Cinnamon chips

1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 flour tortillas
3 tbsp. butter, melted

In a small bowl combine sugar and cinnamon. Brush tortillas with melted butter. Then sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar mixture. Cut each tortilla in 8 triangles. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place tortillas sugar side up on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes or until crisp.

 

Easy Lemon Bars

EASY LEMON BARS

Reynolds® Parchment Paper Crust: 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup powdered sugar 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened Filling: 4 eggs 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons flour 2 to 3 teaspoons grated lemon peel Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with Reynolds Parchment Paper, extending paper up sides of pan; set aside.Combine crust ingredients in a large bowl on low speed of an electric mixer until mixture is crumbly. Press mixture evenly into parchment-lined pan. Bake 20 minutes or until light brown; remove from oven. Beat together filling ingredients in a medium bowl until well blended; pour mixture evenly over warm baked crust. Return to oven and continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes longer or until filling is set and bars are brown around the edges. Cool completely on a wire rack. Use edges of parchment lining to lift bars from pan. Place on a cutting board. Pull back edges of parchment for easy cutting; sprinkle with additional powdered sugar. Cut into bars. Note: Cut out a decorative stencil using Reynolds Parchment Paper or purchase a decorative stencil. Just before serving, arrange stencil over surface of lemon bars. Sprinkle powdered sugar over stencil. Remove stencil carefully. Makes 36-40 servings.

Homemade Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

When my brother, Paul, came to visit for the weekend, we thought we would have some fun experimenting with the ice cream maker I got for Christmas! And with the mild winter we have been having here in NC, why not try now!
I looked up some recipes and decided to try a non-egg one for my first recipe. I doubled the recipe, and it served about 7 full servings (I like to think a serving of ice cream is at least three scoops!). Now, doubling this recipe wasn't the best idea... it started to over flow in the ice cream maker on the last minute! And then I forgot to stir in the chips, but I placed them on top, and I think that worked too! I froze it in a glass dish, and it tasted sooo creamy and milky when done! Next time, I will add some vanilla extract (to give the ice cream more flavor than just milk), or even some mint! Oh! Mint chocolate chip! Yummmm!

Recipe modified from www.ice-cream-recipes.com

Homemade Ice Cream Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Recipe
 Ingredients:
 1 pint milk
1 pint double/heavy cream
3/4 C sugar
5oz plain chocolate (grated)  [mini chocolate chips]
 Directions:
Place the milk and sugar into a saucepan and heat gently, dissolving the sugar. Place the milk to one side to cool and when cold, stir in the cream.
Transfer the complete mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze, following the manufacturer's instructions BUT remember to add the grated chocolate as the ice cream begins to thicken.

Blood Orange Sorbet

It's BLOOD ORANGE season! If you don't know what a blood orange is, I think my brother [Paul] gives a good description as "it's a cross between an orange and a grapefruit". I say "it's like the Sweet'Tart of oranges" with that tart and sweet contrast all in a juicy bite. They have a gorgeous red center, that can some times be surprising, but the taste is always grand!
So when my brother came to visit last weekend, we got the craving to try this Blood Orange Sorbet recipe. I have a new KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!) and I am just super excited to try out some recipes!

recipe from glutenfreegirl.com
(below is a single recipe. We doubled it to make ours then froze two batches separately.) 

Ingredients:
one and one-half cup granulated sugar
two cups water
one cup blood orange juice
one egg white

Directions:
Beat the egg white in a stand mixer until it is frothy. While you are letting it beat, boil the water and sugar together to make a simple syrup. Let the syrup boil for one minute, then slowly drizzle it into the frothy egg white.
Allow the mixture to stop steaming, cooling off just a bit.
Drizzle in the blood orange juice. Stir until just mixed.
Chill this frothy pink liquid completely in the refrigerator (at least one hour).
Put the chilled liquid in your ice cream maker and let it run for about fifteen to twenty minutes, or until it is forming a thick, frosty consistency. If you take it out at this point, before it’s completely hard, it seems to make the taste all the sharper. Transfer the sorbet into a freezer-safe dish and freeze it to desired hardness. (I like to freeze it overnight.)

