Pumpkin Spice Monkey Bread-By Bees Adventures!

Pumpkin Spice Monkey Bread with Caramel Glaze

I found this amazing recipe on “beesadventures” blog! Easy to make, fun to eat!!

Pumpkin Spice Monkey Bread with Caramel Glaze

Yield: 1 bundt pan

Prep Time: 60 minutes | Bake Time: 20 – 25 minutes

Dough Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Lactaid milk (soy milk would work fine too)
• 1/4 cup vegan margarine or lactose-free butter (Becel or Fleischmann’s are my favorites)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup warm water (between 100 to 105 degrees Farenheit)
• 2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling Ingredients

• 1 cup brown sugar, packed (if you want to make brown sugar yourself, see the recipe below)
• 1 tablespoon ground Pumpkin Spice
• 1/2 cup vegan margarine or lactose-free butter, softened

Glaze Ingredients

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup lactose-free whipping cream
• 1 tbsp vegan margarine or lactose-free butter, softened

Monkey Bread Preparation

1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it is warm to the touch, then remove from heat. Mix in margarine; stir until melted. Leave to cool.
2. Heat water to 100 – 105 degrees Farenheit. Add yeast; stir. Let sit for 5 minutes to activate yeast. Mixture will look foamy on top when yeast has activated.
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, sugar and salt; mix well.
4. Add egg to cooled milk mixture and mix well.
5. Add activated yeast and milk mixture to dry ingredients. Mix until dough comes together in a sticky ball.
6. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, kneading well after each addition until dough is soft and smooth but still a bit sticky.
7. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.
8. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, pumpkin spice and softened margarine.
9. Tear small, pieces of dough and roll into balls. Toss each into the sugar mixture until coated, then place in a greased baking pan.
10. Cover baking dish and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes. If you’d like to cook these at a later time, refrigerate or freeze covered and let pan sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking. Don’t be concerned if rolls do not rise too much.
11. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit when ready to bake.
12. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until browned. Let cool for 10 minutes before turning out on a serving dish.
13. Serve warm, drizzled with glaze. Glaze recipe follows below.

(Adapted from 90-Minute Cinnamon Rolls at Chinese Grandma)

Caramel Glaze Preparation

1. Pour the water into a saucepan then pour the sugar in a pile in the middle of the water. Turn the heat to medium-high heat and begin cooking without stirring. The sugar will dissolve in the water and begin to boil.
2. When the sugar begins to lightly brown, gently swirl the pan until all of the sugar is a deep golden brown.
3. Carefully pour in the cream and add the butter. Whisk until smooth.

(Adapted from Chef Michael Smith’s Caramel Sauce at Food Network)

PLEASE LEAVE ME COMMENTS!

Vegan Lentil Loaf

If you are a meat eater, this dish probably isn’t going to look too appetizing to you. But, for us veggie’s, this is a little piece of heaven. Regardless, my carnivorous eating family enjoyed the dish. I’m not vegan, but this recipe happens to be such. Easy to make, serve with a side salad or bowl of soup.

Here’s how to make it:
1 1/2 cups lentils
3 1/2 cups water or vegetable broth (I used broth)
2 onions
2 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups pre-cooked rice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup ketchup or bbq sauce
1/2 tsp sage
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

Pre-heat oven to 350 F degrees.
In a large soup or stock pot, simmer the lentils in water or veggie broth until cooked, about 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly then mash the lentils until they are half mashed.
Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil for 3-5 minutes, or until soft.
Combine the onions, garlic and olive oil with the mashed lentils, rice, salt, sage, ketchup and Italian seasoning.
Gently press the mixture into a lightly greased loaf pan (I used a 9×13 dish). Drizzle a bit of ketchup and bbq sauce on top.
Bake for 1 hour. Allow to cool slightly before serving, as this will help the lentil loaf to firm up. Serves about 6 adults.

Poppy Seed Cake

Moist, dense, and delicious! This is worth every calorie 🙂

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable oil
13 fluid ounces evaporated milk
1/4 cup poppy seeds

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan.

