Lynn's Kitchen Adventures » Frugal Desserts

Fried Apples

Lynn — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:49:10 +0000

Nothing says comfort food quite like fried apples. They are a simple, easy, frugal, and old fashioned comfort food.

I do have one question though. Are fried apples a dessert, a side dish, a delicious breakfast treat, or all three?

I will admit that we have used them for all three.

What do you think?

Fried Apples

¼ cup butter
6 apples peeled and sliced into ¼ to ½ inch pieces ( I prefer granny smith or another good baking type apple)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

In a large pan melt butter. (I like to use my cast iron pan for these fried apples)
Add apples, sugar, and cinnamon to melted butter and mix well.
Reduce heat to medium low and cook until apple are tender about 15 minutes. You will need to stir these often.
Serve with whipped cream or ice cream for dessert or plain as a side dish or snack.

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Homemade Coconut Pudding

Lynn — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:49:17 +0000

Homemade pudding is the perfect holiday treat. And I have another easy homemade pudding for you today.

If you need a last minute holiday dessert idea you can easily make up a few different flavors of homemade pudding and serve them for a holiday dessert buffet. You could make homemade vanilla pudding, homemade chocolate pudding, homemade butterscotch pudding, homemade white chocolate pudding, and/or this homemade coconut pudding.

The great thing about homemade pudding is that it can be made a day or two ahead of time, which will save you time the day you need to serve it.

I also love homemade puddings because they are an easy and naturally gluten free dessert.

If you have not tried making homemade pudding before, you really should give it a try. And I did a how to make homemade pudding video a while ago that some of you might find helpful.

Homemade Coconut Pudding

2 cups milk
1 cup cream
4 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of salt
3 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon rum extract, optional but good
½ cup shredded coconut

In a large saucepan combine milk, cream, cornstarch, salt, eggs, and sugar. Cook over medium hight heat, whisking constantly, until thickened. This will take 3-5 minutes.
Once thickened remove from heat and stir in rum extract.
Strain pudding through a fine mesh strainer to remove any lumps.
Fold in coconut. And cover with plastic wrap placed tightly over the pudding. This will keep a skin from forming as the pudding cools.
This can be served warm or cold.
Serve and enjoy!

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Mint Chocolate Meringue Cookies

Lynn — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:51:53 +0000

Meringue cookies have always fascinated me. They are crunchy on the outside and light and airy on the inside.

Many people are intimidated by meringue cookies, but they are really very easy to make, they just take a little time.

We love this mint version of meringue cookies. I used a little green food coloring in mine, but you could easily do a little red, or make a batch of both for a really fun plate of holiday cookies.

Mint Chocolate Meringue Cookies

4 egg whites at room temperature ( Room temperature eggs are important. The meringue whips up better.)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon mint extract
2-3 drops of green food coloring
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a bowl beat egg whites with an electric mixer until foamy.
Add the cream of tartar and beat until fluffy, but not stiff.
Add sugar slowly 3 tablespoons at a time.
Continue beating until all the sugar is added. Add mint extract and food coloring and beat until meringue is shiny and firm.It should form peaks.
Gently fold in miniature chocolate chips.
Drop by tablespoon full carefully onto baking sheets.
Place in oven. And turn off oven. Leave in the oven for at least 2 hours or overnight until cookies are crisp and dry. The meringue cookies will cook from the heat of the turned off oven.
Store in an airight container.
Serve and enjoy.

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For more great Christmas ideas please visit the other bloggers joining me on this series.

Christmas Homeschool Fun: 1+1+1=1

Christmas Decorations: Songbird

Tips for a Healthy Holiday: The Thrifty Mama

Saving Money: Surviving the Stores

Travel Tips: Mom’s Travel Tales

Christmas Family Fun: Life as Mom

Homemade Christmas Gifts: The Happy Housewife

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Crispy Marshmallow Squares

Lynn — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:46:52 +0000

For day two of our Twelve Days of Christmas I am sharing Crispy Marshmallow Squares. These are the perfect quick and easy holiday candy. They only contain three ingredients. You cannot get much more simple than that.

So easy and so good!

