Thursday, December 30, 2010

Double Chocolate Crackles

 Let me start off by saying this is one of the best cookies I've ever made!
They remind me of a chocolate doughnut, nough said? No not enough
I forgot to mention how extremely easy and fast they are to make.
I took these to a pot luck and everyone asked for the recipe.


Double Chocolate Crackles
adapted from Food Network magazine

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
- 1/2 c. granulated sugar
- 1/2 c. natural cocoa powder
- 3/4 t.baking soda
- 1/2 t. salt
- 6 T. unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 c. white chocolate chips
- 1 c. confectioners' sugar

1. Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt
in a medium bowl. Whisk in the melted butter and eggs until combined,
then stir in the white chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and chill
until firm, about 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Put the confectioners' sugar in a shallow bowl. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough
into balls, then roll in the confectioners' sugar until well coated. Place 1 inch
apart on the baking sheets.

3. Bake until the cookies are puffed and the tops are cracked, about 10 minutes.
Let cool 2 minutes and transfer to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airthight
container up to 1 week.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Spinach Quiche

I wish I had a better picture so you guys looking at this would actually
feel the need to make this scrumptious spinach quiche but all I have is this.
Everyone that tried it gave this recipe a 10. Hope you guys give it
a try , it is absolutely easy, fast and delicious!



Spinach Quiche
recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

3-ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup half and half (or milk)
3 eggs
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 cup grated cheddar (gruyere works well, too)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
4 to 6 green onions, thinly sliced (1/2 cup finely diced red or white onion or shallots work as well)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 425°. Beat cream cheese in medium bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in half and half and eggs. Mix in remaining ingredients. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is set, about 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

I can't seem to keep up with my blog, there is always something that gets in the way
of posting new recipes but now that I threw out my old computer and have
a new one that is 10 times faster, I will try my best to update more often.
I think i will make it my new year's resolution to update my blog at east once
every week.

Now let's get to the good stuff. I had been craving cinnamon rolls for a while and
I finally made some a couple of days ago, they were absolutely delicious!
I tried a new recipe this time, a recipe that i found on one of my favorite blogs
White on Rice Couple. I changed a couple of things, I didn't have any
Vietnamese cinnamon but I am definitely going to try to find some now, also
I only used a little over 1/2 the sugar that it calls for in the filling and I added
some raisins. I recommend you guys try making cinnamon rolls, don't get intimidated
by the number of steps, it's really quite easy (:


Cinnamon Rolls Recipe adapted from White on Rice Couple
*makes 12 rolls

Dough
1 c Milk
4 t Active Dry Yeast, 1 1/2 packets
1/4 c Sugar
1 t Sea Salt
1/2 c unsalted Butter, melted
3 1/4 c all-purpose Flour

Cinnamon Filling
1/2 c unsalted Butter, melted
1 c Brown Sugar
1/4 c granular Sugar
2 1/2 T ground Cinnamon (or 3 T freshly grated Vietnamese cinnamon if you can get it)
1/4 - 1/2 c Raisins

Icing
2 oz Cream Cheese, at room temp.
1 c Confetioner’s Sugar
2 T Milk

1. Make the Dough. Gently warm the milk in the microwave for about 34-45 seconds until luke warm.
Pour milk into a bowl with the yeast, sugar, and sea salt. Stir to combine and dissolve yeast. Stir in the melted butter.

2. Mix in the flour until a soft dough forms. ( If too sticky you can add a little more flour but I found
my dough to be perfect, it might have even been a bit too much flour.)

3. Cover bowl and set in a warm place to rise for about an hour or until doubled in volume.

4. When dough is almost done rising, melt cinnamon filling butter. Combine sugars and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.

lightly butter a 9×11 baking dish

5. Put dough on a lightly floured work surface.  Roll dough out to approx. 1/4″ thick and 18″x14″.

6. Spread Cinnamon Filling’s melted butter evenly across the top surface.  Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mix over dough.  Beginning with the longer side facing you, use both hand to roll the dough into a log. Slice the log into 12 even sections.

7. Place the rolls cut side up in the buttered baking dish.  Cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes in a warm place. While rolls rise preheat oven to 350°F.

8. Bake the rolls for approx. 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes.

9. While cinnamon rolls cool, make icing. Combine the cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, and milk in a bowl and mix until smooth. Pour icing over cinnamon rolls and serve.

Enjoy!


Later on today I will be posting 3 more recipes!
Double chocolate crackles, a Mrs.Fields chocolate chip
cookie and a delicious spinach quiche.