Carrot Cake Mix Cookies {With Craisins and a Cream Cheese Frosting Drizzle}

Source: inspired by my grandma's chocolate cake mix cookie recipe and bettycrocker.com (and the frosting came from this spectacular cake - it's my go-to cream cheese frosting recipe now-days)

Ingredients:
for the cookies:
1 carrot cake mix
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup oats
2 eggs
1 cup craisins

for the cream cheese frosting drizzle:
4 ounces full-fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
~1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon heavy cream (I used 1% milk instead, and while the recipe author said it would be less creamy than cream, I thought it was divinely creamy)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt (I skipped this because I had salted butter)

Directions:

For the cookies, mix all ingredients together.  Roll into 1 in. balls and place on cookie sheet.  Bake 9-11 minutes at 350°.

While the cookies are baking, mix up the frosting.  First, using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until no lumps remain, about 3 full minutes. Add confectioners' sugar, 1 Tablespoon cream (or milk), vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes.  Add more cream (or milk) to thin out, if desired.

When cookies have cooled, drizzle cream cheese frosting in zig-zag pattern across tops of cookies (I used a piping bag with a small tip).  Serve and feel like a cookie-making rock star!

Notes:

I needed to bring some cookies to my ward's Watch-the-General-Women's-Session-Get-Together in March.  I also knew I would be moving soon and was thinking about how to use up some of the things in my cupboards so I wouldn't have to pack them.  One of those things was a carrot cake mix.  I had made my grandma's cake mix cookies dozens of times (using a German chocolate cake mix) but had never attempted the same technique on another flavor of boxed cake mix.  So I got brave.  But first I did some googling to see if my idea was totally off base.  Turns out it wasn't.  Betty Crocker did basically the same thing.  Plus, she added craisins and cream cheese frosting which I thought was brilliant.  So I went for it.  These little goodies were the star of the cookie line-up that evening, I must say.  Pretty dang good.  And simple to boot!  Win-win in my book.

Lemony Cream Cheese Sticky Buns

Source: Mel . . . yep, again

Not really a food blog-worthy photo from my old phone, but
I suppose it's better than no pic at all.  (Maybe?)

Ingredients:
for the dough:
3/4 cup buttermilk, warm (pour the buttermilk in a glass liquid measuring cup and microwave for 1 minute on 50% power) (I always use the 1 Tablespoon lemon juice then add milk to a cup rule - so this time it took a little math: 3/4 Tablespoon = 2 1/4 teaspoons)
6 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
3 large eggs
3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups (17.5 to 22.5 ounces) flour
Zest of 1 lemon (about a Tablespoon)
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) sugar (I actually forgot this in the dough, but it was plenty sweet and still rose just fine, so it wasn't a huge loss)
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt

for the lemon filling:
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon (about a Tablespoon)
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 Tablespoons butter, softened

for the lemony cream cheese glaze:
4 ounces cream cheese, light or regular, softened (I think I used light)
2 Tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
1 cup (4 ounces) powdered sugar
Zest of 1 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)

Directions:
For the dough, whisk the warmed buttermilk and butter together in a large liquid measuring cup. Combine 3 1/2 cups of flour, lemon zest, sugar, yeast and salt together in a standing mixer fitted with dough hook (or you can use a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon). With the mixer on low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and eggs and mix until the dough comes together, about 2 minutes. Increase the mixer to medium speed; if the dough is still very sticky and hasn't cleared the sides of the bowl yet, add a little flour at a time until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl but is still slightly sticky. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 5-6 minutes (knead for 10 or so minutes by hand). Don't over flour the dough or the rolls may be dry - you're going for a soft, slightly tacky dough that gives when pressed with your fingers but doesn't leave a lot of doughy residue on your hands.

Place the dough in a large, lightly greased bowl and cover the top tightly with greased plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled, around 1-2 hours, depending on the warmth of your kitchen.

Meanwhile, lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish and set aside.

