Oven Baked Goodness

Strawberry Cake Pops

2010-04-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

I just made cake pops for the first time and had so much fun doing it. They're really easy and the decorating possibilites are endless.

I just mixed a strawberry cake with buttercream icing, rolled it into balls, put in the sticks in. Pop them in the freezer for 30 min and start dipping.

Ofcourse now I want to go on a sprinkle shopping spree.

German Chocolate Cake Balls

2010-04-05T15:08:00.000-07:00

I make cake balls all the time but this is the first time I've made them with German Chocolate Cake (mostly because I don't really like coconut). However, everyone else on the planet seems to, so I gave it a shot.

1. Bake the cake using baking directions on the box.

2. In a large bowl crumble up the entire cake. I usually tear off the edges of the cake, depending on how crispy it is.

3. Mix 1 can coconut pecan frosting with about 1 cup butter cream frosting. I do that so the coconut is not overpowering for people like me, if you think you'll like it, just stick with 1 can coconut pecan.

Just want to show you what it looks like. I know it doesn't look good, but it is, and it's creamier too.

4. Add frosting to the cake a little at a time with a fork, until you like the consistency, then mix thoroughly with your hands. I did not use the whole mixture (don't worry I won't waste it), just enough to make it nice and mushy.

5. Using your hands, form the cake into cake balls. Once that's done put them into the freezer for at least 30 minutes before dipping. You can portion them however you like, but the most consistent is a cookie scoop or mini-ice cream scoop.

6. First melt your chocolate (candy coating) following the directions on the package. Then dip the cake ball into chocolate. I use a fork because it works best for me, so does the Corningware dish for the chocolate. Swirl the cake ball in the chocolate with the fork then tap a couple times and, before placing the cake ball on paper, scrape the bottom of the fork on the side of the bowl. This limits the build-up of chocolate on the bottom.

You'll notice I leave a bit of space between each one, and that there's a mess all around them. That's because the minute I set them down, I scrape around the bottom with the fork--do it fast or the chocolate hardens. If you're like me and you like to put them in candy cups, you'll find that step helps a lot.

Ooops!! This is the finished product. I guess I forgot pictures of the decorating. All I did was dip the tops in chocolate again then dipped them in coconut crunch.

Usually I drizzle a different-colored chocolate on top, but I wanted to try something different.

Birthday Cake

2010-03-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

Today I made my first cake from scratch for my wonderful husband's birthday. It took me a lot longer than it should have, but in the end it turned out great.

Paul asked if I could make him a sugar free cake with sugar free icing and I did my best to make that happen. I was really happy the way it turned out and so was Paul, I've never seen someone eat a piece of cake as big as he did.

I know the cake is not completely sugar free, but there's a huge difference between this recipe and boxed cake mix.

Chocolate Cake:

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 cup boiling water

1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour

1 cup SPLENDA® Sugar Blend for Baking

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
Combine cocoa and boiling water, whisking until blended. Set aside.
Combine flour, SPLENDA® Sugar Blend for Baking, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture with a fork or a pastry blender until crumbly. (This procedure may be done with a mixer at the lowest speed. Cover mixing bowl with a clean tea towel to prevent spattering).

Combine eggs, milk, cocoa mixture and vanilla in a small mixing bowl; add 1/3 of the egg mixture to flour mixture. Beat at low speed of an electric mixer until blended. Beat at medium speed for 30 seconds or until batter is smooth, stopping to scrape down sides of the bowl. Repeat procedure 2 times.

** This recipe only gave baking instructions for cupcakes, so I just guessed. I used a 8 inch square pan and baked it for a little over 35 min (can't remember exactly).

Icing: (I changed it a bit after reading reviews)

2 small packages sugar-free instant pudding mix (I used chocolate fudge & cheesecake)
1 3/4 cups milk
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 (8 ounce) container lite frozen whipped topping, thawed

In a medium bowl, combine pudding mix and milk. Mix well and let stand until thickened.
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pudding and mix well. Finally, fold in whipped topping.

Pancake Cake

2010-02-18T21:28:00.000-08:00

I first saw this done when Paul & I went to visit his sister a while back. I immediately thought Marcia's idea was brilliant, and made perfect sense given that she has many mouths to feed.

Just mix the pancake batter as directed on the box, pour into a cake pan (I used cooking spray on mine), and bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes depending on how many servings you make.

An awesome idea for feeding a large family quickly & easily.

I Cheated!!

2010-02-12T19:52:00.001-08:00

Today while cleaning out some cabinets I found this Banana Bread gift set and though I wasn't quite sure how long it had been there I decided to give it a try.

I know it can't be more than two years old so I'm sure it wasn't bad, after all it's only a mix right? The great thing about it though is the serving dish it came with, it's very cute.

So I am now sold on Banana Bread out of a box (on occasion), and I it couldn't be easier. Duh!

It took about 50 minutes to bake perfectly.

We had this for dessert tonight and we were both surprised how good it was, the banana flavor was there and somehow it didn't seem artificial.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-02-09T10:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I made some Chocolate Chip Cookies out of cake mix, and I couldn't believe how easy & how good they were.

I used yellow cake mix for these ones, the next time I think I'll try chocolate cake mix with white chocolate chips. Yum!

1 box cake mix (any flavor)
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I think I used more)

* Mix together, drop onto cookie sheet, bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes.