Crispy Marshmallow Squares

3 cups chocolate chips
2 cups rice krispies ( I used the gluten free ones)
3 cups marshmallows

Grease 9×13 pan.
In a large bowl melt chocolate chips in microwave on 50% power stirring every 30 seconds until melted.
Stir in rice krispies and marshmallows.
Spread into pan and cool. I place them into the refrigerator to cool.
Cut into bars and enjoy!

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For more great Christmas ideas please visit the other bloggers joining me on this series.

Christmas Homeschool Fun: 1+1+1=1

Christmas Decorations: Songbird

Tips for a Healthy Holiday: The Thrifty Mama

Saving Money: Surviving the Stores

Travel Tips: Mom’s Travel Tales

Christmas Family Fun: Life as Mom

Homemade Christmas Gifts: The Happy Housewife

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Buttermilk Pie

Lynn — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:49:53 +0000

Often times I think we over look simple old fashioned desserts.

Desserts today tend to be full of ingredients and are often complicated. And although they are very good, they often contain many steps and ingredients that we do not normally keep on hand.

This pie I am sharing today is a simple and inexpensive pie to make. It contains regular ingredients that most of us have. And it is so good!

I normally do not like the taste of buttermilk on its own. I usually prefer it in things like pancakes and waffles where I can not really taste the buttermilk. My husband and his family on the other hand can drink it by the glassful. They love it.

With a name like buttermilk pie you would think that this pie would have a strong buttermilk flavor, but it does not. The buttermilk in this gives it a nice creamy texture without giving it a strong buttermilk taste.

I have tried many buttermilk pies over the years and this recipe is my favorite.

It is adapted from a recipe I found in Paula Deen’s Southern Cooking Bible and we loved it. Paula did a great job on coming up with the perfect recipe for this old fashioned dessert. And I love her new cookbook. If you know a Paula Deen fan this cookbook would be the perfect gift.

And not only that, this pie is a perfect pie for the holidays!

Buttermilk Pie

1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 ¼ cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 ½ cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (Yes 1 tablespoon, this gives this pie a really good flavor.)

Preheat the oven to 375.
Line pie crust with parchment paper or foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights. This helps the pie crust from raising up and being uneven when prebaking the crust. Bake pie crust for 18 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside while you make the filling.
Reduce oven to 350.
In a large bowl whisk together the cornstarch, sugar, and eggs. Slowly add buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla and continue whisking until well combined.
Pour into filling and bake 40 minutes.
Let pie cool completely and refrigerate for several hours before serving.

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Easy Pumpkin Pie

Lynn — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:31:05 +0000

Pumpkin pie is a classic dessert to make for Thanksgiving. Nothing says fall and Thanksgiving quite like pumpkin pie and in our house it is not really the holidays without at least one pumpkin pie.

Over the years I have made many pumpkin pies, but this Easy Pumpkin Pie is my new favorite. I really think it is the best pumpkin pie I have made.

I was recently looking through the Sunday coupons and saw a coupon for sweetened condensed milk. Well, I love and use a lot of sweetened condensed milk, especially during the holidays, so the coupon caught my attention.

And on the same page as the coupon was a delicious looking pumpkin pie and a recipe. The recipe caught my attention, because it was a baked pie that contained sweetened condensed milk. I have made many pumpkin pies that contained evaporated milk, but I had never made a baked pumpkin pie that contained sweetened condensed milk.

Well, I knew right away that this was not a recipe I could wait until Thanksgiving to make, especially since it had been over two years since I had pumpkin pie.

So, I set to work making this pie last week and we loved it. The texture was silky smooth and perfect. And I admit that I might just have eaten a couple of pieces in one day. Okay, so I ate three pieces in one day, but it really had been two years since I had a pumpkin pie and this one was so good.

This will definitely be on our Thanksgiving table this year.

Now, this pumpkin pie may not be new to many of you, but some how I have missed this pie recipe. Have any of you made a baked pumpkin pie with sweetened condensed milk before?

Easy Pumpkin Pie

1-9 inch unbaked pie crust ( I used my gluten free pie crust)
1- 15 ounce can pumpkin
1-14 ounce sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 425 degrees.
In a bowl whisk together pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
Pour into unbaked pie shell.
Bake 15 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 35-40 more minutes or until knife inserted into the center comes clean.
Cool completely and serve.

