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Buffalo Roasted Chickpeas (Blogger C.L.U.E.)

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Buffalo Roasted Chickpeas

Buffalo Roasted Chickpeas



Hey everybody! Time for another month of Blogger Clue. You remember… it’s a group I’m a part of on Facebook where we peruse the blogs of one other member in the group and pick a recipe from their blog; one that fits a certain theme. This months theme was “Red”. I mean, Valentines Day and all; makes sense, huh?

I was having a hard time finding something to fit the theme on the blog I was given, which was Lemon And Anchovies run by a lovely lady named Jean. Jean’s blog is wonderful; lots of great recipes I wanted to try… just not many with red, lol. There was a gorgeous raspberry tart in her blog, but I couldn’t afford the berries right now and I will try that one in Spring when berries aren’t as high as a mortgage payment and aren’t shipped from another planet somewhere in a different solar system..

But lookee what I found! I know, chickpeas aren’t red, but these are Buffalo Roasted Chickpeas and anything buffalo style is red, right? Of course right :-p Other than in hummus, it was only fairly recently that I started using chickpeas in things. I may be weird, but to me, they taste almost exactly like boiled peanuts. Since I love boiled peanuts, that means I also love them. And they are, nutritionally, a wonderful source of protein and fiber. But who cares about nutrition. They taste good. 😀 I’ve always loved buffalo wings. I have been known to make a complete glutton of myself with them. We won’t talk about the time my son Cameron and I had a wing eating contest at Hooters once. We’ll just leave it at I won by ONE wing.

But since I don’t want to weigh 500 pounds, I have to find alternate buffalo fixes. These fit the bill quite nicely. A bit spicy, a bit garlicky and with a nice crunch. I was out of olive oil, so I used all butter with this recipe. I think it worked well, as butter is what is usually used in wings. It made it a bit less healthy, but… ummmm… this is me. I also used a touch of onion powder and I increased the oven temp to 425. Jean mentioned that hers didn’t get as crispy as she’d like so I thought a slight jump in temp might take care of that. I think my theory may have been right, because these were wonderfully crunchy.

You know the drill…

Buffalo Roasted Chickpeas

(My changes in parentheses)

 

  • 2 15 ounce cans chickpeas ,drained, rinsed and dried well.
  • 1 teaspoon melted butter (I used 1 1/2 tablespoons butter and no olive oil)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon granulated garlic (garlic powder not garlic salt)
  • (1/4 teaspoon onion powder)
  • Pinch salt
  • 4½ tablespoons Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (or your favorite hot sauce)
  1. Preheat oven to 400 (425 is what I did). Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl; toss to coat.
  2. Lay in a single layer in a pan and bake for 40 to 45 (only took 30 in a 425 oven) minutes, until browned and crispy.
  3. Hide them from everyone else and eat them all.
  4. Go to Jeans blog and tell her she’s wonderful.

Here are all the participants in this months Blogger C.L.U.E. Go check out what they made. Somewhere in there you’ll find one that made a recipe form little old me. Be scared for them. Be very scared.

 

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Participating Bloggers:

Cheaters Easy, Creamy Chicken & Dumplings

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Cheaters Easy, Creamy Chicken & Dumplings

Cheaters Easy, Creamy Chicken & Dumplings



I was never a fan of chicken and dumplings growing up. It was a very heavy dish the way my mom made it. As southerners would say, “Bless her heart… she was a lovely woman, but she might could do something other than cook”.

I’ve said before, my mom made good lasagna considering she was a depression era southern woman. She also made excellent lemon meringue pie. And her fried chicken is something I still haven’t been able to match. But she had her flops too. Say “Garbage Soup” in my or my brothers presence and we’re likely to recoil away and gag. As for her chicken and dumplings, looking back, I can see why it turned out greasy and heavy. Mom just boiled up that chicken until it was tender and then made her Bisquick dumplings right on top, without getting rid of the grease.

