts me to watch him...but other times he inspires me!!

Adam traveled to San Antonio in a rerun that was shown recently. And this particular time watching the episode, I was inspired to bake.

I was inspired to attempt a recreation of glory...otherwise known as the cinnamon rolls from Lulu's Bakery and Cafe.

 (skip to 1:15 for the glory)

Now. As a disclaimer, I did not actually make a 3 1/2 lbs cinnamon roll. I DID however, make some pretty ginormous ones! Aaaaaaannnndddd. THEY WERE DELICIOUS!!!! Can you guess what recipe I used?? Just take a wild guess, and if you have no clue, you need to read my previous posts. :D

**SPOILER** 

I used the best bread recipe in the world as the roll part.

THE LIFE OF A CINNAMON ROLL

starring: a ginormous cinnamon roll

directed by: Molly Marie

Prior to Baking

In the Oven!

Beautious!

The frosting looks fantastic! :)

It's not 3 1/2 lbs...but it's close!!!!

It seems to have a heavenly glow...

The last bite

Bread recipe can be found at: Our Best Bites

for the filling:

1/2    cup    butter

1       cup    brown sugar (firmly packed)

3-4   TBS   gr. cinnamon

for the frosting:
2       oz   cream cheese
1/4   cup  butter
1      cup  powdered sugar
1/2    tsp  vanilla

The very essence of heaven. No joke. I wouldn't lie to you.

Enjoy!
~MollyMarie

Back to My Bread

*sigh. Sometimes I wonder if I should just turn this into a bread blog. I honestly LOVE my bread recipe so much!! And since I didn't have time to try making anything new for Valentine's Day. . . I decided to put a twist on a recipe that I know EVERYBODY loves!!

So it's really just a normal bread braid using the dinner roll recipe from previous posts, but instead of leaving it in a line-braid, I connected the ends and then pushed the middle in the make a heart shape. Easy, delicious, and PERFECT for Valentine's Day :)

This idea could be used for any holiday or just for fun! A four-leaf clover for March? Maybe an oval shape for Easter? even a Mickey head? This recipe is quite delicious in whatever shape you eat it!!

~Molly Marie

(the roll recipe can be found at Our Best Bites Seriously, check these guys out. Everything they make looks FANTASTIC!)

Day After the Feast

All went well! My rolls were received with much love and the meal was FANTASTIC!!! I found a new adoration for sweet potatoes, I found out that just because my stomach couldn't fit anymore turkey or stuffing didn't mean that cookies and pie could not be consumed, and I found that even when your pants no longer fit your waist. . . one can still be quite content.

My Aunt decorated the house so cute and being around family was seriously the best! The food was aplenty the football was a playin and we skyped with family from Idaho. . .which included my sister this year!! Since she's up in Idaho for school (I know, poor poor child lol) she spent the holiday with my cousins. I really do miss her (but shhh. don't let her know! haha). AND Uncle Danny and Aunt Rachel skyped from Australia! They're doing swell and are coming over to the States soon to spend Christmas with us!

Speaking of Christmas. . . . . . .

It's officially the season!! We started decorating!!

Christmas Oh Christmas. The best time of year.

The piano is one of my FAVORITE things about our house. . . and come Christmas, I love it even more!! :)

 An awkward angle. . . but the houses really look cute! Go Mom for your creativity! The house looks great so far!!!



Life is just the bees knees! And come December 1st, Jon and I are starting the 24 Days of Fun! Each day we will make a craft, make a treat, or do something special (like playing at the Christmas tree farm.. . yeah you read right! There's a Christmas tree farm by our house!). It'll be very memorable for Jon and for me. . .and as he grows up I want him to have those good memories of his sister! :)

 I'll keep you all updated on the crafts and awesome Christmas shenanigans happening throughout the month. . . so just stay tuned!!

Keep Happy!!
~MollyMarie

THANKSGIVING!!! the day of reckoning...

Thanksgiving FINALLY came!!

Last night was spent in the kitchen...and I mean ALL last night...AND ALL yesterday morning...or as I so intelligently called it a few days ago "last morning." (Yeah. I got teased for that one! But the more I think about it...the less wrong it sounds lol. I may just go with it haha.)

