Sinful Southern Sweets

Valentine Shortbread Cookies and Magical Icing

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:09:00 +0000

Wow! Can you believe it has been over a YEAR since I last posted?!?! I have been a very bad blogger this year. Well, you know how it is. Life happens. Mother Maxine, also known as my dear sweet mother, has been hounding me to post on my blog. The truth is I haven't been baking a whole lot in the last year. But, I will try better this year to post things when I do cook.

Now on to the sweets!

I have been searching for many, many years for a perfect iced cookie. I think I've mentioned before that I really do not enjoy icing cookies. Part of that is that I have never landed on a recipe that really worked. Either the cookies spread to much or the icing dripped all over. Usually I just made a mess and threw the whole thing out. Well, I finally found that perfect recipe.These absolutely melt in your mouth. The whole cup of cornstarch gives it this effect so don't skip it! I found this recipe over at Sweetopia. She is the master of all things coated in Royal icing.She has some really awesome tips on decorating iced cookies that I found really helpful.

Don't let the process scare you away. There does seem to be a lot of steps (cool the dough, roll the dough, cool the dough, etc), but it is absolutely worth every minute!
Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's day!!
Enjoy!!

Valentine Shortbread Cookies
Recipe courtesy of Sweetopia

1 lb. (454 gr) butter, room temperature
1 cup (5 oz. or 142 g) icing sugar
(confectioner’s or powdered sugar)
1 cup (5 oz. or 142 g) cornstarch
3 cups (15 oz. or 425 g) flour
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp pure almond extract

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle
attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the butter* on medium
speed for about 30 seconds. You may need to scrape down
the sides of your bowl with a spatula at least once.
2. In a separate bowl, sift your icing sugar, cornstarch and
flour together.
3. Add your sifted ingredients to the bowl with the butter, and
mix on low speed, just until all ingredients are incorporated.
4. Roll the dough out between 2 large pieces of parchment
paper. Place on a baking sheet and into the fridge for a
minimum of one hour.

5.Cut cold dough with cookie cutters. Remove scraps, reroll and repeat.
6. Place cookie dough shapes back in the fridge to chill for
approximately one hour.
7. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Bake cookies for about 15 minutes until bottoms are just browned.
Cool and ice.

Magical Royal Icing
recipe courtesy of Sweetopia
6 oz (3/4 cup) of warm water
5 Tablespoons Meringue Powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 kilogram (2.25 lbs.) powdered icing sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp pure almond extract
*** Note; if your meringue powder has no vanilla flavor (vanillin powder) in it, add a teaspoon of clear vanilla to this recipe.
Directions:
In mixer bowl, pour in the warm water and the meringue powder. Mix it with a whisk by hand until it is frothy and thickened…about 30 seconds.
Add the cream of tartar and mix for 30 seconds more.
Pour in all the icing sugar at once and place the bowl on the mixer.
Using the paddle attachment on the LOWEST speed, mix slowly for a full 10 minutes. Icing will get thick and creamy.
Cover the bowl with a dampened tea-towel to prevent crusting and drying.

Cherry White Chocolate Pecan Cookies with Princess Runwilder

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:30:00 +0000

For those of you that are new to Sinful Southern Sweets, please meet my youngest baby, Princess Runwilder.

She looks so serious here, because she is about to embark on the very serious art of baking. She is normally a sweet,silly little 3 yr old goofball.Oh look, she finally got back to normal after a few minutes in front of the camera.

Princess Runwilder is the younger sister of Princess Runwild.

She is a sweet, silly 6 yr old goofball. We have been given strict instructions by Princess Runwild not to EVER do anything fun while she is at school. So, if you see my little Princess Runwild, please don't tell her that Runwilder got to bake cookies today. Also, I wouldn't mention that her little sister was wearing her pink polka dot rockstar hairband....she gets her feathers in a fluff about things like that. Runwilder and I both know it. We take turns wearing the pink polka dot rockstar headband:)

So, today the little Runwilder helped me bake cookies. She likes to bake. She doesn't even lick her fingers during the process. Such a professional:)

Runwilder did not really want to use the electric mixer. She wanted to mix it with a spoon. I tried to tell her you only did that when you had no other choice. But, she was insistent. I let her. After 20 minutes she was bored and had not gotten the spoon turned around the bowl more than half a dozen times. We turned on the electric mixer. Showed the kid the beauty of electricity.

I have for many years glared at the candied cherries in the grocery stores at Christmastime wondering what I would use them for. They are the bright red cherries in plastic tubs camped out next to the mixed candied fruit that people use to make fruit cake. They are not the same as marachino cherries, that you find in a jar. But you could use those, drained. You'll just end up with pink cookies from the small amount of cherry juice. If you like cherries, you will love these cookies. Both the Runwild Princesses gave them a thumbs up!

Enjoy!

Cherry White Chocolate Pecan Cookies

Ingredients

1 stick butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped candied cherries
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chunks

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, with electric mixer, cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until just combined. Set aside.

Sift together flour, soda, and salt. Add milk to the butter mixture and then add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined.

In another bowl, combine nuts, cherries, and white chocolate. Then add to batter, stirring only to blend. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for approximately 11 to 13 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Peppermint Marble Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:44:00 +0000

I think I've mentioned before that I'm not terribly talented at icing cookies. Don't get me wrong, I love iced cookies. They are usually very yummy and I think they are beautiful. But, I'm just not good at keeping a steady perfect line when piping around the exterior. I usually make a huge mess. When I'm not good at things, I just won't do them. So, without iced cookies on a goody tray, there don't tend to be a lot of colorful cookies. Undoubtedly, when I start pulling together my Christmas goody trays, I start realizing that that everything is brown and white. And, though I have not had any complaints thus far, I thought these Peppermint Marble Cookies would add the perfect splash of color for our holiday treat trays. And best of all... no decorating with icing! Yea!

Enjoy!

Peppermint Marble Cookies

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/4 teaspoon red food color
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In large bowl, beat butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour. Divide dough in half. Stir peppermint extract and food color into one half of dough. Divide each color of dough in half. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

2. Once the dough is chilled roll each of the doughs out to 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Cut each rectangle in half. Working with one half each of the white and red dough, place the white on top of the red and fold the dough in half and then in half again. Flatten the dough, roll into a log, fold the dough in half and flatten again.Roll the dough into a tight log, wrap with plastic and chill for at least two hours, or as many as three days. Repeat with the remaining dough.

3.Cut into 1/4" slices. Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. .

4. Bake cookies 7 to 9 minutes or until set. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack; cool.

Monster's Eyeballs And Free Printable Tags

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:32:00 +0000

So, Lets talk Halloween food. You know, I really like holiday inspired food. And, Halloween is no exception. Now, I admit, I usually tend to steer towards the cutesy stuff. Hey, I have 2 little princesses. They like the pumpkins, jack o lanterns and sweet smiley ghosts. Though as they've gotten older, they think the mildly grotesque inspired treats are somewhat cool. So, I'm not opposed for the most part. But, the other day I ran across this....

Oh my! No, no, no! This is just wrong...
There should never be cute little chubby baby arms poking out of mounds of chocolate cupcakes. Uhhgghh....Man, that just brings back those horrid thoughts of that sweet little blonde headed baby Gage from the movie Pet Cemetary that went horribly bad.
Soooo don't need that visual. Don't do this. Nobody likes to see sweet mixed with gorry....

On the other hand, I'm perfectly ok with eating eyeballs ;)
Well, as long as they're Monster's Eyeballs- peanut butter toffee balls coated with white chocolate. Bring on the eyeballs!

I learned a few things about making the eyeballs. First, don't skimp on the colored part of the eye and don't use mini chocolate chips. Big colored circle and full sized chocolate chip. The others might pass for something you'd find at a bachelor's party....

You can use a red food safe marker to draw some squiggly lines to make them appear bloodshot, but I'm not so much into eating things that look like their bloody.
Eyeballs I'll eat.
Bloody eyeballs... even filled with peanut butter....something about it just seems wrong. I know, I'm a weirdo

These are essentially just your basic peanut butter balls that you find on many a homemade christmas tray, but I've added toffee chips for a little something different. Eyeballs with crunch. Good stuff.

Bag up some of these Monster's Eyeballs and give them to your neighbors, your kids' friends or your kids' teachers. Here is a close up of the monster eyeball tags.
Click here to download the Monster's Eyeballs gift tags I've made up just for your gifting pleasure. Hope you love them!
Enjoy!