While I’d give my right arm to eat her cooking again, I do make most things differently than she did. I used to make chicken and dumplings for the family her way and I could never eat it. So I started cheating. I had some leftover chicken and just started tossing things in a pot with it, then topped it with, yep, Bisquick dumplings. I love those far more than I do the rolled out ones. Over the years, it’s morphed into this dish and I finally can eat chicken and dumplings again. Plus… it’s so darn quick because you use either leftover chicken or a store bought rotisserie one!

You know the drill…

Cheaters Easy & Creamy Chicken & Dumplings

  • 1 rotisserie chicken, skin and bones removed, chopped into bite sized pieces (or about 4 cups of leftover chicken, chopped up)
  • 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 14 ounce cans chicken broth
  • 2 10.75 ounce cans cream of chicken soup, undiluted
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half
  • 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
  • 3 cups biscuit mix (Bisquick)
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • Black pepper to taste
  1. In a large pot, saute the chopped onion and celery in the 3 tablespoons butter until they are soft and limp, about 7 minutes. Pour the chicken broth and soup in with the veggies. Whisk to combine.
  2. Add in the chicken and poultry seasoning. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat for ten minutes or so; long enough to heat everything up nicely. Stir in the cream and turn the heat up enough to bring the soup to a boil.
  3. Combine the biscuit mix and milk in a medium bowl. You’ll have a thick pasty sort of mixture. Use a large spoon to drop large balls of dumpling dough onto the hot soup. You should get about 8 to 10 dumplings. Snuggle them all in there right next to each other.
  4. Cover the pot and cook until the dumplings are tender and fluffy and cooked throughout, about 15 to 20 minutes.
  5. Serve with plenty of black pepper and there may be some out there who want to add some salt. I personally find it salty enough without adding extra.

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Easy Caramel Pecan Brownies

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Easy Caramel Brownies

Easy Caramel Brownies



I first saw this recipe back in like 1984 or 1985 or so, just after I got married to my ex. I was deep into the newlywed “cut out recipes and save them” phase. I got it from, of all places, TV Guide. This was back when TV guide was interesting. It was about the size of a Readers Digest magazine, had a fair amount of articles in it and a nice synopsis of practically every show that came on. They also had a piece at times highlighting celebrity recipes. This one came from John Davidson (yes, I realize fully half of you have no idea who he is, lol while the rest of you are googling his name as you think, “Wow. Is he even still alive? He’s like 200 years old, right?”)) and was aptly titled “John Davidsons Brownies”. The TV Guide people were somewhat lacking in imagination. I guess they used all their creativity describing episodes of M*A*S*H or The Waltons and had none left for recipe titles.

Since then, it has, as most recipes do anymore, swept the web under many different guises with some people (who obviously forget that the rest of us can google) going so far as to say they made these up. You can find it under “Turtle Brownies”, “Cake Mix Brownies” and 900 other names. But it’s still always the same basic recipe. This is one of those times when you don’t want to try to be fancy. No homemade caramel sauce here… no from scratch cake. Normally, I would balk at wrapped cheap caramels, but know what? They totally work here. I hadn’t made these in forever and I had forgotten how good they are. They are intensely chocolatey (in part because I use a chocolate fudge cake mix, not the German chocolate one originally called for), gooey from the caramel and they have a nice crunch from the nuts. I’m not usually a nut person (just nutty personally) but they also help cut the sweetness in the brownies. That way you can eat more of them! 😀

About all I do differently from the original is the cake mix flavor, plus I use half and half rather than the evaporated milk it used and I add about a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the batter.

So what do we have here? Intensely chocolatey brownies, gooey caramel and crunchy nuts. And they’re so easy you can let the kids make them and you can sit and watch old M*A*S*H reruns.  Yeah, you want these.

