Bread Pudding

Bread pudding is the ultimate comfort food. It is also so very flexible that one would have topractically try to mess it up. One time, a batch of Amish Friendship Bread (the culinary equivalent of those old-school chain letters that haunt one's existance) was such failure that I just cubed it, let it dry out, and I'll be derned if didn't make a killer bread pudding. Then again, any dessert consumed with bourbon sauce, The Bachelor, and the company of fellow blog contributers. . .

Anyway, the bottom line is this: Comfort food + Easy = Me loving it.

So I had made these whole wheat dinner rolls a while back (like way back), and there were a few left. I always let them hang around on the counter for a while with the intention of bread pudding, but these were really like little rocks. Like, get-the-rolling pin-out-and-hammer-them-to-pieces rocks.

I had also just procured four adorable ramekins, so the stars were obviously lined up and screaming bread pudding at me.

Bread Pudding

makes 3 servings in 1/2 cup ramekins

1 and 1/2 c. dried out bread, cubed or broken

1 c. milk

2 eggs

1/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

a sprinkle of nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350. Divide the bread among the ramekins (this can also be done in a baking dish on a slightly larger scale).

In a bowl, mix up the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and spices.

Pour over the bread. This will probably cause the bread to float up a bit.

For a few minutes, weight a plate on top of the ramekins to hold the bread down so it soaks up some of the custard mixture.

Put them in the oven and wait anxiously for 20 or 30 minutes, or until a knife comes out like they're done. Cool for at least 10 minutes before eating.

Notes: This is a very basic recipe. Because I only had skim milk, I added a few thin slices of melted butter. You could probably throw in another egg if you wanted it a little richer, or more sugar if you like things sweeter.

Raisins are a fun addition, or take out the cinnamon and nutmeg and add chocolate chips.

Apple Crostata

Mmmmmmm!

The other night I had a bunch of friends over. I had some apples in the fridge and some flour in the cupboard so I decided to try an impromptu Apple Crostata. I know. I sound pretentious. Like the Barefoot Contessa. I'd been meaning to try it though, and I just thought the setting was right for it.

I was first introduced to apple crostada at Coffee Slingers (who get's their pastries at Praire Thunder Bakery). Apple crostata is best described as a little pocket of apple pie only it's better, because it's sweet and cinnamony and the crust is so tender and buttery. The crostata Praire Thunder makes are "personal sized" which are accessible and nice in their own way. The evening I made mine, I just felt like we all needed to share a huge crostata together.

First make the outside pie dough. Combine in a food processor:

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick of cold, cold butter

Process ingredients together until the contents look like clumpy sand. Add 3 tbsp of cold water and combine until dough is formed. Form dough into a disk and wrap in saran wrap. Refrigerator until it is chilled well.

Peel, core and chop 3 large or 6 small apples. I don't care what kind you use. I had granny smith in the fridge and they were excellent.

Next, roll out you pie dough. I just made mine into a huge circle. Here are two terrible pictures of the dough rolling process for you to reference.

Place the chopped apple pieces in the middle of the dough, leaving about an inch and a half border. Make your crostata filling by combining:

1/4 cup of flour

1/4 cup of sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

Sprinkle this mixture on top of the apples. Or you could always toss the apples into the dry ingredients. Fold the edges of the dough over the apples and filling to make a "pocket". I pinched off the areas where the dough overlapped. Thinnly slice a tbsp of butter and place slices in over the crostata.

Bake on 450 degree Farenheit for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. You can let it cool, but it's better if you enjoy it hot off the pan like we did.

BEST Banana Pudding

Hi there :) My normal day to post is Saturdays, but since I've neglected the past 2, and no one seems to mind a sporadic post here and there, I'm taking advantage of a day off work and posting today!

I enjoy banana pudding very much - enough to say it's probably in my top 3 dessert choices. When I first tasted Nora Berry's banana pudding I knew it was the best I'd ever

had. This specific dessert is made even more special to me because Nora Berry is the mother of a very important man in my life, Joey. I was first introduced to her pudding on a visit to his hometown in the DFW area, then Joey made it once while we were in college at OU. The first time I loved it, the second time I knew I had to have the recipe!

