Forget Buns of Steel. Gimme Honey Bun (Cake).

It's been years since I ate a honey bun out of a cellophane wrapper, but what a treat I thought they were back in the day. Some things are better remembered instead of revisited, so I think I'll leave those wrappers sealed. The fond memories of that unmistakable scent and flavor are probably what made this recipe so appealing. I've been making this cake for around 10 years; it has one of those classic flavors that appeals to most everyone, and it's easy as can be.

(This is normally where I'd show you what the cake looks like. You'll just have to click the link below to see how Betty Crocker's food stylists dressed it up. I'm good at cooking, not so much the photography.)

Honey Bun Cake (from Betty Crocker)

1 pkg butter recipe yellow cake mix
2 sticks butter or margarine, softened
4 eggs
8 oz sour cream
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup powdered sugar
1 TBS milk
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°. Generously grease bottom only of 9x13 pan. Reserve 1/2 cup dry cake mix.
Beat remaining cake mix, butter, eggs and sour cream in large bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
Spread half of batter in pan. Stir together reserved cake mix, brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon; sprinkle over batter in pan. Carefully spread remaining batter evenly over pecan mixture.
Bake 30-33 minutes or until deep golden brown and cake springs back when lightly touched in center.
Stir powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until thin enough to drizzle, stirring in additional milk, 1 tsp at a time, if necessary. Poke top of warm cake evenly with fork. Spread glaze over cake.

The last time I baked this cake I substituted plain yogurt for the sour cream, and it worked very well. It's a typical substitution, but I was concerned the yogurt may be too tangy.

Honey Bun cake is similar to a coffee cake, not too sweet with just a hint of cinnamon. It's a great cake for a brunch, in the afternoon with coffee or tea, or when you just need to feel like a kid again, without the cellophane.

Cracker Thingies

Descriptive title, huh?

Well, it'll have to do because that's what we call one of the most addicting goodies we make at Christmas. Adam actually loves them so much that Momma makes some for him almost every time they come to visit. It's like their very own tradition. Isn't is sweet? (not just because of the sugar...)

These are oh-so-easy but a bit time consuming to assemble. However, they're lots of fun to make with the kiddos, who no doubt will enjoy the fruits of their labor, not to mention licking the peanut butter and chocolate off of their fingers.

Cracker Thingies
Ritz Crackers
peanut butter (smooth or chunky, your preference)
Chocolate Almond Bark coating (or chocolate chips and paraffin wax)

Spread peanut butter on half of the crackers. Top with remaining crackers.
Melt chocolate coating per directions on package.
Dip cracker sandwiches in coating so completely covered. Let excess drip off then place on waxed paper to cool and harden.

See all those delicious layers? I'm eating them right now. The one I cut for that picture simply couldn't be put back in the container.

Cracker Thingies keep very well as long as they're kept in an airtight container in a cool spot. The crackers stay crisp, and the peanut butter doesn't dry out. They even freeze well.

With only 3 ingredients that you probably have on hand, these treats are sure to be a hit for your holiday.

Chai Spice Cookies

I love tea. I love cookies. What better way to enjoy them than to eat cookies with tea in them!

These Chai Spice cookies have become one of my favorite Christmas cookies. They have a gentle spiciness from Chai tea and pumpkin pie spice and a flavor that even the men in my family (who wouldn't go near a cup of Chai tea) love. I've been making these cookies for 3 or 4 years, and I've made some slight adjustments to suit our taste. This is a wonderful dough that freezes well if you want to have some dough on hand to make quick cookies when guests drop by.

The original recipe is for cut-out cookies, specifically girl cookie cutters (it sounds wrong to call it a gingerbread girl cutter when it's not for gingerbread). I hate using cookie cutters. I found better success using cookie cutters with these cookies than others (like sugar cookies, my nemesis), but it's probably because these are a shortbread cookie and the dough is a bit stiff. Despite the success with this dough, I still don't like the extra flour and the rolling pin. Besides, re-rolling the dough scraps makes for tough, dry or crumbly cookies, and i don't want any of this dough to go to waste. This year I made a batch of spiced sugar cookies (ho-hum - should have just made these) for a cookie swap and was reminded of my disdain for cut-out cookies; when it came time to make these beauties I treated them like slice-and-bake cookies and was thrilled with the ease and the results.

Chai Spice Cookies (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens December 2008)

2 Chai spice tea bags
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
2 TBS molasses*

Empty contents of tea bags into medium bowl. Add flour and spices. Mix and set aside.

