{SMS} Elianas Pick! Coconut Pecan Frosting

Thank you Eliana for hosting SMS this week and for your wonderful choice of recipes! Be sure to check out Eliana's blog for the recipe.
 http://www.achicabakes.com/    I have enjoyed Eliana's Blog very much. She is an excellent baker and has the best mouth drooling pictures. She also leaves the nicest comments on my posts. I have enjoyed getting to know her these past two years!


 Eliana chose Coconut frosting this week. It was up to everyone to chose how they wanted to use this frosting. I decided to try these Coconutty "M&M's" Brownies.

 The frosting is very close to the one I make for my German chocolate cake. It's simple to make and so good. My husband can't get enough of this frosting he is known to lick the spoon every time I make it.

Here is the recipe for the Brownies(be sure to check out Eliana's blog for the frosting recipe)!

Coconutty "M&M's" Brownies

6 squares(1 ounce each)
 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 large eggs
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups "M&M's" Chocolate Mini Baking Bits, divided
Eliana's coconut frosting

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350*.
Lightly grease 8x8x2-inch baking pan;set aside.
In small saucepan combine chocolate, sugar, and butter over low hear; stir constantly until chocolate is melted, Remove from heat;let cool slightly.
In large bowl beat eggs, oil and vanilla;stir in chocolate mixture until well blended.
In medium bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt;add to chocolate mixture. Stir in 1 cup m&ms baking bits. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
Bake 35 to 40 min. or until done.

Thanks again Eliana!!

SMS Sweet Pear and Zucchini Muffins

Andrea of http://nummykitchen.blogspot.com/ chose this weeks Sweet Melissa Sunday recipe.

Andrea is a great baker and always has something good to look at! Be sure to check her blog out! She is famous for all of her awesome kitchen gadgets!!

I made these muffins about a year ago. I made the Caramelized Onion and Cheddar Cheese version. I decided to go with a sweeter version this time.

I cut the recipe in half and still got 12 muffins. I added sour cream in place of the milk. I used the pears and added a 1/2 cup of shredded zucchini.

I Sprinkled some cinnamon and sugar on top for the finishing touch!  I thought these muffins were lighter in texture then the first time I made them. They are delicious warm with a cup of coffee!

My Pick for Sweet Melissa Sunday! Sweet Pear Clafoutis With Almonds

 It's another wonderful day to bake with my fun Sweet Melissa Sunday baking group!

Today it is my turn to host the recipe! I new Aug.29 would be a busy time for most of us with going back to school and wrapping up the summer. I wanted to pick something super easy but tasty. I have made one other Clafoutis and I loved it.

This recipe did not disappoint! It was so easy to throw together and tasted good!

Here is the recipe. I did change a few things. Instead of the plums I used pears. In place of the orange zest I used lemon zest.

Recipe from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy

Sweet Plum Clafoutis With Almonds

For the Claoutis

6 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp freshly grated orange zest(I used lemon zest)

1/2 tsp almond extract(don't leave this out)

3/4 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup whole milk

3 tbsp sliced blanched almonds

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

For the Plums(or fruit of your choice, I used pears)

3 tbsp. unsalted butter

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

10 small Italian plus(or fresh prunes) or 5 medium plums, sliced into eights

Before you Start:

Position a rack in the center of your oven.Preheat the oven to 350*F.

To make the batter:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour, zest, almond extract, heavy cream and milk until smooth.

To make the Plums:

In a 10 inch cast iron skillet set over med. heat, melt the butter. Stir in the sugar and cinnamon cook until just bubbly. Stir in the plums and saute' until tender, but not yet losing their skins, stirring gently all the while. remove from the heat.

To Complete the Clafoutis

When the plums have stopped bubbling, gently stir in the batter. Sprinkle the almonds around the outside edge of the pan. Bake for 30 min. or until pouffed and golden. Sprinkle the edges with contectioners' sugar.

The clafoutis is best eaten the day it is made. Serve warm cut into wedges and topped with a dollop of sweetened creme fraiche or sour cream.

If you do not have a cast iron skillet cook the plums in a saute or frying pan, transfer the cooked fruit to any lightly buttered ovenproof baking dish, pour the batter over, and finish in the oven.

Thank you for baking with me this week!

Sweet Melissa Sunday Cherry Almond Granola

When I saw that granola was one of the recipes for Aug. I was thrilled. I love breakfast food of any kind. Granola is right up there with pancakes and oatmeal for me, I can eat it anytime of the day. I know friends who like to use it as a topping on yogurt or ice cream. I like mine in a bowl with ice cold milk!

