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Monday, December 26, 2011

Almond Torte for the Secret Recipe Club


Today I greet you with a beautiful recipe for an Almond Torte.  This month for the Secret Recipe Club I was assigned to an amazingly savory and creative food blog called, Gastronomical Sovereignty .  My goodness is Kristy a talented cook!  She makes dishes that I dream of having on my table every night.  Vegetables of all kinds is one of her focuses along with many, many spices all coming together to make beautiful dishes.

As many of you know so well, I tend to gravitate towards the sweets of life.  I choose an Almond Torte to make from Kristy's collection of recipes.  A simple recipe that requires simple ingredients yet has a very satisfying result.  As mentioned by Kristy this cake is perfectly paired with a nice HOT cup of tea.  I do have to say that in order for this cake to be a success you must have a food processor as you will need to grind roasted almonds and granulated sugar to achieve the right consistency for the recipe.



Almond Torte

Ingredients:
450 g whole blanched almonds, lightly roasted
10 1/2 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 eggs
1 cup flour
2 tsp grated lemon rind (1 lemon gave me the perfect amount)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease 9" spring form pan.

2. Place roasted almonds in food processor and grind for about 20-30 seconds to obtain a fine consistency.  Do the same with the granulated sugar.
3. Cream together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.  Add in eggs one at a time to combine well after each addition.
3. Stir in ground almonds, sugar, flour and lemon rind. Mix just until all combined.

4. Pour batter into prepared spring form pan and bake for 1 hr and 20 minutes. Cool for 5-10 minutes before removing side of pan.

Share with dear friends and family - serve with hot tea or coffee.  YUM!



Happy Almond Torte Baking!


Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Shrimp Fried Rice

It is essential to have a quick, super yummy, stress free and healthy dinner recipe up your sleeve for this time of year. I am sure many of you are starting to get that heavy almost dizzy feeling of holiday craziness swirling around in your head by now.  Goodness it is almost 2 1/2 weeks until Christmas (yes, I said 2 1/2 weeks!) by golly!  Don't panic.  It will ALL get done some how or another.  And if it doesn't....well, there is always next year.  Can you tell how I calm myself down when I start to panic about not being able to fit it all in or complete all those last minute "most make" or "must bake" or "must finish" projects?  I reason with myself.  That's all there is to it.  And then I eat something delicious and all my stress disappears just like that!  Magic. Simple and pure magic. 

 Today I want to share with you a little magical recipe for dinner time (or lunch if you are so inclined).  It is simple.  It is quick. It is even flexible as far as ingredients are concerned.  And yes, it is SUPER good!  Shrimp Fried Rice.  And, if you really want you could add cooked beef or chicken to the rice instead of shrimp.  Or you could just load it up with lots of veggies and call it a Veggie Fried Rice.  Go nuts with this recipe.  Make it your own variation of fried rice with what you choose to add in to it.  No matter what it will be magically d'lish!


Shrimp Fried Rice
(recipe found on my go-to recipe source, Tasty Kitchen - I just LOVE this site!!)
Ingredients:

1 cup rice (white or brown)
4-6 Tbsp butter (you choose how crazy you want to get with your butta...I used 4 Tbsp and it was plenty)
1 lb shrimp,  washed, shelled and deveined
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 onion, chopped
1/3 cup soy sauce (more or less depending on your taste)
3-4 green onions, chopped

Directions:

1. Cook rice in 2 cups water until done.  Add in butter and toss around a bit so that it melts into rice nicely.

2.  Saute chopped onions until soft and translucent.  Add to rice along with soy sauce, peas and shrimp.   Cook all together for a good 5-7 minutes making sure peas are no longer frozen and shrimp is not over cooked.

3. Just before serving toss in chopped green onions and then sprinkle some on top of dish just for good measure (and to make it pretty).


Enjoy!

Happy Shrimp Fried Rice Making!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Honey Challah Bread for Secret Recipe Club

There are many things in life that make me happy.   For example; a beautiful tablecloth, a cup of tea/coffee shared with a close friend, precious baby leaves on the branches of a tree in the Spring-time, the hands and smiles of my children and the process of making bread made with yeast.  Yes, I love to make bread.  I love the process of taking simple ingredients and creating a soft and full bowl of dough that comes alive before my eyes creating a master piece of yumminess into a loaf of bread. 


