Coconut Chai Cutie Cakes

I walked into Heika's bedroom and saw a tin. It was a Tea Tin. It was called Coconut Chai. I smelled it and thought, "I wish I could eat this." Then Heika walked in and I shared my idea. "Heika, smell this. What if we baked this?"

What happens next? This recipe. True friends come together and create things. That is exactly what we did.

Well, first we ate indian food and bought pants and shoes.

Anyway, the concept and science of the recipe is based off of a carrot cake recipe.

Coconut Chai Cutie Cakes.

1 lb sweetened coconut shavings

3 large eggs

2 cups sugar

3/4 cups coconut oil (or veggie oil)

3/4 cups applesauce

1/3 cup coconut milk mixed well (you can use buttermilk if you don't have it)

1 1/2 coconut extract (vanilla is fine, I guess)

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp allspice

8 oz. Cream Cheese

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp coconut extract

1/2 cup toasted coconut shavings

1/2 cup toasted coconut shavings for garnishing

** if you're shopping, buy two bags of sweetened coconut shavings.

add one bag to the mix. Preheat your oven to 350 and spread the rest of the coconut shavings on a baking sheet and toast for 10 min. Keep an eye on it and mix it around once or twice so it toasts evenly.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325

Combine first 7 ingredients and mix well. It's not going to be very runny, it's going to be kind of chunky and pasty. Don't worry.

In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients.

add dry ingredients to wet and mix just until moistened.

heavily coat a mini cupcake pan with cooking oil. Drop mixture into tins and just about fill each one. Bake for 14 min or until a toothpick comes out clean.

while they're baking, whip together cream cheese, powdered sugar, cinnamon and coconut extract until smooth. Fold in a fistful of toasted coconut shavings.

After the Cutie Cakes have cooled, frost each one and garnish with toasted shavings to be fancy.

Please don't be intimidated by the seemingly complicated and long process. It's so worth it and not as hard as it seems. Just grab a friend and bake some memories!

I brought these Cutie Cake creations to my friend Melissa Walsh's (soon to be Karner!) bachelorette party this past Saturday. Well, I had to make another batch because I left the first batch at the lake house on accident. Either way, I was proud of them and excited to share them with my friends :)

Texas Caviar

This recipe is one commonly requested by Jordan, my Dad, and Dante.

It's mostly assembly and it's not a strict recipe, but it always turns out great.

Ingredients:

4 different color peppers (red, green, yellow,orange), diced

1 vidalia onion (white or red work just fine too), diced

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can black eyed peas. (any four to five cans of any beans are fine), rinsed and drained.

1 can shoepeg corn

Sauce:

1 cup sugar

1 cup white or apple cider vinegar

To make: assemble all ingredients in a giant bowl. Then, in a small sauce pan, bring vinegar and sugar to a boil until dissolved. Pour the sauce over the other stuff and let it chill in the fridge until it's cold and saturated (about 1 1/2 hours minimum). Serve cold with tortilla chips or on a bed of lettuce and enjoy!

I know what you're thinking, "Darla, this is like 5 gallons of texas caviar". Will you just trust me? I made this one night and it was all gone by lunch the next day. My dad eats it in a bowl with a spoon. He calls it bean salad. It's good for you. It's delicious. Just give in. Worse case scenario, you have to share with a neighbor and they love it and you become friends forever.

what do you have to lose?

Maple Syrup Married Bread

I'm a married woman. I have resolved to post more recipes after the wedding, so here I go.

What do you bake when you're married? Well, my husband wants bread. That has been his only request so far. Oh, and Leftover Chicken-Chicken Salad sandwiches, but I'll make that tomorrow.

So I made bread.

Well, I'm making bread right now. I'm listening to my awful bread-maker as I type this. That sound and my wedding reception playlist. I am a sap.

This recipe is hardly new. It's just bread. Made with Maple Syrup that Heika gave us from vermont. She also gave us blackberry jam that we're going to put on our maple toast tomorrow.

Mmm. I would love Vermont so much more if it didn't hold her hostage for far too long.

Anyway, here's some bread. Toast it. Sandwich it. Pinch pieces off of it and nibble them (and don't count the calories). Do whatever you'd like. All I ask is that you remember me as you make and enjoy this recipe.

Maple Syrup Married Bread.

1 ½ cups Milk/Water

1 1/3 Tbs Vegetable Oil

2 Tbs Maple Syrup. (don't be shy)

1 tsp salt

4 cups flour (I did 1 cup whole wheat to ease my binge guilt)

2 tsp yeast

You know the drill. Pile it all in there in order and press start. Then go read parenting books while your husband plays call of duty.

Love,

Darla Jean Innis.

Apple Crisp.

This is for someone looking to get someone to fall in love with her. You know wHo you arE. I Know An apple crisp sounds a little plain, or even overdone, but we need to get back to the fundamentals people.

I got this recipe from Joy the Baker. She is the one who tested the love and apple crisp theory. It could work for you! (if not, see the cinnamon rolls recipe, that may do him in)

Fun story, within the week that I made this, Tiffany called me and said she made this exact one. Kindred Kitchens indeed.

I made this with Melissa when she came over for a bake night. We got to talk to Laura on the phone, drink some tea and catch up. We had a nice time. She was dressed fancy and adorable wearing a huge diamond and I was wearing sweats that sagged in the butt and had stringy wet hair. I’m amazed she wants to be my friend. We made a big one and then some extras in little bunt pans: one for her fiancé, Craig, one for us, one for Jordan, and one for his family. It was a nice little treat.

Here’s the recipe, I hope you enjoy. And you, you know who, good luck!!!!

