Passing along recipes from the senior center

Frequently, time passes and I do not get any mail or recipes from readers, and then all of a sudden I will get several all at once. This week at the senior center I was given a few recipes to pass along to you. They all sound interesting, and I look forward to giving them a try.

Nestled Egg Muffins

Janet Hitt works at the Scott City senior center and she shares this recipe for a fun, healthy muffin with an egg on the top that bakes while the muffin bakes. The eggs "magically" cook in the shell as they rest on top of the muffin. For extra fun, dye the eggs before baking.

2 cups whole-wheat flour

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup raisins

3/4 cup vegetable oil

18 whole uncooked eggs, rinsed

In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder and salt; set aside. Combine eggs, milk raisins and oil; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fill 18 greased or paper-lined muffin cups half full. Place one whole egg (with shell) on top of each muffin. Bake at 400 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes. Cut an egg open to test for desired doneness. Serve warm.

Hot Milk Cake

Karen Stafford works at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center, and she is ready for strawberry season. This is her favorite cake to serve with the berries.

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

2 heaping teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk

Butter or margarine, the size of an egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat eggs well, add sugar gradually beating all the time. Add flour, baking powder and vanilla. Heat milk and butter and add gradually. Mix well and bake in a greased and floured 9x13-inch pan at 350 degrees or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Homemade Blueberry Syrup

Stacy Dohogne Lane volunteers at the senior center serving beverages, and she was telling me about this amazing syrup she made. I saw Stacy at the annual pancake day fundraiser and she brought her own homemade blueberry syrup to the dinner. This syrup is delicious served on pancakes, French toast, Greek yogurt and ice cream.

5 cups blueberries, washed

3 cups water

1 cup firmly packed white sugar

1 lemon

Peel 3 to 4 strips of peel from lemon, skin should be 1/2-inch wide and not have too much of the white part on it. Juice the lemon and set aside both zest and juice. Place blueberries and 1 cup water in medium pot. Crush berries using potato masher. Over medium-high heat, bring berries and water to a boil, then lower temperature to medium-low. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pot from heat and ladle berries into a fine sieve set over a bowl. Press the berry solids to extract as much juice as possible. Discard solids. Wash out pot and add remaining 2 cups water, lemon peel and sugar. Bring to boil and boil rapidly for about 15 minutes, or until mixture reaches 225 degrees or thickens. Add juice and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Boil 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool. Remove zest.

Honey Bun Cake

Edna Hipps is a new attendee at the senior center, and she loves to bake. She even takes fresh-baked cakes to the doctor and dentist office staff when she has appointments. She adds that you can also include chopped pecans in the cinnamon mixture and sprinkle a few on top after glaze is added.

1 box yellow cake mix

1 cup sour cream

4 eggs

2/3 cup oil

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 to 3 tablespoons cinnamon

Topping:

3 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup milk

Mix the cake mix, sour cream, eggs and oil. Pour 12 of the batter into a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle 1/2 of mixture over batter. Add remaining batter and sprinkle remaining brown sugar and cinnamon mixture on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

For the topping, while the cake is baking, mix powdered sugar, butter and milk together. This will be very runny. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour topping over the warm cake.

Citrus-Caraway Mustard

Jodi Thompson is a friend of the senior center and regularly donates item to our thrift store to sell to raise funds. She shares recipes with me often as well, but with this one I got a sample jar of the finished product. Yum!

This is a savory condiment to use on sandwiches, as a dip or as a coating with Panko bread crumbs for pork tenderloin or chicken breasts.

2 tablespoons caraway seeds

1 (16-ounce) jar country-style Dijon mustard, about 1 1/1 cups

1/2 cup orange marmalade

2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

Using a grinder, coarsely crush seeds. Transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in the mustard, marmalade, and lemon zest. Whisk to blend and transfer to jars. Store in refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Angelic Macaroons

A friend from church, Ruth Moreland, gave this recipe to me several weeks ago, and I just found it in the bottom of my purse. She tells me this is an easy recipe resulting in a chewy delicious cookie.

1 (16-ounce) box angel food cake mix

1/2 cup cold water

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 (14-ounce) package sweetened flaked coconut, divided

1/2 cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Beat cake mix, water and almond extract in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add half of coconut; beat until blended. Add remaining coconut and almonds; beat until well blended. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake 22 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool cookies 3 minutes on cookie sheets. Remove to wire racks, cool completely. Makes about 40 cookies.

Have a great week, and until next time, happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at news@semissourian.com or by mail at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. Recipes published have not been kitchen-tested by Southeast Missourian staff.