Oatmeal Banana Muffins

A friend was over for a visit yesterday and I thought a fresh batch of muffins would be a treat. This particular friend doesn't eat wheat so I adapted an old oatmeal muffin recipe to exclude it. Even though I've tagged this as gluten free, oats are not necessarily GF, so you'll have to do your own homework on that.

1 cup of quick-cooking oats

1 cup of boiling water

1 1/2 cups of oats, ground fine in blender

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 mashed banana

coconut oil or other shortening (1/2 cup or so)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 12 muffin cups.

Start by grinding the 1 1/2 cup portion of oats in the blender until fairly fine. I might have ended up with half of it being powder and half still in pieces.

Soak the 1 cup portion of oats and let stand for five minutes.

Combine all dry ingredients.

Mash banana and fill to 3/4 cup with melted coconut oil. Combine soaked oats and banana/oil mixture. Add the egg.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, adding water last. Stir until just mixed. Fill muffin pan.

Bake for at least 30 minutes. When I tested these muffins with a toothpick, it still looked a bit wet, but they tasted cooked through when we ate them warm and cold. 

Notes:
I made a second batch today, using old fashioned oats, applesauce, cinnamon, and no coconut oil. Nope! Note to self: stick with the recipe as written!

Macaroni Salad

This is a summer staple! Nothing like a cold pasta salad on a hot day. This is in both the white recipe book and the VMA recipe book (from the 1995 printing). This was submitted to VMA by Mrs. Sarah Elias. 

4 cups macaroni, uncooked

2 cups celery, finely cut

1 cucumber, peeled and diced

1 1/2 cups cubed ham

Dressing:

Blend these ingredients:

1 1/2 cups salad dressing (I use mayo)

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup Fench dressing

6 Tbsp sugar (or less)

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook macaroni until slightly underdone. Drain well. Rinse with cold water. Drain and rinse again until pasta is cooled. Drain well. 

Combine well with dressing.

One whole recipe makes about 3/4 of an ice cream pail full.

This salad keeps well for a long time.

Notes:

If it is needing to be stored for several days, I'm not sure I would include cucumber. I would wonder if it might get soggy or slimy.

Also, it's best to let it sit for a few hours so the dressing can soak into the macaroni.

I added a small amount of grated onion, maybe about 1 tsp, but I can't taste it. Easily could have used more!

It's fun to use other shapes of pasta as well, like tubetti.

Tastes great with cheese and/or finely chopped red peppers.

Crustless Quiche

I haven't made this one in ages, but it is gluten-free. I used to make it all the time. It's originally from a book called The Schwarzbein Principle (a guide to low-carb eating).

4 eggs
1 cup all-dairy heavy cream
1/2 cup water
dash cayenne pepper
1 cup grated Gruyere, mozzarella, or Monterey Jack cheese 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9" or 10" pie pan. In a medium bowl, using fork, whisk eggs, cream, water, black pepper, and cayenne pepper until well blended. Add grated cheese. Mix well. Pour in the egg and cheese mixture. Place pie pan on a baking sheet and bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted into center comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Variations: (These may not be GF)
Bacon & Ham: Crumble 1 cup bacon or diced ham into the bottom of a buttered pie pan. Cover with egg and cheese mixture and bake as above.

Spinach & Herbs: Combine 1 cup cooked, drained, and chopped spinach and 2 teaspoons dried basil and spread on the bottom of a buttered pie pan. Cover with egg and cheese mixture and bake as above.

Mushroom & Herbs: Combine 2 cups sauteed mixed mushrooms (shitake, oyster, brown crimini) and 1 tsp dried thyme and spread on the bottom of a buttered pie pan. Cover with egg and cheese mixture and bake as above. Remove from oven and sprinkle with 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese.

Crabmeat & Onions: Combine 6 oz canned crabmeat (drained and picked over) and 1/4 cup minced scallions and spread on bottom of a buttered pie pan. Cover with egg and cheese mixture and bake as above. Sprinkle chopped parsley over top before serving.

