24 "Carrot" Gold Cupcakes

Okay, okay... forgive the cheesy pun but I couldn't resist since I baked these carrot cupcakes in shiny gold foil liners. I discovered a bunch of adorable cupcake liners at Bake It Pretty and I couldn't order just one type so I got a variety of fun designs and colors.

This carrot cake is a simple recipe compared to many carrot cake recipes that have extras like raisins or coconut baked in but don't underestimate the simplicity. To me, it's one of those classic recipes that you don't have to mess with - it's already good. The only add-in for this recipe is carrots. It comes together very easily and you probably have the majority of the ingredients on hand. You can also use your food processor to mix up the batter; grate the carrots in the food processor and you just saved yourself a bunch of dishes to wash.

Add a thick cream cheese frosting to these and they are so delicious.


Carrot Cupcakes
Recipe found on Annie's Eats and adapted from Baking Illustrated

Cake:
6-8 carrots, peeled (about 3 cups grated)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar (packed)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 24 muffin cups with liners. Grate carrots and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt and mix together, coating carrots with flour mixture.

In food processor with blade attachment, process both sugars and eggs about 30 seconds. With machine running, slowly stream in the oil until the mixture lightens in color. Pour batter over carrot - flour mixture and mix together until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Scoop into prepared muffin tins (I like to use a cookie scoop to make sure each cup has approximately the same amount of batter so they cook easily and it also makes it easier to control drips). Fill the cups about 2/3 of the way full. Bake approximately 20 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. The cupcakes are done when you insert a toothpick in the center cake and it comes out clean. Cool for about 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store cooled cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature until ready to frost them.

Frosting:
12 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 - 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Beat together cream cheese and butter on medium high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla and beat until well incorporated. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and beat on low speed until the frosting reaches the desired consistency and sweetness. Beat on medium high speed for about 30 seconds or until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe onto cooled cupcakes with a large star tip or frost as desired.

Apple - Apple Honey Granola

Spring is on its way... my first flowers have started blooming. I love when the crocus start to bloom because they are the first thing that comes up and it seems like they bloom almost overnight. One day there is nothing and then all the sudden there are all these little purple flowers. They are so cute, like baby tulips.

But anyway... you most likely aren't reading my blog to learn about flowers. So here's a delicious granola recipe for you to lighten things up a little from all the desserts I've been posting lately. (Don't worry, I have more cupcakes too...)

The base of this granola is unsweetened applesauce and it uses honey to sweeten things up. I added dried apples, chopped dates, almonds and ground flax seed along with the oats. Making your own granola is extremely easy, just toss everything together and bake and it keeps well in an airtight container.

Apple - Apple Honey Granola

2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup honey
1 cup dried apples, chopped
1/2 cup dried dates, chopped
1/2 cup chopped unsalted almonds
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 T olive oil (Use canola for a milder flavor - I used my citrus infused olive oil)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line a large rimmed baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until wet ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and bake approximately 1 hour, stir/turn after 30 minutes. Let cool completely and then transfer to an airtight container.

Shamrock Sandwich Cookies

Well technically Shamrock Green Velvet Whoopie Pies but that was too long of a title...


These are just red velvet cake cookies made with green food coloring instead of red. Make sure you get a separate bottle of green liquid food coloring as it takes a lot of color to get a vibrant green color. McCormick makes individual 1 ounce food coloring and its available pretty much anywhere, I found it at Walmart. I didn't need the whole bottle, green is easier to achieve than red. Just be careful when you mix these up, it can get a little messy with all the food coloring.

To do the shapes, find the shape you want and trace it onto parchment paper with a Sharpie or pencil. When you draw the shapes out remember that you will want to pipe inside the lines as the cookies will spread a little. Also, you want a shape that isn't too detailed. Because of how the cookies spread, you have to over-exaggerate the detail when piping so it doesn't all just run together. You can use a Ziploc bag and just snip off the corner if you don't have a piping bag.

The filling is a classic cream cheese frosting. When the cookies are cooled, you'll want to match up the shapes as well as possible and then pipe the frosting on, leaving some space around all the edges so when you sandwich the top cookie on, the filling will squeeze to the edges and not over them.

Shamrock Sandwich Cookies
Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats

Cookies:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 T light corn syrup
2 cups all purpose flour
2 T cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1/2 - 1 oz green liquid food coloring

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, with pencil side down.

