The Roaming Rosie Blog

I was in the mood for cookies tonight, and an easy way to get some soft and great-tasting cookies that taste like homemade but are much quicker is to make are these Moist Cake Cookies.

I don’t know exactly where this recipe came from.  I think I copied it off the back of a cake box, but it’s been typed into my recipe book for so many years that I’m not really sure.

I usually use Devil’s Food cake mix to make them, but you can use just about any flavor.  This time I used Betty Crocker Super Moist cake mix in Triple Chocolate Fudge because that’s what was in the pantry.  They have tiny chocolate chips in the batter, which aren’t overly noticeable in the finished cookie, except for the occasional burst of extra chocolate.  Tasted pretty darn good.

But why go to the trouble of using cake mix when they now sell boxes of cookie mix?  Well, these are a little different.  They’re always soft and chewy – which I love – and have an entirely different taste to them then straight cookie batter, making them a unique treat.  They’re like little, sweetened, condensed cakes.

Also, I like to dip the tops of the cookies in a little sugar before baking, which gives them a nice sweetness.  And, like any chocolate cookie (if you’re using chocolate), be careful not to overcook them.

Moist Cake Cookies

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 box cake mix

Plus about 1/8 cup sugar for decoration (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.  Scoop out teaspoonfuls and shape into balls.  Dip tops of balls into a dish of sugar (optional) and place onto a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 9 to 11 minutes.  Cook on wire racks.  Makes about 30 cookies.

The cookies are still moist and chewy the next day – if they last that long!

I’ve noticed that all the recipes I’ve posted thus far have been deserts, and since I’ve made soup today to counter the chilly weather streak, I thought I’d post it. This is a recipe for Goulash Soup that I originally got off another website years ago, but have changed to suit our tastes. There seem to be quite a few versions of Hungarian Goulash soup and a few disputes as to what goes into Hungarian Goulash. Either way, this recipe works great for us.

Mostly, as I’ve played with the recipe over the years, I took out some stuff – like noodles. For all the many times I’ve enjoyed some Goulash at a little, mom and pop restaurant in Germany (and once in Austria), I don’t ever remember there being any type of noodle in the soup. So even though I’ve seen recipes with noodles or dumplings, I leave them out because that’s not how I like it. Some had green peppers, but I don’t really like peppers, so I leave them out, too. And I adjusted the amounts of veggies and meat a little.

Everything in the soup, from the meat to potatoes to veggies, I cut into tiny, bit-sized pieces, so you get a little of everything in each spoonful, and also so everything is cooked through and tender. Chunks about a half inch for the meat and potatoes, and for the veggies even a little smaller.

Incidentally, if you’re interested, even though this recipe calls for beef, I have also made the soup with venison. I don’t really like venison, but when you have a freezer full of it, well, you adjust. Anyway, because the soup cooks for awhile and any meat you use gets tender, you could probably use whatever you’ve got on hand.

I find that the most labor intensive part of the preparation is cutting up the meat, since you can put most of the veggies in a food processor to save time, but you can also cut up the meat ahead of time if you want to throw the soup together more quickly.

It goes well with some cold German beer and I usually serve it with a salad.

Goulash Soup
Prep Time: about 30 mins.
Total Time: 2 1/2 to 3 hours

Olive Oil
2 to 3 pounds chuck beef, cubed
1 large onion (I prefer a sweet onion), diced
3 to 4 garlic cloves, finely diced (I actually use a garlic press)
3 to 4 carrots, diced
3 to 4 stalks celery, diced
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, with juice (I use petite diced)
3 to 4 potatoes, diced
3 to 4 tablespoons paprika
4 beef bouillon cubes
Salt
Pepper
1/2 to 1 cup sour cream

In a large pot, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil and cook onions over medium or medium low heat until they are translucent and just starting to brown, at least five minutes. Stir in the paprika; if it’s too dry, add more oil – the mixture should be very red. Then add the meat and garlic to the pot. Sprinkle a little salt (not more than a teaspoon as there’s salt in the bouillon) and a couple teaspoons pepper over the meat. Brown the meat on all sides. Then cover the meat mixture with water, about 6 to 8 cups and add the bouillon cubes. Let simmer on low for an hour.

Add the carrots, celery and tomatoes and let cook for a half hour. Then add the potatoes and allow to simmer on low for another half hour. Check to make sure things are tender – for example, if you can smoosh a potato piece with the spoon, things are probably done. At this point stir in the sour cream. Start with a half cup of sour cream, but add more if you like, and don’t worry if the top of the soup looks a little red as some of the paprika floats to the top. Once the sour cream is stirred in, allow to heat for a few more minutes before serving. It makes about 8 to 10 servings.

The mailbox has recently been stuffed full of myriad catalogs selling everything from cheese logs to chocolate pretzels to flavored popcorn.  These are dangerous times for a pregnant lady…

So, to satisfy some unexpected cravings, today I made a snack that I love:  Caramel Popcorn, or Caramel Corn.  I use the recipe from my Pillsbury Complete Cookbook, simply omitting the slivered almonds, because I prefer just the popcorn.  Plus, this is a great recipe because all of the ingredients are usually in my pantry anyway – so no need for preplanning!  I’ve made this for parties and potlucks, but also just for myself to enjoy because it’s so simple to make.

I prefer to use light brown sugar, but all we had on hand was the dark, which also works, though it has a slightly stronger flavor.  And because my first batch of popcorn was mostly burnt and I decided to make a fresh batch but use a handful of decent-looking pieces from the burnt package, I ended up with some extra popcorn and not every piece was fully covered in caramel.  No big deal, though – the pieces only partially covered taste just as good!