Oatmeal Cookies

My first attempt at a gluten-free adaptation of a recipe and it worked! Again, this is from the white recipe book, and it's a very nice, basic cookie. Oatmeal is always comforting and perfect for coffee or tea. I like to make these cookies little.

Sift together:

1 cup flour (to make it GF, I dumped 1 cup of oats in the blender until they were powder)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Add and beat until smooth:

1/2 cup brown sugar (I didn't add this amount)

1/2 cup soft shortening

1 egg, well beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp water (yes, that's correct)

Stir in:

1 cup oatmeal

Shape into balls and flatten on baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

Notes:

One of the times I made these cookies, I used 1/2 cup of applesauce to replace the shortening. I found it was too sweet (sweetened applesauce) and the texture was too tough. I wouldn't replace more than half of the shortening with applesauce.

Added 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

Baked Oatmeal

I made this for breakfast today. Delicious. It was submitted to the white recipe book by Daphne Thiessen, who added these comments:

This is a favourite Saturday morning breakfast at our home. This recipe can easily be halved and baked in a 9 x 9 pan.

3/4 cup oil
1 2/3 cups sugar (white or brown)
3 eggs, beaten
5 cups rolled oats
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups milk

Combine oil, sugar, and eggs. Mix well.

Add remaining ingredients. Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until set and golden. Serves 6 - 8.

Notes:
Daphne also suggested chopped apples and cinnamon are good additions in the recipe.

I like to make these as individual servings, so I make them in muffin tins. What I did today that worked well was to bake it, 20 minutes, in silicone pans and I allowed them to cool in the pans before removing them.

I also made apple, cinnamon syrup, which was delicious. Approximate: 2 cups water, 1/2 of an apple cut into small pieces, 1 cup brown sugar, heat on stove until apples are cooked and the syrup has been reduced by about half. Add 1/4 cup butter before serving. It was like having apple pie for breakfast.

Chicken Noodle Soup

This may have originated in the Mennonite Treasury, and adapted as I learned how to make it. This version is in the White Recipe Book, page 67.

Drop the chicken parts into a stock pot. Cover with cold water, bring to a boil, skim off all the scum that comes to the top. After the scum stops rising, throw in a small onion (or large one) and simmer slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Add salt to taste. It takes a lot of salt to make it taste good! I don't know how much water I use but it's a lot, and I start with 1 Tbsp salt.

Add the following spices to the soup 1/2 hour before serving:

1 bunch parsley, cut fine (2 Tbsp dried)
12 whole peppercorns, at least (20+ or 1/2 tsp)
1 bay leaf (1 large, 1 small)
1 whole star aniseed (1/2 Tbsp pieces)
1 2" piece of cinnamon stick

Multigrain Buns

I've made this recipe a number of times, but not for a few years. It's from the white recipe book (I still have some if you want a copy and the money goes to our church missions projects.) This is Rachael Penner's recipe.

4 cups warm water

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 Tbsp salt

1 tsp vinegar

2 egg whites, well beaten (or 1 whole egg)

1 cup powdered milk

1 cup bran

1 cup flax seed, freshly ground

1 cup rolled oats, ground in blender

4 cups whole wheat flour

2 Tbsp Fermipan yeast

6 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup crushed sunflower seeds, opional

Put water, honey, oil, salt, vinegar, eggs, powdered milk, bran, flax seed, oats, and whole wheat flour. Mix well.

As you continue to mix, sprinkle with yeast. Knead in the all purpose flour for 8 to 10 minutes. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (1 to 1 1/2 hours). Shape into buns or loaves, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (1 to 1 1/2 hours). Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minute for buns, 35-40 minutes for loaves.

Notes:

Makes a huge batch! 2 large and 2 small loaves, 6 large buns and 6 muffin cup buns.

A coffee grinder works well to grind the flax.

Multigrain flour is fantastic in place of whole wheat.

I used 2 whole eggs instead of 2 egg whites.

Roll Kuchen

This is from the white recipe book, but I believe originally from the Mennonite Treasury. If you roll them quite thin, they are very crisp. If you prefer them softer, do not roll them too thin. Also good served with a tart jam or syrup.

