Rosemary Beer Bread

This bread is absolutely delicious! . I got the recipe from sweetsugarbean. I made the Bacon, Potato, and Leek soup to accompany it the first time I made it; the recipe is easy to follow and the bread turns out perfectly.

• 3 cups all purpose flour, sifted
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp coarse salt 
• 1/4 cup sugar 
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped, or 1 tsp dry 
• 1 12oz. can of beer (I used Ft.George Brewing OPA) 
• 1/3 cup melted butter 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  
2. Mix all dry ingredients together in large bowl.  
3. Add beer and stir well to incorporate.  Batter is quite thick. 
4. Pour/press into greased LARGE loaf pan, or an 8x8 inch baking dish. 
5. Pour melted butter over batter.  Run a knife around edges so the butter runs down sides. 
6. Place in the middle of your oven and bake for about 50 minutes if using loaf pan, and about 30 minutes if using 8 inch square.  
7. If butter runs over, place aluminum foil on a cookie sheet and place this on the rack beneath your bread.  
8. Let bread cool for about 15 minutes, then run knife around edges and remove from pan.  Serve warm. 

Chocolate-Orange Pound Cake

Since we were thinking of making orange out theme this month I had orange recipes on my brain. This might seem like an odd combination of flavors, but if you like those chocolate oranges you crack open during Christmas time, you will LOVE this pound cake! It tastes just like it!

This recipe is so easy I thought I was doing something wrong!

It makes either one- 9"x3" loaf or I did 3 mini loafs in my pampered chef stone mini loaf pan.

What you'll need:
1/4 cup milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp orange extract
Orange food coloring (optional, I didn't use any)

1. Mix eggs and milk
2. In a separate bowl or mixer, mix flour, baking powder and sugar.
3. Slowly add the butter to the flour mixture.
4. Add in 1/2 of the egg mixture and blend well. Then slowly add the other half of the mixture. Mixing well.
5. Divide the batter into two bowls adding the cocoa to one and the orange extract (and food coloring if your using it) to the other. Mixing well!
6. Plop alternating spoonfuls of each mixture in the pan. Then take the end of the spoon and swirl ( make sure not to over mix the two together. I just zigzagged from one end to the other each way)
7. Place in oven cooking until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the loaf
Cooking times:
1- large loaf= 50-60mins
3- mini loafs= 25-35 mins ( this will depend on the type of pan used. I did use stoneware, so watch your loafs closely)

Once done let cool for about 10 mins then pop them out of the pan to cool completely or enjoy warm! My favorite.

These keep well when wrapped in tin foil .

Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

First off, I'm going to apologize. I didn't take any photos of these cakes{this post is going to be so boring}... My lame reasons: 1) I worked late and NEEDED something sweet, so whipped these up really quick and 2) They were ugly. I literally didn't care what they looked like, I just needed the sweet pineapple! lol

I got this recipe via Pinterest, from Big Mama's Home Kitchen. It was easy, delicious and it was the perfect way to use the mini pineapple I got in my Bountiful Basket last week. Here is her recipe below:

Cake Ingredients:
2 eggs
2/3 C white sugar
4 Tbsp pineapple juice
2/3 C all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter


Topping:

2/3 C brown sugar
1-can pineapple rings (I used a fresh mini Pineapple)
6-maraschino cherries

1. In a mixing bowl, add eggs, white sugar, and pineapple juice.  Beat for 2 minutes.  
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and turn mixer back on for 2 minutes.
3. In a small sauce pan, melt the butter and add the brown sugar.  Stir on low heat for one minute.
4. Spoon a layer of the warm brown sugar mixture into the bottom of each muffin tin, then place a pineapple ring on top.  Add a cherry in the middle of each pineapple.  
5. Pour cake mixture over to fill muffin tin 3/4 of the way full.  If you are using regular muffin tins, you will need to cut down the rings to fit or just use pineapple tidbits. (I used a fresh pineapple so I cut down to fit in the tin)
6. Bake jumbo cakes for 25 minutes.  Bake regular cakes for 20 minutes.  If you choose to make a large cake, bake for 22-25 minutes in a 10 inch cast iron skillet.  The cake is done with a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven.  Let cool in pan for 3 minutes.  Run a knife around the edge of each cake to help loosen in case it sticks a little.  Place a wire cooling rack on top, and quickly flip over on top of sheet tray to catch extra drippings.  