This past month I was given a gift of a new recipe for a bread made with yeast, Honey Challah.  I discovered this recipe as I was exploring the blog, Farm Girl Gourmet as I was assigned this amazing blog for the month of November from the Secret Recipe Club.  I felt so fortunate to be assigned Farm Girl Gourmet's blog.  I actually double checked my email that contained my blog assignment just to make sure my pure happiness was in the right place as I was over the moon excited to have been given the blog Farm Girl Gourmet.  Heather's blog is packed with beautiful recipes that are explained to perfection and shown with amazing and very helpful pictures. I have had so much fun frequenting her blog and getting to know her from afar.  If only we lived closer I might have just invited myself over for tea as she seems like someone I would just adore getting to know in real life.  :-)

I have been looking for a good Challah recipe now for some time so when I opened Heather's blog to discover that she had the very recipe I had been searching for I couldn't resist making her bread.  What a gem of a recipe!  So easy and out-of-this-world delicious!  It will be a perfect bread for me to make as gifts for this holiday season. 

Honey Challah
(recipe from Farm Girl Gourmet)

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water
4 1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup sugar + 1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 eggs
2 tsp salt
4 1/2 - 5 cups flour (more if needed)
1 egg beaten, for the egg wash

Directions:
1. Add warm water to the bowl of a standing mixer.  Attach dough hook.  Sprinkle yeast and 1 tsp sugar over the warm water.  Stir all together briefly and allow the 3 ingredients to grow together for 5 minutes.



2. Add in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, honey, butter, 3 eggs, salt and 4 1/2 cups flour to the bowl.  On the lowest speed, mix all together until the flour is mostly incorporated and then increase speed to medium and mix for 5 minutes.  Dough will become smooth with elasticity.  Add in more flour if needed to make a soft craggy ball (I had to add in at least another cup to get to this stage but don't add too much flour as you want your dough to be very soft).  
3. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand about 5 times.  Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat all sides of dough.  Cover with a damp, clean towel and place in warm draft free area for 2 hours, or until doubled in size.  (I placed my covered bowl in a closed oven that I had warmed briefly on the lowest temperature and then turned off as Heather so brilliantly suggested to do in her recipe. It worked like a charm!)

Hello there magical dough!


4. Gently punch down dough and then place on a lightly floured surface.  Divide dough into 3 equal pieces.  Using your hands, roll out each piece to a 14" rope.  Pinch the 3 ropes together and then braid loosely, pinching together at the end.


5. Place braid on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Allow dough to rest and double in size in a draft free location - which should take about 45 minutes.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brush braided bread completely with beaten egg.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.  Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.



Make sure you slice off a piece of this heavenly bread while it still holds some heat from the oven.  Slather it with butter, close your eyes and take a bite.  You won't regret it.  I promise you!


Served with your favorite jam is also quite yummy....


I want to take a moment to show my deep appreciation to Amanda, who created the Secret Recipe Club and Tami who does such an amazing job as the hostess of my group (Group D). I am having so much fun discovering new blogs and making new friends through the fun of the Secret Recipe Club!


Happy Honey Hallah Bread Baking!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Apple Pie Cake

I actually have an APPLE recipe for you today instead of a PUMPKIN recipe! I feel like all I do is bake with pumpkin these days.  Which is not a bad thing at all believe me (I ADORE pumpkin!!) - but I like to provide a little variety in my baking to keep my friends, family and blog readers happy. :-)



When I came across this recipe for an Apple Pie Cake my eyes grew wide, my heart started to beat faster and bounced in my chair with happiness.  An Apple Pie Cake sounded AMAZING!  Boy, oh boy was it ever!  So yummy.  So easy to make. AND it only requires 6 ingredients to make!!!! Yup, only SIX

You will need a 9 inch springform pan to make this apple-lious treat. A lovely mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and (COLD) butter form the bottom, sides and top of this pie/cake.  You will first gently press a large portion of the brown sugar/flour mixture on the bottom and sides of the springform pan, fill the inside with all your prepared tart apples and then top apples with the remaining brown sugar/flour mixture.  Which becomes the top of the pie/cake. It all comes together like magic as you are using such simple ingredients to make a wonderfully unique and delicious dessert.  So grab some apples, your springform pan, a couple of ingredients from your pantry and fridge and preheat your oven to create a perfect Fall dessert.   Then invite me over for a piece - I will bring freshly sweetened whipped cream to go on top! ;-)


Apple Pie Cake
(from the famous Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
about 12 tart apples - such as Granny Smith
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon. With a pastry cutter add in butter pieces and cut into flour mixture until small pea size pieces remain. 


2. Press 2/3 of the brown sugar/flour/butter mixture on the bottom and up 1 inch of the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Set pan aside.