4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup sour cream

1 cup milk

4 eggs

Sift flour with salt and baking powder into mixing bowl. Make a well in the flour and put in the rest of the ingredients, mix well with hands. Add more flour to eliminate the stickiness of the dough, approximately 2 cups. 

Knead on a floured board or counter top, roll out, cut into 2"x4" strips, cut one or two slits in each strip. Fry in deep fat, turn when one side is completely done, then brown the other side. Good served with watermelon. 

One recipe is plenty for one meal plus leftovers.

Rice Krispies Squares with Flax

I have to give credit where it's due: this is BASED on a recipe from "Deceptively Delicious", but I think it's one of those times when you just modify a recipe that's already a tried-and-true household favourite! My Rice Krispies Squares use 1/4 cup butter and the "DD" recipe only calls for 1 Tbsp of margarine with more marshmallows than I normally use. Less butter, more marshmallows. How will this NOT turn into a rock??? So, I took the concept, not the actual recipe. I'm posting my RK squares recipe, which is in the white recipe book :)

1/4 cup butter
9 oz large marshmallows, about 35 (5 cups mini)
6 cups Rice Krispies (I usually do more, like 7 or 8)
1/2 tsp vanilla

DD modification: add 1/4 cup ground flax

Put the butter in a microwave safe bowl. Zap it for 30 seconds, or until it's melted. Use a silicone spatula to coat the entire inside of the bowl with the butter. Your clean up will be faster if you do this!

Add marshmallows. Microwave for 1 minute at a time, stirring after each minute, until the marshmallows are mostly melted. (Total microwave time is often 2 minutes.)

Add vanilla, then Rice Krispies. Stir well until all of the cereal is coated. Dump the cereal into your 9x13 pan. Press down firmly using a dampened spatula or your dampened hand. Chill about 2 hours before cutting.

Notes:
Oh my word! It takes longer to type out the recipe than it does to make it!!!

I use a coffee grinder to pulverize my flax. Grinding the flax seems to double the volume, so if you want 1/4 cup ground flax, put about 1/8 cup not-ground flax into the grinder.

Other variations:
1) add colored sprinkles after pressing it into the pan.
2) Use Cheerios or a combination of the two cereals. Very tasty with Apple Cinnamon Cheerios.
3) Use Lucky Charms.

Mackintosh Toffee Marshmallows

Once again, a gem from the white recipe book. This one is from Martha Brandt. Her note: It is helpful for two people to do this; one to dip the marshmallows and the other to roll them.

1 large bag marshmallows
5 boxes Mackintosh toffee (I have used more than this, Martha noted)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup crushed cornflakes (or more)
1/2 cup toasted coconut (or more)

Melt butter, condensed milk, and toffee together. Dip marshmallows in mixture (using a fork) and coat evenly. Next, roll marshmallow in the cornflake crumbs and then in the coconut.

Notes:
The first time I made this, I wrote in my recipe book:
2 x 250g marshmallows
2 x 170g Mac. toffee pieces
Rice Krispies, no coconut
used skewer instead of fork
makes approx 7 doz.

Today:
Used skewer to hold marshmallows, but I first stuck the skewer into butter so the marshmallow doesn't stick. Probably put butter on it every two or three marshmallows.

used 3 x 170g toffee pieces, and 1/3 cup butter

When the toffee mixture got low, I poured it into a mug, warmed it up and was able to dip the marshmallows more easily.

Made another batch and added one ounce (one square) of semi-sweet baking chocolate and a small handful of dark chocolate chips that I had leftover from my Brownie Fudge Puddles recipe. It's good with the toffee and chocolate!

Brownie Fudge Puddles

Another treasure from the white recipe book! This one was submitted by Daphne Thiessen.