I tweaked the recipe some. I left the currants and raisins out. I added the dry cherries Melissa suggested.

Thank you  Wendy of Pinkstripes for hosting his week and for a great selection of recipes. For the recipe look here...
http://pinkstripes.wordpress.com/

Next week it's Sweet Almond cake and then I'm hosting the sweet Plum Clafoutis...we seem to be having an almond theme this month!


Oops sorry I just noticed I put TWD on the picture instead of SMS!:)

Sweet Melissa Sunday Gingerfrisbee

Hmmm what went wrong?I have no clue. I make Molasses cookies all the time and I've never had them spread like this.

Wanna play some Frisbee..HA!

Thank you Gloria for choosing cookies this week! I love to bake pies and I love to bake cakes but baking cookies has to be my favorite!!

Be sure to check out her blog for the recipe.

http://thegingersnapgirl.blogspot.com/

I have really enjoyed getting to know Gloria through SMS. She has a wonderful blog and my favorite post is the one on her Grandparents!

Even if it came out of the oven as one big cookie, it sure tasted buttery and yummy. I cut the recipe in half. I was very exact with my measurements, so I'm not sure what happened.

SMS Mini Coconut Custard Pie

For the recipe check out Ruby's blog...

http://idreamofbaking.blogspot.com/

Naked little mini pie....

Thank you Ruby for choosing pie! I love pie!  I am not a picky pie eater..I will eat pretty much anything in a crust! I happen to love coconut, so this was a great recipe for me!

Did you have an Easy Bake oven? I must have turned out several mini cakes, brownies and cookies from mine. I had weekly tea parties with my stuffed animals and dollies. I also forced the half baked goodies on my brothers!

All though I didn't actually bake  this pie in an Easy Bake oven, my little mini pie reminded me of days gone by. I found these darling little silver baking dishes at an antique store. I was going to make four minis but decided to make one. We leave for Mount Rushmore in the morning and I didn't want a bunch of pie sitting around.

I added coconut milk in with

the cream and I used two packets of Stevia instead of real sugar.  I also whipped up some homemade whipped topping!! It tasted very good and turned out perfect!!

SMS Butterscotch Pralines

I seriously did not think I would have time to make these. We have three days of school left, plenty of last minute activities and I was at the State track meet with my daughter. She ran in two relays and did so well. I enjoyed watching all the high school kids compete and cheer one another on. The atmosphere was very uplifting and positive!

Now on to Sweet Melissa Sunday. Thank you to Tess of Cookin Chemist for choosing Butterscotch Pralines.Tess is one of our newer bakers, it's so nice to have her on board! Check out her blog for the recipe. You can find it here http://cookinchemist.blogspot.com/

While I was at the State track meet. I visited Williams Sonoma and found the Vanilla bean paste I've been searching for! I used it in this recipe and I swear it enhanced the flavor!

I cut the recipe in half and followed the directions exactly. I could not get the mixture to set up. I lined a pan with parchment paper and stuck it in the freezer for 15 minutes. That's all it took to produce a yummy pan of sweet goodness!

They may not look very pretty, but they taste so good. My husband loves them and I have allowed myself a bite of one...I can't have anymore or I.won't.stop.

I think they would be so good crumbled on top of some yummy vanilla ice cream!

SMS Bread Pudding

It's time for another Sweet Melissa Sunday today we have....

 Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel-Rum Raisin Sauce by Carmen of Baking is My Zen.

Thank you Carmen for hosting today. Carmen left some suggestions in our Comment section on baking this dessert. I thought that was very nice of her! Be sure to check out Carmen's blog for the recipe. She is a great baker and has a fun blog. I visit it frequently.

http://bakingismyzen.blogspot.com/

 I thought I would share with you what I found on the history of Bread Pudding....

Bread pudding made its appearance in the 13th century known as "poor man's pudding." These early bread pudding were made with water instead of cream or milk, making them inexpensive to create. The newer versions that are made with dairy products have richer, creamier, heartier tastes, although they are still relatively cheap to prepare. You may experiment with the varieties of dried fruits used, substituting cranberries, goji berries or other types of fruit for raisins or blueberries.

I can't imagine using water instead of cream or milk..gross!

As some of you all ready know this weeks recipe with TWD was bread pudding too. For the sake of time and calories I pulled stuff from both recipes and came up with a incredible little treat. I used the caramelized apples in TWD recipe and added the basics..egg, cream, cinnamon and sugar. They turned out tasting yummy and everyone enjoyed a couple of spoon fulls!