You know the drill…

Easy Caramel Brownies

  • 1 box dark chocolate fudge cake mix (or whatever chocolate flavor trips your trigger)
  • 1/4 cup half and half
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 14 ounce bag caramels (I use Kraft)
  • 1/2 cup half and half
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped pecans, lightly toasted in a 350 oven (the toasting is optional, but it’s a really good idea)
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13×9 inch pan with foil and spray it lightly with cooking spray.
  2. In a medium bowl, using a wooden spoon (or whatever, just do this by hand) combine the cake mix, 1/4 cup half and half, vanilla extract and the melted butter.. It will be a fairly stiff batter; you didn’t do anything incorrectly. Press about half of this (may take a touch more) into the bottom of the prepared pan. It will be a thin layer.
  3. Bake at 350 for about 5 minutes while you prepare the caramels.
  4. Unwrap the caramels and put them, along with the 1/2 cup of half and half, in a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave for one minute, stir, then microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each one, until they are melted and smooth. Mine take about  two and a half minutes.
  5. Take the brownies out, sprinkle the pecans on top of them, then the chocolate chips. Pour the caramel sauce in an even layer over this. Then, use your hands to break up small pieces of the remaining brownie batter and place it all over the caramel. It will NOT cover the whole thing. You’ll end up with a rather cobblestone look.
  6. Place the pan back in the oven and continue baking until the top is firm and set and the caramel is bubbly, about 15 to 20 minutes.
  7. Let cool for at least an hour, then pull them out using the foil and cut into pieces. They are fairly rich, so it doesn’t take much to satisfy anyone but the most addicted chocoholic. In other words, me. Heck, just cut big squares. Who am I kidding?

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Cheesecake Filled Blueberry Citrus Muffins

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Cheesecake Filled Blueberry Citrus Muffins

Cheesecake Filled Blueberry Citrus Muffins



I realized a few days ago that I haven’t done a muffin post in a while. GASP! Forgive me!? I mean, my blog IS called From Cupcakes To Caviar and what are muffins (in my world anyway) other than cupcakes without the frosting? Because Lord above knows that they aren’t healthy when made by me. I’m the only person alive who can take what should be a wholesome breakfast style food and make it into a caloric mine field, sure to clog your arteries and send you into a sugar coma. I like to think of this ability as one of my finer, more endearing qualities, along with my innate ability to make stuffed animals talk,  charm old people with my politeness and toss and turn in bed so much that my husband can’t sleep. Ok, so maybe that last one isn’t so endearing.

I have been craving fresh fruit lately and am knee deep into a huge orange phase. I can’t get enough of them. This usually hits me about this time of the Winter. Unfortunately though, about the only fresh fruit WORTH eating are the orange varieties. The rest are all shipped in from places like Mars or Venus, not to mention who in their right mind pays 5 bucks for like 25 blueberries in a carton so small an ant couldn’t make a home in it?

So, since I was craving blueberries (in January. Don’t use me as a food role model) and citrus, and knew I needed to make some nice healthy muffins *coughcough*, I combined the ideas, just using frozen berries. But then I totally blew the calorie budget (and I have a really really really really high budget. Call me the Donald Trump of calories.) on a cheesecake filling. But it’s so worth it. These are moist, tender blueberry muffins, with a lovely citrus edge, then you break one open and there lies a creamy cheesecake-ish filling. You can thank me later. For now, go make muffins. And don’t get involved in playing Monster Busters on facebook and forget your muffins and slightly overcook them. I…ummm… heard of someone who did this once. Yeah, that’s it. Heard of someone.

You know the drill…. 😀

This makes 24 muffins so feel free to cut it in half. I make a lot so that we have some to give away but if that’s not your thing, just make half. Or make them all and freeze half for another time.

Cheesecake Filled Blueberry Citrus Muffins

  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 tablespoon +1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 4 eggs, room temp
  • 1 3/4 cups milk
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 12 ounce bag frozen blueberries
  • 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup blueberry or other berry preserves
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  1. Line 24 muffin cups with paper or foil liners. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, blueberry preserves, teaspoon each of orange and lemon zest and flour. Stir well to combine and then set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and orange and lemon zests. Whisk to combine.
  4. In a large measuring cup, combine the eggs, milk, melted butter and extracts. Stir just until combined; it will still have lumps.
  5. Carefully fold in the frozen blueberries.
  6. Fill the prepared muffin cups half full. Add a dollop (about 2 teaspoons or so) of the cream cheese mixture on top of the muffin batter. Use the rest of the batter to finish filling the muffin cups to the tops of the cups. Sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired.
  7. Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 to 30 minutes, until the tops are a nice golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  8. Let cool in the tin for about a minute, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling.

