Dulce Dough

Pan de Muertos (Bread of the Dead)

2012-11-02T17:30:00.001-05:00

Baking and blogging has taken a back seat in my life for the moment. I've been kind of distracted with work and with the construction of our new home. I haven’t felt like baking, and to be honest it felt nice to not have the pressure that I tend to put on myself to post something. But I knew I had to share this recipe. A few weeks ago my son Josh came home from school with a recipe he wanted to make and bring to Spanish class for extra credit. Not only did he want us to bake the bread together, but he wanted me to take pictures and “blog it”. Pan de Muertos, or “bread of the dead” is a sweet bread made in Mexico for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) or All Soul’s Day which is celebrated on November 2nd.
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Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

2012-09-30T14:00:00.000-05:00

I decided to give my favorite cinnamon rolls an autumn makeover. I incorporated a few of my favorite seasonal flavors and ingredients into the recipe. The result is these Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls. They have an apple-cinnamon filling and are topped with warm caramel sauce. They are too good for words. These rolls take a little time and a little work to make, but I promise you they are worth it!
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Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cookies

2012-09-20T09:30:00.000-05:00

These Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cookies may just be my favorite cookie ever. They are so chocolaty, so chewy—just like my favorite brownie. Add in Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Mini’s and peanuts, and they get even better. The cookies have both unsweetened chocolate and cocoa powder, so they are extra chocolaty. And unlike some of the other chocolate cookies I have tried, these are so soft and chewy inside.
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Maple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

2012-08-31T08:30:00.000-05:00

If you like maple syrup, you need to try these Maple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins. Not being much of a morning person, I baked a batch of these late at night to have ready for breakfast in the morning. The muffins smelled so good baking that I could hardly stand waiting until morning to try one. The fragrant smell of warm maple syrup and cinnamon haunted me all night long. And the verdict in the morning: they tasted as good as they did in my dreams.
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Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Biscoff Buttercream Frosting

2012-08-27T10:30:00.000-05:00

Last week my boys went back to school. They are both in high school now, so the quiet of our empty house during the day is even more of a reminder that in a few short years we will have an empty nest. I can’t even think about it! So I made cupcakes—Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Biscoff Buttercream Frosting.
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Sunflower Seed Cookies

2012-08-15T14:00:00.000-05:00

I’m so glad I gave these Sunflower Seed Cookies a try. They were fantastic—the nutritious sunflower seeds add a nice nutty flavor to the sweet cookies. I had forgotten how much I love sunflowers and sunflower seeds. When I was young I was fascinated with sunflower fields—all those big, beautiful, golden flowers facing the sun. I remember taking note of the direction the flowers were facing early in the morning on the way to school and then checking again in the late afternoon on the ride home. And sure enough—the flowers had followed the sun!
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Peach Hand Pies

2012-08-07T14:31:00.000-05:00

I thought these Peach Hand Pies had a wonderful peach flavor. I really did. So did my both of my kids. My son Josh said they have pies like this in school, but they hardly have any filling in them. He said that he liked these because they had lots of peach filling in them. And then later my husband Chris gave them a try. After eating a pie, he said it was good and then mentioned that I could use the apples from the apple tree in the backyard. I told him yes, but I had wanted to use up the ripe peaches we had. He gave me a funny look so I asked him, “You didn’t think that was an apple pie, did you?” Sure enough, he ate the whole hand pie and thought it was an apple pie!
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Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins

2012-07-27T14:00:00.000-05:00

I always hesitate to label a recipe as “the best” because there are so many excellent recipes for any given item. As soon as I decide one recipe is the best, I try another recipe and think it is even better. So I am more likely to designate a recipe as “one of my favorites” or “one of the best”. I have also been known to say that a certain recipe is one of my Top 5 or Top 10 favorite recipes. But “the best”? I have a hard time handing out that label. That being said, this Blueberry Sour Cream Muffin recipe is one of my favorites, one of my Top 5, and absolutely one of the best muffin recipes ever. THE best? Maybe! Give this recipe a try and you be the judge!
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Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Mint Cream Cheese Filling

2012-07-23T14:30:00.000-05:00

Last week when I asked my boys what I should bake, they requested whoopie pies. These Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Mint Cream Cheese Filling did not disappoint. I don’t care for the traditional marshmallow filling, so I went with a variation of the cream cheese filling as I have in the past when I baked whoopie pies.
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Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars

2012-07-17T18:00:00.000-05:00

I wasn't going to post another rhubarb recipe. Honestly I wasn't. But these Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars are just too good not to share with the rhubarb lovers out there. Last year we divided our rhubarb plants, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to harvest very much this year. Luckily I ended up with way more than I expected.
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Rhubarb Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

2012-07-10T17:30:00.000-05:00

I’ve never had rhubarb cookies before, but when I scanned the list of ingredients in these Rhubarb Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting I knew it would be a good recipe to try. The first thing I noticed was that these cookies only have brown sugar in them—no white sugar at all in the cookies themselves.
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Blueberry Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze

2012-06-30T11:30:00.000-05:00

It is no secret how much I adore bundt cakes. This Blueberry Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze is another simple bundt cake recipe, and it is perfect for summer. The best way to describe this cake is that it is like a big, beautiful blueberry muffin—moist and full of blueberries. Have a slice for dessert, breakfast, or anytime.
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Giveaway ~ Cascal Natural Soft Drink

2012-06-22T12:00:00.000-05:00

I was recently contacted by Cascal and asked if I was interested in sampling their natural soft drinks. Not having heard of Cascal before, I went to their website and checked it out. After reading their website, I have to say I was intrigued and excited to give it a try.

