Donut Muffins

I would be a horrible person if I didn't share this recipe with you.

These are delicious. So much so that...well...

I. Have. No. Words.

Run, don't walk, to your kitchen and whip up a batch of these babies.

My husband and I *might* have just plowed through a dozen of them in the space of about 7 minutes.

(I've taken the recipe from this website. Bless this website for so many reasons. She has some typos in her recipe--I've fixed that).

Ingredients (muffins):

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 c. butter, melted

1/4 t. ground nutmeg

1/2 c. milk

1 t. baking powder

1 c. all-purpose flour

Ingredients (coating):

1/4 c. butter, melted

1/2 c. sugar

1 t. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a mini-muffin tin, set aside.

2. Mix up the 1/2 c. sugar, 1/4 c. melted butter and nutmeg in a large bowl.

3. Add flour, milk, and baking soda and mix together until just combined.

4. Fill muffin tins about 3/4 full and bake for 15-17 minutes.

5. While muffins are baking, combine sugar and cinnamon into a bowl, set aside.

6. Melt 1/4 c. butter and place it in a bowl. (I just melted my butter in a skillet and left it there).

7. When muffins are done and cool enough to handle, remove them from the pan. Dip the tops of the muffins in butter and then roll the WHOLE muffin in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Let cool and then try not to pig out too badly!!

Side note: This recipe is egg-free...so my nephew can eat them. So for all of you who have adorable nephews with egg allergies, this one's a winner!

chocolate mousse

From Betty.

• 4 large egg yolks
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 6 oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

1. Beat egg yolks in small bowl with electric mixer on high speed (about 3 minutes) until thick and lemon colored. Gradually beat in sugar.
2. Heat 1 cup heavy whipping cream in 2 quart saucepan over medium heat just until hot (do not boil).
3. Gradually stir at least half of the hot cream into egg yolks mixture, then stir back into hot cream in saucepan. Cook over low heat about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens (do not boil).
4. Stir in chocolate chips until melted. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, just until chilled.
5. Beat 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream in chilled medium bowl on high speed until stiff. Fold chocolate mixture into whipping cream. Pipe or spoon mixture into serving dish. Refrigerate until serving. Store covered in refrigerator.

I serve it with berries and whipped cream. I know, that’s a lot of whipped cream.

key lime pie

From my SIL.



Ingredients:

• 8 oz of cream cheese
• one can sweetened condensed milk
• half cup fresh lime juice (about 5 limes).
• 5 oz whipped topping
• one 9 inch graham cracker crust (make the crust. it's worth the time)*

Directions:
Blend cream cheese and milk until smooth. Add lime juice and mix. Stir in thawed whipped topping. Pour into graham cracker crust. Freeze for firm pie or refrigerate for 6 hours.

*Graham Cracker Crust:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham crackers (about 20 squares)
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3 Tbs sugar

Directions:
Mix all ingredients and press firmly into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool.

Molasses Cookies

This is my favorite recipe for these cookies. It might have something to do with the fact that the butter-to-sugar ratio is so deliciously close. =)

12T butter, melted

1 c. sugar

1//4 c. molasses

1 egg

1 3/4 c. flour

1/2 t. cloves

1/2 t. ginger

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

Heat oven to 350

Mix sugar, melted butter and molasses well. Add in beaten egg and mix well.

Mix dry ingredients separately and add to wet ingredients.

Drop by tablespoonful (I use a cookie scoop) onto a lined cookie sheet (with parchment or a silpat or whatever you like). Bake for 9-10 minutes.

**NOTE: these cookies will spread quite a bit and very flat once cooked. I only do 3-across on the pan and 4-down. **

Let sit on the pan for a few minutes while they cool, then transfer to wire rack when they're able to hold their shape.

