Recipe: Caramel Apple Dip

If you love the caramel apple dip you buy in the produce section of the grocery store, but can't justify spending the money--here is a recipe to make it for around $1.50--depending where you buy your cream cheese.

Caramel Apple Dip

Ingredients

8 oz. cream cheese, softened in microwave

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 t. real vanilla extract

 - - - - -

1/8 c. water

16 unwrapped caramels or about 1/2 c. kraft caramel bits (what an awesome invention!)

Directions:

Mix softened cream cheese, brown sugar and vanilla in medium size bowl. Mix water and caramels in a small sauce pan and put on med-low heat until the caramels are all melted, stirring frequently. Pour caramel sauce into cream cheese mixture and stir well.

Note: You can omit the caramel and water and it is still a creamy and delicious apple dip!

Recipe: Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This delectable pound cake makes a fabulous strawberry shortcake. This is now my cake of choice for my birthday. (None of my pictures turned out, sorry!)

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Ingredients
1-1/2 c. butter, room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
3 c. white sugar
1 t. vanilla extract + 1 t. almond extract (or 2 t. vanilla)
6 eggs, room temperature
3 c. cake flour (1 c. cake flour = 1 c. all-purpose flour less 2 T.)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease one 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan.
2. Cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light. Stir in the vanilla and the almond extracts. Add the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition, scraping down the sides. Add flour slowly just until mixed well. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not overbake.

Cook’s Note: By creaming the butter and sugar and eggs, air becomes trapped in the batter, eliminating the need for modern leaving agents (baking soda or powder). This is not for the faint-hearted, but it is WELL worth the effort. The texture is so fine and tasty that you won't mind the extra work. If you are going to be eating this pound cake with frosting, ice cream, strawberry glaze, or whipped cream, you may want to only use 2-1/2 cups sugar. A traditional American pound cake would contain one pound each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar.

Strawberry Glaze
by Alana Lee

Ingredients
1 c. water
3 T. lemon juice
1 c. sugar
3 T. cornstarch
1 c. strawberries, smashed
2-4 c. strawberries

Combine the cold water, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch in a saucepan. Add smashed strawberries. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool. Add a few cups strawberries to the cooled glaze, as desired. Divine on pound cake with or without whipped cream!

Recipe: Country Pumpkin Muffins

These are so good, they're like little pumpkin cupcakes.

Country Pumpkin Muffins
by Alana Lee

Ingredients
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 c. canned pumpkin
3 c. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. ground cloves
3/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1 t. salt
1-1/2 c. raisins (optional)

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar, oil, eggs, and pumpkin. Combine flour, baking powder, soda, spices and salt. Add to pumpkin mixture; blend well. Fold in raisins. Spoon into greased muffin tins, filling 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

2. Frost with cream cheese frosting recipe (toward end of Cinnamon Roll post).

Cook's Note: I substitute half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. It still tastes amazing.

Recipe: Helen's Caramel Corn

Helen Wride's Caramel Corn
(Crispy, Crunchy caramel corn)

Ingredients:
Large bowl of popcorn
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup corn syrup (recipe also works with maple syrup)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
1 tablespoon vanilla

Directions:
Pop popcorn, remove old maids and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt margarine. Add brown sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in salt, soda and vanilla. Quickly pour over popcorn and stir to coat. Bake for 1 hour in a 250° oven, stirring every 15 minutes (set the timer).

Number of Servings: The whole darn family and then some!

Cook's Note: If you prefer stickier, less crunchy caramel corn, omit the oven time.

Recipe: Hecka Good Cinnamon Rolls

When a family friend (bless her heart) refused to share her recipe for her mouth-watering cinnamon pull-apart bread, I set out on a quest for the perfect sweet roll recipe, blending a cinnamon roll taste with gooey caramel. This final recipe is the result of pure genius (completely original recipe) and rivals the one still being hoarded.

Hecka Good Cinnamon Rolls

by Alana Lee

Ingredients:

1 Recipe Rose’s Rolls

1 c. brown sugar
2 t. cinnamon
Dash allspice or nutmeg (optional)

3/4 c. butter, softened

1 Recipe Caramel Glaze (below)

1 Recipe Cream Cheese Frosting (below)

Optional Caramel Glaze
2 T. water
1/2 c. light corn syrup
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
3/4 c. butter
1 t. vanilla

Cream Cheese Frosting (see this post)
8 oz. cream cheese, cold
1/2 c. butter, room temperature
2-3 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla

Directions:

1. Make 1 recipe Rose’s Rolls, knead lightly 1-2 minutes, and let rise until doubled in bulk.

2. Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and allspice or nutmeg (optional) in bowl. Set aside.