3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare apples by peeling and then slicing into thin slices and placing in a large bowl.  Sprinkle apples with lemon juice so that they do not turn brown and then sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp of ground cinnamon.

4. Place sliced apples into the shell of your prepared springform pan, pressing down gently as you pack them in.  If the apples mound over the edge of your pan that is ok - the more the better!  Sprinkle remaining brown sugar/flour/butter mixture over apples.

5. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil and then place prepared dessert on top before popping the whole thing into the oven.   Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until golden brown on top. When pie/cake come out of the oven carefully run a knife around the edge of the pan and then allow to cool so that the magical yummy treat can set.

Serve at room temperature if you wish!



Happy Apple Pie Cake Baking!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Pumpkies (the cutest name ever)

I mean seriously doesn't it make you want to say, "ahhh" when you hear the word pumpkie?  I just love that word! And I love what a pumpkie actually is! Can you guess what it is? It is not a cookie.  Not cake. Not even a mini pie.  It's a.....brownie!  Yes, a pumpkin brownie! A lovely, sweet and easy to make pumpkin brownie.  A Pumpkie.  Go ahead, you can say it - it will make you smile. :-)


Want the recipe? I know you do!

Pumpkies
(recipe from Mother Thyme - I so LOVE Jennifer's blog)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x8 baking pan - set aside.

2. Beat butter until light and fluffy - about 2-3 minutes.  Add in sugar, egg and pumpkin puree.  Mix all together until well combined.

3. Add in flour, spices and salt to your pumpkin mixture.  Mix all together until well combined.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan and then pop into preheated oven for 30-35 minutes.  Cool as much as you wish and serve.

*I served mine slightly warm and wished that I had some freshly whipped cream to dollop on top as I think that would have been super yummy...next time I will do so!



Happy Pumpkies Baking!




Monday, October 31, 2011

It Is Secret Recipe Club Time!

Recently I joined a fun cooking group online called, The Secret Recipe Club.  Oh. My. Goodness what fun! I was assigned a LOVELY blog and from that blog I got to choose a recipe to make and then share with all of you.  But I couldn't reveal the blog or the recipe until today!  So without any further waiting my secret recipe for today is, Mini Pumpkin Muffins....




.... from the wonderful blog, Everyday Sisters. :-)

Not only did I enjoy this recipe (as I am sure you guys will too) but I fell head over heels in love with this blog!  Four (yes, FOUR...two of which are identical twins and all four of which are just lovely inside and out -  I can tell by their sweet smiles.) sisters have created and contribute to Everyday Sisters. All of them are just lovely - I feel like I know them personally now that I have been following them for the past month.  I felt honored to get to know them via their blog.  I love the variety of recipes that they offer such as Bistro Style Pasta Neapolitano (super yum looking and simple to throw together), White Zinfandel Sangria (one of my all time favorite kinds of drinks...the recipe lots so GOOD!) and Blueberry Cheesecake (which won an award!).  Yup, I did a lot of drooling as I looked through their blog. So many yummy recipes!! :-)

 
I loved these Mini Pumpkin Muffins! These little gems only required 5 ingredients - simple, yummy and fun.  Nothing better than that. Amen! And because they were so yummy and simple to make I made a batch to send to my oldest daughter's Halloween party at school today. I think all the kiddos will love them!

Mini Pumpkin Muffins
(recipe from Everyday Sisters)


Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin (NOT pie filling)
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil (I used canola)
sunflower seeds - optional - (I used chocolate covered sunflower seeds as that is what I had on hand... which worked out pretty well!)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease mini muffin tins or line with cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl combine all ingredients except for sunflower seeds. Mix until well combined. 
3. Stir into batter sunflower seeds or you can wait until muffin batter has been scooped into tins.
4. Scoop batter into muffin tins.  I did so with my small scoop from Pampered Chef.

5. Bake for 11-13 minutes.  Cool for a couple of minutes in pan and then remove to serve and enjoy.



YUM!

A special thank you to Ellen, Nanci, Karen and Susan from Everyday Sisters for being part of the Secret Recipe Club so that I could have you as my first Secret Recipe Club blog.  Also, I'd like to thank Amanda who created this cooking club and Tami for hostessing my group.  I can't wait to find out which blog I get for the month of November!

Happy Mini Pumpkin Muffin Baking!

