Whole Wheat Pinch-Me Cake

I remember helping my mom make Pinch-Me Cake as a little girl.  I loved rolling the yeasty dough into balls and covering it with cinnamon and sugar.  It smelled wonderful while it was baking and tasted even better later when we ate it.

There was something special about the eating of it, too.  Once, for a special family celebration, we made it and when the women had settled down at the table to talk, the Pinch-Me Cake went in the middle.  Everyone pinched off pieces as they caught up with what was happening in each other's lives.  It was, at least for me, the social centerpiece of the party, and I've never forgotten it.

I don't think my kids are likely to forget it, either.  They LOVED making this cake - every aspect of it.  We made it for a special breakfast, served with fresh fruit, and we sat around the table on an icy Saturday morning enjoying a breakfast together.  With only four of us, we had leftovers the next day, which made everyone happy again.

This cake's specialness doesn't happen in the blink of an eye, though.  It takes time to put together - not just concentrated time, but slow, take-a-big-part-of-your-day time.  The bread needs to rise and roll and rise again and bake, so this is a great project for an at-home day.  It does most of the work itself, but it does require frequent checks - and kids love to help make it.

Pinch-Me Cake is worth the effort, though.  It's definitely one of those meals that makes people appreciate something done well.  If, however, you really want to speed up the process, you can use frozen bread dough, and that will allow you to skip several steps.

We chose to make this now as part of our Amish studies unit - for in central Pennsylvania where I'm from, you often see a treat of this sort at Amish roadside stands.  We've lightened it up a bit here with a yummy whole wheat dough, but there's still plenty of cinnamony sweetness. Amish or not, this makes a fun treat for the whole family.

Ingredients:

• 5 3/4 - 6 1/4 c. white-wheat flour
• 2 1/4 c. milk
• 2 T. honey
• 2 1/4 t. active dry yeast
• 2 t. salt
• 1 T. butter
• 1/2 c. sugar
• cinnamon
• 1 stick butter
• 1 c. brown sugar + handful

Directions:

1. Combine the flour and yeast.
2. In a small saucepan, heat milk, honey, butter, and salt until just warm, stirring constantly.
3. Add to dry mixture and beat at low speed for 1/2 minute.
4. Scrape sides of bowl.
5. Beat for 3 more minutes at high speed.
6. Slowly stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough.
7. Knead for 8-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
8. Shape into a ball.
9. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface.
10. Cover; let rise in a warm place 'til double, about 1 1/4 hours.
11. Punch dough down.
12. Divide dough in half.
13. Combine 1/2 c. sugar with enough cinnamon to become a warm brown color in a small bowl.
14. Pull off dough the size of a walnut and roll gently into a ball.  Roll in the cinnamon-  sugar mixture.  Place into a buttered Bundt pan.  Repeat until you have used half the dough.
15. Sprinkle a handful of brown sugar over the dough balls in the Bundt pan.
16. Repeat rolling process with second half of the dough.
17. Cover and let rise in a warm place until 1 inch from the top of the pan, about 30 - 45 minutes.
18. In a small saucepan, melt 1/2 cup of butter and stir in the brown sugar to make a 'goo.'
19. Pour 'goo' over the dough in the Bundt pan.
20. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes.
21. Turn out onto a foil-covered pan.
22. Serve warm.

The picture of only a partial cake above?  That's because people started eating it as soon as I flipped it over - there was never a whole cake to photograh.  Pinch-Me Cake is always a hit.

What's your favorite special occasion dish?

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

When I was a kid in Pennsylvania these were my favorite treat.  My mom used to make big batches, wrap them individually in waxed paper, and hide them in tins all over the house.  When she was at work, Dad and I would hunt for them.  I distinctly remember finding a tin of whoopie pies waaayyyy in the back of their closet - and another deep in the freezer.  Those we ate even before they thawed - just let them hang out beside the wood stove for a bit and then ate them frozen.  Yum!

While Mom didn't make them nearly as often as I would've liked - I wouldn't have, either, at the rate we went through them - whoopie pies can be found at every Amish stand, market, or store at home in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania (home of the Belleville, the purest white top community in the world).  Some markets even have them in different flavors, but the basic chocolate remains my favorite.

Since my Big Helper's book club is meeting this week to discuss Suzanne Woods Fisher's Life with Lily, we decided to study Amish culture this month.  Today we made my great-grandmother's Chocolate Whoopie Pies.

These whoopie pies are chocolatey and moist.  They don't rise up super high, but they definitely grow in the oven, and that's good - a tiny one just wouldn't cut it.

Here's how to make your own Chocolate Whoopie Pies.

