Poppy Seed Cake.

Recipe 31.

Poppy Seed Cake (from Taste of Home). 

Ingredients:

1/3 cup poppy seeds

1 cup 2% milk

4 egg whites

3/4 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups confectioners' sugar

Prep: Soak the poppy seeds in milk for 30 minutes. Place egg whites in a large bowl and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, then add into mix alternately with poppy seed mixture, beating well after each addition. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form; fold into batter.

Pour into a greased 9x13. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

For frosting, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth, and then gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Spread over cake. Store in refrigerator. 

Orange Yogurt Loaf Cake.

Recipe 31.

Orange Yogurt Loaf Cake (from Sprinkle Bakes).

This loaf cake was so fun to make.  Zesting oranges, making glaze, quick and easy. What else could you ask for? Well, I guess I'd ask for more cake, but I have a relentless sweet tooth.

Glaze instructions are ridiculously easy. I don't understand why so many times my glazes are too runny or too thick or too not-delicious. But this is the first time I got glaze perfectly right!!! I was so excited that I think I made two or three batches of glaze just to prove that it actually happened! So, it happened. Breanna is a glaze maker. She didn't mess it up. Be proud.

Ingredients:
Cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup yogurt (I used plain greek yogurt)
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
zest of 2 large oranges (about 2 tbsp)
1/2 cup oil (I used extra light olive oil)

Glaze:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan and set aside

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar, eggs, orange zest, vanilla, and oil. Gradually whisk in dry ingredients until well blended. Transfer batter to prepared loaf pan. Bake for about 50 minutes (or until tester comes out clean). Let the cake cool slightly, remove it from the loaf pan and then immediately return it to the pan. This helps is not stick but keep its shape.

In a medium bowl, whisk together orange juice and powdered sugar. Pour over the loaf cake and let stand until the glaze soaks into the cake. Slice and serve!

This recipe is a keeper! Definitely going into my favorites list.

Chocolate Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk White Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Recipe 30.

Chocolate Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk White Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Yes, that's what they are called. You can comment on this post with a better name for them and I just might take your suggestion into consideration. My iphoto album for these cookies is definitely titled "choc oatmealchocchihchoochocookies." I apparently couldn't get through it one more time. I need help.

They are super delish. SUPER. I had to get rid of them as fast as possible to keep myself from eating them all! Once they were cool I practically ran to my friends' various apartments and threw the cookies at their faces.

I'm watching my weight.

HAHAHAhahahaha. Oh man, yah right about the weight watching.
But I really did throw cookies at people. Almost.

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup rolled oats
lots of chocolate chunks and white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a large bowl cream the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together.  Beat in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients. Once well mixed, stir in the oats, chunks, and chips. As many as you want!

Shape into really large portions of heaven and bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow them to cool for about 5 minutes before removing from the baking sheet to a cooling rack.

Chocolate Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk White Chocolate Chip Chookie recipe reviewer comment of the century:

"I would kiss you on the lips if you would let me."

Deep Dish Cookies.

Recipe 29.

Deep Dish Cookies (inspired by many sites).

I've been seeing a lot of blog posts and pins about deep dish cookies. I couldn't resist! Especially since I recently bought the cutest ramekins ever.

Basically, the secret is to fill ramekins half full with your favorite cookie dough, bake for a little bit longer than usual, and scoop ice cream on top. Eat them before they cool off!

Here is the recipe I used for mine:

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups  flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 sticks softened butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. In another bowl stir together butter, both sugars, eggs, vanilla, and cocoa. Gradually stir in flour mixture and mix well. Stir in way too many chocolate chips.

Fill ramekins 1/2 full with cookie dough. Place ramekins on a cookie sheet and put in the middle of the oven. Bake 12-18 minutes, or until tops look fully cooked. The insides should be slightly undercooked but not too doughy.

Remove from oven, top with a few scoops of ice cream, grab a spoon, eat your heart out!!!

America Cake.

Recipe 28.

America Cake (from Ina Garten).

Contessa calls it flag cake if you want to look it up. 

