How do you make pudding?

Three people asked me the same question at work the next day….continue reading for insider pudding knowledge.

This is really an easy and impressive recipe to make and adored by all. You probably have most of the ingredients sitting in your kitchen right now just waiting to be transformed (milk, sugar, flour, eggs). Pudding is a great recipe to make with kids and the only advanced cooking tool you need is a whisk.

So continue reading below and puddin’ away!

Banana Pudding

adapted from A Cozy Kitchen

Ingredients

3 cups 2% milk

3 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup + 1 tsp flour

Pinch of salt

2 tsp vanilla (1 tsp for pudding, 1 tsp for whipped cream)

1 big box Nilla wafers

3 bananas

8oz heavy cream

2 Tbsp powdered sugar

Add milk and egg yolks to a medium saucepan and whisk.  Add sugar, flour, and salt and whisk until smooth.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 20 minutes or until thickened.  If it’s not getting as thick as you’d like after 20 minutes, feel free to add another teaspoon of flour. Remove from heat; stir in the vanilla.

If serving this at a dinner party or for a large group I recommend a glass bowl or trifle dish. I was bringing these into work or packing for lunch so I collected every small glass jar I had in my kitchen to make individual servings. For either, arrange vanilla wafers in bottom of a small serving dish (or jelly canning/mason jars). Slice and divide 1 banana and layer over wafers. Spoon custard over bananas. Start next layer of Nilla wafers and another banana, than pudding. Repeat until pudding is gone and you have a few solid layers.

Beat heavy cream at medium speed with an electric mixer until it starts to thicken;  add remaining 1 tsp vanilla and gradually add powdered sugar to mixture, beating until soft peaks form. Spread over custard. Serve immediately or cover and chill. I prefer my banana pudding cold. Spoon, lick, make Mmmm noises and enjoy.

These cookies are the perfect accompaniment to a cup of hot tea or make a great afternoon snack if you bring your lunch to work.  They are soft and cakey with the subtlest hint of spice from the cinnamon and nutmeg.  The tartness of the Granny Smith Apple provides a nice balance to the rich frosting.  Their simple appearance is deceiving – you’ll be really pleased how good they taste when you bite into them.  It’s the happiest I’ve been with a recipe in months.

Apple Oatmeal Cookies

from Allrecipes.com

Yield: 36 small cookies (makes 18 sandwiches).  Since you’ll be sandwiching the cookies with a rich frosting you want to make them much smaller than you would oatmeal cookies that are meant to be eaten on their own.

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup shortening (I used butter)
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 peeled, finely diced Granny Smith Apple
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (I left out since I was sandwiching them with PB frosting)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs until well blended. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture until well blended. Fold in the oats and apples. Drop dough by spoonfuls about 2 inches onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Slightly flatten cookies with wet fingers.
3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven.  Definitely check the cookies at 12 minutes.  You want them to still be soft, but not wet.   Let cool on wire racks.

Peanut Butter Frosting

(You’ll probably end up with 3/4 cup of frosting left over.  It stores well in the fridge for several weeks).

5 ounces of cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 stick of butter at room temperature
2 1/2 cups of confectioner’s sugar
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter (use Skippy or Jiff.  You don’t want natural peanut butter for this.)

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, bet the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.  Gradually add the confectioner’s sugar 1/2 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl often.  Continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.  Set a timer and step away from the bowl.  You really don’t want to cut the mixing time short.

Add the peanut butter and mix until thoroughly combined.

Assemble the cookies

Flip all the cookies so the flat sides are up.  Using the same cookie scoop you used to scoop the scoop the cookies, place one scoop of filling on top of each cookie.  Take a second cookies and place is on top of the filling.  Gently press on the top cake to so the filling sticks to both sides.   Once the sandwiches are assembled keep the cookies stored in the refrigerator.   Will keep well for up to 3 days.  These cookies are slightly sticky so if you need to layer them in a storage container be sure to put a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap between the layers.

This weekend we had friends over, and when I asked if they had any dessert requests they suggested something with peanut butter.  I absolutely love peanut butter, so I was really excited to try a new recipe that incorporated one of my favorite baking ingredients.  Having recently eaten my one and only box of Tagalongs in one sitting I was anxious to make something that combined the peanut butter, shortbread, and chocolate elements of that cookie.