For the lemon filling, combine the sugar and lemon zest and rub the mixture between your fingers until well combined and fragrant (the smell will kill you with deliciousness). Add the nutmeg and lemon juice and stir until combined.

When the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly greased countertop and press it into about a 16- by 12-inch rectangle (doesn't have to be perfect).

Spread the softened butter across the dough. Sprinkle the juicy lemon filling mixture over the top and spread as evenly as you can. Again, it doesn't have to be perfect.

Starting with one long end, tightly roll up the dough cinnamon-roll style and pinch the seam to seal. Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. Place the buns in the prepared pan - three across and four down. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until very puffy so the sides of the buns are touching each other.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover the buns and bake for about 20-25 minutes until very lightly golden (don't over bake or they may be dry).

Let cool slightly before frosting. Mel likes to frost them when they are just a bit warm.

For the frosting, whip the cream cheese and lemon juice together with an electric mixer or blender if you have something sweet like a Blendtec) until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar and mix until well-combined.

Spread the glaze (or frosting or whatever you want to call it) evenly over the lemon buns and sprinkle with the fresh lemon zest.

Notes:
I made these for Easter/Conference Sunday breakfast.  It was a fun and out-of-the-ordinary kind of breakfast treat for us. (I only ever make sweet rolls for Christmas morning, but I may just keep this Conference Sunday tradition!)  They were decadent and delicious, but I must say that they are definitely best right out of the oven.  The longer they sat on the counter, the tougher (and tarter) they got, so that even a quick nuke in the microwave couldn't really help them.  So eat 'em quick is my advice!

Carrot Cake Bundt Cake with a Cheesecake Swirl

Source: Mel's culinary genius brain

That's what I call bundt perfection!

Ingredients:
for the cake:
1 2/3 cup (8 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3-4 large carrots (12 ounces), ends trimmed and finely shredded (about 2 cups)
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1 cup oil (I subbed a half cup for applesauce - made it so moist and tasty!)
1/2 cup toasted, chopped pecans, optional (don't leave 'em out, I say!)

for the cheesecake swirl:
8 ounces cream cheese, light or regular, softened (I went whole hog and used regular)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg

for the cream cheese frosting:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream (I used 1% milk)
1 tablespoon sour cream
2 cups powdered sugar (I ended up adding almost double this because the frosting was just so runny - so now I have tons left over in my fridge!)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9- or 10-inch bundt cake pan very well (I've found that softened butter works best for me), getting in all the nooks and crannies. Lightly dust with flour (and I can't skip the flour dusting!), tapping out the excess, and set aside.

For the cake batter, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl (you can use the bowl of a stand electric mixer here), with a handheld electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugars together until blended. With the mixer running, drizzle in the oil and mix until thick and creamy.

Add the dry ingredients, carrots and pecans, and mix gently by hand until combined and no streaks of flour remain. Set aside for a few minutes while preparing the cheesecake swirl filling.

For the cheesecake layer, beat together the cream cheese, vanilla, sugar and egg until smooth and well-combined. You can use an electric mixer or blender for this.

Pour half of the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Spoon the cream cheese mixture in dollops evenly across the top. Finish with the remaining carrot cake batter. It's ok if you can see the cream cheese layer peeking through - the carrot cake may not cover it all the way.

Bake the cake for 45-60 minutes (mine was done in exactly 45) until the top lightly springs back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

It's a beaut!

Remove from the oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto a serving plate to cool completely.

For the frosting, whip together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth and well-combined (again, you could use a blender or an electric mixer for this). Add the heavy cream, sour cream and powdered sugar and mix until light and fluffy.

Once the cake is completely cooled, spread the frosting over the top curve of the bundt cake. If you want to cover the cake entirely, you can double the frosting (I didn't want to cover my whole cake, but I certainly could have with the amount of frosting that I had just by the normal recipe above).