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and add eggs, vanilla, oil and milk. Mix well and fold in the poppy seeds. Pour into a 10 inch tube pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Place cool cake on a pretty plate or cake stand. Using 1/2 container of store bought frosting (vanilla), place frosting in microwavable measuring cup and heat for approximately 20 seconds. Drizzle over cake. I added a few extra poppy seeds on top for decoration.

Eat and enjoy!!

Happy Valentine’s Day

Hand made cake pop in the first picture. Made by one of the parents at my school. She makes the most amazing cake pops, just for fun 🙂
The floral creation in the middle was made by another parent, and friend. She said it’s a Martha Stuart recipe, amazing! (apple pie)
The cupcakes were made by a local bakery.
Have a beautiful and lovely day!

Keep Calm-Fun!

Adorable! $5.99 at Target Stores, made by Farberware.

Peanut Butter Cookie

Hands-down the best cookie I’ve ever had in my life!

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter. I used chunky
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tablespoon milk (I used half-and-half)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Set aside a small bowl with 1/4 cup white sugar, for sprinkling.

Preheat oven to 350 F, no need to grease cookie sheet. I lined pan with wax paper.

Add all dry ingredients, mix as you go. Add remaining ingredients. I use my hands to mix the dough well, I prefer hands versus a mixer.

Form 1″ balls of dough, then roll in the white sugar, then place on cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 min, or until the cookie is slightly firm to the touch. Remove from cookie sheet, allow to cool.

Try not to eat ALL the cookies at once! Yes, they are that good, at least to me 🙂

Super Moist Cookie

High in fiber and delicious!

Here’s the info so you can make them as well…..

1 cup unbleached white flour
2 cups unprocessed wheat bran (I used “Hodgson Mill”, purchased on Amazon.com)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease baking sheet, sift flour once, add baking soda, spices, sugar. Add wheat bran and mix well. Combine eggs, molasses, milk and butter; add to wheat bran mixture. Beat well. Dough will be quite sticky. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto baking sheet, 2″ apart. Bake 6-8 minutes. The cookie will be slightly firm when baked to doness. Don’t over bake, or the cookie will be dry. 😦

Have with a nice cup of coffee and enjoy! 🙂

Fail!

These are really funny, but apparently not very popular.

Soft Ginger Cookies

What you will need:
4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves (Yumm!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 cup butter or margarine (I use margarine. If you use butter, the cookies tend to spread)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions below, after pictures 🙂

Here are some pictures

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place foil on cookie sheet. No spray or oil is needed.
2. Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in molasses and eggs. Gradually stir in vanilla, flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Form balls by spooning dough out of bowl. Dab ball of dough into sugar on a plate. Place on baking sheet. Note: the sugar on the plate is not included in the main recipe. Just scoop out about a 1/4 cup on the the plate or bowl for dunking 🙂
3. Bake 14 minutes. Remember-everyone’s oven is different! I always check my cookies around 8-10 minutes in. If you want softer cookies bake around 10-12 min, for more of a cake texture, bake closer to 14-15 min.
This is an easy, fool proof recipe. Great for new bakers and children. 🙂

Irish Cream Cake

Fresh out of the oven. Needs to cool down before you put the glaze on top.

Glazed, wrapped, and ready to be delivered!

Here’s the recipe:
CAKE INGREDIENTS:
1 cup chopped pecans
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup Irish cream liqueur. I used Bailey’s

THE GLAZE
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 C). Grease and flour a 10″ Bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over bottom of pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in eggs, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup oil and 3/4 cup Irish cream liqueur. Beat for 5 minutes on high speed. Pour batter over nuts in pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto the serving dish. Prick top and sides of cake. Spoon glaze over top and brush onto sides of cake. Allow to absorb glaze. Repeat until glaze is used up.
4. To make the glaze: In a saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur.

Side note; I used 7 mini-dishes. The cake rises a good amount, I filled the mini-dishes 3/4 full, and baked for 40 minutes. If you are nervous about using a Bundt pan, I would just use a 9″x13″ dish. After cooling-poke holes as directed, drizzle glaze on top of cake. Do what’s comfortable for you 🙂 Have fun and enjoy the delicious cake!