Thursday Treats: Pancakes {ET Cooks&Bakes}

Pancakes are so good any time of day. For breakfast, lunch, or supper--even as a snack! My earliest memory of making pancakes, is with my friend Tracey. I remember asking her how she knew when to flip the pancakes and she told me about the bubbles. When the bubbles on top begin to pop, it's time to turn them over! I was so fascinated.

Pancakes should be soft, fluffy, and full of flavour. The true test of good pancakes is if they're good cold and with no toppings. That's when you've found a winner.

I've made these twice now--mainly because they're one of the few things I can eat. You see, I've been fighting going to the dentist, and it has caught up with me. The pain is so sharp, I can feel it from the tip of my head to my shoulder on my right side {the side of the offending tooth}. I finally gave in and went to the dentist on Wednesday, and he told me that my wisdom teeth all had to come out and the top right one has completely decayed. I suppose I shouldn't have waited 12 years between dentist visits, eh? :P

Whether you need to eat pancakes out of necessity {they are utterly delicious}, or just have a craving for them, I hope you turn to my recipe. 

Pancakes

ET Cook&Bake

Elsa

2 cups flour

3 tblsp sugar

1 tblsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 eggs

1 tblsp vanilla

2 + 1/4 cup whole milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together your flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

2. Add the eggs, vanilla, milk, and butter. Mix to combine.

3. Start pre-heating pan of your choice.

4. Using a 1/4 or 1/3 measuring cup, scoop batter and pour onto your pan. Repeat until batter is gone.

5. Enjoy topped with your favourite toppings!

Thursday Treats: Fluffy Cheesecake {Kraft-Cheesecakes & More}

Whenever I want to make a super yummy and simple dessert, cheesecake never fails. Specifically, one that doesn't have to be baked. Like my Creamy, Dreamy Oreo Dessert. From start to finish, it takes me about 15 minutes to put this dessert together. Even shorter if one uses cool whip instead of whipping cream...which I don't suggest, because it won't taste as good :)

This past Sunday, I made Fluffy cheesecake out of my Kraft book. It's a 3-1 type of thing, with recipes including the Jello brand, Cool Whip, Philadelphia cream cheese, and Baker's chocolate. This recipe I pulled from the cheesecake section. Normally, I make this recipe off the top of my head; I don't use a recipe. However, for the purpose of this post, I decided to {kinda} follow this one!

It is creamy and light with just the right amount of texture with the graham crust. I served mine with cherry pie filling, but you can top your cheesecake with whatever you want :D

Fluffy Cheesecake

Philidelphia Cheesecakes and More

Kraft

{Original recipe as written, but I always double my recipe}

1 pkg (8oz) Philadelphia cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 tub (8oz) Cool Whip topping, thawed {I use 2+1/2 cups whipping cream, whipped}

1 Honey Maid graham pie crust

Topping of choice

*If you only have one mixer, ie a stand or hand-held, you should whip your cream first so that you don't need to wash your bowl, but can just use it for the

cream cheese mixture. Unless you love doing dishes--then, by all means, make as many dirty bowls as you wish :D*

1. With your mixer, whip your cream until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

2. Beat the cream cheese and sugar together until well blended. Gently fold in your whipped cream.

3. Spoon into crust and top with topping of choice. {For fresh fruit, I would wait until just before serving to put it on.}

4. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until set.

5. I always make these into squares, so for this, you omit the pie crust. Mix 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 1/3 cup of melted butter. Press onto the bottom of and 8 inch square pan. Continue as directed.

6. Enjoy!

Bonus Treats: Homemade Pop Tarts {Classic Snacks} + Classy Nautical

I saw this cookbook at the Superstore, and having restricted myself to shop cookbooks with a purpose, I didn't get it the first few times I went grocery shopping.

