Southern Baked Beans

Last weekend, my husband Jim and I were watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay on Food Network.  We happened upon a North Carolina BBQ episode and I thought the baked beans looked amazing.  I was super thrilled when I looked up the recipe and discovered how easy they were to make!!  Here is my take on Southern Baked Beans.  The original recipe can be found here.

You will need:

1/2 pound - bacon, minced
1 - medium onion, diced
3 tablespoons - minced garlic
1 teaspoon - ground ginger
1 - medium/large green pepper
2 teaspoons - mustard (I used honey mustard)
60 ounces - canned beans, drained
(I used 30 ounces of pinto beans, 15 ounces of kidney beans, and 15 ounces of great northern beans)
1 cup - BBQ sauce
1/2 cup - brown sugar
1/4 cup - molasses
1 cup - apple juice

Begin by cooking the bacon until crispy.  The goal is to have large sized bacon bits.  I sautéed my bacon in a frying pan and then cut it in to pieces on a cutting board.  I find this easier than cutting the bacon in pieces before cooking, however you can do whatever you like to cook the bacon!!

Drain the bacon grease from the frying pan and wipe out with a paper towel.  The goal is to eliminate most of the extra grease in the pan without completely getting ride of the bacon flavor. 

Add the onions, green peppers, garlic, and ginger to the frying pan and cook until soft.  Remember to stir occasionally to keep the garlic from scorching. The onions will begin to turn opaque and the green pepper will soften in texture.   

Add the mustard and stir for 1 minute.  I used honey mustard to add a little extra flavor!  Add the drained canned beans, BBQ sauce, molasses, brown sugar, and apple juice stirring until just combined.  For the canned beans you can use whatever you have on hand or combination that you enjoy.  I do suggest that you use 2 or 3 different types of beans as it adds to the deliciousness of the dish.  Add the bacon crumbles and mix to combine well. 

Transfer to a greased casserole dish.  Cover and bake at 350 degreed F for 1 hour - 1 1/2 hours depending on your desired consistency.  I prefer a softer bean with a slightly thicker sauce so I baked mine for 1 1/2 hours.  If the beans are not thickening to your likening, you can either bake them a little longer or uncover slightly.  Thankfully this baking process is highly dependent on how thick you like the sauce!

 

 

The beans can be served warm, cold, or reheated depending on your liking.  This is a perfect make ahead dish.  And, quite frankly, I think they taste better the second day!!

 

Thank you for reading!!

Jamie Rae

 

Cookie Dough Surprise

Pinterest is one of my favorite places to find recipe ideas.  I can spend hours looking for just the right combination of delicious and adventure to try.  A couple of weeks ago I happened upon this recipe. 

Here is my spin on: Cookie Dough Surprise!!

I will warn you at the start that this recipe is pretty much an all day project.  Although, when I make these again I will do the cookie dough balls the night before and pop them in the freezer to speed things up.

Step One: Cookie Dough Balls (Double Batch)

Begin this recipe with the assembling of the cookie dough balls, which are pretty much chocolate chip cookies without any eggs.   

You will need:
1 1/2 cups - Flour
1/4 teaspoon - Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon - Salt
8 tablespoons - Unsalted Butter, melted
1/2 cup - Brown Sugar, packed
4 tablespoons - White Sugar
4 tablespoons - Milk
2 teaspoons - Vanilla Extract
1 cup - Mini Chocolate Chips

Begin with creaming the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large measuring cup.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix until smooth. 

Stir in the chocolate chips.  The dough will be quite soft.

Form the dough into approximately 24 balls.  Freeze the dough balls for at least 30 minutes.

 

 

Step Two: Chocolate Cupcakes (Double Batch)

You will need:
2 cups - Flour
1 cup - Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 small box - Instant Chocolate Pudding
1 1/4 cups - White Sugar
3/4 cup - Brown Sugar, packed
1 teaspoon - Baking Soda
2 teaspoons  - Cappuccino Powder
1 cup - Hot Water
1/2 cup - Milk
1 cup - Canola/Vegetable Oil
2 - Eggs
4 teaspoons - Vanilla Extract

For some reason, I did not take many pictures of the mixing process for the cupcakes.  The good thing is the mixing process for these cupcakes is very simple.  Begin by mixing the flour, cocoa powder, chocolate pudding, white sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt until combined in a mixing bowl.  Add the water, milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.  Beat well until fully combined.

