raisins

Kitchen Sink Oatmeal Cookies

Feb 20, 2018

Kitchen Sink Oatmeal Cookies – oatmeal cookies filled with everything but the kitchen sink! Chocolate chunks, white chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, walnuts, raisins, and coconut!

When we moved I realized I had a lot of mostly empty bags of chocolate chips.

A lot.

Same goes for pecans, shredded coconut, almond meal, bottles of vanilla, all the stuff I always think I’m out of when I’m out the store and apparently am never actually out of it.

Plus, 15 packages of almond bark even though I only use almond bark once a year for crockpot candy…? I don’t know, guys.

I guess everyone I know is getting crockpot candy for Christmas next year.

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Carrot Apple Salad

Aug 28, 2017

Carrot Apple Salad is the perfect quick, healthy side dish! It’s a kid favorite and so easy to put together. Thinly sliced carrots and apples with raisins in a creamy sweet and tangy dressing.

You guuuuys.

It’s finally the first day of school around here!

Y’all know I love summer but man, this was a long one. This was the first summer in years that we didn’t take several roadtrips so it was just me and 3 boys.

All summer.

In central Texas. Where from the hours of 9 am to 7 pm, it’s too hot to play outside most days.

ANYWAY.

So now we’re transitioning to school and soccer and football and whatever else the boys plan on getting into. I’m anticipating a very busy fall.

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No Bake Trail Mix Energy Bites

Jun 06, 2017

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BlueLizardSummer #CollectiveBias

No-Bake Trail Mix Energy Bites – filled with raisins, peanuts, chocolate chips, and M&MS! The perfect quick snack for hiking, beach trips, or school lunches!

Hi guys!

How’s the week going? What’d ya do last weekend?

We went out to the lake and had the best time. I’m obsessed with all things outdoors right now and thankfully, the tiny people I live with don’t seem to mind. We’ve hiked every trail in the area, swam in every lake, and I’m forever looking for new places to explore.

I’m already excited to spend every weekend for the rest of summer down at the lake.

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Monster Trail Mix

Jun 17, 2016

This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks/P&G.

Are you loving summer?

I’m loving summer. This has been the best summer of my life and we’re only a few weeks in. My kids are all at really good ages for outdoorsy things right now and we’re just really loving everything central Texas has to offer.

Plus, we’re counting down the days to our next roadtrip!

Wait. Another roadtrip with 3 boys and a dog?

Amanda, are you crazy?

Maybe.

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Irish Soda Bread

Mar 01, 2016

This post originally published on March 14, 2011. Photos updated on March 1, 2016.

I avoid the Irish soda bread trend every Saint Patrick’s Day. Partly because I’m a party pooper and only do themed posts for the super important holidays but mostly because every other food blogger has a post about soda bread going up about this time. Plus bread with raisins? That doesn’t even have yeast? Not my thing.

As I mentioned in my recent post about pasta with raisins, I’m trying to be more open-minded with food and even though I was convinced this was going to come out as a hard disk filled with sugary-sweet raisins, I forged ahead. (It’s also a good idea to ask someone you really trust for a recipe!)

I cannot tell you how shocked I am! This bread reminds me of something, maybe a biscuit? It’s soft and fluffy inside with little pockets of sweetness from the raisins and richness from the butter. I’m not sure you could make a better bread, to be completely honest. And I threw it all together in about 15 minutes! Seriously.

[clickToTweet tweet=”The BEST Irish Soda Bread recipe! So easy and so delicious!” quote=”The BEST Irish Soda Bread recipe! So easy and so delicious!”]

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Pumpkin Swirl Bread

Sep 14, 2014

It snowed on Friday!

Yes, snow!

I know!

This is our 4th winter in Colorado and we’ve never had snow before November. I didn’t believe the weather people when they started saying we’d get snow. Mostly because we never get snow when they say we will. I think they just like to play with my emotions. And then it’s when they say that we’re gonna have an unseasonably warm day with absolutely no precipitation that we get half a foot of snow.

That’s just how it works here.

But yeah, I was so disappointed when I woke up and couldn’t see anything coming down because it was so dark. And then I let Penelope (the husky) in and she was covered in the white stuff! It was pretty exciting.

It didn’t stick and never really got heavy so both my kids in school had recess in it which always sounds really cool to me because I’m from Mobile, Alabama and the 2 times in my life it snowed, we just got sent home early.

It also made me incredibly aware of the fact that my kids have basically no pants. So at 6:30 on Friday morning I was ordering all the boys pants that H&M has and possibly a poncho for me. What am I going to do with a poncho? I mean, really?

I think I’m even more excited for fall and winter now. The kids and I went to an apple farm yesterday and bought 10 pounds of apples and 3 big pumpkins. The pumpkins are definitely not going to last until Halloween but, ugh, I couldn’t help myself!

I also made Pumpkin Swirl Bread because once again, I couldn’t help myself. This version is so yummy. It’s a typical pumpkin bread but has a layer of sweetened cream cheese in the middle. It also has raisins which I considered leaving out but I’m really glad I didn’t. I really enjoyed them in this!

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Raisin Swirl Bread

Nov 07, 2012

The baby of the house looooooves raisin swirl bread. I didn’t know this about him until he started going to daycare and every time they would have raisin swirl bread for breakfast, the girls that work there would tell me that he ate 3 or 4 pieces. One day one of the girls said “I finally had to cut him off! He wanted to eat all of it!”

After hearing that, I had to go home and make some! If he loves something that much, I might as well have some hanging around the house for him. I have heard rave reviews about this particular recipe and it didn’t disappoint. It was light and fluffy with a crisp crust and everyone in the house loved it. Especially the baby!

I wanted to make French toast with it but the loaf was gone before I had the chance so it looks like I’ll be making it again soon!

