Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pretzel Balls

I made these for a Christmas Eve dinner that I'm attending tonight. I found the recipe in the new issue of Martha Stewart Living - perfectly sweet and salty!

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pretzel Balls


1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup, plus 1 tbsp confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon room temperature unsalted butter
1 cup crushed pretzels
5 ounces melted milk chocolate

Stir together peanut butter, confectioners sugar, unsalted butter, the crushed pretzels. Roll into 1" balls. Freeze for 30 minutes.
Melt chocolate over very low heat. Dip balls into melted milk chocolate, refrigerate until set.

*To crush pretzels, place in a resealable bag, and bang with a rolling pin.

Buttermilk Biscuits with Parmesan

Buttermilk Biscuits with Parmesan


2 1/2 cups all - purpose bleached flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup Parmesan
1/8 teaspoon of paprika
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

Set a rack to middle level of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees (500 degrees if you aren't adding cheese)
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl and stir several times.
Rub in butter until completely blended using your fingertips. Add buttermilk and stir in with a fork. Add Parmesan, paprika and lemon zest stir in with fork.
Turn dough out on lightly floured work surface and fold dough over on itself several times to distribute moisture evenly and to make the dough slightly less sticky.
Pat or gently roll dough 1/2 inch thick. Cut with floured cutter. Avoid twisting cutter which distorts the sides of the biscuits. Place biscuits on pan.
Press scraps together and pat to 1/2 inch thickness again and cut remaining biscuits. Discard any scraps left after second rolling.
Bake Biscuits about 10-12 minutes, until well risen and light golden brown.

Chocolate-Espresso Snowcaps

They look like little chocolate mountains, and taste like the perfect blend of morning coffee and chocolate. Delicious!

Chocolate-Espresso Snowcaps - Martha Stewart

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

4 tsp instant espresso (or coffee)

1 tsp baking powder

4 tbsp unsalted butter

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

4 ounces semi sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

1 tbsp milk

confectioners sugar for coating

1/8 tsp salt

In medium bowl, sift flour, cocoa, espresso, baking powder and salt. With an electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg until well combined. Mix in cooled chocolate. With a mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture. Beat in milk until just combined. Flatten dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, freeze 45 minutes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 sheets with parchment. Shape dough into 1" balls. Pour confectioners sugar into a medium bowl, roll balls in sugar 2 times, letting them sit.

Place on prepared baking sheets, 2" apart. Bake until cookies have spread & coating is cracked, 12-14 minutes. Cookies will be soft to touch. Cool cookies on wire rack.

Olive and Blue Cheese Ball

My first non-baked blog. I love cheese.

1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1/2 cup chopped green olives (I used garlic marinated, from whole foods olive bar)

In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, butter and blue cheese.  Stir in the olives and chives. Spoon onto plastic wrap and gather into a ball. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. To serve, unwrap and place on a serving tray. Surround with your favorite crackers.

Danish Danish

Copenhagen, Denmark
October 3, 2010

October 4, 2010

Almond Tea Cakes

Almond Tea Cakes - adapted from Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes


1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon almond extract (or you can use vanilla, if you want a more traditional flavor)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until all ingredients are incorporated - do not over beat. Using a spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Spoon the batter into tea cake tins, mini muffin tins or in lined muffin tins. Fill tins three-quarters of the way full. For mini tins bake 10-15 minutes (though mine took about 20 minutes), for regular muffin tins bake 20-25 minutes, or until cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cakes in tins for 5 minutes, then flip out and let completely cool on a wire rack before icing.

Icing - from Betty Crocker - Petits Fours Glaze


1 bag (2lb) powdered sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 to 3 teaspoons hot water

In saucepan, stir all ingredients except hot water. Heat over low heat, stirring frequently, until sugar is dissolved; remove from heat. Stir in hot water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until glaze is pourable.

I ended up dipping each cake in the glaze to get an even covering.
I put black food coloring in half the batch - since these were made for Caycee Black's Spring Pre-Sale party of her line. She wanted Black and White desserts.

Danish Butter Cookies

After just returning from a trip to Copenhagen I had the urge to finally try out a recipe from my "Scandinavian Holiday Recipes" book that I bought almost 2 years ago. I figured it was appropriate to try out a Danish one first, since I had just been eating real Danish sweets for the past week.  Though I had to pick up a new ingredient for this one - Cream of Tartar. I had no idea what this was, but after googling it, I have found out it is essentially acidic salt used to keep baked goods from being too heavy. These cookies are definitely not heavy except for the all the butter you will consume eating them, but other than that they are a light and flaky yet chewy cookie. I have not baked in at least 3 months due to the hot heat in the summer, and let's just say I've gotten a little rusty. I made my cookie balls way too big and burnt half of them, so this is the Danish butter cookie fail, but round 2 turned out perfect!

