Apple Dessert Pizza

I love sweet pizzas. We went to CiCi's the other night and I ate a slice of their apple crumb pizza and thought to myself, "I can make this at home. Better." Saturday afternoons are usually lazy afternoons and I find myself gravitating to the kitchen to bake. My aspiration today was to create an Apple Dessert Pizza that could stand up to CiCi's or Pizza Hut's any day. I think I succeeded.

Apple Dessert Pizza
Donald's & Sarah's rating:
★★★★★

Homemade Pizza Crust:

1. Dissolve 2 TBSP of sugar and 1 TBSP yeast in 1 and 1/2 cups of warm water. Add 4 TBSP of softened butter.
2. In your kitchen aid mixer (or by hand if you desire), add 3 cups of bread flour and 1/2 tsp of salt. Mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients and kneed them using the dough hook for five minutes. The dough will be really soft, even sticky, and that's ok!
3. Let rest for 10 minutes. Place the dough onto pizza stone (or baking sheet) and press into circular shape. Prick the dough liberally.
4. Cook the dough in your oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
   

While your dough is cooking, prepare the pizza toppings.

Apples:

1. Open one can of Lucky Leaf apple pie filling and chop apples finely.

Streusel Crumb Topping:

1. Mix together 4 TBSP of softened butter, 2/3 cup of brown sugar, 2/3 cup of bread flour. Mixing with a fork, or even your fingers, works best.
   

Sugar Glaze:

1. Mix 1 TBSP of milk, 1 tsp of butter, and 2 cups of confectioner's sugar together over low heat. Keep the heat low and stir often. You may add a little more milk if needed.
   

Assemble the pizza:

1. Remove pizza crust from the oven.
2. Spread the apple pie filling evenly over the crust.
3. Cover the apple pie filling with a thin layer of cinnamon.
4. Sprinkle the Streusel Crumb topping over the layer of cinnamon.
5. Return to the oven at 350 degrees and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes.

Finish the pizza:

1. Remove the pizza from the oven after 10-15 minutes and let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Drizzle the sugar glaze over the entire pizza and let stand for an additional 5 minutes.

I hope you enjoy the pizza! The homemade pizza crust can also be used to make homemade bread or breadsticks. Just switch the sweet ingredients for some Italian herbs and brush lightly with extra virgin olive oil and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25-30 minutes.

Happy Father's Day, Donald!

This recipe came from www.afewshortcuts.com. I've tried several of her recipes and I have liked them all. The plan was to save this recipe for Father's Day, but Sunday is honestly our busiest day of the week and we usually celebrate Sunday holidays on another day. Donald loves peach cobbler and everyone knows about my cupcake obsession, so this recipe seemed like the best of both worlds. I preferred mine warm from the oven with a scoop of ice cream. Donald said it was just as delicious the next morning for breakfast.



Peach Cobbler Muffins
Donald's Response:
Rating: ★★★★.5

Muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups white sugar
2 cups peeled, pitted & chopped peaches (I used canned)

Pecan Streusel Topping:
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup pecans, finely chopped (optional)
4 T butter (softened)
1 t cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 24 muffin cups. (I used paper liners)

2. In the mixer, mix the following ingredients: oil, eggs and sugar.

3. To the liquid ingredients incorporate: the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. The batter will be thick. VERY THICK.

4. Fold in the peaches. If you are using canned peaches, it will be two cans.

5. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.

6. Sprinkle 1 T of streusel topping on top of each muffin.

7. Bake 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven. They are done with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Happy Father's Day to my sweet husband. I am thankful that God allowed you to be the father of our children.

Banana Pudding From Scratch

So I've been missing my family a little lately and my life has been a tad stressful. You see, I don't like surprises. I'm a planner. I need to know what's going to happen, when it's going to happen and how it's going to happen. That's how God wired me. Funny thing is, that's not how God usually does things. F A I T H - ugh, what a hard word for us control freaks. Surrendering complete control to God's will is the hardest thing for some of us to do. Even when we know in our heart that He is in control, loves us and has a plan for us . . . our head still want to be in control.

I say all of that to lead into the reason for tonight's recipe. Sometimes I use comfort foods to cope with my anxiety. And since I am both anxious and missing my family, I decided to make my grandmother's banana pudding. I also think everyone should know how to make banana pudding from scratch. Not a box. Homemade.

Banana Pudding

2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
3 T flour
2 cups milk

Mix the ingredients in a boiler and cook slowly over low heat. Stir often while cooking. It will thicken after being removed from heat.

Remove from heat and add:
1 t butter
1 t vanilla

This is not instant pudding. It should take 40-45 minutes for the pudding to thicken slowly without scorching. But it is so worth it.

I pour my pudding over Nilla wafers and two bananas. Let it set for 10 minutes or longer and allow the wafers to soak in the pudding.

Who doesn't love bacon?

This is the recipe for the Bacon Crescents that I brought to MOPS on April 6th. I just have to say . . . make things easy for yourself and use the precooked bacon. I will make note of my alterations along the way. This recipe is found in the Kraft section on page 196 of the 3 in 1 Velveeta, Nabisco and Kraft cookbook. I have to think my dear friend, Beth for that one. I've gotten a lot of good recipes out of this book. I doubled the recipe for today's MOPS meeting.

