justJENN recipes

Eggplants from the farmer’s market are gorgeous right now. This is an easy way to serve up a small side of eggplant parmigiana for your whole family.

ingredients:
2 Italian eggplants
flour
2 eggs
breadcrumbs
salt
pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic

1 28 oz can tomatoes
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
fresh ground pepper

1-1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parmigiana cheese

Slice the eggplant into rounds and sprinkle with salt. Let dry out on paper towels.

Prep your dredging ingredients. On one dish, flour, the next, 2 eggs beaten (add a dash of milk, if you like), the last dish, your breadcrumbs, mixed with some salt and pepper.

After the eggplants are dry (about 30 mins) prep a pan on medium high heat with the olive oil and garlic, don’t let the garlic burn! Dredge the eggplant, going from the flour, to the egg, to the breadcrumbs, into the frying pan. Cook a few minutes until brown, then turn over and brown the other side. Drain on a rack or papertowels and set aside.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, pour in the can of tomatoes, adding the oregano, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and fresh ground pepper. Chop up and mix well. Now you can use a marinara of course, but this is another easy way to throw some ingredients together to make this dish quick and easy.

Using a 2 quart baking dish, lay down half the eggplant slices. Top with the tomato mixture and then half the mozzarella. Lay the rest of the eggplant slices on top of that. Top with the rest of the tomato mixture, the rest of the mozzarella, and then the parmigiana.

Put your baking dish on a baking pan before you put it in the oven, in case it bubbles over. Bake for 30 minutes, and you’re ready to serve.

This is a really nice side dish to pasta, and allows people to serve themself, frankly, making less work for you in the end. Not only that, the baking allows all the flavors to combine in the best possible delicious way.

I saw this jar of espresso powder bought it immediately. I knew I’d find some good use for it…someday. Then I came across a post on cookiemadness for William Shatner’s cappuccino muffins and I couldn’t believe it, but yes, the recipe was his. (I changed it a little) These are tasty, pack up well and best of all, easy.

ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2-1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg (room temp)
1 cup milk (room temp)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prep a muffin pan with liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, espresso powder, cinnamon and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk egg lightly. Whisk in milk, melted butter and vanilla extract.

Make a well in center of dry ingredients and pour in milk mixture. Stir until just blended, don’t overdo it, if you go too far your muffins will get tough. No one needs tough muffins. Stir in chocolate chips.

Divide batter among the cups. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

This is the PERFECT recipe for new parents. When I had a newborn I was up late at night, these muffins would have been good, 1. the coffee part would have helped keep me alert. 2. They are easy to grab and eat. 3. There is nothing on late at night but Classic Trek. See how that all works out?

Caramel apples are very fall-ish, and I know I’d seen caramel apple cupcakes done before - because the completely useless stick is just so cute. So here’s my version - let me tell you it has been tested well, as I gave them out to 3 separate groups of people who all gave them rave reviews, so give ‘em a try.

Apple cupcakes
ingredients:
(frosting to follow)

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 large eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup applesauce
1 cup shredded or finely chopped, Granny Smith apples

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prep a cupcake pan with liners.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In a mixer, stir the eggs, butter, and applesauce. Mix until combined. Carefully add the dry ingredients.

Now is when I chop the apples. This may seem like last minute, but I hate how quickly apple brown up after cutting. So I do it right before I throw them in. The way I do it - peel and slice the apple. Then using a grater, grate the apple into fine shreds, like cheese. You can also chop it finely which works just as well. Now stir the shredded apples into the batter mixture.

I like to fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full to almost full, so that they have a nice rounded top like an apple. This batter will make 12 cupcakes.

Bake for 15-20 mins, 17 works best for me. Test with a toothpick for done-ness.

See how they rise a little and puff and overflow? That is perfect to me, because then when you frost it - it gives it a little roundness, and makes it more…apple-y? If that makes sense. Cool on a wire rack. While they are cooling…make the frosting.