March: Theme of the Month

This month we are doing "March Madness" as our theme, pretty much anything goes. During the week of 17th-23rd we will also be doing a "Green week" in honor of St. Patricks Day. Stay tuned for some awesome recipes!

Cream Cheese Swirled Red Velvet Cookies

I have been struggling to get this post done for quite some time!! So sorry for the delay... I had made these cookies last week and taken pictures and wanted to have everything setup before I took off to Essex, Montana with my husband and his parents. After returning from Montana, all my motivation and time was gone so I wasn't able to sit down and get this post finished!

These cookies were pretty 'cakey' for my liking, but my dear husband took them to work on Valentine's Day and they were gobbled up (literally)! They were very simple to make, and had a gorgeous color!

Ingredients:

• 1 box red velvet cake mix (I am sure you could make them from scratch, but I just love the redness that comes from the boxed cake mix)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1. Preheat the oven to 350°, spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray
2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs, butter and milk. The batter is VERY thick.
3. Drop the cream cheese by the tablespoon into the batter and gently fold in. Don't over mix.

1. Drop the batter by tablespoons (or eyeball it) onto the baking sheet about 2" apart.
2. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cookies are set (it took about 11 minutes for mine)
3. Cool for a minute or two on the baking sheet and then remove to a wire rack until it is cooled completely. 

Red Velvet Frozen Yogurt

I was racking my brain as to what to make this week. I didn't want to make anything too close to what the other Sarah was making. I've been having a craving for frozen yogurt and noticed there aren't any recipes for red velvet frozen yogurt!

I've never made frozen yogurt before so I researched around for how others made other flavors of frozen yogurt and I put together the best recipe I could think of.

Since I had no clue how my "made up" recipe would turn out I made it two different ways, figuring one would HAVE to turn out. They both did!

The first recipe is my favorite! It tastes just like red velvet cake batter!!

What you need:
3- 6 oz containers of yogurt (1 1/4 c.) I used non fat vanilla but you could explore with others
1 1/2 cups of nonfat milk
1 cup red velvet cake mix
1/4 cup sugar ( I used the equivalent of Splenda)

Mix all ingredients together well and put in the freezer! Mine was about soft serve consistency after a few hours and by morning was hard. I'm sure it would work great if you used an ice cream maker as well, but a freezer works just fine!

This next recipe tastes good still, but tastes more like just yogurt but frozen not as much like the "treat" I was expecting.

All you need is:
2 containers of red velvet yogurt
1/8 cup sugar or Splenda equivalent
1/4 cup nonfat milk

Mix together and freeze! So simple and actually a very healthy treat. I was thinking if I added some cocoa powder and a little more Splenda it might taste more "treat-like". There's always next time! Enjoy!

Red Velvet Truffle Brownies

These delicious brownies taste just as amazing as they look! I have to apologize for the bad picture quality. I'm not sure why my camera decided to act up. By the time I could charge my old camera these were gone!

These brownies may look complex but are actually quite simple to make. I usually make my brownies from scratch, but I decided to use a box cake recipe this time.

What you'll need:
For the brownies (box cake recipe)
1 box of red velvet cake mix
1/2 cup of butter (melted)
1 box of white chocolate pudding mix
2 eggs
6- tbsp of vegetable oil


1. Preheat oven to 325
2. Mix all ingredients thoroughly but do not over mix.
3. Spray a 9"x 13" pan with cooking spray and fill pan with brownie mix.
4. Spread evenly (mix will be a thick consistency)
5. Bake for 18- 22 mins.
6. Let cool completely before adding the next layer.

Oreo layer:
1 package of Oreos
1- 8oz. package or cream cheese

1. Crush Oreos with food processor or by putting them in a ziplock and using a rolling pin or hands.
2. Warm cream cheese in microwave for about 15- 20 seconds until it is workable.
3. Mix in Oreos and carefully put on top of brownie layer. ( I ended up using my hands for this, messy, but it worked the best without tearing the brownies. Then once spread, I used a spatula to flatten.)

Chocolate layer:
1/2 lb (1/2 package) of chocolate bark (or chocolate chips)
Mini chocolate chips

1. Melt chocolate bark for 30 seconds then stir. Keep heating at 15 second intervals until melted.
2. Pour on top of Oreo layer and spread with spatula.
3. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top, as many as you like!!

I put my brownies into the refrigerator for about 10 mins to harden (couldn't wait to try them) or you can just set them out to harden. Cut and enjoy!! This is my favorite recipe so far!!