Now if someone would tell me what to do with the 4 dozen of these that are sitting on my kitchen table, that would be great. Because so far, I've eaten four cookies and I can't afford ANY MORE. =)

Festive Candy Cane Kiss Centered Brownie Bites

Festive Candy Cane Kiss Centered Brownie Bites from this website
1 brownie mix 9×13 inch size
18 Candy Cane Hershey Kisses
1/2 Cup chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
3 original candy canes, crushed
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions and scoop into a mini cheesecake pan or mini muffin tin pan that has been generously sprayed with cooking spray, about 3/4 way full. Press kisses into center of brownie batter, do not push all the way to bottom, some of the tip should stick out the top. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until brownies are cooked through. Let cool completely.
2. Melt chocolate chips in microwave, 30 second intervals until smooth and melted. Stir in cream until silky smooth. You can place back in microwave for 10 seconds to smooth more if needed. Dip tops of brownies into melted chocolate, then sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Serve with a tall glass of milk. Enjoy!!

**Note** I ended up making way more than 18 using this recipe, thus way more (36) kisses; I would recommend having more Hershey kisses on hand than the 18 the recipe calls for.
**Note**Comments from from the original post said a lot of people had problems with the brownies sticking to the pan. I used Crisco cooking spray with flour and had zero problems. Even when I substituted caramel filled kisses for the candy cane ones.
**Note**I didn't have heavy cream, so I used 1% milk. Worked fine.

Pie Pastry

I just wanted to share my favorite pie crust recipe. It actually comes from the mother of my husband's high school girlfriend. =) She (the mom) has since gone professional with her baking... She's a Southern cook, through and through, and everything she makes is AMAZING.

Ingredients:

3 c. flour
1 t. salt
1/4 - 1/3 c. sugar
1 c. fat (no really, that's what she wrote)
her preferred mixture is 2/3 c. shortening + 5 T. butter
About 10 T. ice water, more or less

The process is pretty standard from here--with a pastry blender, combine flour, salt, sugar and fat. Then gradually add water until it reaches the right consistency. I'd tell you what that's like, but I don't always get it right.

Lemon Curd

We love lemon curd in our family. If you haven't tried it, you're missing out. =) It's basically a condiment you can use on toast....or as a sauce on cake or ice cream. Basically, you can use it anywhere you can use jams or syrups. It's yum, yum, yummy--especially if you're a lemon fan. MMMMM. This is the best recipe I've found.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
6T. butter

Directions:

Whisk together juice, zest, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Stir in butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubble appears on surface, about 6 minutes.

Strain lemon curd through a fine sieve into a container and chill, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until cold, at least 1 hour.

Original recipe from Epicurious.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

This is the Williams-Sonoma recipe--right out of their cookbook called "Baking."

We made it tonight and it was DELICIOUS. We topped it with strawberries.

Ingredients:
10 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips...)
3/4 c. butter, cut into pieces
2 t. vanilla
5 large eggs
1 c. white sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9" springform pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease the paper and dust with flour.

2. In a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, combine chocolate and butter. Heat, stirring until mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool. Whisk in vanilla.

3. In a large bowl, combine the eggs and sugar. Using an electric mixer set on medium-high speed, beat until the mixture lightens in color and triples in volume, about six minutes. Pour the chocolate mixture over the egg mixture. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold them together. Pour and scrap the batter into prepared pan.

4. Bake until the top forms a crust and cracks and a toothpick inserted in the center come out with some wet batter attached, about 45 minutes. transfer to a wire wrack. Immediately run a knife around the pan sides to loosen the cake; it will fall in the center. Press down on the edges to even the top. Let cool.

5. Release the pan sides and remove them. Trim off any crumbly edges. Invert a flat plate over the cake and then invert them together. Lift off the pan bottom and peel off the parchment paper. Frost if desire.

