Truffled Garlic & Green Herb Fries Today is the day of the big reveal. After weeks of tossing together spices and attempting to make a truly prizewinning flavor combination for the Alexia “Reinvent a Classic” blogger competition, the opinion of the taste-testing masses (a.k.a my children) have been heard. The out-and-out winner in our home were these simple, julienned Gold Yukon fries, richly scented with the flavors of garlic, herbs, and truffle salt. Though inspired by the “french” part of the “French Fry,” this recipe is tremendously easy to whip up. You gotta get a bag of Alexia Yukon Gold fries. Chop up a clove of garlic until it’s real small. Now, this step is the first real secret to making these fries be as pretty as a pony. Toss those powdered herbs with the slightest bit of flour and some truffle salt. Drizzle your melted garlic butter over the frozen fries, then toss in your spice mixture. Then, toss them onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake them fries up until golden brown.
StumbleUpon Mar 14 2012 Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzels Ahhhhh I need to stop with the Pinterest. Yes, another late night Pinterest search yields this yummy peanut buttery-chocolately find. I altered the recipe a bit so see below. Yum! Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites Ingredients 1 cup creamy peanut butter 2 tbsp softened butter 3/4 cup powdered sugar (maybe more) 3/4 cup brown sugar Pretzels 1 bag milk chocolate chips (for melting) 1/2 bag mini semi-sweet chocolate chips for the "look" Directions 1. 2. 3. Original recipe adapted from the lovely blog: Two Tiny Kitchens. Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Chocolate Chip Lava Cookies | Kevin & Amanda's Recipes - StumbleUpon I am so in love with these darn chocolate lava cookies! What is it about a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie stuffed with decadent, rich, melted chocolate that makes it so irresistible?? Especially when topped with vanilla ice cream. All you really need for these fabulous cookies is your favorite cookie dough and a bag of chocolate chips. Since these cookies are absolutely gushing with delicious rich chocolate, my favorite chocolate chips for this recipe are the Hersey’s Milk Chocolate chips. Now let’s make some chocolate lava cookies! Place the flattened cookie dough in the bottom of a well-greased standard sized muffin tin. Now for our gooey, rich milk chocolate filling. Lay the Ziploc bag flat in the microwave, spreading out the chocolate chips in a single layer. Cut a small tip off the Ziploc bag and layer over the cookies. Heaven help me. Scoop and flatten the remaining dough, and place on top of your lava cookies. Now here’s how I like my cookies. Mama mia. 1. 2. 3.
Slow Cooker Gooey Chocolate Cake I’m meeting a new friend for lunch today. And an old friend for line-dancing tonight. And I’m feeling rather spoiled about it all. I mean, moms shouldn’t have TWO social events on the calendar for the same day, should we? Which brings me to the point of what moms should be doing anyway. For a long time, I measured myself by what I remember of my own mom. The odd thing is, I’ve now reached the age in my life where I am exactly as old as she was. Such is the fate of all moms. And I realized then that everyday is really a bit like living in an imaginary world. Because, ancient people don’t do lunch with new friends. And they definitely don’t join in a on rousing night session of line-dancing with old friends. They don’t make oatmeal in the morning in bare feet and spandex shorts. And ancient people DEFINITELY do not fill their day’s with a slew of other snappy, bodacious activities. See? I’m crazy hip. Whatever are my kids thinking? Ingredients: 4 eggs 1 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup cocoa powder
Recipe: Healthier, Homemade Peanut Butter Cup The other day, my daughter and I needed a project to work on together, so I decided to try to make our own, healthier version of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Starting with the peanut butter filling, we heaped peanut butter in a bowl. Because we find that a little sweetener is just as good as a lot, we added just a bit of honey, toasted nuts for crunch, and coconut oil for creaminess. Once topped with chocolate we were set. They were a hit! This is a great project to do with kids because not only is it a yummy treat, but there is almost no oven work and you can taste as you go along (which my daughter, Elena, certainly did!). I used to like candy bars, but now, though we keep a whole shelf stocked with candy bars (as practice rewards for our students), they don’t really appeal to me anymore (unless I am very, very hungry). Homemade, Healthier Peanut Butter Cups If you use another nut butter, you may need to add more honey. Ingredients Directions
I'm rich, I'm rich! Thousand Dollar Bars | King Arthur Flour - Baking Banter Have you ever baked something that made you do the Daffy Duck? You know, the cartoon scene where Daffy runs about yelling, “I’m rich, I’m rich, whoop, whoop, yippee, I’m rich!” He’s bouncing around on his head, feet, hands, and rump in a spastic outpouring of sheer joy. Yep, the Daffy Duck. Not everything we bake here in the kitchen gets us to do the Daffy Duck. Sometimes we do the swoon, the table grip (hold me Ralphie, I’ve died and gone to heaven). On a bad day, we do the wine taster (small taste and a spit) or the Emily Post (napkin over mouth, remove offending food, weak smile). But on a really really good day, we do the Happy Dance (personal taste rules here;mine includes foot stomping and mmm mmm noises); and the Daffy Duck. These Thousand Dollar Bars did just that for us here at KAF. These bars definitely remind people of Twix® bars, both in shape and taste, but OH, so much better when top-end caramel and chocolate is used. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
Back to Basics ~ tips and techniques to create a great loaf in 5 minutes a day. Note that there is an updated version of this post, click here to view. Recently we have seen lots of new readers on the website who are asking wonderful questions about how to perfect their loaves. First I’d like to say welcome to the site and thank you for trying the bread. As I bake through the basic Master recipe from ABin5 I will try to answer some of the most frequently asked questions and also introduce you to a few new pieces of equipment I’ve recently started to use that make the whole experience just a little easier. Master Recipe from The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking: 3 cups lukewarm water (you can use cold water, but it will take the dough longer to rise. 1 tablespoon granulated yeast ( you can use any kind of yeast including: instant, “quick,” rapid rise, bread machine, active dry, or fresh cake yeast*. *If you use cake yeast you will need 1.3 ounces. Mixing the dough: *(or Cast Iron Pizza Pan Enjoy and have fun baking.
