Category Archives: recipes

Caramel Nut Logs

Note: At our 2008 holiday tour, we served a variety of Christmas cookies and treats.
The Caramel Nut Logs was a big hit. Enjoy!

Filling:
1/2 cup butter
1 7 ounce jar marshmallow creme
4 1/2 to 5 cups powdered sugar

Coating:

1 14 ounce package unwrapped caramels
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons half & half
2 cups chopped salted cashews, peanuts or pecans

On low heat in medium saucepan, melt butter and marshmallow creme. Stir until well mixed. Stir in 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar. Mix well. Knead in up to 1/2 cup additional powdered sugar with hands until mixture is firm and no longer shiny.

Divide mixture into 6 equal parts. Shape each part into 6 equal parts. Shape each part into 5 x 1 inch log. Wrap in plastic wrap. Place logs onto ungreased baking sheet. Freeze until firm at least 2 hours.

Line another baking sheet with waxed paper. Set aside. Place chopped nuts on another sheet of waxed paper. Set aside.

Place caramels, 2 tablespoons butter and half & half in 2-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until caramels are melted and smooth. Reduce heat to low to keep caramel mixture warm.

Remove logs from freezer; unwrap. Dip 1 frozen log into warm caramel mixture with tongs; turning to coat. Remove log allowing excess caramel mixture to drip back into pan.

Place caramel-coated log on nut-covered waxed paper. Lifting waxed paper; roll log to coat with nuts. Set log on prepared baking sheet to cool. Repeat with remaining logs. Refrigerate one hour. Wrap each log in plastic wrap. Store refrigerated. Cut each log into 12 slices.

For the holiday tour, I made the logs smaller, cut smaller slices and placed into mini cupcake papers.

Joy and Jim Fischer, Innkeeper / Owners
Firelight Inn Bed and Breakfast

Chocolate Chai Latte Cookies

Cookie:
1 (18.25 oz) package butter recipe chocolate cake mix
3 tablespoons instant chai tea latte mix*
1/ cup butter, softened
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Drizzle:
1 ½ cups powered sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 to 5 teaspoons water

Heat over to 350 degrees Combine all cookie ingredients except chocolate chips in a large bowl; beat at medium speed until well mixed and smooth. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.

Shape dough into 3/4 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until tops are set and cracked. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely.

Combine all drizzle ingredients except water in a small bowl. Add enough water for desired drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cooled cookies. Store between sheets of waxed paper in container with tight-fitting lid.

*Substitute 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.

Joy and Jim Fischer, Innkeeper / Owners
Firelight Inn Bed and Breakfast

Firelight Inn Pecan Coffeecake

2 cups sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 Tbsp. minced lemon zest
1 egg
2 egg whites
½ cup nonfat plain yogurt
½ cup low-fat cottage cheese
2 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ cup coarsely chopped pecans (for filling)
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed (for filling)
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon (for filling)

For filling: In a small bowl, combine pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream sugar, oil and lemon zest. Mix in egg and egg whites. In a food processor, blend yogurt and cottage cheese. Add to egg mixture with vanilla and lemon juice. Slowly stir in the flour and baking powder until completely blended.

Lightly spray a 10-inch Bundt pan with cooking spray, then lightly dust with flour. Pour in 1/3 of the batter. Sprinkle the filling evenly over the batter. Then top with remaining batter. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Invert on serving plate. Serves 18.

Joy and Jim Fischer, Innkeeper / Owners
Firelight Inn Bed and Breakfast

Firelight Inn Granola

1 cup oatmeal
1 cup crisp rice cereal
3/4 cup raisins
½ cup wheat germ
½ cup brown sugar
1/4 cup shelled sunflower seeds
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbsp. oil
½ cup coconut
1 (7 ounce) package dried mixed fruit bits

Place all dry ingredients in large bowl. Mix well

Mix cinnamon, oil and honey together. Pour over dry mixture and mix until well coated. Spread mixture evenly in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 250 degrees for 40 minutes (stir after 20 minutes). Add dried fruit.

Joy and Jim Fischer, Innkeeper / Owners
Firelight Inn Bed and Breakfast

Our guests go wild for our Wild Rice Quiche!

