Grandmothers Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

Grandmothers Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

Nothing compares to the baking your grandmother did, and this Cinnamon Streusel Cake is no exception. It's a wonderful cake for a small gathering, or double the recipe for a larger one. It will certainly impress all of your guest.
Ingredients:
STREUSEL
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
CAKE
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
3/4 cups milk
1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 9" square baking pan. Combine streusel ingredients thoroughly in a small bowl, set aside.
Cream together sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl.
Beat in egg. Stir in milk. Sift together dry ingredients, add to mixing bowl. Stir until just combined.
Spread batter in pan, and sprinkle streusel over top.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes, until batter is golden brown and center springs back when touched. Let cool, and serve to your favorite guest!

Chocolate Depression Cake

Chocolate Depression Cake

Depression cake is a type of cake that was commonly made during the Great Depression. The ingredients include little or no milk, sugar, butter or eggs, because the ingredients were then either expensive or hard to obtain. Similar cakes are known as "War Cake," as they avoided ingredients that were scarce or were being conserved for the use of soldiers. This cake has no eggs in it.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/3 Cup vegetable oil
1 Cup water

Frosting:
2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Cup powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine vanilla, vinegar, oil and water. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until completely combined.
Pour batter into a greased 8x8 square pan.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Let cake cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting:
Melt butter in a small saucepan (or in the microwave using a microwave safe dish.) Stir in cocoa powder, mixture will form a thick paste. With mixer on low speed, add in powdered sugar, milk and vanilla.
Once ingredients are incorporated, turn mixer to medium high speed and beat about 5 minutes, until frosting is smooth and creamy. Spread on top of cooled cake.

Blackberry Coffee Cake

A Very Good, and Old Fashioned Blackberry Coffee Cake.
Light and fluffy, crisp on the top, and filled with blackberries!

Ingredients:
Cake:
5 tablespoons salted butter, cubed, plus more for greasing the pan
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole milk
2 cups fresh Blackberries

Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter, cubed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Sugar, for sprinkling over top (before placing in oven)

Directions:
For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 9inch baking pan with butter.
Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt to a medium bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add the egg and mix until combined. Mix in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and milk alternately and mix until totally incorporated. Do not over-beat. Stir in the blackberries until evenly distributed. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

For the topping: Mix the flour, sugar, butter, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl and spoon evenly over the batter. Sprinkle a little suger over the top of that. Bake until the cake is golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Until toothpick comes out clean.

Wonderful Gooey Butter Cookies

Gooey Butter Cookies

A clever twist on Gooey Butter Cake is making it into cookies. Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Add cake mix, and stir until well blended. Roll into 1inch balls and roll the balls in the confectioners' sugar. Place 1 inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 to 13 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

Alternate Recipe that I used.
Ingredients:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
1/3 cup powdered sugar
Instructions:
In a medium bowl, add the cream cheese and butter. Beat together with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 30 seconds.
Slowly add the sugar to the cream cheese mixture while continuously beating. Beat the sugar into the cream cheese mixture until light and fluffy, 1 minute.
Next, add the vanilla, whole egg, and egg yolk. Beat until combined.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add this to the cream cheese mixture in three increments, beating in between each addition.
Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes. This should not be optional.
Preheat the oven to 325-degrees, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Have the powdered sugar ready in a shallow bowl nearby.
Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough, roll it in your hands to form a ball. Roll the dough into the powdered sugar before placing them evenly on the baking sheet.
Bake for 14 minutes. Keeping a close eye on these cookies, they should not brown in the oven. The top of the cookies will be puffed and slightly wet.
I think, no matter the recipe, you will be very pleased with these cookies. As will your guest.

Brentwood Waffle Maker How to make Waffles

How to make your own Waffles, including a Brentwood Waffle Maker Review.

If you have any ideas, and/or recipes you have found that help you, fell free to comment.

The Famed Mississippi Mud Cake Recipe

Mississippi Mud Cake

It is thought that the basic concept of this cake was likely created by a home cook sometime after World War II, because it was made with mostly pantry staples, simple ingredients that could easily be found. The actual name Mississippi Mud Cake and the exact method, probably got attached to it a little later though, with the first known printed recipe believed to have been in a newspaper column sometime during the early 70s. Its roots, however, are surely deeply implanted in the hearts of all of us who live in the Deep South. The photo below is a newspaper clipping of unknown year which included coconut.

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
10.5 oz. miniature marshmallows *(I used the large ones cut in half)
Frosting:
1/2 package powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup butter, softened
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Add the sugar, butter, cocoa, eggs, vanilla, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Whisk together until well combined. Stir in the flour and 1 1/2 cups of the toasted pecans.
Pour the batter into a greased and floured 15x10-inch pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from oven and top evenly with the marshmallows. Return to the oven and bake for 5 more minutes.
While the cake is baking, make the frosting. Place all ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until combined and smooth.
Remove cake from the oven and drizzle chocolate frosting over warm cake. *If you used the large marshmallows cut in half as I did, you will notice that it is now easier to cut the pieces. All you have to do is cut between the marshmallows.