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Vegetarian Chili

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Simple,Hearty Vegetarian Chili

Simple,Hearty Vegetarian Chili



Yes, you read that correctly. Quit sitting there open mouthed looking like I just kicked a puppy. There is actually *gasps and sits here open mouthed looking like someone just kicked a puppy* a healthy recipe on my blog. A vegetarian one no less! I told you lovely people that as I began posting more, I would begin trying to make some of the recipes  healthy *shudders*, maybe even vegetarian.

My son Zachary was recently trying the “Daniel Fast”. This is a fast many Christians use at the beginning of each year. It’s based on the experiences of Daniel, a prophet from the Old Testament of the Bible. It’s a very strict vegan diet that I myself couldn’t handle for more than say, five minutes. I give props to my boy for attempting it. This fast makes vegen-ism look fun, that’s how strict it is 😛 I did my best to help him during his fast by making some dishes that he could enjoy while the rest of us kept on with our normal eating habits. Which, btw, there is nothing so guilt inducing to a mother as having dessert when ones child is on a strict fast, lol.

One of the things I made for him that he liked was this vegetarian chili. Not a speck of meat in this *sobs quietly*. If one wanted to make a nice hearty veggie chili WITH meat, it wouldn’t take much to brown some up and add it into this. But you didn’t hear me say that and I’ll deny it to the death if asked. *gnaws on a bone as I speak*

Seriously though, this is pretty yummy. It’s a very hearty, filling chili, wonderful with cornbread. This is great for Meatless Monday, if you do that, wonderful for a game day if you have people who prefer to watch the meat intake or just because you love it’s flavor and feel like making it, no reasons needed.

You know the drill…. 🙂

Mrs. Cupcake, who is suddenly craving a steak

Vegetarian Chili

  • 4 zucchini, chopped into bite sized chunks
  • 2 medium onions, chopped (about 2 cups)
  • 1 cup chopped green pepper
  • 1 cup chopped red pepper
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, finely minced (or 1 1/2 teaspoons from a jar of  chopped jalapenos)
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 1 28 ounce can Italian stewed tomatoes, cut up
  • 1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes, cut up
  • 1 15 ounce can seasoned pinto beans, undrained (obviously no meat flavor in them if you’re trying to keep this vegetarian)
  • 1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 15 ounce can chili beans, undrained (we like the hot style; use what you prefer)
  • 1/4 cup chili powder
  • 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • cilantro, cheese (vegetarian non dairy cheese if preferred) and green onions for garnish
  1. In a large pot or dutch oven, stirring often, saute the onions, all the peppers, the celery and the garlic in the oil until soft and limp, about 5 to 7 minutes.
  2. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, except of course for the garnish ingredients.
  3. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Taste for seasoning, adjust what’s needed (salt, a touch more sugar, some hot sauce if it’s not spicy enough for your crowd), then turn the heat down to low and let simmer for about 30 minutes (time enough to get some cornbread made!), stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. If you want a thicker chili, just let this simmer longer.
  4. Serve with garnishes and a lovely slice of cornbread or some crackers. Whether you add a hamburger on the side is entirely up to you. 😀

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Mini Baked Turkey Bacon Club Sandwiches

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Mini Baked Turkey Bacon Club Sandwiches

Mini Baked Turkey Bacon Club Sandwiches



I have yet another confession to make. I don’t like sports. Well, I DO watch maybe one or two Chicago Cubs games a year, but only home games. It’s a nostalgia thing for me. After one or two, watching them lose gets depressing and even nostalgia isn’t enough to stop the facepalm from happening. But even being from Chicago (if I ever call it “Chi-Town”, please smack me upside the head), they are the only team I like and watch. No Bears, no Sox, no whateverelsetheymayhave. And other teams and sports from far away lands like California or New York? Fuhgeddaboutit!