Today I am sharing the love :)

Ingredients:

2 large boxes (or 3 small) of banana instant pudding

Approx. 6 cups milk

1 box vanilla wafers of your choice

Bunch of bananas

1 tub whipped topping

Now, you should know that not all banana pudding is the same. There is a certain ingredient that makes Nora's recipe stand out among the rest....and that ingredient is....

ahhhhlelulah!!! Can you hear the angels singing? ;)

add an 8oz. pkg of cream cheese to your list of ingredients

Directions:

Soften the cream cheese, then mix with whipped topping. Prepare instant pudding as directed on box (this is where the milk comes into play). Slowly add pudding mixture to the cream cheese/cool whip blend. The pudding should become a pale yellow color. Mix until smooth.

**PAUSE** for a mini-lesson on how to properly peel a banana:

For years I've tried to open bananas by breaking the stem-part off at the end. This resulted, more often than not, in mush. Most people I know also open bananas in this manner - it's how our parents taught us, right? Well, it's time we take a lesson from the monkeys.

If you've ever noticed the way a monkey chooses to peel a banana, you'll note that they do NOT start from the end with the stem! Instead, they pinch the other end of the banana and peel from there, like so

It's much easier with no mush involved!

Slice bananas (as many as desired).

In a dish, layer vanilla wafers, pudding, then sliced bananas.

Repeat until the dish is filled. Garnish the top with crushed wafer cookies.

Listen as your taste buds cheer!

P.S. I made this dessert for the Mesta Park potluck last night and it was a hit! Beulah house church-ers will get the leftovers tonight :)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day. Yep. I'm going there.

I made my very excellent, very sweet, very charming boyfriend these cookies because they are his very favorite. And because it's Valentine's day week. And because cooking is my love language and I express my affections for people best through it.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) of butter

1 cup of peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 Eggs

2 cups of flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup of chocolate chips (or the whole entire bag, you're grown and can make your own decisions).

Preheat oven on 325 degrees F. Cream butter in a stand mixer. Incorporate peanut butter. Add sugars and eggs. Add dry ingredients and mix well until everything is incorporated. Add chocolate chips. Spoon onto cookie sheets and bake for 12-15 minutes or until browned.

Homemade Oreos

Hey there.

I'm Annie, and I'm really glad you stopped by to check out our new blog. Tonight I have a recipe that I can't wait to make again. The effort-to-reward ratio is totally in your favor here.

First, as seems to be the thing to do--a bit about myself ( insofar as is necessary for blogging purposes):

I have somehow become the resident dessert-maker for our little community of cookers and eaters. This just happened. I claim no more skills in the production of such confectionry than any of our others. I do enjoy it, however, and seem to have the "What the hell, it'll taste good regardless of what it looks like" attitude necessary for such projects.

I have a thing for family recipes and farmers' markets. I'm scared to death of the day when kids don't know where anything comes from. Even if that means a sunburn and sore hamstrings from picking beans in the summer.

Cooking should never be more trouble than it's worth, and sharing it with your friends is the best part. This isn't to say I haven't selected a few lady-like profanities when caramel seizes or an improvised cake carrier tragically fails. But the good thing about my friends is that they eat it anyway.

All of that said, this blog is a fun project for the seven girls contributing. We are blessed with one another and our shared love of all things genuine and delicious. Please enjoy.

Homemade Oreos

Adapted from recipe originally published in Retro Desserts.

I love chocolate, and for this reason, I never purchase Oreos. Dangerous situation. If you think about it, though, they're a little strange. Like, what on earth are they even made of? No one knows. What you will find below is a recipe for something more honest, but with every ounce of the addictive appeal we know so well. Your friends will think you're magical.

The Cookie Part:

• 1 ½ cups flour
• ½ cup cocoa
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 ¼ sticks butter, room temp.
• 1 egg

The Middle Part

• ½ stick butter, room temp.
• ¼ cup shortening
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 375. In a mixer, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. On low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Mix until dough comes together. Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Making sure to keep size uniform, form balls with a rounded teaspoon of dough and place two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

For the filling, mix butter and shortening at low speed. Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn mixer to high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until light and fluffy.

To assemble the cookies, pair them up by size. Using a pastry bag or whatever seems like a good idea, get about a teaspoon of filling in the middle of one cookie. Top with the second, and gently press to get filling to the edges.