Ginger cookies

The first time I made these, they came out terribly. They were oil-y and disgusting, and they cooled to be rock hard even though I cooked them for two minutes less than the time stated. About half way through the batch I added about 2/3 cup of flour, which I added it by kneading it like it was bread dough, just because that was easiest. After that they turned out great. Not exactly chewy in the way that a chocolate chip cookie might be, but still soft in the middle and slightly crunchy on the outside, provided that you don't overbake them.
I'm not exactly sure how much flour I normally add, I usually start with 3/4 cup of flour and add more as needed.
You have to be very careful to not overbake these, or else they get very crunchy. Once they start cracking on top, but are still very soft to the touch, they should be done. The time stated is for slightly bigger cookies, so be sure to shorten it for smaller ones.

Chewy Ginger Cookies
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
White sugar for topping


1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2.In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oil, molasses, vanilla, and egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; stir into the molasses mixture. Roll dough into balls and flatten. Stick top of cookie in sugar and place on a cookie sheet with parchment paper on it.
3.Bake for 9 minutes in preheated oven. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before cooling the rest of the way on a wire rack.

Banana bread

Super moist and sooo good. You could substitute 1/2 the oil for apple sauce if you wanted it a little healthier, but I didn't have any so I just used the full amount of oil.
I think my cook time was closer to an hour and 10 minutes, so set it for less and check it.
You could also add nuts to this, but I didn't as my family doesn't like nuts.

Banana bread
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 mashed bananas
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger

1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray one 9x5 inch loaf pan with non-stick spray coating.
2.Blend together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, buttermilk, oil and bananas.
3.Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Stir into banana mixture.
4.Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Coffee Cake

I make this almost every weekend and it gets eaten right away. Super yummy!


Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup of sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour- I'm not exactly sure on this, I generally just add flour to the butter and cinnamon mixture until crumbs form.
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 8x8 inch pan.

Make the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, melt partially butter in microwave. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour. If mixture is more of a paste than crumbles, add flour (a little at a time), until a crumb texture is reached. I generally use my hands when it gets closer to crumbs, I find it works best that way.

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon, set aside. In a large bowl stir egg, milk, vanilla extract, and milk. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, stir until just combined, and fold in sour cream.Pour half the batter into prepared pan, sprinkle half of the streusel mix over batter, pour the rest of the batter into the pan and top with the remaining streusel.

3.Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.


I apologize in advance if my directions aren't clear enough. The ones on the original recipe were rather bizarre.

Chocolate chip pumpkin bread

This pumpkin bread is super moist and tastes amazing with the chocolate chips, but feel free to leave them out if you don't like chocolate.


Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Quick Bread
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

2 cups white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2/3 cup water
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips (make sure that they are miniature or they sink to the bottom)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 9x5 inch loaf pans.

2.In a large bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, oil, applesauce, water, and eggs. Beat until smooth. Blend in flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, and salt. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Fill cans 1/2 to 3/4 full.

3.Bake for 1 hour, or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Cool on wire racks before removing from pans.