Bacon Appetizer Crescents
Based on everyone's response:
Rating: ★★★★★

Prep: 30 minutes (HA! Not if you cook real bacon)
Total: 45 minutes (Again, not if you cook real bacon)

1 package (8 oz) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
8 slices Oscar Mayer bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled
1/3 cup Kraft grated Parmesan cheese (I used Sargento's. I had a coupon)
1/4 cup finely chopped onions (I used onion powder)
2 T chopped fresh parsley (I used Pampered Chef Italian Seasoning)
1 T milk
2 cans (8 oz each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients except the dough.

2. Separate each can of dough into four rectangles and firmly press perforations together to seal. Spread each rectangle with 1/4 of cream cheese mixture. Cut each rectangle into 12 wedges (I got four wedges out of each rectangle, but I know what I did wrong now). Roll up each wedge starting at the short ends. Place them seam-side down on a greased baking sheet (I used my stone).

3. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 8 dozen or 24 servings, 4 crescents each

Sausage And Rice Is Nice

I feel like all we ever eat is chicken and beef. Every once and a while we will throw in some pork chops, but we need a different meat. So when I came across this sausage recipe I knew it was something we would try. This recipe is from the March & April 2010 issue of Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee. It can be found on page 68.

My casserole seemed to have four times the amount of wild rice than was pictured in the magazine. Perhaps Sandra had someone handpick out the wild grains before cooking. I might challenge the kiddos to do that next time. Then again I might not. It tasted good the way it was. I would rate this recipe as easy to make.

Sausage & Wild Rice Casserole
Rating: ★★★★★ (Donald & Tina's rating)

1 (2 oz) bag of pecan pieces
1 (16 oz) smoked sausage Hillshire Farm, coarsely chopped*
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion chopped finely*
1 (6 oz) package chopped fresh celery (about 1 1/3 cups)
2 (6 oz) packages chicken and wild rice, Uncle Ben's Country Inn
4 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, Swanson


*substituted ingredients from the original recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange pecan pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool. Reduce oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 inch baking dish.

2. In a large skillet, cook sausage, stirring often, over medium-high heat for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Using a slotted spoon, remove sausage from skillet and drain on paper towels; reserve drippings in skillet.

3. Melt butter in hot drippings over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook, stirring frequently, for 12 to 15 minutes or until celery is tender.

4. Remove 1 seasoning packet from rice mixes and reserve for another use. I filed mine in the trash can. In a large bowl (I just used the skillet to keep from dirtying another dish. I mean, come on Sandra, not all of us have someone to do the dishes for us!), combine sausage, vegetable mixture, remaining seasoning packet, rice, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley and pepper. Add chicken broth and stir until well combined. Pour into prepared baking dish.

5. Cover and bake for 1 hour or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons chopped parsley and toasted pecan pieces.

Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle

Since I was a teenager I have been making death by chocolate and it's always been a huge hit. As I was flipping through my April & May 2010 issue of Taste of Home I saw a delightful picture of a variation on death by chocolate. Same concept, but with Reese's peanut butter cups. Since Donald loves peanut butter, I knew this was a recipe I'd have to give a try.

I would rate this recipe easy, but time consuming. It's one of those things you do in stages. You have to bake the brownies and let them cool. Open each individual mini Reese's peanut butter cup. Make the pudding and let it stand. Then assemble it all.

I want to emphasize that this is not my recipe. It can be found on page 17 of the April & May 2010 issue of Taste of Home.



Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle
Rating: ★★★★ (Donald's rating)

1 fudge brownie mix (13 x 9 pan size)
1 package (10 oz) peanut butter chips
2 packages (13 oz) miniature peanut butter cups
4 cups cold 2% milk
2 packages (5.1 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix (I used cook and serve)
1 cup creamy peanut butter (I used crunchy)
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cartons (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed (I used two)

1. Prepare brownie batter according to package directions. Stir in peanut butter chips. Bake in a greased 13 x 9 inch baking pan at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs. Do not overbake. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into 3/4 inch pieces.

2. Cut peanut butter cups in half; setting 1/3 cup aside for garnish. In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for two minutes. If you use cook and serve, just follow the directions on the box. Let stand for two minutes or until soft-set. Add peanut butter and vanilla and mix well. Fold in two cartons whipped topping.

3. Place a third of the brownies in a 5 qt glass bowl. Top with a third of the remaining peanut butter cups. Spoon a third of the pudding mixture over the top. Repeat layers twice. Cover with remaining whipped topping (omit if you only use two cartons of whipped topping); garnish with reserved peanut butter cups. Refrigerate until chilled.

Ecclésiastique!

A Birthday Cake

A friend requested an oreo cake for her son's second birthday party. So I made my traditional chocolate cake and spiced it up with oreo pudding. Then I made my signature frosting and spiced it up with crushed oreos as well. I know I said this blog was about sharing recipes, but these are two recipes that I just can't share. Because let's face it, if you could make it then you wouldn't need me!

So since I won't share those two recipes, how about the Coca Cola icing that I recently made on cupcakes for the GA coffee house at church? I've had many requests for that recipe and since it isn't an original I don't mind sharing. The recipe was handed down to me by my mother. I'm not sure where it originated.

Coca Cola Icing

6 Tablespoons of Coke (you can use diet, but come on . . . it's frosting)
1 stick of oleo (that's butter for you millennials)
1 box of confectioner's sugar
2 Tablespoons of cocoa
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

In a small sauce pan, heat the coke and oleo to boiling. Remove from heat and add confectioner's sugar and cocoa. Blend well. Add nuts if desired.

This is a crusting frosting and it will harden if left in the pan for too long. It's best applied to your cake, brownies, cupcake, et cetera, while the frosting is still hot. You can reheat the frosting to a pourable consistency if needed.