muffin tin cookies ~ Ina Garten chocolate chip cookie recipe

That time is here... the day I've been both dreaming about and dreading...BACK to SCHOOL!  

I can't believe the whole summer has whirled away so quickly.  In light of getting back in the swing of things...I thought I'd send the kids to school with some tasty tidbits from home.  And what better way to do that than with home made chocolate chip cookies?

 

 Here's where things got a little interesting....well for me anyway.  Some of you may already do this.  But it's new to me and only an afterthought because I don't own a cookie sheet.  EGADS!  I usually use a lasagne tin upside down, but tonight, I really didn't want to use my oven for 8 cookies every 15 minutes.  So I used what I had to speed up the process....cupcakes tins. 

This worked out much better than I even expected!  To ensure that your cookies don't stick, simply pour about a tablespoon of vegetable oil in one of the muffin trays, and then with a cooking oil brush, keep dabbing into the oil and spread around to the rest of the tray.  Be sure to coat the bottom and lower sides.  Roll the dough into ball as per usual, then with slightly wet hands, flatten the dough.  When the cookies were done their baking time, I let them cool and they popped out soooo easily!

Now of course these cookies came out a little thicker than a regular cookie, but they are all perfectly shaped the same and my boys didn't seem to mind at all.  In fact, they thought the muffin tin cookies were "sick".  They even thought that this would be a cool idea to do our brownie recipe in the muffin tins too, a homemade version of the '2 bite brownie'.  Yummy, now we're talking!

  

Ina Garten {Barefoot Contessa} Chocolate Chunk Cookie


INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 extra large eggs at room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional, I left this out...we are a nut free school)
1 1/4 pounds semisweet chocolate chunks ( I used chocolate chips)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cream the butter and two sugars until light and fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the butter with the mixer on low speed, mixing only until combined. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chunks.
Drop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, using a 1 3/4 inch- diameter ice cream scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Dampen your hands and flatten the dough slightly. Bake for exactly 15 minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

* I used a convection oven and found that 13 minutes baking time was perfect.

turkey for the little turkeys

Happy Thanksgiving! So, if not today, I'm sure most of you (Canadians that is) had turkey at some point this weekend?  And do you have loads of leftovers and little ones who bore easily of a plate full of all the traditional fixings for days in a row??  I have two recipes that work wonders in my house for getting the kids and adults alike to gobble up.  Creamy Turkey Penne and Turkey Pot Pie. (of course these recipes can be substituted for chicken at any time)

Creamy (cheater) Turkey Penne

1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded turkey

1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas

1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn

1 can campbells cream of chicken soup

1/2 soup can of milk

s/p to taste

about 4 cups cooked penne pasta. (sorry I never measure, I usually leave half the pasta in the strainer and add more as I mix the sauce until I get the sauce coverage I like)

1.  Cook pasta till aldente. (while pasta is cooking, warm peas and corn in microwave)

2.  Drain and rinse pasta, put back in pot and stir in soup mix and 1/2 soup can of milk.  When combined add turkey and salt/pepper.

3.  Warm on low to desired heat.

PS pulled turkey always tastes better to me than cutting it with a knife??? don't know why, just is.

That was my cheater fast track recipe.  Now if you have a little more energy and time...give the pot pie a try mmmmmmm.

pic credit

Turkey Pot Pie

The filling in this recipe is enough for 2 pies, but you have to make this crust recipe twice.  I once attempted to just double the dough recipe and it didn't work out so well.

CRUST

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup room temp lard (tenderflake)

6 tbsp cold water

TIP:  do NOT over work this dough, even though I use flour on the counter it tends to stick.  Roll to desired size and it should lift nicely if worked around the underside with a spatula.

FILLING

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp onion

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery, chopped

2 small potatoes, diced small

3 cups broth (I hope you boiled your turkey bones)

3 cups turkey, shredded : )

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

1.  In a large saucepan, melt butter, whisk in flour, s/p and onion to make a paste.

2.  Gradually stir in broth, sauce begins to thicken.

3.  Stir in veggies and pour into pie crust.

4.  Bake for 30-40 min or until crust is golden.  (I do mine 35 minutes on convection oven)

And a special THANKS to all my dear readers : )  I can't tell you enough how amazingly special it makes me feel that you visit!

september peach cobbler

September has crept back into our lives. Gone are the schedule free days of summer for me and the kids. Even so...I love September.


I must admit though...I am a wee bit sad to see my young ones off to school tomorrow, but I will still have Nohl every other day to keep me on my (now socked) tippy toes.
September to me screams home cooking and baking! Turn on the oven and let the cozy familiar smells fill the house.

Peach Cobbler ranks big in this house. The markets are full of ripe juicy peaches right now...and I happened to make this the other evening, so I thought I'd share.

~Recipe~

Fruit
8 fresh peaches
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Batter
1/2 cup shortening (pure lard, I use Tenderflake, not golden)
1/2 cup white sugar, 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup boiling water
4 tbsp butter

~Directions~

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Slice peaches (I have made this with the skin on and off...it is good both ways but I do prefer using a potato peeler to skin the peaches) Stir fruit, sugar and cinnamon and set aside
2. Cream shortening and sugar. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Combine the flour mixture with the shortening, alternating with milk.
3. Pour batter mixture into a greased 12x9 pan. Top with fruit mix.
4. Drop butter into boiling water, when melted, pour over top fruit.
5. Bake at 350F for 1 hour and let rest 30 minutes to gel before devouring : )

Don't forget the Vanilla ice-cream....Enjoy!

photos: suziebeezie, food network

diaries of a waistline

I was at the grocery store the other day loading up on grapes that were on sale. I had about 6 bags full. The lady ringing me through says..."dear, you must really love your grapes then!" Every time I bulk buy grapes I get this crazy look from people.