12 healthy homemade candy recipes | MNN - Mother Nature Network - StumbleUpon Robin shared some wonderful choices for healthier organic candy for Halloween last week. It made me long for candy myself! I thought I'd share 12 recipes for homemade candies that everyone can enjoy. The following recipes use unrefined sweeteners and high quality ingredients. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 11. Also on MNN:
Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies - StumbleUpon These are divine. Truly. They taste just like your favorite breakfast treat but in fabulous cookie form. I wish I could take credit for the idea, but I stumbled on something like it and thought I would give it a whirl. My tummy is glad I did, but my thighs? Not so much. Cookie Ingredients:- One batch sugar cookie dough (you can make your own, or just buy a roll)- 1/4 stick butter, melted- Cinnamon- Brown Sugar Cookie Instructions:- Roll out sugar cookie dough into a large rectangle (flour your rolling surface to avoid stickage!) Glaze Ingredients:- Butter, melted- Milk, warmed- Powdered (Confectioner's) Sugar- Vanilla Glaze Instructions:- Mix equal parts butter and milk- Add a dash off vanilla to butter/milk mix for flavor- Very slowly drizzle butter/milk mix into confectioner's sugar, stirring constantly until you get desired consistency
100 Greatest Cooking Tips (of all time!) : Chefs 1. Remember, y'all, it’s all about the prep. Take away the stress by doing the prep the night or day before. You'll look like a star.Paula Deen Paula’s Best Dishes 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Monkey Bread Muffins This Northeastern blizzard might have ruined some of our holiday travel plans, but I’ve enjoyed the time stuck inside in our apartment, winding down from the holidays and getting my life organized again. Of course that also means facing the work I’ll have to do during my 2 weeks off from school, but we’re going to continue to ignore that for now. Nothing beats being snuggled up inside while it snows, watching movies, and munching on warm homemade muffins. If you’re in a similar situation, I highly suggest making these Monkey Bread Muffins. Granted I have a hard time calling these muffins, they’re really more like buttery baked donuts piled inside a muffin liner, but tis the season to be indulgent. Actually these are mini-brioche liners that I got from fancy flours, but you can really use them for whatever you’d like. This would also be a great project to do with kids — plus you could use a few extra hands rolling all the little balls of dough. Recipe yields 12 muffins
Churro Tots - StumbleUpon Happy Wednesday, beautiful people.Factoid for you: Getting my car serviced stresses me.To deal, I totally made Churro Tots. Throw in stress eating and calls to dad, and it some how made everything okay. I encourage it!Last week I went to a cookbook release party at Border Grill and they had churros…in tot form! Grab a baking sheet, line it with some paper towels. Recipe adapted from Dorie GreenspanPrint this recipe!
Perfect Buttercream | stetted You know the scene – you’re at a party, and it’s time for the cake to be served. The cake sure looks beautiful, but the frosting … well, you never can tell with frosting. On the cake it all kind of looks the same. Both can ruin a good cake and cause people to doubt the skills of the cake baker. Last week I was roped into asked to coordinate last-minute baby shower for one of our temps whose last day was Friday. Megan’s Perfect Buttercream makes enough to fill and frost a 9-inch two-layer cake 2 sticks (8 ounces total) butter, softened 6 cups sifted powdered sugar 4 tablespoons milk (I use whole) 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon almond extract Dump everything into a large bowl (preferably stand mixer bowl with whisk attachment). * Tip – the trick to getting smooth frosted cakes is to frequently scrap off excess frosting and dip your spreader into a cup of warm water, then continue spreading.
Cookies and Cream Cookies Late August is an awkward time in the baking blogosphere – it’s a little too late for refreshing summery treats and definitely too depressing to start baking with pumpkin and apples quite yet. So today we’re going for what I consider a delicious, timeless classic – Cookies and Creams Cookies. Timeless because they’re essentially season-less, classic in that apparently Oreo’s are America’s favorite cookie (I’m not arguing there), and delicious because it’s freakin’ Oreo’s mixed into a chocolate chip cookie base, what more can I say?! Sometimes there’s just no time for elaborate layer cakes or fancy jello shots. Print Recipe Save Recipe Cookies 'n Cream Cookies Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature 6 tbsp sugar 6 tbsp light brown sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla 1-1/4 cup all purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 12 Oreo’s, broken up into small pieces Directions: Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well mixed. Gently fold in Oreo pieces.