Categories
Bread Breakfast Dessert Featured Recipes

Apple Bread

Temperature 350°Time55 – 65 mins

Apple Bread from www.jasonscooking.com

BackgroundBackground

Today is Michael’s birthday (or it was when I wrote this) and to celebrate, we’re making Apple Bread! Apple bread is a lovely combination of apples, banana bread, and cake – three of Michael’s favorite things. I’ve never made apple bread before but, with it being apple season, I thought I’d take a gander to see if apple bread was a thing. I am happy to report that it is, in fact, a thing and further, it’s a delicious thing!

This apple bread is a lot like banana bread but with an appley cinnamoney flavor rather than a bananaey flavor. It makes a tasty sweet treat or an excellent grab and go breakfast. My favorite part about this bread is the topping. I am a sucker for a streusel and you better believe it’s going on the next loaf of banana bread that comes out of our oven! As an added bonus, this recipe is lower in fat because it replaces some of the fat with apple sauce. Mmmm….

The RecipeRecipe
Apple Bread
 
Prep time
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Total time
 
Author:
Ingredients
For the Bread
  • 3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 ½ Cups Sugar
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 2 Eggs, Beaten
  • 4 oz Unsweetened Applesauce
  • ⅓ Cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
  • 3 Medium Gala Apples

For the Topping
  • ⅓ Cup All-Purpose Flour
  • ⅓ Cup Sugar
  • 4 Tbs Cold Butter, Cut into Small Cubes
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350° and spray 2 8” x 4” glass loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
  3. Add the eggs, applesauce, oil, and vanilla and mix until just combined. The batter will be very thick.
  4. Peel and core the apples. Dice one of the apples into 1” cubes, shred the other two apples on a box grater, and fold into the batter.
  5. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and sugar for the topping together and cut in the butter using the back of a fork. It should get crumbly and will hold together if you press on it.
  6. Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans and sprinkle on the topping. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes – 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  7. Let the bread rest in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

If you’re like me and don’t keep applesauce on hand, the single-serve cups of applesauce that are meant for lunches are 4 oz each. You can use what you need and save the rest for future loaves.

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

Apple bread, like banana bread freezes beautifully! Stash the second loaf in the freezer for future you to enjoy.

Fun FactsFun Facts

John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, was in to helping animals as well as being in to planting apple trees. He once purchased a horse that was about to be put down in order to save the horse’s life.

Categories
Dessert Featured Recipes

Banana Bread Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake from www.jasonscooking.com

BackgroundBackground

The idea for this recipe came from a catering gig we did a couple of months ago. We wanted to come up with an easy dessert that could feed a crowd, worked on a buffet, was customizable and that was pretty much universally enjoyed so we decided on a Strawberry Shortcake bar. Rather than making 40 – 50 shortcakes, we went with loaf cakes. They’re easy to make and transport and it’s a proven fact that Michael makes the best banana bread in the whole wide world.

We went with a chocolate pound cake, a regular pound cake, and banana bread. I wasn’t 100% sure how the banana bread would go over but that all changed once I tasted this twist on the classic. The banana bread is a great addition to the Strawberry Shortcake team and plays well with the strawberries and whipped topping. If you’re skeptical, remember that the most popular smoothie is the strawberry banana smoothie!

The RecipeRecipe
Banana Bread Strawberry Shortcake
 
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Combine strawberries and sugar in a large bowl and store in the refrigerator for 6 – 8 hours or overnight. The strawberries will give off a bunch of delicious juice.
  2. Serve by topping a slice of banana bread with some of the strawberry mixture and a dollop of whipped topping.
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

If you don’t like banana bread, try zucchini bread, pound cake, angel food cake or traditional shortcakes (they’re basically biscuits with sugar in them).

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

All of the components of this desert freeze really well, making it a great candidate for feeding the freezer. Just wrap everything separately and then thaw and serve when unexpected company pops by.

Fun FactsFun Facts

The character Strawberry Shortcake was created in 1977 by Muriel Fahrion for greeting card maker American Greetings. The toys and TV specials came later.

