Baking the weekend away

So maybe you live somewhere like I do. Somewhere that seems to think it's February, not May.. nearly June. We're enjoying our Memorial Day weekend inside. What do I do during a three day weekend when I'm stuck inside? Bake.
I've got a scrumptious loaf of streusel topped banana bread in the oven as we speak (type, read?).

Photo from Allrecipes.com

In case banana bread isn't your thing, I've taken the liberty to dig up some other tasty treats. Let the drooling commence!

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti recipe courtesy of joyofbaking.com

Strawberry Shortcake recipe courtesy of Nigella Lawson

Honey Wheat Loaf recipe courtesy of thefreshloaf.com

Now go bake up something tasty!

Apple Pie Egg Rolls

Apple Pie fried Egg Rolls! yum!

The name says is all. These treats are amazing, and fairly simple. I had been blog browsing a few weeks ago (like I do every day!) and came across this sweet little recipe over at Miss in the Kitchen's blog. I gasped and knew I *must* make these and many of them! So, I had a friend over one evening and we got to baking. Per usual with her, we put on the tacky music, danced around the kitchen and sang without abandon while we created these little delights. 

Here's the Recipe:

Apple Pie Egg Rolls

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter

3 cups apples, peeled, cored, and diced (I used Granny Smith)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

5 egg roll wrappers

vegetable oil for frying (Be careful!)

for garnish:
1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Cooking Directions:

In a medium size pan, melt butter, add apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring often until apples are tender.  Pour into a bowl and place in the refrigerator to cool, about 30 minutes. 

Place about 2 tablespoons of apple filling into each egg roll wrapper, wet edges of wrapper with water, roll up sealing edges.  Repeat with remaining ingredients.
Heat oil to about 350 degrees, add egg rolls two at a time, turning to cook all sides, remove to paper lined plate and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Repeat with remaining egg rolls.

Serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce...or even a nice toffee sauce would be amazing!

Tips:

Do not take your egg roll wrappers out of the fridge until it is time to wrap them up, they will grow hard and break apart if you do. Be sure to wrap them tightly as well- when you're frying with oil if a bit seeps out it tends to crackle a bit more and could splash you. Also..be very careful as always when you're frying anything. The oil can burn and start a massive cloud of smoke in your kitchen, or worse a fire- very quickly. Just stay at the stove and be careful and you will be fine. I heated these little buddies in a large wok for ease...also the sides of the wok are very tall and prevent most of the oil from spitting at my forearms. If you've got a wok- use it. 

Enjoy!

English Sticky Toffee Pudding

I made this traditional British sweet treat last weekend (among another that will be posted, ASAP! I promise!) for a friend's birthday. It was a total surprise for her- I had no idea if she, or the other guests would even like this ..but it's worth a try and who doesn't LOVE toffee? I know I do.
I had been watching none other than The Food Network (If you know me at all, this is the ONLY station on in my house.) I saw this talked about on an episode of  "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" I believe..don't quote me. 


Anyway..so here's the skinny on this super rich, super jaw dropping dessert- get ready to wow your friends with the intense rich flavors!

Ingredients

• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup pitted dates
• 1 1/4 cups boiling water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

TOFFEE SAUCE:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped

I made my own Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

About 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract ( I didn't measure, just start low and add to taste)

1/2 Cup of Granulated Sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch round or square baking dish. Sift the flour and baking powder onto a sheet of waxed paper. Chop the dates fine. Place in a small bowl and add the boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a bowl of electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla; beat until blended. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Add the date mixture to the batter and fold until blended with a rubber spatula. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake until pudding is set and firm on top, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven to a wire rack. Toffee Sauce: Combine the butter, heavy cream and brown sugar in a small heavy saucepan; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil gently over medium low heat until mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes. Preheat broiler. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the sauce over the pudding. Spread evenly on top. Place pudding under the broiler until the topping is bubbly, about 1 minute. Serve immediately spooned into dessert bowls. Drizzle with toffee sauce and top with a spoonful of whipped cream.


