Shoofly Pie

Shoofly Pie (Shoe fly Pie or Shoo Fly Pie)

When we were in Pennsylvania last year for my husband's working stint we ate several of these on cold winter evenings....enjoying it with a cup of coffee or hot cocoa.

To read the interesting history about this pie and the different versions click here

Shoofly Pie

You must use molasses in order for it to be a Shoofly Pie!

Ingredients:

1 frozen pie crust or make own (see below)                        

1 cup all-purpose flour                                                         

2/3 cup firmly backed light brown sugar                             

3 tbsp butter                                                                         

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon                                                     

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg                                                         

1/4 tsp ground ginger                                                           

1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup dark or light molasses
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg, beaten lightly

(use light or dark molasses depending on your "boldness" preference)

Pie Directions:

Add pie weights or dried beans to frozen pie crust and bake 15 minutes at degrees stated on packaging. Remove weights and bake until golden brown or use the delicious pie crust recipe below...It's easier than you think!

Filling:

Using a pastry cutter or food processor mix flour, brown sugar, butter, all the spices and salt until crumbly. 

Stir together the boiling water and baking soda in a large bowl and let stand for 1 minute. Stir together the molasses, corn syrup, vanilla, and egg in a medium bowl and mix into the water mixture. 

Sprinkle half of the crumb flour mixture on bottom of prepared crust. Pour molasses mixture over crumb mixture. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over filling.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until set. Remove from oven to a wire rack, and cool for about 2 hours. 

Pie Crust

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

1/4 tsp salt

4 to 5 tbsp ice cold water

Combine flour, butter and salt in a bowl and blend with pastry blender until it resembles crumbs. Sprinkle ice water, 1 tbsp at a time, over flour mixture and stir with a fork until moistened. Shape dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat over to 425 degrees. Lightly flour surface and roll dough into a 13 inch circle. Lay dough into a 9 inch pie plate, fold and crimp edges of dough to fit plate. 

Line pastry with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights and bake 5 to 8 minutes longer or until golden brown. Cool completely before adding desired filling. 

If you make this recipe please comment below on how it turned out and any changes you made.

Have an awesome week.

Happy Living!
Happy Cooking!
Be Kind and Love All

Sweet Potato Bourbon Cake

When was the last time you had a Bundt Cake?  My mother always baked a bundt cake along with a traditional birthday cake for birthday celebrations. Every single birthday picture of those times gone by, of blowing out candles, there sits the infamous bundt cake holding it's position near the birthday cake.

Here is an awesome Bundt cake recipe using sweet potatoes and bourbon, always a tasty combination. Don't forget to drizzle the cake with the Bourbon Syrup! And sorry...no picture available until I make it again! When I remembered and went back to take a picture, the entire cake was gone!

Sweet Potato Bourbon Cake

3 tbsp chopped pecans

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 cup cooked sweet potatoes

1 tsp vanilla

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup milk

1/3 cup bourbon or apple juice

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

3/4 tsp salt

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and sugar a 10 or 12 cup Bundt pan. (using granulated sugar to coat the bundt pan will add a sugary golden crust to the cake). Sprinkle bottom and up the sides of pan with pecans.

In a large mixing bowl, mix brown sugar, butter and eggs until very light and fluffy. Add sweet potatoes and vanilla and mix very well. At the remaining ingredients, mixing well. Spoon into prepared pan.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack. If desired, drizzle with Bourbon Syrup. 

16 servings

Bourbon Syrup

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 tsp butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp bourbon

In a small saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil. Boil 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Cook until a syrupy consistency.

Variations:

Rum or brandy can be substituted for the bourbon.
Add chopped or pecan halves during the cooking process.

If you make this cake comment on how you liked it and if you made changes. Variations are always great.

Life is full of many journeys. 

Check out my Journeys:

Gardening Journey

Cooking Journey

Machine Embroidery Journey

Journey with My Pets and Other Creatures 

Bacon Brittle

Holy Bacon Brittle! 

