I'm always looking for any excuse to use my bundt pan. I just love the look of the cakes that come from it, whether they are dusted with powdered sugar or drizzled in a milky, white glaze, I'm always in love. I tried out this lemon cream cheese pound cake from the Joy of Baking and it turned out great. Even though the recipe didn't call for it, I topped it with a lemon glaze-yum! I cut the cake into chunks so I could freeze some and give some away.
The Flavor of the Month for December was cookies. I choose one of my standards, white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. People always rave about them and I absolutely LOVE them!
November's flavor of the month was traditions. Portuguese rice pudding is one of the traditional desserts we have during the holidays or for special occasions. I was always intimidated to make it, but gave it a shot a few months ago. It was actually pretty easy and turned out almost as good as my mom's. Just takes a little patience as you sit by the stove stirring until the rice is just right with the milk. Most rice puddings I've seen around have raisins in them and are a slightly different color than the kind I grew up eating. The Portuguese version doesn't have raisins-yay! It does have more egg yolks, hence the yellow color and a sprinkling of cinnamon on top. Yum!
These pumpkin cookies are my go to recipe whenever I need cookies fast.I love their cakey, pumpkin-y goodness!They are my number one favorite cookie! The recipe is so simple and fast.No matter where I take these cookies, they are always a BIG hit.I’ve given out the recipe to so many, so why not keep passin’ it on through Flavor of the Month at Bake at 350. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Cookies- Makes about 2 dozen
Ingredients
2 ½ c. flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter (1 stick) at room temp.
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a separate bowl (I use my kitchen aide), cream together butter and sugar.Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla to butter mixture. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
As soon as I heard that the Flavor of the Month was to make something as a tribute to John Hughes, I immediately got excited. I love his films! My top three favorites include, Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Sixteen Candles.
I knew I wanted to make some sort of cupcake and I didn’t want to just make pink cupcakes.Then Natalie, from Bake and Destroy, reminded me about her French Toast Cupcakes.It was the perfect idea for my crazy, busy schedule.
I decided to make a basic buttermilk vanilla cupcake and throw in some cinnamon.For the frosting, I initially started with a maple buttercream, but didn’t like the taste at all.So that one went in the trash and I started again.The cupcakes were topped with cream cheese frosting and a dusting of cinnamon. Really the cupcakes weren’t much like French toast at all, but more like cinnamon cupcakes, but who cares because they were so good!
