Soft Gingerbread Cookies

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
3/4 cup brown sugar

Beat tip light and fluffy.  Then add:

1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Whisk together:

3 cups flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp. baking soda

Add to wet mixture; beat on low until mixed.

Form into balls and roll in granulated sugar.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until centers are puffed and slightly cracked and edges are set.


Note:  I don't plan on making my original molasses cooked anymore.  They taste good, but always flatten out and look unattractive.  I plan on working with this new recipe and try to make them even puffier.  The original recipe calls for sandwiching two cookies together with a cream cheese/lemon filling.  That would probably be good, but I prefer the plain, yummy cookie.  If you want to use the filling, the recipe is from ourbestbites.com

Creamy Grape Salad with Crunchy Coconut Topping

Large bag of grapes

Creamy mixture:

8 oz. cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
8 oz. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:

1 heaping cup Grape Nuts
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes


Buzz up all creamy mixture ingredients in food processor or blender.  Stir grapes in with the creamy mixture and spread out in 9 x 13 glass pan and refrigerate overnight.

Right before serving:

Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of the grapes.


Notes:  this is incredibly delicious, especially if you make it the day before you eat it thus giving the creamy mixture time to firm up.  The blog photo looked like the Grape Nuts had been buzzed up (not left in big pieces), so that's what I did too.

You really must try this.  It would be a hit at a RS salad social, good for a funeral -- just good for lots of occasions.  So easy and so good.

Perfect Pound Cake

2 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups unsalted butter, softened (4 sticks)
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
8 eggs, at room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease two 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pans and dust with flour.

In large bowl, beat sugar, butter, cream cheese, and extracts until fluffy.  Beat in eggs one at a time.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt.  Beat into sugar mixture until smooth.

Spread batter in loaf pan.  Cut through batter several times with knife to break large air bubbles.  Bake 65 to 70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Allow cake to rest for 15 minutes, then carefully using a butter knife, release cakes from the sides of the pans.  Remove from pans and cool right side up on rack.

Cool completely.  Store any remaining cake in plastic wrap.


My notes:  I made this in one 10-inch tube pan instead of the loaf pans.  I omitted the almond extract and used more vanilla instead.

Everybody loved this cake at Saturday dinner.  I used it as a base for strawberry shortcake, but I don't plan on doing that in the future.  The cake is so good, it should be the star.  Some lemon curd might be nice on the side.  Or lemon curd mixed with sweetened whipped cream.  I don't know how this will turn out for those of you at sea level, but here the top of the cake was a little crackly -- it was particularly good, so I wouldn't want to frost the cake because that would soften the top.

I thought, good grief, 8 eggs?  I was afraid it might taste too eggy, but it didn't.  I'll be making this again.  I might make some in little loaf pans to take to my visiting teaching sisters, but I wouldn't make it in two 9" round pans.  Although, now that I think of it, that might be a good thing to have more surface on the top of the cake so you would have more of the crackly top.  But as I haven't tried this yet, I can't guarantee the cakes would turn out right.  If I try it, I'll let you know.