Categories
Dessert Featured Recipes Snacks

Candy Corn Rice Krispies Treats

TemperatureLow HeatTime30 minutes

Candy Corn Rice Krispies Treats

BackgroundBackground

This morning, Jason asked me to come up with some ideas for Halloween-themed snacks. We brainstormed some clever ideas, like spiders made out of pretzel-sticks (the legs) and chocolate covered strawberries (the bodies). However, nothing sounded quite right. At the same time, I have been craving some Rice Krispies Treats lately so I was trying to come up with a Halloween-themed snack involving Rice Krispies Treats. Suddenly, it hit me – color and shape them like candy corn!

These Candy Corn Rice Krispies Treats are surprisingly easy to make and are the perfect snack for your Halloween party!  Give them a try and let us know what you think.

The RecipeRecipe
Candy Corn Rice Krispies Treats
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 32
Ingredients
  • 6 Tbs Butter, Divided
  • 1 16oz bag of Large Marshmallows, Divided
  • 6 Cups Rice Krispies, Divided
  • Red and Yellow Food Coloring
Instructions
  1. Line a 9x9 baking dish with aluminum foil and spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray.

For the White Layer
  1. In a small pot over low heat, melt 1 ½ Tbs butter and 14 marshmallows, stirring frequently.
  2. Once the marshmallows and butter have melted, remove from heat and mix in 1½ cups of Rice Krispies, stirring until they’re completely coated.
  3. Scoop the Rice Krispie mixture in the foiled pan and press into the pan using a bit of parchment paper.
  4. Clean the pot with hot water and make the next layer.

For the Orange Layer
  1. In a small pot over low heat, melt 3 Tbs butter and 28 marshmallows, stirring frequently.
  2. Once the marshmallows and butter have melted, add 6 drops of yellow food coloring and 3 drops of red food coloring and mix until the color is evenly distributed.
  3. Remove from heat and mix in 3 cups of Rice Krispies, stirring until they’re completely coated.
  4. Scoop the orange layer onto the top of the white layer press to evenly cover using a bit of parchment paper.
  5. Clean the pot with hot water and make the next layer.

For the Yellow Layer
  1. In a small pot over low heat, melt 1 ½ Tbs butter and 14 marshmallows, stirring frequently.
  2. Once the marshmallows and butter have melted, add 4 drops of yellow food coloring and mix until the color is evenly distributed.
  3. Remove from heat and mix in 1½ cups of Rice Krispies, stirring until they’re completely coated.
  4. Scoop the Rice Krispie mixture in the foiled pan and press into the pan using a bit of parchment paper.

Cool, Cut and Shape
  1. After completing all three layers, allow Rice Krispie Treats to cool for about 20 – 30 minutes.
  2. Lift the Treats out of the pan using the foil and cut into 32 pieces (4 rows and 8 columns).
  3. Using more parchment, squeeze the sides of each treat into a triangular shape to look like candy corn. The small part of the triangle should be the white layer.
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

Fill your baking dish with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. This will make it easier to get the rice krispies out and will result in one less dish that requires clean up!

When layering rice krispies mixture, use parchment paper to press each layer in the baking dish. Also, use parchment paper to help shape the rice krispies treats. This will keep them from sticking to your fingers.

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

Rice Krispies Treats can be frozen and enjoyed later. When ready to thaw out, remove from freezer and let stand for 10-15 minutes. They also taste good cold!

Fun FactsFun Facts

The original recipe for Rice Krispies Treats was developed by an employee of Kellogg, Mildred Day, in 1939.

 

Categories
Dessert Featured Recipes

Chocolate Pound Cake

Temperature325°Time1 h 15 mins – 1 h 30 mins

Chocolate Pound Cake from www.jasonscooking.com

BackgroundBackground

In my recent pound cake adventures, I pondered the possibility of a chocolate pound cake. After doing a bit a research, chocolating up a pound cake seemed easy enough. All I needed to do was add some more liquid and some cocoa powder and that’s that. We used this cake as a base for a DYI Strawberry Shortcake bar and it worked really well to soak up the juice from the strawberries.

This cake was adapted from an old Fanny Farmer’s recipe and pound cakes back then were a lot more dense than these cakes today with their rap music and their twitter. This cake will stand up beautifully to juicy toppings but I don’t think I’d serve it by itself. I’d opt for a less-dense version instead.

