Bran Muffins (Peggy Taylor)

I remember my mom making this recipe when I was little. It must have been all the rage in the 70's, but I haven't heard of anyone preparing this in recent years. I'm curious to see if these are as delicious as I remember. I also recall thinking how cool it was to have the batter in the fridge and be able to bake fresh muffins whenever we wanted.

All Bran and Bran Flakes are not a staple in our house, so this recipe required a trip to the grocery store (for the buttermilk as well). Other than that, it's super easy to prepare; it just requires a really, really, really big bowl. My largest mixing bowl just barely held the batter, so I had to transfer it to our huge plastic popcorn bowl in order to add the cereals. A large stock pot could work as well.

Freshly mixed, the batter is a little on the soupy side, so I covered the bowl with plastic wrap to sit overnight, and I'll make the first batch of muffins in the morning.

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Yep, the batter thickened up overnight as the cereal absorbed the liquid. I gave it a good stir, then made 30 muffins, which smelled wonderful as they baked. I can tell you they look and smell just as I remember, and they have a moist, soft, springy texture.

But here's the thing: I can't eat these muffins right now, so I can't tell you how they taste. I've never been one to follow a restrictive diet for any stretch of time, but my husband and I are headed to the Caribbean beaches of Costa Rica in less than two months, and I don't want the sight of me in a bikini to scare away small children and animals. I am being so good about following this diet, I won't even allow myself a taste of off-limits treats. I'm hardcore, baby.

The upside is that, according to this recipe, the batter keeps in the fridge for up to six weeks, and by then I'll be done with the diet so I can do my own taste test and report back wth the results.

For now, though, I have to rely on the opinion of others, which so far is excellent. I took the first batch, still warm, to share at a breakfast meeting, and everyone who tried them said they were delicious. My husband, daughter, brother, niece, and nephew all liked them, too.

I'm estimating that I used about half of the batter to make the 30 muffins. However, I overfilled the muffin cups a little, and could have stretched it to three dozen. I recommend filling the cups no more than half-full.

I poured the rest of the batter into jars to store in the fridge. I'll keep a tally and update the number when I finish it off in a few weeks, but I'd guess the recipe is enough for around 6 dozen muffins - a very good value compared to the cost and simplicity of the ingredients!

This is a fantastic recipe for feeding a crowd, and/or for having freshly baked muffins in 20 minutes whenever you like.

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Bran Muffins
from Peggy Taylor

2 cups boiling water
5 tsp baking soda
1 cup oil
4 cups sugar
4 beaten eggs
5 cups sifted flour
4 cups All-Bran cereal
2 cups Bran Flakes
1 qt buttermilk
1 tsp salt

[You will need a very large bowl or stock pot.]

Mix boiling water and soda. Cool.
Cream sugar and oil. Add eggs, then other ingredients.

[Cover and refrigerate overnight, then stir well in the morning.]

Grease and flour muffin tins or use paper liners. [Fill muffin cups no more than half full.]
Bake for 20 minutes at 400°.

Batter keeps for 6 weeks.
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Cream Puffs (Win)

As far as ingredients go, these puffs are only one egg short of being identical to Alice T's recipe, but the preparation and baking instructions are different. As far as I could tell, the end result is the same, so take your pick.

As usual, I used butter instead of margarine.

Out of curiosity, I also looked up the recipe for cream puffs in The Joy of Cooking. It says to let the hot water-butter-flour mixture cool slightly so it won't cook the eggs when they are added. I assume that this is the same purpose of beating the mixture for 2 or 3 minutes before adding eggs in this recipe.

The batter was not as thick as when I made Alice T's puffs last year. However, I tried making Alice T's recipe again today, and it turned out the same slightly thinner consistency as Win's - so I can only assume it had something to do with the temperature or humidiy of the room.

Baking these puffs at 450° for 20 minutes followed by 325° for 20 minutes is much too long. After the initial 20 minutes, I turned the oven down, but took the puffs from the oven 10 minutes later because they were getting too brown. Next time, I plan to try 450° for 10 minutes before turning it down to 325° (The Joy of Cooking says to start at 400° for 10 minutes then reduce to 350°).

I lightly greased the baking sheet, but to my frustration and dismay, many of the puffs stuck so much that the bottoms tore apart and I couldn't use them for making sandwiches. I'm not sure why this happened. It was at this point that I decided to make a second batch using Alice T's recipe, but they came out the same way, so something else was going on. Perhaps it was the oven temperature, or I didn't grease the sheet enough, or (most likely) whatever it was that made the batter turn out too thin. They are so easy to make, I don't mind trying again.

