Category: Food & Drink

  • Average Jane Does Some Baking

    Yesterday morning I decided I wanted some kind of baked breakfast-y goodness to go with my coffee. I went looking for recipes that would accommodate my limited stores. Something with apple would have been great, but I didn't have any apples. What I did have was oatmeal and walnuts, so here's the recipe I created by melding two different oatmeal muffin recipes.

    Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins

    1 cup milk
    1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
    1 egg
    1/4 cup vegetable oil
    1 cup flour
    1/4 cup sugar
    1 teaspoon cinnamon
    2 teaspoons baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

    Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper muffin cups. Combine milk and oatmeal in a small bowl; microwave on high for one minute. Beat together egg and oil in a large bowl; stir in oatmeal mixture. In another bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir flour mixture into wet ingredients, just until combined. Stir in walnuts. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups until cups are 2/3 full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Makes 12 small muffins.

    I over-baked my muffins a tad because I was watching TV in the next room instead of keeping an eye on them. They were still good, but I had to cut the bottoms off a few of them. I'll definitely make them again, but the next time I plan to add some chopped apple.

  • Baking With Average Jane

    In honor of my sister's birthday later this week, I thought I'd share a recipe for one of my favorite cakes, Chocolate Ice Cream Cakeroll. I've been making it for many years and it always goes over well.

    Although it calls for vanilla ice cream, I've made it with peppermint ice cream for Christmas or mint chocolate chip ice cream just because I like it. Really, you can use any kind of ice cream that complements the chocolate cake.

    Chocolate Ice Cream Cakeroll

    4 separated eggs
    1/2 cup flour
    1/2 cup sugar
    1/4 tsp. salt
    1 tbsp. sugar
    1/2 tsp. baking soda
    1/3 cup water
    1 tsp. vanilla extract
    1 quart vanilla ice cream
    1/3 cup baking cocoa

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line jelly roll pan with foil and grease well. Beat egg yolks 3 minutes, add 1/2 cup sugar and beat 2 more minutes. Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; mix together with water, vanilla extract and egg yolks. Beat egg whites until foamy, add 1 tablespoon sugar and beat to stiff peaks. Fold into chocolate mixture. Spread batter into pan. Bake 14-16 minutes. Invert onto damp towel. Carefully peel off foil. Roll cake in towel and let stand one minute. Unroll, remove towel and re-roll. Cool on wire rack while rolled up. Unroll and spread with softened ice cream. Roll and fill in the ends with additional ice cream. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer for several hours or overnight. Slice and serve.