Granny's Rolls

When I was first married, I made sure to go through my grandmother's recipe files and copy all of my favorite dishes she made.  I wanted to be able to cook those same dishes for my family.

Over the years I have spent a lot of time cooking, but not a lot of time cooking from her recipe files.  It seems that I could never make things taste as good as she did.  It could be that her vast cooking experience produced better results than my young efforts could.  It is also possible that she never followed a recipe exactly, so she had secrets that her recipes didn't reveal.  I also believe her cooking tasted better because of the fond memories I had of eating meals at her table, those memories affecting my ability to appreciate my own cooking.

Whatever the reason, I still don't cook much from her files.  I do want to preserve those files for my kids, so they can know something about the lady who died before they could get to know her.  Maybe their efforts at reproducing her recipes will be more satisfying than mine.

It is in that spirit that I offer her recipe for dinner rolls.  These were on her table for every holiday dinner.

Granny's Rolls

2 Cups water
1 stick butter
1 package yeast
1/2 Cup sugar
2 eggs
6 Cups flour, divided

Combine water and butter, heat to boiling to melt butter.  Dissolve yeast in 1 cup of the water mixture and add sugar.  Cool.  Add rest of water mixture to yeast mixture.  Add eggs and 2 cups flour.  Beat until well combined.  Let stand 1 hour.  Add rest of flour (4 cups) and mix well.  Oil a large bowl and put dough in bowl, turning once to coat.  Cover and let rise until double in size.  Punch down and let rise until again double in size.  Punch down.  Pinch off blobs of dough about 2 inches around and place side by side in a greased 9x13 pan.  Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven until golden brown.  As soon as you bring out of oven, run a stick of chilled butter over the tops of the rolls until slathered with butter.  Serve with extra butter.

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies

Today is cool and drizzly outside, the perfect fall weather to turn on the oven.

What better reason to turn on the oven than for these soft and chewy oatmeal cookies that are stuffed with plump juice raisins.

This recipe comes from a cookbook called "Land O Lakes Treasury of Country Recipes"(page 485), published in 1992.  This is one of my very favorite cookbooks.  It is a large hardback book filled with delicious recipes and gorgeous pictures.  It has everything from appetizers to main dishes to desserts.  Everything I've ever made from this book has turned out well.

Oatmeal raisin are my favorite kind of cookie, a taste I shared with my mother-in-law.  I used to make these for her when I wanted to tell her how much I loved her.  She's been gone many years now, but I still think of her every time I make them.  Here's to you, Shirley!

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookeis

3 Cups quick cooking oats
2 Cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 Cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 Cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Cups raisins*

Heat oven to 375 F.  In large mixer bowl combine all ingredients except flour and raisins.  Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed (1 to 2 min.)  Add flour; continue beating until well mixed (1 to 2 min.)  By hand, stir in raisins.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased cookies sheets.  Bake for 8 to 10 min. or until edges are lightly browned.

*I always soften my raisins before I use them in a recipe.  I like them big and plump, and softening them makes it happen.  I put raisins in a small sauce pan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil on the stove over medium heat.  Turn off heat and let cool to room temperature.  Drain well and use in recipe.

Cherry Chip Cookies

These unusual and very delicious cookies remind me of my Dad.  They are his favorite, and my mom would bake them for him often.

I haven't made them for a while, because I have a hard time finding cherry chips anymore.  If I ever come across any I will definitely make these again.  I think they would be almost as good with cinnamon chips.  Of course you can substitute any chip your heart desires.

Cherry Chip Cookies

2 1/4 Cups flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 Cup butter, softened
1/2 Cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp almond extract
3/4 Cups corn flakes, crushed
6 oz. cherry chips

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees.  Sift flour and salt together, set aside.  Cream butter, sugar, egg yolk and almond extract.  Stir flour mixture into butter mixture.  Stir in corn flakes and chips.  Dough will be very stiff.  If necessary, knead dough to mix thoroughly.  Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 12 minutes.

Try not to eat the whole batch at once.

Apple Coffeecake

Every year, as soon as Labor Day has come and gone, I get into a mood to bake.  Casseroles, cookies, cakes, and other sweet goodies won't leave my mind until I get the oven going.

Thinking about that this morning reminded me of this apple coffeecake from the Pillsbury Complete Baking Book.  I found this recipe when I was single and would often bake evenings and weekends to stave off boredom.  I would take the fruit of my baking labor to work the next day so I wouldn't devour it all myself.

This coffeecake was always a hit.  It is reminiscent of cinnamon roll dough, but it is stuffed with sweet apple pie filling instead of cinnamon.  You could use any flavor pie filling you desire, I'm partial to cherry and blueberry as well.