Friday, October 28, 2011

A PERFECT Bake Sale Cookie Recipe

Recently I made a new cookie recipe.  It had peanut butter in it and LOTS of chocolate chips.  It made a HUGE amount of cookies and they tasted AMAZING.  Every time I bit into one of the cookies all I could think of is how perfect the recipe would be for a bake sale.  Especially if the cookies were wrapped up in a pretty little package with a ribbon. :-) 


Now I just need to find an opportunity to make these cookies again!  Anyone have a bake sale coming up that you need some cookies for it?  Let me know if you do because I've got just the recipe destined for a bake sale.



Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
(recipe from the lovely Jamie Cooks it Up! )

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter (I used smooth, Jaime used chunky)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 (12 oz.) bag semi sweet chocolate chips
1 (12 oz.) bag milk chocolate chips  (I stuck with just milk chocolate and used 2 bags of them instead of 1 of semi and 1 of milk)


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat softened butter and peanut butter together in a standing mixer until light and fluffy - a good 4-5 minutes.

2. Add in sugars and eggs. Beat for another 2 minutes.  Mixture will appear frothy when it is done.

3. While butter, sugars and eggs are beating together combine dry ingredients in a medium size bowl.  Add dry ingredients to the beaten wet ingredients.  Mix all together for 1 minute.

4. Next add in chocolate chips and mix just until combined. Scoop out cookie dough onto cookie sheets lined with either parchment paper or Silpat.  I used my medium size scoop that I purchased from Pampered Chef

5. Bake cookies for 8 to 9 minutes - just until they start to crack. The cookies will appear that they need more time to bake but you do NOT want to over bake these cookies.  They will continue to bake on the hot cookie sheet after they come out of the oven.  I let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes and then removed them onto a platter.

So yummy! Enjoy!


Happy Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookie Baking!


Saturday, October 22, 2011

Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting and the Tate's Bake Shop WINNER

I am delighted to announce that Michelle Ells is the winner of the Tate's Bake Shop giveaway.  Michelle, you have won a fabulous gift of cookies - 3 packages of Dark Chocolate Whole Wheat cookies from Tate's Bake Shop and their cookbook (to add to your collection).  Thank you so much Michelle for entering into my giveaway!

And for the rest of you I have a lovely recipe just perfect for the season of Fall - Apple Cinnamon Rolls frosted with none other but Cream Cheese Frosting - super yum! Layers of all things tasty that I associate with the Fall are in these sweet rolls.  Once your dough is made and rolled out you will layer it first with a brown sugar cinnamon mixture and then chopped apples sprinkled on top. Simply yummy!


I was delighted with how easy these special cinnamon rolls came together.  The dough can actually be made in a bread machine but because I do not own one I made my dough in my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and had great success.   If you would like to make your dough in a bread machine just follow the directions from your machine manufacturer as to which ingredients that I share below should be added first.  It is my understanding that usually all the wet ingredients/liquids go first followed by the seasonings, the flour and then the yeast placed in a well of the flour.

The recipe originates from a blog that I have recently discovered called, Mrs Happy Home Maker.  Such a lovely blog full of mouth watering recipes.  Scrumptious main dishes, breakfast foods and of course desserts of all kinds are just some of the delicious recipes that I have found on this blog.  Definitely take a moment to take a peak at Mrs. Happy Home Maker.  I want to point out that I did not use the original recipe for the frosting, Caramel Cream Cheese Icing but instead made original Cream Cheese Icing.  I was missing a key ingredient for the caramel flavor, caramel ice cream topping as to why I didn't make the icing that went along with the original recipe for these rolls.


Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing
(ever so slightly adapted from Mrs. Happy Home Maker)

Dough Ingredients:

1 cup warm milk (I warmed my milk in the microwave for 45-60 seconds to warm it)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled for a couple of minutes
4 1/2 cups bread flour (AP flour is fine - I used AP flour)
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp regular yeast (if making your dough in bread machine use yeast for bread machines)

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling Ingredients:

 5 Tbsp butter, softened (original recipe called for a whole stick which I didn't end up using)
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon



Apple Filling Ingredients:

4-5 medium sized baking apples, peeled, cored and diced
3 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp cornstarch

*Cream Cheese Icing:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

*If you would like to make your icing into a caramel icing add in 5-6 Tbsp of caramel ice cream topping....should be a lovely result of a frosting for these special rolls!