Beat butter and sugar in mixing bowl on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add egg and beat until well incorporated. Mix in vanilla and corn syrup and beat about 30 seconds more.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a small mixing bowl. Add 1/3 of the mix to the batter and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Add 1/2 of the buttermilk and beat until just incorporated. Repeat with another 1/3 of the flour mix and the rest of the buttermilk and finally the last 1/3 of the flour mix. Scrape sides of the bowl as needed. Finally add food coloring, start with about 1/2 and mix until the color is uniform but do not over beat.

Transfer batter to a piping bag fitting with a large round tip and pipe onto parchment paper. Bake about 8 minutes until the cookies are set. Cool about 5 minutes on the pan and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
5 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter on medium high speed until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in vanilla and beat about another minute. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time beating on low until incorporated. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe onto back of 1/2 the cookies.

Chocolate Cherry Coke Cupcakes

When I saw these Cherry Coke Cupcakes over on Annie's Eats, I just thought they were adorable. I of course, starred them in my Google Reader only to buried by many other posts that I starred. I found them again a couple of months later and this time I even printed out the recipe. But again, the recipe got buried. I still didn't have a good reason to make them. Then I came across the recipe once again when trying to decide what kind of cupcakes to make for my sister's bridal shower and I since I was making lemon cupcakes, I decided something chocolate would be good for the other flavor.

The cupcakes are essentially a chocolate buttermilk cupcake made with coke. The filling is cherry pie filling (you can make a filling from scratch if you want but there are already a few steps to these so I took a shortcut - I also used light filling so it wouldn't be too sweet). The coke glaze really adds some coke flavor to the cupcakes so don't skip this step. According to my sister, it tastes like a "coke float", top the cupcakes with a pretty spiral of whipped cream icing and a maraschino cherry and these little cupcakes are adorable.

Chocolate Cherry Coke Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats
Makes 24 cupcakes

Cake:
3 cups all purpose flour
6 T cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups Coke (don't use diet)
3 tsp vanilla extract
1 can cherry pie filling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with liners or spray with baking spray. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa in a bowl and set aside.

In a mixing bowl or stand mixer, combine sugar and butter and beat on medium-high until light and creamy. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating about 1 minute after each. In a large mixing cup or small bowl, combine buttermilk, Coke and vanilla extract. (Make sure you wait for the foam to go down when measuring the Coke and don't worry if your mixture looks curdled when you add the buttermilk.)

Beginning with the dry ingredient mix, add in 4 parts to the butter mixture, alternating with the Coke mixture. Beat each addition just until incorporated.

Use a cookie scoop or piping bag to transfer the batter to the muffin tins, filling each tin about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the tops spring back when touched lightly and a toothpick inserted in the center cupcake comes out clean. Cool about 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cooled, use a paring knife to cut out a cone shape in the middle of each cupcake. Add a spoonful of cherry mixture (2-3 cherries) to the well.

Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3-4 T Coke

Mix together with a whisk in a small bowl. The mixture should run slowly off a spoon so you can drizzle the cupcakes but it won't run all over the place.

Icing:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
6 T powdered sugar
Maraschino Cherries for garnish

Beat cream in a chilled bowl with whisk attachment or hand mixer on low speed. Begin adding sugar, 1 spoonful at a time, increasing speed as the cream comes together. Whip the cream until it holds stiff peaks, if you dip a spoon in it, the whipped cream should stay on the spoon when you turn it upside down. Pipe the whipped cream onto cupcakes as desired and top with maraschino cherries for garnish.

Cheddar Ranch Cheese Ball

A lot of people think a cheese ball would be gross... I used to be included in that group of people. Then I actually tried one that wasn't purchased from the grocery store display and vacuum-packed. And I discovered that they can be really good.

You can really adapt a cheese ball depending on what flavors you want. Bacon, green onions, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, etc would all be great additions. In this case, I went with the ranch spice packet because my sister is a big fan of ranch dressing and it was her shower. You can also shape a cheese ball into various shapes, like a football for a tailgate party... cheese balls are great appetizers because they are so easy and versatile.


Cheddar Ranch Cheese Ball

8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 packet powder ranch dressing mix
1 tsp cayenne pepper
6 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
1 cup pecans, chopped

In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese, ranch mix and cayenne pepper until light and creamy. Add cheese and scallions and stir until well incorporated. Refrigerate for 30-60 minutes until the mixture is slightly firm.