The puffs otherwise turned out beautifully, but sticking to the pan wasn't cool. Only about half of them were useable.

I was preparing these for a luncheon, and went with savory instead of sweet puffs. For perfect little tea sandwiches, I stirred about ¼ tsp of minced fresh chives into the batter, and put a light sprinkle of sea salt on top of each puff before baking. To serve, I cut them crosswise and put a spoonful of tuna salad in each one.

(Incidentally, I make really good tuna salad - just like my mom's, only with mayonnaise instead of Miracle Whip. I also have a fabulous chicken salad recipe, if anyone is looking.)
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Cream Puffs
from Win

½ cup oleo (¼ lb) [margarine or butter]
1 cup water
1 cup flour
3 unbeaten eggs

Heat oleo [butter] and water in saucepan until oleo is melted.
Add flour all at once and heat 2 or 3 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time and beat after each.
Drop by spoonfuls on greased cookie sheet.

Bake in hot oven (450°) 20 min. [I recommend 10 min.] Reduce heat to 325° and bake 20 min. more or until done. Remove one from baking sheet and if it doesn't fall, they are done.

Use 1 heaping tablespoon for each large cream puff.

Small ones make good tea sandwiches filled with chicken or tuna salad.
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Spicey Coffee Cake (Dorothy)

This is "Spicey" - not spicy - Coffee Cake. :)

I made this recipe for a funeral reception that I did not attend, so I can't yet provide any opinions of the final product. I did, however, use a couple of tablespoons of batter and spice mixture to make myself a mini sample in a custard cup. Right now, it's wrapped up in the freezer, waiting for my diet to be over in a few weeks, so I'll be back to update with a full taste report at a later date. Actually, I'll probably just find an excuse to make the recipe again so I can taste it fresh - I love a warm coffee cake.

I didn't think to take an individual photo of the finished product, but here's one of all the goodies I prepared for the reception (it was a very long day in the kitchen, but worth it!):

The Spicey Coffee Cake is in the bottom center. Also pictured, clockwise from the coffee cake, are the Breakfast Casserole, a bacon-swiss quiche (my personal specialty, not from the Yellow Box), Meat Loaf, Cinnamon Sour Cream Coffee Cake (I added a maple glaze), and Banana Cake that I split into three small loaves.

I made one large (9" x 13") cake, dividing the batter into two layers with half the spice mixture between the layers. This batter turns out extremely thick, so it was a bit of a trick to spread the second layer on top of the layer of spice mixture. I suppose I could have just put all of the spice mixture on top, but I like to have the extra flavor in the middle.

Other than that, it's a straightforward recipe. It'll be hard to beat either the Cinnamon Sour Cream Coffee Cake or Pattie Wheeler's Night Before Coffee Cake, so I'm curious to know how this one is.

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five months later

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I finally tried the cake myself, and I am a fan.

I started baking part-time in a local coffee shop over the summer, and have made this recipe several times because it is so simple to prepare. I've been making it in a tube pan with good results.There isn't much to the cake batter, but it's really the spice mixture, swirled through the middle and sprinkled on top, that makes every bite delicious.

A simple recipe, this coffee cake is best served warm, but still very good the next day.

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Spicey Coffee Cake
from Dorothy

Bottom
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1½ cup sugar     } sift first 4 ingredients together

½ cup oleo [butter/margarine] (1 stick)     } cut into dry ingredients

2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk      } beat and add to other ingredients

Spice Mixture
mix together:
1 cup brown sugar
4 tsp flour
2 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp melted oleo [butter/margarine]
⅔ cup chopped nuts

Grease two 8" pans or one large (9" x 13") pan.
Alternate layers of batter and spice mixture (batter is very thick), topping with spice mixture.

Bake at 375° for 30-35 minutes.
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Cinnamon Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Interesting that this cake goes into a cold oven.

It's good, especially warm from the oven. I tried it again after it had cooled, and it was still moist with really nice flavor, but needed coffee, tea, or milk to wash it down.

Taking a closer look at this recipe, I realized after the fact that I missed the part that says to put only half the cinnamon mixture between the batter layers, then sprinkle the other half on top. I put all of the cinnamon mixture inside the cake, which made a very thick layer, and the cake slices crumbled apart a bit when I transferred them to a plate. It didn't ruin anything, but the cake might have held together better if I'd done it the right way.

There are similar recipes that call for a box of cake mix, and that version is super-moist-and-rich, more so than this one. However, I like making things totally from scratch, so I'm inclined to stick to recipes like this. It isn't quite as good as Pattie Wheeler's Night Before Coffee Cake, but there are more than a half-dozen coffee cake recipes in the Yellow Box, so there's more to come!