This is a VERY rich dessert and makes a ton. I also just baked it in a 9x13 Pyrex glass baking dish. The moans, groans and finger marks left in the whipped cream, and the toffee sauce was a sign it was pure success!


Enjoy! Let me know if you enjoy this as much as I do!

 

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

 

These cookies are so tasty. I make them fairly often and they're always a huge hit! I've made them with yummy sweet additions (chocolate chips, heath bits) and more healthy options (dried cranberries, nuts). They're super delicious both ways.

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies
(Adapted from Henry and Maudie's Oatmeal Cookies)

Ingredients

• 1 cup sifted whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups rolled oats
• Optional: 1 cup extra goodies (dried cranberries, chocolate chips, heath bits.. etc.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Stir together the whole wheat flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the apple sauce and brown sugar. Stir in the egg, water and vanilla. Mix in the flour mixture, then stir in the oats. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 2 inches apart- they will spread a lot!
3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

Related articles

• 10 Healthy and Kid-Friendly Recipes (friendseat.com)
• Healthy Baking Recipe: Best Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies (blisstree.com)

Brie en Croute

I'm sitting here looking at some of the photos from this year's Christmas Party, and I passed a few shots of one of my favorite recipe's. I must share it with you! It's so easy, quick and so savory. Brie en Croute. For all of you who may not know what that is. It's brie cheese baked inside a pastry puff. Oh so yummy! Who doesn't love cheese? Also, it's SO easy.
You must be wondering what you will need for this decadent little hors d'oeuvre. As a side dish for this little treat I made a cranberry chutney and placed out some sliced bread. It was a perfect pairing. I also used crackers.

Ingredients

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, pre-packaged 
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 (8-ounce) wheel Brie
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
•  Crackers, for serving
• 
  

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Defrost puff pastry for approximately 15 to 20 minutes and unfold.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Saute the walnuts in the butter until golden brown, approximately 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon and stir until walnuts are coated well. Place the walnut mixture on top of the Brie and sprinkle the brown sugar over the mixture. Lay the puff pastry out on a flat surface. Place the brie in the center of the pastry. Gather up the edges of the brie, pressing around the brie and gather at the top. Gently squeeze together the excess dough. Brush the beaten egg over top and side of Brie. Place Brie on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes until pastry is golden brown.

Serve with crackers.

To give a special look, cut extra pastry into heart or flower shapes and bake until golden.
Also, I got this little recipe from the always lovely Paula Deen.

So, it was pretty tasty!

 

Related articles

• Warm Brie in Puff Pastry (charlotte.news14.com)
• Beyond Baked Brie: New Uses for a Wheel of Cheese (thekitchn.com)
• Savory Pastries to Wow Holiday Guests (well.blogs.nytimes.com)

Easy Apricot Oat Bars

The bars mid party! They are SO delicious!

Every year my Husband and I host a formal Christmas Party- and we always have way too much food.(Which I suppose is a good thing really!) This year I was trying a lot of new recipe's, and tried to add a few healthy choices to the mix of things. I am addicted to The Food Network, and one of my favorite Chef's is Giada DeLaurentiis. I love to watch her show. One afternoon I saw her make these *fabulous* apricot oat bars. I thought I'd give them a whirl for the party this year. Turns out- they were amazing- and again- EASY! Which when your making around 10 dishes for an evening, is something that really helps out, of if your a busy Mom like my co-blogger Jen is! They are perfect for a quick healthy snack, school lunch, bake sale, or picnic!
Let's get into the thick of it.

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• Filling
• 1 (13-ounce) jar apricot jam or preserves (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 8 dried apricots, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces (about 1/3 cup)
• Crust
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 packed cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup (4 ounces) coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 egg, at room temperature, beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

They look so good at every stage of baking! This is pre-topping.

Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 by 13 by 2-inch metal baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray. Line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with vegetable oil cooking spray and set aside.

Filling: In a small bowl, mix together the jam and the apricots. Set aside.

Crust: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Stir in the oats and walnuts. Add the butter, egg and vanilla and stir until incorporated.