As you may have guessed. . . . I didn't go to Magic Mountain. My responsible side won out. But I'm glad I chose to stay home. Not only did I finish the rolls, which turned out splendidly, I went to class, which was super good because even though the teacher said that not coming wouldn't penalize people. . . we ended up learning A LOT! I'm pretty sure that if I had missed, I would have come to class Monday and been completely and utterly lost. BUT I went and so I'll be great and good on Monday :) Also. I ended up making cookies!! Peanut butter for my Mom and sugar cookies for Thanksgiving night.

 ADORABLE right?!? haha follow the link to see where I originally got the idea! Only thing I changed is due to laziness! Instead of using icing for the beak and feet and M&Ms for the eyes. . .I just stuck a candy corn on for the beak and used some leftover candy from my gingerbread kit for the eyes. It doesn't look quite as good as the original, but I'm still pretty happy with them!
http://theherberfamily.blogspot.com/2009/10/thanksgiving-treats.html

 

Yeah check out my other post
 for the recipe and better pics!
nutty for my peanut butter

BUT I KNOW THAT YOU ARE WONDERING ABOUT. . . . . .  THE ROLLS!!!!

Well. Here they are :) My babies. . . . 

 There are sooooo many. I think I've made my quota of rolls for the next decade!! lol. But I did enjoy perfecting my own roll recipe!








Only a few of the batches...

They LOOK SO GOOOOOOOD!!!! And they taste even BETTER!!! Huurrraaaahhh for perserverance and hardwork! Go Me...and of course all those who helped me succeed!

We'll see how it goes!!
MollyMarie

PS: I wrote this BEFORE our Thanksgiving Feast...But IT WENT SPECTACULAR!! My next post will include comment on people's reactions and on just Thanksgiving stuff :D

Thanksgiving Fast Approaches

The big day is almost here!!! Aaaaaaaaand life has just put me in a crunch : / While my siblings get the week off for the holiday, I have school until the bitter end. School on Thanksgiving Eve!! SO UNFAIRRRRR!!! I had hoped my teacher would be really nice and graciously cancel class. . . I found out today that he was not as great as I had originally thought. I mean really?? Doesn't my teacher want an extra day of break?? I kow I would! I had super hoped class would be cancelled. Not only just for Thanksgiving Eve. . . but because a group of my friends planned a Six Flags trip that day. I LOVE 6FLAGS! I WANT TO GOOO!!!! But missing a 500level college course isn't the most ideal thing to do. . . So now I have to decide whether or not to be responsible. . . bleck. BUT on top of that:

The Rolls

When would I have time to make my rolls? It's an all day thing for me to make just one batch. . . but to make multiple batches to have enough for our Thanksgiving feast. . . it's gonna be crazzzieee. If I went to class like a good child, I'd have to make the rolls in the afternoon and into the night. Deciding to go to Six Flags means I decide to make the rolls into the wee hours of the night. . . after walking all day and wearing myself out. People are counting on my rolls. I'd have to REALLY commit to staying up if I did go, even if I felt like my feet were going to fall off and my brain slip out through my ear holes. Blah de blah humm. What to do. I have no clue.


BUT. On a different topic.

From the Front

I finished my gingerbread holiday house! :D

Scarecrow?
 (my mother informed me
 it looked like a sheep...ah well)

Haha! My TootsieRoll Turkey!

The Back Yard

 only pure talent lets you make a car out of mini 3muskuteers, milkyways, and gum drops!

and the final touch : Melt chocolate chips with peanut butter and then GLOP IT on the roof!! 

....... No. Way :O

I couldn't believe it. And you won't either. Which is why I'm posting pics.

Ready?

Jordan made cookies.

I KNOW! It's unbelievable. He made some chocolate chip cookies and I have to admit. . . the kid is a natural. They were perfect. Am I jealous? Eh. Only when my mom said "these are the best chocolate chip cookies ever!!" implying that the countless times that I made them didn't measure up. So maybe just a tad jealous lol. But not nearly enough to kick him out of the kitchen haha. Benefits of someone else making the sweets far outweighs the negatives!