I call it America Cake.

Want to know why? Even if you don't, I'm telling you. I call it America Cake because it's delicious and perfect and amazing and awesome and I had three pieces and didn't even feel bad about it. In America you can have your cake and eat it too.

This is going at the top of my list with that really good focaccia bread I made once. Yes, I'm keeping tabs on my favorites. Yes, I'll be making my favorites for the rest of my life.

Make. This. Cake. Before. You. Die.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter at room temp

3 cups sugar

6 eggs at room temp

1 cup sour cream at room temp

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3 cups flour

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp baking soda

Icing Ingredients:

4 sticks unsalted butter at room temp

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese at room temp

1 pound confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Toppings:

Lots of strawberries and blueberries

Are you excited yet?? 

If you aren't go back and read through how much butter and cream cheese you'll be using.

If you aren't excited now, you need to run to the doctor to get your vitals checked.

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour an 18 x 13 x 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in your electric mixer, on high, until light and fluffy. With your stand mixer on medium speed, add eggs, sour cream, and vanilla. Stir until smooth.

Sift together flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. With the mixer on low speed, add this dry mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour into pan, smooth the top, and baking for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature!!

For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer, just until smooth. Spread across cooled sheet cake. Create the field of stars with blueberries. Cut strawberries (or use raspberries) for the stripes.

Cut the cake into pieces, open your apartment window, post a picture on a social networking site, and watch it disappear in twenty minutes. Flag day was a month ago and people are still talking about it!

Cream Cheese Muffins.

Recipe 27.

Cream Cheese Muffins (from your homebased mom)

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar

Sift the flour, one cup of sugar, baking powder, and salt together. In another bowl, combine milk, oil and eggs. Stir in the dry ingredients until moist (I hate the word moist, ick).

Separately, combine the cream cheese and the other cup of sugar. Mix half of this mixture into the muffin batter.

Line your muffin tin with cupcake liners and fill them about 1/2 full with the batter. Spoon the rest of the cream cheese mixture into the middle of each muffin, using a spoon to press it into each muffin.

Topping Ingredients:
1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, room temp

Combine ingredients. Sprinkle over cupcakes. Bake 24-30 minutes at 375.

DO NOT OVERBAKE. They will come out really dry, for real. And that is really dumb. For real.

"Knock Your Socks Off" Brownies.

Recipe 26.

"Knock Your Socks Off" Brownies (from Pioneer Woman).

Ok, I'll get real with you. The brownies are actually called "Knock You Naked," but we are keeping it PG here, folks. What am I supposed to say to my friends? "Eat this brownie. It will knock you naked, and then this whole social situation will become really awkward." I'd rather just see some bare feet.

I'm a brat.

I was walking home after delivering a plate full of these to my friend, and was startled by him yelling "BREANNA!" out of his third story window. "THESE BROWNIES HAVE CARAMEL IN THEM! Oh my gosh!" And then, his roommate kissed my hand the next time he saw me. Either I looked really good that day or he tasted some of these brownies. I'd guess on the latter. I don't wash my hair everyday.

Ingredients:
1 box German Chocolate Cake Mix
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup evaporate milk for later
1/2 cup melted butter
60 whole unwrapped caramels

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the cake mix, pecans, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until well combined, it should come out really thick. Press half the batter into a greased 9x9 or 8x8. Bake for 8-10 minutes, remove from oven, and set aside.

While half the batter is baking, melt your caramels with the 1/2 cup evaporated milk over the stove. I don't have a double boiler so I use a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. This takes longer than you think so get it started!

While the caramels melt, form the rest of the dough into a square shape about the size of the pan.

Pour the melted caramel over the first brownie layer.

Set the remaining brownie dough on top of the caramel. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Allow to cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate for several hours (or just eat them, like we did). You can sift powdered sugar over them if you'd like!

Wait for it..

yes yes yes...

YES!

Forget PG. If these really did knock you naked, no one would even notice because we'd all be focusing on the brownie/caramel/nuttiness making our taste-buds sing.