Chocolate Chip Muffins

The first time I made these muffins, my granddaughter and I ate them all. I had to whip up another batch for my daughter to take to work the next day.


1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 ounces sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup chocolate chips

1. 1. Heat oven at 350 degrees. 
2. 2. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together.
3. 3. Beat egg. Add sour cream and add to the flour mixture.
4. 4. Add the milk, oil, and chocolate chips stir and pour into six greased or lined muffin pans 2/3 full. Cook time is about 15-20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched.
5. This recipe is for standard muffin tins.

Blueberry Muffins

From the Joy of Cooking. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift together in a medium bowl:
1-3/4  cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar--all right, I heap it a bit.
2 teaspoons baking powder

In a small bowl mix well:
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup melted butter, cooled
3/4 cup milk
dash or two of vanilla--my addition.

Combine the liquid and the dry ingredients, giving a quick stir or two. Add 1 cup drained canned blueberries or fresh ones. Fresh will make prettier muffins in my opinion since they won't turn the batter purple as easily. Continue stirring quickly with a few more swift strokes until ingredients are fairly well combined.. Don't over stir.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins. The original recipe makes 2 dozen 2-inch muffins. I use my jumbo muffin pan and get six nice-sized muffins. At this point batter can be topped with a streusel topping of sugar and butter.

Bake about 20 minutes or until tops are lightly browned and toothpick comes out clean.

Mayo Cake

First started baking when I was nine years old. This recipe was the first cake I baked all by myself. It's an oldie but still a goodie. It's very moist and is delicious with or without frosting.

Chocolate Mayo Cake

1 c. mayonnaise or  

       Miracle Whip

1 c. water

1 c. sugar

½ c. cocoa

2 c. flour

1 t. soda

1 t. vanilla

Dash salt

1. Mix mayo, water and sugar; add other ingredients.
2. Pour batter into greased and floured 13x9” baking pan.  Bake for about 30 minutes at 350⁰.

Apple Butter

This was my Great-grandmother Nancy Aria Elizabeth Palmer Stough White's recipe. She was the only great-grandparent I knew well, and I loved her dearly. That makes this a good recipe to start out the new year. 

Granny Aria’s Apple Butter

3 c. sugar

1 t. allspice

½ t. cloves

½ t. nutmeg

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. salt

Apples—enough to make 1 gallon after peeled and cored

1. Peel, core, and slice apples; add just a little water and cook until tender;  run through  colander or blender.
2. Mix all dry ingredients with apples.  Place in baking dish and bake at 225⁰ for 2-2½ hours.  Stir several times during baking.  It thickens as it bakes.
3. Can in small jars.

Note:  More of the spices can be added if you like spicier apple butter.  The above ingredients are Granny Aria’s original recipe.

Jalapeno Popper Dip

When I take this dish to a gathering I always get several requests for the recipe. Surprisingly enough despite the number of jalopenos the dip is not hot.  I borrowed this recipe from http://www.simply-gourmet.com/2012/08/183-jalapeno-popper-dip.html

6-8 slices of bacon, diced and cooked crispy

2 8-oz packages of cream cheese, soft

1 cup of mayonnaise

4-6 jalapeno's, chopped and deseeded*

1 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/4 cup diced green onion

Topping:

1 cup of crushed crackers ( I used Ritz.)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 stick of butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine all of the ingredients into a medium bowl.  Stir well.

Transfer to an oven proof dish. The size of the dish depends on how thick the dip is.  The thicker the dip the longer it may need to warm up.  I used this stoneware dish that is round and measures 12 inches across.  My dip is usually about an inch thick.

Note:  The seeds and white placenta will make it very hot, so cut out as much of the white placenta as possible. I also rinse the slices well in cold water.

Ruth Chris' Sweet Potato Casserole

Another recent favorite. Below is the original recipe. I alter it by using only half the amount of sugar in the sweet potato mixture. 


Ingredients 
Crust:
1 cup brown sugar
1⁄3 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans 1⁄3 cup butter, melted
Sweet Potato Mixture:
3 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (see Note) 
1 cup sugar [I only use 1/2 cup]
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, well beaten
1⁄2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted (splash of milk if needed)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a medium-size casserole dish with nonstick spray.
   
2. For the crust: Combine brown sugar, flour, nuts and butter in mixing bowl. Set aside.
   
3. Combine sweet potatoes, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs and butter in a large mixing bowl in the order listed.
   Beat thoroughly with a hand mixer for about 3-4 minutes to increase the fluffiness of the sweet potato
   mixture. Add a splash of milk if needed and mix.
   
4. Pour mixture into the baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes. At this point, dish can be covered and refrigerated
   for a couple of days.
   
5. Sprinkle the surface of the sweet potato mixture evenly with the crust mixture and return to oven for 10-
   20 minutes or until crumble is browned. If you refrigerated ahead of time make sure to add additional
   baking time around 10-20 more minutes. Allow to set at least 30 minutes before serving.
   
6. The brown sugar and pecan crust should be slightly browned and crunchy. Makes 12 servings.
   

Notes
Note: 3 cups sweet potatoes is about 3-4 large sweet potatoes. To cook sweet potatoes first wash and dry them carefully then you can either: 1) Bake them at 400 degrees for 50-60 minutes 2) Boil them for 30 minutes or 3) Pierce them with a fork and microwave them for about 15-20 minutes.
Source: my SIL Kimi
Recipe by The Girl Who Ate Everything at http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2010/11/sweet-potatoes-ruths-chris- style.html 

Mrs. Myers’ Banana Bread

This is my favorite banana bread. I found it at Alexandra's Kitchen: http://www.alexandracooks.com/2012/03/08/mrs-myers-banana-bread/

I follow the suggestions except I do use chopped pecans. 

Yield=2 large loaves

*** To make homemade buttermilk, place 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. Fill cup with milk until it reaches the 1-cup line. Let stand for five minutes. Use only 1/2 cup of the prepared mixture for the recipe. You could try making a half recipe, of course, so you don’t have 1/2 cup leftover buttermilk. 

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
3 cups sifted flour (I never sift)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. table salt
5 eggs (I use 4)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup nuts (I never add nuts)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 quart mashed bananas*, about 8 (ripe to overripe)

Note: I’m probably stating the obvious, but in case you don’t know, overripe bananas freeze beautifully — just peel them and place them in a ziplock back in the freezer. When you’re ready to use them, place them in a colander in the sink to drain — they’ll give up a lot of liquid and look totally repulsive, but they work beautifully. 

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter two loaf pans. (I butter generously.)

2. In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 

3. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. 

4. With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla, buttermilk and bananas. 

5. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Divide batter between the two prepared pans. Bake for approximately 1 hour.

6. Remove from oven and turn loaves out onto cooling rack immediately. Let cool.