So what is Cascal? Their website describes it as “a delicious, natural soft drink crafted with natural juices and fermented for fuller flavor. It is complex yet has a refreshingly light and bubbly taste. The flavors range from more delicate to more robust and are the perfect complement to a meal or as a stand-alone refreshment.”
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Orange Chia Seed Streusel Muffins

2012-06-20T13:00:00.000-05:00

Orange Chia Seed Streusel Muffins will brighten your morning! The subtle orange flavor of these muffins pairs so nicely with with a cup of coffee or a glass of juice. And the chia seeds add a texture similar to poppy seeds. Are you familiar with chia seeds? Honestly, they won’t make your hair look like this . . .
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Rhubarb Custard Pie

2012-06-06T16:30:00.000-05:00

I have a vivid childhood memory of eating Rhubarb Custard Pie at my grandma’s house. I was probably four or five years old. Grandma asked me what kind of pie I wanted for dessert, and I picked rhubarb custard. It may have been the first time that I ever tried this particular pie. I’m not sure. What I do know is that from then on it was my favorite pie.
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Lemon Cake Pudding

2012-05-30T19:00:00.000-05:00

Lemon Cake Pudding is such a simple dessert yet versatile dessert. It can be baked in either 6 small custard cups or in one quart size baking dish. As it bakes, a pudding forms on the bottom while the top bakes into a layer of cake. And as you dig in to enjoy, the two layers blend together for a perfect dessert. It can be served warm or cold. You can dress it up with fresh fruit or whipped cream, or simply serve it with a light dusting of powdered sugar which is the way we like it.
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake with Ganache Glaze

2012-05-20T13:30:00.000-05:00

This week we celebrated my son Travis’s birthday. When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted, he said he wanted a cake similar to the one he had last year—a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cake. I decided to go with those same flavors of chocolate and peanut butter and ended up making this Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake with Ganache Glaze.
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Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies

2012-05-12T15:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother’s Day! I hope all mothers are enjoying the weekend and their special day. These easy-to-make Raspberry Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies are a nice dessert for Mother’s Day or any day. They are flavored with almond extract which gives them a wonderful flavor to compliment the raspberry jam or the jam of your choice.
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Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Scones

2012-05-05T19:30:00.000-05:00

One day this week when I picked my son up from school he had a plate full of cookies that he made in FACS (Family and Consumer Science a.k.a. Home Ec.). He was so proud of them! My first question to him was, “Do you want to take pictures and blog about your cookies?” I was a little disappointed that he nixed that idea. Oh well. So instead I bring you Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Scones.
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Lemon Chiffon Cake with Lemon Butter Icing

2012-04-29T17:00:00.000-05:00

This week I baked a Lemon Chiffon Cake with Lemon Butter Icing. I love the look chiffon cakes—they bake up big and tall like a sponge cake, yet are still moist, rich, and flavorful like a butter cake. As with my last chiffon cake, Butterscotch Chiffon Cake with Penuche Frosting, this recipe is adapted from my grandma’s cookbook which has lots of variations of flavors, sizes, etc. for chiffon cakes. Chiffon cakes were popular during the 1950’s and 60’s, but seem to have gone out of fashion.
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Special Dark Cocoa Truffle Brownies

2012-04-22T17:30:00.000-05:00

I love dark chocolate! Give me a bag of Hershey’s Miniatures and I pass on the Mr. Goodbars and Krackels and go right for the Special Dark Chocolate Bars. So when I saw Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa at the grocery store, I wondered why I had never tried this blend of natural and Dutch-processed cocoas. I checked out recipes on Hershey’s website and decided to use my new cocoa in this brownie recipe.
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Cinnamon Buttermilk Muffins

2012-04-15T15:30:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid, my mom used to make muffins very similar to these Cinnamon Buttermilk Muffins. My brother, sister, and I loved those muffins. We used to call them “Pink Panther” muffins. If I remember correctly, they got their name when we begged mom to make “those muffins”. Not knowing what muffins we were talking about, mom asked us, “What muffins?” Of course we had absolutely no idea what the muffins were called. What do you call muffins that don't have blueberries, chocolate chips, or bananas in them? We couldn't come up with a name, so one of us responded with, “Those muffins that you made while we were watching ‘Pink Panther’!”
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Lemon Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies

2012-04-03T12:30:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes to make is a Classic Spritz Cookies recipe. This past Christmas when I made these spritz cookies, I checked out all the disks included with my cookie press—hearts, ovals, pinwheels, and flowers! I decided that I needed to make spritz cookies more often than just at Christmas time. I came across this Lemon Cream Cheese Spritz Cookie recipe in Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book, and I knew I had to make them shaped as pretty flowers for Easter.
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Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake with Rum Glaze

2012-03-26T11:00:00.000-05:00

Recently my kids admitted that they sometimes don't eat bananas and let them turn brown on purpose, knowing that I will use them to bake something. So I am always on the lookout for new banana recipes to try. Like most of the banana recipes I have previously posted, this cake recipe is one of those "what am I going to make with all these ripe bananas?" recipes. Do you have ripe bananas sitting on your counter? Give this Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake a try! It is a delicious alternative to banana bread and is just as simple to make.
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Mocha Cupcakes

2012-03-21T13:30:00.000-05:00

Cupcakes with two of my favorite things--chocolate and coffee! As much as I love chocolate, I don't have it every day. My mornings, however, would not be complete without a cup of coffee. My husband doesn't drink coffee, and my kids hate it. They can't even stand the smell of coffee. Even though the amount of coffee in these cupcakes is small, my son Josh did not care for them. To me, the cupcakes themselves tasted like a delicious chocolate cupcake, and I doubt most people would even be able to tell that they contain coffee. I found the flavor to be more chocolate than mocha. The frosting, however, does have a mocha flavor which is what Josh disliked. The rest of us enjoyed these, and I love the fact that the recipe makes only 12 cupcakes.
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