At Home My Way

Small Batch  Old Fashioned Vanilla Cupcakes (Makes 12) Cupcakes : 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I use unbleached.) 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter 3/4 cup sugar 2 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/2 cup buttermilk (I used 1/2 cup milk + 1 teaspoon lemon juice-that rested a few minutes - or just milk will work fine.) Sprinkles optional-you can mix some into the batter for the confetti experience, top the frosted cupcakes with sprinkles or just omit sprinkles like I did. Frosting (Any frosting will do.  I don't typically use a recipe and just measure with my heart but these are the ingredients and amounts that I used for last night's cupcakes.): Frosting: 4 teaspoons melted butter 1/4 cup baking cocoa pinch of salt 2 cups powdered sugar 2 Tablespoons milk Instructions : Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cake: Combine the cake ingredients in a mixing bowl and "beat" with a hand mixer for 2-3 minutes. until fluff.  Scoop i...

 Recipes at the Top:  Chit Chat at the Bottom Zucchini Crisp (Mock Apple) Printable View Here Filling : 4 cups peeled, seeds removed, and sliced / diced zucchini (about 3/4 of a huge zucchini)  1/3 cup lemon juice (I used bottled lemon juice.) 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour ¼ cup sugar Pinch of salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon Crisp Topping: ½ cup old fashioned or quick oats (I used quick oats) ¼ cup all purpose flour ½ cup light brown sugar ¼ teaspoon cinnamon 3 Tablespoons cold butter plus more for greasing the pan   Instructions: ·          Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Filling: ·      Peel the zucchini, slice into smaller sections and then cut each section in half (like a half moon).   Scoop out the seeds with a spoon and then slice or chop the zucchini into pieces.   ·     In a medium saucepan, add the zucchini pieces, lemon juice, flour, sugar, salt & cinnamon....

Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars   (makes an 8x8 square pan or one round cake pan)   RECIPES AT THE TOP - CHIT CHAT AT THE BOTTOM! PRINTABLE VIEW HERE! 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 stick (1/2 cup) real butter, softened 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 egg 1 cup chocolate chips *This recipe could be doubled for baking in a 9x13 pan. (Makes about 12 cookie bars.) Instructions:   Preheat oven to 350°. Stir softened butter, both sugars, egg and vanilla until smooth.  Add baking soda, salt and stir.  Next add flour and stir.  Stir in chocolate chips last. Batter will be thick.  Spread in sprayed/prepared 8x8 square or 8" round cake pan.  (I actually sprayed my clean hands with cooking spray and then patted the dough into my sprayed cake pan.) Bake 22-24 minutes or until browning. Wait to cut until cooled a little. The Chit Chat This weekend we p...

  Ooey Gooey Butter Cake PRINTABLE VIEW HERE 1 Yellow Cake Mix (standard box -dry mix only) 3 Eggs (one for the crust; two for the cream cheese mix) 8 oz block of Cream Cheese (softened) 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (the real thing), melted 4 cups powdered sugar (+ a little extra powdered sugar for sprinkling after cooled) Instructions: PREHEAT OVEN to 300 degrees F. and spray a 9x13 dish well with cooking spray. MIX cake mix, melted butter and ONE egg to a soft dough. PRESS into the bottom of the sprayed 9x13 pan. MIX powdered sugar, softened cream cheese and remaining TWO eggs until smooth (for about 1-2 minutes).  (I used the same bowl that I used for making the crust.) POUR on top of unbaked crust. BAKE at 300 ° for 40-50 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle). THE CHIT CHAT Potlucks are always tough for me.  I love to cook.  I mean, I really LOVE TO COOK but when I need to take something to a potluck where I have no idea what other ...

  Frozen ChocoNana Pops Recipes at the Top; Chit Chat at the bottom ( REMINDER :  The bananas need to freeze overnight before dipping the next day so allow time for that when making these frozen dipped banana pops). Ingredients: 3 Whole bananas - ripeness of your choice  Popsicle sticks (I bought mine at Walmart for less than $1.) 1 cup chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet but you can use dark chocolate or milk chocolate chips if preferred.) 4 teaspoons coconut oil (Shortening like Crisco will also work but isn't as good for you.  You can even get a little coconut oil from Dollar Tree) Optional: Sprinkles, coconut, crushed nuts (toppings of your choice) Directions: Peel and cut bananas in two or three sections.  Each banana pop should be about 3-4 inches long. Place popsicle sticks inside each banana section so that you can hold the banana on the stick. Freeze bananas with sticks on a plate - overnight.  They need to freeze solid before dipping.  (I plac...

Cream Cheese Brownies Printable Recipe Here The brownie recipe itself in Cream Cheese Brownies is a variation of my Homemade Brownie Mix recipe .  (The dry ingredients can be mixed and stored in baggies or jars in your pantry for mixing up a pan of brownies at a moment's notice and Ditching the Box.)  You can find other "Ditch the Box" recipes HERE .   Brownie Ingredients: 1 cup white granulated sugar 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1/3 cup cocoa powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 cup (1 stick real butter) (or oil works in a pinch) 2 eggs (I use medium or small eggs for this) 1 teaspoon vanilla Cream Cheese mixture : 8 oz block cream cheese 1/2 cup white granulated sugar 1 Tablespoon all purpose flour 1 egg (using only the egg white will result in a whiter cream cheese mixture but I used the whole egg) 1/2 teaspoon vanilla Directions : Preheat oven to 350°. Spray 8 x 8 square pan w/ cooking spray. Mix up the brownies first: Melt butter (I used the micr...

  Recipes at the Top; Chit Chat at the Bottom!

 Recipe at the top, chit-chat at the bottom! Razzleberry Pie   2 pie crusts (homemade or roll & bake; I used a generic store brand) 4 cups of frozen mixed berries, THAWED (I used two 16 oz packages Great Value Berry Medley from Walmart) 3/4  cup sugar (white/granulated) 1/4 cup cornstarch (flour would work also) 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 Tablespoon lemon juice 1 egg (for brushing the pie before baking) Sprinkling sugar Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place bottom crust (unbaked) in pie pan. (If using a rolled unbaked crust, I first roll on a floured surface so is a little bigger than my pie pan and drapes over the edges.) In mixing bowl, combine berries (thawed but cool, including juice), sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and lemon juice.  Gently stir until combined. Gently pour berry mixture into unbaked crust. For lattice crust: Roll the unbaked crust on floured surface. Cut into wide strips, app. 1 inch wide.  (I used a pizza cutter for this.) Place horizont...