Beat butter with electric mixer on medium-high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar; beat until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and molasses. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can then stir in the remainder (my Kitchenaid had no problem with all the flour).

Divide dough in half. If too sticky to work with, chill in refrigerator until it can be handled. Roll each half into a log (circle or square, triangle if you really want). Wrap logs in waxed paper (or cover halved dough if using cookie cutters.) and refrigerate 3 hours or until ready to bake.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or coat with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350. Unwrap dough logs and slice 1/8" - 1/4" thick. (If making cut-out cookies, roll to 1/4" thickness and cut.)  Bake 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheets 2 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

*I use sorghum syrup instead of molasses for several reasons, mainly because it's already in my pantry.



 

I'm MELTING!!!!

My birthday falls shortly after Thanksgiving and just a few short weeks before the onslaught of Christmas merriment. While I L.O.V.E. cake, I have to step back and be practical about how much cake I should eat between slices of pumpkin pie and trays of Christmas cookies. I'm able to temper my cake needs with decadent molten cakes. These single serving beauties take only minutes to prepare. There are many variations; in the past we've had peanut butter, marshmallow, chocolate, and black forest, but the kind Adam made this year may be the best I've had to date.

Dark Chocolate Molten Cake

6 oz bittersweet chocolate+, chopped

10 TBS butter

1 1/2 cups + 1 TBS powdered sugar, divided

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 whole eggs

3 egg yolks

Heat oven to 325.

Spray 6* ramekins or custard cups with nonstick spray and place on baking sheet.

Microwave chocolate and butter in a large bowl at 50% power for 2 minutes or until butter melts. Stir with whisk until chocolate melts.

Add 1 1/2 cups sugar and all of flour. Mix well.

Add eggs and egg yolks. Beat until well mixed. Pour into prepared cups.

Bake 13-15 minutes, until cakes are firm at edges but center is still soft. Let sit 1 minute.

Place plate on top of cup, and while holding plate in place, flip cup over to unmold. Sprinkle with remaining 1 TBS powdered sugar.

+ If you don't have bittersweet chocolate you can substitute semisweet chocolate ounce-for-ounce or unsweetened chocolate (1 ounce unsweetened chocolate +1 TBS sugar) per ounce bittersweet chocolate.

* If you don't want to make 6 cakes, make as many a you want and refrigerate the remaining batter up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before baking.

Ours ending up sitting for a bit more than 1 minute (I'm just amazed it wasn't 10 minutes with 2 little ones under foot.). They were very good, just not quite as gooey in the center. If you like a really melty center, make sure you unmold and eat quickly. If you prefer a more solid center, let them sit a few minutes. Either way, I bet you'll make these again.

Potatoes. Make mine sweet.

Aside from the turkey and dressing (we'll get to those in a couple of days), nothing quite says Thanksgiving like sweet potatoes. Don't get me wrong, we eat sweet potatoes at least once a week throughout the year; they just aren't sweet sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potato Casserole is a treat we reserve for Thanksgiving or Christmas. The creamy sweet potatoes are covered with a wonderful, slightly crunchy coconut pecan topping. (In the picture above it's right in the middle next to the green beans; we failed to get an individual shot before it hit the table.) This casserole really should be considered a dessert, and it probably has more calories and sugar per serving than pumpkin pie. Nonetheless, it's a served as a side dish on our table. There are many versions of this recipe, all varying slightly in the amount of sugar or number of eggs. I think this one started out from Southern Living, and we've made a few changes over the years.



Sweet Potato Casserole

3 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 milk
1/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract (please use the real stuff, not imitation)
2 eggs, beaten
ground cinnamon


Mix well. Spoon into greased 9"x13" baking dish. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon.

Topping:
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans

In medium bowl, mix together until butter is evenly incorporated. Sprinkle over sweet potato mixture.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until topping is golden.


There really is a lot of room to play with this recipe. We use a 9"x13" dish, but if you want a thick layer of sweet potatoes and a really thick layer of the topping, use a smaller dish. Generally, we only use half of the topping if we use a smaller pan because 1) it doesn't fit and 2) it's just too much sweet on top (I really just said that...). The leftover topping is great over ice cream and works well as a kind of streusel topping (Just slice some pears or apples, throw them in a pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and top them with as much of this yummy stuff as desired. Bake in a 350 oven until the fruit is tender, about 20-30 minutes depending on how much you're cooking.).