Blueberry Crumb Cake

Or should I say Blueberry YUM Cake??? This is a keeper people! I had a carton of blueberries that needed to be used, and we actually have a free morning to ourselves this sultry second day of August. So what does that mean? Yep, you guessed it. A PW recipe to critique. And critique we did...


Blueberry Crumb Cake is simple. Like extremely simple. And it will become a breakfast of champions once school begins in a little over a month. It's not too sweet so you can really enjoy the flavor of your fresh blueberries. The kids all had seconds and I had to slow them down so we could get at least ONE more breakfast out of this 9x13 pan of goodness.

I did alter the recipe, just a tad. I used spelt flour (which has an unbelievable amount of nutrition) instead of all-purpose. And by what I said above, it did not affect the flavor of this cake in the least. In fact, it may have enhanced it?


So, if you're looking for a yummy alternative for your old stand-by coffeecakes, give this one a try. It's delish!

Donuts for breakfast!!

Yes, this recipe is very similar to the French Breakfast Puffs that I made months ago without the baking powder, remember?

Muffins that taste like Donuts just had to be made this morning. I didn't take the time to look closely at just how similar they are to the French Breakfast Puffs, but the kiddos said they taste almost the same.

When I told them I was making Muffins that taste like Donuts Kassidy said to me: "Well, I will be the judge of that..." Oh my, I think we are gonna be in for an adventure with that girl. In my kids' minds, donuts taste like long john's or chocolate covered donuts---so the sugary cake donuts (which is what these taste like) they don't really know. But none-the-less, the each ate two and were begging for a third.

Super easy to make--you don't need a mixer. It's as simple as adding dry and wet ingredients together. And on a side note, I did half white and half wheat flour. Truly, dipped in butter and rolled in sugar, the kids had NO clue. Yep, I am sneaky.

Cherry Banana Coconut Butter Bread

Oh my word, this bread is amazing! A couple of different blogs I have read recently have showcased this bread and have swooned all about it. So, you guessed it...I went straight to the store to get the ingredients I needed and made this nutrient beast last night. (Mostly for a little snack before bed for me, but the critics RAIDED the loaf pan!)


Cherry Banana Coconut Butter Bread was very simple to make. No mixer, no cracking of eggs--just incorporating the wet and dry ingredients. Generally I am drawn to recipes that have very common ingredients that I would have on hand. That is what makes PW's recipes so enticing to me. So when you check this ingredient list, you may be disheartened to find that you will have to go in search of spelt flour, coconut butter, and perhaps pure maple syrup. And admittedly, I did NOT find the coconut butter but instead tried to make my own in the vitamix. Not sure if the coconut butter turned out the way it should, but the BREAD was delicious.


The bread is made out of all whole foods. I am becoming fond of spelt flour which you can find at your local whole foods stores. I read that it keeps its nutrition when refrigerated. You can read all about the health benefits of spelt here.

The critics loved this bread, by the way. And if I find something they love that is nutrient dense such as this?? Well, I'm gonna go make another loaf...

Coffee Cake

Thought I'd do something nice today for all the FATHER's in our Sunday School class in honor of Father's Day. It's the thought that counts, right? All I can say is I am thankful that my sis-in-law shared the "something nice" today with me and made her own bundt cake, for my coffee cake was stuck to my pan!

The coffee cake tasted fine, but all the yummy stuff ran to the bottom and just stuck there. We really needed a chisel to get the good stuff. It would have tasted SO much better had it looked like PW's. But no, something went wrong. Thankfully there were a few gracious people in class that took some---and a good number of starving kiddos after Sunday school that pounded it down.

But due to the mishaps as stated above, paired with some of the obnoxious details of whipping egg whites and folding them in to the batter, I will be sticking to my good 'ole favorite coffee cake recipe that turns out yummy each and every time!

Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful father's...but mostly I wish my awesome Dad and hubby a very special day.

Bananaberry Muffins

Behold! A morning starring something other than cereal, bagels, or toast!!! Bananaberry Muffins hit the spot this morning and left smiles on faces all around...