Brownies:
4 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
1 cup butter
3/4 tsp black pepper

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup Kahlua (strong coffee or other liqueur would work equally well)

1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

Fudge:
2 cups dark chocolate chips (or combination of milk and dark)
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla

For Brownies:
Grease and flour mini-muffin pans thoroughly. Set aside. Melt butter, chocolate and pepper over low heat or in microwave. In another bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla until blended. Stir in cooled chocolate mixture. Then stir in Kahlua. Sift dry ingredients into chocolate and stir until blended. Fill muffin tins about 1/2 to 2/3 full. Bake in 350 degree oven just until set, about 8 - 12 minutes (depending on the size of your muffin tins). Do not overbake. Immediately upon removing brownie cups from oven, make a deep dent in each brownie with the back of a melon baller. Remove from pan and cool.

For Fudge:
Meanwhile, melt chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk over low heat or in microwave, stirring often, until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Cool slightly and pour into cake decorating bag with any kind of small -- medium tip (or Ziploc bag with a small corner cut off). Pipe filling into each brownie cup. Let fudge set before packing away.

Makes about 72 mini brownies.

Notes:
The first time I made these, I used a Ziploc bag for the fudge, but cut too small a hole. The bag exploded. Oops.

I used muffin papers instead of greasing the pans. The papers remove easily because the brownies are very buttery. But, it also does soak the papers and they aren't as cute soaked in grease as they are when they were in the package. Oh well. Chocolate trumps the need for cute papers.

Interestingly enough, I made exactly 72 brownies. But, I overfilled them just a bit, so I didn't have enough fudge. However, I melted a small amount of dark chocolate chips, mixed them with some crunchy peanut butter and filled the remaining brownies with that. It's gonna be goooooood! I'd suggest only adding enough fudge so it's level with the top of the brownie, not till there's a little chocolate mountain on top.

Layered Taco Dip

Another treasure from the white recipe book (page 31). This is a contribution by Amy Kroeker. She notes: Originally a low-fat recipe, so feel free to substitute lower-fat versions of ingredients.

Bottom layer:
1 cup canned refried beans
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tbsp salsa
1 Tbsp lime juice

Second layer:
1/2 cup peeled and chopped avocado
1/2 cup frozen green peas, cooked
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp chopped red onions
2 tsp lime juice
1 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander (optional -- it's a love it/hate it taste I think)
1 clove garlic, minced

Third layer:
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp taco seasoning (at least -- add to taste)

Fourth layer:
1 cup salsa

Top layer:
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Bottom layer: combine all ingredients for bottom layer in a medium bowl. Spread evenly over the bottom of a 9" pie plate.

Second layer: combine all guacamole ingredients in a blender or food processor. Pulse on and off until mixture is well blended, but still slightly lumpy. Spread over bean mixture.

Third layer: combine sour cream and taco seasoning. Spoon over guacamole and spread evenly.

Fourth layer: pour salsa over sour cream. Spread to sides of pie plate.

Top layer: Sprinkle cheese over salsa and top with green onions.

Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. Serve with taco chips.

Oatmeal Muffins

I'm on a total muffin kick right now. This one is from the white recipe book.

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 white sugar
3/4 brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup oatmeal
1 cup hot water

3/4 cup butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs

Mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix oatmeal and hot water; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients. Mix everything together and fill muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

Notes:
This gave me a dozen average sized muffins and a dozen tiny muffins (the bite sized ones).

3/4 cup of two kinds of sugar??? Yikes! I cut it down to 1/2 cup of each and they're still more than sweet enough! I'd even cut it down a bit more.

I didn't want to use up the last of my butter, so I split the 3/4 cup of butter: half was melted butter, half was oil. Worked out well.

Chocolate chips could be added to this recipe too.

This recipe can be changed to Chocolate Chocolate Chip Oatmeal muffins with these basic changes:
1) reduce flour to 1 1/4 cups
2) add 1/4 cup cocoa
3) omit brown sugar
4) use 3/4 cup white sugar
5) add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips
6) omit cinnamon

My oven bakes very hot so I baked it for closer to 20 minutes. Actually it was 18. So adjust your baking temperature and time according to what you know is best for yourself.

Cream Cheese Sheet Cake

I can't believe I haven't shared this recipe yet! Well, no time like the present! This is absolutely perfect for summer! It's from the white recipe book, contributed by my friend Daphne Thiessen. It's officially a pineapple cake, but I like to play around with recipes. I'll write the original and then check out the notes section for changes. Daphne noted: This cake freezes well and is, in fact, great served frozen on a hot summer day.

