Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
•  
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 X 13" pan.
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat in 2/3 cup cocoa, 1 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.
4. To Make Frosting: Combine 6 tablespoons butter, 6 tablespoons cocoa, 2 tablespoons honey, 2 teaspoons vanilla, and 2 cups confectioners' sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

Rich Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, melted
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup walnuts
• 5 medium bananas, sliced  (I mashed about half and the kids liked the chunks.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the butter mixture until smooth. Finally, fold in the sour cream, walnuts and bananas. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Through the holiday season I was frantically searching for one of my favorite recipes. Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. Apparently it fell from the sky and landed on my desk this morning. It made me say "Whoopie" and I knew I better preserve it digitally.

The Whoopie pie maybe found across the nation now (I hear it is the new cupcake) but when I moved to Maine over 6 years ago I had never heard of it. Whoopie pies can be found at almost every convenience store, pizzeria, bakery and grocery store. Often located right by the cash register.

My "Cooking the Maine Way" source tells me that Whoopie pies originated in the lunch boxes of industrial era mill workers. Whoopie pies were made from leftover breakfast cakes and a filling of lard and sugar. When a worker found one in his lunch box he would shout "Whoopie."

The recipes have really evolved since then. And this is my absolute favorite.

Pumpkin cookies (A friend of mine gave me this recipe. I omit the chocolate chips for Whoopie use.)
1 small can of pumpkin
2 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups of sugar
4 tsp baking powder
4 cups of flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 tsp. soda
2 tsp milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 pkg. chocolate chips (omit if making whoopies)

Blend the pumpkin, eggs and oil. Add the sugar and mix until smooth. Add all other ingredients and mix.
Bake at 375 F. I have made larger cookies and smaller cookies and adjusted the time accordingly. Start checking at 8 mins. Cookies should turn golden and puffy. Eat one, it should be soft and cakey.

The filling- Cream cheese-
here is my favorite cheat.
1 can of prepared cream cheese frosting
1 pkg of cream cheese
Whip them together until light and airy
Sandwich two cookies together. Experiment with your favorite amount of filling.

Yum yum!!