Monster Eyeballs
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (I used Natural Skippy w/honey)
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 block Almond Bark (white candy coating)
2 drops blue food coloring
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 c toffee bits (Heath)

Directions

Beat the peanut butter and butter with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in the sugar and vanilla. Stir in toffee bits. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll chilled dough into small, eyeball-sized balls and place on 2 baking sheets lined with wax paper. Freeze for another 30 minutes.
Melt the white chocolate coating in a microwave-safe glass or ceramic bowl in 30-second intervals, stirring after each melting, for 1 to 3 minutes (depending on your microwave). Do not overheat or chocolate will scorch. Dip each eyeball into the white chocolate and transfer to the waxed paper until the chocolate has set. You can chill them in the refrigerator.
Stir a few drops of blue food coloring into the remaining melted white chocolate. Make a round "Iris" on the top of the cooled eyeball and press a chocolate chip in the center for a "pupil." Don't press to hard or you'll crack the cooled white coating.

Tate's Bake Shop Cookie Winner!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:49:00 +0000

Forgive my tardiness on this announcement, but the winner of the Tate's Bake Shop Cookie Giveaway is

Karen

Karen, I've sent you an email. Let me know your shipping address and I'll have Tate's get your prize on its way!

Thanks for entering!

I've Been Boo'd! Have You Been Boo'd? Free Boo Printables and Chocolate Boo Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 22:03:00 +0000

Have you seen the "We've Been Boo'd" signs all around town yet?? Tis the Season....

So, Are you wondering what up with all this talk about getting 'Boo'd?" Well, we're not talking about some vindictive behavior toward stage performers or anything like that. Around this time of year, many people participate in a little neighborhood game known as "Boo-ing." Its kind of a Halloween take on "Secret Santa."
To start a Halloween BOO, one neighbor secretly leaves a small gift, a BOO poem(that includes the BOO instructions) and a BOO sign at a neighbor's doorstep.
The lucky BOO-ee is asked to post the sign near the door, alerting others that "We've Been BOO-d!" That way, new BOO recruits won't leave a duplicate BOO on the doorstep.
In turn, the neighbor is asked to BOO two other households, leading to a chain reaction--and lots of Halloween fun. This is especially fun if you've got kids in your neighborhood, but I think the adults enjoy it just as much.
Day by day, the BOO signs proliferate. Soon, the entire neighborhood is sporting BOO signs. Sounds like fun, right?? Right. So, I'm gonna help you get starting on your very own BOO adventure. I've created some BOO printables for you to download. There are gift tags, a BOO sign and a BOO Poem.
Click here to Download the Boo Sign , Click Here to Download the Gift Tags , Click Here to Download the Poem with Instructions for Boo-ing. All of these were printed on 8.5x11 cardstock. Tags cut with 2 5/16 circle punch.

Don't you love the little ghost with the top hat? I thought he was a very charming fella' and perfect for our BOO.

But, first you have to decide what you're going to leave as your BOO gift. Really, it can be anything. Some people do small gifts like candles, Halloween trinkets or something store bought that is age appropriate for the neighbor they are buying for. Me, well, I like the home baked treats. I miss the days when neighbors made popcorn balls and candied apples for the kids. Then, BAM!, somewhere in the mid to late '80's everybody got scared that weirdos were trying to slip razor blades into the Halloween treats. So, no more popcorn balls and candied apples for us:( Isn't that always how it goes, one weirdo ruined it for everybody! Well, I'm hoping if we really wrap our treats super cute with these cute little tags and such maybe no one will think we're trying to poison them or slip sharp metal objects to their children. Let's bring back the home baked Halloween goodies!! But, just in case, you could always slip a little note in to let them know who baked the goodies, in case their not on the home baked Halloween goody bandwagon yet...

So, for my Boo treats, I decided on these great Chocolate Cookies that are wrapped around York Peppermint Patty Pumpkins.

I do have one word of advice on these. Don't wrap too much cookie dough around the Peppermint Patty. If you do, the end result will look like a fried egg that originated from a chocolate chicken. Look:

See, I'm not kidding. This is serious stuff. Nobody wants Chocolate Chicken Cookies for their BOO treat. So, just go easy on the dough. Cover the patty, but not with a heavy hand.
Otherwise, they are very simple, just bake them and let them cool on the pan.

Then, you're ready to wrap your little treat up and deliver it with your BOO gift tags, sign and BOO Poem.

Part of the fun is delivering the BOO without getting caught. So, try to do the delivering after dark!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Peppermint Patty Boo Cookies
Ingredients

2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
24 to 26 small (1-1/2 inch) YORK Peppermint Patties
White decorator's sugar

Directions

Beat butter and sugar in large mixing bowl; add egg, milk and vanilla, blending thoroughly. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture, blending well. Refrigerate dough about 1 hour or until firm enough to handle. (Dough will be a little soft.)
Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Remove wrappers from peppermint patties.
Roll dough into 1-1/4 inch balls. For each cookie flatten ball slightly; press peppermint pattie into dough. Mold dough around pattie so that it is completely covered. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Sprinkle with decorator's sugar or sprinkles.
Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until cookie is set; sprinkle with additional sugar, if desired. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

Double Cookie Layer Dessert AND Tate's Cookie Giveaway!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 11:05:00 +0000

*Please read to the end of the post for the Tate's Cookie recipe.

Did you know that October is National Cookie Month? Yes, that's right. So, I thought we should to start this month off with a recipe including cookies. This is not just a cookie recipe, but a layered recipe containing some of the best purchased cookies around: cookies from Tate's Bake Shop. If you've forgotten about Tate's, I did a review about this sweet Bake Shop last year. You can read about it here.

To celebrate National Cookie Month, Tate's asked me to try out some of their newest cookies, the Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip cookie –which won GOLD in the Cookie category in the 2011 sofi™ Awards, presented at the Fancy Food Show (known as the Oscars® of the specialty food industry) in Washington, DC.

Well, you know me. I'm not one to turn down award winning chocolate chip cookies. So, I fell in love with Tate's all over again. There are so many positive things to say about these great cookies. My favorite thing about them- besides the fact that they are thin and crunchy and buttery and addictive- is that they are natural. You know what makes homemade cookies so wonderful? Well, it has a lot to do with the fact that they are simple and not stuffed with every conceivable preservative on earth. Tate's Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies, which do not taste whole wheat in the slightest, contain 10 ingredients: chocolate chips, wheat flour, sugar, brown sugar, butter, eggs, baking soda, salt, vanilla and water. I don't know about you, but that's what I make my own chocolate chip cookies with too! Its very rare to find packaged cookies that taste like homemade, but Tate's has got it perfected with their buttery, crunchy cookies.

Ok, so back to the recipe. This is a classic layered dessert. Great combination of crunchy meets creamy. I've had it many times, but never so good. It begins with a nutty shortbread like crust enhanced with a few of Tate's cookies. This layer is baked and cooled and topped with a cream cheese layer. This layer is covered with crumbled Tate's cookies, Oreo Pudding and Cool Whip. The perfect beginning to Cookie Month!! Enjoy!**Please read on after recipe for GIVEAWAY!!

Double Cookie Layer Dessert
featuring Tate's Bake Shop Cookies!

1 cup flour
1/2 cup nuts, chopped
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 (8 ounce) container Cool Whip, divided
1 large pkg Oreo Jello instant pudding mix (any flavor is fine)
3 cups milk
1 bag Tate's Bake Shop cookies

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine the flour, nuts, butter and 3 crumbled Tate's cookies.
Press mixture into a 13x9-inch pan.
Bake 10-15 minutes.
While cooling, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1 cup Cool Whip.
Spread over first layer. Crumble remaining cookies (reserve 1/4 cup) Top cream cheese layer with remaining cookies (except for the 1/4 cup). Set aside.
Mix the pudding and milk until semi-set; pour on creamy layer
Spread with remaining Cool Whip. Top with 1/4 cup remaining crumbled cookies. Chill.

GIVEAWAY TIME!
Now, if you've hung around this long, you're probably waiting for the Tate's Giveaway. Tate's Bake Shop is in the celebrating mood too! In honor of National Cookie Month, they are offering Sinful Southern Sweets readers 15% off your purchase the entire month of October when you use the discount code COOKIE at checkout. Also, they will are giving one lucky winner three bags of the Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip cookies and a signed copy of Kathleen King’s cookbook, The Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook.
Yea for National Cookie Month!!
To enter the contest:

To enter the giveaway to win 3 Bags of Tate's Cookie Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies and Tate's Cookbook:
1)Be a Google Follower of Sinful Southern Sweets:You must do this before any other entry can be made.
2) Like Tate's Bake Shop on Facebook
3) Like Southern Sweets on Facebook
4) Follow Sinful Southern Sweets on Twitter
5)Follow Tate's Bake Shop on Twitter

**Please leave a separate comment for each entry you make. Leave your email in your comment, if it is not visible in your profile. We want to be able to get you those cookies if you win!!

