Dulce Dough

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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Irish Soda Bread

2012-03-13T18:00:00.000-05:00

Irish Soda Bread is an easy recipe to make for St. Patrick’s Day. I don't care for corned beef and cabbage or green beer, so enjoying Irish Soda Bread is my favorite way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. As the name implies, soda bread uses baking soda as the leavening agent. Traditionally a cross is cut into the top of the bread before baking. Legend has it that a cross was cut into the bread to ward off the devil or to let the devil out of the bread. It actually aids in baking by allowing the bread to expand so the heat can reach the center. The cross also makes it easy to break the bread into portions and reminds us to give thanks.
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Chocolate Biscotti

2012-03-03T16:30:00.000-06:00

Do you ever have days where you feel like you are one step behind and can’t catch up? That’s how I have felt for the last couple of weeks. Among other things, I am behind on blog posts, behind on responding to blog comments, behind on visiting the blogs I follow. I am so sorry, my blogging friends. I seriously want to sit down with a cup of coffee and some biscotti and catch up on everything. Hopefully I will be able to do that soon. Until then, I will share this Chocolate Biscotti recipe with you.
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Maple Blondies with Maple Butter Frosting

2012-02-24T12:30:00.000-06:00

My favorite dessert at Applebee’s is their Maple Butter Blondie, so that is what inspired these Maple Blondies with Maple Butter Frosting. The Applebee’s blondie is served on a sizzling skillet with ice cream and a maple butter sauce. Although I love this presentation, it isn’t very practical for bringing somewhere and serving. Since I often bring bars for various events, I wanted something that had the same flavors but would be easy to cut and serve. The result is these frosted blondies. And the cool thing is that if you stick one of them in the microwave for a few seconds, they heat up and the frosting melts into a sauce. Top it with ice cream and chopped walnuts and you have something very similar to the Applebee's treat.
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Ginger Cream Cookies

2012-02-16T10:30:00.000-06:00

Ginger Creams bring back lots of memories for me. Memories from long, long ago! These fluffy ginger cakes with creamy white icing are one of the cookies that my mom made for me to take to kindergarten to share with my class. I remember counting down the days on the mimeographed cookie calendar until it was my very first “cookie day”. Carefully my mom and I packed the ginger cream cookies into a green Tupperware container, and I proudly brought them in to my teacher. At snack time I took the cookies around to each student. Of course we learned important lessons like “the one you touch is the one you take” and to always say “thank you” to the person who brought cookies.
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Chocolate Raspberry Truffles

2012-02-10T09:00:00.000-06:00

This year for Valentine's Day I decided to give Chocolate Raspberry Truffles a try. Although I have made ganache before, I had never formed the ganache into truffles. It was an easy process, and the result is a decadent chocolate confectionery that is perfect for Valentine’s Day. The recipe I adapted called for Chambord, and I had hoped to make some of my truffles using this raspberry liqueur. When I sent my husband to the liquor store for beer for Beer Bread, I asked him to see if they had any tiny, little bottles of Chambord. Unfortunately they only had a large bottle that was over $30. That was a tad more than I wanted to spend for the two tablespoons needed for this recipe. So I used raspberry extract instead.
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Beer Bread

2012-02-05T12:00:00.000-06:00

I have been known to purchase expensive beer bread mixes. Why? I had no idea how easy it was to make beer bread on my own without a mix. Food manufacturers have convinced us that we need all the convenience foods and mixes that they produce, and I am guilty of falling for their advertising way to often. Sometimes we don’t realize how easy it is to prepare foods on our own. We buy convenience food thinking they are time savers, when the truth is that they often only save us a few seconds. This bread is so simple to make, and has a total of six ingredients! Six! The original recipe used self-rising flour, which further reduces the ingredients to a total of four. (I didn’t happen to have self-rising flour on hand, but if you do, simply omit the baking powder and the salt.) The beer bread mix I was using had three ingredients: the mix, beer, and butter. I mean, how hard it is it to measure and mix in a few more ingredients? Now, if the beer bread from the mix tasted significantly better, it might be worth it. But how often is a mix better than homemade? I can honestly say that my family enjoyed this bread as much as they did the breads I have made from mixes.
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Celebration Cake & A Giveaway

2012-01-30T03:00:00.000-06:00

I can’t believe that it was a year ago that I started this blog! I am celebrating my first year of blogging with my version of a Celebration Cake—white cake with lemon filling and buttercream frosting. I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed baking and sharing my recipes with you this past year. I truly appreciate each and every one of you that visits this blog. Your comments and emails have been so encouraging, and they have made my day more times than I can tell you. So besides the cake, I am also celebrating with a giveaway! One lucky reader will receive a $50 Amazon.com gift card! Amazon is one of my favorite places to pick up kitchen gadgets, baking pans, cookbooks, camera equipment, you name it! What will you get if you win?
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Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