My brother, Paul, guest starred in this recipe! He was a great help, especially with squishing ALL the Blood Oranges. One whole orange made about 1/4 C of juice... we need juicier oranges next time!

This is the simple syrup mixture (water and sugar). I think I need a new simple syrup "recipe" because this one was too sweet!

Sorry it is side ways, I am still figuring out my phone blog app! Anyways, this is the egg whites, getting nice and foamy!

This is what it looked like after I added all the simple syrup.

I forgot a picture of when I added the Blood Orange juice, and a picture of it all in the ice cream maker. But here is a picture of the finished Sorbet (after the extra freezing).

As I said before, our experience was a little more sweet than we wanted. I really wanted to taste some of that tart (and that's coming from my huge sweet tooth!). We even added some orange rinds to the mix, just hoping to punch up the flavor, but I think that only helped a little. Next time, I will do a different simple syrup recipe, and will probably add another fruit into the mix. Like... pomegranate! Oh now that sounds yummm!

Happy Paczki Day!

Everyone has heard of Mardi Gras or its other playful name of Fat Tuesday; but what about Paczki Day???? 

Happy Paczki Day! [Pronounced: POON-check] Paczki Day was first celebrated in the US by Polish immigrants, and was brought to cities lie Chicago, Detroit, Hamtramck and New York. The city organizes the celebration, and the local Polish bakeries bake traditional pounchkis for the occasion. A pounchki is a  traditional pre-Lenten Polish "donut" and is puffy, tasty, and made with ingredients that are not the usual stuff of donuts. Though the pounchki (also named paczki or punchki ) is called a donut, it has no hole.

I may not have time to make this delicious recipe today (it took a long time for me to find it!) but I hope you will give it a try in the mean time! When I make it, I will post pictures!!!!! Until then, enjoy those Pounchkis! YUMMMMM

recipe and picture by www.ninjalite.com

Punchki Ingredents

• 7 cups flour
• 6-7 tbls. butter
• 5 tbls. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• flavoring (optional)
• (almond, lemon, or rum)
• 1-2 eggs
• 2 packages yeast
• 2 1/4 cups milk

As needed:

• filling
• oil (canola)
• brown paper bag (cut up)
• granulated sugar

Instructions

• Make sure you have a large bowl and mix the flour, butter, sugar, salt and flavoring together.
• Add the eggs to the mixture.
• Mix the yeast with some warm milk, make sure that the milk doesn’t get too hot and mix it with the rest of the ingredients.
• Let the dough rise for 40 minutes.
• Roll the dough out on your counter until it is about 1/3 of any inch thick.
• Use a cookie cutter or a large glass to cut out the Punchki.
• Let them rise again until they are slightly puffy.
• Heat the canola oil in a two inch deep pan and place them in the oil to fry.
• Drain the excess oil out of the Punchki on some paper, paper towels work.
• While they are still warm role them in some granulated sugar and will them with your desired filling.

3-2-1 Cakes

recipe from: thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com

This recipe is called 1-2-3 Cake because all you need to remember is 3 Tbs mix, 2 Tbs water, and 1 minute in the microwave.

Ingredients:
1 box Angel Food cake mix
1 box any flavor cake mix
2 Tbs water

Directions:
Using a large plastic bowl with a tightly fitting lid or a large zip lock bag, combine the two boxes of cake mix stirring or shaking well.
For each individual serving, take out 3 Tbs of the cake mixture and mix it with 2 Tbs of water in a small microwave safe container. I used a small ramekin.
Microwave on high for 1 minute.
You now have your own instant individual cake! You can top with fruit, chocolate syrup, or whipped topping if you like. Try various flavors of cake mix but it must always be combined with an Angel Food mix.
* Keep the mix tightly sealed in an airtight container (aka zip lock bag) until next time!