They are kind of hard to pronounce but definitely simple to make. I love that you are using all whole ingredients from home and not from a box. Simple, real food. They are moist and bursting with both flavors of banana and blueberry. I used 1 1/2 cups of wheat flour and a 1/2 cup white flour and the kids thought they were wonderful. The muffins bake in 20 minutes and there you have it---homemade Bananaberry muffins. Hoping they'll freeze well too. I'm adding these to my list of favorite muffins!!

Butterscotch Caramel Rolls

I would love to share this recipe with you all. It really is so yummy. My mom made these rolls many Sunday mornings before church when we were growing up. And I always requested them for my birthday breakfast too. They are relatively easy and just taste amazing!!

You need 18 Rhodes White Dinner Rolls. These come frozen in a pack of 36. Usually I am making these rolls for more than just my family and will just make a double recipe. Put the frozen bag of rolls (or just 18 for one recipe) in the fridge to thaw out overnight. I usually do this late at night. In the morning cut the rolls in fourths and lay in a greased 9x 13 pan.

Now mix with a wire whip:

1 Box Cook and Serve Butterscotch Pudding ( DO NOT USE INSTANT!!!)

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup Melted Butter

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Vanilla

1/2 Cup Milk

Now pour this mixture over your buns and let rise until double in size. Usually about an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. When done, line cookie sheet with foil and flip rolls on to cookie sheet. Enjoy!!

A Revelation

We had a HUGE garage sale this past weekend. Oh my goodness! It was wonderful to declutter and clean things out, but a lot of work. Definitely it was worth it, but now my house is a disaster and needs a major cleaning overhaul.


In honor of PW, we sold cinnamon rolls for breakfast. You can grab the recipe here if you've never seen it before. But chances are if you read this blog, you have heard of the cinnamon rolls---I make them all the time!


Well, the point of this post is that I/we (the critics also) have determined that we just absolutely love a different cinnamon roll frosting better than PW's maple/coffee concoction. Don't get me wrong, hers has a distinct flavor that is really good. But we all think this one is better. So here you go, here's the recipe. It is from my dear friend Shannon who is as amazing as PW in the kitchen.

On low heat, melt 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup brown sugar. When melted, add 1/2 cup milk and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla, pinch of salt, and enough powdered sugar to your desired consistency.

I have strayed from this frosting recipe just because #1 PW's is good, and secondly PW's is so easy. But if you really want rolls that are over the top, try the above recipe. You will not be disappointed. In my opinion, of course.

A Berry is a Berry

Mondays always come too quickly after the weekend, but for some reason I welcome back the routine of the week. We are completely out of cereal and I was in no mood to make eggs (surprise!), and everyone ate toast yesterday (on the WAY to church, mind you), so...

Muffins it was! I must say, that these muffins were good, but probably much better if you would have used the blueberries as the recipe states. Since I have no fresh blueberries and I had strawberries that were on the verge of rotting, I decided to interchange my berries. It worked and the girls thought they were about the best darn muffins they have ever eaten. However, Kassidy left her warm strawberries on her plate. I would have to admit, that warm strawberries were a bit hard for me to take also---therefore, my toaster did not go unused this morning. The recipe states to let the muffins cool completely. Well, if we were to have done that, Natalie would have for sure gone off the deep end and been almost tardy. So, the warm muffins we did eat.

I am definitely wanting to try this muffin recipe again using blueberries. Although if you're a strawberry fan, it will work. Just let them cool off please.

Cheesy or Cheesey Bread? That is the question...

Regardless of how you spell "cheesy" (which is the correct spelling, by the way), Garlic Cheese Bread is soooo good!

We had our very good friends come to visit us from out East and decided to try out a couple of recipes from the infamous PW for our evening meal. Doubtful that Garlic Cheese Bread could be anything but glorious, I and my other fellow cooks were somewhat skeptical of the key odd ingredient in this recipe. That being...mayonnaise.

What the mayonnaise did, in fact, was to provide a "tang", a "bite", an overall bit of interest which also allowed for a very creamy melted cheese heaven on top of the french bread.