Fill a cupcake pan lined with paper liners 1/2 full.  Place one frozen cookie dough ball in each cupcake pressing the cookie dough down until half submerged by the cake batter.  Bake the cupcakes 19-21 minutes at 375 degrees F.  Test for doneness by using a tooth pick inserted into the cake portion of the cupcake and not the cookie dough.  The cakes are done with the toothpick comes out clean!  

Cool the cupcakes completely on a wire rack before frosting.





Step Three: Cookie Dough Buttercream Frosting (Single Batch)

 

Apparently I was loosing my touch again with the frosting because I forgot to take many pictures.  At any rate, here are the instructions with what little pictures I have.

 

You will need:

12 tablespoons - Unsalted Butter

1 3/4 cups - Powdered Sugar

1/3 cup - Brown Sugar, packed

1/2 cup - Flour

1 1/2 tablespoons - Milk

1 teaspoon - Vanilla

1/2 cup - Mini Chocolate Chips

 

Begin by creaming the butter, powdered sugar, and brown sugar until smooth and creamy.

 

 

 

Add in the flour and vanilla and beat until fully combined.  Add in the milk and beat on high until fluffy.  To obtain the desired consistency you can add in extra milk 1 tablespoon at a time beating on high between each addition.

 

 

If you are going to frost your cupcakes with a spatula, you can mix the chocolate chips into the frosting.  If you plan to pipe your frosting on to the cupcakes, leave the chocolate chips out of the frosting and use them as a decoration after you have piped the frosting on to each cake.  I learned the hard way that the frosting will not come out of the pastry bag smoothly if you have added in the chocolate chips! 

 

After you have frosted the cupcake, top with a mini chocolate chip cookie.  Chips Ahoy Minis work wonderfully!! 

 

 

When I made these cupcakes, I doubled the batch for each of the three parts.  I would advise that if you are going to frost your cupcakes with a spatula then you only need a single batch of the frosting even if you do a double batch of the cupcakes.  If you are planning to pipe the frosting on the cupcakes, then I would do a double batch of the frosting as well.

 

I used these cupcakes for the graduation party for the foster children at my work and they were a hit!  I would suggest attempting them anytime you want to be the talk of the pot luck!

 

Go ahead, give it a shot!!

 

Jamie Rae 

 

Classic Chocolate Cupcakes

I have been practicing my "scratch" cake recipes and decided to try CHOCOLATE!!!  The recipe I adapted is found here, however I started mine with a basic doubling of the recipe.

Here I am introducing: Classic Chocolate Cupcakes

The dry ingredients:


2 cups - All Purpose Flour
2 cups - Granulated Sugar
1 cup - Cocoa Powder
2/3 cup - Chocolate Instant Pudding Powder
2 teaspoons - Baking Powder
1 teaspoon - Baking Soda
1 teaspoon - Salt
2 teaspoons - Cappuccino Powder



Combine all dry ingredients in the basin of a mixing bowl and thoroughly combine.

The wet ingredients:


1 cup - Milk
1/2 cup - Vegetable Oil
1 teaspoon - Vanilla Extract
3 - Eggs
1 cup - Boiling Water

 

Combine the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and eggs together in a measuring cup.  Slowing add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium to fully combine.  The batter will be quite thick.

Reduce the speed to low and Slowly add in the boiling water.  Once the water is incorporated into the batter, mix one high for 1 minutes to add air to the batter,

 

Distribute the batter into a cupcake pan lined with paper liners.  Each liner should be 2/3 to 3/4 full.  Bake the cakes at 325 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

 

Allow the cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

 

I frosted these cupcakes with a store bought Betty Crocker Hershey's S'mores frosting.  I was very impressed with the flavor of the frosting and thought it paired well with the cake.  I did not like the graham cracker topping that came with the frosting, so I used a package of Oreo mix ins that came with Jello pudding snack.  I encourage you to be creative and use what you have on hand!!