Refrigerate until ready to serve. The cake can be made, frosted and refrigerated up to a day in advance. (I made my cake the day before I needed it, wrapped it in saran wrap and stored it in the fridge unfrosted until I served it - mostly because I needed to transport it and thought it would stay prettier if I did the frosting on site.)

Gotta snatch a pic quick, before it gets devoured completely!

Notes:
Oh my yummy yum!  This was another contribution to our Blanchard Family Mother's Day feast.  It was quite the hit with everyone - especially Callie, who was so excited to make and eat cake!  (She really wanted Grandma to blow out some candles while we sang happy birthday, too - we're working on birthday/holiday protocol.)  I've made Mel's carrot cake cheesecake before, but this was just as delicious and easier than ever!  I'll be keeping this one handy for sure.

Spinach Salad with Feta, Apples, Bacon and Sweet-Spicy Nuts

Source: Mel, who else?

That's a big ol' honkin' silver bowl chock full of salady goodness!

Ingredients:
for the salad:
16 ounces baby spinach
½ small red onion, slivered (Mel had a great tip about tempering the onion flavor so it's not so overpowering to eat them raw in the salad - and I think it helped a lot! Just soak the onion slices covered in cold water with a bit of baking soda (I used about 1/2 teaspoon soda). Let them sit for 15-20 minutes then rinse and drain well.)
6 slices of applewood smoked bacon, cooked and crumbled or chopped into small pieces (I didn't use applewood smoked, just regular old boring (delicious) bacon)
1 cup Feta cheese crumbles, more or less to taste (I used less - more like ~1/2 cup)
1 cup dried cranberries or cherries, more or less to taste (I stuck with the full cup of craisins)
1-2 Honey Crisp apples, cored and sliced thin (I used 2 galas since that's what I had in my fridge)

for the sweet-spicy nuts:
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (I went with pecans and they were delish!)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of cayenne (more to taste if you want)
Pinch of salt

for the red wine vinaigrette:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic, pressed or finely minced
1-2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (I didn't have Dijon so I just used regular yellow - 1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, more or less to taste
Fresh cracked pepper to taste

Directions:
For the dressing, shake all the ingredients together in a mason jar until well combined or run them through a quick blender cycle. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. The dressing can be made up to a week in advance.

For the nuts, lightly toast the nuts in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, checking often so they don't burn. While they toast, place the sugar, cayenne and salt in a skillet over medium-low heat. Cook the sugar mixture until it liquifies completely, adjusting the heat so it doesn't bubble and burn. Toss in the toasted nuts and stir to coat the nuts with sugar. Let the sugared nuts cool completely.  (This was the part that gave me the most trouble.  Read: it didn't work!  I read elsewhere on the internet to skip the toasting step (after I had already done so) and just throw the nuts and the sugar and everything all in the skillet together.  So I tried it.  Still didn't work.  I ended up with chopped pecans, nicely toasted, and hard sugar clumps.  But not much sugar stuck to the nuts for some reason.  Oh well.  I just threw it all on the salad and it was fine.  Just be warned - the sugar nuts are not as easy as they sound!)

To assemble the salad, toss all the salad ingredients together along with the cooled nuts. Serve immediately with the vinaigrette alongside. All the components can be measured out/prepped ahead of time and stored separately (I put everything in ziplock baggies to take to two Mother's Day lunches on separate days - I did all the prep work on Friday and then served and ate one salad on Saturday and another on Sunday  The only thing I did just before tossing was to slice the apple fresh so it didn't go brown in the fridge). Just toss right before serving. Enjoy!

Notes:
As I noted above, I brought this salad to two different Mother's Day meals last weekend - one to celebrate Gregg's mom and one to celebrate my mom.  The salad was delightful both times!  One thing to note - it's ginormous!  It definitely was enough to serve 12+ as a side dish with the Elwood gathering, and with the Blanchards, where we only had about 6 adults present . . . let's just say there was a LOT left over.  Which is not a bad thing!  I loved this salad - very flavorful and fun and much fancier than what I normally throw together.