I DO however like this time of year for the snacks like these upscale potato skins . I tend to be a grazer when it comes to eating so foods like this bruschetta are also perfect for me. Sit me in front of the game with a book or my kindle hidden in my lap with some snacks, rouse me when it’s time for the fun commercials and I’m perfectly content to pretend to cheer for the home team… or whatever team it is we’re supposed to be cheering for.

This type of mini sandwich has been all over the web for the last few years. I have absolutely no idea at this point who started the trend, but I love them. They are usually a ham and cheese version with a simple mustard, butter and poppy seed sauce poured over them. I wanted to pump up the flavor some though. And what is one way to pump up flavor? ADD BACON!!!  Bacon is my reason for living. I know many of you will agree.

I made this into a club version of that sandwich. Turkey, ham, cheese and bacon. BUT…yes, there is a but… then I added a lovely garlic/Parmesan sauce over the top. I am pretty sure that one of these sandwiches meets your daily caloric needs for about 3 weeks. But they are totally worth it. My husband ate about 6 of them. So now I don’t have to feed him for like 4.5 months, right?

These are delightfully messy and buttery- in other words, perfect guy and kid food as well as perfect game food. But you could probably go down a bit on the butter and still be fine.

You know the drill…. 🙂

Mrs. Cupcake, who is going to smell like garlic butter for a week.

Mini Baked Turkey Bacon Club Sandwiches

  • 16 dinner rolls (I used potato rolls- I’ve found them at Wal-mart, Aldis, Meijer, Kroger… most big chains)
  • 1 lb good quality bacon, cooked until just crisp
  • 1/2 lb thin sliced deli ham
  • 1/2 lb thin sliced deli turkey
  • 1 lb of your favorite sliced cheese (I used 1/2 lb each of Havarti and Muenster)
  • 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
  • 4 finely minced garlic cloves (or sub 2 teaspoons garlic powder)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (while I usually use fresh, the powdery jarred version is fine for these)
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13×9 inch pan. Place the bottom half of the rolls in the pan. I squish 6 down each side then place 4 all snuggled up down the middle of the pan in between the two lines.
  2. Layer the rolls with the bacon, turkey, ham and cheese. Place the top half of the rolls on the sandwiches
  3. Add the garlic (or garlic powder) , Parmesan, onion powder and Worcestershire to the melted butter. Stir well to combine. Pour the butter mixture evenly over the tops  of the sandwiches, spreading it around if needed. The Parmesan makes this clump a little, so just spoon it around.
  4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the sandwiches are lightly browned on top and the cheese is bubbly. let cool for about 3 minutes, then slice in between the sandwiches and serve

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Easy Creamy Banana Pudding

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Easy Creamy Banana Pudding

Easy Creamy Banana Pudding



A little bit ago (which, in the south, can mean anywhere from ten minutes to two weeks ago) I asked my facebook fans which they would prefer- Creamy Banana Pudding or Apple Spice Cake With Creamy Vanilla Sauce. While I didn’t get many comments, the apple cake won by one vote. But I still wanted to do the banana pudding, too. This is one of those desserts that I used to make all the time when my older, now grown kids, were little. It’s easy, it’s tasty and when you have three to five kids running around, you need easy. You also need copious amounts of Xanax, intensive therapy and cheap booze, but that’s a post for another time. But for some reason, it fell by the wayside. I think that sometimes I get so caught up in making new treats, making something different, that I forget that my family loves the old standards too.

This isn’t my recipe. It comes from the Eagle Brand site, although when I started using it back in the day, there WAS no Eagle brand site… there was barely an internet lol. I got it from a magazine. The only thing I do differently is to add some vanilla extract to the mixture. It just adds a little something to it. You can also do this with instant banana, French vanilla, cheesecake or white chocolate puddings. It doesn’t change it enough to make it a sacrilege 😛 but it just makes it a little different.

