"Make it with Sugar" Contest Winners

The Roundup held its annual "Make it with Sugar" contest on Fri., Oct. 23. First place winners are as follows:

Cookies: Kristen O'Brien (ginger snaps).

Cake and People's Choice: Josie Dahlberg (lemon sheet cake).

Breads and Rolls: Josie Dahlberg (Amish friendship bread).

Pie: Carli Karren (salted caramel apple pie).

Candy: Evie and Hannah Karren (tantalizing cookie dough truffles).

Other: Laura Castro (Emma's donuts).

Winning Recipes:

Ginger Snaps

(First Place Cookies: Kristen O'Brien)

1 cup sugar

¾ cup butter, softened

¼ cup molasses

1 egg

½ teaspoon vanilla

2 ½ cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger, ground

½ teaspoon cloves, ground

¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ground

¼ cup sugar (separate)

Cream sugar, butter and molasses until light and fluffy in a stand mixer. Add egg and vanilla until well incorporated. Add flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Mix well. Refrigerate 1 hour or more.

Heat oven to 350º. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in the ¼ cup of sugar. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-12 minutes until set (until they just crack into patterns)

Lemon Sheet Cake

(First Place Cake & People's Choice Award: Josie Dahlberg)

1 box French Vanilla Cake Mix (Duncan Hines preference)

eggs, water, and oil as directed on cake mix package

1 cup buttermilk

1 box (4 ½ cup serving size) Lemon instant pudding mix

Frosting:

½ cup butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

¼ cup lemon Jell-O gelatin

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 teaspoons lemon juice

zest of 1 large lemon

2-3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream (or milk)

Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease and flour 18"x13" rimmed baking sheet (half sheet pan).

In a large mixing bowl add cake mix, eggs, water, oil, buttermilk and pudding mix. Using an electric mixer, beat one minute on low. Continue beating another minute on medium high, scraping down side of bowl if needed. (do not over mix)

Pour cake batter into prepared sheet pan. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in pan on a wire rack.

While cake is cooling, make frosting. Using an electric mixer cream butter and cream cheese until well combined and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, gelatin powder, vanilla extract, lemon juice, lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of cream or milk. Beat until smooth. Add more cream/milk if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency.

Frost cake, garnish with berries and lemon slices if desired. Serve from pan and enjoy.

Amish Friendship Bread

(First Place Breads & Rolls: Josie Dahlberg)

Day 1: Do nothing. This is the date on the bag you received.

Day 2: Mush the bag.

Day 3: Mush the bag.

Day 4: Mush the bag.

Day 5: Mush the bag.

Day 6: Add 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of milk, and 1 cup of flour. And mush the bag.

Day 7: Mush the bag.

Day 8: Mush the bag.

Day 9: Mush the bag.

Day 10: Combine the following – Pour entire contents of the bag into a non-metal bowl. Add ½ cup of sugar, 1 ½ cups of milk, and 1 ½ cups of flour. Mix well.

Measure 4 separate batters of 1 cup each into 1-gallon zip-lock bags. Keep one bag for yourself and give the others to 3 friends along with the recipe.

Preheat the oven to 325º. To remaining batter in bowl add and mix by hand:

3 eggs

1 cup oil

½ cup milk

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 large box or 2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon vanilla

Grease 2 large loaf pans. Mix an additional ½ cup sugar and 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon. Dust greased pans with this mixture and sprinkle with the remaining sugar mixture.

Bake for one hour. Cool bread until it loosens evenly from the pan (about 10 minutes) I use cooking spray instead of grease for my pans.

• Do not use any type of metal spoon or bowl for mixing. Use a wooden or plastic spoon and a glass or plastic bowl.

• Do not refrigerate.

• If air forms in the bag, let it out. It's normal for the batter to raise. Bubble and ferment.

• Mark the bags with the start date.

• If you keep a started bag for yourself, you will be baking every 10 days.

• Only the Amish know how to create starters, if you give them away you will have to wait for someone to give it back to you!

Emma's Donuts

(First Place Winner Other: Laura Castro)

1 ¼ cup buttermilk – add 1 teaspoon baking soda and one tablespoon vinegar

Mix together

1 ½ cups sugar

1 teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 eggs

¼ cup cream

Add buttermilk to the above.

Mix in 5 cups flour and 2 teaspoons baking powder.

Roll out with just enough flour to hold together. Use a cup and the cap from vanilla container to cut them out.

Fry in lard.

Dip in sugar or powdered sugar.

These donuts could be found at my grandpa's house in endless supply.

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

(First Place Pie: Carli Karren)

2 pie crusts and an additional 3rd crust if braiding the top pie crust.

Salted caramel sauce (homemade or bought)

4-5 large apples, cored, peeled, and thinly sliced (approx. 6-8 cups total – use a variety for a more indepth flavor, such as Pink Lady, Granny Smith or Honey Crisp)

¾ cup granulated sugar

6 tablespoons of flour

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Milk for topping crust

Optional: coarse or fine sugar for sprinkling on crust

Prepare crusts: You can use store bought or homemade. If you are braiding the top crust you will need 2 crusts for the topper alone. Line your pie dish with one crust.

Salted caramel: Use any salted caramel recipe you'd like. I prefer ones using brown sugar/karo syrup/butter/salt.

Prepare filling: Wash, peel, and thinly slice your apples. Add sugar, flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon to the sliced apples. Add ¼ to ½ cup of the salted caramel based on your preference. Heat your oven to 375%.

Assemble: Place your pie filling into your prepared pie pan. Try to layer it evenly and press down firmly with the back of a spatula. Apple pies expand during baking and sink when they are cooled. You want to fill that pie pan up to heaping so it will sink to normal level after it has cooled. Create your top. This is the best part! Weave, use cookie cutters, braid, theme it around the season on holidays! Have fun! Baste with milk and sprinkle with sugar for a delicious crust!

Bake for 25 minutes, check for excessive browning of the crust. Check every 10 minutes up to 55-60 minutes for baking total. If it's browning too quickly and the filling isn't bubbling yet, cover with foil in the spots it is browning. It's ready when the filling is very bubbly. Drizzle with ¼ cup more salted caramel. Best if served warm! If served cold, warm up a slice in the microwave for 10 seconds to soften the caramel. Enjoy!

Tantalizing Cookie Dough Truffles

(First Place Candy: Evie & Hannah Karren)

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup butter (softened)

2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ½ cups flour

¼ cup white sugar

2 tablespoons milk

5 squares almond bark chocolate

1 square white almond bark chocolate

Combine brown sugar, butter, milk, white sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in the flour a ½ cup at a time. Stir until well mixed. Ball onto cookie sheets and leave it in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes.

Melt the five squares of almond bark chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, 45 seconds at a time. Once melted, take the cookie dough from the freezer and coat each one in chocolate, and set on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Then melt the white chocolate in a separate bowl. Once that is melted, put it in a plastic bag. Cut a tiny hole in the corner of the bag and pipe white chocolate in any pattern you wish! Let set until hard. Enjoy!