Baking Marathon

Last week we had a little baking marathon. A couple years ago I was asked if I could bake some goodies for a bake sale fundraiser to help a little boy. Well, this year I was asked to bake again, only this time it was for the SafeHouse of Denver, which helps out women and children who are victims of domestic violence. I was more organized this year. I measured everything out the night before, so I could start baking right away the next day. This why having so much Pyrex comes in handy. ;)

I had a couple helpers for the cinnamon rolls. Yes, that's a stick of butter on each batch. That's what makes these rolls so good! You really should make them. You'll never buy cinnamon rolls again.

Did I mention that these rolls are huge? They rise like you wouldn't believe. The frosting is pretty fantastic as well.

This is part of the mess that comes along with baking all day long. We're half way done.

132 cupcakes later.

Then we made cute little tags for each package.

The Vanilla Chai cupcakes were a huge hit at the bake sale. You should make them. . . that is, if you like chai.

I have to thank my local King Soopers for supplying me with all the packaging. Since it is graduation season I wasn't able to get specific cupcake packaging. Those grocery stores get a little stingy over them around this time of year. To keep the cupcakes from moving around, I melted a little chocolate and put a little dot underneath each cupcake. It was just like glue! It worked out quite well, but one does need to be careful, even still. Most of them stayed, but a few tipped over.

Here are the goods on their way to being delivered. It filled the entire trunk of my car and made for a nervous drive. I had such a fun time baking all day. It kind makes me want to open a bakery, or not. ;)

High Altitude Zucchini Bread

We have had an abundance of zucchini coming out of our garden.  Zucchini bread is always a hit in our house and when you add some chocolate chips to them it’s a definite winner!  So, Jennifer, here is the recipe you requested.  Let me know how it turns out.  :)
Zucchini Bread:
Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• Optional: walnuts, pecans, chocolate chips, etc.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease the bottom of a 9x5 loaf pan. In a bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.  In a separate mixing bowl beat eggs, oil, and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and zucchini.  Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, or by hand with about 30 strokes.  Mix flour mixture into egg mixture on low speed for about 30 seconds or about 30 strokes by hand. At this point you may add the optional ingredients by folding it into the batter. Pour batter into pan.  Bake for 65-70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into bread.  Remove bread from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Remove bread from pan and finish cooling on rack.  Enjoy!

i heart faces Dessert Recipes: Wii

While I was doing some blog hopping I came across some Wii cookies. They looked so cool that I really wanted to try them. I’ve never really decorated cookies like this before. Usually it’s just frosting with some sprinkles or something. Our next door neighbor had just invited us over for a Wii birthday party, so it was the perfect time to make them! Start out be making some sugar cookies. I’ve tried a few different sugar cookie recipes, but my friend Kellee definitely has the best one. I will use hers from now on. Cream together your butter and sugar. Next add eggs and vanilla. Mix them well, but do not over mix. Got that? Here in high altitude country, you want to make sure that you don’t over mix things. Bad things can happen when you over mix, like this. Add baking powder. Then add flour one cup at a time. Again do not over mix, but do make sure it’s mixed well. :) Divide the dough into two separate balls. Then you can begin rolling out the dough. No need to chill the dough. Just get to it! To make Wii shaped cookies I used this handy dandy mini pizza cutter. It’s an amazing tool for such a tiny little thing.
Try to keep your lines as straight as possible. This was difficult. Maybe I’ll use a ruler or something next time.Not bad, right? I’m not professional that’s for sure. Lay the cookies out neatly on your cookie sheet. Then stick them in the oven.

While the cookies are baking get your icing ready. Grab your meringue powder.

Combine that with powdered sugar.

Slowly add water until you get your desired consistency. You’ll want it a little thick to pipe the outside of the cookies.

Pull your cookies out of the oven and let them cool. Then carefully pipe around the outer edge of the cookies. Believe it or not, I’ve never decorated cookies like this. Crazy, huh? It was challenging, but fun.Once the outside piping has dried, go ahead and flood the tops of the cookies with the icing. Let those dry awhile. Once they’ve dried, start making the little Wii buttons. Let the buttons dry. While that’s drying get some colors mixed. Now we’re ready to start piping the different colors on the Wii cookies. Are they beginning to look like Wii remotes yet? Don’t forget the power button. I had a little sparkle in my red frosting. Now finish them off by doing the home button and flashing lights!What do you think? I need a little more practice. This was so fun. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Sugar Cookies:
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 400. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add baking powder and flour, one cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. The dough will be stiff. It may be necessary to blend the last flour in by hand. Divide dough into two even balls. Do not chill dough. Roll dough out and cut out cookie shapes.
Bake cookies on top rack of oven for 6-7 minutes until cookies are light brown. Remove from cookie sheet immediately after removing from oven.

Royal Icing:

1 pound powdered sugar
5 tablespoons meringue powder
1/3 cup plus one teaspoon water
few drops almond extract (optional)

Mix powdered sugar, meringue powder. Slowly add water to desired consistency.

Now it’s “Dessert Recipe” week at i heart faces. So join in the fun or check out some of the entries. Looking for more recipes? Here are some others I’ve posted on my blog!

Peanut Butter Cookies

We do a lot of baking around here and even more during Christmas. The kids love baking and Rebecca is the queen of it. We have this awesome kids’ cookbook from Paula Deen. I pretty much let Rebecca loose and off she goes.Thomas is plotting something. Perhaps he is thinking of stealing a little cookie dough or chocolate. I have no idea what Rebecca put in the dough mixture. Hopefully she read the directions right. I think baking makes for a good lesson in fractions.Elizabeth magically appeared with a spoonful of peanut butter. She might have a pretty nice and generous older sister.Did you know that during the holidays there are special Hershey’s Kisses? Carmel filled. Mmmm…While the cookies bake we unwrapped a ton of kisses. Pure milk chocolate. Who can resist?Thomas either wants to help or wants to steal some chocolate. He actually did both.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 30 or so Hershey Kisses unwrapped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Crack egg into small bowl. Add peanut butter and sugar. Beat with mixer. Scrape sides of the bowl and mix again. Shape the dough into small balls and roll them in the palms of your clean hands. Put cookies about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove cookies from oven. Place a Hershey’s kiss in the middle of each cookie right away.