Giveaway will end on October 15th at midnight. Winner to be announced October 16th and chosen via Random.org. Entries open only to US residents. Good Luck!!

Grapico Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 10:37:00 +0000

It's still hot here in my neck of the woods. Each and every year around this time, the sweltering southerners start thinking two things:

1) "This has been the hottest summer of my life!"-Of course it hasn't been. Not really. In my memory, the hottest summer was many years ago, when I was about 3 or 4. I can still remember my little legs sticking to the seats of my parents car. I wasn't sure if my skin had melted into that burgundy vinyl or vice versa. Yet, within minutes afterward, that freakishly hot vinyl had created so much sweat on the backs of my legs, I thought I was going to slip right off the seat. Oh the memories....

2) "This summer is never going to end!"-Ok, so maybe we're a bit dramatic, but it does start to feel that way when your summer season runs from about March to November!

So, if you're sweating out the dog days of summer as well, then I've got the perfect recipe for you. Well, I have the perfect recipe for you if you live in the South. It is my understanding that Grapico (a carbonated grape drink) is only sold in the South. I can't say for sure, since I've never thought to look for a Grapico on the rare occasions that I've traveled outside of my hometown. But, if this is the case, perhaps you could use some other grape soft drink, or you could certainly use another flavor.

This recipe is probably the simplest form of ice cream you will come across. You'll find a few variations on this, but this is my favorite.

Enjoy!

Grapico Ice Cream

2 liter of Grapico
3 cans of condensed milk (not evaporated)

Stir together Grapico and condensed milk. Refrigerate overnight or at least 6 hours until mixture is chilled.
Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions.

Winner Winner! Cookbook Winner!

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:04:00 +0000

I realize I am a few days late posting this. But, this has been a hectic time of year. Coming back from vacation and immediately starting to get Princess Runwild ready to start school. Whew!
So, no more delays....The winner of Whitney Miller's cookbook Modern Hospitality is

Cindy
cindyskitchen@yahoo.com

Cindy, I have sent you an email. If you can send me your mailing address, we will have this shipped out to you.

Thanks for all your comments!! I will be back with a recipe within a few days after I get everything settled down a bit.

Take Care,

No Name Bars & A Cookbook Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:38:00 +0000

"In 2010, America watched amateur cook, Whitney Miller, crush the competition and become the first winner of FOX’s hit show MasterChef. The seemingly demure Mississippi belle proved she had not only nerves of steel but true culinary chops. Now, in her eagerly anticipated first cookbook MODERN HOSPITALITY: Simple Recipes with Southern Charm, Whitney treats readers to a fresh take on classic dishes that have been passed down throughout generations of Southern women in her family."1

When Gordon Ramsay, one of the judges for MasterChef, first met Whitney Miller, her humble and soft spoken attitude was said to make Gordon think "she was a sweet lamb heading toward inevitable slaughter."2 Yet, I believe they strongly underestimated the southern belle from Poplarville, Mississippi. In the end, with a dish of fried chicken and creamed collard greens, Ms. Whitney Miller became the winner of Masterchef. Since Masterchef, she has gone on to open a successful cafe and catering business and has written her first cookbook, MODERN HOSPITALITY: Simple Recipes with Southern Charm.

I was honored to be asked to review Ms. Millers cookbook. The cookbook is simply stunning. There is a beautiful shabby-chic appeal in all the page coloring and food photography. Lots of interesting vintage linens paired with mouth watering recipes. I love Whitney's merging of her favorite recipes with the beautiful southern table settings. The lovely bone china tea cups filled with her Game Day Chili (on page 46), is perfect example. It's what her cookbook is all about. Modern hospitality... mixing the old with the new and embracing southern charm at its finest.

Of course, you know me. My very favorite part of the cookbook would include something from the sweet selections. After much deliberation in choosing the first recipe to try, I finally decided on a recipe called No Name Bars. Ms. Miller indicates they "are too good for words," hence the reason she had trouble giving them a name. No doubt, she nailed it right on the head. The bars are similar to a gooey butter cake or a chess bar, but they have a very buttery crust with a filling that is a cross between that of a cheesecake and a custard. Their simplicity makes it easy to top them with anything from a sweet fruit reduction to a chocolate sauce. Or, you could just leave them plain and consume half a pan, as is. That appeared to be my preference:)

Enjoy!

No Name Bars
from MODERN HOSPITALITY: Simple Recipes with Southern Charm by Whitney Miller
Ingredients:
Crust:
1 1/2 sticks, unsalted butter, melted
3/4 c. white granulated sugar
1 1/2 all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
4 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 c powdered (confectioner's) sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 baking dish.
To make the crust: Mix the butter and white sugar together in a med. bowl. In another bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to salt mixture and mix until combined. Spread into greased baking dish.

For filling:
Beat cream cheese with mixer until smooth. Add the eggs and mix. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla. Add powdered sugar. Spread on top of crust. Bake for 38 minutes. Let cool at least 5 minutes before cutting into squares.

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!!
If you'd like to win your own copy of Whitney's cookbook MODERN HOSPITALITY, you are in luck. Along with my review copy, I was offered the chance to giveaway a copy to one of my Sinful Southern Sweets readers! So, its very simple, just leave me a comment, any comment (well, preferably a nice one:). You can leave up to 3 comments per day. The giveaway will end August 7th. Winner will be chosen randomly. Please make sure to include your email if its not listed in your profile. Good luck!!

BOOK SIGNINGS AND EVENTS FOR WHITNEY MILLER

July 7^th - EveryDay Gourmet - Jackson, MS, Book signing

July 8^th - TurnRow Books- Greenwood, MS, Book signing

July 8^th - Viking Cooking School - Cooking demo (6 -7:30 pm)

July 9^th - Uptown Interiors- Bay St Louis, MS, book signing

July 11^th - Square Books - Oxford, MS, book signing (5-7 pm)

July 12^th - L’Ecole Culinaire, cooking demo and book singing (12-2pm)

July 12^th - The Booksellers at Laurelwood- Memphis, TN - book signing (6-8pm)

July 14^th - Page & Palette - Fairhope, AL, cooking demo and book signing

July 15^th - Apple's Limited - Poplarville, MS, book signing (5-7pm)

July 16^th - Viking Cooking Classic- Madison, MS, cooking demo and signing

July 19^th - Melinda's Fine Gifts and More - Picayune, MS, book signing (6-8 pm)

July 22^nd - Sam’s Club- McDonough, GA, book singing

July 24^th - Women’s Health “Are You Game” event- Chicago, IL, cooking demo and book signing (11am-4pm)

July 29th-30^th - MS's Hospitality Pageant - Hattiesburg, MS, celebrity judge and book signing

August 4^th - Books a Million - Birmingham, AL, book signing (12noon-2pm)

August 6^th - Barnes & Noble- Savannah, GA, book signing (2-4pm)

August 13^th - Books a Million - Slidell, LA, book signing (12-2 pm)

August 15^th - The Kitchen Table- Hattiesburg, MS, cooking demo and book signing

1/reference from Rodale publicity release

2/reference from forward by Gordon Ramsay from MODERN HOSPITALITY

Sinful Salty & Sweet Brownies

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:17:00 +0000

Do you ever have days when you just want to consume your entire caloric expenditure in junk??
No....
Oh....No, I don't either...
Often.....
Ok, so not this week, but its only Tuesday.

Anyways, if we were going to be crazy and just force ourselves to indulge in quite possibly the most sinful treat ever, I was thinking this Sinful Salty & Sweet Brownie might fit the bill. I concocted it one day when I might have been having a bit of a need for junk food. It combines the very best of both salty and sweet. Hidden within this gooey caramel brownie resides the following:
1)Chocolate Covered Pretzels, 2) Mars Candy Bars (which I completely forgot existed until I was scouting out the candy isle at Walmart one day) 3)Caramello Bars (Oh how I love thee...) and 4) Potato chips (you can use the light/fat free potato chips if it makes you feel better). Its all baked in a Ghiradelli Caramel Turtle Brownie Mix. Yes, I kid you not. Its all in there. So, if you're serious and you've never wasted all your daily calories on junk food....well, my friend, its never too late!