Garlic Cheese Bread is definitely where it's at when it comes to cheesy bread. This bread will work well along side your pasta dishes and basically anytime you need some type of bread.

Don't be afraid of the mayonnaise! You need to make Garlic Cheese Bread. I think I will make it again tonight!

Apple Fritter Block Party

Call me impulsive. I checked here and saw the recipe for Apple Fritters and you guessed it, I high-tailed it down to the local food market and got me some Granny Smith apples. So what do you think the kiddos had for a snack on this beautiful 50 degree March afternoon??

Apple Fritters turned out really good. They are similar to New Year's Cookies that Steve's grandma makes, but with apples instead of raisins. My critics much prefer apples to the raisins as was evidenced by an inhalation of their snack today. Granted Apple Fritters have apples in them, I would not necessarily call them healthy, per se. Fried in oil and all, and then smothered in a donut type icing...uh, yeah. Therefore we made it a neighborhood block occasion and took some to our surrounding neighbors. We were NOT eating that whole batch although we could have...easily.

Definitely good. Definitely a keeper. Definitely a 5 smiley star. Definitely need my treadmill...

Thinking Out of the Box

Any one ever been at the place where your husband refuses to let you spend $$ out of your means. Meaning, that I must have CASH in hand before I go to the grocery store. None of this Discover card stuff so you can earn extra cash back. Why would you want to do that? And none of this writing checks kind of stuff, because you'll be tempted to spend money that is allocated to other bills, necessities, etc. So, it's a CASH only grocery shopping trip. Don't get me wrong. I get it. I totally get it. It's responsible, it's spending with in our means, it's uh, frugile. But, I will argue, I won't get any CASH back by using only CASH. And Steve would argue against that philosophy...


My point to all of this, is that we are down to 1/4 cup of milk, no orange juice, no hamburger, no chicken, and a few eggs. I had buttermilk, eggs, and most baking supplies available. So I decided to get creative and find a recipe that would double as a good snack for the critics and also could be a good breakfast. Since last night was church night, I did not have to worry about supper and today is grocery shopping day! To help me out, of course, I turned to the one and only. And like always, she had just the thing I was looking for. Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins.
These are so easy! And the kiddos really liked them. Cute too, aren't they? The recipe says that you should serve these warm out of the oven, smother them with butter, and dip them in syrup. YUMMO! Now, that is out of the box thinking. I love it!
A quote from my youngest critic was this-- "They don't have a lot of taste". Does that sound like a professional food critic or what? At the young age of 5, I think he is taking his job very seriously. And I'm proud of him for it... (now smother it with butter and dunk it in syrup and then tell me it's tasteless, boy!) Just kidding. I take his criticism very seriously. He wasn't the most impressed with Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins. Although he did eat his fair share.

Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins will definitely be added to my breakfast freezer recipes along with my old standby Cinnamon Chip Muffins as pictured above. Ahhh, at least we have breakfast taken care of for the rest of the week...

Now off to make my grocery list. Because as good as these muffins are, I don't think the critics will appreciate Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins for dinner tonight.

Pass the Honey Butter

I searched and searched the website to find the recipe for Buttermilk Biscuits, but couldn't find it. It was a recipe that I made from PW's cookbook and I really thought they were going to be just unbelievable. The dough did not work well, it was kind of dry. And I know I did not roll it out thick enough because these biscuits were about 1/2 inch thick. Talk about U.G.L.Y.!!! I also baked them too long so they were dark.

Nothing turned out well with this recipe. Nothing EXCEPT for the Honey Butter! Oh my goodness, honey butter is so yummy. The honey butter was so yummy that it even disguised the biscuits enough to where the critics thought they were actually good. It wasn't until the next day did we all realize how much we did not like the biscuits.

I am not saying that I made this recipe as it should have been made. The pictures in her book sure did look good, and my biscuits sure did NOT look like the biscuits in the PW cookbook. So I don't know what happened. I may make them again or I may opt for the Grand's! version. We will see. But the honey butter needs to become a staple in this house.