6. Refrigerate about 1 hour. Serve cold or at room temperature.

"Classic Brownies"

I got this recipe from a Cook's Illustrated magazine that came in the mail one day. Have you ever seen America's Test Kitchen on PBS? The magazine is by those people. Anyway, this recipe is supposedly the ideal brownie, a "brownie to please everyone" -- "neither cakey nor fudgey." There's a whole article that preceedes the recipe about how the author achieved brownie perfection, but I'll just give you the recipe. For quite a while we were working our way through a stash of Betty Crocker box brownies, but once we ran out I decided to see if this recipe was all it claimed to be. This was the first time I'd ever made brownies with real baking chocolate, and I liked how they turned out. Sometime I'll try the cocoa powder+shortening substitution and see if it makes a difference. Anyway, this recipe is definitely more work than brownies from a box, but not tons more, and I decided after making them twice that they really are quite good. Now I wonder what others think (since my husband likes most anything).

Be sure to test for doneness before removing the brownies form the oven. If underbaked (the toothpick has batter clinging to it), the texture of the brownies will be dense and gummy; if overbaked (the toothpick comes out completely clean), the brownies will be dry and cakey. (This is their disclaimer, by the way.)

1 cup (4 oz.) pecans or walnuts, chopped medium (optional)
1 1/4 cups (5 oz.) cake flour (but I did an all-purpose conversion: 1 c. + 1 1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour. You're welcome.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
6 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine (next time I make these I'm going to try them with less chocolate, just to see)
12 Tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into six 1-inch pieces
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 by 9-inch baking dish, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Cut 14-inch length of foil and, if using extra-wide foil, fold lengthwise to 12-inch width; fit into width of baking pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet. (Okay, this didn't make any sense to me (I needed a picture to understand what they were talking about) so I just line the pan with foil. I think that's all they're going for.) Spray foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. If using nuts, spread nuts evenly on rimmed baking sheet and toast in oven until fragrant, 5 to 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.
3. Whisk to combine flour, salt, and baking powder in medium bowl; set aside.
4. Melt chocolate and butter in large heatproof bowl set over saucepan of almost-simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. (Alternatively, in microwave, heat butter and chocolate in large microwave-safe bowl on high for 45 seconds, then stir and heat for 30 seconds more. Stir again, and, if necessary, repeat in 15-second increments; do not let chocolate burn.) When cocolate mixture is completely smooth, remove bowl from saucepan and gradually whisk in sugar. Add eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition until thoroughly combined. Whisk in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three additions, folding with rubber spatula until batter is completely smooth and homogeneous.
5. Transfer batter to prepared pan; using spatula, spread batter into corners of pan and smooth surface. Sprinkle toasted nuts (if using) evenly over batter and bake until toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of brownies comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours, then remove brownies from pan by lifting foil overhang. Cut brownies tin 2-inch squares and serve. (Store leftovers in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.)

Sweet Potato Casserole

I've been meaning to post this on here for months, but just came across it again. I'm not the biggest fan of sweet potatoes cooked...well...sweetly. (I'm more of an oven-fries kind of girl).... So when I was assigned sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving, I panicked a little. Bless AllRecipes.com, though, where I found this recipe. It got lots of compliments, and even I enjoyed it! (That's saying a lot, for the record). =)

casserole
5 sweet potatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used 2)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream

topping
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Boil or bake sweet potatoes until soft. In a large bowl, mash.
2. Preheat oven to 350
3. To the mashed sweet potatoes, add salt, butter, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar, and heavy cream {I MIGHT have added an extra splash or two of cream...and it MIGHT have been mighty tasty to do so}. Mix together thoroughly.
4. Spread mixture in a lightly greased 9x13" pan
5. In medium bowl, combine butter, flour, brown sugar and pecans. Mix with a pastry blender to the consistency of coarse meal. Sprinkle over potato mixture.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, until topping is crisp and lightly browned.

Super Easy Alfredo Sauce

This stuff is super easy and WAY better than the stuff in the jar, in my opinion.  Adapted from allrecipes.com.  

