Isa's Baking Corner

Makes 12; Prep time: 30 minutes; Total time: 1 hour



3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour cream

Easy White Icing

Sprinkles (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350° Line 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.

2. Into a medium bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with sour cream and beginning and ending with flour.

3. Pour batter into cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

4. Cool in pan 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, then spread with Easy White Icing using a table knife or small offset spatula. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired.

This recipe is easy to make. Great with a cup of tea or coffee.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp Baking soda
2 tsps Baking Powder
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup walnuts
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
Mix first 6 ingredients together. Beat in raisins and walnuts; set aside
Beat together soften butter, sour cream, eggs & vanilla, blend well but don't overbeat. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture.

Drop the dough with ice cream scoop on the greased cookies sheet, then sprinkle some sugar on top of the dough. Bake at 350 F for 20-22 minutes.

Makes 12 Prep time: 10 minutes; Total time: 45 minutes

Keep a batch of unbaked muffins in the freezer, and you'll always have breakfast or an afternoon snack ready for the oven; there's no need to thaw. The batter goes in the paper-lined muffin tin, then into the freezer. Once frozen, the individual cups can be transferred to plastic storage bags. Be sure to bake the batter in a muffin tin, though, to give the muffins shape.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
2 1/2 cup shredded carrots (about 5 medium)


1. Line twelve cups (each 2 1/2 inches wide) of a standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, pumpkin-pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. 2. In another bowl, whisk together yogurt, butter, and eggs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and add yogurt mixture. Stir until just combined. Fold in carrots. 3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. (If desired, muffins can be baked immediately in a 375° oven for about 20 minutes.) Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes, then cover tin with plastic wrap, and freeze until ready to bake, up to 3 months. 4. Preheat oven to 375°. Bake muffins (still frozen) until a toothpick inserted in center of one comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Note: To make your own pumpkin-pie spice, combine one and a half teaspoons ground cinnamon with one-quarter teaspoon each ground ginger and nutmeg. Recipe from Martha Stewart Living

These cookies are crunchy on the edge and soft in the center. I added ground rolled oat in this recipe, just a different twist.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats, ground
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1 cup (2 sticks/8 oz/226g) butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 eggs
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine. Combine the ground oats with the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in another medium bowl with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture and blend well. Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are well incorporated. Spoon rounded 1/4-cup portions onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the scoops about 2 inches apart. You don't need to press the dough flat. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle. Store in a sealed container when cool to keep soft. For the best results, chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator before baking the cookies.

This bar cookie is an old fashioned favorite. Chocolate chips, nuts and coconut are set in a caramelized layer on top of a graham cracker crust."

Original recipe yield: 24 to 36 bars.


INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1 (12 ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees for glass dish). In 13x9-inch baking pan, melt margarine in oven. Sprinkle crumbs over butter; pour EAGLE BRAND® evenly over crumbs. Layer evenly with remaining ingredients; press down firmly.
Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Chill if desired. Cut into bars. Store loosely covered at room temperature.
Variations:7-Layer Magic Cookie Bars: Substitute 1 cup (6-ounces) butterscotch flavored chips* for 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and proceed as directed above.Peanut butter flavored chips or white chocolate chips may be substituted for butterscotch flavored chips.Magic Peanut Cookie Bars: Substitute 2 cups (about 3/4 pound) chocolate-covered peanuts for semi-sweet chocolate chips and chopped nuts.

We had a reception after the show, and I tried a piece of date square, it was yummy, so I decided to try to make them myself. It's just taste like what I had at the reception.

Date Filling:
2 cups pitted dates, chopped
1 1/2 TBSP Butter
1 cup water

Crumble:

2 1/2 cups rolled oat
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter

Method:

For filling:
place all ingredients in a pot and bring up to a boil. Remove from heat and let dates sit and soak until room temperature. Puree until smooth and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Grease a 8" square baking pan and line bottom with parchment paper so that the paper hangs over the edge of the pan on 2 sides.

For Crumble:
Combine oat, flolur, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl and stir in soften butter and blend with hands until an even crumbling texture. Press half of the crumble into the bottom of the pan. Spread the date filling over the base, and top with remaining crumble(not pressing). Bake for 45 minutes or until the top of crumble begins to brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.