Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

When I do my weekly grocery shopping, I tend to be the type who goes up and down almost every aisle and department, even if I don't need what's there. One such department is Safeway's bakery. I usually head there to get my sandwich bread but on the weeks I don't need it, I still peruse the displays to see what's new. Every few months, this includes seasonal treats. For the most part, I use the excuse of "I can make that! I think I pinned a copycat recipe for that." for not buying them. Except I never really make those recipes. So last month when I saw pumpkin snickerdoodles out on display, I decided that the next time I needed to bake for me, I would find a recipe for pumpkin snickerdoodles. After combing through my pins on Pinterest, I settled on a recipe from CenterCutCook.

Amish Cinnamon Bread

After making the Buttermilk Waffles, I had some leftover buttermilk. I didn't want to just throw it out but I also couldn't figure out what to do with it. So when my mom said we were going to have brunch at their house to celebrate Mother's Day, I figured I'd use it for that. After not fully liking what I had for hardcopy recipes, I went through Pinterest. While there were quite a few options for cake, two caught my eye that seemed a bit more appropriate for brunch: cinnamon coffee cake and amish cinnamon bread.

You remember the amish cinnamon bread, right? You get a starter batter and over the course of about 10 days, you knead the bag to get everything mixed and to activate the yeast. About halfway through add a few ingredients before kneading. Eventually, you divide the batter to give your friends their own starter batter and you use the rest for the bread itself (if you want to make your own starter, I found a good recipe on a website called Friendship Bread Kitchen, which has a ton of recipes that use the starter after the 10-day process).

For the sake of nostalgia, I decided to make the amish bread, completely forgetting about the 10-day mashing process. Turns out, that wasn't a problem: the recipe I found is a quick alternative recipe. No kneading, not waiting 10 days. Just combine the ingredients and bake like a normal recipe. The recipe comes from Redfly Creations.

Buttermilk Waffles

When I was a senior in high school I was FINALLY able to do what I had wanted to do for several years: take electives. Between band and the required ASL, science, and PE, I didn't have time in my schedule for any class that wasn't a basic requirement (English, math, social studies/history). But since science and PE were only required for a certain number of years and not enough students signed up for 3rd Year ASL, I had room for two classes each semester that could be WHATEVER I WANTED. (Apparently this ended up being step 1 to my current state of independence.)

One such class was creative cooking. It covered 5 courses: Breakfast, Appetizers, Main Dishes, Side Dishes, and Desserts (I'll give you one guess which one was my favorite 😏). For most units/courses we were given two recipes and each group picked the recipe we would make. As the class went on, we compiled all the recipes in a binder for future use (and, obviously, our final grade). In the 14 years since I've probably only made one recipe from it: Buttermilk Waffles. These things basically taste like the Eggo© Cinnamon Toast Waffles in the grocery store freezer section. They're a bit time-consuming to make but so worth it! After making it several times for Sunday morning breakfast since moving into my apartment, I figured I should share the recipe.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

For several years my mom had a Relay For Life team (RFL is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Cancer has hit both sides of my family). One way to raise money for your teams is to have a fundraiser party through a direct sales company, like Pampered Chef. Mom hosted a couple Pampered Chef parties, one of which was Mexican themed. She asked me to make a dessert for it and I somehow found a recipe for Sopapilla Cheesecake squares. Pretty sure they were a big hit since Mom suggested I make them for Kevin and Helen's housewarming party last week. (They were going to serve Mexican food so I guess she figured that was the theme?) Anyway, I started searching for a recipe using eggs since I had a few eggs leftover from Easter baking. I finally found one on Jo Cooks.