Orange Creamsicle Cookies

Perfect for summer, you will want to try these Orange Creamsicle Cookies. just the refreshing touch you need for those hot summer days.

Orange Creamsicle Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup orange juice
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoon orange zest
2 cups white chocolate chips
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl cream together your butter and sugars.
Stir in your vanilla and eggs until well mixed. Stir in your orange juice.
In separate bowl combine your flour, baking soda, salt and orange zest.
Stir in your white chocolate chips.
Allow your dough to chill for an hour before scooping out teaspoonfuls of dough. Drop your cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet.
Bake for about 9 minutes until cookies are golden.
Allow to cool for several minutes on your cookie sheet, before removing to a cookie rack to cool completely.

White Cookies a Recipe from the 1920's

This recipe comes from A CALENDAR OF DINNERS by Marion Harris Neil
Copyright 1920 The Proctor & Gamble Co. Cincinnati

White Cookies
Ingredients:
2 cupfuls sugar
1 cupful Crisco
1/2 cupful thick sour milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoonful backing soda
1 teaspoonful salt
1 teaspoonful vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoonful lemon extract

Directions:
Cream Crisco and sugar together, add eggs well beaten, soda mixed with sour milk, salt, extracts, and about 5 cupfuls flour.Roll very thin, cut with cookie cutter, lay on Criscoed tins, bake in moderately hot oven (350 F.)five minutes. To keep any length of time, when cold, place in covered tin cans and set in cool place, and they will be as crisp as when first baked. Sufficient for ninety cookies.

Note: I did not roll out the dough, and use a cookie cutter, rather, I spooned them on to foil covered cookie sheets, but that is up to you. I also used milk rather than sour milk (I had none). They were indeed a very delicious cookie none the less.

1934 Cake Recipe, Economical Layer Cake

Economical Layer Cake
Ingredients:
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Butter
1 Teaspoon Vanilla (or other desired flavoring)
1/2 Cup Water
1 2/3 Cups of Cake Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

Directions:
Stir butter, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla together
until creamy. Sift together the dry ingredients,
and add alternately with the water to the first mixture.
When well mixed, stir in the egg white, stiffly whipped.
Transfer to two 9 inch layer cake pans which have been
rubbed with butter, and dusted lightly with flour.

Bake about 25 minutes at 375 F. When cool, remove from the
pans, and put together with jam, jelly, any fruit butter,
Italian Cream filling, Creamy Icing, or Rich Chocolate Icing.
You can even put the cake together, just before serving, with
whipped cream, or with sliced, and sweetened oranges, or other fruit.
From: Round The World Cook Book by Iad Bailey Allen

Lithuanian Apple Cookies

The flaky, buttery dough is wrapped around the cinnamon/sugar-covered apple slices.

Ingredients
FOR THE APPLES:
Ingredients

FOR THE APPLES:
4 Medium Apples, Peeled, Cored And Cut Into Thick Slices, About 6 Slices Per Apple
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

FOR THE DOUGH:
2 cups Flour
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1/4 teaspoons Salt 1 1/2 Sticks of Butter Cut Into Half-inch Cubes
8 ounces, weight Farmer's Cheese, Cold
You can choose to cut the dough into long strips, or circles. It's up to you.
2 Tablespoons Sour Cream

FOR COATING THE COOKIES:
1 whole Egg White Lightly Beaten
1/3 cups Sugar
Instructions:
Prepare the apples. In a medium bowl mix the apple slices, sugar and some cinnamon, enough to cover the apples. Set aside while you prepare the dough.
Preheat the oven to 200ºC (about 400ºF). Line a baking sheet with Silpat or parchment.
To prepare the dough, in a food processor pulse flour, sugar and salt to combine. Add cubed butter, cheese and sour cream and pulse until all ingredients come together and form a ball.

Take the dough out of the food processor (I used a blender)and place it onto a floured surface. If it looks like it is too sticky to roll with the rolling pin, add a small amount of flour and knead with your hands until it looks like it can be rolled with the rolling pin.
When the dough is ready, cut about a quarter of the dough and roll it into a long narrow rectangle. Then cut it into long strips about 2 cm wide (or circles). Take one strip and wrap it around the apple slices in an overlapping manner, covering all of the apple slice with the strip. If the strip is too short, add a piece of another strip. Pinch the ends of the cookie so that there are no holes.
Dip one side of the cookie into the egg white, then into the sugar, and place it on the baking sheet, sugary side facing up. Continue with the rest of the cookies. Bake until the cookies are deep golden brown, about 25 minutes. Don’t try to eat them straight from the oven; let them cool a bit before serving because the apple inside will be hot.

I cannot tell you just how good these simple treats really are. You really have to try these out!