Spoon mixture onto a large sheet of wax paper, wrap the paper around the mix and form into a ball. Remove from wax paper, add chopped pecans to wax paper and roll cheese ball over them, squeeze remaining nuts into the ball using the wax paper. Keep wrapped and refrigerate for at least 1 hour more before serving.

Spicy Chicken Tortilla Roll-Ups

When looking for an appetizer one of the key requirements is often that it can be prepared in advance. No one wants to be stuck in the kitchen throughout their party and no one wants their guests to be eating cold food that should be hot. This recipe meets both of these criteria. You can assemble these a few hours ahead of time and keep them refrigerated. You could even make the filling the night before. Because it only takes a few minutes to assemble, these come together really easy, so you can make them even if you only have a few minutes of prep time to spare.

And best of all, they are always a big hit. Experiment with the tortilla variations for variety or just use your favorite. For these, I used a mix of spinach, sun-dried tomato and cheddar jalapeno. If you are going to use plain flour tortillas, I would change the cheese to pepper jack just to add a little bit more spice. One note is that you want to make sure your tortillas are at room temperature before you roll them so they are nice and flexible.

Spicy Chicken Tortilla Roll-Ups
Adapted from Sing For Your Supper

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can Ro-tel diced tomatoes, drained
12 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt (I like Lawry's)
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
6 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
6-8 large flour tortillas

Season the chicken breasts with salt, half of the cumin, and 1 tsp of the chili powder. Add chicken to a skillet and add about 1 cup of water. Cover and cook on med-high heat until cooked through. Add more water if necessary. Once the chicken is cooked, cool slightly and shred with 2 forks.

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, drained tomatoes, cheese, remaining spices, garlic, cilantro and scallions. Mix together until well-incorporated. Add cooled chicken and stir together.
Lay out tortillas and divide mixture evenly in the center of each. Spread into a thin layer leaving the edges clean. Roll each tortilla tightly. Do not fold in the ends like you would with a burrito but leave them free. Use a sharp knife to cut into 1" thick slices and transfer to a serving platter. (The end pieces will likely unroll a little so just eat the extras). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Lemon Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

This is a slightly more grown-up version of the popular cream cheese and marshmallow fluff fruit dip. But it still only has four ingredients and is ready in about five minutes. I think it works as an appetizer, a light dessert or goes well with a brunch menu.

Its perfect with all kinds of fruit; my favorites are strawberries, pineapple, and grapes. You can also add some vanilla wafers or other cookies to the platter. And it's perfect for making a vanilla wafer sandwich - kids will love them - just sandwich a strawberry slice and a spoonful of dip between two vanilla wafers.

Lemon Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

8 oz cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 less fat)
8 oz low fat vanilla yogurt
Zest of 1 lemon
2 T lemon juice
1 cup powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese until light and smooth. Add in yogurt, lemon juice and zest (reserving a little for garnish if desired) and beat until smooth. Slowly mix in powdered sugar. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Roasted Garlic White Bean Dip

This dip is a great healthy alternative to dips full of mayo or sour cream. Because it uses beans for the base and roasted garlic to add tons of flavor, it doesn't need all of the fat. A little healthy olive oil is all it takes. This dip is very similar to a hummus but uses great northern beans instead of chick peas and I left out the tahini. It works well with vegetables, crackers, or pita bread.

I used parsley in this recipe since I was making it for the shower and I knew some people weren't a fan of cilantro but you could use cilantro to bump up the flavor even more. I also used curly parsley for this because its what we had but I would recommend using flat-leaf parsley.

Roasted Garlic White Bean Dip
Recipe adapted from Amy at She Wears Many Hats

2 cans Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley or cilantro
1 head garlic
2-3 T olive oil
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper


Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Peel off most of the paper skin of the garlic and slice off the top of the garlic. Place the garlic on a large square of aluminum foil and pour about 1 T of olive oil over the top of the garlic. Wrap loosely with foil, place on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes until the cloves are brown, soft and fragrant. Set aside and let cool for about 30 minutes.

Add rinsed beans to food processor, add herbs, cayenne, salt and pepper and pulse several times. Slowly stream in remaining olive oil with motor running until the dip is uniform and relatively smooth. Transfer to a serving dish and serve with vegetables, crackers, or pita bread.