Another note:  when you add in the baking soda, be sure to mix it in well.  The caramel should become thick and lighter in color before you pour it over the popcorn, otherwise the end product will be a little off. Also, do NOT let the hot caramel touch your skin – that’s a searing burn you don’t want!

So here it is:

Caramel Corn
Prep:  15 mins., Yield: 6 (1 Cup) Servings

6 cups popped popcorn
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds, if desired
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

In a large, microwave-safe bowl, combine popcorn and almonds.  In a 4-cup microwave-safe measuring cup, combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt; mix well.

Microwave sugar mixture on high for 2 minutes.  Stir, then microwave for an additional 2 to 3 minutes until mixture comes to a rolling boil.

Stir in baking soda and mix well.  Immediately pour over the popcorn and toss until coated.

Microwave popcorn mixture on high for 2 minutes.  Mix again to make sure all the pieces are coated, then spread out on waxed paper to cool, separating the big chunks.

I use two spoons for separating the caramelized pieces.  Once cool, I store it in a plastic Tupperware-type container, and I find that it stays good for awhile – though it usually never lasts more than a few days at most in my house!  :)

Every now and then I browse through my physical recipe book (most of my regular recipes have also been scanned onto the computer) to get ideas.  For Thanksgiving this year I decided to make a recipe that I’d printed out five whole years ago.  It was hiding in the back of the binder’s pocket, so I’d completely forgotten about it.  Boy am I glad I found it again!  These cookies turned out much better than I expected.  Maybe it’s just because I’m pregnant and crave all things sugary and resembling cake or cookies… but I don’t think so.

The recipe was from the Taste of Home website, and they’re called “Pumpkin Drop Cookies.”  Attributed to Denise S. of Wyoming, these plump, soft cookies are cake-like and highlighted with a sweet, flavorful icing.  And because they’re filling, I won’t eat a million of them, which is also good.  And the pumpkin is not overwhelming, so even though they seem like autumn cookies, I feel they would be great for a Christmas cookie exchange as well.  So here goes:

Pumpkin Drop Cookies

Prep:  45 min
Cook:  10 min plus cooling
(I didn’t take that long to prep, but they definitely needed more cooking time)

1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening
3 cups sugar
1 can (15 oz.) solid-pack pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
6 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Cinnamon Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar.  Beat in the pumpkin, eggs, and milk.  Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, allspice and cloves; gradually add to the creamed mixture.  Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets.  Bake at 375 degrees F for 10-13 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

(I used rounded teaspoonfuls and found the cookies to be more than big enough.  I didn’t grease the cookie sheets, but used non-stick pans.  I found that when “lightly-browned” they were still undone on the inside, and so cooked them until a dark brown around the edges, which was more like 14 to 16 minutes.)

In a small bowl, combine the frosting ingredients; beat until smooth.  Frost cookies.  Store in the refrigerator.  Yield:  11 dozen.

(I actually used a whole box of confectioners’ sugar and added a couple extra tablespoons of milk to the icing.  Make sure the cookies are totally cool before icing.  I got nowhere near 11 dozen cookies.  I got about 5 dozen, and didn’t have enough icing for all of them, but I didn’t feel like making more icing, so we just sprinkled powdered sugar over the rest.)

I’ll be keeping this recipe on hand, either for Thanksgivings in the future, or even dinner or tea parties during the holidays.  It’s a little bit different and the cookies are a nice after-dinner treat.  And do you see all those yummy bits of cinnamon in the cookie and the icing?  Mmm!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My favorite part of Halloween is probably all the sugar.  I love to bake cookies and other treats with themes of pumpkins or mummies, and, sure, some years I go all out with lots of desserts and Halloween-themed finger foods, but since we’re still in transition and staying with family, I decided to go for something simpler this year.

Of course, simple doesn’t have to mean boring.  I made a four-layer chocolate and orange-colored cream cheese icing cake and pumpkin-shaped brownies, as seen in the photo.  Sounds easy, right?  It is.

The brownies were simply a box mix that could fit a pan up to 13 x 9 and with nothing fancy in the batter like chunks of chocolate.  Mixed it like normal and poured it into a 17 x 11 inch cookie sheet that was already lined with a sheet of parchment paper and lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, making sure to spread out the batter evenly over the pan with a spatula.  Then I generously sprinkled the batter with Halloween-colored sprinkles and popped it in the oven at the recommended temperature.  I shortened the baking time by first checking it after 10 minutes and after another 5 it was done.  Cool completely in the pan and then cut it out with a pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter.  I used a 3 inch cutter and got 14 brownies, plus some yummy scraps to snack on.

The cake was easy, too.  A box mix, cooked in two round pans according to the directions and then cooled.  Meanwhile, I emptied two containers of store-bought cream cheese icing into a bowl and colored it to a desired shade of orange with food coloring.  Once the cakes were cool, I slightly trimmed off the rounded top and then sliced each lengthwise across the middle to create four thin layers.  Then simply stack the cake layers on a serving platter, adding a thin layer of icing in between each layer and then icing all around the outside.  Before the icing dries, sprinkle the top with chocolate sprinkles.

Very easy, very presentable, and very delicious.  And the great thing is you can adjust these desserts for any holiday or season just by changing the colors of the icing and sprinkles and the shape of the cookie cutter.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I hear some chocolate cake calling me…