Caramel Frosting
ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup whole milk
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1tsp cinnamon
1 TB maple syrup

In a saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter and brown sugar. Paula Deen would be in heaven right now. Give it a stir now and again. When they are melted and bubbly, add the milk. Carefully raise the heat and bring the mixture to a quick boil. Careful - you don’t want to burn it. Once it foams up and turns that lovely caramel color, take it off the heat immediately.

Remove pan from heat and stir in the powdered sugar and vanilla, cinnamon and syrup, mixing until frosting is smooth. I like to put it in the fridge for about 20 mins to cool down. Then I simply frost the cupcakes by dipping them into the frosting. It’s more of a glaze - in the sense that it will firm up.

Now the fun part - you can roll the sides in sprinkles and of course, for effect, put in a popsicle stick to make it look like a real caramel apple. It’s totally useless but lots of fun. Even without the sticks, these are really tasty and I think they’d be great for a party.

As a kid I remember going to Taco Bell, you wouldn’t catch me dead there now, but in the 80s, we went there. My brother LOVED their ‘dessert’ called Cinnamon Crispanas. This is a healthier version. I got the kids to be my little sous chefs, since the recipe is so easy.

ingredients:
flour tortillas
cookie cutters
melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside. Put the melted butter in another bowl.

On a cutting board, lay out the tortillas and cut out any shape you want. If you are boring, just cut them into triangles. BO-RING. (but it works too.)

Brush butter on the cut out tortilla, sprinkle with cinnamon mixture. Turn over and do the same. Lay them down on a prepped baking sheet. By prepped I mean with a silpat or a parchment liner.

Bake for 5 minutes, turn and bake another 5. That’s it. Super simple, very tasty. And fun for the kids, at that!

This doesn’t have a strong Ovaltine flavor, but they are good brownies, nonetheless. Eat them with a tall glass of Ovaltine, of course.

ingredients:
1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
½ cup ovaltine
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup ovaltine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a 9×13 inch pan. Wanna know how to get brownies out of a pan easily? Take a piece of parchment, long enough for overhang on the sides. BUTTER the parchment. Then when you go to pull it out, it will lift out easy, yay!

Key ingredients, Ovaltine of course, but Valrhona cocoa powder is what makes these so good. Don’t go cheap with that Hershey’s crap. You’ll regret it.

Melt the butter. Mix the dry ingredients, add to the butter. In a small bowl, whisk the vanilla and eggs, then add to the dry ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour into your prepared pan. Sprinkle the top with ovaltine, Bake 20 to 30 minutes, until the sides get that yummy crispy edge.

Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then lift out using the parchment and let it cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares.

Even Godzilla will tell you, this is the good stuff.

Jodi loves hamsters so this was a natural choice for a birthday gift. I tried to convince the Kid that these were hamster flavored. He didn’t fall for it, smart kid.

ingredients:
fondant
orange gel dye
pink gel dye
black gel dye

This how-to kind of sucks. I made these at 4 in the morning cause I couldn’t sleep, but it was still dark out so there was no light. The pictures are lacking, but still, I think you get the gist of it.

I started out dyeing. Gel dyes are the ONLY thing I recommend, not only for fondant, but for frostings and cakes. Gloves are always recommended because any kind of dyeing can stain. A small ball of orange, and VERY small amounts of pink and black. The white just stays as is, which is helpful.

I started out like I did with the Curious George cupcakes, cut round circles to start, as the base. Then I cut another circle in orange, but cut that at an angle or half moon. That is the orange part of the fur. Lay that on top of the white circle. Then I just took some tiny balls of orange, flattened them and put them behind the circles for ears.

Like I said, this how to sucks, because I forgot to take pictures of the rest of the steps, but just pull off small balls of black and pink, and roll them out to finish it off. As you can tell from the pictures, making these is really easy because it’s just layering pieces.

Also, I was at the end of my fondant supply, so I only made two hamsters, then took the rest of the fondant and spelled out Jodi’s name. I just hand sculpted the letters, I don’t like using cookie cutters too much because they often stick and pull. I think making things by hand gives you much more control.

