Carrot Cake

I didn't used to be a big of a fan of carrot cake. Then I got O a delicious carrot cake for his birthday and I've been sold ever since. Which lead to me coming up with this recipe, which, much like others I've written, is an amalgam of several recipes I've found.

Carrot Cake

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I prefer kosher)
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup grated carrot
• 3  4 ounce jars of carrot baby food
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 applesauce
• 8 ounces crushed pineapple
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup raisins (I prefer golden raisins)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour cake pan.

Put raisins in a bowl of warm water.

Grate carrots (or throw them in a food processor, if you have one), combine with sugar.

Beats eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla extract, almond extract, and baby food.

Mix in carrots and sugar.

Mix in flour, soda, powder, cinnamon, nutmeg.

Drain pineapple and raisins. Fold in pineapple, raisins, and pecans.

Pour into cake pan.

Bake 40-50 minutes.

Let cool 10 minutes, turn out on wire rack, let cool completely.

Icing

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

Beat butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract until smooth.

Frost cake.

Sprinkle with nuts.

And enjoy carrot cake. Mmmm, carrot cake. I love me some carrot cake.

Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal Cookies

My father doesn't like oatmeal raisin cookies. So I set out to come up with a recipe for oatmeal cookies that used something other than raisins. Luckily, he and I both LOVE cinnamon apple oatmeal, so I had an idea of what I should make. There are a couple different way to make these cookies. They can be made with cinnamon apple instant oatmeal packets or plain oatmeal and chopped up bits of apple.

Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal Cookies

• 1/4 cup butter if using instant packets, 1/2 cup divided in half if using oatmeal and apples
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 egss
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (I prefer kosher)
• 10 packets apple cinnamon oatmeal or 2 cups plain oatmeal
• 2 cups apples
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

If you're using oatmeal and apples, peel your apples, dice them and put them in a pot with half the butter, cooking until soft. If using instant packets, skip this step.

Mix 1/4 cup butter, applesauce, b rown sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Mix in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.

Mix in oatmeal and apples, or packets. Sometimes at this step I like to chop up a cup or so of dried apple pieces and mix them in for extra apple, but it's not necessary.

Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray and drop tablespoons of batter onto it. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool.

I've made these a number of times now, and I think I might actually prefer them with the instant oatmeal packets. Make sure you've got a big glass of milk ready to enjoy these with!