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UPDATE: I made this again, following the directions to put half the cinnamon mixture between layers of batter, then top with the remaining mixture. This, of course, results in a cinnamon-nut layer on the bottom of the cake when served. My husband pointed out that the cake looks more attractive in the pan (upside down). He's right. So, to make it look prettier on the plate, I made a simple maple glaze (¾ cup of powdered sugar stirred with ¼ cup maple syrup) to pour over the top of the cake while it was still warm.
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Cinnamon Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Cold Oven [do not preheat]

1 cup butter
1½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cups sour cream
2 cups flour
½ tsp soda
1½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

¾ cup nuts + 1 tsp cinnamon + 2 tbsp sugar [combine separately]

In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar, and eggs. Beat until fluffy.
Blend in sour cream. [Or blend in gradually, alternating with flour.]
Sift flour. Measure and sift with soda and baking powder into creamed mixture.
Add vanilla and blend well.
Spoon half of mixture into 9" tube pan or 10" bundt pan which has been buttered and floured (batter will be thick).
Spread half of cinnamon mixture on top, then add mixture and remaining cinnamon.
[In other words: spread half the batter in the pan, then sprinkle on half the cinnamon mixture, then spread the remaining batter, then add the remaining cinnamon mixture.]

[Set pan in a] cold oven. Bake at 350° for 55 minutes.

[Optional: After about 10 minutes, turn the cake out onto a serving platter and drizzle a simple glaze over the top (e.g., ¾ cup of powdered sugar stirred with ¼ cup maple syrup)]
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Banana Cake (#1)

For some reason, I was surprised by how good this is: very moist, good texture and flavor, not too sweet. Nut-free for those who don't care for banana nut bread. A little cinnamon wouldn't be a bad idea, though I can't say I missed it.

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In fact, after several days of enjoying it for breakfast, I am editing this post to declare this to be the best banana bread I've ever made.

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I made a loaf, and it filled the 10" pan completely. Whenever I get around to making a layer cake, I'll provide more details on pan size and baking time, since the recipe card doesn't specifiy.

The only thing I want to point out is the part about mixing the buttermilk and baking soda together before adding it to the batter. This is the second recipe out of the Yellow Box that says to do that, and I'm not sure why (I could probably look it up, but I don't feel like it right now). Anyway, when I first started getting all the ingredients set out, I went ahead and mixed the soda with the buttermilk. By the time I was ready to add it to the batter, the mixture had expanded by about 25%, and I worried that the cake wouldn't rise as much as it should in the oven. I dumped it out, prepared a new mixture, and added it to the batter immediately. I choose to believe it made a difference.

Next time, I'll make it as a cake.
But what kind of frosting should I use?
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Banana Cake
½ cup shortening
1½ cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
½ cup buttermilk
3 ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla

For a loaf, grease (and flour?) a (10") loaf pan and preheat oven to 350°.
For a layer cake, grease (and flour?) two cake pans and preheat oven to 375°.
Cream shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs. Blend in flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir soda into buttermilk, then mix that into the batter. Blend in bananas and vanilla. Pour batter into pan(s).

Bake loaf for 1 hour (check for doneness with a toothpick).
Bake layer cake 25-30 minutes(?) (check for doneness with a toothpick).

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Forgotten Cookies

These cookies are so easy to make! They're pretty hard to mess up, too. I think somebody came up with this recipe with me in mind, because I am really terrible about forgetting about cookies in the oven and burning them. Here, though, you're supposed to leave them in the oven, and as long as you remember to turn the oven off, there's no risk of burning them.

Simply put, Forgotten Cookies are soft, slightly chewy meringues packed with chocolate chips and nuts. The meringue really just functions as a light, very sweet vehicle for the chocolate and nuts. I used dark chocolate chips and pecans.

There isn't much to them: beat two egg whites, sugar, salt, and vanilla; then stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Silly me, I had the whites all whipped up before I realized I'd forgotten to add the sugar, but I don't think it made a difference in the outcome. There are penciled-in notes that include adding a half-teaspoon of cream of tartar, which I may try next time just to see if it changes anything, but I followed the recipe without the notes and was very pleased with the result. Since they don't rise or expand, you can set them very close together on the cookie sheet (make sure it is greased!).

I suppose the only drawback is that they are not a last-minute treat; you need to be able to leave them in the oven overnight (which I did), or at least be sure you don't need to use the oven for a couple of hours.