Enjoy!

Sinful Salty & Sweet Brownies

Recipe by Sinful Southern Sweets

Ingredients:
Ghiradelli Caramel Turtle Brownie Mix
1 egg
1/3 c. oil
1/4 cup water
2 Mars candy bars, chopped
3 Caramello bars, chopped
1/2 c potato chips, crushed
1/2 bag Flipz milk chocolate covered pretzels, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix together the brownie mix (set aside the caramel packet), egg, oil and water. Into a greased 9x9 pan, spoon half the brownie mixture. Top brownie mixture with Mars bars, potato chips, choc. covered pretzels and caramello bars. Spoon theremaining brownie mixture over previous layer. Drizzle caramel (from brownie mix) over the top. Gently swirl into mixture.
Bake at 325 degrees for 36-40 minutes.

Patriotic Fruit Pizza

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 11:09:00 +0000

You can turn on nearly any news channel and see countries around the world battling it out for what we all take for granted...Freedom. We have no real concept of what these countries experience on a day to day basis. For the last 235 years, we have had men and women leaving their families and loved ones to defend our country so that we do not ever have to know what a country without freedom is like to endure.

It was once said "This country isn't perfect, but the concepts on which this great nation were founded - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - most certainly are." While you're celebrating and grilling out and having a relaxing and enjoyable fourth of July weekend, lets all remember those men and women that have fought and continue to fight to keep our country free.

OK, so now that I'm off my patriotic soapbox, lets talk recipes. Its the day before the 4th. So, you've still got time to wrap up your sweet treat for tomorrow. Today's recipe is easy enough that it won't keep you in the kitchen all day, so you can make it today and relax all day tomorrow. Really, you could make it tomorrow and still enjoy the day.

This is called a Fruit Pizza, but it is not like a traditional pizza. It is more like a huge cookie topped with fruit and a frosting.If you want to skip some steps, you could substitute a refrigerated cookie dough for the crust on this recipe. Just bake it until its golden brown, and let cool completely. If you really wanted to cut corners, you could skip the cream cheese frosting and just use refrigerated whipped cream (the kind in the can). I'm not sure I'd be willing to part with the cream cheese frosting since I have tried it, but if you've not tried it, you won't know what you're missing out on anyways:)

OK, and if you're just a complete bum, you could go to the grocery store and buy one of the huge pre-made cookies from the bakery section. Scrape off the icing and start building on your cookie. Whichever way you decide, I hope you have a sweet and safe 4th of July!!
Enjoy!

Patriotic Fruit Pizza
Recipe via Taste of Home

Ingredients

CRUST:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup cold butter
AMERICAN FLAG:
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 cups halved fresh strawberries, 1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Directions

Crust: In a bowl, combine the flour and confectioners' sugar. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly. Press the mixture onto a greased 12-in. pizza pan. Bake at 325° for 10-15 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned. Let cool.

American flag: In a bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar. Add the vanilla and lemon juice, mixing until smooth. Spread 1 cup cream cheese mixture over the crust. Set the remaining cream cheese mixture aside.

Referring to the photo for position, arrange five rows of strawberries on top of the pizza to create the red strips of flag. Place the blueberries in the upper left corner.

Cut a hole in the corner of the plastic or pastry bag and insert the star tip. Fill the bag with the reserved cream cheese mixture. For the white stripes, pipe a zigzag pattern between the rows of strawberries.

Friendship Bread Starter & Printables for Gifting!

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 12:19:00 +0000

Friendship Bread, also refered to as Amish Friendship Bread, has been a popular tradition for nearly 3 decades. Though often called Amish, it is said the bread did not derive, nor have any connection with the Amish. I don't know too much about its origins, but I know its a fabulous recipe and definitely entertaining. At least through the first several batches of starter:)
You should be warned. Usually, people have one of two reactions to Friendship Bread starter:
1) They have never seen or heard of it, and they are intrigued and delighted that you were so kind to think of them and share your starter (these are the people you want to seek out when you start dividing up your starter. Try to hide your sinister laugh as you pass along the bag. Just smile sweetly and pretend to be that gracious lady/gentlemen that loves to bring others joy.Sometimes ignorance is best:)
2) If the individual you are attempting to gift the starter to is not terribly interested in baking or perhaps they have been gifted the starter previously they may grumble at you or in worse case scenario, run the other way. Now, no offense is to be taken from these people. The thing is that when you make the starter for friendship bread, you mush the bag for 10 days, adding some ingredients on day 6 and on day 10 you divide the starter up and give 3 bags away, keep one for yourself and bake with the leftover starter from the previous batch. Well, if you keep a starter, you will divide again in 10 days and again in another 10 days and so on. What I'm getting at here is that the starter tends to multiply like bunnies.

If you haven't read the book Friendship Bread by Darien Gee, I highly recommend it! It is a great novel incorporating the funny tactics of getting rid of friendship bread starters, and how a small town pulled together to put the thousands of multiplied starters to use for a good cause. You'll get pulled into the Friendship Bread Phenomenon, just like I did! I loved the Info section over at Friendship Bread Kitchen that ends the description with this:

"At the end of the day, Amish Friendship Bread is all about friendships and community. It’s about connection. It’s about fun. It’s about nurturing other people. It’s about not taking anything too seriously, but to find the simple joy and pleasure in every moment. Amish Friendship Bread is, in short, a recipe for living."

If the thought of finding individuals to share your starter with scares you, don't let it. There are other options. For instance, the starter freezes beautifully. Or just bake all the starter after 10 days and there is no more gifting or baking. Whatever course you choose, I highly recommend you give this recipe a try. If you have small children, I assure you they will love both the nurturing of the starter and the baking of the bread. My little Runwild Princesses fought all 10 days about who could "mush" the bag.

We just had to let everybody have a go at mushing the bag each day. Who knew the entertainment factor would be so high?!?

And as a little added incentive both to get you to try the recipe and to have luck giving it away, I made y'all a few cute little mermaid themed printables. I'm not sure why I choose mermaids, but I like them. Hope you do too!

So here's what you do. First print out the Friendship Bread tags here. Then print out the sheets with the Friendship Bread instructions here. You will need to get some kind of bag for gifting. I used plain white gift bags because I had those on hand for some reason. On day 10, separate your starters and bake your bread. Wrap up the bread, attaching the tags.

In the gift bag, include the instructions, a sample of the friendship bread and a bag of starter. Tie an extra label on the outside of the bag to make it extra fancy:)

Now here are the instructions beginning with the Starter. If someone has already gifted you a starter, you are in luck and can just use the printouts.

**Note: I have never mentioned this before, but please, please, please do not sell my printables. I don't sell them and nor should you:) These are for gifting purposes only.

Friendship Bread
Recipe from: Friendship Bread Kitchen
Starter:
Ingredients

1 (0.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110° F/45° C)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup milk

Directions

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Let stand 10 minutes.
In a 2-quart glass, plastic or ceramic container, combine 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly with a whisk or fork.
Slowly stir in 1 cup milk and dissolved yeast mixture.
Cover loosely and let stand at room temperature until bubbly. Pour into a plastic ziptop bag, if desired. Consider this day 1 of the 10 day cycle. For the next 10 days handle starter according to the instructions for Amish Friendship Bread.

Notes:
The starter should be left at room temperature. Drape loosely with dish towel or plastic wrap. Do not use metal utensils or bowls. If using a sealed Ziploc bag, be sure to let the air out if the bag gets too puffy.
NOTE: Do not refrigerate starter. It is normal for the batter to rise and ferment. If air gets in the bag, let it out.
Instructions for Starter:
Day 1: Do nothing.
Day 2: Mash the bag.
Day 3: Mash the bag.
Day 4: Mash the bag.
Day 5: Mash the bag.
Day 6: Add to the bag: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk. Mash the bag.
Day 7: Mash the bag.
Day 8: Mash the bag.
Day 9: Mash the bag.
Day 10: Follow the directions below:

Pour the entire bag into a nonmetal bowl.
Add 1 1/2 cup flour, 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cup milk.
Measure out 4 separate batters of 1 cup each into 4 (1-gallon) Ziploc bags.
Keep one of the bags fr yourself, and give the other bags to 3 friendship along with the recipe.