I found the cake was REALLY spongy. Not quite a cake. More like the angel food cake than the chocolate. But it was a nice small light dessert!


I liked the syrup! Nice chocolate touch!

Banana Bread

I had some over ripe bananas so I looked up this recipe on FoodNetwork.com and decided to give it a go! It will be a nice "healthy" dessert for our home-cooked fancy New Years Steak dinner tonight! Happy New Year!

Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread

This is a recipe we found on Better Homes & Gardens and every one ranted and raved about this being the BEST Christmas cookie of 2011, so we tried it!

White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread

Makes: 60 servings
Prep: 40 mins
Bake: 325°F 10 minsper batch
Stand: 30 mins

Ingredients
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup cold butter
12 ounces white chocolate baking squares with cocoa butter, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 drops red food coloring (optional)
2 teaspoons shortening
White nonpareils and/or red edible glitter (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spread cherries on paper towels to drain well.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in drained cherries and 4 ounces (2/3 cup) of the chopped chocolate. Stir in almond extract and, if desired, food coloring. Knead mixture until it forms a smooth ball.
3. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in sugar, flatten balls to 1-1/2-inch rounds.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until centers are set. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.
5. In a small saucepan, combine remaining 8 ounces white chocolate and the shortening. Cook and stir over low heat until melted. Dip half of each cookie into chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. If desired, roll dipped edge in nonpareils and/or edible glitter. Place cookies on waxed paper until chocolate is set. Makes about 60.

Storage: Layer cookies between waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

nutrition facts (White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread)
Servings Per Recipe 60, Calories 87, Protein (gm) 1, Carbohydrate (gm) 9, Fat, total (gm) 5, Cholesterol (mg) 9, Saturated fat (gm) 3, Vitamin A (IU) 97, Sodium (mg) 28, Calcium (DV %) 10, Iron (DV %) 0, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet



Our review? They were a different mix to our bunches of cookies. It is definitely a thicker shortbread cookies, so the white chocolate is necessary. I liked the cherry taste, but some others didn't. My only problem was in the dipping of the cookies in the white chocolate: the chocolate was too runny and would need to harden some before I did the sprinkles, but even after that, the cookies didn't fully harden till HOURS later. We had NO room in the freezer or fridge... so they just stayed out for a long time. They may make it into the yearly cookies bunch, or may not. We shall see how others feel about it next year :)

Monkey Muffins

My brother came to visit this week and since he has to work on Christmas, we decided to have our own lil early Christmas celebration! So we made hot cocoa, stayed in our PJs and opened presents around the tree... while our breakfast dessert cooked in the oven!
I wanted to do something simple, yet traditional and found this easy recipe for Monkey Muffins! It's like monkey bread... but bite sized!!!!!!

Monkey Muffins

Prep Time: 10 Minutes | Cook Time: 15 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 10-12

Ingredients:

Leftover Bread Dough (or Refrigerated Biscuit Dough, Cut Into Thirds)
Butter
Sugar
Ground Cinnamon
Sweetened, Condensed Milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Add 1/2 teaspoon butter to muffin tins. Sprinkle in sugar and cinnamon.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls (or cut refrigerated biscuit dough into thirds). Place three into each muffin tin.

Top with 1/2 teaspoon butter. Sprinkle on more sugar and cinnamon.

Allow dough to rise, if applicable, or just go ahead and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.

Remove from oven and immediately drizzle plenty of sweetened condensed milk over the top of each one. Be generous! Allow rolls to sit for a little while to absorb sweet, sticky milk.



Scoop out with a spoon and serve to hungry humans.

Cinnamon Sugared Pecans

This is a recipe I always have up my sleeve. It is Great for snack-y presents to friends and house guests! I especially like to use Georgia Pecans; It's a home-y present that tastes DELICIOUS!!!!!