Every time I would pass by the book aisle [...yes, yes...I didn't have to go down that aisle, but--whatever, I always do :P] I looked and picked it up; tried to find some justification in buying another cookbook--apparently, loving cookbooks doesn't count ;)

Then! I saw a recipe for these babies. You see, I have a dear friend who adores pop tarts, but whose husband doesn't...approve of pop tarts {ya know, 'cause they're bad for you and all. Plus, they taste like cardboard} and I thought this would be perfect for her.

I was supposed to make them several weeks ago for her birthday...but, yeah, I missed that boat. Here's to hoping she'll love them so much, it won't matter if they're a few weeks late :D I took some over to her house last night for us girls to test them out after we helped her pack. Moving and a baby all within 2 weeks? You go, girl :D

I made raspberry, and brown sugar/cinnamon. While I wouldn't call them out of this world good...they are pretty good. I think the more I practice making them, the better they'll be. I used raspberry jam, and I think that had a part in making the tarts a little too sweet. For the brown sugar/cinnamon ones, I need to add more spice. Although, maybe if my crust was rolled out a little more thin, I wouldn't have overfilled the pop tarts and they would've been perfect?

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out, but, I have plans for making them taste spectacular :D

Homemade Strawberry Pop Tarts

Classic Snacks Made from Scratch

Casey Barber

*I used raspberry jam filling, but only because I was running out of time. My next try will be true to the recipe :D*

Crust

2+1/2 cups flour

2 tsps sugar

1/2 tsp salt

8 tblsp chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2in cubes

1/4 cup ice-cold water

1 tblsp distilled white vinegar

1 large egg whisked with 1 tblsp water, for egg wash

Make the Dough

1. Pulse the flour, sugar, and salt together in the bowl of a food processor to sift and combine.

2. Add the butter and shortening and pulse in 3-second bursts until partially incorporated with pea-sized chunks visible and a texture resembling moist cornmeal.

3. With the processor running, drizzle the water and vinegar through the feed just until a shaggy and crumbly dough starts to form. Transfer to a bowl; divide the dough in half and shape into 2 discs. Wrap plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour {or overnight}

Strawberry Filling

1 lb. strawberries, hulled
3/4 cup sugar
1 tblsp lemon juice

1. While the dough chills, cut the strawberries in halves or quarters, depending on size, and mash roughly with a potato masher in a large bowl. Keep a bunch of big chunks in there; they'll break down in the jam, but it'll be more interesting that way.

2. Stir in the sugar and lemon juice and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to break down the berries slightly. Stir once or twice while the berries sit to dissolve the sugar.

3. Pour the strawberries and their liquid into a high-sided pan or Dutch oven. Bring to a low boil over medium heat. Once the berries come to a boil, remove the strawberry chunks with a slotted spoon or flat mesh strainer and reserve in a medium bowl. Continue to let the syrup boil, stirring often, until thickened and jelly-like, about 15-20 minutes.

4. Return the strawberry chunks to the pan and cook for 5-10 minutes more, until the jam is the desired thickness and consistency. Transfer to a clean bowl or Mason jar.

Assemble + Bake

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat liners.

2. On a floured surface, roll one of the dough discs to a 10x12in rectangle about 1/4in thick.

3. Use a pastry or pizza cutter to divide into 6 {3x5in} rectangles; place on the prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the second disk, but leave those 6 on your work surface.

4. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of filling into the center of each rectangle on the baking sheets. Brush the edges with the egg wash.

5. Place a reserved dough rectangle atop each filled rectangle and seal the edges by pressing with the tines of a fork. Use the fork to poke vent holes in the pastry tops.

6. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and puffed. Transfer the tarts to a wire rack and let cool completely before eating or frosting.

Frosting

1+1/2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tblsps milk
1 tsp vanilla

1. Whisk the powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla together to form a thick glaze. Add the final tablespoon of milk a drizzle at a time until the glaze has the consistency you want.

2. Use a basting brush to spread the glaze on the cooled pastries.


Enjoy your homemade pop tarts!!

*************************************************

My friend Sarah is still in the contest! She won last weeks theme, with her Springtime in Paris look--thanks for voting for her!!