 Jordan is in a cooking class this semster, and he is really getting into it! They don't actually start cooking/baking until next week...but after his teacher's chocolate chip cookies demonstration. . . the first thing he wanted to do upon reaching home was to bake. Wow. That teacher is good.

The picture quality is no bueno...but these cookies really were delicious! 

  Such a stud! I mean seriously. Bieber hair AND cookies?? Pretty irresistable ;)

                  He is going to make some girl very happy!

~MollyMarie

Oh my GOODNESS!!

HEY!!! GUESS WHAT???????

I re-tried Danny's Dinner Rolls!. . . . . . . . . . . .AND. . . . . . . . . . . .the recipe WORKED! Haha. Apparently, someone wrote the recipe down wrong. Too much salt. So now, my lovely blog readers, I can make Danny's Dinner Rolls. I am not going to sugar coat the raisin too much, so I have to say, I actually like my new roll recipe better. . . but these are still so very very delicious.

Eh. The phone camera doesn't capture the full essence of the magnificence of these beautiful rolls. . . . . . .I think I'm going to invest in an actual camera! The food must look as good as it tastes!

So. Even though Danny's Dinner Rolls won a whopping three times. . . . I emerged VICTORIOUS!!! :D

Keep living, keep loving, keep baking!

~MollyMarie

Cookie Monster's Got Nothing On Us!

I know. Shocking...it's not a bread recipe....please pick up your jaw ;) They're chocolate chip cookieeeeees!!!!!!

How is it possible to have a baking blog and NOT include these lovelies?? It's not. So I'm including them! They are just as tasty as can be and they are sooo easy to make! We make them in quadruple batches. Yup. We go big.

Don't they look mighty fine??. . .despite the less-than-spectacular photography. . . .

They are just the greatest...and they go super quick at my house!

               CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

                    2/3    cup    shortening

                    1/2    cup    sugar

                    1/2    cup    brown sugar

                      1               egg

                      1     tsp.    vanilla

                   1 1/2  cups   all-purpose flour

                    1/2    tsp     baking soda

                    1/2    tsp     salt

                    1/2    cup    chopped nuts (opt.)

~Mix shortening, sugars, egg and vanilla thoroughly.

~Measure flour by dipping method or by sifting.

~Stir dry ingredients together; blend in to wet mixture. Mix in nuts (completely optional. In fact I recommend leaving them out!!! But to each his own haha ) and chocolate chips (now these guys are a MUST! I mean, they ARE chocolate chip cookies after all...but uh, maybe I do leave them out occasionally...or substitute butterscotch chips, or peanut butter chips...or candy)

~Place in rounded tablespoons on an un-greased cookie sheet, pressing down slightly.

~Bake @ 375 deg. for 8-10 minutes or until "delicately browned" (that phrase just sounds soooo delicious, doesn't it??)

YUMMY!! You will NOT REGRET MAKING THESE!!!

~Molly Marie

Batter Bread Up!

FINE! Sue me, sue me! What can ya do me? I love...BREAD! (haha I hope you all caught the Guys and Dolls reference. Frank Sinatra holds my heart and I don't think many will ever be able to even hold a candle to him in my mind...so you see why I'm still single and will most likely continue to be so for a while lol) Pretty much all of my baking time has gone into attempting different bread recipes.

This particular recipe is a batter bread recipe which I got out of the Taste of Home Book of Baking called, Sally Lunn's Batter Bread. The link'll take you to the Taste of Home website so if you search under the recipe name, it will take you to it. I DEFINITELY say go make this bread!! Goodness. Gracious. Amazing!

Isn't it just soooo pretty!!! 

And my family LOVED it! This one's a keeper for my recipe book.

SALLY LUNN'S BATTER BREAD

Ingredients

• 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
• 1 cup warm milk (110° to 115°)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 5-1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 
  HONEY BUTTER:
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup honey

Directions

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, butter, sugar, salt, eggs and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
• Do not knead. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Stir the dough down. Spoon into a greased and floured 10-in. tube pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Bake at 400° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.
• Combine the honey butter ingredients until smooth. Serve with bread. Yield: 12-16 servings.