Since I knew I wanted to make a second dessert that incorporated peanut butter and apple I decided against making individual cookies because it would have been too time consuming to dip them each in chocolate.  As I started searching for peanut butter bars recipes I found a lot like these that are a combination of peanut butter and graham cracker crumbs.  While they look delicious it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, so I decided to use my favorite chocolate-caramel bar recipe as the base and substitute a peanut butter filling for the caramel.  I was really happy with the result.  These bars are a nice balance of salty and sweet, and since they pack a lot of flavor into a small bite a small pan could feed a crowd.  Note:  Since Pat ate nearly the entire pan it did not actually feed a crowd. 

Peanut Butter Bars

Adapted from Bon Appetit and Brown Eyed Baker

Crust

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon ice water
• 1 large egg yolk

Peanut Butter Filling

• 1 cups creamy peanut butter
• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• 1¼ cups powdered sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine the peanut butter, butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Heat until completely melted and starting to bubble a little, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Add the powdered sugar a ¼ cup at a time, stirring until completely combined with the peanut butter mixture after each addition.

Spread peanut butter filling over cooled crust.  The filling is stiff so it’s a bit difficult to spread over the crust.  I would recommend spraying so cooking spray on your hands and using them to get it into all the corners.

Topping

Sticky toffee pudding isn’t a pudding at all, but a very moist cake made with figs.  When the cake is removed from the oven it’s doused with a warm toffee sauce.  For me, it has all of the elements of the perfect dessert – a delicious cake without the distraction of frosting, my favorite flavor of caramel, and something you don’t see everyday.

I opted to make it bite size since I was serving it at a party where I’d made several other desserts.  If this is the only dessert you’re making I’d recommend making it in a square pan so you can serve a big slice warm out of the oven with a dollop of whipped cream.

 Bite Size Sticky Toffee Pudding

from Gingerbread Bagels (she has beautiful step-by-step photos)

Yield: 48 minis (or an 8 inch square or 9 inch round cake)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brandy (I used orange juice instead)
8 ounces Medjool dates (or any kind of dates)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Measure out 8 ounces of dates. Cut them in half and take out the pits.

Put the dates in a small saucepan with 1/2 cup of brandy and 1/2 cup of water. Bring the date mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Continue to cook the dates for about 5 minutes or until very soft.

Place the soft date mixture in a food processor. Pulse until the dates are completely pureed. Allow the pureed dates to cool completely.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, kosher salt and ground cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl with the paddle attachment (a handheld mixer works fine) cream together 1/2 cup of softened unsalted butter and 1 cup of dark brown sugar. Mix for about 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.

Add in 2 large eggs, one at a time.

Now alternate adding the flour mixture and the pureed dates. Add the flour in 3 batches. Mix to combine but be careful not to overmix.

Spray a mini cupcake pan with nonstick cooking spray or butter and flour the pan.

Using a cookie dough scooper. scoop the batter into the mini cupcake pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  (If making a single cake bake for about 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean).

(prepare the toffee sauce when the mini sticky toffee puddings are almost done baking)

Once the mini sticky toffee pudding are done baking, take a fork and carefully lift each mini sticky toffee pudding out of the pan. Pour 2 teaspoons of the toffee sauce into the bottom of each cup. Place the mini sticky toffee pudding on top of the toffee sauce.

Let them sit for about 10 minutes. Lay parchment paper down or put a baking sheet under the cooling rack. Then carefully flip the cupcake pan onto the cooling rack.  (I had to remove mine one at a time).

Pour a teaspoon of the toffee sauce on top of each mini sticky toffee pudding.

Enjoy!

Toffee Sauce
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
1/4 cup brandy (I used extra cream)

Combine the heavy cream, dark brown sugar, and unsalted butter. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the temperature to medium. Continue cooking the mixture for about 4 minutes or so. Stir the mixture occasionally. Add the brandy and continue cooking for about 3 minutes.

I have a bit of an obsession with bite sized desserts.  For someone like me who can’t make fewer than three desserts when we’re having friends over it’s the best way to ensure that guests can taste everything I baked.  Making minis can be a little time consuming, but I think it’s worth the extra effort since they are so cute and can be eaten with (slightly) less guilt.