2012-01-23T13:30:00.000-06:00

This is my new favorite coffee cake! Over the past couple of weeks I have had the opportunity to make this cake twice, and it was a hit both times. Back in October I posted a lovely Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake that had a ribbon of cream cheese in the center. This coffee cake also has a ribbon of cream cheese running through the center, but it is very different from the filling in the pumpkin cake. This coffee cake’s cream cheese ribbon isn’t as sweet or as light and airy as the pumpkin cake’s filling. The filling in the coffee cake is creamy, dense and delectable. And the addition of lemon juice gives it a tangy contrast to the rest of the cake. I wouldn’t say it is better than the other cream cheese filling, just different. This cake is truly enjoyable with a cup of coffee. Or without. It is just plain enjoyable!
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Chocolate-Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

2012-01-17T17:00:00.000-06:00

These cookies feature another one of my favorite flavor combinations—chocolate and orange. I has been a couple of years since I have made these cookies, and I had forgotten how good they are. In the past I have used semisweet chocolate chips, but opted for dark chocolate chips this time. They are very good either way. These cookies do tend to dry out quickly, so store them in an airtight container. You can also add a slice of bread to the container to help keep them soft and chewy.
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Cinnamon Orange Cranberry Monkey Bread

2012-01-09T10:00:00.000-06:00

This style of rolls is often referred to as monkey bread, but may also be called Hungarian coffee cake, bubble loaf, or pull-aparts. A long time ago I made cinnamon orange monkey bread that used frozen bread dough rolls. I have also tried recipes that used refrigerated biscuits. I wanted to give monkey bread a try using homemade sweet dough. And at the last minute I decided to add dried cranberries since I love them paired with orange flavor. Since I am not a morning person, I wanted to make these up the night before and then bake them in the morning. Not having tried this before with homemade sweet dough, I wasn’t sure if it would work to refrigerate them overnight. Luckily it worked great and the monkey bread turned out wonderfully. I thought it tasted better using the homemade dough than the frozen dough, but if you are short on time the frozen bread dough rolls are a great option. If you use frozen rolls, thaw 18 rolls and then cut them in half.
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Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

2012-01-02T15:00:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! Have you made any resolutions? One of my resolutions last New Years was to do more of what I love and enjoy doing, including baking. I think I will keep with that again this year. With my boys home from school, we had fun baking a few things together including these Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling. Ever since I made my first batch of whoopie pies my boys have been asking for more. My older son Travis and I decided to make the traditional chocolate variety. For the filling, we used cream cheese instead of the more traditional marshmallow filling. Travis especially enjoyed piping in the filling. He had never used a pastry bag before so it was a good way to practice.
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Banana Peanut Butter Chip Mini Muffins

2011-12-27T11:30:00.000-06:00

Sometimes a good idea hits you in the head. Literally. That’s what happened as I was making these muffins. I had spotted Shab’s Easy Peasy Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffins on her blog Yum & Delish and decided to give them a try. What I loved about her recipe is that it had lots of banana in it, and I had a bunch of ripe bananas sitting on my counter. As I began mixing up the muffins, I went to my cupboard to get my chocolate chips. I keep them way up high on the very top shelf of my baking cupboard so as to discourage eating the chips up before I can bake with them. Anyway, as I was digging through my stash of chips, a bag of peanut butter chips fell from the shelf and hit me on the head. I looked at the bag and thought, "Hmmm. Banana and peanut butter might make a good combo for these muffins!"
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Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

2011-12-22T19:00:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays! However you celebrate, my it be joyous! I have one last cookie recipe to share, and then I promise it will be my last cookie recipe for awhile.
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Russian Teacakes

2011-12-20T19:00:00.000-06:00

What do you call these cookies? I have heard them called Russian teacakes, Mexican wedding cakes, and snowball cookies. To us, these are Russia teacakes. Whatever the name, they are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. They are also easy to make and don’t require any special ingredients. As much as I love trying new recipes, I truly enjoy making (and eating) the classics most of all. Just like an old song on the radio can bring on a rush of memories, so too can the taste of a favorite Christmas cookie.
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Classic Spritz Cookies

2011-12-16T14:00:00.000-06:00

My mom has made Spritz Cookies every Christmas for as long as I can remember, so they are one of our family’s favorites. Mom usually makes red (pink) poinsettia flowers and green trees and wreaths—simple yet beautiful and delicious. Since my mom lives across the country form us, we won’t be seeing her this year for Christmas. We were very fortunate to spend the last two Christmases at her house, but this year we will be celebrating at home with just with our immediate family. We will enjoy these cookies and think of mom.
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Mint Cream Cheese Brownie Bites

2011-12-12T19:00:00.001-06:00

I made these Mint Cream Cheese Brownie Bites to bring to a Christmas party. I had planned on making chocolate orange cookies, but when I went to make them the oranges were gone! If you follow my blog, this may sound familiar. I wasn’t going to post these brownie bites since I used a mix for the brownies, but the mint cream cheese frosting was too delicious not to share (and record for myself for later use). And if you don’t want to use a mix, you could of course use your favorite brownie recipe.
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