REMEMBER: If you keep a starter for yourself, you will be baking in 10 days. The bread is very good and makes a great gift.
Should this recipe not be passed onto a friend on the first day, make sure to tell them which day it is when you present it to them.
BAKING INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. To the remaining batter in a bowl add the following:

a. 3 eggs
b. 1 cup oil
c. 1/2 cup milk
d. 1 cup sugar
e. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
f. 2 teaspoons cinnamon
g. 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
h. 1/2 teaspoon salt
i. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
j. 2 cups flour
k. 1-2 boxes instant pudding (any flavor)

i. Optional: 1 cup nuts and 1 cup raisins

3. Grease 2 large loaf pans

a. In a bowl mix an additional 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
b. Dust the greased pans with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

4. Pour the batter evenly into the pans and sprinkle the remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture on the top.
5. Bake for one hour or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
6. ENJOY!

Additional info:
There are a multitude of recipes to use this starter for. The one above is just the basic recipe. My Mother in Law had called a few days ago asking if there was a savory recipe to be used with the starter. I did not think there was, but I did actually end up finding several at the Amish Friendship Kitchen. So, if get bored with the basic recipe, just go look in the Friendship Kitchen recipe box and you'll find everything from Brownies to Cheesy Sourdough to Zucchini Bread. The possibilities are endless.
Have Fun and Enjoy!

"You Take The Cake" Jar Cakes-Teacher Thank You Gift

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:01:00 +0000

Where has our year gone?!?! Just yesterday it seems, I was posting about Back to School Cupcakes and my Princess Runwild was starting a new phase of life as a kindergartener. Now, here we are finishing up her last week as a kindergartener…But that’s ok, at least I won’t have to listen to little sister, Runwilder, scream every morning as we drop her big sister off at school. I kid you not, every single day that we have taken Runwild to school, Runwilder has screamed after her as she gets out of the car “I need you!!” I thought it would only last the first few weeks of school, but no….every single school day.

So, as the school year comes to an end, you may be looking for a little gift for your teachers. That’s what I’m sharing today. Its not so much a recipe, as in idea. If you’re short on time, you can simply go to the store and buy a pack of premade cupcakes. You’ll need a mason jar, cupcakes, sprinkles and this oh- so- cute printable I’ve made for you.

You can download the printable here.

Oh, and some ribbon would also be nice.

Its very simple. Just stack a few cupcakes in that jar (I used 3 cupcakes). Add Sprinkles in between the layers if you want to make it extra special. Put the top on and tie/tape on the tag. I know it seems simple, but who wouldn’t love this. Its cake…in a jar.

Portable Perfection! The only think that would make these teachers love you more is if you sent them a plastic fork so they don’t have to wait to eat it. And, don’t forget to let your little one sign the tag.
Enjoy!

Carrot Cake,,,and An Easter Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Wed, 18 May 2011 11:22:00 +0000

I realize Easter has come and gone, but since my recipe today was actually my Easter dessert , I thought we’d just have an entire Easter recap.
So in a nutshell,
The Easter Bunny did in fact come.

Which was a surprise even to Princess Runwild. She told me later, that she was nearly certain she had NOT been a good girl.….
There was some egg dying...

The drying of the eggs was nearly too much for Princess Runwild….

There was a bit of Egg Hunting….

Princess Runwilder didn’t stand a chance. Her older sister had years more experience. She was a kid on a mission. God love her, if she’d only known I was going to make them divide them equally….

There was even the excitement of the loss of a first tooth!…..

And the sweet ending to a fabulous Easter?
Carrot Cake!

There’s not too much to know about this carrot cake. Except that its moist, it makes nice deep layers and you will love it! Oh, wait..you should know that the layers are sooo deep that you may have a hard time finding a cake carrier for transport, if you’re taking it to someone elses house. I had to wrestle it into a plastic storage container. The kind you generally store clothes in, but I’m pretty sure nobody cared :)Hope you had a wonderful Easter!
Enjoy!

Southern Carrot Cake

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
8 oz can crushed pinapple, drained
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup butter, softened
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, sugars and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir in carrots and pineapple. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost the cooled cake.Press pecans around the side of cake for decoration.

Easter Basket Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:11:00 +0000

Wanna be the best mom/dad/grandparent/aunt/uncle, etc in the whole world??? Yeah, these'll do it. At least for the moment....or until that sugar high kicks in. Then you'll be a mean, uncool adult again.
I just don't know when it happened.You know, being "uncool," as a parent. I think its when that little 'Beiber Boy' entered the picture last fall....I just don't think its right for a 5 yr old to have "Beiber Fever." I'm not 100% I know what Beiber Fever is, but I'm pretty sure I don't want my Runwilder Princesses to have it. Right? Oh well, if cute little bunny cupcakes baked in a waffle cone cup and piled high with icing and sugary confections makes me cool for 5 minutes, well, I'm gonna take it.

Besides, how cute would these be on your Easter table. And the waffle cone bowls really make a cute basket. But, if you don't have them and don't want to go to the store, you can simply use cupcake liners. IF, you fall into that Type A personality category and feel the need to match the color of the cupcake to the basket (waffle cone), use a caramel cake mix. (I'm not type A, I just happened to have a caramel cake mix on hand and I decided it did in fact make a perfect match:) Oh, and make sure you stick the twizzlers (handle) down into the actual cake part of the cupcake and not just into the icing. You don't want to have you're basket handle flapping around and flinging icing all over the place. That wouldn't make a very stunning Martha Stewartesque Easter Table, now would it??:)

Enjoy!

Easter Basket Cupcakes
Recipe from"Cupcakes! From the Cake Mix Doctor" by Anne Byrn

CUPCAKES:

1 box (7 ounces) waffle bowls (10 to a box)
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large whole eggs
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon coconut flavoring (optional)
Buttercream Frosting or Canned frosting

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
3 to 4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

BASKETS:

3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2 to 3 drops green food coloring
Assorted jelly beans
10 strawberry-flavored Twizzlers (9 1/2 inches long)
Lindt Chocolate Bunnies or similar easter candy

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Wrap the outside of each waffle bowl in an 8-inch aluminum foil square, carefully tucking the edges of the foil just inside the top of the bowl. Place the bowls on a baking sheet and set aside.

2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, eggs, egg whites, and coconut flavoring in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. Fill each bowl with a heaping 1/2 cup of batter. Place the baking sheet in the oven.

3. Bake the cupcakes until they are lightly golden and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 24 to 27 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Gently peel off the aluminum foil and allow the bowls to cool to room temperature, 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the Buttercream Frosting (skip this step if you're using canned frosting). Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add the confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons of the milk, and the vanilla. Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute more. Add up to 1 tablespoon more milk if the frosting seems too stiff.

5. Place the coconut in a plastic bag with 2 drops of the green food coloring. Shake well until the coconut turns green. If the color isn't strong enough, add another drop of color, and shake again.

6. To assemble, place 2 heaping tablespoons of frosting on each cupcake and spread it out smoothly with a short metal spatula or a spoon, taking care to cover the tops completely. Immediately sprinkle on coconut to resemble grass and place a bunny in the middle and a pile of jelly beans on the coconut to resemble eggs. To create the basket handle, insert one end of a Twizzler in one side of the cupcake near the edge, then bend it over the cupcake and insert the other end on the opposite side. The cupcakes are ready to serve.

• Store these cupcakes for up to 1 day at room temperature. After a day, the cake will begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Hula Girl Blondies and a Free Printable

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:43:00 +0000

My brother and his family have lived up north for a few years. On one of their recent visits, they brought me a sampling of brownies from a bakery that is located in a nearby town. Now, I soon came to discover, this bakery was not just any ole’ bakery. This bakery was Sugar Daddy’s. And Sugar Daddy’s, if you’re not familiar with them, was in a Throwdown Brownie Battle with Bobby Flay on the Food Network. OK, so you know, not just everybody does battle with Bobby Flay. He picks the 'cream of the crop' to try to out cook, or bake, as the case may be. And, even so, most of the time, Mr. Flay is the winner. But, not with Sugar Daddy’s! They were deemed the “ Best of the Best.“ So, the brownies I sampled were not just good, they were divine.
But of course, if you want divine brownies/blondies that are baked by popular people that have been on the Food Network...well, the price starts getting steep. So steep that they sell the brownie scraps from their suave edgeless brownies, in little baggies and call them “Pocket Change” for us folks that are not willing to dole out the full price for their fabulous round brownies. The “Pocket Change” is twenty bucks, just in case you're interested. Or you can throw caution to the wind and get 8 of the 3"round brownies for $55... Not saying they’re not worth it, just saying I’m cheap....And, if anyone wants some of my brownies, I only charge $45;) Hahahaha!

