I'm baking.

Have you thought about breakfast munchies for your loved ones while they are waiting for the turkey to cook? They will love this pound cake, and you can bake it the day before.

Lemon Poppyseed Pound Cake

Baking spray

1 cup granulated white sugar – 7 oz.

1/3 cup butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 Tbsp. grated lemon rind, from 1 large lemon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 2/3 cups flour (4.5 oz. a.p. flour and 2 5/8 oz. cake flour, for a total of 1 2/3 cups)

2 Tbsp. poppy seeds

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. kosher salt

¾ cup low-fat buttermilk – 6.25 fl.oz.

Glaze

2/3 cup granulated sugar – 4.5 oz.

Juice of one large lemon, about ¼ cup

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter



Coat a 9x5 loaf pan with baking spray. Pre-heat oven to 300°.

Beat butter and sugar on medium speed of stand mixer until well blended, about 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Beat in lemon rind and vanilla.

Combine flour and next four ingredients in another bowl. Add 1/3 flour, beat, add ½ buttermilk, beat, and repeat, ending with flour. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 300° for 40 minutes, then turn oven to 325° and bake for another 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown and toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

Let cool 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire rack, and poke holes all the way through the cake using a skewer. Brush glaze over cake, until all glaze has been absorbed, and while cake is still warm.

Glaze

Combine lemon juice and sugar in a glass measuring cup, stir well and let rest while cake cooks. When you remove cake from oven, stir lemon sugar mixture again, and place in microwave for 1 minute. Remove; stir, until all sugar is dissolved. Stir in 1 Tbsp. room temp. butter, until incorporated. Let cool along with cake. Poke the cake, and brush over the warm cake, then cool completely. Brush lightly around all sides, too.

Moist, delicious and addictive cookies for the Holiday Table.

Who doesn't love these Honey Crisp apples? These are the MOST addictive apple I have ever eaten, and I'm not alone in thinking this. Everyone should try these. I decided to use one for this recipe, and once again, we couldn't stop eating these cookies, either. Apple crack? Yeah, that's gotta be it.
And unlike me, they don't get old or dried out, but they do seem to get even better, if that's possible, so these will last through a holiday weekend, if you make enough. teehee

Apple Cookies:


 1/2 cup shortening

 1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar

 1 egg

 1/4 cup milk

 2 cups all-purpose flour

 1 teaspoon baking soda

 ½ tsp. kosher salt

 Scant 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 Scant 1/8 teaspoon ground mace

 1 cup chopped pecans

 1 cup finely diced or shredded, peeled Honey Crisp apple ( 1 apple)

 1 cup raisins

Vanilla Glaze:

 1-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

 1 tablespoon butter, melted

 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

 2 to 4 teaspoons frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed but not diluted, and then warmed in the microwave (10 seconds)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Add egg and milk and beat until combined.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and mace. Gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in walnuts, apple and raisins.

4. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls two inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven 8-10 minutes or until cookies are dark golden brown. Cool on wire racks. (375° pure convection mode for 14 to 16 minutes, for three cookie sheets)

5. To make vanilla glaze, in a small bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, butter, vanilla, salt, and warmed apple juice. Drizzle over warm cookies. If not of drizzling consistency, add 1 tsp. warm water, and stir again. Scoop glaze into a zip-loc bag, push the air out, seal, then make a small cut in one bottom corner, and squeeze glaze onto the tops of the cookies. Do this gently, so the bag doesn’t burst.