3. Caramel Glaze: (When dough is nearly doubled, begin making Caramel Glaze.) Cook all ingredients but butter and vanilla over low heat until it starts to bubble. Add butter and return to boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

4. Grease bottom of casserole dish or baking pans with cooking spray.

5. Drizzle caramel glaze* on bottom of greased casserole dish (I use two 9 x 13s with glaze drizzle covering about half of the bottom--one glaze recipe is good for 4-5 baking pans).

6. Back to the Rolls: Punch down dough and roll into long strip about 8-10” wide.

7. Spread softened butter over rolled out dough. Evenly sprinkle brown sugar-cinnamon mixture onto buttered dough. Smooth out mixture with hands.

8. Roll up prepared dough starting with long edge (should be skinny and long roll). Cut into 1" to 2" rolls using quilting thread (slide a length of hand-quilting thread under the roll and cross over ends, pulling tightly; this keeps the rolls round). I cut the long roll in half, and then in half again to make sure I get the right number of rolls for my desired pan.

9. Dip each roll in melted butter and place buttered-side up in the baking dish, on top of optional caramel glaze. If you cut rolls at 1", rolls can touch in the pan; if you cut rolls at 2", leave 1" between rolls. Drizzle any remaining melted butter over rolls.
   

10. Let rise until nearly doubled and bake at 375-380 degrees until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.

11. Optional: Invert pan. Top with warmed, leftover caramel glaze or cream cheese frosting.

Makes 24 small or 18 medium cinnamon rolls. 

Cook's Note: *Only make caramel glaze if you plan on eating the rolls warm. If you don't plan on eating the cinnamon rolls within a few hours, do NOT to put caramel glaze in the bottom of the pan as it tends to make the bottom of the rolls chewy. I usually store any leftover caramel glaze in a canning jar in the fridge for my next batch.

Two scrumptious rolls stuck together.

Dough ready to roll out.

A nice layer of butter.

Cinnamon-sugar mixture spread over butter.

The quilting-thread cutting method.

Cut into equal sections, and then into equal-sized rolls.

Use a butter knife or thread to mark cutting guides.

Pan of rolls before second rise.

Close up: rolls before second rise.

Pan of rolls after second rise; ready for oven.

Close up: rolls after second rise; ready for oven.

Pan of baked rolls, slightly golden.

Close up: baked rolls, slightly golden.

Process pictured below with optional caramel glaze. 

Recipe: Coconut Cream Pie

Helen Wride's Coconut Cream Pie

Ingredients:
7 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups milk
4 eggs, well beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup lightly toasted coconut
Heavy whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks, then whip in sugar to taste


Directions:
Bake a pie shell according to your favorite recipe (or package instructions). Let cool.

For pie filling, combine cornstarch, sugar and salt in a bowl. Stir well and set aside. In a small bowl, beat the eggs and set aside. Add milk to a medium saucepan. When milk just comes to a boil, gradually whisk in the dry ingredients. Cook about 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Temper the eggs by whisking a little of the milk mixture into the eggs, then whisk the egg mixture into the remaining milk mixture in the saucepan and cook about 1 more minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Stir well. Cool pudding mixture to room temperature then fold in coconut. Pour into pre-cooked pie shell and top with whipped cream. Chill. Makes enough filling for two 9-inch pies.

Cooks Note: If this recipe resembles Helen's Banana Cream Pie, that's because she uses the same vanilla pudding base. Helen always made her own pie filling (actually a thick vanilla pudding) but you can make vanilla pie filling from a box, stir in the coconut, and top with whipped cream. The great banana or coconut flavor comes from the bananas or coconut. Don't you agree, Helen made wonderful pies?

Recipe: Granny Corn

Helen Wride's Granny Corn

Ingredients:
Large bowl popcorn
1 large box Jello (any flavor)
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup sugar

Directions:
1. Pop popcorn, remove old maids and set aside.
2. Bring jello, corn syrup and sugar to a rolling boil. Boil 1 minute. Quickly pour jello mixture over popcorn and stir. Lightly grease your hands with butter and form popcorn balls or serve sticky from the bowl.

Alana's Variation: You can use kool-aid packets in place of the jello for the option of additional flavors.