1 10″ round pie shell
1 cup diced ham
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup cooked wild rice
2 Tbsp. butter
3 green onions, minced
1/2 cup diced green pepper
4 eggs
1 cup heavy cream

Prepare the pie shell using your favorite recipe. Sprinkle ham, cheese and wild rice into pie shell. In small frying pan, melt butter; add onion and green pepper and cook over medium high heat until onion is soft (3-4 minutes). Sprinkle mixture over the ham, cheese and wild rice. Beat together eggs and cream. Pour over mixture in pie shell. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 35-45 minutes or until quiche is set. I use a metal pie crust cover to protect the edges of the pie crust from burning. You can also use aluminum foil and remove it for the last 10 minutes or so to brown the crust nicely.

Joy and Jim Fischer, Innkeeper / Owners
Firelight Inn Bed and Breakfast

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Mix together: 2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 cup canned pumpkin
Separately mix together: 2 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Combine wet ingredients into dry and add 1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh cranberries. Mix until moistened. Pour into two bread pans (or ten mini-bread pans). Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for one hour (30 minutes for mini-bread). Test with toothpick–may need five minutes more. Enjoy!

Joy and Jim Fischer, Innkeeper / Owners
Firelight Inn Bed and Breakfast

Breakfast Strudel

1 box puff pastry dough
2 Tbsp. butter
1 cup frozen cubed hash brown potatoes
1 cup red and green bell peppers, seeded and diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 cup smoked ham, diced
11 eggs
2 Tbsp. minced fresh chives
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. orange juice
1 egg
1 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Thaw pastry according to package directions, about 30 minutes.
Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add potatoes and saute five minutes. Stir in peppers and onion; saute three minutes, then add ham.
Whisk eggs and chives together. Add them to the pan and scramble just until set. Season with salt and pepper to taste; take off heat, stir in cream cheese and juice until blended. Refrigerate eggs while working with the pastry. Unfold a pastry sheet on a work surface that’s been lightly dusted with flour. Roll pastry lengthwise to 12 x 10 inches, then transfer to a piece of parchment paper cut to fit a baking sheet. Trim pastry, fill with half the egg mixture, and braid. Repeat with remaining pastry and egg filling. Lift parchment and strudels onto baking sheets.
Combine the remaining egg and water; brush over top of strudels. Sprinkle with cheese and bake 30 minutes or until golden. Let cool five minutes before slicing. Makes two strudels.

Joy and Jim Fischer, Innkeeper / Owners
Firelight Inn Bed and Breakfast

Peanut Butter Cream Sandwich Cookie

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups flour
granulated sugar
1 recipe Peanut Cream Filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl beat peanut butter and shortening with electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl. Beat in baking soda, salt and as much flour as you can. Stir in any remaining flour.

Form dough into balls, using a level teaspoon each. Place 1 1/2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Flatten by making crisscross marks with tines of fork dipped in sugar.

Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheet 1 minute. Transfer to wire rack; cool.

Spread one teaspoon Peanut Cream Filling on flat side of cookie. Top with remaining cookies. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. Freeze unfilled cookies up to 1 month.

Makes 4 dozen sandwich cookies.

Peanut Cream Filling: In medium bowl whisk together 3/4 cup chunky peanut butter, 3/4 cup marshmallow creme, 3 tablespoons milk, 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin. Gradually whisk in 3 tablespoons powdered sugar.

Joy and Jim Fischer, Innkeeper / Owners
Firelight Inn Bed and Breakfast

Cantaloupe Bread Recipe

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups cantaloupe–peeled, seeded and pureed
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsps. cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour loaf pans. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, vegetable oil, sugar, vanilla and cantaloupe. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger. Stir flour mixture into cantaloupe mixture; stir to combine. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake in a preheated oven for one hour or until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.

Joy and Jim Fischer, Innkeeper / Owners
Firelight Inn Bed and Breakfast

(Mixed the night before and baked in the morning!)

1 cup flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
5 tablespoons butter, softened
2 large eggs
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, oats, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the sour cream, butter and eggs; mix well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to blend. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Add the raisins and walnuts to batter mixing well. Spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray. Fill the muffin tin 2/3 full of batter. Makes 12 muffins.

Baked until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean, 20 to 30 minutes.

Joy and Jim Fischer, Innkeeper / Owners
Firelight Inn Bed and Breakfast