Bridal Shower Menu

It has been a busy couple of weeks... first a trip to Tennessee, then a quick trip to Arkansas, then a trip to Iowa this past weekend to host a bridal shower for my sister. All the travelling didn't leave a lot of time for new updates. Plus, I had to do a craft project and put together this sign... I'm not really a crafty person so things like this usually work a lot better in my head than they turn out but I was pretty happy with how this sign worked. Don't laugh, crafting is not my strong suit.

For the bridal shower, we did light hors d'ouevres and cupcakes since it was an afternoon affair. Pretty easy to put together, most of this stuff can be made in advance so you can put it together the day before and refrigerate. Then you'll just have to assemble the day of the party.

The menu:

Vegetable Platter with Roasted Garlic White Bean Dip
Fruit Platter with Lemon Cream Cheese Dip
Spicy Chicken Tortilla Roll-Ups
Cheddar Ranch Cheese Ball with Crackers
Cinnamon Roasted Almonds
Triple Lemon Cupcakes
Cherry Coke Cupcakes

I'll be posting the recipes through out this week so check back soon!

Smoky Mountain Chili and Cornbread

We spent this past weekend with a lot of friends in the Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. While I'm definitely a beach person, the mountains were beautiful too.

We rented a huge cabin and had a great time! I volunteered to bring chili and decided some cornbread muffins would be a good accompaniment.

Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the chili when I made it or on Saturday so scenery and muffins will have to do this time. The chili turned out really well and for future reference if you ever have to transport a large amount of chili (I made about 12 quarts) or you just want to make it ahead of time and freeze it; transfer the cooked chili to gallon size freezer bags and freeze it flat. Then just reheat in a crockpot or on the stove. The recipe below is cut in half to make a "normal" amount of chili but this would still serve about 10 people and fill a 6 qt crock pot.

Smoky Mountain Chili

2 lbs ground beef
1/2 lb chorizo
1/2 lb Italian sausage
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz dark beer
1 green pepper, diced
3 jalapenos, finely diced
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup corn kernels (frozen)
1 T ancho chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp ground cumin

Brown meat in a large dutch oven or skillet over medium high heat, crumbling with a wooden spatula. Drain off grease and transfer meat to a bowl. Return pan to heat and add onions and garlic. Cook about 2 minutes and add beer to deglaze the pan, scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the pan and let the majority of the beer cook off. Transfer to a crockpot if desired. Reduce heat to medium-low and add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and beans and stir to combine. Add corn, peppers and spices and cook for at least 60 minutes covered on the stove, stirring occasionally or 3-4 hours on low in the crockpot. Stir in tomato paste as necessary to thicken to desired consistency.

Top with shredded sharp cheddar cheese, sour cream, Fritos, etc. as desired.


Cheesy Jalapeno Cornbread Muffins
Recipe slightly adapted from Elly Says Opa originally from Cooks Illustrated
Makes 18 muffins

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal (I used Martha White)
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese (Monterrey jack, colby, and cheddar)
1-2 jalapeno peppers, finely diced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray muffin tins with baking spray. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl and whisk together. Make a well in the center.

In a food processor, combine, corn, sugar and buttermilk and pulse several times. Add eggs and blend until well mixed, the batter will be lumpy from the corn. Pour wet ingredients into well in dry ingredients and begin to gently combine. Add melted butter and continue mixing just until dry ingredients are all mixed in. Stir in cheese and jalapenos.

Spoon into muffin tins, filling each about 2/3 of the way full and bake about 20-25 minutes until the tops spring back when touched. Cool in pans for about 5 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Serve warm with chili and butter or store in an airtight container.

Spicy Cajun Chicken Pasta

When I first saw this recipe from the Pioneer Woman, it reminded me of a dish I once had at TGIFridays in Paris of all places. I know, I know... I was in Paris and I ate dinner at a TGIFridays. In my own defense, I was a sophomore in college on a study abroad program and I had been in Spain for about a month and just wanted some "American" food. I now know better. Don't worry, I've become much more of a food snob since then.

It was also next door to our hotel, convenience was definitely a factor. Anyway, they had a spicy chicken fettuccine on their menu which I haven't ever seen on the menu again but it was really good, except it included fried chicken. I've made a couple other versions of this in the past this one was a little different. Of course, I can't really follow a recipe, so I made a few adjustments, but this was really good. A note on the dried herbs, if you have fresh, use them and adjust accordingly. I didn't want to go to the store and its winter here and my garden is under a few inches of snow so fresh wasn't available.