The RecipeRecipe
Chocolate Pound Cake
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • 2 Sticks Butter, Softened
  • 1⅔ Cup Sugar
  • 5 Eggs
  • ½ Cup Milk
  • 2 Cups Flour
  • ½ Cup Cocoa Powder
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325° and spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, and salt together and set aside.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer on medium low speed, cream the butter and sugar together until they lighten up a bit and turn a pale yellow.
  4. Add the eggs, one at a time until they’re well incorporated, and then add the milk, vanilla and salt.
  5. Reduce the speed to low, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
  6. Pour the batter in the prepared loaf pan and cook for 1 ¼ - 1 ½ hours or until a toothpick stabbed into the cake comes out clean.
  7. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 – 10 minutes and then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
  8. Slice and enjoy!
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

Stir in some chocolate chips, some peanut butter chips and/or some nuts for a middle-of-the-cake surprise!

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

To freeze, cool the cake completely, wrap in parchment, then in foil, then put it all in a zip-top bag and freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw for about an hour and enjoy!

Fun FactsFun Facts

Does this recipe look familiar? That’s because the only difference between this pound cake and the classic pound cake from earlier in the week is cocoa powder and a little more milk.

Categories
Dessert Featured Recipes

Classic Pound Cake

Temperature325°Time1 ¼ – 1 ½ hours

Classic Pound Cake from www.jasonscooking.com

BackgroundBackground

Recently, Jason’s Cooking catered a party for one of our best friend’s mother’s birthday. It was an afternoon party in the fellowship hall of a church so we needed some tasty apps (see #PartyWeek!) and some sort of cake. We came up with a Southern Tea Party menu and that was the perfect opportunity for a Build-Your-Own Strawberry Shortcake Bar!

I haven’t made a pound cake since I was a kid, so I was pretty excited to include it as one of the bases for the BYOSSB. This cake turned out great and was exactly what I wanted for the bar. I had forgotten about the denseness of the pound cake so keep that in mind when serving, and be sure to have juicy berries or whipped topping or even a glaze on hand for topping.

The RecipeRecipe
Classic Pound Cake
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • 2 Sticks Butter, Softened
  • 1⅔ Cup Sugar
  • 5 Eggs
  • ⅓ Cup Milk
  • 2 Cups Flour
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325° and spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer on medium low speed, cream the butter and sugar together until they lighten up a bit and turn a pale yellow.
  3. Add the eggs, one at a time until they’re well incorporated, and then add the milk, vanilla and salt.
  4. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour and mix until just combined.
  5. Pour the batter in the prepared loaf pan and cook for 1 ¼ - 1 ½ hours or until a toothpick stabbed into the cake comes out clean.
  6. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 – 10 minutes and then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
  7. Slice and enjoy!
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

This is a really dense cake that makes the perfect base for Strawberry Shortcake!

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

It’s super easy to double the recipe and make two. After cooking completely, wrap in parchment, then in foil, then put it all in a zip-top bag and freeze for up to 6 months. You’ll be glad you have a cake in the freezer when unexpected company drops by!

Fun FactsFun Facts

Pound cakes are called pound cakes because the original recipes called for a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, a pound of eggs and a pound of flour.

Categories
Dessert Featured Jason's Favorites Recipes

Sugar Cookie Cheesecake Bars

Temperature350°Time40 mins

Sugar Cookie Cheesecake Bars from www.jasonscooking.com

BackgroundBackground

The first time I ever made cheesecake squares was when I was a kid. I found a recipe in one of those checkout stand Christmas cookie cookbooks, made the squares, enjoyed them, and then I could never find that cookbook again. I think it was one of those TV spirit of Christmas things where I made the thing thinking that I had the recipe but found out it was inside me all the time and then I hear jingle bells and Ho Ho Ho off in the distance.

Anywho…My favorite cheesecake is from the Carnegie Deli in NYC for 3 reasons. It’s flippin’ delicious, my Aunt Pat introduced it to me when I went with her to New York when I was a kid, and because the crust is made of sugar cookies! When I was deciding what I wanted to make this week, I thought about the cheesecake bars which are super easy to make and how I could make them more Carnegie Deli cheesecakey. A tube of sugar cookie dough and 45 minutes later, here’s what I came up with.