The difference between this and the old fashioned version is technique. The old ones uses a cooked pudding base. It’s delicious but more time consuming. This one uses instant pudding that is whisked together with some other deliciously creamy ingredients and then layered. You can layer it in a large bowl or individual servings. For the sake of my waistline, I did individual servings this time. Otherwise, my mind says, “Honest Janet, this 8 inch thick layer of pudding that is practically overflowing the bowl is perfectly acceptable!”

You know the drill… get to cooking. Or not cooking in this particular case.

Creamy Banana Pudding

  • 1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 1/2 cups cold water
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 (4 serving size) package instant vanilla (or banana or cheesecake or snozzberry) pudding mix
  • 2 cups heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
  • 1 box vanilla wafers
  • 3 to 5 bananas, sliced and dipped in a mix of lemon juice and water and drained on paper towels (prevents them from turning brown)
  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the water, vanilla extract and sweetened condensed milk. Add in the pudding mix and whisk until well blended.
  2. Chill for five minutes, then fold in the whipped cream.
  3. If using a large bowl, layer about one cup of the pudding in the bowl, then top with the desired amount of vanilla wafers, then about a third of the sliced bananas. Repeat this layering two more times.
  4. If doing individual servings, do the same layering, but in separate glasses. When doing individual ones, I also like to coarsely crush the cookies too because whole cookies just don’t fit well in smaller glasses.
  5. Chill for about an hour or so, then serve.

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Orange Creamsicle Cookies

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Orange Creamsicle Cookies

Orange Creamsicle Cookies



When I was a kid, I lived in inner city Chicago. Not the suburbs (not till I was a bit older), not someone saying “I’m from Chicago” who actually grew up in Des Plaines or Joliet, but actually right in the heart of the city. And while I’ve been in Kentucky since 1988 (oh, crap, I’m old!) and can’t imagine ever living in a big city again, there are some things I miss about it.

I miss the culture of a city; the museums, the theater, etc. I miss the shopping that encompasses more than Wal-Mart and Target. I definitely miss that. And I miss the food. The largest city near me is Lexington and while I love it, it isn’t exactly a thriving metropolis when it comes to ethnic foods. But they are slowly working on that.

But know one of the things I miss most due to living in the country? I miss ice cream trucks. Yep… ice cream trucks. Hey; this is me! What were you expecting? Something sophisticated and exciting? Yeah… right. 😛 Nope. Ice cream trucks it is. When I was a kid, we still had Good Humor trucks. Ohhhhh, I miss those.  We also had ice cream trucks where you could get actual soft serve cones. Those were awesome. AND… we had the ubiquitous ice cream trucks that had a huge scary clown face and tinny music that would have worked well in a Stephen King movie.  Thank God I’ve never been the type to get easily traumatized *twitches a little and sucks my thumb* One of the things I used to love to get was a Creamsicle. Or Dreamsicle. I’ve seen it as both, but I prefer Creamsicle. It has the word cream in it, after all. That lovely ice cream bar of vanilla ice cream surrounded by tangy orange sherbet. What could be better? You got sweet mixed with tangy. worked for me.

So I wanted to make a cookie with flavors reminiscent of a Creamsicle. Vanilla and orange, but without dribbling it all over my chin and down my arm. I think I succeeded here. You don’t get as much of the tang is about the only miss. I thought about adding a touch of citric acid to the dough, but I know that not many people keep that in their cabinets and that I’m odd with that one. But this is a wonderful mix of orange flavor, vanilla flavor and a chewy cookie base. If you like the orange/vanilla combo, you’ll enjoy these. They’re great lunch box cookies too.

You know the drill…. 🙂

This makes a boatload of cookies, btw, so if you don’t want enough to give away, either make half a batch or freeze half for later use.