Ok, now that we've all had a good laugh...My brother’s favorite from Sugar Daddy’s was a tropical version with loads of coconut, pineapple, cashews and both white and semisweet chocolate. This is my version of that blondie. I call them Hula Girl Blondies. They are seriously good. I’m not sure Bobby Flay will be beating my door down for a Thowdown (which, Mr. Flay, just so you know, I never answer my door if Mr. Sweets is not home or unless I know you're coming. Call me paranoid:) or that they are an exact duplicate of Sugar Daddy’s, but hey, they will be kinder to your pocketbook for sure!

Oh, and since I've been slacking on my posts a bit lately, I've made a 'Hula Girl Blondie' tag to try to bribe you to keep reading my blog :)
You know I have no problem with bribery...Use these tags when you decide to gift these lovely brownies to your kids teachers, your neighbors or your co-workers.
They probably won't mind being bribed either.
You can download the tags here

Enjoy!

Hula Girl Blondies
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
4 tsp. vanilla
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1 cup chopped cashews
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried pineapple, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together brown sugar and butter until combined. Add eggs and vanilla to mixture and mix well. Fold flour mixture into wet ingredients until combined.
Fold in coconut, cashews, chocolates, pineapple and into batter. Pour batter into prepared baking pan and smooth out to edges of pan. Top with extra coconut, chocolate and cashews if desired.
Bake for about 25-28 minutes, or until top light golder brown on the top. Do not over bake. Look for color rather than texture. Cool completely before slicing.

Double Chocolate Cranberry Meringue Coffee Cake- Daring Baker's Challenge March '11

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 17:04:00 +0000

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

Recipe Source: Jamie found this recipe on a piece of yellowed paper in her dad’s collection of clipped out and hand-written recipes from the 1970’s, no source, no date, and she tried the recipe and it was brilliant!

This was a very interesting challenge. Once again, no need to be afraid of the yeast. Its really not difficult to work with, well, as long as you have fresh yeast and not something that's been living in your cupboard for years. Old yeast will undoubtedly give you rising issues.

I was curious when I first read this challenge as to how the meringue would bake up inside the coffee cake. Its really amazing. The barely sweet brioche-like dough is rolled out jellyroll style and topped with fluffy meringue, dried cranberries, dark chocolate, white chocolate and pecans. The meringue that is inside the coffee cake just seems to melt into the cake and creates an unusual coating to the inside of the cake that gives it a touch of sweetness and creates a very moist interior. Its hard to describe, but trust me, its great! The meringue that peeks through the side slits on the coffee cake are slightly chewy and crisp. Needless to say, this coffee cake is out of this world when fresh from the oven. With no preservatives, I would certainly suggest that the yeasted coffee cake be consumed with one day. Of course, if you can make it last a full day, I would be most impressed! Enjoy!

When baking this recipe, you will have enough dough for 2 coffee cakes. I made one in a ring shape and one in a loaf pan.

If you make the loaf pan (which I highly recommend!), follow steps below (except save cinnamon and sugar for last step). After rolling up jellyroll style, slice off 1 inch spiral rolls. Place the rolls along the side of a greased loaf pan and then stack along the inside until all the spirals are used. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CRANBERRY MERINGUE COFFEE CAKE
Makes 2 round coffee cakes, each approximately 10 inches in diameter
The recipe can easily be halved to make one round coffee cake
Ingredients
For the yeast coffee cake dough:
4 cups (600 g / 1.5 lbs.) flour
¼ cup (55 g / 2 oz.) sugar
¾ teaspoon (5 g / ¼ oz.) salt
1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons / 7 g / less than an ounce) active dried yeast
¾ cup (180 ml / 6 fl. oz.) whole milk
¼ cup (60 ml / 2 fl. oz. water (doesn’t matter what temperature)
½ cup (135 g / 4.75 oz.) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 large eggs at room temperature

For the meringue:
3 large egg whites at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup (110 g / 4 oz.) sugar

For the filling:

1/2 cup (110 g / 4 oz.) chopped pecans or walnuts
2 Tablespoons (30 g / 1 oz.) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (170 g / 6 oz.) mini semisweet chocolate chips or coarsely chopped dark chocolate
1/2 cup (170g / 6 oz.) white chocolate chips
1/2 c. dried (sweetened) cranberries
Egg wash: 1 beaten egg

Directions: Prepare the dough:
In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ cups (230 g) of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast.
In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted.
With an electric mixer on low speed with bread hook, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the eggs and 1 cup (150 g) flour and beat for 2 more minutes.
Using a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface (use any of the 1 ½ cups of flour remaining) and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, sexy and elastic, keeping the work surface floured and adding extra flour as needed.
Place the dough in a lightly greased (I use vegetable oil) bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until double in bulk, 45 – 60 minutes. The rising time will depend on the type of yeast you use.
Once the dough has doubled, make the meringue:
In a clean mixing bowl – ideally a plastic or metal bowl so the egg whites adhere to the side (they slip on glass) and you don’t end up with liquid remaining in the bottom – beat the egg whites with the salt, first on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque. Add the vanilla then start adding the ½ cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.

Prepare your filling:In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar for the filling if using. You can add the chopped nuts to this if you like, but I find it easier to sprinkle on both the nuts and the chocolate separately.Assemble the Coffee Cakes:
Line 2 baking/cookie sheets with parchment paper or use Silpat.

Punch down the dough and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, working one piece of the dough at a time (keep the other half of the dough wrapped in plastic), roll out the dough into a 20 x 10-inch (about 51 x 25 ½ cm) rectangle. Spread half of the meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about 1/2-inch (3/4 cm) from the edges. Sprinkle half of your filling of choice evenly over the meringue (ex: half of the cinnamon-sugar followed by half the chopped nuts and half of the chocolate chips/chopped chocolate).
Now, roll up the dough jellyroll style, from the long side. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to one of the lined cookie sheets, seam side down. Bring the ends of the log around and seal the ends together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal.
Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife (although scissors are easier), make cuts along the outside edge at 1-inch (2 ½ cm) intervals. Make them as shallow or as deep as desired but don’t be afraid to cut deep into the ring.
Repeat with the remaining dough, meringue and fillings.
Cover the 2 coffee cakes with plastic wrap and allow them to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Brush the tops of the coffee cakes with the egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.

Chocolate Panna Cotta & Florentine Cookies-February Daring Bakers Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:03:00 +0000

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

So, here's what you need to know about Panna Cotta and Florentine Cookies:

1) You will love it.
2) You will not respect yourself in the morning.
3)The hour you spend hoofing it on the treadmill will not even come close to accounting for the calories you will consume in one bite of this amazing dessert.
4)When you combine heavy cream and any form of sugar, there is a chemical process that takes place that creates a substance in desserts that is very, very similar to super glue. That glue makes all things stick to your ____________________(you can fill in the blank with your problem area..butt, hips, thighs, cankles, etc..).
5)This dessert is so absolutely worth it that you will for get about #1-4.

So, as you can tell, what I'm getting at here is this is seriously sinful stuff. No, you don't want to have it every night. But, make it for a dinner party, a girls night or make it for your sweetheart when you're having a date night at home. Its quite impressive when served in fine crystal glassware or even in individual ramekins. Its the perfect dessert for special occasions or holidays.

I will say upfront, the cookies were suppose to be spread with chocolate and sandwiched together. Honestly, after looking at the 2 cups of heavy cream in the panna cotta.... I just couldn't do it. But, if you're fearless and have no problem with the fact that your pants may not fit tomorrow. Well, then you go for it! But, even without the extra chocolate they were excellent. If you want the cookies to stand up for plate decor and be extra crisp, place them in the fridge after they've had time to cool.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Panna Cotta:

Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk

2 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup sugar

5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Pour milk into a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over the top, set aside for 2-5 minutes.

2. Place a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir in cream, sugar and vanilla. Bring to a low boil.

3. Add chocolate and whisk until melted. Whisk the milk/gelatin mixture into chocolate cream mixture. Whisk until gelatin has dissolved.

4. Transfer to ramekins, or nice glasses for serving.

5. Cover and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight.

Nestle Florentine Cookies:

Ingredients:

2/3 cup unsalted butter

2 cups quick oats

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup flour

1/4 cup dark corn syrup

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups dark or milk chocolate

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C)

Prepare your baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from the heat.

2. To the melted butter add oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well.

3. Drop a tablespoon full, three inches apart, onto your prepared baking sheet. Flaten slighty with the back of your tablespoon, or use a spatula.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Cool completely on the baking sheets.

