Sweet Potato Custard

Whenever I make this, my kids think it's a special occasion.  They are thrilled that they get to eat "dessert" with dinner, so I forget to tell them that it's good for them too.

Custard:

1 cup cooked sweet potatoes, mashed

1/2 cup mashed banana

1 cup evaporated milk or buttermilk

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping:

1/4 cup raisins

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine all ingredients for custard in blender and blend until smooth.  Pour into greased muffin tins (we use silicone muffin cups for easier cleanup) and sprinkle tops with raisins and cinnamon sugar.  Bake at 300 for 45-50 minutes, until knife inserted in center comes out clean and custard starts to pull away from edge of muffin cups.

Panforte Bars

Since it's getting close to that festive time of the year when we give others yummy treats because we love them, I thought I'd post a few of my favorites. This recipe is one of the easiest things you'll ever make, but they get rave reviews from everyone who tries them. Enjoy and bask in the compliments!

18 ounces refrigerated sugar cookie dough
10-12 ounce can mixed nuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup baking chips in your preferred flavor (I've used butterscotch, chocolate, pb and a mix of whatever was left in the bags)
1/2 cup mixed dried fruit bits, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Lightly grease a 9x9 baking dish; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, stir cookie dough with a wooden spoon until soft. Add nuts, baking chips, and dried fruit. Stir until well mixed, using your hands if necessary. Pat dough evenly in baking dish. Sprinkle coconut over the top, pressing in lightly.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test. Cool completely in the pan. Cut into bars. Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature for 3 days or in the freezer for 3 months. Makes about 32 bars.

Maraschino Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

These were the tasty result of an RS cookie swap a few years ago - I've made them every year since. Thanks Tori!

2 10-oz jars of Maraschino cherries
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons milk

Drain cherries, reserving juice. Combine flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Mix well. Put butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer for 3-4 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Add flour mixture; mix well.

Put chocolate chips and milk in a small saucepan and heat, stirring constantly, on low heat until chocolate melts. Add reserved cherry juice to taste (I use 1-2 teaspoons). Let cool slightly.

Shape dough into 1" balls. Place on ungreased baking pan. Push in centers with thumb or bottom of a teaspoon, then spoon 1 teaspoon of the chocolate mixture into each thumbprint and top with a cherry. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Don't overcook or they will become hard and not as tasty. Let cool on wire racks.

Deluxe Rice Krispie Treats

As a child, I always loved Rice Krispie Treats... but as an adult, they just began to taste kind of meh... you know, nothing to get too excited about - other than the fact that they are fast and easy to make. Then I found this recipe over on smitten kitchen. Mmmm... this is what rice krispie treats are meant to be when they grow up. I don't think I'll ever be able to make them the old-fashioned way again!

For those of you who might balk at the amount of butter used... I have tried it with just 1/2 stick of butter instead of a whole stick and they are still really good, if not quite as rich. In fact, here are the amounts I usually use - this makes thick treats in a 9x13 pan.

1 stick butter
6 cups mini marshmallows
9 cups rice krispies
1/4 tsp sea salt

You can see that I didn't quite double the recipe, this way, there's just a little extra butter and since it seems like everyone sells mini marshmallows in a 16 oz. bag these days, it just makes more sense to time and a half the recipe.

Vegan Chocolate Mousse

My sister shared this wonderful recipe with me for my birthday. It sounds kind of weird, but tastes delicious! For those of you who have given up chocolate mousse because it has too much fat or contains raw eggs and dairy... you need suffer no more! This was super creamy and very rich! Even my kids thought it was great! You'll be amazed by the secret ingredient...

Harvest Pound Cake

This recipe is the result of me trying to make a recipe I found online and realizing I was out of many of the ingredients. I liked it so much I figured I should make note of my "recipe" for posterity.

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup pumpkin or sweet potato puree
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour (I used half white/half wheat)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups chopped or grated apples or pears
1 cup dried fruit (I used a dried berry mix)

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil, pumpkin, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; add to egg mixture and mix well. Stir in fresh and dried fruit. Pour into a two 8x4 loaf pans (greased and floured). Sprinkle with coarse decorating sugar. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Bread Pudding

This is one of those great comfort food recipes that has been passed down through generations... my mom remembers eating it as a child and her mom (my grandma) does as well - it goes back at least as far as my great-great grandmother, Johanna Jurk. It was always a special treat for us as children - we loved it warm and fresh from the oven.

2 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups dry bread, cubed
nutmeg or cinnamon to taste
1/4 cup raisins

Place bread in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Beat the eggs and mix with milk, sugar and spices. Pour the liquid over the bread and let stand until thoroughly soaked. Add raisins. Bake 20 minutes or until firm in a 350 oven.

Those of you who know me know that I view recipes more as suggestions than as a hard and fast rule - which means my favorite recipes are those that are somewhat flexible in their execution. This is one of those recipes. I recently found a bag of gingerbread waffles in my freezer that had been there too long to taste very good on their own, so I used them to make a gingery bread pudding. I didn't add any extra spices to the liquid and replaced the raisins with chocolate and butterscotch chips - it was scrumptious!

Birthday Brownies

For my birthday, I decided I wanted to have brownies rather than a cake - and I found this recipe that was really intriguing so I decided I'd give it a try. It was the challenge recipe from Wondertime (sort of a my brownies are better than your brownies thing).
I have to say, they were really good. But I don't think I'd really call them brownies - they were more like fudge. I guess I like my brownies to have a bit more cake texture to them while still being fudgy. These are better when chilled but while not overly sweet, they are super rich... so have a glass of cold milk at the ready! They haven't posted the recipe online yet, so I'll print it here and update with the link when they have it ready.

Layered Brownies

1/2 cup unsalted butter
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla

Glaze
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

Brownies: Heat oven to 300. Butter a 9x13 pan. Melt the stick of butter and chocolate in a small pan over very low heat or in a double boiler. Remove from heat. While the mixture cools, beat together the sugar, eggs, and salt for 8 minutes. Fold in the chocolate mixture, then the flour and vanilla. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until it pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes. Cool thoroughly, about an hour and a half.
Frosting: After the brownies have cooled for an hour, melt the butter over low heat until it's medium brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat. Immediately beat in the confectioners sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla. Frost the brownies with this mixture while it's still warm. Cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.
Glaze: While the frosting cools, melt together the butter and unsweetened chocolate in a small pan over very low heat or in a double boiler. Pour over the white icing. (The best way to do this is to pour the chocolate on and tilt the pan back and forth until covered.) When the glaze has hardened - it will take an hour or two - cut the brownies into squares. Chill thoroughly before eating.

The next time I'm craving brownies, I think I'll try the ones my friend Tara has been raving about here...