Next time you have a couple of egg whites you don't want to let go to waste, give these a try!
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Forgotten Cookies

Preheat oven to 350°
Beat 2 egg whites until foamy (do not use a plastic bowl)
Add ⅔ cup sugar (or ¾ cup)
dash of salt (⅛ tsp)
1 tsp vanilla
(½ tsp cream of tartar)
Beat together until stiff
Fold in 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped nuts*
Drop on well-greased cookie sheet [heaping teaspoon]
Put in oven and turn oven off immediately
Leave at least 2 hours or overnight

*You could alternatively use all nuts or all chocolate chips by increasing the total amount to 2 cups
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Peanut Brittle (and variations)

Look at all those recipes! Where do I even begin?

[Go ahead and skip to the recipe at the end if you care more about the product than the process.]

I had never made peanut brittle before, probably because I've never been a huge fan. There's something about peanuts in candy that puts me off. I don't dislike them - I enjoy shelling and eating peanuts once in a while - but they generally don't appeal to me as an ingredient in other foods. As my dear friend Amanda put it, the peanuts are just the vehicle for the brittle, and she's right. I remember as a little kid trying to nibble the yummy candy around each peanut, then throwing away the nuts.

Early in the holiday season, Amanda acquired a package of a New York-made confection labeled "Bacon Brittles," which turned out to be simply a bag o' sweet and salty peanuts rather than what we consider brittle. Disappointed but intrigued, Amanda pondered how to improve on the concept, and came up with the idea of incorporating jalapeno smoked bacon into a traditional peanut brittle recipe. Since she's more of a cook and I'm more of a baker, she tossed her idea my way, and I immediately went to the Yellow Box.

I found eight recipes for peanut brittle, and was surprised that no two were identical. Since this would be my first attempt at making brittle candy, I also turned to The Joy of Cooking to learn the basics and to compare the recipe in the book to the ones from the Yellow Box.

Here's a good example of my.... well.... I don't know what to call it. I've never been diagnosed with OCD, but is this chart I made an indicator?

	Sidner	Newspaper	Tulsa Tribune	Hause	Allen	Harkleroad	Walker	Binding-Stevens	Joy of Cooking
sugar	2 cups	2 cups	2 cups	1 cup	2 cups	1 cup	2 cups	2 cups	2 cups
corn syrup	1 cup	1 cup	1 cup	1 cup	1 cup	1/2 cup	1 cup	1 cup	1 cup
water	1/2 cup	2/3 cup	1/2 cup	2 tsp	1/2 cup		1/2 cup	1/2 cup	1/2 cup
cream of tartar									1/4 tsp
salt		1/2 tsp	1/2 tsp
peanuts	2 cups	1 lb	1 lb	1 cup	2 cups	1 cup	2 cups	2 cups	2 cups
butter	1 tbsp	1 tbsp			2 tbsp		2 tbsp	1 heaping tbsp	3 tbsp
vanilla	1/2 tsp	1 tsp	1 tsp	2 tsp	1 tsp		1 tsp
soda	1 1/2 tsp	2 tsp	2 1/2 tsp	1 1/2 tsp	2 tsp	1 tsp	1 heaping tsp	1 tsp	1/4 tsp

I wasn't interested in preparing nine different recipes just to find the best one, so I kind of eyeballed them all and went with what seemed to be the most average - I believe it was Mrs. Allen's recipe.

To assist us in our first attempt at jalapeno bacon brittle, Amanda invited her awesome friend Kellie, who had ample experience and provided great coaching on brittle-making techniques. The most important part of the process is to work as quickly as possible at the end: rapidly stir in the final ingredients, immediately pour the candy into a greased baking pan, then vigorously shake the pan with jerking movements back and forth across the countertop to get the candy to spread out as much as possible before it sets. Do not tilt the pan or you'll end up with thick sections of candy. Trying to spread it out manually can work, but it's tricky.

With Kellie's help, I pretty much got the hang of brittle making after the first couple of batches. It really is simple, but requires having everything prepared beforehand and moving quickly in the final stages.

Since our peanuts were already roasted (in jalapeno bacon grease!) and the bacon was already cooked, we waited to add those at the very end. The Joy of Cooking also recommends this method using toasted rather than raw nuts.

Here's an artistic shot of our first batch of jalapeno bacon brittle:

Later, I tried making it with coarsely chopped peanuts, but it turned out looking a little too much like vomit:

Of course, the flavor is most important, and I wish I could say definitively one way or the other how I liked it. But truly, I couldn't make up my mind. Amanda liked it, and so did several other adventurous-palated friends. Sarah didn't care for it, though, and she wasn't alone. It was worth a try, in my opinion.