Spicy Cajun Chicken Pasta
Recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman Cooks

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (approximately 1.5 lbs)
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 tsp Lawry's seasoning salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ancho chili powder
1/2 tsp dried mustard
2 red bell peppers, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
2 1/4 cups chicken broth (I try to only use low-sodium to control the sodium content)
1/2 cup white wine
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 lb fettuccine or spaghetti (I used a mix of both and they were whole wheat - don't forget to adjust cooking times if you use a mix of pastas, the fettuccine takes an extra minute or 2 so add it earlier)

Heat a large stockpot with water for the pasta. When boiling, add salt and drop pasta. Cook to al dente, drain and set aside.

Mix together seasoning salt, cumin, chili powder, and mustard in a small bowl. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add half the oil and butter. Cut the chicken into bite-size chunks and season with about half of the spice mixture. Add chicken to the pan, do it in two batches if necessary rather than over-crowding the pan, and cook about 2 minutes and flip. Don't try to move the chicken too early, if it doesn't move easily, its not ready yet. Cook an additional 1-2 minutes on the second side and remove to a plate. Cover with foil.

Add remaining oil and butter to the pan, season peppers and onions with remaining spice mixture and add to pan with minced garlic. Cook about 3 minutes, add tomatoes and cook an additional 1-2 minutes until peppers are slightly softened and onions are translucent. Remove to a plate.

With pan still on high heat, add wine and chicken stock and cook, scraping the bottom of the pan for 3-5 minutes until reduced. Reduce heat to low and slowly stir in heavy cream, whisking constantly, until the mixture begins to thicken. Add cayenne pepper and black pepper, tasting to check spice and adjust accordingly to suit your preferences. Return chicken and vegetables to pan and add thyme and parsley. Simmer for a couple minutes until everything is hot and then add cooked pasta. Toss to coat pasta and serve. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Meyer Lemon Bars

A new Fresh Market opened up a few miles from my house and we stopped by for the first time this past weekend. I was like a kid in a candy store with the great selection of products. Tons of fresh fruits and vegetables to choose from, lots of organic products, spices I can't ever find at my regular grocery store. Anyway, don't think you need a specialty store to make this recipe. I did however pick up some great Meyer lemons which you will need. Meyer lemons are sweeter than regular lemons and more orange in color.


When I bought the lemons, I knew I wanted to make a dessert with them but didn't know which one. As I was flipping through my Food Network magazine, I found a recipe for Classic Lemon Bars that I figured would be perfect.

Meyer Lemon Bars
Adapted from Food Network Magazine, March 2010 Issue

Crust:
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and diced
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Filling:
4 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour, sifted
Zest of 1 Meyer lemon
1 cup Meyer lemon juice (about 5 lemons)
Powdered sugar to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray and line with foil, leaving an overhang on each side of 2-3 inches. Spray foil lightly with nonstick spray.

In a food processor, add sugar and pulse 4-5 times. Add brown sugar, flour, salt and butter and pulse until the dough begins to come together. It will be crumbly and dry. Spread into prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake approximately 25 minutes until golden brown. Reduce heat to 300 degrees.

While the crust cooks, beat eggs and yolks in a mixing bowl. Whisk in sugar and flour until smooth. Add lemon zest and slowly whisk in lemon juice. When crust is baked, remove from oven and pour filling over hot crust and return to oven. Bake until filling is just set, about 30 minutes.

Cool in the pan approximately 30 minutes and then refrigerate in pan at least 2 hours. Use foil to remove bars from the pan and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut into 24 bars. Keep extras refrigerated.

Pumpkin Cranberry Granola

A healthy snack that tastes great on its own or mixed with yogurt. Make sure you use pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling. This is also a recipe where it works best to use quality maple syrup. Pancake syrup will work but it won't give it a true maple flavor, it just adds sweetness. Spring for the good stuff if you can. If you prefer raisins to cranberries, increase one and decrease the other. Same for the nuts, use pecans instead of walnuts or leave them out altogether. The great thing about this recipe is how easy it is to substitute what you like to tailor the recipe to your specifications.

