Baking Therapy

When I am under stress I like to bake. A batch of muffins is my typical medicine of choice. My mom made them quite often when we were kids, and I remember the best mornings were when I would wake up to the smell of freshly baked banana muffins... I still crave that recipe today, so warm and comforting, which I suppose explains why I gravitate to it when upset.
This past month has brought a storm of baking therapy into our kitchen. For those of you unaware my younger brother has been very seriously ill. We have done our best as a family to keep details off of web pages and facebook, and to respect his privacy I wont include any here. But the truth is that I am a mess. I am very protective and emotional about my family. And his sickness, although definitely enough to cause much stress and worry on its own, is untimely happening when Matt has an important work project that takes him out of town for a week right during Christmas, and while I am undergoing another round of infertility treatments/hormones. So in an attempt to put on a brave face and weather this holiday season alone in Texas... I am baking. A LOT.

So far my baking therapy list has included;

Christmas candy popcorn (cherry & lime)
Nuts and Bolts
White Chocolate Almond Fudge
Sugar cookies
toffee
Snicker-doodles
Gingersnaps
Hot Chocolate Rice Krispie Squares
and of course 2 kinds of Muffins.


With pinterest it is almost becoming obsolete to pass along recipes... but in the spirit of Christmas here is my gift to you. 10 great recipes to help improve your  mood and expand your waistline!
(And if you only try one go for the gingersnaps or the Christmas popcorn... delicious!)

Candy Popcorn
20 C popped popcorn
1/2 c margarine
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 pkg. Kool-Aid
Melt margarine, add syrup and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Add Kool-Aid and baking soda. (mixture will foam) Pour over popcorn, stir until coated. Put on large cookie sheet and bake at 250 for 15 min. Remove and toss like a salad to break up chunks.  *I made cherry & lime flavored... so yummy!

Nuts and Bolts (Grandma Edwards recipe)
2c Cheerios
2c Chex or Shreddies
2c Pretzels
2c Bugles
2c Peanuts
2c Almonds
2c CheezIts ( I used goldfish for Wheeler)
1/2 c marg-melted
2 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp onion salt
Combine all ingredients dry, then wet and mix. bake 30 minutes at 250. Stirring every 10 minutes.

White Chocolate Fudge ( with almonds)
3c sugar
3/4 c butter
2/3c evaporated milk
1 pkg. white choc. chips
1 jar marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped almonds
1 tsp vanilla.
Combine sugar, butter, milk in sauce pan. Bring to a boil stirring constantly until reaches soft ball stage. (234 degrees) remove from heat add chocolate until melted, marshmallow creme. Mix well and ad nuts and vanilla. spread in 9X13 pan, chill 2 hours.

Old Fashioned Soft Sugar Cookies
1/2 c soft marg.
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c thick sour cream
3 1/4 c sifted flour
1tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
Combine first 4 ingredients, beat on med for 2 minutes. Add sourcream then flour/soda/salt. Cool in fridge for 20 minutes, roll out to 1/4" thick, cut with cookies cutters. Bake 10-12 minutes.

Grandma Jensens Toffee
1 can eagle brand milk
3 c brown suar
1 cup syryp
1 cup butter
1 cup nuts (optional)
Mix ingredients, bloil 20 minutes, stirring constantly until hard ball in cold water. Put in a greased pan- cool.

Snicker-doodles
1/2 c butter
1/2 c shortening
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 c flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 T sugar + 2 T of cinnamon for rolling
Mix first 4 ingredients on med. for 2 min. Blend in flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt.  Shape dough into balls and roll in cinnamon sugar. bake at 400 on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes.

Grandma Leavitt's soft Gingersnaps
3/4 c butter
1 c sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
melt butter and cool it. Add sugar, molasses and egg. Mix in dry ingredients and chill. Make into balls and roll in white sugar. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes (or until they crack).

Hot Chocolate Rice Krispie Squares.
Make Rice Krispie treats according to recipe on the box. Mix in 2 tbsp of your favorite hotchocolate mix to the butter/marshmallow stage. Enjoy!

Morning Glory Muffins- Fairholme bed and breakfast in Victoria Canada
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp all spice
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups carrots grated
1 apple peeled and grated
1 cup crushed pinapple drained ( I usually leave this out, but it is good in as well)
1/2 cup pecans (optional- I leave out for Wheeler)
3 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
Sift together flour, sugar, soda, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg and salt. Add the cocounut raisins, carrot, apple, pinapple and nuts. In separate bowl mix eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla. Combine slowly. Divide into muffin tins and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Favorite Fall muffins
3 eggs
2 c sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup apple sauce (or veg oil)
1 cup pumpkin puree
3 cups zucchini grated
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup pecans (optional)
Beat eggs, sugar on high until fluffy and light in colour. Mix vanilla, apple sauce (or oil), pumpkin and zucchini. Slowly combine dry ingredients and mix on low. Don't overmix. Add chocolate chips and nuts. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.