Cake:
1 box vanilla cake mix
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs, separated
1 cup water

Topping:
1/2 cup butter, melted
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
1 tin crushed pineapple, drained well

For cake:
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside. Combine all other ingredients, including egg yolks. Mix well. Fold in egg whites and spread in greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool completely.

For topping:
Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in icing sugar. Fold in whipped cream and pineapple. Spread on cake and keep chilled, or freeze, until serving.

Notes:
This is where I love to have fun. I generally don't do the pineapple. Mostly I've left out all fruit and put fresh raspberries on top.

The variation I did today was to add the zest of a lemon in the cake batter and replaced 1/2 cup of the water with 1/2 cup of lemon juice. Then I put the zest of a second lemon in the topping. It's not very lemony; I could handle a little more lemon, but it's still good! It'll be great frozen!

What I've wanted to try, but haven't yet, is to make this as a chocolate cake. How great would that be! I'd like to try a chocolate cake mix with chocolate pudding, and then possibly adding a little cocoa into the topping. Personally, I wouldn't prefer to include any type of fruit, but that's me.

Ruehrei (Scrambled Eggs)

This recipe is a classic from as far back as I can remember. It's from the Mennonite Treasury and can also be found in the white recipe book.

3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
4 Tbsp cream
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients into a smooth dough, except eggs, which you beat well, and fold into first mixture. Put 2 Tbsp butter in frying pan and heat, put in egg mixture, brown on both sides, cutting and turning while browning. Some like the reuhrei in larger chunks, others finer, depends on how you are used to it. Serves 2.

Notes:
I don't think I've ever done the two-part mixing process as written above. Sheesh. Chuck it all into the Kitchen Aid and whisk the tar out of it!

If you are making more than one batch of this stuff, divide it between two frying pans, or like I tried today for the first time, I poured it into my baking stone pan and baked it for about 20 minutes. I did the cutting and turning as suggested in the recipe. It worked great!

Here's my favorite thing! I've revised this recipe a handful of times. I've fried a little bit of onion and meat before adding the eggs and continuing to fry it. Today I fried half a pound of bacon, scattered it over the eggs in the baking stone pan and then after it was done baking, I sprinkled the top with diced tomatoes and a little green onion. Makes for a full meal.

These eggs (the plain version) are a perfect side for watermelon. MMM!

Taco Soup

This is one of my submissions to the white recipe book. I haven't made this in ages!

2 lb ground beef
1/2 cup onion, chopped
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
14 oz can kidney beans
17 oz can corn with juice
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 to 2 cups water

grated cheese
taco chips
salsa

Brown the ground beef and onions; drain fat. Add tomatoes, kidney beans, corn, taco seasonings, and water. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Put in a serving bowl. Serve with grated cheese, taco chips, and salsa.

Notes:
Leaving the juice in with the corn is so gross to me. Loaded with salt and preservatives. Ick. I say drain it or use frozen corn.

One pkg of taco seasoning: 2 Tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp cumin). Or if you have the Taco Seasoning recipe I've posted previously... I used 2 1/2 Tbsp of that.

I didn't have crushed tomatoes on hand, so I used three cans of tomato soup with equal amounts of water.

If we want to have cheese, taco chips, or salsa as a garnish, why not sour cream?

Garlic Breadsticks (Bread Machine)

I had my friend Tammie over yesterday, with two of her kids, and I got the kids to help make these breadsticks for our lunch. It went well with Taco Soup.

This recipe was submitted for our white recipe book by Audrey Friesen. She mentioned: this recipe can also be used for pizza crust. It makes 2 - 12" pizza crusts.

1 cup of warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp minced fresh basil or 1/4 tsp dried basil
3 cups flour
2 tsp active dry yeast

1 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted

In your bread machine pan, place the first 9 ingredients in order suggested by your bread machine manual. Select dough setting. Check after 5 minutes to see if a tablespoon of water or flour needs to be added.

When cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 20 portions. shape each into a ball and roll into a 9" rope. Place on greased baking sheets.

Cover and let rise in a warm place for 40 minutes or until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 - 22 minutes or until golden brown. Place on wire racks. Brush warm breadsticks with melted butter.

Notes:
I find this recipe needs more salt. I increased the salt in the dough to 2 tsp. I mixed extra garlic powder and a little salt in the melted butter that is brushed on top of the breadsticks.

Speaking of melted butter... I use way more than one tablespoon to cover all of the breadsticks. I'd say it's more like a quarter cup.

If you don't have a breadmaker: I believe it should work to mix all of the ingredients by hand, covering it and letting it rise in a warm place for an hour, then forming it into breadsticks, covering it and letting it rise again before baking.

Orange Breakfast Muffins

Another fabulous recipe from the white recipe book. This one was submitted by Jeff & Julia Enns.

1/3 cup unsalted butter
zest of 1 orange
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp + 2 tsp ground almonds
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar

100 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
100 ml full-fat milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper cups.

Melt butter and set aside.

Combine flour, ground almonds, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and orange zest.

Measure orange juice and milk into a 2 cup measuring cup or similar sized bowl. Whisk in the egg, then add the cooled, melted butter. Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients, mixing with a fork. Barely combine ingredients; batter should be lumpy. Mixture should not be overworked.

Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes.

Notes:
In the recipe book, Jeff & Julia noted that using skim milk instead of the full-fat milk worked just fine.

One large orange gave me the 100 ml orange juice when using a citrus press.

Caramel Sauce

Once again, this is from the white recipe book, contributed by Daphne Thiessen. I love it for waffles. Here are her thoughts: I like this recipe because the creaminess comes from adding cornstarch instead of using lots of cream. Serve this with ice cream and bananas.

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/3 cup half-and-half
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp corn syrup

1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla

Stir sugar and cornstarch together. Add cream, water, and syrup. Stir until smooth.

Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm or cold.

Notes:
I had to cook it for a little longer than 2 minutes, although I may have been a little hasty in deciding when it was boiling. I also wanted it to be quite thick for the layer in the Frozen Peanut Butter Turtle Pie I was making.

Pizza Crust (thick)

I'm glad the white recipe book isn't copyrighted because the entire thing might be typed out here over the next number of months! But, I can't say it enough, it's the best recipe book ever. This is one of my recipes and it probably has the most variations of anything I make (other than buns maybe). I found it on allrecipes.com (of course) and it's called "Jay's Signature Pizza Crust" and it's currently rated at four-and-a-half stars with 2000+ reviews. Check it out because I'm sure people have posted many interesting ideas and variations there as well.

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water. Let sit for 10 minutes. Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.

Turn dough out onto a clean, well-floured surface, and knead more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form into a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza on a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 to 20 minutes before topping and baking it.

Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Notes:
I find the crust turns out best if I bake the crust for 15 minutes before topping it. This prevents a soggy crust.

This is enough dough for a thick-crusted pizza in an 11x15 baking sheet. (ha ha, that reminds me of my friend LaDawn, who never experienced a rectangular pizza before she saw my Mom make it that way!)

This is also enough for approximately 4 individual sized pizzas, made in foil or glass pie plates. Or you could put them on a baking sheet or stone a well, I guess.

A while back I was on a huge multi-grain flour kick, and I've noted in my book that it's good with multi-grain flour.

My favorite variation is to add (real) Parmesan cheese into the crust, as well as basil and garlic powder. I have no idea about quantities though, so let's say maybe 1/2 cup Parm, maybe 1 tsp (dried) basil, and 1 tsp garlic powder?? That's totally a guess. I incorporate them while I'm kneading the dough.

September 10, 2012: rolled out one batch of this dough till it was thin, spread it with pizza toppings (sauce, pepperoni, cheese), rolled it up and cut it like cinnamon buns. I put them into a greased baking dish, let them rise for another 30 minutes, baked for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. The plan is to freeze them individually and have them ready to reheat for weekday lunches when Tava and Ella come home from school!