Baking Day

Once again this week, I split up my freezer cooking plans over two days because I didn’t have an hour block available. While this isn’t quite as efficient, it’s manageable — and at least it means that some things got made and made it to the freezer.

The winner recipe of this week was definitely the Apple Butter Muffins. So good — and they froze very well, too.

The Peanut Butter Pancakes were so-so. Very fluffy, but not as delicious as some of our other favorite pancake recipes. (And make sure not to let them cook too long — yikes on that burned one!)

And I was so sad to be disappointed by the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies. They were just really dry. Part of me wonders if they would do better if they had a full stick of butter in them instead of a half stick? Or if I cooked the brown sugar/butter mixture too long?

I followed the recipe exact as written (yes, truly, I did — believe it or not!) but my bars were much more dry than shown. Anyone have ideas as to what might have been my problem or what might “fix” the recipe?

Recipe links:

Apple Butter Muffins
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies
Peanut Butter Pancakes

Did you bake or cook anything for the freezer this week?

Yesterday’s Freezer Cooking Session was so simple that it’s hard to even say it qualifies as a Freezer Cooking in an Hour session. And I guess that’s the beauty of letting your appliances do the work for you.

I stuck all of the ingredients for the Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls in the bread machine.

The chocolate chips sort of jumped out of the freezer while I was getting the yeast out… so I had to help the bag be a little lighter so it wouldn’t keep jumping out of the freezer like it always seems to.

And then I dumped all of the ingredients for the Southwestern Slow Cooker 2-Bean Chicken in the crockpot. That was just about the easiest recipe known to man… er, woman.

A little while later, I came back and rolled out the Cinnamon Rolls, let them rise, and baked them.

A few hours later, I turned off the crockpot. And I was D-O-N-E with this week’s freezer cooking. Talk about simple, it almost seems a little hypocritical to label it as a Freezer Cooking Session.

But hey, on a busy week like this week, I’ll take it.

Recipes I Made:

Southwestern Slow Cooker 2-Bean Chicken — So easy, but we thought it was somewhat lacking in flavor. Anyone have suggestions or ideas on things I should try adding next time around?
Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls — These are SO good. If you haven’t tried them, you are seriously missing out. Just sayin’.

Did you do any freezer cooking this week? If so, tell us about it!

I did another freezer cooking in an hour session today. I had to split it up before and after swimming lessons (our kids have swimming on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons after school this Fall).

So I mixed up the dry ingredients for the Brown Butter Banana Waffles and put together the Pancake/Waffle Mix before we left.

After we got home, I finished the waffles and baked them. They were more time-consuming than most waffle recipes I’ve made and I didn’t feel like they were worth the extra effort — but I really think it’s because I decided I didn’t love the flavor of bananas in waffles. But don’t worry, with plenty of butter and syrup, we’ll have no problem eating them.

Since I didn’t have any muffin tin liners, I just made the Crunchy Peanut Butter Cups into bars. I think it was easier to do so and the bars turned out beautifully. Now if I can just have the self-control not to eat half of the pan in the next few days.

I’m going to cut up the Crunchy Peanut Butter Cup Bars and freeze them. And I’m thinking having one of these will be a perfect little pick-me-up at the end of a long homeschooling day. Peanut butter and chocolate… it doesn’t get much better than that!

Have you done any cooking or baking for your freezer this week?

Here’s a little peek into the freezer cooking I did tonight:

I baked some chicken earlier in the day and chopped it while I was talking with my mom (she’s been coming over to spend time with the kids every Thursday afternoon after school).

And then Silas helped me grind up some flour while I mixed up the homemade pizza dough.

The Deep Dish Barbecue Chicken Pizzas were a little time intensive to put together.

Gratefully, I had some extra help in putting the pizzas together. I think someone likes their cheese.

I also made up a pizza with the extra ingredients.

Silas took this picture himself and I thought he did a pretty good job.

The Deep Dish Barbecue Chicken Pizzas turned out beautifully and the family declared them to be delicious. I’m happy to have some yummy grab-and-go foods in the freezer — perfect for a quick snack or lunch.

I also mixed up a double batch of these Knock Off Betty Crocker Brownie Mixes. I’m anxious to make them and see how they turn out.

Have you done any cooking or baking for your freezer this week?