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

1 (4 ounce) package cream cheese

1 teaspoons garlic powder

1 cups milk

3 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

dash ground black pepper

dash nutmeg (optional)

3 T chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Directions:

- Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat. 

- Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth. 

- Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. 

- Stir in Parmesan, pepper, and nutmeg. 

- Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long. 

- Top with parsley and serve over hot pasta. 

Modifications that I made:

- I didn't have parmesan, so I used shredded mozzarella.  The flavor was definitely milder, but it was still really good.  I also added 1/2 tsp. of salt to pick up the flavor a little bit (which I probably would not do with the parmesan).  

- The original recipe serves 8 at LEAST.  The amounts above are cutting the recipe in half.

- I used low-fat cream cheese and 1% milk, and it was creamy as EVER.  Still probably not healthy, but way better than the original.  I bet you could use no-fat cream cheese and skim milk, and still get a super creamy and delicious sauce.

- I threw in some steamed broccoli at the end when I tossed it with the pasta (yum).  I bet it would be good with chicken and/or mushrooms, too.

Yummy soup!

Mmmmm, just thinking of it makes my mouth water. Do any of you like the Zuppa Toscana soup at Olive Garden? It is one of my favorite soups. Well, I found the recipe online and tired it out and it was amazing! I got it off of allrecipes and you can print it here.

Here is the recipe:

Zuppa Toscana

1 (16 ounce) package smoked sausage (I used turkey sausage)

2 potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch slices

3/4 cup chopped onion

6 slices bacon

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 cups kale - washed, dried, and shredded

2 tablespoons chicken soup base (I just used a quart of chicken broth)

1 quart water

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2.	Place sausage links onto a sheet pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until done. Cut links in half lengthwise, then cut at an angle into 1/2-inch slices.
3.	Place onions and bacon slices in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until onions are almost clear. Remove bacon and crumble. Set aside.
4.	Add garlic to the onions and cook an additional 1 minute. Add chicken soup base, water, and potatoes, simmer 15 minutes.
5.	Add crumbled bacon, sausage, kale, and cream. Simmer 4 minutes and serve.

Mexican Style Corn

I got this recipe (is it a recipe?! there are only four ingredients!) off of petitelefant.blogspot.com


MEXICAN STYLE CORN

*Prepare corn on the cob as usual.
*Spread sour cream on the corn.
*Sprinkle with paprika.
*Roll in grated asiago cheese.
*Enjoy

I didn't have any asiago, so I sprinkled grated Parmesan (you know the stuff) and it turned out great. Really delicious. Really easy. Oh, and we had the corn on a stick because it was fun.

Baked Potato Soup

This is very creamy and yummy.    It makes 8 servings.  When I tried this I only made it for 6 servings and we had enough for another nights dinner plus a few lunches.  When we warmed it up we added buttermilk to it and that made it even yummier.  Try it you will love it. Ingredients 9 medium Potatoes 2/3 cup Butter 7 cups Milk 2/3 cup Flour 1 teaspoon Salt 4 Green onions 1 1/4 cups Cheese shredded 1/2 teaspoon Pepper 1 cup Sour cream 12 Bacon strips cooked crispy and crumbled

Instructions Bake potatoes for 30 minutes, cut into 1 inch chuncks. Melt butter in pot, add milk, slowly mix in flour. Add remaining ingredients. If needs to be thickened, mix water and flour together then add to soup. Simmer for at least one hour before serving.

Fettucine Alfredo with Chicken

I made this tonight....DELICIOUS. It comes from this month's Kraft Food & Family magazine. (It's free, which is always good...and always has a few good recipe nuggets in there).

Note: Their recipe is for 1/2 lb of pasta...but I cooked the whole box of fettucine (1lb), so I doubled the ingredients when I made it tonight.

For 1/2 lb of fettucine (uncooked):

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

1 1/4 cup chicken broth

4 t flour

4 oz cream cheese

3 T parmasean cheese

1/4 t garlic powder

1/4 t pepper

1. Cook pasta as directed

2. cut chicken into chunks and cook in large, nonstick skillet.