This week, it was all about designing your own fabric. Just look at the adorably simple dress her daughter has on. And, suspenders on her little guy? Cute!!

I love how her nautical theme is classy and yet fun. Head over to her blog to see many more shots of her outfits and sweet kiddos.

And, don't forget to cast your vote for your favourite look! Voting is open through Thursday night at 8 :)

Click HERE.

Thanks so much, guys and enjoy those Pop Tarts while perusing Sarah's blog :D

Have a great evening!

Thursday Treats: Oatmeal CC-M&M + Oatmeal Raisin-Craisin Cookies {Betty Crocker}

Last Thursday, I made these soft, buttery Toffee Bars. In my haste, however, I mis-read the recipe and started off with a "whoopsie".

All was not lost though! I flipped through my cookbook, and just a couple pages after this scrumptious recipe, I found one that would work for my "mess-up"....

Ultimate Oatmeal Cookies! And, guys...I have been wanting to make Monster Oatmeal Cookies for a loooonnnnnngggggg time, so these were a wonderful variation! I took'em to church for a snack after our Bible study and prayer because I just knew I would eat all of'em...that night. They are absolutely delicious.

I made the recipe as is, until I got to the mix-ins. I divided the dough in half and added chocolate chips and M&M's to one, and raisins and craisins to the other!

I preferred the ones with chocolate...simply because they are yummier. I'm not a fan of fruit in my cookies, such as raisins, but mostly because of the texture. However, I have plenty of friends who would much rather prefer raisins to chocolate chips! I just call'em weird :D

Honestly though, the raisin/craisin cookies were much softer. I think it was because I had to boil my raisins...they had lost their plumpness sitting in their little snack-size cartons. I have no kids to eat them, and I have no idea what possessed me to buy them in the first place. Perhaps I was on a healthy-snacks-only kick.

Either way, they were put to good use and lent themselves to be quite useful in making my cookies soft :D

Ultimate Oatmeal Cookies

Betty Crocker

1+1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup butter

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

3 cups old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats

1+1/3 cups flour

1 cup raisins, craisins, chocolate chips, and/or M&M's

1. Heat oven to 350. In a large bowl, stir the brown sugar, butter, baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, and eggs with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Stir in the oats, flour and mix-in{s}.

2. Using a cookie scoop, or tableware spoon, place rounded tablespoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.

3. Bake 9-11 minutes or until light brown. Remove cookies from the sheets onto cooling racks. Continue with the rest of the dough.

4. Share with your neighbour and Enjoy! :)

Thursday Treats: Toffee Bars {Betty Crocker}

I was looking for something both simple and quick because I didn't have very much time before our Thursday night Bible study and Prayer night, and these Toffee Bars fit the bill.

Actually, they might've been too easy because I messed up in the first step. I let my mind wander and put the egg in before separating the yolk and white.

It was ok though, because I quickly found another use for my "mess-up" and started over again on these. I paid attention to the egg part...

...but not to the butter. I was wondering why my mixture was so dry and crumbly and kept going over the list of ingredients. Egg, butter, sugar, vanilla, flour, salt...simple line-up and all there. Oh! But wait...I needed two sticks of butter, and I...I only put in one.

Ooops! Good thing I'm pretty ;)

Anyway, there wasn't very much else I could mess up on and if this recipe turned out a fail...it would be no fault of Betty but my own.

They were a success. Soft, shortbread type of crust with enough chocolate  to make it good but not sickeningly sweet. I subbed out the milk chocolate chips {I used those in my rescued mess-up!} for semi-sweet. I also added toffee bits to the top instead of nuts. Whether you make them with my substitutions, or as the original, I'm sure you'll love these treats.

Toffee Bars

Betty Crocker, Baking Basics

1 large egg, separated

1 cup butter, room temperature {2 sticks :)}

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped nuts or toffee bits

1. Heat the oven to 350.

2. In a large bowl, place egg yolk, butter, brown sugar and vanilla and stir with a wooden spoon until well mixed.

3. Stir in the flour and salt until mixed. Using your fingers, press the dough firmly and evenly on the bottom of an ungreased 13x9 pan.