Pumpkin Cranberry Granola
Recipe adapted from Ashlee at A Year in the Kitchen

2 1/2 cups old fashion rolled oats
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup golden raisins
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 T olive or canola oil (I used citrus infused olive oil, use canola oil if you want less flavor)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well until the wet ingredients are evenly incorporated. Spread out mix onto a baking sheet, try to get it into an even layer but don't worry too much about clumps at this point. Bake about 30 minutes, stir and spread mixture in an even layer again. Continue baking about 30 minutes more. Let cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Strawberry Cupcakes

A delicious, light and fruity cupcake from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. I cut the recipe in half and it made 16 cupcakes. The cupcakes were moist and full of strawberry chunks. I did use the suggested strawberry meringue buttercream recipe but it left a lot to be desired and I don't recommend it. I ended up with more of a glaze than buttercream and while the flavor was good, it was not at all what I was hoping for, I attempted to fix the recipe by adding more powdered sugar but it never really came together so I didn't include the recipe below.

I also used frozen strawberries instead of fresh strawberries, since its winter. I simply thawed them in the microwave for about 2 minutes until they were slightly softened, drained off the excess moisture and roughly chopped them. The recipe below is as I made it.


Strawberry Cupcakes
Recipe adapted slightly from Martha Stewart Cupcakes

1 3/8 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cake flour
1/2 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/8 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup strawberries, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with paper liners or spray with baking spray. Combine flours, baking powder, and salt and sift together.

In mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing for about 1 minute after each incorporation, scraping sides of bowl as necessary. Add flour mixture and milk, alternating with flour first and last. Beat until well combined on low speed. Fold in strawberry mixture with a rubber spatula.

Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 of the way full and bake until set about 25-30 minutes. Bake on center rack and rotate pans halfway through baking time. Tops should spring back when lightly pressed. Cool in pan about 10 minutes and then cool completely on wire racks. Finish with icing of choice.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

I am addicted to Mexican food. Seriously... not joking. I love it. Good chips and salsa are my favorite snack. I'm picky about my Mexican food too. None of that ketchup-y flavored salsa and such. Around here, good Mexican food is pretty hard to come by so I often make it myself. I usually feel like my salsa is better and its no where near as greasy.

I learned to make enchiladas a long time ago in my high school Home Economics class of all places. Back then we made them with ground beef and cheese and little else, dipped the tortillas in enchilada sauce and smothered them with cheese. Sure they were good but I've played with this recipe many, many times and there have been some definite improvements. This current version is delicious. This dish has the required "red sauce" you'll usually find in restaurant versions of enchiladas but I mixed it with sour cream and green chilis and lime juice to make it creamier and add more flavor. The filling is juicy, shredded chicken breast that I made in my crockpot with some black beans and corn thrown in as I put it all together. Don't be put off by the number of steps - you can make the chicken in the crockpot while you're at work or the day before and the rest comes together very quickly.

Traditionally enchiladas are made with corn tortillas, but I'm not a fan so I use flour tortillas, use whichever you prefer. I generally use 6" whole wheat flour tortillas.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

For the chicken:
2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
Juice of 1 lime
Approx. 1 cup water

Add chicken to crockpot insert, add tomatoes, seasoning, and lime juice and add water. Make sure there is at least 1" of water in the crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. When the chicken is cooked through, drain off the water, reserving the tomatoes, shred chicken with 2 forks, mix with tomatoes and set aside.

For the enchiladas:
Cooked, shredded chicken from above
1 cup black beans
1 cup corn
1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, quartered and sliced into thin slices
1 T olive oil
1 cup colby jack cheese, coarsely grated
8-12 tortilla shells, depending on size
1/4 cup red enchilada sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish lightly with cooking spray. Spread enchilada sauce in the bottom of the pan.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook about 5 minutes until softened and translucent, add beans, corn, and jalapeno and stir to combine. Add chicken and cook until hot. Add 1/2 of the cheese and stir until melted and remove from heat.

Warm tortillas wrapped in a paper towel for about 20 seconds in the microwave so they are flexible. Add a couple spoonfuls of filling in a line down the center of each tortilla. Fold over one end and roll up tightly. Lay seam-side down in prepared baking dish. Place enchiladas tightly together, continue until pan is full.

For the sauce:
1/2 cup red enchilada sauce (I use Old El Paso but substitute homemade if you want)
1 can green chilis
1/2 cup sour cream
Juice of 1 lime

In a food processor, combine all ingredients and puree until smooth. Pour sauce over enchiladas.

Top with remaining grated cheese and bake about 30 minutes until bubbly. Top with salsa, more sour cream or guacamole as desired.