Danish Butter Cookies

1 1/4 cups butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 egg yolks, unbeaten
2 1/4 cups sifted white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/2 teaspoons of almond flavoring

Cream butter and sugar. Beat egg yolks in, one at a time. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Chill dough. Roll dough into small balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press dough with a press or a glass dipped in sugar. Bake at 325 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove immediately from cookie sheet and cool.
Makes 2 1/2 dozen

Mini Cheesecakes with Apricot Jam

I love these mini cheesecakes because they are the perfect size and when finished they look like little sunny side up eggs, which is so cute for a brunch dessert! The most difficult part of making these mini cheesecakes was actually making the crust. It seems like an easy task when reading the recipe because you are supposed to use wafer cookies which you crumble. I don't always have the proper baking tools needed, so I was trying to crumble and break hard organic cookies into tiny pieces. This is kind of hard with no mallet - I'm thinking if I had one of those meat hammer things it would have made this much easier. I placed them in Ziploc baggie and tried to smoosh by hand. I also used some sort of nature whole foods type of wafer cookie, maybe these are harder then the average grocery store wafer. Also this recipe called for chocolate wafer cookies but I used vanilla bean instead, which for me was a better choice, I think with the chocolate they may have been too sweet for me.

After making the cheesecakes I kept them in the fridge overnight before making the Apricot Jam topping. I held off making the topping until I was about ready to serve them. I had a mini strainer for this, which actually worked out quite well for me, but I think a big one would be just fine as well. I would love to make these over and over, varying the jam topping.

Mini Cheesecakes with Apricot Jam - Martha Stewart

Makes about 18

3/4 cup crumbled chocolate-wafer cookies (or vanilla)
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 pound cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
pinch of salt
1/2 cup apricot jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Mix cookies and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar in a bowl. Stir in butter. Press 1 tablespoon of mixture in bottom of each cup. Bake until set, about 7 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks.

Reduce oven temperature to 275 degrees. Beat cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, then vanilla. With mixer running, add eggs slowly, scraping down side of bowl. Add sour cream and salt. Pour batter into muffin cups, filling almost to the tops.

Bake until sides are set but centers are wobbly, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks. Wrap tins tightly with plastic, and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Warm Jam in a small saucepan until liquidy. Strain through a sieve. Spoon 1 teaspoon jam on top of each cake. Cheesecakes will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 3 days.

Corn Bread Bites

Summer so far has been hot and vicious, so I have not been baking lately. It is just too hot for it. Though I had made corn bread bites for a brunch a few month's ago and never got around to posting about them. They are a perfect summer food for brunch or for a side. When I made these, I decided to make 3 different kinds which included jalapeno and white Grafton cheddar, orange and rosemary, and dill and sour cream. I made all savory dishes, because as much as I love sweets there is nothing more I love then savory sweets.

Corn Bread Bites - adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Unsalted butter, softened, or vegetable oil cooking spray, for tin
1 cup flour
1 cup course yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup safflower oil

Jalapeno and White Grafton Cheddar
3/4 teaspoon finely chopped Jalapeno Chile
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated White Grafton Cheddar

Orange-Rosemary
1/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Dill and Sour Cream
1 teaspoon Dill
1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly butter a 12 cup mini muffin tin or coat with cooking spray.
Whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Combine buttermilk, egg, and oil. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until combined. Divide batter into 3 batches (1 cup each), and stir a flavor combination into each.

Fill cups of muffin tin 3/4 full with 1 batch of batter. Bake until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool for 5 minutes. Turn out muffins from tin. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm or at room temperature. Muffins can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Monkey Bread - The way my mom makes it.

When I was a child my mother would always make Monkey Bread for special occasions. She would make it for Christmas morning or for Birthday's, so now it has become my go to, easy crowd pleasing brunch dish. A while back Caycee had a brunch, and I am slowly posting about each dish I made for it. I made all the food! It was my unofficial first catering gig! This dish was requested by Caycee, so even though its not all made from scratch, it is still always baked with pure love. Its total mid-west food; I mean come on, it uses canned biscuits! On a side note, it may be easy, but my sister failed miserably when she tried to make it for Christmas this past year - she used Grands biscuits - don't do that, stick to the cheap 4 pack.

Monkey Bread - Cyndie Medin

3 (10 count) pkg buttermilk refrigerator biscuit
1 Cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 Cup brown sugar
1 Stick (1/2 Cup) butter or margerine (I would stick to butter)

Mix cinnamon and sugar in large plastic zip lock bag.
Cut biscuits into fourths with scissors or sharp knife.
Place cut up biscuits in sugar mixture and shake. Stack pieces on top of each other in greased bunt pan.

Melt brown sugar and butter; boil 1 minute

Pour melted butter mixture over biscuits in bunt pan.

Bake 35 min at 350 degrees F. Set 10 min and then flip over and remove from pan.

Asparagus Gruyere Tart

I haven't posted in awhile, because I went for a short period with no internet, but I'm back now and have some long over due posting to do. I made this Asparagus Gruyere Tart awhile ago for a brunch hosted by Caycee Black. It's a simple dish with only a few ingredients which makes it an easy dish for a party. I made many dishes for her brunch that day, and this was actually probably the last one I made and the first to be blogged about. Good thing it is easy, because I was exhausted at this point and it still came out flawless.



Asparagus Gruyere Tart - Martha Stewart

Flour, for work surface
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
5 1/2 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 1/2 pounds medium asparagus
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured surface, roll the puff pastry into a 16 x 10 inch rectangle. Trim uneven edges. Place pastry on a baking sheet. With a sharp knife, lightly score pastry dough 1 inch in from the edges to mark a rectangle. Using a fork, pierce dough inside the markings at 1/2" intervals. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

Remove pastry shell from oven, and sprinkle with Gruyere. Trim the bottoms of the asparagus spears to fit crosswise inside the tart shell: arrange in a single layer over Gruyere, alternating ends and tips. Brush with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake until spears are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.