Moist Delicious Shortcake for strawberries or any fruit.

 I'm not a fan of the dry crumbly biscuit style of shortcake. I want a moist tender cake for my berries. 16 years ago, we ordered the strawberry shortcake at a Black Eye Pea restaurant and I was in heaven. It was the perfect cake for berries. I had to have the recipe and with a bit of flattery and begging, the chef shared the recipe with me. The one catch was, he had to leave one ingredient out to give it to me. Thankfully, he made it easy when he told me that it was a vanilla cake and guess what ingredient was missing? It's what we always have on Easter and is one of our favorite spring and summer treats.  It's so fast and easy to mix up and bake. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

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Black Eyed Pea’s Strawberry Shortcake

Makes one 9x13 pan or 12 cupcakes or one jellyroll pan
3 cups of flour
2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 TBS baking powder
1 cup melted butter
2 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°
In a large bowl stir together the flour, sugar and baking powder
Stir in milk and vanilla then the melted butter and mix well.
Pour batter into a greased pan and bake in the preheated oven until golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean.
Around 25 to 30 minutes for 9x13 for cupcakes or 20 mins for jelly roll pan.

For a large half sheet pan 2”x13”x18” double recipe and bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

Perfect Honey Oatmeal Bread

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Perfect Honey Oatmeal Bread
This recipe will make 2 loaves.
1/4 cup warm water
1  package active dry yeast (.25 ounce) or 2 1/4 TBS of instant yeast
1 TBS white sugar
1 cup regular or quick cooking oatmeal
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup dry powdered milk (optional)
1 tsp salt
2 TBS honey
2 TBS brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
3 cups white flour (bread flour if you have it, if not all purpose)

1. If you are using regular or quick rise active yeast place 1/4 cup warm (under 110 degrees),  1 tsp sugar and the active yeast in a small bowl to proof the yeast, if you have instant yeast just mix the dry instant yeast into your whole wheat flour. 
2. Into a large bowl of your mixer or any large bowl if mixing by hand add the warm water, dry powdered milk, oatmeal, honey, brown sugar, salt and oil or butter and stir to combine.
3. Add the whole wheat flour and 2 cups of the white flour and combine well. 
4. Continue to add the white flour until the dough comes together and is just barely tacky to the touch. Bread dough should not be smooth and dry it should be tacky to the touch but not pull off onto your hands. 
5. Beat or knead until dough is elastic and when you poke it the dough springs back up. 
6. Let sit covered for 5 minutes then knead again for 30 seconds. 
7. Shape into a ball and place upside down in a bowl you have coated with vegetable oil. Turn ball over and cover the bowl with a damp cloth. 
8. Let it sit until the dough has doubled in size.
9. Dump out onto a floured counter top and roll out into an 18" wide rectangle. 
10. Cut the rectangle into 2- 9" squares and roll up into a log pinching the seams and the ends. 
11. Place into 2 greased 9" loaf pans and cover with a damp cloth. 
12. Preheat your oven to 350°
13. Let sit until doubled in size. 
14. Place into a preheated 350° oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. They should sound hollow when tapped or use an instant read thermometer. It should read between 190° to 195° (don't forget to take 2 degrees off of that temp. for every 1000 feet of altitude you live at. i live at 6000 feet so I bake to a temp of around 180° to 185°)
15. Remove from oven and pan and cool on a rack. My family doesn't lie a hard crust so I rum a tsp of butter over the crust to keep it soft.

Crunchy Banana Muffins with Coconut

I love this muffin recipe. You can make a batch and they stay fresh in the fridge for a week or so ready for a grab and go breakfast on your way out the door. They also freeze beautifully.

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3 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup melted butter, cooled plus 1/2 cup applesauce  OR 1 cup melted butter                                    
3 bananas- mash 2 with a fork and dice one
1 cup chopped pecans (you can also use walnuts or almonds)
1 cup granola- any kind is fine
1 cup shredded coconut plus 1/4 cup shredded coconut to top muffins with before baking.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
• Melt 1/2 cup of butter and set aside to cool. (or 1 cup if you are skipping the applesauce)
• Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
• In a medium size bowl stir together your dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 
• Mash 2 bananas with a fork and chop the remaining banana

              

• In a separate bowl whisk the eggs lightly then add the remaining wet ingredients: milk, vanilla, melted butter, apple sauce, and the mashed bananas- save the diced banana for just one more step. 
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. There will be a few lumps. 

• Fold in the diced banana, granola, nuts, and 1 cup of the coconut. 

• Scoop into the prepared muffin cups and sprinkle the top with the remaining coconut.

• Bake 20 to 25 minutes in your preheated oven, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Makes 24 muffins

Dutch Babies, Humps and Hills, German Oven Pancake Recipe

Call them whatever you like but they are simple to make and taste delicious. We've always called them Humps and Hills because our neighbors in Houston, The Parcell's, who introduced us to this recipe, called them that. Kids love them because they look so fun!