I've not tried this recipe yet but my gosh...how can you go wrong with nuts, sugar AND Bacon! 

Bacon Brittle

1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1 stick of butter
1 1/2 cups mixed nuts
1 tsp salt
16 halved bacon pieces, cooked
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Cook sugar, light corn syrup and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until a candy thermometer registers 260 degrees, 10 - 12 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter, mixed nuts and salt. Place back on heat and cook, undisturbed, until 285 degrees is reached, 5 -10 minutes. Stir in the halved cooked bacon slices, the baking soda and vanilla. Cook, stirring, until darkened, 1- 2 minutes. Pour onto a buttered foil-lined baking sheet. Let cool, then break into pieces. Enjoy.

It just has to be good!

If you try it come back and let us know how it turned out, what challenges you had and what changes you may have made.



Recipe and photo from Food Network Magazine, 100 Recipes for Butter Lovers supplement, Volume 12, Number 3. April, 2019

Fluffiest Ever Pancakes

Fluffy Pancakes

I think these are the fluffiest I've made. I used my iron skillet, let it heat with nothing in it for about 3 minutes or until I started to see it smoking slightly. Added a tablespoon of oil and let the oil get hot then added the batter. Turned the heat down to medium low and let cook until edges of batter were drying out. Flipped and cooked a few minutes more while checking the undersides to make sure they were not getting too dark. They were fantastic!

I could get 3 to 4 pancakes in the skillet and didn't re-oil for second batch. 

Fluffiest Ever Pancakes:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon granulated white sugar

1 1/4 cup milk or buttermilk

1 egg

3 tablespoons melted butter

This is what I did:

Measure out the dry ingredients into a bowl and sift together...twice. Set aside. (I believe sifting is the key to fluffiness so don't miss this step) If you don't have a sifter, go buy one...they're cheap!

Measure out milk into a bowl or 2 cup measuring cup. If you want to use buttermilk but don't have any on hand you can make it by adding 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, white vinegar or lemon juice to the milk. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes. What you save on making your own buttermilk you can spend on a sifter!

Add the egg to the milk and stir until the egg is broken and incorporated, then stir in the melted butter. Pour the milk mixture into the dry mixture and stir until mixed. Lumps in batter are okay and expected. 

Pour batter into hot oiled skillet creating desired size pancakes. If need be adjust heat to medium low to prevent burning pancakes. Don't flip until edges are dry, checking the underside for over browning. Once flipped cooked an additional 3 or so minutes. 

Enjoy with butter and syrup.

Variations: 

To batter add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp vanilla or other extract such as butter pecan, peach, orange or almond.

Add 1/4 cup chocolate chips to batter

Add finely chopped pecans or walnuts to batter.

Serve with strawberries and whipped cream

Experiment with different varieties of syrup

Serve with breakfast sausage or bacon or BOTH...why not.

Instant Pot Brain Explosion Realization

Years ago when I first heard of the Instant Pot (IP) I was like "oh another kitchen gadget that will take up counter space" I'm late to the IP game, but let me tell you, the IP can take up as much counter space as it wants!

I'm definitely hooked and sometimes I think I need two!

I bought it for my husband to use (haha) and it's become MY main cooking appliance. I HAVE used a pressure cooker before as I own an older stove top model that has the little rocker valve on the lid. I was never afraid of it but it did need attention, increasing and decreasing the flame to keep the rocker rocking at an even rhythm. 

What I love about the IP is the set it and move on to something else and when the pot beeps, supper is ready function.....Amazing! 

Thus far I have cooked pinto beans, chicken noodle soup using chicken from a whole chicken cooked in the IP.  I'll always now cook ribs in the IP. Rice is amazing! Boiled eggs are amazing! Whole baked sweet potatoes are awesome. I did Jambalaya today, again using meat from a whole chicken cooked in the IP. I cook a chicken a week now and use the meat in meals.