One year ago: Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
Three years ago: Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients

For the bread:

1 packet active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar plus a pinch
1 1/4 cups warm milk
1/2 stick 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3 3/4 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

For the swirl:

1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins
3 tablespoons unsalted butter softened to a spreadable consistency

Instructions

To make the bread:

Put the yeast, pinch of sugar, and 1/4 cup of the warm milk in a small bowl. Let sit for 3 minutes then stir.
Working with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the remaining 1 cup of milk, the softened butter, and 1/4 cup of sugar. Mix on low speed for a minute before adding the salt, egg, and vanilla; mix for another minute. The mixture will likely look curdled but that's okay. Add in the yeast mixture and beat on medium speed for 1 more minute.
Add 2 3/4 cups of the flour and mix on low speed just until the flour is moistened. If you have a dough hook for your stand mixer, switch now. Add 1 more cup of flour and increase the mixer to medium; beat the dough until it comes together and starts to clean the side, adding the remaining 1/4 cup of flour as needed. Keep the mixer at medium speed for about 3 minutes or until the dough is smooth and has a buttery sheen. The dough will be very soft.
Turn the dough into a greased bowl; cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
Scrape the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap, wrap tightly and put in the freezer for about 30 minutes or until it is firm enough to be rolled easily.

To make the swirl and shape the loaf:

Butter a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
Whisk together the sugar and cinnamon.
Put the dough on a floured work surface and lightly dust the top of the dough with flour. Roll the dough into a 12x18-inch rectangle.
Gently spread 2 tablespoons of the butter over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over top and scatter on the raisins. Starting from a short side of the dough, roll it up tightly, jelly-roll style. Fit the dough into the prepared pan, seam side down, and truck the ends under the loaf.
Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes or until the dough comes just a little above the edge of the pan.

Getting ready to bake:

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment.
Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and brush the top of the loaf with it. Place the loaf pan on the parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes. Cover loosely with an aluminum foil tent and bake for another 25 minutes until the bread is golden and sounds hollow when tapped. Transfer the loaf pan to a wire rack and cool 5 minutes before turning it out. Cool to room temperature before slicing.

Cinnamon Apple Pie with Raisins and Crumb Topping

Dec 12, 2011

Time again for a Secret Recipe Club post!

I hit the jackpot with my secret blog this month: Kristine’s Kitchen. Kristine has healthy food, naughty food, and everything in between. After sorting through her blog, I tweeted:

I got a bunch of replies telling me to let the husband choose and decided to pick the one I knew he would want: apple pie. Because if pie is an option, he’s going for it.

I was intrigued by this recipe because for one, it includes raisins. I have a very recent love for raisins so I knew I would love this. The recipe also calls for you to put the raw apples right into the pie crust instead of cooking them first, which is something I’ve never done when making a pie.

The pie turned out fantastic! And so easy since you literally just toss the ingredients together and throw them in the crust! My husband declared it the best apple pie ever to which I said, “Umm… you said that about the last apple pie I made”. He decided that they are equally good but this one is more of a seasonal apple pie because of the raisins. Men…

This is definitely one I’ll make again and again!

Two years ago: Mint Brownies

5 from 2 votes

Print

Cinnamon Apple Pie with Raisins and Crumb Topping

Ingredients

1 refrigerated pie dough

1 cup packed golden brown sugar

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 3/4 pounds Granny Smith apples about 6 medium, peeled, cored, cut into chunks

1 cup raisins

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Crumb Topping:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup packed golden brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup 1 stick chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Instructions

For the crust, roll out pie dough to a 14-inch circle. Transfer to a pie dish by gently wrapping the dough around a rolling pin and then carefully unrolling it. Gently press dough down into pie dish and trim excess dough around edges, leaving about a 1-inch overhang. Fold the edges under and crimp to make a decorative edge. Chill unbaked crust in freezer for 20 minutes.

To make the filling:

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375F. Mix brown sugar, flour, lemon peel, and cinnamon in large bowl. Add apple chunks, raisins, and vanilla; toss until well coated. Transfer filling to unbaked crust, mounding filling slightly in center. Bake pie until apples begin to soften, about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare crumb topping:

Whisk flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in small bowl. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture begins to clump together.

Sprinkle topping evenly over hot pie. Continue to bake pie until apples are tender and topping is browned and crisp, tenting pie with sheet of foil if browning too quickly, about 50 minutes. Cool pie on rack at least 2 hours.

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Beggar’s Linguine

Mar 11, 2011

In Around My French Table, Dorie explains that while the literal translation of this dish includes the word beggar, it’s typically used to describe a chocolate bonbon with nuts, dried fruit, and candied orange zest. That makes sense because I don’t know any beggars that can afford $6.99/lb pistachios. If they can, I’m in the wrong business.

This dish is basically a pasta tossed in browned butter with nuts and dried fruit and topped with orange zest and Parmesean. Now let me tell you that I don’t get buttered pasta. I often see other bloggers talk about how they grew up eating it when their mom didn’t feel like cooking or didn’t have time to get to the grocery store but growing up, we were more of a breakfast for dinner kind of family. So the idea of pasta with butter on it? It kind of grosses me out. In an effort to be more adventurous, I went ahead with the recipe.

It turned out really well! It’s not something that my husband or either of my kids would eat but it was a nice, quick lunch for me. I think it needs more nuts and fruit than the recipe calls for but if you’re into the buttered pasta thing, you’d probably love it just as it is. The figs are amazing, beyond amazing in the butter and with the almonds (I used balsamic almonds instead of plain). I added a large pinch of sea salt to the butter as it was browning and the saltiness with the sweet was perfect.

If you’re interested in cooking and baking you’re way through Around My French Table, make sure you visit French Fridays with Dorie. If you’re looking for the recipe, it can be found in Around My French Table.