Grammie's Coconut Bread

I am posting this recipe for Mom/Grammie because she doesn't know how. After you get this recipe, you'll be thankful she doesn't know how to blog so she can be in the kitchen making this bread. So, the story behind this recipe..........Mom/Grammie gave me this recipe a while ago and told me that she had been making it and taking it to the temple on Saturdays for the workers. I've carried this recipe around and thought, "Yeah, yeah, one day I'll make it".

Saturday evening I got the itch to make the Young Women's presidency and advisors something for Easter. I pulled this recipe out and proceeded to make four loaves of this bread and six loaves of Almond Poppyseed bread. I wish now that I would have only made this, it's that good! Everyone I gave it to on Sunday raved about it! Even if you don't like coconut, it's okay, make it anyway because you can't really taste the coconut in it.



Coconut Bread:
2 C. Sugar
1 C. Oil
4 Eggs
2 t. Coconut Extract
1 C. Buttermilk
3 C. Flour
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 t. Baking Soda
1/2 t. Baking Powder
1 C. Flaked Coconut

Mix like a cake, spray pans with Pam and sprinkle with sugar. Fill about half full or a little more. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes (you will have to bake it longer, guaranteed. Bake until centers are firm when lightly touched). While hot, pour glaze over bread in pans. Let sit in pans 20 minutes and then turn onto cooling racks.

Glaze:
1 C. Sugar
2 T. Butter
1/2 C. Water
1 t. Coconut Extract

In a medium pan heat butter, sugar, water, and coconut extract until all is dissolved. Cool slightly. Spoon over hot bread.

Thanks, Mom, for sharing this recipe! It's my new favorite!

Banana Spice Cookies

I needed a new recipe to use for my ripe bananas. I found this one on allrecipes.com. It said to use a frosting that was a buttercream frosting, but I thought it would be better with brown butter frosting. They called for walnuts, but I'm not a big fan and didn't have any anyways, so I omitted them. I also added some nutmeg as well. They aren't the real cookie texture, more like a pumpkin cookie. Quinn said they were squishy.

Banana Spice Cookies

1/2 cup butter
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add one cup of the flour, the sugar, eggs, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon, soda, and cloves. Beat until thoroughly combined.

Stir in the remaining flour. Beat in bananas and nuts. Drop by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Can also check if they are done by touching the middle of a cookie, and if it bounces back, it's done. Cool cookies on a rack, then frost.

Brown Butter Frosting

1/4 cup Butter
2 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
3 Tbls Milk

Melt butter and cook until a gold brown. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and enough milk to make a good consistency.

Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake

Mom made this cake a few years back for Melanie's birthday. I thought it was so wonderful, so I made sure she sent me the recipe. It's a Paula Dean recipe. Since she's never posted it, I told her I would do it for her.

I have been craving it for quite sometime, so when I had the chance to make it for the Relief Society birthday dinner, I jumped at it. If I had the whole cake in my house, I would be sure to eat the whole thing and then lick the plate as well, so I was happy to share and only have a few slices to myself.

Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake

Makes 1 (9-inch) cake

1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix
1 (3-ounce) box strawberry flavored instant gelatin
1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
4 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

Garnish: sliced fresh strawberries

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 2 round 9-inch cake pans. (For the cake to come out easier, line the bottom with parchment paper after you have greased it.)
In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared pans, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. Spread Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting in between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with sliced fresh strawberries, if desired.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes about 4 cups

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract
7 cups confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup strawberry puree, reserving remaining for another use. Beat in extract. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth.
Note: For pinker frosting, add 2 to 3 drops of red food coloring to frosting.

Raspberry Honey Butter

One of my friend loves my rolls, aka Grammie's rolls. She's told several people about them (which embarrasses me) and asks me to bring them along to get together dinners. She wanted me to do a roll making demonstration, so she got some women together and I did the demo. (Makes me feel self conscious and silly, but I'm glad to pass Grammie's roll making onto others.) The lady's house we did it at had as this fabulous raspberry honey butter and gave us the recipe and each a little container of it. I think it's to die for and will want it with my rolls forever more!