I didn't actually make the honey butter. Totally forgot and the bread was gone too fast for me to do anything about it once I did remember haha. BUT I'm sure it's delicious. I'll be sure to make it next time!

   it cut so nicely!

     and the inside was                 perrrrfect!

Advice from Molly Marie: GO MAKE THIS BREAD FOR YOURSELF!!!! You will not regret it!!

~Molly Marie

What else to do with my *FANTASTIC* roll recipe??

Make Cinnamon Rolls!!!!

Gosh and golly, I hate to brag. . . but they were INCREDIBLE! Jon helped with a lot of it. He made the filling and rolled them up. Ah. Sooo good! I'm totally making them again!!

The recipe works beautifully for cinnamon rolls and the glaze can be changed up to add variety. Maybe using the lime glaze from the banana bread a couple posts back? Or you could try adding spices, using lemon, or creating something unique!

Make food your own. It's one of the best parts of life!!!

~Molly Marie

Touch of Lime

My adventures with BANANA COCONUT LIME BREAD from Our Best Bites ( oh how wonderful the discovery of this lovely website / blog was! ) and my personal alterations.

Now I'm not a huge banana bread fan.......but I do love to bake. And trying new things is always of big interest to me. I love to experiment! In fact my little brother was recently quoted as saying "Molly should just stop trying to find the perfect recipes for our cookies ( he was referring to snickerdoodles at the time ) we already have the perfect recipes". Which just goes to show you how subjective "perfection" really is. I LOVE our recipes, yet I keep searching to see if what is already great can be better! . . .  But I digress.

Banana Coconut Lime Bread caught my interest just by the sheer interest each flavor gave me. So I tried it...and here are the results...

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze
adapted from Our Best Bites who adapted from Cooking Light

2 C flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 C sugar
1/4 C (4 Tbs) real butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 C mashed ripe bananas (about 4 large bananas)
1/4 C sour cream
2 Tbs milk plus 1 Tbs lime juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C coconut

Topping: additional coconut
Glaze: 1/2 C powdered sugar whisked with 1 1/2 Tbs fresh lime juice

"Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until blended. Add eggs and beat to combine. Add banana, sour cream or yogurt, apple juice (or milk), and vanilla. Beat until blended.
Add flour mixture and beat at a low speed until just combined. Stir in 1/2 C coconut.

Pour batter into a 9×5″ loaf pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Sprinkle additional 2 Tbs coconut on top.

Bake in the oven for about 1 hour or until a knife or skewer inserted in center comes out clean.Note: Check bread after about 40 minutes. If the top has browned and the coconut pieces are looking toasty, cover top of bread lightly with a piece of foil. Continue baking until done.

When done, remove pan from oven. Let cool on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes and then carefully remove from pan. Whisk powdered sugar and lime juice together for the glaze and then drizzle over top. Cool for another 15 minutes before slicing."

Overall, a decent recipe...not my family's favorite creation that I have tried. BUT the smell while it was baking was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!! So I would recommend trying the recipe even if all you do it for is the aroma!! It could just be that my family isn't made up of very big banana bread fans...who knows. You could be an instant celebrity with your family and friends serving this to them! ;)

~Molly Marie

The Pathetic Attempts #3 ...and a new approach

Fail. Fail. fail fail FAIL.

Only word to describe my experience. 

See? They rose this time, at least. And the taste was good...they just...weren't Uncle Danny's. Or maybe my brain and tastebuds have glorified the memory of those rolls. Either way, these rolls just did NOT cut it. It could be due to the fact that the rolls are cursed...and only Danny can recreate them. More likely is that the recipe was produced by request and came from roll-making that was primarily by "feel". So since my Uncle is in Australia, I haven't been given the Roll Initiation. There hasn't been a "showing me how" rather a "look at the recipe and flail miserably in the land of fail" kind of attempts.

SO.

I have decided to perfect my own roll recipe. And I am well on my way....

Exhibit A:

DELICIOUS!!!!! And I don't even care if I sound conceited.

They aren't perfect yet...but they are pretty darn close. And they'll only get better. Thanksgiving is looking promising!

These babies were huge. And a big success with my family.

Next step is to try them out on other people until they become PERFECT!! Time to think of a name for these delightful delectables...suggestions??

~MollyMarie