Orange Creamsicle Cookies

  • 4 3/4 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest
  • 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temp
  • 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons orange extract
  • 1 3.4 ounce  box or instant vanilla or cheesecake pudding mix
  • 1 3 ounce box orange jello
  • 3 cups good quality white chocolate chips
  1.  In a medium bowl, mix, then whisk to combine the flour, salt, baking soda and orange zest.
  2. In a large bowl (preferably a stand mixer, though this can be done by hand or with a strong hand mixer), combine the butter and the sugars. Mix on medium speed until thoroughly creamed and slightly fluffy looking.
  3. Add in the eggs, the extracts, the pudding mix and the jello mix. beat on low until thoroughly combined.
  4. Dump the flour mixture into the bowl and beat on low speed until thoroughly combined, stopping mixer once and scraping down sides of the bowl.
  5. When nicely combined,  add in the white chocolate chips and beat on low speed until combined.
  6. Dump the dough out onto a piece of foil, wrap tightly and chill for at least two hours. If you made a full batch and aren’t planning to make them all, wrap half of it in a double layer of foil and freeze.
  7.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape the dough into golf ball sized balls; smaller if you want smaller cookies, obviously. Place on ungreased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. bake at 350 for between 17 to 20 minutes; check at the earlier time if you want a chewier cookie, later time if you want one that is crispier.
  8. Let cool on the cookie sheet for a minute, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.

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Worlds Best Apple Spice Cake With Creamy Vanilla Butter Sauce

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Worlds Best Apple Spice Cake With Creamy Vanilla Butter Sauce

Worlds Best Apple Spice Cake With Creamy Vanilla Butter Sauce



Tomorrow night, when Downton Abbey comes on, I, along with half the United States, will be parked in front of my TV watching it. The difference is, that I will be doing so with a outrageously huge slab small piece of this cake and a cup of tea. Mrs. Patmore would be proud of this one and Lord Crawley, for all of his snobbishness, would love it. Mary would however, turn her nose up at it’s simplicity because…well, because she’s Mary.

Of course, I will have to make another one of these cakes to be able to enjoy that outrageously huge slab, erhmmm, dainty little slice because this one is about gone already.

And, yes, I just used the words “worlds best”. Would I use those words if I didn’t mean it? You all know that I like simple desserts; I’ve made more things like this than I have fancy ones. This is one of those desserts that you look at and think, “ehhh, it looks pretty boring.” Then you give it a taste. And you’re blown away. This cake is wonderful for all its simplicity. I had it fresh from the oven and it was great…room temp and it was great, room temp with the sauce and it was great and then chilled and it was great. Get the feeling I like this one? :-p

I used a mix of tart and sweet apples in this cake. I like to mix it up when I am using apples in a dessert like this. Also, feel free to cut down on the amount of spice a bit if you’d prefer. I like things to be fairly heavily spiced, but I know not everyone shares my quirks. This is beyond easy to throw together. The most time consuming part is chopping the apples. After that, wham bam, thank you apples and it’s mixed.  The sauce doesn’t take but a few minutes too and it’s so worth it. It just puts this cake over the top. Add a bit of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if you’re trying to totally put this into the category of decadent.

You know the drill… 🙂

Mrs. Cupcake…who is going to get the last slice of cake before the kids do

Worlds Best Apple Spice Cake With Creamy Vanilla Butter Sauce

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups peeled, chopped apples
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted in a 350 oven until lightly browned
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins
  • Creamy Sauce-
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch square pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat until thick, creamy looking and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  3. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and beat just until combined.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and spices. Add to the butter mixture and beat until well blended, scraping bowl once to get all the mixture in there.
  5. Pour in the apples, cranberries or raisins and walnuts and stir well to combine. Make sure the apples are well coated. This will look “apple heavy”, but trust me, it works out.
  6. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 350 for about 40 to 45 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a rack for about ten minutes. Serve warm with the sauce. or cool with the sauce…or warm or cool with no sauce 😛
  7. Creamy Vanilla Sauce-
  8. In a small pot, combine the butter, cream and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. Simmer for about ten minutes, until it has started to thicken somewhat. Take off the heat and stir in the vanilla.