Raspberry Honey Butter

1 cube Softened Butter
1/2 cup Honey
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup Raspberry Preserves (without seeds)

Whip butter until fluffy. Add honey and vanilla. Beat in raspberry preserves last (or else you end up with it separating). Now eat with some yummy, warm, homemade rolls. (Although I've even put it on homemade french bread as well. It's good on anything.) :)

If You Like Granola....

then this recipe from a friend of mine is for you (the notes in the recipe are from her). This granola is worth the extra effort and much better than granola you buy in the store. It has great flavor and a nice texture. I left some of the sunflower seeds out the batch I'm making right now just to see if I like less. I plugged this into the Weight Watchers website and it's comparable to all other granola, about 5 pts a serving.

This is a big recipe and each time I've made it, I've cut it in half. Half of the recipe makes two cookie sheets of granola. It will fill a gallon size Ziploc bag to give you an idea on how much 1/2 of this recipe will make. Look at this goodness~


Granola

8 c. rolled oats
1 c. wheat flour
1/2 c. flax seeds
1 c. pumpkin seeds
1 c. sunflower seeds
1 1/2 c. coconut
1 c. chopped or sliced almonds
1 c. other nuts (I used cashews)
1 c. nonfat dry milk
(I also used a bit of milled flax...at first because I couldn't find the whole seed but then I found some so I used both--probably about 1/4 c. for a 1/2 batch...I never measured)

Mix all of the above dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
Mix the following in a blender or food processor:

1 c. vegetable oil
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. honey
1/2 c. molasses
1 c. water
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1 T. salt
2 t. cinnamon

Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir until everything is evenly distributed.
Spread evenly over 4 cookie sheets (I line mine w/parchment...much less messy) and bake at 225 degrees for 1 hr. 15 min., stirring every 20 min. or so. Cool completely. Store in airtight container.

**If you have a Winco near or another store with a bulk section, this is actually a cheap granola to make. Not sure how much more it would be if you couldn't get the items bulk.

**Marion and I made this last Friday and found that cooking it for an hour is perfect for 'chewier' granola. If you like it dry and crunchier, 1hr + 30/40 minutes is about the time you'd go for. I've made it both ways and I definitely prefer the chewier as a snack alone and the crunchier added to yogurt.

White Cheese Chicken Lasagna

This is super yummy! I found it on allrecipes.com. Next time I make it, I'm going to omit the ricotta cheese and I'm going to mix the spinach into the sauce when I add the seasonings. Just my own personal preferences.

9 lasagna noodles

1/2 cup butter

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups milk

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

1 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 cups ricotta cheese

2 cups cubed, cooked chicken

2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and rinse with cold water.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the butter until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in the flour and salt, and simmer until bubbly. Mix in the broth and milk, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Season with the basil, oregano, and ground black pepper. Remove from heat, and set aside.

Spread 1/3 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer with 1/3 of the noodles, the ricotta, and the chicken. Arrange 1/3 of the noodles over the chicken, and layer with 1/3 of the sauce mixture, spinach, and the remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Arrange remaining noodles over cheese, and spread remaining sauce evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with parsley and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven.

Very Chocolate Cookies

I came across this recipe the other day as I was looking at recipes on my AllRecipes Dinner Spinner app. Apparently I was having a sugar craving as all I was looking at was desserts! :) Tonight I was making some dough up to make Valentine sugar cookies which had to chill in the fridge for an hour. I guess I had a bee in my bonnet and decided to make these as I was waiting. I think they are rather delicious, but Malcolm my non-chocolate lover, thought they were too chocolaty. I've never heard of anything having too much chocolate! So chocoholics, enjoy!

Very Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt, gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto unprepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Do not overbake. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

*My first batch came out with VERY flat cookies. I ended up adding maybe another 1/2 cup of flour and then they were beautiful and round after that. I think maybe it has something to do with where I live, as I ended up having to add a little bit more flour to my sugar cookies as well, as they were coming out the same as usual. So if they come out flat, add a little bit of flour! Mine cooked for exactly 10 mins. It's hard to tell when chocolate cookies are done.