The RecipeRecipe
Sugar Cookie Cheesecake Bars
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 12 Bars
Ingredients
  • 8 oz Sugar Cookie Dough (1/2 of a Tube)
  • 8 oz Cream Cheese, Softened
  • ½ Cup Sugar
  • ¼ tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
  • 2 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate
  • 1 Tbs Butter
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°
  2. Line an 8x8 glass baking dish with parchment paper and spray that with nonstick cooking spray. This helps you remove the bars when they’re completely cool. See the tips section for more details.
  3. Crumble the cookie dough and press it into the bottom of the pan.
  4. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, salt, egg and vanilla with a hand mixer until it’s smooth and has the consistency of cake batter. Pour the batter on top of the cookie dough and cook for 40 minutes until it’s just set in the middle.
  5. Remove the bars from the oven and let them cool for about 30 minutes.
  6. Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave in 30 second incriments, stirring in between each 30 seconds until all of the chocolate is just melted. Be careful not to overcook the chocolate.
  7. Spread the chocolate all over the top of the cheesecake bars and put the whole thing in the refrigerator to chill completely (about 2 – 3 hours).
  8. When the bars have chilled completely, remove from the pan and cut in 12 pieces.
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

To make depanning a snap, run a strip of parchment paper down one side of the pan, across the bottom, and up the other side leaving a bit of overhang and then spray everything with cooking spray. This will give you a convenient handle to remove the bars in one quick motion.

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

Freeze your leftover cookie dough for the next time you want some tasty sugar cookies or for when you want to make another batch of cheesecake bars.

Fun FactsFun Facts

While the Greeks considered it a cake, cheesecake is more closely related to a custard pie, soufflé or torte.

Categories
Dessert Featured Michael's Favorites Recipes

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Temperature375°Time8 – 10 mins

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from www.jasonscooking.com

BackgroundBackground

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies are some of Michael’s favorite cookies so when I was thinking of stuff for today’s blog post, I thought I’d give them a shot. While researching recipes, I discovered that the recipe for oatmeal cookies and the recipe for chocolate chip cookies are pretty much the same thing so I added some oatmeal and cinnamon to my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and got some pretty darn tasty oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!

Give these tasty cookies a try and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed – assuming you like oatmeal cookies and chocolate chip cookies. If you don’t like oatmeal cookies or chocolate chip cookies, the aforementioned guarantee does not apply to you. Perhaps I could interest you in a nice berry crisp?

The RecipeRecipe
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
 
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • 2 Sticks Unsalted Butter, Melted and Cooled
  • 12 oz Bread Flour (about 2 ¼ cups)
  • 1 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 Cup Regular Oatmeal
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon
  • 2 oz Sugar (about ¼ cup)
  • 8 oz Light Brown Sugar (about 1 ¼ cup)
  • 1 Eggs
  • 1 Egg Yolk
  • 1 oz Milk
  • 1 ½ tsp Vanilla
  • 12 oz Semisweet Chocolate Chips
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, soda, oatmeal and cinnamon together and set aside.
  2. Beat the melted butter and both sugars together in a stand mixer for about 2 minutes until it’s lightened in color.
  3. Add the egg, egg yolk, milk and vanilla to the mixer and let it mix for about 30 seconds.
  4. Reduce the mixer to low speed and add the dry ingredients ⅓ at a time until it’s all incorporated.
  5. Once all of the dry ingredients have been added, fold in the chocolate chips and chill the dough for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
  6. Preheat the oven to 375
  7. Scoop the dough into 1 ½ oz portions and put on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. You’ll want to leave about 2 inches between each cookie.
  8. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes or until the edges of the cookie just start to turn brown. If they look done in the oven, they’re overcooked.
  9. Remove to a cooling rack and repeat with the remaining dough.
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

Use a 1.5 – 2 oz ice cream scoop with a trigger (a disher) to portion out your cookies onto parchment paper while your waiting on your first batch to come out of the oven.

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

Freeze portioned raw cookie dough or baked cookies for up to 6 months for a tasty anytime treat. To cook dough from frozen, just add a minute or two to the cooking time.

