Cherry Pie Cups

These cups are so adorable and delicious. My son loved them because he got to eat his own little pie. I was going through my refrigerator getting rid of leftovers and all the yucky gunk left from Thanksgiving, when I realized I had 2 boxes of pie crusts left. I decided to use one to make chicken pot pie later in the week. (watch for the recipe) The other box contained only one crust, leftover from turkey day. I came up with a cute idea to make little pies in my cupcake tin! Brilliant and ingenious. I am sure someone has already thought of these cute little pies before me, but I was convinced for a brief moment that I was a genuis.

Cherry Pie Cups

1 refrigerated pie crust
1 can cherry pie filling, or filling of choice
cooking spray
granulated sugar

Preheat oven as directed on pie crust box.
Unroll pie crust onto cutting board.
Cut 6, 4" rounds from pie crust. ( I used the lid from a can of cashews and a pizza cutter, works fantastico!!)
Spray cupcake tin with cooking spray.
Press dough rounds into muffin cups, edges will be fluted.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of pie filling into each cup.
Eat extra pie filling with a spoon, and feel no shame!
Sprinkle edges of dough with sugar.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are lightly browned.
Let stand for 10 minutes, loosen edges with a butter knife and remove from muffin tins.

These are better than regular cherry pie. I don't know if it is the whimsy of eating a tiny little pie that is portioned just for me, or just the fact that I love cherry pie filling, but these are magnificient. I plan on making these at Christmas, but I thought I would try a few different varieties of pie filling and serve them on a tray together. Yummy!!

Cake Mix Chocolate Crinkles

I recently got a book out of the library called, Cake Mix Cookies. I read it cover to cover and wanted to eat every page, the cookies, not the actual book! The author is brilliant. She has created recipes for every type and flavor of cookie possible, in which the main ingredient is a box of cake mix. I thought this was incredibly clever, considering the way our economy is going right now, this truly will save you money, not to mention time. By the time you have purchased the ingredients in a typical cookie dough you are well into twenty dollars. If you use a cake mix, you can typically spend under five dollars, and that is if you really have NOTHING in your pantry, no oil, eggs or milk.

My sister and I were really inspired by this cook book and have decided to use cake mixes as the basis for most of our holiday baking. Seeing as tomorrow is December first, I thought I would start off the month by making a Christmas favorite in our family, the Chocolate Crinkle Cookie. My mother has made these every year for as long as I can remember. They are a rich cake like chocolate cookie that is rolled in powdered sugar before being baked. While baking the powdered sugar finds every nook and crannie in the cookie. They are actually a very pretty cookie, and so yummy!!!

Cake Mix Chocolate Crinkles

1 box Devil's Food cake mix
2 eggs
4 teaspoons milk
1/4 cup oil
powdered sugar


Mix cake mix, eggs, oil and milk in a large bowl. Dough will be very thick. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375. use a teaspoon to roll dough into 1 inch balls, and roll in powdered sugar. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Make sure you have a well greased cookie sheet, otherwise the powdered sugar will burn and make the cookies stick to the pan. Also, if you are a cookiholic like me, you might want to pop the dough in the freezer for 10 minutes instead of the refridgerator for 30 minuites. This is for those of us who have a I NEED TO EAT THEM NOW mentatlity. I include myself in this category.

German Apple Cake

My mother has always been a baker. Because of her, my sister and I have grown to love baked goods. It is a special bond. The yummy sweet aroma of a tasty treat from the oven is to me what the holidays is all about. Well, that and being with family and friends of course.

My mom is a lover of coffee and cake. Pound cake especially, as well as any kind of strudel or danish. At any time during my childhood you could wander into the kitchen and be sure to find some kind of baked good, whether it be homemade bread or cake.

I came across this recipe while searching for German recipes. It struck me because it calls for four cups of apples, which at first seemed like a ton! Upon making this cake, I found out that it is a perfect amount to achieve a really thick and dense batter, which by the way the batter was pretty tasty too! German Apple Cake


German Apple Cake

2 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups of peeled and diced apples ( I recommend you dice this in a small dice, otherwise the cake seems too lumpy)

Preheat the oven to 350
grease and dust a cake pan with flour, 9x13 works best
In a bowl combine the eggs with the oil and beat with an electric mixer until smooth
Add sugar and vanilla and beat again until it is well combined
In a second bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon
Slowly add the dry ingridents to the sugar, egg and oil mixture, the batter will be VERY thick
Fold in the diced apples
Spread into your cake pan and bake for 30 minutes
Cake is done when a knife inserted comes out clean

The original recipe calls for this cake to be baked for 45 minutes. I checked mine and it was done at only 30 minutes, but my oven does cook a little hot. Adjust accordingly.

YUMMY! I sprinkled my cake with confectioner's sugar. This cake has a very crunchy top layer, which I think is excellent!!