1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
½ t baking powder
2 T pumpkin pie spice
Cinnamon sugar
Cream together the butter and sugar. When the mixture is smooth, add in one egg at a time. In another bowl shift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and pumpkin pie spice. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture. Form dough into small balls, roll in cinnamon sugar and bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 8-10 minutes.
I feel as if it’s been forever since I shared a new Killer Recipe and, looking back, it has been. So I headed into the kitchen to experiment a bit and happily ended up with Chocolate Raisin Oatmeal Cookies that made me and my sweet tooth very happy and disappeared very quickly. I was not the only culprit.
So, just in time to be a sweet Valentine’s Day treat, here’s the recipe. Enjoy!
CHOCOLATE RAISIN OATMEAL COOKIES
1-3/4 sticks butter, softened 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats 1 cup chocolate chips 1/2 cup raisins (optional) 1/4 cup nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together sugars and then mix in eggs one at a a time. Add vanilla. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix dry ingredients into the butt/sugar mixture. Mix oin oats, chocolate chips, raisins and nuts. Measure out a tablespoon amount of dough, roll into a ball and place onto a greased or parchment lined baking sheet.
As always, the Morgan’s are celebrating their Irish heritage with gusto, including a traditional dinner followed by dessert. This year it’s Georgia’s favorite, Espresso Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey’s Irish Cream Frosting.
I hope you’ll try my latest Killer Recipe and. if you do, that you’ll let me know how it comes out. Meanwhile, I hope you’ll also enter my latest giveaway for a chance to win an Advance Reader Copy of VULNERABLE and that you’ll take a moment to enjoy the excerpt featured at my site.
The Morgan’s Espresso Chocolate Cupcakes with
Bailey’s Irish Cream Chocolate Frosting
A Mary Burton Killer Recipe
2 cups sugar
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cacao powder
1 tablespoon espresso powder
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup boiling water
Sift together the sugar, flour, cacao, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl beat together eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Mix into dry ingredients and then blend in boiling water. Pour into lined cupcake tins and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 12-15 minutes.
Frosting
1 stick of softened butter
1/3 cup softened cream cheese
2/3 cup cacao
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 tablespoons of milk
2 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream
3 cups powdered sugar
Whip together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add cacao and vanilla and blend. Alternating, mix the milk and the powdered sugar until creamy. When the cupcakes are cooled frost.
3 cups of shredded carrots
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
To the shredded carrots add eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil and vanilla. Mix well. Shift flour, salt, cinnamon, baking power and baking soda into carrot mixture. Gently mix and scoop into muffin cups. Makes about 12. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
(If possible, hand shred the carrots. It takes a bit longer to shred by hand but the carrots hold more moisture and this really enhances the texture of the muffins.)
Muffins can be dusted with powdered sugar or topped with a cream cheese icing. Both are delicious.
Cream Cheese Icing
½ cup cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups of powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons of milk
Cream all together until fluffy. When the muffins have cooled ice with frosting.
Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl blend sugar and oil and then mix in eggs one at a time. Add pumpkin to oil/sugar mixture. Add dry ingredients and blend until smooth. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes in a 9” x 4.5” bread pan lined with parchment paper.
I was talking the other day about plans for Fourth of July weekend and a question up about about family recipes, which quickly took me back in time to July at my grandparents’ small farm in Roanoke, Virginia and Grandma’s fried pies.
My grandmother always planned her meals around the seasons and at this time of year she and my grandfather had buckets of wild raspberries and blueberries to hand, so a berry pie was a natural in July. Grandma was great at making pies, though she loved to fry hers. In fact, my last conversation with her was about making pumpkin pie. She never really worked with a recipe but tossed in a little of this and that. That’s the beauty of a pie—you don’t need to be as precise as with a cake.
As the years have gone by, one thing that stays the same is that Virginia’s fresh berries and peaches are in abundance and, like my grandmother, I can’t resist using them. I do a bit of a modern take on her pies, using puff pastry, and — for Independence Day — arranging the berries in the shape of an American flag. I love that version and so does my family but still . . . hmm. It’s not quite Grandmother’s. So of course, I prepared both this week — my puff pastry berry pie and grandmother’s fried version. Nothing like getting a head start on the holiday weekend victuals.
Here’s how they turned out, along with the recipes. I hope you enjoy them.
Mary’s Fourth of July Puff Pastry Flag
1 sheet of puff pastry, defrosted
Sliced strawberries, peaches and blueberries
½ cup sugar
1 egg
1 jar apple jelly
Lay out the sheet of puff pastry on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. With a knife, score or outline the edge of the pastry one inch from the edge all the way around. When the pastry cooks this score or shallow indent will allow the edges to puff up and create a nice frame around the edge of the pasty. Sprinkle ¼ cup of sugar on the pastry and then arrange the fruit in the shape of a flag. Sprinkle remaining sugar on fruit. Beat egg and brush or wash it over the dough at the outer edge of the pastry. This will allow the pastry to brown nicely on the edges.
Cook in a preheated 350-degree oven for 20 minutes. Melt the apple jelly on the stove in a small saucepan and when the pastry is cooked brush the fruit with the melted jelly until it glistens.
Grandma Mary’s Fried Pies
Dough
½ cup cold butter
1 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup ice water
Cut the butter into squares and then sprinkle the flour over it. Work the flour and butter together with a pastry blender or a fork and knife until it resembles cornmeal. Slowly mix in the ice water until the dough comes together into a ball. Go slow with the water because you might not need it all to finish the dough. Wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
Fruit Filling
1 cup water
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter
1 -2 cups cut up fruit (I used strawberries, blueberries and peaches)
Oil for frying
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting
Heat the water in a saucepan with the sugar. Mix the cornstarch in a separate glass bowl with ½ cup water until it dissolves and then mix this cornstarch mixture into the water/sugar mixture. Add in the, vanilla fruit and cook for about five minutes. Drain off the juices and cool.
Assembly
Roll out chilled dough and cut into circles. Fill each dough round with a little bit of fruit and then fold it over into a half circle. Pinch edges so they are sealed.
When all your pies are assembled, heat a pan with cooking oil (about ½ inch deep) and then gently lower the pies into the hot oil. Cook on each side for about a minute, flip and cook for another minute. While they are still hot, dust the fried pies with confectioner’s sugar.
1-3/4 sticks butter, softened
Serve with love.
As always, the Morgan’s are celebrating their Irish heritage with gusto, including a traditional dinner followed by dessert. This year it’s Georgia’s favorite, Espresso Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey’s Irish Cream Frosting. 