Cinnamon Sugar Pecans

2 egg whites
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon water
1 pound pecan halves
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt



Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

In a gallon sized freezer bag mix together the egg whites, vanilla extract, and water. In a separate gallon sized freezer bag mix together the sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add pecans to the bag with the egg white mixture. Seal the bag and shake around the pecans until they are evenly coated. Transfer the coated pecans to the bag with the sugar mixture.
Seal the bag and shake around until the pecans are evenly coated with the sugar mixture. Spread the pecans on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

Ingredients

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1 (14 ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In a medium pan over low heat, heat up the canned pumpkin puree, spices, and salt. Then, pour the mixture out into another bowl, and let it cool a bit before adding the condensed milk and eggs. Whisk together all in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into uncooked crust. Bake 15 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

By heating up the pumpkin mix first, you make a big difference in taste - Heating the pumpkin puree up takes out the "canned" taste of the pumpkin and melds the spices together nicely. This little change makes the pumpkin taste much fresher too!

Pecan Pie Filling

Prep Time:
15 Min
Cook Time:
40 Min
Ready In:
1 Hr 5 Min


Ingredients

1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy, and stir in melted butter. Stir in the brown sugar, white sugar and the flour; mix well. Last add the milk, vanilla and nuts.
Pour into an unbaked 9-in pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min then reduce temp to 300 degrees and bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until done.


My first Pecan Pie! I love being apart of the South!

Mug Brownie

If you like simple, easy clean up, individual servings, and ooey-gooey warm brownies... the I have the recipe for you!!!!!!!!!!! This recipe is simple and easy and we looooooove it! It may even replace our Thanksgiving pie plans!!!! haha I said MAY... maybe I will just do both ;)

Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons Flour
4 Tablespoons Sugar
2 Tablespoons Cocoa powder (Note: don't use cocoa mix or quik, it shouldn't have any sugar)
2 Tablepsoons Vegetable Oil (Don't use one with a strong flavor, eg olive, sesame, etc)
2 Tablespoons Water
Dash of salt
Mug
Microwave



Directions:
Add the sugar, flour, cocoa, and salt to the mug and mix. Then add the oil and water and mix the dry and wet ingredients together. Be sure to be thorough, there's a tendency for clumps of the dry ingredients to form.


Microwave on high for roughly a minute. You may have to microwave it longer or shorter, depending on your microwave, but the brownie should still be wet in the center when done.


It's done! Let it cool, grab a spoon, and dig in straight from the mug.

This was my first attempt, which I made one afternoon for just me. If the recipe failed... I didn't want to give my Husband false hope of a delicious dessert!

...and since it didn't fail (and was sooo delicious I just HAD to share!) This is the one I made for him the following night! Another success! And it got his seal of approval! As well as mine! I didn't have to do dishes AND got to eat my "cake" too!

I recommend adding a scoop of ice cream for maximum deliciousness!!!!!!!

Pumpkin Bread

It's not fall till you smell the delicious smell of pumpkin bread baking in the oven! I made a loaf for Halloween night! My husband and I spent our Halloween waiting for Trick-Or-Treaters (who didn't show... more candy for us!!!) and we drank homemade Pumpkin Spice Lattes and ate warm delicious homemade Pumpkin Bread!
Happy Halloween!


Pumpkin Bread (makes 2 loaves)

Ingredients:
3 cups sugar
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
4 Eggs
1 15oz. Can of Pumpkin puree
2/3 Cup Water
3 1/2 Cups Flour
2 tsp. Baking Soda
2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Nutmeg
1 tsp. Allspice
1 tsp. Cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350. Prepare 2 – 9×5 baking pans with non stick cooking spray. Cream sugar and oil together. Add eggs, pumpkin and water. Sift all dry ingredients together. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Bake for 1 hour.



Serve with powdered sugar for a dessert!

Pumpkin Crisp

I've baked this a couple times before and it is a refreshing take on the traditional Pumpkin Pie. This Pumpkin Crisp is easy to make and is a "throw it together" type of recipe. And the best part?!?! It is a favorite amongst the crowd! Bet you won't have any left overs if you serve this up!

