White Chocolate Brownies

I have a bit of a conundrum with the name of these.  They are essentially brownies, but  made with white chocolate.  Which basically makes them "whities" but somehow that sounds wrong...








So, you are on your own as far as what to call them, but I assure you they are delicious.  It took me several attempts to get the texture to come out chewy and soft like brownies; this is the best version I was able to come up with.



Melt 1/2 c butter with 6oz white chocolate baking bars (do NOT use white chips - they don't melt)


Stir until smooth and let cool for a few minutes.


Stir in 1c sugar and 2 room temperature eggs. Keep stirring until fully blended - it will look a bit thick and pasty.


Transfer to a medium bowl, then stir in 1c flour until smooth.  I tried doing this step in the same pan but it is difficult to stir.


That's it - five ingredients.  You can add nuts at this stage if you like.


Spread batter in heavily greased or parchment-lined 8x8 pan.


Optional- drop small blobs of raspberry or apricot jam and swirl with knife.


Bake at 325 for 55-60 minutes.  Center will be slightly soft, and top will be evenly browned.

Cool in pan on wire rack.

Incredible Carrot Cake!

This recipe comes from Great American Brand Names cookbook.  I make this quite often - you can tell because the page has little dried up bits of carrot stuck to it.  Carrot cake is essentially an excuse to eat cream cheese frosting, and this cake has fruit and nuts and is moist and sweet.  Try it!

Preheat oven to 325F.

Oil and flour 13x9 inch baking pan.

Mix in large mixer bowl:
   2 c. all purpose flour
   1 1/2 c. sugar
   2 tsp baking soda
   1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
   1/2 tsp nutmeg
   1/2 tsp salt
   1 c. cooking oil
   3 eggs
   1/2 c. milk
   2 c. shredded carrot  

I am fortunate to own the veggie shredder attachment to my Kitchenaid mixer (thanks mom!) so I peel fresh carrots and shred them finely.

Beat on low speed until ingredients are moistened.  Beat on  med speed for 2 minutes.

Stir in:
   1 c. flaked coconut
   3/4 c. chopped walnuts
   1/2 c. raisins

Pour into prepared pan.
Bake 55 minutes.
Cool completely on wire rack.

Frosting:
blend 6oz package room temp cream cheese with 4 tbsp softened butter into a creamy paste.
Stir in 4 tbsp milk and 1/4 tsp vanilla.
Stir in 2 c. confectioner's sugar, half cup at a time.
Keep stirring until lumps are gone.

Spread on cooled cake.  If not serving right away, store in fridge overnight.




This recipe obviously has too many ingredients to be suitable for the express lane, but it really is easy. Just mix a bunch of stuff and pour in the pan and let the oven make it into cake! Mmmmm cake!  Frosting is easier if you use a wooden spoon or paddle to stir with.

Top Secret! Sugar & Spice Walnuts

Here it is - the recipe everyone asks for!

They are very simple to make, and are very addicting to eat.



1. in large bowl, beat 1 egg white with 1 tbsp water.

2. toss 1# walnut halves to coat.

3. in small bowl combine
1c. white sugar,
1 tsp cinnamon,
1/4 tsp nutmeg.

4.  stir well, then toss with walnuts.

5. spread on greased cookie sheet.

6. bake @ 325 for 25 minutes.

7. spread on waxed paper to cool.

Important: do step 7 right away - if the nuts cool on the cookie sheet they will become welded to it and it is difficult to scrape them off.

I will need to find a recipe that uses all those leftover egg yolks...