I've done spaghetti, pork roast, corned beef and cabbage, a whole unpeeled butternut squash and a bunch of fresh veggies. Scramble eggs are the best under pressure....cook and eat out of the same bowl. Clean-up is a snap! Oh and I've proofed bread. So many things I've not yet tried and Pinterest is full of ideas! I'm surprised I've not bombed any meals thus far. 

Melt in your mouth ribs (25 minutes under pressure and 10 minutes finishing in the oven)

Whole chicken that falls apart. (40 minutes under pressure)

The golden chicken broth is a bonus

Never fail easy to peel boiled eggs (6 minutes under pressure)

Homemade chicken noodle soup
(12 minutes under pressure. I was unsure about the noodles so I switched the IP to saute and added the noodles and cooked until noodles were tender)

Jambalaya (12 minutes under pressure using pre-cooked meats)

I use the IP so much that when my mother recently wanted to heat up some soup on the gas stove we discovered we were totally out of propane and didn't even know it bc it's been weeks since I've used the stove and I generally cook something every day! 

Happy Cooking!

Happy Eating!

Low Carb Pizza Crust

This I must say was really good and gets top rating.

Low Carb Thin Pizza Crust

(Pic shows unbaked pizza crust)

Ingredients:

1 whole egg

3 egg whites, or 1/3 cup carton egg whites

2 cups shredded part skim Mozzarella cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup Parmasen Cheese, optional

Salt, to taste

Italian seasonings, to taste

Onion powder, to taste

Garlic powder, to taste

2 Tbsp each flax meal and coconut flour or almond flour, optional

1. In a bowl, mix egg with egg whites, or carton egg whites.
2. Add shredded part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese.
3. Add desired amounts of salt, Italian seasonings, onion powder and garlic powder.
4. Add flax meal and coconut flour or almond flour and mix all ingredients well.
5. Spread mixture on greased parchment lined pizza pan or cookie sheet. Press mixture evenly from center to edges. (Very important to grease parchment paper or crust will stick to pan).
6. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes (crust can be turned after 15 minutes for extra crispy crust.)

Once crust has cooled, top with pizza sauce and desired toppings. Heat in 350 degree oven until toppings are heated through, 10 - 15 minutes.

Makes one large size pizza.

Serving size: 1/8 of pizza 

Notes:

> Almond flour can be used instead of coconut flour. 

> Flax meal and flours can be left out, but helps with binding

> I sprinkled about 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese in mixture.

> Check after 15 minutes of baking. I think 20 minutes is a little too long and my crust was rather dark on the bottom which made it a little too crispy.

> Crust held the weight of toppings amazingly well.

Nutrition per slice (Crust Only): Calories 173, Fat 11gm, Carb 3 gm,  Fiber 1.4 gm, 

Protein 13.5 gm.

Note:

Important to check sauce label...Ragu and Prego pizza sauces have added sugar and carbs are 9 -11 grams per serving. Kroger brand, pizza parlor style sauce, has no added sugar and carbs are 4 grams per serving. Read those labels!

This recipe was adapted from THM and LowCarbFriends.com 

Mashed Cauliflower "Potatoes"

 

I really liked these, but my DH did not! He's not a cauliflower fan and saw me making this so the recipe had strikes against it from the start! I served them with baked cube steak and really liked the combined taste. Try them...but you may need to make them in secret if you family has an aversion to cauliflower.

 

Mashed Cauliflower "Potatoes"

 

 

1 small to medium cauliflower

1 to 2 Tablespoons of water

1 to 2 Tablespoons of butter or taste

1/4 cup heavy cream, or less depending on desired consistency

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Chop or pull apart cauliflower into small pieces. Place in microwaveable covered casserole. Add water and microwave covered on High for 5 minutes, stir and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes on high or until cauliflower is tender. Drain well and let sit for about 5 minutes. Place cooked cauliflower in blender, food processor or use and immersion blender. Add butter and heavy cream and process until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.

 

Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

 

Try these Add-ins for different flavors:

• minced garlic
• parmesan cheese
• cooked bacon pieces
• sour cream instead of heavy cream
• chives
• cheddar cheese