By: Samantha Smoker-Lunsford
If you are a baking fan, we have a Little Sugar for you! The inspiration for this print came from Kristen’s amazing cookbook that is full of delicious recipes. Along with the release of Little Sugar, we wanted to share some of our favorite recipes to make your Mother’s Day a little sweeter!
Simple Cream Cheese Blueberry Pie
You can replace the blueberries with any fruit or filling you like! It is quick and simple for last minute potlucks or satisfying the craving for a sweet treat!
Ingredients:
- Graham cracker pie crust
- 8 oz cream cheese
- ½ c powdered sugar
- 1 16 oz can of blueberry pie filling
- Cool Whip for topping
Directions:
- Allow cream cheese to get to room temperature and mix with powdered sugar.
- Spread this mixture in the graham cracker crust.
- Pour filling in and chill in refrigerator for approximately one hour.
- Top with cool whip and enjoy!
Baked Coffee Doughnuts
Ingredients:
Doughnuts
- 2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
- 1 and 1/2 cups (187g) plain/all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (100g) caster/granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) buttermilk*
- 1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Glaze
- 1/4 cup (60ml) warm milk
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) icing/powdered sugar
Directions:
Doughnuts
-
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Grease a doughnut pan, and set aside
- In a small bowl or jug, dissolve the coffee granules in 1/4 cup (60ml) of hot water. Set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the egg and sugar until combined. Add the buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and coffee, and whisk until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared doughnut pan, filling almost to the top. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for 5 – 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Glaze
- Add the coffee and vanilla to the warm milk and whisk until smooth and combined. Add the icing sugar and mix until completely smooth and combined.
- Dip each doughnut into the glaze and leave to set on the wire rack.
Best Banana Bread
Ingredients:
- 1⁄2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 3 bananas, finely crushed (for serious and extreme moist and delicious, try 4 bananas)
- 1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350º / 180º.
- Cream together butter and sugar.
- Add eggs and crushed bananas.
- Combine well.
- Sift together flour, soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Add vanilla.
- Mix just until combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour into greased and floured loaf pan.
- Bake at 350º / 180º for 55 minutes.
- Keeps well, refrigerated.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Caramel Crunch Fudge
Ingredients:
- 2 cups peanut butter
- Half a stick of butter
- Regular package of chocolate chips
- Bag of crushed up potato chips (Ruffles)
- Caramel sauce topping (think ice cream)
Directions:
- Put the peanut butter, butter, and chocolate chips in a glass bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals until melted, stirring intermittently to check consistency
- Stir in bag of crushed up potato chips
- Spread in a pan lined with waxed paper
- Drizzle caramel sauce on top and swirl it in with a spoon
- Put in the freezer or fridge to set
Better than Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients:
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- 1 cup milk warm (105 degrees F)
- ½ cup + 1 TBS granulated sugar divided
- 1 TBS Active dry yeast
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 6 TBS butter melted
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4 to 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 ½ TBS ground cinnamon
- 6 TBS butter softened
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt
Directions:
Make the Cinnamon Roll Dough:
- Warm milk in the microwave milk for 45-60 seconds. It should be warm but not hot to the touch (about 105 degrees F).
- Place milk into the bowl of your standing mixer, then add 1 TBS sugar and 1 TBS yeast to the warm milk. Stir and let it sit (proof) for five minutes or until it becomes foamy.
- Add the ½ cup sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla to the mixture in the bowl of your standing mixer. Use a dough hook to stir until combined
- Add 4 cups flour, salt and cinnamon and stir the dough hook, starting on low and increasing to high.
- Knead dough in the standing mixer until a large ball is formed. The dough should be smooth and only slightly tacky to the touch. If the dough seems too sticky and is not forming a ball, add more flour 1 TBS at a time until a smooth ball is formed.
- Transfer dough to a floured surface and knead with your hands until it is smooth and elastic (about 3-5 minutes). Form it into a ball.
- Grease a large bowl and place the dough inside.
- Cover the bowl with a warm, damp towel and put the bowl in a warm place to rise.
- Let the dough rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.
Make the filling
- While the dough is rising, make the filing. In a small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until mixture is homogenous (uniform throughout). Set aside.
- Alternately, you can combine the cinnamon and sugar. Then melt the butter and brush it on the rolled dough, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on the butter-brushed dough. (I think this way is easier)!
- Assemble Cinnamon Rolls
- Sprinkle a large work surface with flour.
- Gently press the gas out of the dough and form it into a rectangle.
- Roll the dough into a 24×12” rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick.
- Spread the filling all over the dough using greased hands or a greased spatula. This process can seem difficult but it gets easier as you spread it. (Alternately: if you only combined the cinnamon and sugar, then melt the butter and use a pastry brush to spread the melted butter all over the dough. Then sprinkle the dough with cinnamon sugar and pat it down gently to insure it sticks).
- Roll up dough cut into 12 equal sized rolls (feel free to measure and cut each roll to be 2” long).
- Line a 9×13 inch glass baking dish with parchment paper and lightly grease. Then place rolls in 4 rows of three, evenly spaced.
- Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
- Bake Cinnamon Rolls.
- Once rolls are doubled in size, bake them in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes. They will rise more in the oven. (NOTE: Check the center cinnamon rolls and make sure they are baked through. If your oven bakes cool or unevenly you may need to increase the baking time up to 10 minutes longer. If the top starts to brown before the center is baked, tent the baking pan with foil to prevent further browning).
Make the Cream Cheese Frosting
- While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Do NOT chill the frosting. Keep it at room temperature until the cinnamon rolls are baked.
- Once the cinnamon rolls have bene removed from the oven, spread the cream cheese frosting on them while they are still warm.
- Cool & Serve!
- Let cool and serve warm.
Laramie’s Carrot Cake
Serving: 8
Ingredients:
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup apple sauce
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 8oz can crushed pineapple, well drained
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- Small pinch of ground cloves
- 3 cups grated carrots
- 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, apple sauce, sugars, pineapple, and vanilla extract.
- Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and small pinch of ground cloves.
- Stir in carrots.
- Fold in pecans.
- .. it normally takes around 30 minutes+. But just keep an eye on it.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 8oz cream cheese, softened
- 4 cups of confectioners sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- Milk if needed to thin a little bit.
Directions:
- Beat together until well blended.
Some of our favorite memories are made in the kitchen, and we hope a Little Sugar makes this Mother’s Day a little sweeter!