It's not really a big secret! I freeze them is all. If you are watching your waistline, or not, this is a fantastic treat for movie time or late night snacking without guilt. It gives me the crunch and sweetness I need.

I'm sure nobody needs directions on how to freeze grapes, but I've included what I do anyway. I stem all the grapes into a sink full of water. Swish away, drain and rinse. I roll them to dry in paper towel, freezing without drying can cause some frosting which I don't particularly care for. Seperate grapes into ziploc sandwich baggies in desired serving amounts.

I used to write the dates on the outside of the bags, but I find that I go through them so quickly that I really don't need this extra step. Also, I do NOT recommend eating when thawed...ick!

Do you have any simple waistline watching snack ideas? I'd love to hear them!

blueberry cream muffins

It's been quite humid around these parts the past couple of days, but that didn't stop the baking of these beauties this morning. It was the first day of the kids' swimming lessons this morning, {all but Willem, he shattered his arm this past Monday... poor thing} and I wanted to bake up a special snack for afterwards.

There were smiles all around!

The secret to the creamy rich texture is the sour cream. They are very simple to make, but be prepared to do arm work. I don't use a mixer, just a large wooden spoon to stir stir stir. The preparation time is about 10 minutes and it yields 24 glorious muffins.

Ingredients:

4 eggs
2 cups white sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vanilla

4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups sour cream

3 cups blueberries

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees, grease muffins tins or use muffin liners.

2) In a large bowl, beat eggs. Continue to beat the eggs while gradually adding the sugar, continue beating while slowly adding oil. Stir in vanilla.

3) In a seperate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda.

4) Alternate stirring the dry ingredients and the sour cream into the wet mixture. Fold in the blueberries. Fill the muffin tins to the very top with batter.

5) Bake 20 minutes.

I hope you enjoy them as much as my family does!!!

Happy Monday

oatmeal nut bread

Nothing says "Good Morning" like the smell of freshly baked bread filling up the house. I've been waking up to that smell for about a year and a half now. And no I don't get up at the rise of dawn to endlessly knead. I use the timer on my bread maker and have it set so that we have a nice warm loaf waiting for us every other morning.

I switch every second day between Oatmeal Nut, 100% Whole Wheat and Cracked Wheat. Here is the Bread Machine Recipe for 1.5 lbs loaf setting...

Oatmeal Nut

1 1/3 lukewarm water
2 tbsp milk
1/ 1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp molasses
2 tbsp butter
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups white flour
1/3 cup oatmel, quick cooking
1 3/4 tsp yeast
Add Ingredient Optional: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Directions:

1) Measure first 9 ingredients in the order listed
2) Select Grain Setting and 1.5 lb loaf setting
3) At "add ingredient beep", add nuts

Bon Appetite!

roast chicken with potatoes and asparagus

Easy to make and easy clean up...this is one of my all time favourite comfort food dishes.

yummy goodness begins here

recipe:

• 1 1/2 pounds new potatoes, halved


• 3 tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces


• 1 whole chicken, divided


• 1 pound asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces


• 1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges


• 6 sprigs of fresh thyme


• coarse salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. In a roasting pan, place potatoes, top with half butter; season with salt and pepper. Roast 20 min


2. Place chicken, skin side up on top of potatoes, season with salt and pepper, roast 20 min


3. Scatter asparagus, lemon, remaining butter and thyme atop chicken. Roast 15 min.


4. Serve chicken, veggies drizzled with pan juices.

(all timing is for convection oven, if you are not using convection you may want to toss the potatoes half way through cooking and add a few minutes to your total time)

Margaritaville

Oh man, the weather has been amazing the last couple of days...time to break out the patio furniture! And don't get me wrong, I love my kids to the moon, but is March break almost over??? Seriously, I love having them all home, and this helps alot too....

March Break Margaritas

(can be used just to get you through....or have yourself a Monday Margarita in "back to school" celebration bahahhah)


Recipe

• 1 can of Minute Maid LimeAid
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup Tequila
• 1 cup of Sprite
• 1/2 orange, freshly squeezed

I cut up three slices each lemon and lime to set afloat in pitcher. Also, before serving, wet the rim of your glass with either the lemon or lime. Then turn in a small plate of salt to minimally coat the rim. Add ice, margarita and top off with a wedge of lime!

ENJOY!!

Simple Chicken Wrap

I love wraps mainly because they are fast and so easy to make. Adding whatever ingredients any member of the house would like on it, without having to create a whole new meal.

What's so special about my wraps that I'd post it? Well, it's a dressing combo that I love that I never would have dreamed of putting together, except that my sister forced me to try it!

The secret is Tzatziki and Honey Mustard sauce! I know it sounds so tempting, but really... even my kids love it! I ♥ the Skotidakis brand of Tzatziki from Costco and the Honey Mustard I make at home.

Directions:

1. Bake chicken at 350 for 25-30 min. (even easier with left over chicken)


2. Place wraps in oven for the last two min.


3. Stir together equal parts honey to mustard


4. Spread Tzaatziki thinly over entire wrap


5. Layer chicken, shredded cheese, and a drizzle of honey mustard


6. Fold and Enjoy

Simple ~ Yummy