Using a fork or clean fingers, lightly press half of the crust mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Using a spatula, spread the filling over the crust leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge of the pan. Cover the filling with the remaining crust mixture and gently press to flatten. Bake until light golden, about 30 to 35 minutes. Cool for 1 hour. Cut into bars and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

I am going to give this a try with other dried fruit and jams, raspberry is definitely on my list!

Related articles

• Apricot Crumble (notecook.com)
• 10 Healthy and Kid-Friendly Recipes (friendseat.com)
• Oat Soda Bread (101cookbooks.com)

Super easy Almond Toffee Bars

My phone rang this morning at 10 am. It was Kyle calling from work saying he had an odd question for me. Apparently the chocolate mint Christmas cookies I had baked for him to take to the office were a hit. Such a hit that one of his coworkers wanted me to bake up a few batches today for him to hand off to his neighbors. Said coworker was supposed to spend last weekend baking goodies of his own for his neighbors. Said coworker did not spend the weekend baking, but instead watching football... Men. Not only did he want those tasty minty cookies, but he wanted me to come up with another tasty treat- did I mention he wanted all of this done today? Good thing I'm super momma and all. I did a speedy Google search (ahhhh Google, I love you) for easy Christmas treats and found these little suckers.

Almond Toffee Bars
Ingredients :
12 graham crackers
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 bag of Heath bar baking bits
2 small bags of sliced almonds

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil and cover with graham crackers.

3. Stir butter and sugar in a saucepan on the stove. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Once boiling, let boil for 1 minute and continue stirring. It will thicken into a nice caramel.

4. Pour caramel over crackers and spread it around so all are covered.

5. Put in the oven and bake for 3-6 minutes- just until caramel is bubbly.
6. Remove from oven and sprinkle with toppings.

7. Cool completely and cut into small bars.

Yep, I pulled it off. I took one cello bag of my chocolate mint Christmas cookies and one cello bag of these bars, tied them together with a shiny red ribbon, one of those nice little tags and topped it off with a red jingle bell. I delivered a whole bunch of these cutie-patootie gift bags before the end of the work day. Here's to an accomplished Christmas eve-eve! Now tomorrow I just have to finish MY projects for Christmas presents.

 

Related articles

• 'Tis the Season for Holiday Baking (circleoffood.com)
• Projects " How-To's " Cute Christmas Cookies (cutoutandkeep.net)
• 12 Days of Christmas Cookie Recipes: Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies (blisstree.com)
• "5 Must-Make Christmas Cookie Recipes" and related posts (bakingbites.com)

Chocolate Mint Christmas Cookies

Cookies all packed up and ready to go, Sophie helping mommy, Cookies ready for baking, Mommy and Sophie baking up treats!

These Christmassy cookies are so oh em gee delicious. As soon as you're done reading this post, run and grab the ingredients- you'll thank me later. Oh, a warning, I left my camera in the car. The car that hubs took to work today. Iphone cam had to do, I apologize.

Chocolate Mint Christmas Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup soft butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp peppermint extract
3 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 candy canes, crushed

1. Preheat oven to 350. Using your mixer, cream together butter and sugar, like so:

 

2. Mix in egg, vanilla and peppermint. Add in next four ingredients and 4 of the crushed candy canes (reserve two for later). It should look something like this.

3. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and roll dough into small balls (see pic) and smush with your choice of smushing object- I used a measuring cup.

Pre Smush

Post Smush

4. Bake at 350 for about 6 min. I like cookies soft and just a tad undercooked, if you don't- cook em longer. Right after taking them out of the oven, sprinkle the last bits of candy cane on top and kind of poke them into the cookies with your fingers so they stick.

5. Stick them into cute little cello bags and print these adooorable little taggies out to stick on the bags. Give them to people you love to spread a little holiday cheer!

Related articles

• Healthy Baking Recipe: Best Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies (blisstree.com)
• 12 Days of Christmas Cookie Recipes: Mint Chocolate Thumbprints (blisstree.com)
• "5 Must-Make Christmas Cookie Recipes" and related posts (bakingbites.com)