4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until very light brown {the crust will be soft}.

5. Immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips over the hot crust. Let stand about 5 minutes or until chocolate has softented; spread chocolate evenly over bars, using a metal spatula. sprinkle with the nuts and/or toffee bits.

6. Place pan on cooling rack. Let stand 30 minutes before cutting.

7. Share and enjoy!

There are no calories in these bars because you burn them off mixing the dough by hand.

Therefore, go. Make and eat :)

Thursday Treats {Pinterest}: Carmelitas

I had wanted to make these last Thursday, but didn't get around to it until the weekend. I made these for our church potluck on Sunday.

And, because Ema Boo reminded me of this pin that I've had on my board for a long time!

The recipe comes from Melissa over at Lulu the Baker. She writes a funny post of entering these into a contest expecting to win but losing to white chocolate & cranberries oatmeal cookies.

If I had been a judge, I would've picked these as winner. More so because I'm not fan of white chocolate OR dried cranberries, than being totally in love with these bars.

 

These bars were...good, but not my favourite. I loved that they were simple to make with ingredients I had on hand. These are quite rich and one small piece is quite enough. I did add salt to my cream/caramel mixture and that helped cut back on the sweetness.

I think the biggest thing for me was that it was almost too sweet to actually enjoy it. I think if I make this again, I'll probably use dark chocolate and add a bit more salt to the caramel layer. Or, as one of my friends suggested, use apple pieces instead of the chocolate.

Overall, it's a good recipe and one that I would make again. It IS delicious when eaten in small quantities though, so I don't think I'd double the recipe again.

Caramelitas

Melissa @ Lulu the Baker

Pinterest

32 caramel squares, unwrapped

1/2 cup cream

3/4 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 tsp baking soda

6 oz semisweet chocolate chips

1. Combine caramels and cream in a small saucepan, stirring over low heat until smooth. Set aside.

2. In a bowl, combine the butter, sugar, flour, oats, and baking soda.

3. Pat half of the mixture into an 8x8 pan; bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

4. Remove pan from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the crust and then pour the caramel mixture on top.

5. Crumble the remaining oatmeal mixture on top of the caramel and return the pan into the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the edge is lightly browned.

6. Remove from the oven and let the bars completely cool before cutting into squares.

7. Enjoy with a tall glass of ice cold delicious {chocolate} milk while reading the original post here :)

Thursday Treats: Pumpkin Bars {Better Homes and Gardens Magazine}

Alright, technically, this recipe isn't from one of my cookbooks, but a special publication of BH&G indulging in the world of brownies and bars. For me, it counts because there are but 1 or 2 ads and the rest is recipe love--120 of'em.

Anyway, these are SO simple to make and absolutely delicious {with my modifications}. I made a batch on Tuesday night to take for dessert at a supper with friends, and although good--it was a little bit bland tasting. So when I made a batch this afternoon to take to church {and gift some :}, I upped the salt and cloves.

That's all it took to take this recipe to great to out-of-this-world. They are very soft and moist and have the perfect blend of spices.

And the browned butter frosting? Mmm, YUM!

In my opinion--as good as the frosting tastes--I prefer these in their un-adorned perfection :D

Pumpkin Bars

Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications: Brownies & Bars

2 cups flour
1+1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1-15 oz can pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
Browned Butter Frosting

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves.

2. In a smaller bowl, lightly beat the eggs, pumpkin, and oil. Stir into the dry ingredients to combine. Spread batter evenly in an ungreased 15x10x1-in pan.

3. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

4. Spread with Browned Butter Frosting. Cut into bars. Enjoy!

Browned Butter Frosting

In a small saucepan, heat 1/3 cup of butter over low heat until melted. Continue heating until butter turns a golden brown. Remove from heat. In your mixing bowl attached with whisk attachment, combine 3 cups of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add the browned butter and beat on low speed until combined. Beat, on medium to high speed, until spreading consistency. Add more milk as needed.