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Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding With A Cream Cheese Glaze

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Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding With A Cream Cheese Glaze

Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding With A Cream Cheese Glaze



I already mentioned that I am still deep into comfort food, even though the holidays are past. Since I am too damn old to wear a bikini ever again without breaking many state and federal laws prohibiting harassment and causing personal trauma to innocents, I have nothing pulling me towards getting in shape for bikini season. Our pool on our land is secluded enough that I can go out there in a tank top and shorts and not have anyone but the cats laughing at me. So fat and relatively happy I will stay. At fifty I’ve earned the right 😛 or at least that is what I tell myself as I continue to make high calorie, fattening foods.

I love cinnamon rolls. What’s not to love, right? Warm, yeasty pastry, gooey filling and a sweet glaze. Darn… now I want cinnamon rolls. The problem is that 1) I’m lazy and 2) the closest  place to us that sells them is about 35 minutes away, unless I want to get the tubes (ummmm, no) or the bakery section of the store kind, which I will sometimes, but they are always a disappointment. So what do I do at times like this, when I am in the throes of laziness and it’s too cold to venture out of the house? I make some cinnamon roll bread pudding.

Now, you could make these with Kings Hawaiian Bread, which is my usual go to for sweet bread puddings, or you could use cinnamon bread or you could even go so far as to use actual cinnamon rolls with this. But, I can’t do that because even I have to draw the calorie line SOMEWHERE not to mention there’s that whole point above about lazy…

So I used croissants. Yeah, yeah, I know… not much better than the cinnamon rolls themselves, but let me keep deluding myself. It makes me happy and a happy Janet is a baking Janet, right? This a yummy bread pudding and quick to throw together, though it does have to bake for a bit. But with this you have a creamy custard flavored base mixed with flaky croissants, then baked and covered in a sweet creamy cream cheese glaze, a la the frosting on the cinnamon roll. Just make sure to not over bake. It will still taste good, but as it gets cold in the fridge, the texture suffers. I was using two different sizes of ramekins because that’s all I had and the smaller ones were too firm my taste once chilled, not creamy. This makes 6 8 ounce ramekins, so cut it in half if, as I always say, you’re not feeding an army or teenage boys.

You know the drill… 🙂

Mrs. Cupcake- who has lovely cinnamon scented breath now 😛

Cinnamon Roll  Bread Pudding With A Cream Cheese Glaze

  • 4 regular sized croissants,  broken into chunks and set aside
  • 1 8 ounce package of softened cream cheese, divided
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 1/4 cups heavy cream or half and half
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
  • boiling water
  1. In a large bowl, beat together 4 ounces of the softened cream cheese and the sugars until creamy. Add the eggs, cinnamon and nutmeg and beat well.  Whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla extract, then the melted butter
  2. Dump the croissant chunks on top and press them down into the custard to make sure all the pieces get nice and moist. Let the whole mix sit for about 15 minutes.
  3. Preheat the oven to 325 while waiting. Grease 6 8 ounce ramekins (or you could use a greased baking dish, preferably glass as bread pudding tend to take on a metal taste from regular pans) with butter. Place the greased ramekins inside of a large baking dish.
  4. Stir the pudding mixture, then evenly divide it between the waiting ramekins. Place the pan in the oven near the center, then carefully pour boiling water into the pan around the puddings until it is about a third of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Be careful not to splash into the ramekins themselves.
  5. Bake at 325 until the puddings are just barely set. A butter knife inserted in the center and wiggled should show a nice moist center, but not a bunch of liquid coming up around the knife. Do NOT over bake.
  6. Carefully remove the pan from the oven then remove the ramekins from the pan and set on the counter to cool.
  7. Make the glaze- in a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, the remaining cream cheese, the teaspoon of vanilla extract and the lemon zest, if using. Beat at medium speed with a hand mixer until the mixture is creamy. Add in the cream, a little at a time, until you get a glaze the consistency you prefer.  It may take more or less than what I have written.
  8. When the puddings are room temp, you can either chill them from if you like them cold, as I do. or glaze them once they hit room temp. Either way, just drizzle or spoon the glaze on top when ready to serve. Sprinkle with a little extra cinnamon and enjoy.

Copyright Notice: From Cupcakes To Caviar images and original content are copyright protected. Please do not publish these materials anywhere without prior permission.