I made pumpkin cupcakes, and used a chocolate spread instead of a frosting. I am not a fan of BIG frostings, so just a little spread gave some flavor and made good ‘glue’ for the fondant. Playing with fondant is really easy, it just takes some practice, I encourage everyone to try it, it’s really easy!

I think the reason I don’t have any feeling towards carrot cake is because it has cream cheese frosting. While that is the selling point for most, it makes me recoil in revulsion. However, the cookie itself, is alright by me. If you are anti cream cheese like me, make these for your friends. Oh and keep some of the cookies for yourself.

ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
3/4 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup raisins
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

filling ingredients:
8oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a cookie sheet with a silpat.

Cream the butter and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla. Then stir in the pineapple, carrots and raisins.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt nutmeg and cinnamon. Slowly add to the carrot mixture. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepped cookie sheets.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes just until bottoms begin to brown and cookies are set. Cool on wire racks.

While the cookies are cooling, start the filling. In your mixer, combine the butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Slowly add the sugar and scrape down the sides of the mixer. Turn to high to get it nice and fluffy.

Once the cookies have cooled, spread the frosting on the flat side of one, then stick another on top, flat side down. You’ll get a hefty little sandwich.

The cookies are quite good on their own if you don’t want to go to the trouble of putting them together.

Pumpkin and chocolate chips, yummy on a cold winter’s day.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup water
1-1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare muffin pans with grease or liners, whichever you prefer.

Mix sugar, oil and eggs. Add pumpkin and water.
(Looks kind of nasty, doesn’t it? - Don’t worry, it gets better.

Now here’s the GOOD STUFF.

This recipe depends on these spices. That’s what gets rid of the bland pumpkin taste and adds lots of tasty goodness.

In separate bowl mix together the baking flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt.

Add wet mixture and stir in chocolate chips.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Mmmm. Yummy with a nice cup of hot coffee.

Much like fondant Bullys or fondant Curious Georges, these are a fun way to play with fondant. It’s easy…honest.

ingredients:
fondant
black gel dye

I get a lot of emails from people saying they are afraid of fondant. I get it, I do. I didn’t touch it for years, but it turns out it is such great stuff to work with, you can really be creative and come up with a lot of cute things. This is a good way to start with fondant because it’s just two colors. Black and white.

Dye a small amount of the fondant black. I like to use gloves so it doesn’t get everywhere. I ALWAYS use gel dye. The powder, the god-awful liquid, all that stuff is crap, but that’s just my opinion. Gel dye is wonderful, you don’t need much and it’s only 97 cents.

Start by taking a small ball of white fondant. I just shape it with my fingers until I get the head just right. I usually do sketches beforehand, but you can just print out a picture and follow it, even use it as a template if you want.

Then take a TINY piece of the black, make a small ball for the nose. A flat slab for the ear, and finally just roll a teeeeeeny piece to lay on the eyes, eyebrows and the smile.

A simple black and white palette gives you a nice looking Snoopy profile.

When you need to move your finished fondant design, I found that an offset spatula works wonders. I keep them on parchment paper in a sealed plastic container. It’s good to do the fondant designs ahead of time, it saves you time and stress and then on the day of serving, simply plop them on top of your finished cupcake. The end. Stress free, baby.

Play around with the faces, expressions, just have fun. Fondant is great stuff -very forgiving so if you don’t quite get the right shape, don’t fret, just roll it up and try again.

This was a Martha Stewart recipe. It makes 24 cupcakes, which I think is too much - too much for me anyway. I changed it a tiny bit here and there but not much. I like it because you just use two bowls and don’t have to turn on the mixer.

ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 can pumpkin purée (15 ounces)
1 Tablespoon maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a pan with cupcake liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree and the syrup.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.Checking with a toothpick for doneness. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

I happen to like the taste of pumpkin plain, but a cinnamon frosting, or chocolate would go great. Here they are with fondant Snoopys on them.