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• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 TBS sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 to 4 TBS unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Place a 9x13" pam into your oven on the middle rack.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees with the pan inside
Mix all the ingredients together until really smooth. You can do this in a blender or in a small mixing bowl with a hand mixer. The batter is thinner than a regular pancake batter, it's more like a crepe batter.
Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven. Grease the bottom but not the sides of the pan and Pour the batter in. Place it back in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Now- don't start checking it after 10 minutes. It will LOOK done after about 10 minutes but it will still be flat and not puffy- PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND STEP AWAY FROM THE OVEN! Leave it shut and let it do it's thing! OK, you can watch through the window if you promise not to open it!  When the buzzer rings, take out the beautiful puffy goodness and serve immediately. It will start to fall so you want everyone sitting at the table waiting.
Serve it with any or all of the following. Sprinkled with some lemon juice and powdered sugar, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, plain old syrup or with fresh fruit and a dollop of whipped cream.

Scandinavian Almond Bars- Easy and delicious.

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These cookies are so good and fast to make- ready in 30 to 40 minutes. They are simple to make, unique and pretty.We make them all year long but love them during the holidays.
   Makes 4 dozen 

Dough
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp of almond extract
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Topping
1/2 tsp sliced almonds
2 TBS milk

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
3-4 TBS milk

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• In a small bowl sift or stir together the flour, baking powder and the salt. Set aside.
• In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, until light and fluffy.
  

• Add the egg and almond extract and beat until light and fluffy.
• Slowly mix in the flour, baking powder and salt; mixing just until combined.

• Divide dough into 4 pieces, and roll each one into a log about 12 inches long. Place 2 logs onto each well greased or preferably parchment lined cookie sheet-  4 to 5 inches apart. 
• Flatten each roll by hand until it is about 3 inches wide. The dough is sticky so you may need to flour your hands a bit. They don't have to be perfect, once their cut you can't tell if they weren't totally even. I love that about this recipe!
  

• Brush flattened roll with milk and   sprinkle with sliced almonds.
•  Place both sheets into preheated oven.
  

Bake in preheated oven 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Rotate trays half way through.

While the cookies are still warm,  cut them crosswise at a diagonal, into slices about 1 inch wide.

• Make the Glaze: 
• In a small bowl, mix together powdered sugar, almond extract, and milk until smooth.

• Place glaze into a small zip lock bag and snip a small corner off. 
• Drizzle the glaze, out of the corner hole, over the completely cooled cookies.

   Store in a sealed container. These freeze really well.

Snowballs, Russian Tea Balls, Swedish Tea Balls, or Mexican Wedding Cookies, by any of these names- Delicious!

Swedish Tea Balls

Also called Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Balls, or Snowballs

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This is my husband's great-grandmother's recipe and a favorite at Christmas and showers.
Makes 32 cookies

1 cup butter softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups of finely chopped walnuts or pecans

1/2 cup of powdered sugar to roll baked cookies in after baking

Preheat oven to 350°

Measure flour and salt into a bowl. Place walnuts into a food processor and pulse until they are in very small pieces. Take care not to over process into paste.

Add nuts to dry ingredients and stir to blend.
Cream together the butter and powdered sugar, on medium high speed, until light and fluffy.
Add vanilla and beat until incorporated.

Reduce mixer speed to low and add the flour into the butter mixture in 3 batches,
mixing each addition until just combined and scraping down sides.

If batter does not hold together add water 1 Tbs at a time until dough
holds together when rolled into a ball. Do not over beat as that will make them tough.

Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart on an un-greased cookie sheet or onto parchment paper. They don't spread but do get larger as they bake.


Bake for 10-12 minutes until cookies are set and just golden brown on the bottom.
Remove from cookies from oven and immediately roll cookies into the powdered sugar until coated on all sides.


Place cookies onto a sheet of waxed paper to cool.
Store in an airtight container for up to a week at room temperature, 2 weeks in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.

Chocolate Peppermint Bars- Like Christmas with a twist!

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Chocolate Peppermint Bars

Makes one 9x13 pan 
First Layer
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sifted flour

Pre-heat oven to 350
Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment or with foil, making sure that edges of foil or paper extend high enough that you can use it to lift bars from pan, grease well.
Melt chocolate and butter over hot water or microwave 45-60 seconds on high until melted. Blend together.
Combine eggs and sugar and beat at medium speed until sugar is dissolved and mixture is creamy.
Add flour to egg mixture blending just until combined then add chocolate. Mix thoroughly.
Add batter to prepared pan and spread it evenly over bottom.
Bake on bottom shelf of oven for 20 minutes then transfer to center of oven for 5 more minutes or until a toothpick stuck in can be pulled out without batter sticking to it. Just a few crumbs. Cool completely then remove from pan and place on a cookie sheet.

Second Layer
1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
3 TBS of softened butter
1 1/2 TBS of half and half or milk
1 tsp peppermint extract
2 drops of green or red food coloring if desired I like the red!
Combine sugar and butter mixing until smooth.
Blend in cream and peppermint flavoring mixing again until smooth.
Spread on cooled first layer as smoothly and evenly as possible.
Refrigerate until chilled.

Third Layer
1 1/2 squares of unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 TBS butter
Melt Chocolate and butter over hot water or in microwave until melted and blend together.
Spread over the second layer as smoothly as possible with a spatula or back of spoon.
Optional- Lightly sprinkle 3 to 4 TBS of finely crushed candy canes or peppermint candies over the top of the Third layer (chocolate) before layer sets up.
Hint- An ice cream scoop makes a great crusher for this job.
Chill well.
Cut onto 1/2 X 2 inch bars. Makes 64 bars
Note: I made a double batch in an 18x13 pan in these photos.