Ingredients:
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 (18.25 oz) package of butter-flavored yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Stir together the 1st five ingredients. Pour that into a lightly greased 13X9 baking dish.
Sprinkle cake mix evenly over the pumpkin mixture; sprinkle evenly with pecans.
Drizzle melted butter evenly over pecans.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until golden brown.
Removed from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with warm or at room temperature with whipped cream. Sprinkle with fresh nutmeg on top?

Super simple Berry Shortcake (UPDATED)

If you want simple, it doesn't get simpler than this! This is a recipe from Sandra Lee's Semi-homemade cooking and is a winner with both simplicity and delicious taste! I have added my own twist and suggestions below. Never again do you need to make up excuses for skipping dessert! Haha oh I love desserts!

Total Time: 1 hr 30 min
Prep 10 min
Inactive 1 hr 0 min
Cook 20 min

Ingredients
1 can (16.3-ounce) biscuits (recommended: Pillsbury Grands Southern Style)
2 pints fresh berries, quartered (any berries will do! I did frozen mixed berries)
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 can of whipped (lite) cream topping

Directions
If you have frozen berries, put in a medium bowl, pour half of the sugar in, and let sit (covered) on the kitchen counter. They will soak and unfreeze. May take a few hours.
If you have fresh berries, in a medium bowl, combine the berries and half of the sugar. Let stand for 1 hour to meld flavors.



When ready to bake, Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Unroll biscuits, place on baking sheet and bake in the oven according to directions.

In a small bowl, combine remaining sugar and cinnamon.
Remove biscuits from oven; split the biscuits and dredge in cinnamon sugar; place on serving plate.


Put macerated berries on bottom biscuit, put on whipped cream and top with the top of the biscuit. Garnish shortcakes with a swirl of whipped cream topping and drizzle with the juice of the berries.


Serves about 5 (depending on number of biscuits cooked).

Another variation? / a way to make a smaller portion?:
Put berries on each half, then swirl on the whipped cream. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mix on top!

The first whole one was soo good, I wanted a little more! So yes, I definitely had one full and a "half" portion of these shortcakes! Delish!

Snickerdoodles

One of my favorite cookies (and I have A LOT of favorites!) are the Snickerdoodle cookies. Something about their fluffy, crisp, cinnamon sugar nature just takes me back to childhood instantly. They seem to melt in your mouth with nostalgia. And serve them with a nice cold glass of milk? Heaven!!!!!

Well, although I have made Snickerdoodles a jillion times, I can make mistakes. And boy, did I make a HUGE mistake once... and I would love to share it with you, so you can learn from my mistakes!
The snickerdoodle recipe calls for baking powder, and my pantry only had baking soda. Now, I KNOW baking is about chemistry, but I thought they were both rising agents so they should be interchangeable to some degree, right? WRONG!!! Although my internet research said I could use 1.5 baking soda : 1 baking powder Let me just tell you.... YOU CAN'T. The cookies came out beautifully and looked delicious. But after two bites, you tasted this bitter nasty after taste that didn't agree with your stomach afterwards.
LESSON: Follow the recipe. And use baking soda for baking soda, and baking powder for baking powder. DO NOT SUBSTITUTE!

Now, another reason I love these cookies (when baked correctly! hehe) is that they use ingredients you normally just have in the kitchen. No special or exotic ingredients needed. So they are easy to just whip up and enjoy!

Ingredients
2 3/4 C all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (don't microwave!)
1 1/2 c plus 2 tbs sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp ground cinnamon



Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl; set aside.
Put butter and 1 1/2 C sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Mix in eggs.
Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.



Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tbs sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into about twenty 1 3/4" balls; roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, or use a Silpat. Place fork lying on top of cookies to give them a line look (which looks pretty when they are done).



Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through if necessary, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes.

Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.



Makes about 20 cookies.