Apple Crisp

recipe from Ann of Fidget and Joy the Baker

bake in an 8×8 baking dish or double the recipe and bake in a 9×13 dish

Filling:

5 to 6 medium-size apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch slices. (About 7.5 cups)

3 tbsp granulated sugar

1.5 tsp cinnamon

.5 tsp of salt

Topping:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups lightly packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 stick unsalted butter, well-softened

2/3 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

1/3 cup quick oats

Preheat the oven to 350. Generously grease an 8×8 baking pan with butter. I used a round dish and also tried it in mini spring form pans and both turned out great.

In a large bowl, toss the apples and cinnamon sugar mixture together until coated evenly. In a separate bowl, prepare the topping.

For the topping, place the flour, brown sugar, nuts (optional), cinnamon and oats in a large bowl and stir well with a wooden spoon. Work the butter into the mixture with your fingertips until evenly distributed. Take one full handful of the topping and toss it into the sugared apple mixture.

Next place the apples in your pan and spread the rest of the topping evenly over the apples. It's okay if they're piling up a bit, they'll cook down. (I usually end up with a dough-like topping that I just lay on top of the apples).

Bake the crisp in the dish on a baking sheet on the center oven rack until the topping is crunchy and the apples are bubbling, 55-60 minutes.

Chewy Ginger-Molasses Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I had a rough day. I could not stop crying. Why? Because I got a 20 dollar ticket that ended up costing 90 dollars. I do not have that many dollars. It felt unfair. It felt like a personal attack. My feelings were so hurt. I just could not get a hold of myself. So, I ran 6 miles with Sam and then baked these cookies.

I swear I’m okay now. I think I just need to lose it once in a while to stay sane. Does that make sense?

I want to talk more about the making of these cookies. Samson loves butter. Since I’m baking all the time, there is always butter on the counter waiting to soften. He is always resting his nose on the counter trying to snatch some when I turn my back. This time, once I had the cookies on the baking sheet about to go into the oven, he ate one. He also learned how to get into my garbage can (with a lid) to get the wax paper that butter comes in. Is this normal? Do all dogs dart for the butter part of the fridge when the door opens? Is this just Sammy taking after his butter lovin mother? Who knows?

These cookies are science; they are art; they are indulgence. These cookies are exactly as they should be.

I hope you like these. My client tonight did. I did. Samson did

Hello. Meet Molasses. Meet butter and sugar.
This is the moment when you think you messed up because it looks too powdery, don't worry!
It all works out and then looks like this:

Then you fold in some chocolate chips, roll little balls of it in sugar and then bake. Yum!

Tiffy, this is what Samson looks like when we pray before meals.

Chewy Ginger Chocolate Cookies

makes 4 dozen cookies

adapted from Big Fat Cookies and Joy the Baker

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 good teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

a healthy pinch of cinnamon

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup molasses

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate and highly recommend it)

1/4 cup granulated sugar, for rolling dough balls

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your baking sheet and set aside. (I greased it with the leftover butter on the butter wrapper)

Sift the flour, baking soda, spices and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and brown sugar until smoothly blended, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the egg and molasses and mix until it's blended and becomes a light color, about 1 minute. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate it. Don't worry if it looks a little dry at first, it all works out. Then you just fold in the chocolate chips.

Put the granulated sugar in a small bowl or rounded out mug. Roll a heaping tablespoon of dough between the palms of your hands into a ball, toss the ball in sugar to coat and place on the prepared baking sheet. Continue making cookies, spacing them about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm but they are still soft in the center and there are several large cracks on top, about 12-14 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Then try, I dare you, try not to eat all of them. :)

Honey Curry Bread

Hey friends. Do I even need to mention that I miss you? Cause I do.

Tiffy and I made this a long time ago, then Heika and I made it later. I got the recipe out of The Bread Machine Cookbook II that Eric Price got at the unorganized book store and gave to me. See, food follows a web of people.

On another note, I’m running a marathon in three days. Things that I’m feeling: nervous, excited, eager (to just have it over), sad (to have it over), tired, energized, anxious, and ready. Actually, I’m feeling all the feelings in the world, these just stand out right now. I had a stupid foot injury a month ago that really messed up my training. Now my foot is fine, but I can’t get that time back. So, I’m looking to finish and finish strong. All my time goals are kind of out the window, but success will be counted if I do my best. I know that sounds cheesy, but I mean it.

Please try this and change it around. I’m sure other spices could be substituted for the curry if you want to try it. Let me know what you think.

Miss and Love you.

Honey Curry Bread

1 ½ cups Milk/Water

1 1/3 Tbs Vegetable Oil

2 Tbs Honey

1 tsp salt

2 tsp curry powder

4 cups flour (half whole wheat, no problem)

2 tsp yeast

Put this all in a bread machine in order. It’s a 2 pound loaf. It makes great toast. Especially with avocado and tomato on it. Mmmm, I think I want some now.

Chai Tea Pancakes

Pancakes. They are so good. Chai. It is so good. Let’s put them together and watch them fall in love.

Fall would be the perfect time to fall in love. Everything sounds and smells and tastes just as it should. So, let’s give this pair a chance.

Got this from Joy!

Your ingredients:

2 eggs

2 cups flour

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

healthy pinch of ground cloves

scant 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns (or a dash of freshly ground black pepper)

1 cups milk (I used almond milk and added some chai mix)

1/2 cup brewed black chai tea

4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

½ teaspoons vanilla extract

oil or cooking spray (for cooking)

In a large bowl beat eggs. Add milk, chai tea, butter and vanilla and mix well. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Mix well until mostly smooth. Let batter set for a few minutes. Cook two tablespoons at a time.

We added some strawberries and banana slices and maple syrup. It was a love connection for sure.

What else was full of love? The Friday morning breakfast Tiff, Lynn and I had.