Here are the naked brownies straight from the pan.  These would be delicious and you could stop here, but it’s fun to dress them up a bit.

A quick dip in a chocolate bath and they become extra decadent.  I used milk chocolate since it’s my favorite, but you could use dark chocolate or white chocolate.

The final step is to decorate them: sprinkles, nuts, or coconut are just a few options.

Brownie Bites

I used the Pioneer Woman’s recipe for the glaze and inspiration.  Definitely check out her post -she has a million fun ideas for decorations and amazing photos.   For the actual brownies I used my favorite brownie recipe (posted below).  Definitely feel free to substitute your favorite recipe – if it makes an 8 x8 pan of brownies you’ll get 48 bites.

1 stick of unsalted butter – cut into pieces
8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
I always use Trader Joe’s Semisweet Chocolate Chips because they taste great, are cheap, and you don’t have to bother with chopping chocolate.
1 1/2 cups of sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line mini muffin pan with cupcake liners. Place butter and chocolate in a large glass bowl over a pan of simmering water.  Stir frequently until butter and chocolate are melted, about 7 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow chocolate mixture to cool while you measure other ingredients.

Stir sugar into chocolate mixture until completely combined.  Whisk in eggs, one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition.  Whisk in vanilla.  Gently fold in flour and salt.

Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth the top.  Bake until toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs.  About 13 minutes.  Let cool for a few minutes then flip out onto wire rack to cool.

Make glaze and dip brownies.  Decorate with your choice of toppings.

Glaze

• 8 whole 1-ounce Squares Semi-sweet Chocolate, Chopped
• 1 cup Cream, Heated
• 2 Tablespoons Light Corn Syrup
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Place chocolate, cream, and corn syrup in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high in 30 second intervals stirring in between.  Once the chocolate is completely melted stir in vanilla extract.

how awesome are these baking cups!!

Since I started dating Ariel his office has been reaping the benefits of my baking. We always split the spoils in half and take to our respective work places. Last week I asked him what his co-workers wanted for Valentine’s Day and German Chocolate Cupcakes were requested. Challenge accepted, I present to you… German’s Chocolate Cupcakes. If you want to know why they are German’s Chocolate and not German Chocolate.. check out Wikipedia.

German’s Chocolate Cupcakes

from ItsyBitsy Foodies

Ingredients

• Chocolate Cupcakes
• 2 squares unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Coconut Pecan Frosting
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, cut into 8 pieces
• 1 1/3 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup chopped pecans

1. Pour the boiling water over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate melts.
2. Cream the shortening and the sugar.
3. Stir in the eggs and then add the melted chocolate/water mixture.
4. Add the flour and baking soda alternately with the buttermilk and vanilla, mixing the ingredients together until a smooth batter forms.
5. Pour the batter into lined cupcake pans and bake the cupcakes at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until done.

1. Combine the evaporated milk, brown sugar and butter chunks in a medium pan over medium heat.
2. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring it occasionally.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the coconut and pecans.
4. Let the frosting cool in fridge and then use it to ice the German chocolate cupcakes. I used a spoon to blob on.

I didn’t grow up eating rugelach, I’d actually never heard of it until I moved to New York, but I’ve been making it regularly since finding this recipe during the Food Network’s “12 Days of Cookies” a few holiday seasons ago.  I really enjoy the process of making rugelach, it’s more time consuming and difficult than a typical cookie, but well worth the effort.

The dough is divided into four pieces and each of them is filled and then rolled.  One really nice thing about working with this dough is that it’s SO rich (2 sticks of butter and a package of cream cheese) that you can generously flour your counter and rolling pin without worrying about incorporating too much flour into the dough.  As your rolling you’ll want to repeatedly lift up the dough and turn it so it doesn’t stick to the counter.

If you’ve made sure to frequently turn your dough your log will roll up easily.

Once they dough is rolled it’s sliced into 1.5″ pieces and placed on the baking sheet.

A brush of egg wash and a sprinkle of sanding sugar and they’re ready for the oven.

Golden Rugelach

from Food Network

I’ve posted the original recipe, but you can substitute your favorite preserve, nuts, and dried fruit.  I used cranberry relish, walnuts, and golden raisins.

