Carrot Cake Bars

I like carrot cake.  I can’t say that I love it, but it’s one of those things that once in a while is just delicious.  I was visiting family recently and had a slice.  It was good, but I felt like I wanted something different.  I came across this recipe in a What’s Cooking magazine from Spring 2004.  It was different, but not too different.

First up, take a smallish bowl and mix together 1 1/4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg.  Set that aside for now.

In a large bowl (probably your mixer bowl?) beat 3/4 cup butter (softened, of course), 1 cup packed brown sugar and 1/2 cup granular sugar (that’s the normal stuff) with your mixer until well blended.

Add in 2 eggs and 1 cup shredded carrots (about 2 carrots) and mix that until well blended.

Remember that bowl with the flour mixture from earlier?  Grab that and add it in a little at a time.  Mix until well blended.

Take this mixture and spread it on the bottom of a 9×13 inch pan.  Set that aside.

Now that your mixing bowl is all cleaned out you can beat in 1 package (8oz) cream cheese (softened a bit) and 1/4 cup granulated sugar until well blended.

Add one more egg and 2 tablespoons of flour and mix until just blended.

Drop this mixture by spoonfuls all around the top of the other stuff in the pan, and swirl it around gently to kind of combine.

Cook this at 350°F for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, whatever comes first.

Once these cool, they taste quite a bit like iced carrot cake, in a handy compact package.  These are great to take in lunches, because bars aren’t quite so messy.  As complicated at this recipe seems, it’s really not that bad.  If you try these, let me know in the comments below how you made out.

Blueberry Cake

If you’re like me, you’ve got a ton of blueberries.  I may have purchased a massively huge box of them… way more than we needed.

I didn’t have a ton of supplies on hand, so I thought I’d go with a blueberry cake.  My family has been using this recipe for years, but unfortunately I don’t know where it originated so I can’t credit it.

First, preheat your oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit.

Sift together 2 cups Flour, 2 teaspoons Baking Powder and 1/2 teaspoon Salt in a bowl.  Mix well and set aside.  The bowl doesn’t have to be too big because this is all that goes into it.

So far so good.  In another (bigger) bowl, beat 1/4 cup Margarine with 3/4 cup Sugar.  I used Parkay squares and just cut them in half.  If you do that, just leave the other half out because you’ll need it later on.

I didn’t soften the margarine at all, so when mixing it actually turned out kind of crumbly.

It’s not a big deal if it looks like that.  Next you beat in 1 egg.  Just mix it until the whole thing is creamy and it takes care of the margarine issue.

Stir in 1/2 cup Milk

Remember those dry ingredients you set aside?  Time to add them back in.  I’ve made this particular recipe a few times, and I find it’s easier to add a little and mix it, add a little more, then keep going until it’s all incorporated.  Otherwise you just wind up with flour everywhere.  You’ll wind up with something that’s really thick.

Mix in 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract to the dough.

Once it’s all together, fold in 2 cups of Blueberries.  If you’ve always wondered what that means, just bring the edges of the mixture up over the berries until it’s all mixed together.  Don’t work the dough any more than you absolutely have to.

No matter what you do, you’ll crush some berries.  Don’t sweat it.

Pretty, right?  Now just spread this out into an 11×7 inch pan.  I didn’t have one, so I used an 11×8 inch pan.

Now grab another bowl and toss in that other 1/4 cup Margarine (you may want to soften it just a little if needed), 1/4 cup Flour, 1/2 cup Sugar and 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon.

Mix these all together and then sprinkle it over the top of the blueberry mixture in the pan.  It doesn’t need to cover every spot and it doesn’t need to be perfect.

Toss it in the oven for about an hour (or until a toothpick comes out clean) and let cool before trying to eat so you don’t get burned.

Success!