5. While the cookies are cooling melt your chocolate until smooth either in the microwave (1 1/2 minutes), or stovetop (in a double boiler, or a bowl that fits atop a saucepan filled with a bit of water, being sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl).

6. Peel the cookies from the silpat or parchment and place face down on a wire wrack set over a sheet of wax/parchment paper (to keep counters clean). Spread a tablespoon of chocolate on the bottom/flat side of your cookie, sandwiching another (flat end)cookie atop the chocolate. This recipe will make about 2 1/2 - 3 dozen sandwiched florentine cookies. You can also choose not to sandwich yours, in which case, drizzle the tops with chocolate (over your wax paper).

Cutie Cupid Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 22:08:00 +0000

So, originally the school where Princess Runwild attends said they would not be having a Valentine's Day party this year. Well, I don't know about you, but for me Valentine parties at school were just always such fun. You know getting to decorate your own little valentine box/bag and then everyone getting to go around and hand out their cute little valentine cards. Which speaking of said cute little valentines, once upon a time they came with their own cute little envelopes. No more. I suppose its not environmentally correct. Whatever....Personally, I liked the little envelopes. And you could recycle them if you felt morally obligated to do so.

Last year when I was buying them for the first time for Runwild's preschool party, I went to 4 different stores trying to find Valentine's with envelopes. I did not succeed. Apparently, you can only get the ones that fold and seal with a sticker. Blahh.

On a happier note, I thought they no longer made the Scratch N Sniff Valentines, but I did actually find them this year. Unfortunately, Runwild wanted Rapunzel Valentines. But, its ok......I've secretly got the scratch n sniff ones hidden in my night stand. After they go to bed, I'm going to scratch them and sniff them until they are only paper scented ;) Or until Princess Runwilder discovers them and takes them away from me....She's such a bully.

Oh, yes, back to my point, the school was not going to have a Valentine Party, so I promised the girls I would throw them their own little Valentine party at home. Of course, now the school has decided they WILL have a party, but you know that doesn't relinquish me from my prior commitment of a party. No way! And that's fine, I'm always up for having parties with my Runwilders for any occassion. At MY parties their is always one rule: There must be cake in some form at all parties in the Sinful Southern Sweets household.

So these little Cupid Cupcakes are what I have made for our Valentine Party tomorrow night to meet the 'Cake Criteria Rule.' They will be served along side Cupid's Crunch, heart shaped pizza, heart shaped jello and heart shaped cookies. And any thing else I can get my heart shaped cookie cutter to slice through. You know, if you're gonna do it, you might as well do it right!

These cupcakes were not at all difficult. I used a food grade marker for the eyes and mouth (I think you can even buy these at Hobby Lobby).

You could also use a toothpick dipped in food coloring. The peach icing can be achieved using a tiny bit of pink and a touch of orange food coloring mixed into white frosting. I did make one cupid with wings, but I'm just not sure about him. The wings just seem too much to me. Maybe a smaller marshmallow would work.

Hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!!

Enjoy!

Cutie Cupid Cupcakes
adapted from here

Ingredients

12 Cupcakes, baked from a mix or your favorite recipe
1 can white frosting tinted Pink- or peach (white mixed with a bit of pink and orange)
12 Large marshmallow
Thin pretzel sticks/toothpick
1/2 c.Crisped rice cereal
Food Grade Marker/Decorators' gel
Candy heart

Frost a cupcake with pink- or peach-tinted frosting. Try to make a smooth surface with back of spatula.

For wings, use kitchen shears to cut a large marshmallow in half vertically, then snip each half widthwise a few times for a feathery look. Press a thin pretzel stick against the sticky side of each marshmallow half, then stick the pretzels into the cupcake.

Press a handful of crisped rice cereal along the top of the cupcake for Cupid's curly locks, then add a decorators' gel or food grade marker for mouth and eyes. Finally, set a candy heart in place and pipe on frosting fingers, if you like.

Cupid's Crunch and a free Valentine's Printable

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 19:04:00 +0000

Ok, so Valentine's Day is just a few days away now. Hopefully, you have secured that perfect gift for your significant other. If not, you better get busy! And don't let yourself fall into that old trap of when your loved one says "Oh, you don't have to get me anything...." Yes, you do. It never ends favorably when you take that advice. Well, it doesn't! I'm just sayin'...I'm not saying it has to be expensive or big. But, you'd better show up on Valentine's with something. Even a heart made of construction paper is better than nothing. I've never had to worry about that with my Mr. Sweets. He has always said that every lady deserves to get flowers on Valentines. He's a sweet one, he is......

So, when you get your Sweetie's gift procured, you might then think about doing something sweet for your friends, co-workers or kiddos. Thats's where today's recipe comes in. Today's recipe is a great sweet snack mix that I came up with and named 'Cupid's Crunch'. With a mix of cereal, candy and toffee covered popcorn, its sure to be a hit.

And since I was feeling extra lovey dovey , I decided to make a little printable tag, for all my sweet readers, that can be cut/punched out and attached to a bag of Cupid's Crunch. Using a paper punch is the quickest and easiest option. My punch is a round- 2 5/16" punch. You can download the tags here.

Enjoy!

Cupid's Crunch
Ingredients:
2 cups Kashi Heart to Heart Honey Oat Cereal (or Cheerios:)
2 Cups Crunch n Munch toffee coated popcorn
1 Cup Teddy Grahams or Annie's Bunny Grahams
1 Bag Jelly Beans (*I found the heart Jelly Beans at Walmart)
1/2 cup red M&Ms
2 cups mini marshmallows

Directions:
Combine all ingredients. Mix. Serve

Strawberry Brownie Ripple Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 10:51:00 +0000

Well, the count down to V-Day is on! Good thing I blew that diet so I could make these cupcakes for y’all. Oh, the things I do for my blog. LOL!

I think being such a healthy eater over the last month made me lose all self respect when I began concocting the recipe I’m sharing today. Mr. Sweets has been insisting that pinecones are probably the equivalent of my recent healthy fare. Ahh, he's just not up for change. And technically, I think horse feed would be the more appropriate comparison:)

So, when I finally took a day to ditch all that 'horsefeed' this week, I created a strawberry cupcake with a brownie ripple in the middle. Unbelievably good and terribly sinful. Kinda reminds you of a chocolate covered strawberry. I’m sure your Sweetie would love to have a couple dozen of these if you decided to forgo the traditional box of candy.

You could make these with any flavor cake mix, but the strawberry looked so sweet and Valentiney. If you still wanted the color, but not strawberry flavor. You could just tint a white cake mix pink. Or if you think about it next month, you could tint the cake mix green for St. Patrick’s Day. Whichever you choose, to achieve the 'ripple', just run a toothpick or skewer around in the unbaked cupcake and you'll get something like this:

For the frosting, I just settled on a simple buttercream, but it would probably be killer with a cream cheese frosting too!

Enjoy!

Strawberry Brownie Ripple Cupcakes

Strawberry Layer
Ingredients:
1(18 oz) Box Strawberry Cake Mix
1/3 cup greek yogurt (or plain yogurt)
1 c. water
1/3 c. vegetable oil
3 eggs, beaten
*Mix all ingredients together and set aside.

Brownie Layer
Ingredients:
1 Box Family Size Brownie Mix (for 9x13pan)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
*Mix all ingredients together and set aside.

Directions:
Line Muffin Pans with cupcake liners (recipe make apprx. 30 cupcakes). With a medium cookie scoop (or a tablespoon), scoop 2 level scoops of strawberry mixture into each cupcake liner. With a small cookie scoop (or a teaspoon), scoop 2 level scoops of brownie mixture on top of strawberry mixture. Top brownie mixture with another scoop of strawberry mixture. Using a toothpick or skewer, make a few zip zags through unbaked cupcakes to create swirls. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes. Cool completely. Frost with Buttercream frosting (Recipe follows)

Vanilla Buttercream Icing:

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup shortening
1 pound powdered sugar
2 tablespoons meringue powder or 2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
milk as needed for consistency

Directions

1. With the paddle attachment and your stand-type mixer, beat the butter, shortening, powdered sugar, and meringue powder/egg whites together.
2. Add the lemon juice and vanilla. Beat the frosting, adding enough milk to reach the desired consistency.