Ingredients:

• 2 c. sugar
• 1 c. shortening
• 2 egg yolks
• 4 c. flour
• 1 c. cocoa or a little less
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 t. baking soda
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1 c. sour milk
• 3/4 c. hot water

Icing Ingredients:

• 3 c. powdered sugar
• 2/3 c. shortening
• 2 t. vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 5 T. milk

Directions:

1. Cream sugar and shortening.
2. Add egg yolks and beat well.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend slowly.  (If you don't have any sour milk, you can put 1 T. of milk into a liquid measuring cup and then fill to the one-cup line with milk.  Let it sit for 5 minutes, stir, and add.)
4. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  
5. Drop batter onto the parchment by the tablespoon.  Leave 2 inches between each dollop - this batter will spread!
6. Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees F.
7. Remove from tray onto a tea towel or cooling rack.
8. When pies are completely cool, match them up with others their same size and shape.
9. Fill each pair with icing.  (To make the icing, cream all ingredients.)  One batch of icing should be enough for one batch of whoopie pies.
10. Store in an air-tight container.
11. Try to keep some in that container.  Go ahead- I dare you!

I couldn't get a picture of the actual mixing process - they were so excited that it flew by.  They were even happier to get their fingers into the icing, though!

Our finished product.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

This time of year, we want to share with everybody.  My kids want to take cookies to the firefighters and their favorite librarian and the mailman and every clerk at every store they meet.

While I like their giving attitude, that's a lot of baking.  And while I love to bake, during December I also need to decorate and make presents and wrap presents and teach and ... well, you know the drill.

So while we are going to bake and share cookies, sometimes we get the idea to share them faster than we can decorate them, and that's where these cookie bars come in.  They're homemade, taste great, and easy to mix up.  They even bake quickly, so soon you'll be slicing and bagging them to take to your very favorite community helpers.

So, if you find yourself with more people to gift than time to make presents, try out these cookie bars.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. butter
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2 1/4 c. white-wheat flour
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 c. chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Cream the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla.
2. Add eggs and beat well.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. 
4. Gradually beat into the creamed mixture.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Spread the batter in a greased 9X13" pan.  
7. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

These are even more festive with M&Ms instead of chocolate chips, too!

What's your favorite foodie gift?

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

I saw a recipe on Pinterest the other day that fascinated me.  A Pumpkin Snickerdoodle.  We love pumpkin around here, and I can't keep snickerdoodles in the house no matter how hard I try - so this seemed like the perfect recipe to bake, especially with all the fresh pumpkin we currently have.

But when I read the actual recipe, I was disappointed with some of the ingredients.

For a recipe that included pumpkin, it called for lots of butter - and big amounts of multiple sugars, too.  So I decided to play with this recipe a bit and see if I couldn't make it a bit healthier.  I reduced the amount of butter, simplified and reduced the sugars, and swapped out the white flour for white wheat.  Oh, and the pumpkin?  I added more of that good stuff.

In the end, we got soft, old-fashioned snickerdoodles with a spicy, fall finish on the outside that are much better for us.

I can't keep this pumpkin version in the house, either.

I think they were a hit.

Here's how to make your own Pumpkin Snickerdoodles.

Dough Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 t. vanilla extract
• 3 3/4 c. white-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

Spice Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t. ground ginger

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar.  
2. Add egg and vanilla extract.  Stir until shiny.
3. Add pumpkin puree.
4. In a medium-sized bowl, combine all dry ingredients.  
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients slowly.
6. Chill dough for 45 - 60 minutes.
7. Combine spice ingredients in a small bowl.
8. Roll dough into balls.
9. Coat the dough balls with the spice mixture.  Place on cookie sheets.
10. Flatten each dough ball with the bottom of a glass.
11. Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes.
12. Remove from tray and cool.

These cookies are great with a glass of milk or on a pretty platter shared with friends - and those spices make your house smell great while the cookies are baking!

What is your favorite kind of cookie?

Apple Pie Enchiladas

A few days ago I was thinking about all the things I'd like to do with a few bushels of apples - but I only had two Granny Smiths in the fridge.  After thinking over my options and our need for a quick, yummy breakfast, I came up with this dish.

The kids and I loved the cinnamon sugar snowflakes we made out of tortillas last winter, and crepes stuffed with cinnamon apples make a great treat, so I combined the two to get these breakfast enchiladas.  They're quick and healthy but "fancy" enough for company, too.

So here's how to make your own Apple Pie Enchiladas:

Ingredients:

• 2 Granny Smith apples
• 2 T. honey
• 1/4 c. water
• 3 T. butter, softened & divided
• 1 1/2 t. cinnamon-sugar mixture
• 2 8-inch whole wheat tortillas
• 1 t. cinnamon

To make your enchiladas:

1. Peel and slice your apples into thin pieces.
2. Place them in a small frying pan with the cinnamon, honey, and half of the butter.
3. Saute the apples over medium heat until they are caramelized and cooked through.
4. Spread a thin layer of the remaining butter over the tortillas.
5. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture over the tortillas.  I keep a shaker of this in my cupboard, and I don't measure how to make it.  Just mix a few teaspoons of cinnamon with a few tablespoons of sugar until it's a happy soft brown color.  
6. Place half the apples into a tortilla.  Roll the tortilla up and place it in a baking dish. Repeat with the second tortilla.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until tortilla begins to get crispy.  Watch carefully - you don't want it to burn!
8. Enjoy plain or with whipped cream.  This would be a super fun dessert with ice cream, too, and lots simpler than making an apple pie - though those are fun, too.

What's your favorite way to eat an apple?