Dough:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut in pieces and chilled
• 8 ounces cream cheese, cut in chunks and chilled
• 2 tablespoons sour cream or Greek yogurt

Filling:

• 3/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted
• 1 cup apricot preserves
• 2/3 cups golden raisins
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

Egg Wash:

• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

This cake is super SUPER easy to make, not overly sweet at all and you can use apples that may not be super fresh. The apples I’ve been using have been sitting in my fridge since I picked them back in September, which may be a little insane but nobody eating the cake has been complaining. I swear these Mutso apples last forever in your fridge. I’d recommend a green apple for this recipe.  You can easily whip this up in under 10 minutes, and then pop it in the oven for an hour. It’s a terrific light breakfast or teatime cake.

*This recipe comes from Carola, a German babysitter who used to take care of my brother and me as wee tots. We’re German too so I consider this a family recipe.

Ingredients

2 eggs

2 apples (any green or  granny apples work best)

1 stick butter (just slightly melted)

1 cup sugar

1.5 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp milk

half lemon or lemon juice

1/4 raisins (optional)

Stir eggs, butter (melted), sugar together. Add remaining dry ingredients (baking powder, flour) to wet egg butter mixture. Mix and add milk to smooth out batter. Spray 9 inch pie pan (8inch is fine too). Place dough mixture in pie dish and spread evenly. Peel apples and cut into quarters removing stem and seeds. Draw deep lines in apples without cutting through entirely so the apples can fan out during baking. Place apple quarters firmly into dough. Squeeze lemon juice over the cut apple pieces. Sprinkle with raisins. Cook at 350 degrees for around 1 hour. If the edges start to brown before it is finished cooking place aluminum foil over edges to prevent burning.

Let cool and enjoy!

I’m pretty sure that in 2 years this is only the second time I’ve posted a non-dessert food on here.  It’s not that I don’t cook, it’s just that I’m not an especially good cook and the the food I make is boring.  This gnocchi dinner on the other hand seemed worthy of sharing.  I’d been wanting to try making gnocchi for awhile, but assumed it would be too difficult.  This weekend I had some extra potatoes around and figured why not? If they didn’t turn out we’d eat frozen pizza.  I was so surprised how easily these came together.  Don’t be intimidated by the recipe, it’s long, but none of the steps are difficult.

Rolling the gnocchi

From reading reviews of all sorts of gnocchi recipes online my two biggest worries were that they would fall apart in the boiling water and or they would be tough.  Neither was an issue – they were sturdy enough to hold up in boiling but were also light and fluffy.    I’m excited to try making them again and incorporating more flavor into the dough with different cheeses or herbs.  I served my gnocchi with this sauce, but I wouldn’t recommend it.  Everyone raves about it, but I thought it was watery and bland.  I wish I’d just used a jar of Newman’s Own.

From Epicurious

• 3 large baking (Idaho) potatoes (about 1 3/4 pounds), scrubbed
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, or as needed

This recipe got me excited about Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar again.  When I first got the book I had really high hopes since I’m such a fan of the authors’ cupcake cookbook.  The first cookie recipe I tried from it was great, but the second really wasn’t very good.  After my success with this recipe I’m going to put the cookbook back in more regular rotation.

Peanut Butter Blondies

from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

• 3/4 creamy peanut butter (a commercical no-stir variety works best)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (or regular milk if you’re not vegan)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup salted peanuts

1. Preheat oven to 350º.  Lightly grease a metal 8 x 8 baking dish.

2. In a mixing bowl use a fork or whisk to vigorously mix together peanut butter, oil, and sugar.  Stir in the nondairy milk and vanilla (be careful – it will splash!).  Stir in the flour, salt, and baking powder.  Once you the flour somewhat mixed in it’s easier to just use your hands to knead the dough until soft.  (My dough never got stiff enough that this was necessary.  I just used a rubber spatula.)  Transfer the dough to the pan and press into place.  Sprinkle the peanuts on top and lightly press them into the top.

3. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes; the blondie edges should be just barely darkened.  The top will appear soft and that’s okay.  Remove the blondies from the over and cool completely before slicing.