Slimmed Down Sweets-Diet Coke Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:57:00 +0000

So, we’re heading toward the middle of February. I have been seriously off my game in the blogging segment of my life. See, I (like about a million other Americans) decided for my New Year’s Resolution that I was going to be healthier. Well, you know what? That seriously puts a quietus on the making/baking of my Sinful Southern Sweets. And you know what else, I don’t like that!! So, I decided to post a recipe that some of you still holding tight to your weight loss efforts might appreciate.

I was talking to one of my sister in laws the other day and telling her about this cake. Its beyond easy. If you have ever been around anyone on Weight Watchers you have probably heard of this cake. I have joined Weight Watchers so many times, Mr. Sweets usually just asks once a year if we’ve made our yearly donation to Weight Watchers. Humph,….Funny, funny. Oh, and its not that the program doesn’t work. It does, I just have problems with structure. Hmmm, imagine that!

So, back to the recipe, this is the infamous Diet Coke Cake. You can make it with any flavor cake mix and any diet drink. I used a strawberry cake mix and a Cherry Diet 7-up. Some recipes do not call for egg whites, but I think you’ll have better results using them. If you are doing weight watchers, this was once 4 points (sans cool whip). I understand the program has changed so that point value might not be accurate anymore. Hmmm, I guess its time to make my yearly donation and find out:)
PS
Don’t worry, my stint with healthy eating usually only lasts as long as the next holiday. I will soon have some serious Sinful Southern Sweets coming up for Valentine’s Day!!

Enjoy!

Diet Coke Cake

1 (18 oz) cake mix, dry, any flavor

12 oz diet soda, any flavor

1/4 cup liquid egg whites (or 2 egg whites from whole eggs)

1)Mix together the dry cake mix, soda and egg whites.

2) Pour into a lightly greased 9x13 pan.

3)Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

4)Slice into 12 pieces. 4 Weight Watchers Points per slice.

5)Top with Cool Whip, if desired (make sure to count points for Cool Whip).

Snow Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 20:46:00 +0000

Snow. It's such a rarity here in the south that many of us don’t even know what to do with it. We certainly don’t know how to drive in it. Everything in the south closes down if there is even a mention of a dusting. And the grocery stores become void of all bread and milk. I have to say I’ve never understood this logic. Why don’t people clear out the Little Debbie snacks? Or the chips? Milk and bread?? Really? That’s just not what I crave when I’m snowed in the house for a week. Bring on the cake!!

So, as rare as the whole southern snow situation usually is, can you believe we woke up Monday to this:

Our second snow in a month! We’re really starting to wonder what in the world is going on down here!! There was talk that Hell froze over. ….Many really thought that was almost a definite when Auburn won the BCS Championship ;) LOL! Oh, settle down. I’m just kidding…I’m very proud for Auburn….kind of….

Anyways, the Sinful Southern Sweets family took the opportunity to have a bit of fun time in the snow. (I’ll share pics of that after the recipe.) We also used our snow for something a bit useful. Did you know that you can make ice cream with snow. And boy is it yummy!! My little Runwild Princesses loved it!! And its super easy!! I did think ahead and put a big bowl out when it started snowing, so that I didn’t have to try to pick grass and pinecones (among other things) out of my snow.

You want it to be nice fluffy snow. No ice.

Perfect recipe for the kids to make on their own. After you make it, you can curl up under a pile of nice fluffy modern duvet covers and indulge in a bit of simplicity!!! Hopefully, this will be the last of the “simplicity” for us Southerners for this winter.

Enjoy!!

Snow Ice Cream
Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen

8 cups snow, or shaved ice
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Directions

Place snow or shaved ice into a large bowl. Pour condensed milk over and add vanilla. Mix to combine. Serve immediately in bowls.

Now for our fun snow pics.


Princess Runwild. Dressed in her finest princess sweater:)


My little Princess Runwilder loves the snow!


The Sinful Southern Sweets Family feeding the birds. You know they don't like just bread and milk either!

My demonic little snowman. The birds apparently ate all the green berries...

Three angels making snow angels. Runwilder decided she would stay drier if she just made snow angels on top of my snow angels. Can't fault her logic!!

Christmas Stollen- Dec. '10 Daring Bakers Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Sinful Southern Sweets) — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 11:10:00 +0000

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book, Bread Baker’s Apprentice.........and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.

I had indeed heard mention of the fruit and nut based yeast bread known as stollen before being introduced to it as our Daring Bakers Challenge for December. Yet, really I didn't know much about it. And, certainly I had never attempted to make it. So, I waited and made the stollen on Christmas Eve morning and shared it with family that evening. But, I realized I didn't have much information to include with my stollen. So, later, my curiosity got the better of me and I did a bit of research. Here is what I found:

The History of Stollen
"First made in Dresden, Germany around the 1400s, stollen bread was made and shaped to represent the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes. Stollen bread was made without butter or milk and was a rather tasteless pastry. Still, it was a popular Christmas pastry for its religious significance, and from 1560 onwards, stollen bakers would deliver one or two 36 pound Christmas stollen to the Saxon king yearly.

Because Advent was a time of fasting, there was a ban on the use of butter in baked goods. Oil was used as a replacement, but made the stollen bread bland and flavorless. In 1647, Elector Lord Ernst of Saxony and his brother Albrecht appealed to the Pope to lift the butter ban explaining that oil was expensive and hard to come by (never mind tasteless!). The Pope lifted the ban to make the Christmas stollen bread for the Prince and his family, but did not lift the ban for the general public until 1691.

With the use of butter, stollen bread became more popular and the recipe started to sway from the original, tasteless pastry to a sweeter one containing candied and liqueur-soaked fruits and nuts. Now, only 150 bakers are allowed to make the official Dresden Stollen, complete with the seal of the city’s famous king August the Strong. However, bakers all over the world have their own spin on both the original and the more modern recipes for German stollen bread, and bake the dessert not only at Christmas, but also year round."
Information courtesy of this website.

Very interesting history and symbolism of stollen. The recipe provided made about 4 small loves of stollen and a medium sized "wreath." Since it makes such a large amount it is really nice for gifts. Of course you could make this any time of the year. Its very good. I feared I would not love it since I have the same aversion to fruit cake that most do, but this is not fruit cake. It contains fruit, but its not the same texture or taste at all.

Thank you to Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking for a great Daring Baker's Challenge this month.
Enjoy!

Stollen Wreath

Makes one large wreath or two traditional shaped Stollen loaves. Serves 10-12 people

Ingredients

10 tablespoons unsalted butter (can use salted butter)
½ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon salt (if using salted butter there is no need to alter this salt measurement)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract or orange extract
5½ cups all-purpose (plain) flour (Measure flour first - then sift- plus extra for dusting) *
2 packages (4 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1- 1/4 cup buttermilk
¾ cup chopped dates
1 cup firmly packed dried cranberries
1/3 c. dried apples, chopped
6 tablespoons rum
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Melted unsalted butter for coating the wreath
Confectioners’ (icing) (powdered) sugar for dusting wreath
Note: If you don’t want to use alcohol, double the lemon or orange extract or you could use the juice from the zested orange.
*You can substitute half of the all purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour.

Layer all the ingredients (in order) into a bread machine. Select the dough cycle. After the dough is finished, place in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator overnight or up to one week.

When ready to bake:
1. Let the dough rest for 2 hours after taking out of the fridge in order to warm slightly.
2. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
3. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4 with the oven rack on the middle shelf.
4. Punch dough down, roll into a rectangle about 16 x 24 inches (40 x 61 cms) and ¼ inch (6 mm) thick.
Starting with a long side, roll up tightly, forming a long, thin cylinder. Transfer the cylinder roll to the sheet pan. Join the ends together, trying to overlap the layers to make the seam stronger and pinch with your fingers to make it stick, forming a large circle. You can form it around a bowl to keep the shape.Using kitchen scissors, make cuts along outside of circle, in 2-inch (5 cm) intervals, cutting 2/3 of the way through the dough.
Proof for approximately 2 hours at room temperature, or until about 1½ times its original size.
Bake the stollen for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue to bake for 20 to 30 minutes. The bread will bake to a dark mahogany color, should register 190°F/88°C in the center of the loaf, and should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.
Transfer to a cooling rack and brush the top with melted butter while still hot.
Immediately tap a layer of powdered sugar over the top through a sieve or sifter.
Wait for 1 minute, then tap another layer over the first.
The bread should be coated generously with the powdered sugar.
Let cool at least an hour before serving. Coat the stollen in butter and powdered sugar three times, since this helps keeps the stollen fresh.

If you would prefer, you could also shape the dough into oval shaped loaves. Bake for the same amount of time until mahogany colored.
May be frozen for up to 4 months.