Directions:

1. Make the dough.  Warm milk in a medium size heat proof bowl  in microwave for about 1 minute (do not get it too hot or the yeast will be killed when added to milk...trust me on this as I have learned the hard way).  Sprinkle yeast over milk, let sit for a couple of minutes and then gently stir to combine and set aside.  Add flour and salt into large bowl of a Kitchen Aid mixer.  Melt butter and set aside for a couple of minutes to cool then pour into flour mixture. Add in slightly beaten eggs and then milk/yeast mixture to the flour mixture.  Mix to combine.  At this point I switched over to my dough hook.  Run mixer for a good 5 minutes until dough comes away from bowl and is shiny in color. 

2. Lightly grease a large bowl and then remove dough from mixing bowl into your prepared greased bowl.  Cover with a clean damp towel and set in a warm place without any drafts.  Allow dough to rise until at least doubled in size - about an hour.

3. Remove dough from bowl onto a lightly floured and allow to rest for 15 minutes before rolling out.
4. While dough is resting make apple filling.  In a medium size sauce pan melt 3 Tbsp of butter.  Add in diced apples, brown sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring every so often.


Cool apple filling as you prepare the dough for layering of all the yumminess.

5. Roll out rested dough into a large rectangle.  Mix together 1 cup brown sugar and 2 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon, set aside as you spread 5-6 Tbsp of softened butter over your rectangle of dough....


....and now sprinkle the brown sugar cinnamon mixture over the butter layer....


...and then finally the apple filling....



6.  Starting on a long side of the rectangle carefully roll up the dough.


 No worries if the filling comes out a little bit as you can just spoon it over the rolls once placed in pan.

7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Melt 1/2 a stick of butter in a 9x13 baking pan. Remove pan when butter has melted. Cut rolled up dough into 1 1/2 inch slices - place slices in prepared pan.  Put any remaining filling on top of rolls in pan.


Pop in oven and bake for 15 minutes - rolls should be lightly browned when they are done.

8. While rolls are baking, make the icing as you will want to frost the rolls while they are still warm. In a large bowl combine cream cheese and butter.  Beat together for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. Slowly add in sifted powdered sugar along with vanilla extract (and caramel topping if you choose to use it). Beat all together until well combined and smooth - about 2-3 minutes. 

9. Spread icing over rolls while they are still warm. Such a lovely sight I tell ya!


Serve and enjoy this delightful treat!


Happy Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese (or Caramel Cream Cheese) Icing Baking!

Before I leave you, here is a picture of my precious oldest daughter and the newest addition to our family.....Mitten the Kitten :-)



Thursday, October 13, 2011

A Fall cookie recipe and a COOKIE GIVEAWAY!



Did you know that the month of October is National Cookie Month?! How fun and yummy! In honor of such a special month I want to share with you a lovely Fall flavored cookie recipe along with a fabulous cookie giveaway from Tate's Bake Shop.


Last December I had the opportunity of receiving a variety of cookies from Tate's along with their wonderful cookbook - as seen here. When I was contacted once again to review one of their newest kind of cookies -Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip - I jumped for joy!  Dark Chocolate is one my all time favorite kinds of chocolate. Honestly, I like any kind of chocolate but dark chocolate is pretty special.


  Let me tell you when I took my first bite of one of these cookies my eyes feel back into my head with happiness.  SO good!  The cookies are chewy yet crisp - the best of both worlds.  And the taste is perfect - not too sweet with plenty of dark chocolate chips throughout the
cookie.

If you would like THREE  (yes, THREE) bags of these cookies along with the Tate's Bake Shop cookbook please feel free to enter this giveaway. You can do so three ways...

  1. Leave a comment at the end of this post. Any kind of happy comment is welcome.

 2. Follow Tate's Bake Shop on Facebook here (just let me know that you've become a follower of Tate's via another comment below).

3. Become a follower of Baking and Creating with Avril on FB - make sure to leave a comment on my FB page to let me know you are one of my newest followers. 

That's THREE opportunities to win this giveaway!  You can do it!



Winner will be chosen this coming Sunday evening (10.16.11) - all entries must be received by 12 noon on Sunday.  Winner will be announced Sunday night.  I can't wait to find out who the winner is!

AND the good news is that everyone that reads this post can go over to Tate's e-bakery and order anything they would like with a 15% off discount for the remainder of the month of October.  Just enter "COOKIE" at checkout.
 SAWEET! :-)


Now I get to share with you the fun Fall cookie recipe I recently made.  This cookie recipe would be a great treat for kids, especially for an after school snack as these cookies are super easy to make and bake in a jiffy!


Apple Cinnamon Chip Cookies
(recipe slightly adapted from So Domesticated)
 Ingredients:
2 Granny Smith apples (or any kind of baking apple), peeled and chopped
1 tsp lemon juice - keeps the chopped apples from browning
3 cups Bisquick
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup half and half (I used 2% milk instead with success)
1 egg
1 cup cinnamon chips (I added this to the original recipe)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly spray with non-stick baking oil.