Fun FactsFun Facts

This Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is based on The Chewy from Alton Brown which is based on the Toll House Cookie Recipe which is based on Ruth Wakefield’s chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Categories
Dessert Featured Michael's Favorites Recipes

French Chocolate Mousse

French Chocolate Mousse

BackgroundBackground

Chocolate mousse is one of Michael’s favorite desserts. The first time I ever made it for him, I was nervous that it would be super complicated and time consuming based on the fact that it was classic French food and served at fancy restaurants. That couldn’t be further from the truth! Chocolate Mousse is essentially melted chocolate with beaten egg whites or whipped cream beaten folded into it.

This recipe contains raw eggs and the FDA says you shouldn’t eat raw eggs. If you’re worried about consuming raw eggs, they make pasteurized raw eggs. If you’re super worried about them, you should probably stick to the whipped cream kind of mousse.

The RecipeRecipe
French Chocolate Mousse
 
Prep time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • 6 Oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
  • 4 Eggs, Separated
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
  1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (a metal bowl set over a pot of about a cup of gently simmering water), stirring frequently. As soon as all of the chocolate has melted, remove the bowl from the heat and set aside.
  2. In another bowl, beat the 4 egg yolks until they are pale yellow in color.
  3. Slowly (VERY slowly) drizzle the chocolate into the egg yolks while stirring vigorously. If you go too fast, you might cook the eggs and then you’ll have chocolate scrambled eggs.
  4. In a third bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
  5. Mix the vanilla and ⅓ of the beaten whites into the chocolate and egg mixture. Once it’s all incorporated, gently fold the remaining beaten whites in and keep folding until the color is uniform and you no longer have any streaks.
  6. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours and serve.
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

If you really don’t want to use raw eggs, beat a cup of heavy whipping cream to stiff peaks and use that instead of the eggs.

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

Frozen chocolate mousse? Be my guest! Frozen chocolate mousse is almost like a super chocolatey ice cream. Mmmmm.

Fun FactsFun Facts

While chocolate is the most famous, there are many different kinds of mousses. In French, “mousse” means foam or froth so technically anything that uses air or a foam to lighten the texture is a mousse.

Categories
Dessert Featured Recipes

Mmm, Donuts!

Temperature375°Time10 mins

Mmm, Donuts...

BackgroundBackground

Starting at 10:00, FXX is running a super marathon of all 552 episodes of The Simpsons and, as a life-long Simpsons fan, I could not be more excited about it! To celebrate, I whipped up this batch of baked Lard Lad Donuts and so can you. Mix up a batch of Springfield’s favorite donuts with this perfectly comulent recipe and embiggen the boys down at the nucleon plant today!

This recipe will most likely be updated with real donuts this weekend…baked donuts are good but they just made me want the real thing.

The RecipeRecipe
Mmm, Donuts!
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 8
Ingredients
For the Donut
  • 1 Cup Pastry Flour
  • ½ Cup Sugar
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • ⅛ tsp Nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon
  • 3 Tbs Buttermilk
  • 2 Eggs
  • 3 Tbs Vegetable Oil

For the Glaze
  • ¼ Cup Milk
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
  • 2 Cups Powdered Sugar
  • 2 – 3 Drops Red Food Coloring
  • Sprinkles!
Instructions
Make the Donuts
  1. Preheat the oven 375° and spray 2 donut pans with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and cinnamon together.
  3. In a separate bowl, beat the buttermilk, eggs and oil together.
  4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just to combine being careful not to overmix.
  5. Fill the wells of the donut pan ½ full and cook for 10 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  6. Cool on a baker’s rack while you make the glaze.

Glaze the Donuts
  1. Combine the milk, vanilla and powdered sugar in a bowl and mix until a thick paste forms.
  2. Put the bowl in the microwave and heat for 30 seconds to loosen everything up a bit.
  3. Add the food coloring until it’s the desired level of pink.
  4. Dip the donuts in the glaze and sprinkle on your sprinkles.
  5. Note: You’ll want to do all of the glazing and sprinkling pretty quickly before the glaze hardens.
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

You’ll need a doughnut pan for these bad boys. Or you could go all out and make a real doughnut! The keys to Homer’s Donuts are the pink frosting and sprinkles.

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

Freeze these tasty treats for up to 3 months. Mmm, frozen donuts…

Fun FactsFun Facts

FXX’s The Simpsons Marathon will be the longest running marathon in TV history. It starts at 10:00 a.m. on August 21st and ends at September 1st at 11:59 p.m.