Sweet Melissa Sunday Peanut Butter Truffles

It's time for Sweet Melissa Sunday .We made Peanut Butter Truffles  chosen by Mara of Love Your Mother Earth . Be sure to check out the recipe here.

http://loveyourmotherearth.blogspot.com/

Have you seen Mara's blog?!Sheesh the girl is one crafty talented person. I am so not. When I see someone that has such an art of making things, I admire them!  Not only can she come out with some outstanding looking baked goods she can put paper, buttons and things together and make it look good!:)

OK on to the truffles.....

I chose a variety of toppings for my truffles.

My fav. was the truffles rolled in walnuts. My kids loved the truffles rolled in the peanut butter m&ms.

It's been awhile since I've made a sweet treat and kept it in the house. My husband Steven is very pleased!

This recipe is simple to make. There is a waiting period of 2 hours or more for the chocolate mixture to chill.

I found the chocolate very messy to work with(can you tell). The trick is to roll them into a ball quickly and them in your choice of topping. They still came out really soft. I put them in the freezer to firm them up.

This is a great recipe and the truffles are so yummy!! Thank you again to Mara for hosting and for your great selection!

Sweet Melissa Sunday Sweet Potato Bread with Brownsugar Pecan Topping

Today is April 18 and time for another Sweet Melissa Sunday. The recipe for today is Sweet Potato Bread with Cinnamon-Rum-Orange Glaze chosen by Lorelei of Mermaid Sweets.

Be sure to check out Lorelei's blog for the recipe. http://mermaidsweets.blogspot.com/ She actually is the one who started SMS. I'm very thankful for her doing so! I have missed her lately. She is a very busy lady and an excellent baker! We have just recently found out our oldest daughter is insulin resistant. It's been a whole new world around here. I have been cooking extremely healthy, got rid of all the junk in our pantry and have been encouraging my daughter to exercise, exercise, exercise. So far she is on board with me and interested in making healthy food choices. I'm glad we caught this while she is still young(17)so she can start some life style changes. She has never been much of a sweet lover but I still feel guilty baking and having it around the house. I have been giving it away or making the recipe as healthy as possible. I'm not sure how healthy my changes really are, but I hope to think they made some difference. I halved the recipe, used WW flour. We had some left over Sweet potatoes from Easter in the freezer, they were all cooked and ready to use. I made a topping(not healthy) I use on a sweet potato pie recipe. It's very good! 2 TBS unsalted butter 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 chopped pecans 1/4 tsp salt Mix butter and sugar in skillet until melted. Add pecans and salt and cook for 2 min. Pour the mixture on wax paper and let cook. Crumble into small pieces and sprinkle over the top of pie or bread. I made 3 mini loafs of bread. They took 33 minutes to bake. I really liked this recipe. I could really taste the sweet potato and the pecan topping really complimented the bread. It was super moist and perfect for a breakfast treat or afternoon pick me up!

SMS Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Happy Easter everyone! These cookies remind me of Christmas.My mom makes them every year during the holidays.

Today's SMS recipe is Pecan Shortbread Cookies chosen by Lara of The Lab.

Thank you Lara for a wonderful choice of recipes!

I just read that Lara's mom is very sick. My thought and prayers are with you Lara.

http://oneilslab.wordpress.com/2010/03/30/delay-in-posting/

These cookies were super simple to make. I cut the recipe in half and was pleased with how they turned out.

They taste buttery, not to sweet with a hint of pecan flavoring.

I filled up these darling little treat bags and shared some cookies with my friends.

SMS Caramel apple pie

It's time for Sweet Melissa Sunday and today we have Double-crusted Caramel Apple Pie by Susan of Baking with Susan ! Be sure to check out her blog for this wonderful recipe.http://bakingbysue.blogspot.com/ Susan has a wonderful blog with mouth watering photos. She is a wonderful baker. Her maiden name is the same as mine, Murphy. We have adopted each other as long lost relatives!

 I am loving my new recipe holder. It is so nice to read, when the pages aren't flipping all over the place. This is the first pie crust I have rolled out on my new counter tops..so nice! I love not using a cutting board. This is the first pie in my new oven..Do you see how clean it is!!

Yum hot apple pie fresh out of the oven.

I really liked this egg wash we made for the top of the pie. It made for a nice crispy brown crust.

This is the first caramel apple pie I have ever made. I love apple pie and have actually always wanted to try a caramel apple pie. I'm so glad I did because this pie was yummy! I love it warmed up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. My husband said he couldn't taste the caramel much. I would add more next time and use less sweeter apples. Thanks Susan for a wonderful selection. In my opinion you can't go wrong with pie!