 

As always, have fun and enjoy!

 

Jamie Rae

Seasonal Zucchini Bread

For all of you who have noticed my severe lack of blogging, I have good news!  I'm back and I have three posts to add that have accumulated over the last month or so since the tablet took a tumble. 

To kick things off we will get started with a classic spin on zucchini bread which I have called Seasonal Zucchini Bread.  The recipe I adapted for this recipe was found here.

This creation comes together with:
3 cups - All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon - Salt
1 teaspoon - Baking Powder
1 teaspoon - Baking Soda
3 teaspoons - Cinnamon
3 - Eggs
1/2 cup - Vegetable Oil
1/2 cup - Unsweetened Applesauce
1 1/4 cup - White Sugar
1 cup - Brown Sugar
 teaspoons - Vanilla Extract
2 cups - Grated Zucchini
1 cup - Raisins

I began this recipe by grating the zucchini.  I was not thinking when I started the recipe and forgot to take any pictures, but the grating is pretty simple.  I used a hand grater and with a little elbow grease it was done in no time!!

Begin the batter by combining the dry ingredients.  I do this in a large 4 cup measuring cup.  I measure the flour first and then add in the other dry ingredients so that I have one less bowl to clean in the end.   

Next add the eggs, oil, applesauce, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla into the basin of a mixing bowl and combine thoroughly.

Add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients.  I added them in four parts and combined completely.  

Stir in the zucchini and the raisins. 

Evenly divide the batter among your baking pans.  I chose to do a larger pan and a smaller pan for variety.  

 

 

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 60 minutes.  My loaves took 55 to 60 minutes.  Keep in mind that the baking time will vary depending on the size of the loaves.  Remove the loaves once a toothpick inserted into the center comes out nearly clean.  Allow the loaves to cool  in the pan for 20 minutes.  Remove from the pan and allow the loaf to cool completely before slicing. 

 

Unfortunately, I slipped and did not take a picture of the finished product!!  At any rate, the bread was great and everyone should try it!!

 

Until next time, 

 

Jamie Rae  

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

For the last day and a half I have been mulling over what I should create with the last couple bananas that I needed to use.  Tonight while looking over recipes searching for an idea, I came across Chocolate Chip Banana Bread!  After all, what makes everything better?? Chocolate!!  So with such inspiration I decide to attempt the Chocolate Chip Banana Bread!!

The recipe I adapted was from Allrecipes.com. Found here!!

You will need:
2 cups - Flour
1 teaspoon - Baking Powder
1 teaspoon - Baking Soda
1 teaspoon - Salt

3 - Ripe Bananas (Approximately 2 cups of banana purée)
1 Tablespoon - Milk
1 teaspoon - Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon - Nutmeg
1 teaspoon - Vanilla

1/2 cup - Butter
1/2 cup - Sugar
1/2 cup - Brown Sugar
2 - Eggs

1 1/2 cup - Chocolate Chips


To start you will need to mash the bananas and combine them with the spices.  You can mash your bananas however you desire.  For the sake of time today, I placed the peeled bananas into the bowl of the KitchenAid mixer and mashed them one at a time.  Once all bananas were broken up I mixed them on high until they were well combined. 

Then add in each of the spices, vanilla, and milk stirring well until fully combined.  Place the mixture in a two cup measuring cup and set aside.

 

Combine the butter, sugar, and brown sugar and mix until light and fluffy. 

Add in eggs one at a time making sure to fully combine before adding the next. 

Add the banana mixture and stir until fully combined.  

Combing the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a measuring cup.  Slowly add the flour mixture to the batter.  Mix until just combined. 

Stir in chocolate chips.

Place the batter into greased bread pans.  I spilt my batter between two pans because I did not want a super thick bread. 

Bake the bread in a 325 degrees oven.  The baking time will vary depending on the thickness of your bread.  Start checking your bread after 45 minutes  until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  I used a butter knife to get to the bottom of the bread pan.  My smaller loaf took about 50 minutes while my larger loaf took about 57 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack, slice, and enjoy!!