However, since I don't expect everyone to rush to the specialty gourmet stores to locate jalapeno bacon, I made traditional peanut brittle as well. I referred to both Mrs. Allen's recipe as well as the one Mrs. Hora cut from the Tulsa Tribune for guidance on thermometer readings. Since I don't yet have a feel for making candy according to visual cues, I relied on a candy thermometer for each batch. Out of curiosity, I poured it out onto foil instead of a baking sheet, and it came out fine, just a little thicker.

Here's the traditional batch:

Though I said I don't much care for peanuts in candy, I really liked this brittle. We included it in a goodie box we passed out to the neighbors, and the lady across the street flagged me down a few days later to tell me she and her husband loved it so much, their son didn't even get to try it because they ate it all before he got home from school!

The rich buttery vanilla flavor was evident in Mrs. Allen's recipe, and I wondered if that was the secret. A few days later, out of curiosity, I tried Mrs. Harkleroad's barebones recipe with only four ingredients. Blech. I mean, I guess it was edible, but it left no question that butter and vanilla make the best-tasting brittle.

Making brittle on my own, I learned that it takes a long time for the boiling syrup to heat up to the "hard crack" stage - and even longer when you put the raw peanuts in half-way through and it has to heat up all over again - but the temperature rises very quickly the last ten or twenty degrees. I looked away for a minute, then suddenly caught a whiff of burning peanuts and found the temp to be almost 310°. I rushed to finish the batch, and it fortunately turned out okay, but taught me to be more watchful in the future.

While I was attempting Mrs. Harkleroad's recipe, I decided to see if I could judge the doneness by its color instead of by the temperature. Mrs. Harkleroad said it would be dark around the edges, whereas Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Walker said it should be golden brown. I never noticed the edges of the syrup looking darker than the rest of it, so I watched and waited for the golden brown color to manifest.

Also, to entertain myself during the long boiling period, I took photos of the syrup as it cooked:

Somewhere around the fourth shot, though, I questioned my judgment and used the candy thermometer. The final photo was taken at just under 300°.

I am now satisfied that I can churn out a decent batch of peanut brittle on demand.

However, as the holiday season whirled on, a canister of cashews kept nagging at me every time I opened the pantry.... The peanut brittle I'd made was good, but wouldn't cashew brittle be so much better? A few days after Christmas, in the lull before New Year's festivities, I brought home a package of maple-flavored bacon and could no longer resist the temptation.

I made the brittle using Mrs. Allen's list of ingredients and the Tulsa Tribune's temperature guidelines. Also, since the cashew nuts were already roasted, I heeded The Joy of Cooking's instructions and waited until the very end before stirring in 2 cups of nuts and about a half-cup of cooked chopped bacon. And the result....

Maple bacon cashew brittle is officially my new favorite candy.

Really, it's fantastically delicious. Deliciously fantastic. Whatever. I strongly, strongly suggest giving it a try. It's so worth trying, in fact, I'll even make it for you and send you some if you don't want to make it yourself. Maybe. If you ask me nicely.

So, to sum up: there are a variety of successful ways to make brittle, whether with peanuts or the nut of your choice, but for the best-tasting results, use butter and vanilla.

Here are all eight recipes from the Yellow Box:

If you're in the mood to experiment with the different recipes, knock yourself out.

However, the recipe I'm providing below is actually a combination of the ingredients and methods from those above.
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Peanut Brittle

2 cups sugar
1 cup corn syrup
½ cup water
2 cups raw or roasted nuts
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking soda

Measure and have ready in advance butter, vanilla, and baking soda.
Grease or butter a rimmed baking sheet or large sheet of aluminum foil.
Use a pot that is at least twice the volume of the ingredients, to allow room for the candy to foam and expand at the end of the process.
Bring sugar, corn syrup, and water to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or heat-proof spatula.
Once boiling, stirring is not necessary except when adding ingredients.
Monitor the temperature of the syrup with a candy thermometer.
When the candy thermometer registers 240° (threading or soft ball stage), stir in raw nuts (do not add roasted nuts at this time) and continue to boil.
When the syrup reaches between 295-300° (hard crack stage and golden amber in color), remove from heat and quickly stir in butter, vanilla, and soda, about 10 seconds. Mixture will foam.
If using roasted nuts, add them at this point and stir quickly to coat.
Immediately pour the mixture onto the baking sheet and begin shaking vigorously to encourage candy to spread out. If using foil, it is possible to spread and pull the candy thin while wearing heat-proof (silicone) gloves.
Allow candy to cool completely, then break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

For bacon brittle, cook and chop up about 1/2 cup (6-8 slices) of bacon (maple-flavored is especially good), and stir it into the syrup at the very end (simultaneously with roasted nuts, if using).
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