3. Remove chicken from skillet.

4. In the same skillet, mix broth and flour, then add cream cheese, parmasean cheese, garlic powder and pepper. Stir constantly until thickened.

5. Stir in chicken.

6. Mix pasta and sauce mixture in large bowl....sprinkle with parmasean cheese.

Another note: I only used 1 chicken breast and it was PLENTY....even with doubling the recipe. I had some chicken already cooked that I just shredded and added at the end.

Yummy.

Zucchini Cakes

I am talking Zuchinni Cakes like crab cakes, not zuchinni cake like carrot cake. You know what I'm saying? I know a lot of us follow P-Dub's blog, so some of you maybe have already tried these...but, if you haven't, give them a try. This recipe is so easy to make and really good! There are step-by-step instructions and photos on P-Dub's blog, so I am going to have you click over there rather than type it out. Here's the link--try them out!

Chocolate Caramel Bars

I got this recipe from The Essential Mormon Cookbook, which is a veritable treasure trove of deliciousness. Truth be told, the next time I make this recipe, I might try cutting the sugar in half, but other than that, it's the perfect recipe for a sweets fix.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons melted butter

1 (14oz) bag of caramels (about 48)
1/2 cup whipping cream (I used half-and-half)
1 (12oz) pkg chocolate chips (I only used 1/3 bag, because we're not huge chocolate chip fans at our house)

In large bowl, combine first six ingredients to form a crumbly mixture. Unwrap caramels and put them in saucepan with whipping cream over low heat. Sprinkle half of crumbly mixture into 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips over baked mixture and top with melted caramel mixture. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Make a day ahead or several hours ahead to allow time for caramel to set. Makes 2 dozen bars. (I put mine in the fridge...I think they're best cold).

Ham and Potato Bake

{courtesy of Betty Crocker's Good And Easy Cookbook}

I have spent a long time mocking recipes like these...{classic toddler-esque reaction of "I don't like it" without even trying it}...but you know what? I tried it and I'M SOLD. Couldn't get enough of this one. Yum Yum Yum. I'll never mock a recipe again.

1 package (1 lb 4 ounces) shredded or cubed hash browns
1 cup fully cooked ham, diced
1 can (11 oz) condensed cheddar cheese soup
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk

1. Grease 9x13 casserole dish
2. in large bowl, mix soup, eggs and milk. Add potatoes and mix well. Optional: add a handful or two of shredded cheddar. I thought what the hay and threw it in.
3. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until top is light brown and center is set.

EXCELLENT for a brunch, I think. I threw in a bag of frozen broccoli so I wouldn't feel guilty about feeding this to my family for dinner. I'm sure you could add ANY vegetable.......

Virgin Mint Julep

My sister in-law, Shara, gave me her AMAZING recipe for this drink. And not only is she a real born-and-bred Southern girl, but she's also a KENTUCKY girl--so she knows her mint juleps. I personally tasted this when I was down there two weeks ago, and I can attest: it'll brighten up ANY party!

Virgin Mint Julep

4-5 mint sprigs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups cold water
3/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 1/2 qt ginger ale
Thinly-sliced lemon slices (for garnish)

Rinse the mint and discard the stems. Place sugar, water lemon juice, pineapple juice in a medium-sized bowl, mix, and stir in the mint leaves. Allow to stand for 30 minutes.

Fill a large pitcher with ice cubes. Strain the liquid over the ice. Add the ginger ale and lemon slices and serve. Definitely a Southern party favorite! Thanks, Shara!

Congo Bars

Totally a family fave.

Congo Bars
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 1/3 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cup flour
1 (12 oz) bag chocolate chips
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1-2 Tbsp. water

Mix all ingredients and bake 25 minutes at 350 degrees in a greased 9x13 pan.

(I don't know if it's my oven or what, but I usually have to bake them 30-35 minutes)