Strawberry Stars Cupcake

Anyone who knows me is aware of the fact that I love the 4th of July.  From the barbeques, to the beach, to the glow bracelets, to the fireworks, I love it all.  So in an effort to commemorate my favorite holiday I have created the Strawberry Stars Cupcake!  Simply put it is a vanilla cake with a fresh strawberry butter cream and a candy star decoration.

 

 

The vanilla cake recipe I found n Addapinch.com located here.

You will need:
1 cup- Butter
1/2 cup - Vegetable Shorting
3 cups - Granulated Sugar
5 - Eggs at Room Temperature
3 cups - All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons - Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon - Salt
1/2 cup - Whole Milk at Room Temperature
1/2 cups - Buttermilk at Room Temperature
2 teaspoons - Vanilla Extract

Start by creaming together the butter and the shorting with a mixer until they are fluffy and the color begins to lighten. 

Gradually add in the sugar one cup at a time to the butter mixture.  Make sure to fully incorporate the sugar before adding the next cup. 

After all of the sugar is fully incorporated, add in the eggs in the same fashion.  Make sure that each egg is fully mixed in before adding the next  You can stop and scrape the sides of the mixing bowl as needed to ensure that the batter is mixing well. 

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate container.  Combine the whole milk, the butter milk, and the vanilla in another separate container.  Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternating the dry ingredients with the milk mixture.  Be sure to start and end with dry ingredients.

 

 

Due to creating a holiday cupcake, I stirred in a packet of blue Wilton Color Burst Batter Bits. 

Your batter is now ready to be poured into a cupcake pan lined with cupcake papers.  You can lightly spray your cupcake liners with Pam if you desire as it will prevent the cupcake from sticking too much to the paper.

Bake the cupcakes at the 350 degree oven for about 14 minutes.  Test the cupcakes with a toothpick and remove when only a few crumbs stick to the tooth pick. 

To be honest, I was unsatisfied with the way the batter did not rise to form a puffy top to the cupcake.  I have never used the Wilton Batter Bits before, so this could be the problem. 

I did attempt a couple different methods to get the cakes to rise more in each of my baking batches, however they all had the same problem.  Therefore, if you are going to make this recipe, I would use it for a project where you need flat top cupcakes or a layer cake where you need flat halves!

 
While your cupcakes are cooling, you can begin preparing your strawberries for the buttercream.  You will need about a cup and a half of strawberry puree.  For the puree, I cut about 3/4 pound of fresh strawberries in half and placed them in a small food processer. 

In two batches, I pulsed the strawberries until they were runny.  I then transferred them to a small saucepan where I cooked all of the puree together in order to release the moisture. 

Cook the strawberries until they are at least half the size of the original puree.  I wanted a deeper flavor so I reduced my strawberries until they were about 1/3 the size of the original puree.  The puree will be more of a paste consistency.  Transfer the strawberry paste to a small container and chill in the refrigerator.  The strawberries need to be completely cool in order to make the buttercream.

The strawberry buttercream recipe I located on Allrecipes.com found here.

You will need:
1 cup - Butter, Softened
3 cups - Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon - Vanilla Extract
Your Strawberry Paste

Begin by beating the butter for a couple of minutes until it is creamy and the color begins to lighten.  Add in 1 cup of powdered sugar and mix until just combined.  Add in the strawberry paste and the remaining powdered sugar alternating a couple of scoops of strawberries and 1 cup of powdered sugar. 

Mix until fully combined.     

For the candy decorations, melt Wilton Candy Melts in Red, White, and Blue as directed on the package. 

Create small stars on parchment paper.  I purchased small squeeze bottles for the candy but you could use a Ziplock bag and snip a small corner off the bag as well. 

Place the candy in the refrigerator for a few minutes.  Once the candy hardens, it will release from the parchment paper and can be used to decorate the cupcakes.

Frost your cupcakes and decorate as desired.  For this cupcake I piped the frosting on using Wilton tip 199. 

Due to the length of this post, I will cover piping frosting in a future entry!

Enjoy!  Now I have to go find people to eat the mountain of cupcakes in my kitchen!!