A Very Old Pumpkin Pie Recipe

This recipe comes from “The American Frugal Housewife” by Lydia Maria Child, and published in 1829, “The American Frugal Housewife” was an instant success, going into more than 30 editions before 1850.

*Makes two 10-inch pies
Ingredients:
1 medium sugar pumpkin (about 3 pounds)
4 cups milk
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, more to taste
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, more to taste
1 tablespoon ground ginger, more to taste
Grated zest of 1 lemon, optional
3 eggs, whisked to mix
2 10-inch pie shells
2 10-inch pie pans
Instructions:
To cook pumpkin: slice skin from top and bottom of the pumpkin. In a curving motion, cut remaining skin in segments from the sides, working from top to bottom.

Cut flesh in half, scoop out and discard seeds and cut the flesh in chunks; they should weigh about 2 pounds. Put pumpkin in a saucepan with water to cover base of the pan. Add the lid and cook over medium heat, stirring often, so pumpkin steams until it can be crushed easily with a fork, 30-45 minutes. Crush it with a potato masher or puree in a food processor until smooth.

Chill the pie shells. Heat oven to 400 degrees and put a baking sheet low down on a shelf to heat. For filling, heat milk in a large saucepan. Stir in pumpkin puree and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, so the mixture thickens slightly, about 20 minutes. Let cool to tepid, then stir in sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and lemon if using. Taste and adjust sweetness and spice. Stir in eggs.
Transfer filling to pie shells. Set pies on the heated baking sheet and bake in the oven 15 minutes. Lower heat to 350 degrees and continue baking until pies are firm and knife comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes more. Serve at room temperature.

Icelandic Christmas Cake

Icelandic Christmas Cake
This Icelandic cake recipe uses lemon flavoring and cardamom extract in a unique and delicious Christmas cake you'll want to make anytime of the year. I changed the recipe I used just a little substituting Maraschino cherries, and orange extract, instead of raisins, and lemon extract. I had just made a Fruit Cake, so I wanted something different, but the original recipe is below. Either way, it's a wonderful cake.

Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup butter
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon cardamom flavored extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 11 inch loaf pan.
Cream the butter or margarine and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at time beating well after each one. Stir in the milk, lemon and cardamom flavorings. Stir in the flour and the baking powder.
Sift a little flour over the raisins then stir them into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes. I promise you will enjoy it!

Hermits: from Things Mother Used to Make (1914)

Hermits

Here’s the recipe as it appears in the cookbook:

Ingredients:
1 cupful of sugar
1/2 cupful of molasses
2/3 cupful of butter
2 eggs
1 cupful of raisins, chopped fine
2 tablespoonfuls of milk
1 teaspoonful of soda
1 teaspoonful of cinnamon
1 teaspoonful of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoonful of cloves
Flour enough to roll

Instructions:
Cream the butter and sugar together, beat the eggs, add to the butter and sugar, then stir in the molasses, milk and spices.
Add the raisins which have been covered with flour, and, last of all, the flour into which the dry soda has been sifted.
Roll thin and cut with cooky-cutter.

Hermit Tips...Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cookies are firm around the edges but still a little soft in the center.

Old French Apple Cobbler Recipe

French Apple Cobbler Recipe – Handwritten

This recipe was written on a lined index card (much like my own) and found in a large collection, date unknown. I altered mi recipe slightly for 2 crust (in photos).

French Apple Cobbler 375° for 35 to 40 min
5 c. apples peeled & sliced
3/4 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. cinn
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
* If you prefer a bottom crust mix a second batter, butter the pan, and line pan with the first batter before placing filling on top.

Mix and combine with 1/4 c. water and place in 9″ sq. pan and dot with butter (1 Tbsp.)
*Batter (double if you would like a bottom crust,and a top crust)
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 egg slightly beaten
*Mix the batter, then roll out onto a floured surface, and cut strips to criscross on top of filling.

You may have noticed that I also left the peel on my apples. That is a personal preference as well. Let me know if you like this recipe, or are eager to try it out. I took mine to a gathering, and they were coming back for 2 and 3 pieces.
Note: to the Apple mixture I also added...
1/2 t cinnamon
3 T lemon juice
1 t lemon zest

Apple Butter Cake

This is an old Recipe for Apple Butter Cake It is very easy to make, and very delicious.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups apple butter

Directions:
Heat oven to 375°F. Grease 15x10x1-inch pan with butter. In medium bowl, beat eggs with electric mixer on high speed about 5 minutes or until very thick and lemon colored.
Gradually beat granulated sugar into eggs. On low speed, beat in water and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and salt just until batter is smooth. Pour batter into pan; spread to corners.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Place on cooling rack; cool at least 30 minutes. Sprinkle 1/4 cup powdered sugar on top, if desired. This is a wonderful treat to end a busy fall day for you, and yours. Let me know if you tried it in the comments.