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Chocolate Rice Krispies Crunch {Grandma’s No Bake Cookies}

Lynn — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:13:12 +0000

Last week I shared about my grandmother’s recipe box. Then I shared a picture on Facebook for no bake cookies that were made from a recipe I found in my grandmother’s recipe box.

Several of you asked that I share the recipe. I was more than happy to share it, but I am afraid some of you may be a bit disappointed because this recipe is so easy it is not much of a recipe at all. However, it is really really good.

This is one of those recipes that makes me wonder why I have never thought to try it before. It is so easy and so good.

In fact this recipe only contains two ingredients. It contains chocolate and rice krispy type cereal. That is it. See I told you it was easy.

I did adapt the chocolate to cereal ratio a little, but besides that it is still Grandma’s basic recipe.

Simple and tasty. I love recipes like this!

Chocolate Rice Krispies Crunch

3 cups chocolate chips
6 to 7 cups rice krispies ( I used the new gluten free ones)

Place the chocolate chips in a large bowl and melt in the microwave at 50% power and stirring every 30 seconds. This will take several minutes to do and be sure to stir every 30 seconds until the chocolate is melted.
Stir in rice krispies and stir until combined.
Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Place in the refrigerator until firm. This takes an hour or two.
Remove from wax paper and enjoy.

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Blueberry Cobbler

Lynn — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:40:18 +0000

One of my favorite things about summer is all the fresh fruit that is available. From strawberries to blueberries we enjoy it all. And one of our favorite ways to enjoy fruit is in cobblers.

What I love about making cobblers is that they are quick and easy to make and contain everyday ingredients

This blueberry cobbler is the same basic recipe as my strawberry cobbler, but I used blueberries. This is so simple and so good.

I have made this with both fresh and frozen blueberries and it worked well either way.

And for my gluten free readers I posted my gluten free version in my allergy section. It is also really good.

Blueberry Cobbler

4 cups blueberries
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup quick cooking oats
½ cup flour
½ cup butter

In a bowl toss blueberries with sugar and cornstarch.
In a separate bowl combine brown sugar, oats, and flour. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.
Place blueberry mixture in a 8×8 dish.
Sprinkle oat,flour mixture over the top of the blueberries.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

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Creamy Hot Fudge Sauce

Lynn — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:38:05 +0000

What is not to like about hot fudge sauce? Especially during the summer and all the triple digit weather that some of us have been experiencing.

I have several different hot fudge sauces that I make, but this recipe adapted from Carnation Evaporate Milk is a favorite of ours.

Pour it over a bowl of ice cream and you have a wonderful summertime treat.

Creamy Hot Fudge Sauce

1- 12 ounce can of evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2 cups chocolate chips
2 teaspoons vanilla

In a pan combine evaporated milk, sugar, butter, and corn syrup.
Cook on medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Stir constantly and reduce heat to low. Cook on low for 3 minutes.
Remove from heat. Stir in morsels and vanilla extract. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is thickened.
Serve over ice cream. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

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Stove Top Rice Pudding

Lynn — Wed, 11 May 2011 19:59:39 +0000

Modern day food is often complicated and difficult to make. We have gotten away from the simple classics and basic dishes of past generations.

So many recipes today contain gourmet ingredients and take hours to prepare. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with these recipes. They have a time and a place.

I have made many dishes that require extra time and ingredients, but I do not think we should forget the recipes of the past. According to today’s standards things like rice pudding are often considered to plain and old fashioned to have a place on our tables. I disagree.

Dishes like rice pudding are classics. They are simple recipes, that contain simple and basic ingredients.

And even though they are simple, they still taste so good. There is nothing more comforting to many people than a big bowl of rice pudding for dessert.

A classic and simple rice pudding is a favorite in our house. Is it in yours?

Stove Top Rice Pudding

2 cups water
1 cup long grain rice
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 cup cream
4 cups milk
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan. Stir in the rice and salt. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 18 minutes, stirring a few times.
Stir in milk, cream, and sugar. Increase heat to medium high and bring to a light boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cook uncovered stirring frequently until the mixture starts to thicken. Stir often to keep the mixture from sticking and scorching for about 45-50 minutes or until mixture is very thick. A spoon should stand up in it.
Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla and cinnamon.
Serve warm, cold, or room temperature. We like this warm, but the leftovers also make a great breakfast the next day.

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