Cream Cheese Brownies

2009-10-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

CHOCOLATE BATTER
MELT: ½ cup SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS with 3 tbsp BUTTER
Let cool and set aside
BEAT: 2 EGGS (Large) until light colored
Add ¾ cup SUGAR; beat until thickened
BLEND IN: ¼ tsp SALT
½ tsp BAKING POWDER
½ cup FLOUR
Blend Flour Mixture with cooled Chocolate Chip/Butter Mixture.
ADD: 1 tsp VANILLA
¼ tsp ALMOND EXTRACT

CREAM CHEESE BATTER
CREAM: 3 oz CREAM CHEESE
2 tbsp BUTTER
¼ cup SUGAR
BLEND IN well: 1 EGG (Large)
1 tbsp FLOUR
½ tsp VANILLA

Spread ½ CHOCOLATE BATTER in greased (“Pammed”) 9” x 9” square pan. Cover with CREAM CHEESE BATTER. Spread remaining CHOCOLATE BATTER on top and marble. Bake for 30-40 minutes; brownies are done when cake just pulls away from side of pan.

Yum! Brownies

2009-08-27T20:36:00.001-07:00

I made these out of a box so there's no need for a detailed description, but I would like to thank the check-out girl at Trader Joe's for the Peanut Butter Cup suggestion. They were really, really good. Today when I was there I bought 3 more boxes.

Mmmmmmmmmmm!!!

Changin' It Up

2009-08-14T22:10:00.000-07:00

I started this blog with the intention of baking/cooking healthy recipes, recipes that are low in fat/carbs & sugar, but i don't think it's working out too well.

I hardly ever make anything post worthy that is really all that good for you, and I would like to add new entries more often, so I will be adding all sorts of goodies from here on out.

High Protein Pancakes

2009-06-26T18:15:00.000-07:00

I was given this recipe to try & I am very happy with it. The pancakes taste great & it's really simple. I did use whole eggs instead of egg whites though, & I added a bit of salt. The raspberry sauce was also my creation.

2 eggs whites
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup fat-free cottage cheese
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
Dash of salt
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
2 tablespoons of Splenda

1. Raspberry Sauce:In a saucepan, bring less than 1/4 cup of water to boil, add raspberries, crush berries as they simmer, add Splenda, and stir until sauce reaches desired thickness. Pour into serving dish & chill until needed.

2. Blend first five ingredients until smooth (I use the magic bullet; if you use a blender be sure to put the wet ingredients in first)

3. Pour approximately 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto heated griddle or non-stick pan (check to see if its hot enough with a splash of water-if it sizzles, its hot enough)

4. When pancake bubbles, flip and cook the other side

5. Top with raspberry sauce & enjoy (I used plums as a garnish also).

Nutrition Facts

Makes 2 Servings (Three ¼ cup pancakes with ¼ cup raspberries)

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 254.5

Total Fat: 3.3 g

Saturated Fat: 0.8 g

Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.0 g

Monounsaturated Fat: 1.0 g

Cholesterol: 2.3 mg

Sodium: 280.0 mg

Potassium: 297.8 mg

Total Carbohydrate: 33.8 g

Dietary Fiber: 5.3 g

Sugars: 2.5 g

Protein: 21.3 g

First Low carb Pizza Attempt

2009-05-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 C flax seed meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
3 Tablespoons of oil
3 eggs
1/2 C water

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425 F.
Mix dry ingredients together.
Add wet ingredients, and mix very well.
Let sit for about 5 minutes to thicken.

Spread on pan (I put it on a silicon mat or greased parchment paper).
Bake for 15-18 minutes until cooked through, then add toppings and cook until they are done.

Nutritional Analysis:
Whole crust has 7 grams of effective carbohydrate, plus 52 grams fiber, 47 grams protein, 130 grams healthy fat, and 1525 calories.

It's Cookie Time!

2009-04-16T18:26:00.000-07:00

The other day my aunt gave a small class on decorating cookies, and I had so much fun that all I've been wanting to do since that is decorate cookies. So today that's what I did.

They're sugar cookies made with Splenda, but the icing is full of sugar (oh well).

The designs were something I thought of after the class and I am very pleased with how they turned out (well most of them).

Please let me know which one is your favorite!! If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you might be able to make a better decision.

Cookie Recipe

1 cup butter (two sticks)

1 cup granulated SPLENDA

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Cream together butter & Splenda until "fluffy". Add egg & vanilla. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, then add to butter mixture. Mix well. Roll out dough to 1/4" & cut out cookie shapes. (Best if chilled before baking) Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 F. Yields approximately 4 dozen, 3" cookies.

Now, I will be completely honest, my cookies did not taste so good, but it wasn't because of the Splenda. As I just typed the ingredients, I realized I forgot to add the salt. It's amazing what a difference salt can make.

Today's Snack

2009-04-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

Well, this isn't exactly what I pictured as my first creation, but it's what came to me, and it's what I had time for.

I love hummus & while it's not that bad for you as far as dipping condiments go, what I like to eat with it usually is, so today I had something different.

I made my own BAKED CHIPS with WHOLE WHEAT, LOW CARB, HIGH FIBER tortillas, and they were perfect. The texture it kinda tough/chewy, but I like that. To avoid that texture use LOW CARB tortillas that are not whole wheat.

Just bake on a cookie sheet (I spray the tortillas with PAM olive oil) at 375 degrees for about 8-10 minutes or until you think they're done, and enjoy.

Fat: 2g

Carb: 3g (net)

Fiber: 7g

Protein: 5g

Slacker

2009-04-05T05:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I know I should have something up by now, but I probably wont make another post here until Monday 0r Tuesday.

Please bear with me.

Baking Challenge

2009-03-30T16:45:00.000-07:00

My husband has asked me to search for some HEALTHY cakes, cookies, & anything else that qualifies as a dessert. If he had it his way they would all be FAT FREE, SUGAR FREE, & LOW CARB.

So that's what this blog is all about creating & sharing recipes for healthy sweets that taste just as good as the bad stuff.

It might be a few days before I make another post, but once I get started I should be posting new finds/creations at least twice a week.

Please feel free to share your ideas with me.