I think it is best baked in a glass dish, because I always sense a metallic taste in a cake that has been baked in a metal pan.

Apple Coffeecake

2 1/2 to 3 Cups flour
1/4 Cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 Cup milk
1/2 Cup water
1/2 Cup butter
2 eggs
1 (21 oz.) can apple pie filling, or other flavor of your choice

Glaze:
1/2 Cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
3 to 4 tsp milk

In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast; blend well.  In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup milk, water, and butter until very warm (120-130 degrees F).  Add warm liquid and eggs to flour mixture.  Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes at medium speed.  By hand, stir in an additional 1 to 1 1/2 cups flour, to make a stiff batter.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and a cloth towel.  Let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size, 45 to 60 minutes.

Generously grease a 9x13 glass baking dish.  Stir batter; spread 2/3 of batter into greased pan.  Spread apple filling over batter in pan.  Spoon remaining batter by tablespoonfuls randomly over filling.  Connect spoons of batter over top to form a lace pattern.  Cover; let rise in a warm place until light, 20 to 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Uncover dough.  Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until lightly golden.  In small bowl, blend all glaze ingredients, adding enough milk for desired drizzling consistency.  Drizzle glaze over warm coffeecake.  Yields 15 servings.

Brownies From Scratch

Hello little cooking blog, I'm sorry to have ignored you for so many months.

I still believe this is a wonderful place to come for all kinds of recipes, and a place my kids can learn more about our family's cooking and eating history.

I have been making these brownies since I was a teenager.  The original recipe came from a magazine, I have no idea which one, it was just a torn piece of paper from a Hershey's Cocoa ad from long ago.

I started making them because I was young enough for my mom to think twice about me using a double boiler, and this recipe does not have you melting chocolate over the stove.  It is still a very chocolatey and moist brownie, but without the mess of chopping and melting chocolate.

I grew up making these, and now my kids have grown up making these, even my teenage son will pull out this recipe when he craves something sweet.

Brownies From Scratch

3/4 Cup Hersey's Cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
2/3 Cup oil, divided in half
1/2 Cup boiling water
2 Cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 Cup flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix cocoa and baking soda in a mixing bowl.  Blend in 1/3 cup of the oil.  Add boiling water and stir until thickened, about 1 minute.  Mix in sugar, eggs, rest of oil, and vanilla.  Add salt and flour and mix well.  Pour into a lightly greased 9x13 baking pan.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Do not over bake.

Butternut Squash Soup

Over Thanksgiving weekend, my daughter and I went with my parents to shop at a little Mennonite store located about an hour away from where we live.  We always like to go there to stock up on fabric, craft supplies, spices, and staples for our pantry.

While we were there, my daughter picked up a butternut squash for me.  She knew I would make soup with it, and today was the perfect day to turn that squash into a steaming bowl of goodness.  I am writing this recipe as vegan, but you could just as easily use chicken stock and regular milk if you desire.  I sprinkled a little smoked paprika on top for color and flavor; you could leave it plain, or top with toasted pepitas, which I would have done had I had any in the house.

1 small butternut squash, about 7 oz
1 can vegetable stock, 2 cups
1/2 medium onion, peeled and minced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 cup coconut milk

Peel, seed, and cube squash.  Place it in medium saucepan with onion, garlic, and stock.

Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer until squash is very tender, about 30 minutes. 

Using a stick blender, blend squash until very smooth.  Add 1 cup coconut milk and stir until creamy. 

Top with a dash of smoked paprika or a tablespoon of pepitas.

Serves 2 for appetizer, or 1 for meal

Caramel Apple Crisp

This is a recipe that I just made up.  I had some apples that were needing to be used.  We were not eating them fresh, so I thought I would put them into a crisp to see if I could tempt my family to eat them.

As I opened the fridge to get a drink of water, I spied the partial jar of caramel ice cream topping we had left from a recent ice cream party.  I grabbed it on a whim and decided to add it to my crisp.  I took it to church this morning, and many people gave rave reviews to this new crisp.


8 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 jar caramel ice cream topping
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 sticks butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Toss sliced apples with lemon juice, spread out into a 1 quart casserole dish.

Drizzle caramel ice cream topping over apples evenly.

 In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, flour, salt, and pumpkin pie spice, mix well.

Pour melted butter over oat mixture and mix well, until all ingredients are wet.  Sprinkle oat mixture over apples evenly.

Bake, uncovered, about an hour, until top is evenly browned, and apples are tender.  You can serve hot with ice cream on top, or at room temperature with a dollop of Cool Whip.

Serves 12