Guess what I bought?!

I know, it's the little things in life that excite me. This last week was payday and I could hardly wait to go get my groceries for this next week. Besides the groceries, a black iron skillet made the list. Looking through her recipes, I knew that it was inevitable. I was going to need one. Do you all have black iron skillets? I know it was the furthest thing from my mind when I was registering for any type of cookware 13 years ago. Hmmm....

Well the Buttered Rosemary Rolls have been in sight for quite some time now. But I did not have a darn black iron skillet. I had some cinnamon roll dough that I mixed up on Friday for whatever the spirit would move in me to make this weekend. Buttered Rosemary Rolls were it! And were they ever!! I LOVED these rolls. There was something about they way they baked in my black iron skillet that I also loved. They browned nicely and were soft and almost had a buttery crust! YUMMO!

I did not give this a 5 smiley star rating due to my critics. A few of them could not get past the fresh rosemary adorning the top of their buns! And once they have made their minds that their buns should not have green sprigs on top, they pretty much didn't eat them.

I have a new found love, as I said in a previous post, for fresh ingredients. And truly, there is nothing quite like fresh herbs when cooking and even baking. I am excited to get my own little herb garden growing! Buttered Rosemary Rolls could be made any time without any thought at all if I had rosemary growing in a little pot on my deck.

I am sure that Buttered Rosemary Rolls could be made in any type of baking pan. But if you have a black iron skillet and Rhode's rolls or cinnamon roll dough begging to be made. Well, you know what to do.

Say CHEESE!!

If you have ever wished you could pick up a piece of macaroni and cheese and eat it, make Cheese Muffins and all of your dreams will come true! Honestly, I thought they tasted like a piece of macaroni and cheese. And they probably should with 3 cups of cheese in the recipe.

You could not make anything simpler in a pinch if you were needing a type of "bread" with your meal. I think it may have taken me all of 10 minutes from the time I started until the Cheese Muffins were in the muffin tins ready to go in the oven. Let me tell you---I LOVE THAT!!! My girls thought they were divine, Steve said they were a keeper, but Landon just kind of picked at his. He picked at all of his food though, tonight. Must have been the apple, peppernuts, clementines, and extra chicken he was grazing on all afternoon.

Cheese Muffins would be especially good with soup. And I plan to do just that the next time I have soup. But first, I'm gonna need to hit the grocery store and buy some more cheese.

Cream Cheese Bread

This recipe has become a favorite of our family. My mom started making this many years ago and once I got over my fear of yeast I began making it too. The thing is, this bread tastes like it is very hard to make, but really it is not. I will tell you that it takes practice and it doesn't always turn out the same. Regardless, I continue to make it multiple times each year. But mostly I make it at Christmas time. And there is ONE other specific time that we make this bread...


That's right, Natalie has not had a birthday cake since 2006. It is ALWAYS a plate of Cream Cheese Bread.



The girls love this bread so much that they have requested it for Christmas gifts to give their teachers at school. I also make it for various parties we have throughout the season. It has become a favorite and I've had requests for the recipe, so here you go all!

Cream Cheese Bread

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

5 tsp. yeast

1/2 cup warm water

4 cups flour

Stir sour cream over low heat in a sauce pan. Add sugar, salt, and butter. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. In a mixing bowl add warm water then sprinkle yeast over the top and let dissolve. When dissolved add sour cream mixture, eggs, and flour. This dough will be sticky. Do not add any more than 4 cups of flour.

Now cover and refrigerate overnight.

Divide dough into 4 equal parts. Roll each into an 8x12 rectangle.

Prepare Cream Cheese Mixture:

Mix 2 pkgs cream cheese (softened)

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla

Spread 1/4 of cream chees mixture on each rectangle. Roll into log form, slite each roll diagonally across the top 3 times. Arrange on a greased jelly roll pan. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes. Cover with glaze while loaves are still warm.

Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. milk

2 tsp. vanilla

Who knows? Maybe she would even like this recipe...