2. Peel and chop apples into small pieces.  Place apples in a bowl and toss with lemon juice. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl mix together Bisquick, both sugars and ground cinnamon.  Set aside.

4.Whisk together half and half (or milk) and egg.  Pour into Bisquick mixture and stir to combine.

5. Add in chopped apples and cinnamon chips. Stir to combine.

6. With a medium ice cream scoop, drop dollops of cookie batter onto prepared cookie sheets.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  Makes a good 2 dozen cookies.  Store cookies covered in a tightly sealed container. 

Enjoy!


Happy Apple Cinnamon Chip Cookie Baking!

 And good luck with the Tate's Bake Shop giveaway! :-)






Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Super EASY and Super YUMMY Chicken Chili

Recently as I was browsing through one of my favorite food sites, Tasty Kitchen, I came up upon a lovely recipe for Chicken Chili.  The list of ingredients were very simple (all of which I had on hand) and it was put together in a crock pot. I was sold!  Simple ingredients, easy prep and slow cooker friendly - I couldn't ask for anything better. 



I altered the original recipe from TK member, forevernowandthen, in a couple of places. The original recipe called for a large (16 oz.) jar of salsa of which I didn't have so I used a small jar of salsa and a can of Rotel tomatoes.  The original recipe also called for 2 cans of white beans - I only had 1 can of white beans so I added a can of light kidney beans.  I have to say my alterations resulted in a very yummy meal.

Chicken Chili
(recipe altered from Forever Now and Then )

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs boneless and skinless chicken, diced and cooked
1 jar (16 oz.) salsa  (I used a small jar of salsa and 1 can Rotel tomatoes)
1 1/2 lbs Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded (you could easily use a combo of Monterey and Cheddar cheese instead of all Monterey)
2 cans (15 oz. each) white beans (I used 1 can white beans and 1 can light kidney beans)

Directions:

1.  Place all ingredients (cooked chicken, salsa, cheese, beans) in crock pot and stir well to combine.

2. Cook on low for 2-3 hours.  Stir one about half way through the cooking period.

Serve with  tortilla chips and a dollop of sour cream (if you wish).  Enjoy!

Happy Chicken Chili Making!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Apple Crumble Pie Muffins

Fall has arrived and I am totally embracing the season by baking as much as I can with apples. Watch out because I have a bunch of apple recipes coming your way in the next couple of weeks. 

Here is a little picture of our first apple picking outing of the season this year....so much fun but TONS of mosquitoes nagged at us as we picked.  I seriously have no patience for mosquitoes (especially when they bite my kiddos!!!).  Rrrrrrr!!!



 One of the first things I made with the apples we picked that day was a lovely batch of muffins called,  Apple Crumble Pie Muffins.  Seriously, seriously good muffins is produced by this recipe.  And yes, the muffins do remind me of apple pie as they are packed full of chopped apples, cinnamon goodness and a perfect crumble topping. Best of all they are super easy and quick to make.  The longest part of this recipe is the peeling, coring and chopping of the apples.


The original recipe suggested making regular size muffins but I choose to make the muffins in my jumbo size muffin tins.  I was able to make 9 jumbo muffins out of the batter. 

Apple Crumble Pie Muffins
(recipe was found on This and That - lots of fun recipes found throughout this blog)

Crumb Topping Ingredients:



1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Muffin Batter Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2/3 cup veggie or canola oil
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk (I made my own by squirting in a couple tsp's of lemon juice into the milk and letting it sit for a couple of minutes)
2 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups peeled and diced apples



Directions:

1. Prepare topping by combining all crumb ingredients in a medium size bowl.  Set aside as you make the muffin batter.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare muffin batter by taking a large bowl and whisking together brown sugar, oil, egg, vanilla extract and buttermilk all together until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking soda and salt.  Add sifted flour mixture into wet mixture.

4. Fold in diced apples - mix just to combine....you don't want to over mix batter as your muffins will have a tough consistency if over mixed.

5. Grease muffin tins or line with muffin cups.  Fill 2/3's of the way up.  Sprinkle muffin batter cups with crumb topping.  Pop in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes (time maybe less if making regular size muffins).  You will know that the muffins are done when they are golden brown and tops will spring back when touched.

I know you will enjoy these muffins!


Happy Apple Crumble Pie Muffin Baking!



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