Carrot Oatmeal Muffins

Not only do I get my recipe ideas from recipe websites and food blogs but also from the culinary mysteries I read. This recipe was from the last installment of Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke. Good stuff (story and recipes, that is)!

Carrot Oatmeal Muffins
adapted from Devil's Food Cake Murder Novel

1 and 1/2 cups flour
1 cup oatmeal (I used rolled oats but she used quick oats....I enjoyed the heartiness of the rolled oats)
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup FINELY shredded carrots (pack them down when you measure)
1/2 cup raisins (soaked in warm water at the start of the recipe)
1/2 cup milk (fat free was fine)
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts/pecans, toasted and chopped (optional)

Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or 24 mini muffin pan. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and oatmeal. Sprinkle the baking powder, soda and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly.

Stir in brown sugar, Mix until everything is blended.

Shred carrots on the small holes on the grater. Fine shred is best. You want them to cook in the same time it takes the muffins to bake and turn golden brown. Add the carrots and raisins to your bowl. Mix.

In a separate bowl, combine the milk, beaten egg, melted butter and vanilla. Give a stir until all combined.

Add the wet to the dry and gently stir until the dry are moistened and no dry pockets remain. Fill muffin cups with ice cream scooper. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes for regular muffin tin. Bake 15-20 for the mini. OR until toothpick comes out clean.

Set the muffin pan on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes. This cooling process is essential because if you try to take the muffins out of the muffin cups now they may break in pieces- YES, they are that moist!

Makes 12 truly EXCELLENT muffins or 24 AWESOME mini muffins.

Mad for Moist Muffins,

BAKED Salami and Mozzarella Egg Rolls

Did you know that you don't have to FRY an egg roll? I saw these beauties on Kaitlin in the Kitchen blog and she saw it on Guy's Big Bite. Fun twist on egg rolls, great appetizer....until I remember...you don't have to deep fat fry egg rolls I discovered last year. Very crunchy and doesn't get SOGGY! Here's how it works....

Baked Salami and Mozzarella Egg Rolls

2 Eggs
12 oz. jalapeno mozzarella cheese sticks (12 in a bag)
24 Slices Thin Salami
24 Egg Roll Wrappers
oil for coating

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl beat your eggs until combined. Unwrap your string cheese and cut each one in half. Lay a egg roll wrapper down on a flat surface and brush each side with the egg wash using a pastry brush. Place a piece of salami in the middle of the wrapper, and then 1 piece of the string cheese at the bottom of the piece of salami. Roll the wrapper up from the bottom until piece of cheese is covered, then stop and fold in each side, then continue rolling it and make sure it's sealed well. Repeat until you are done or run out of an ingredient (I had leftover salami but no extra cheese or wrappers- I think I may have eaten one stick?). Place each egg rolls on a baking sheet brush with vegetable oil. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

Cook's Notes:
1. Don't overbake, they will start to bust open and ooze cheese. But I didn't mind the oozy cheese for those crusty puddles are an appetizer in itself!
2. These will be so crunchy that refrigerating the leftovers will NOT make them soggy, great for reheating the next day!
3. Suggested dipping sauce- marinara!
4. Did NOT miss the greasiness or calories!
5. Gonna try another version with ham or roast beef.....

Enjoy!

Irish Limey Bars

Well, they aren't Irish but they are green from the lime....just in time for St. Patty's Day!

So you know you classic lemon bar recipe? Ever change it up and use lime instead? If you bring a GREEN dessert to work, no one will pinch you for not wearing green...but HUG you because they are soooooooooooo delicious.

Limey Bars

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup lime juice
zest from 3 limes


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Mix 2 cups of flour and confectioner's sugar together. Cut in the butter or margarine. Mix well until the dough resembles pie dough consistency. Press the dough into a 9x13 inch baking pan.
3. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
4. Beat together eggs, sugar, 4 tablespoons flour, lime juice and lime rind for at least 1 minute. Pour the mixture over the baked crust.
5. Bake the bars another 20 minutes, or until the lime topping has set. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar when cooled.

Cook's Notes:
1. Awesome, nicely tart. Thick buttery, shortbread-like crunchy crust. Perfect.
2. Next to the title of the recipe, you can SEE the lime bits....it's wonderful. BUT, you may NOT get 1/2 lime juice from those 3 limes. You may have to supplement with the bottled lime juice. You know how limes are, big on flavor, little on juice. I rolled them, microwaved them for 30 sec. and still got only 1/4 cup of lime juice with all THREE, cheap bastids!
3. Go ahead use those limes you are saving for your cocktails....you got everything else in your fridge/pantry!

Happy St Patty's Day!

Copycatting the DO-si-Do Girl Scout Cookie

It's that time of year when the Girl Scouts are delivering their cookies...unless you have a forgetful Girl Scout dad who is supposed to be delivering the goods to your place of work and he misplaces the order form and there is a DELAY in your cookie order. Torture. I remembered some copycat Girl Scout recipes on Baking Bites and thought I'd give her Do-SI-Do's a try.

Homemade Girl Scout Cookie: Do-si-Do
from Baking Bites

Cookies:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp baking soda
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats (not instant or regular)

Filling:
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 350F.
Start with the cookies. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and peanut butter. Beat in the sugars until fluffy, then add in the eggs one at a time, waiting until each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Stir in vanilla extract.
Working at a low speed, mix in the flour, followed by the oats (if you don’t have quick-cooking, pulse whole rolled oats in the food processor to chop them up a bit).
On a parchment-lined baking sheet, drop teaspoonfuls of batter (roughly 3/4-in. sized balls), leaving about 2 inches between each to allow for spread.
Bake for about 10 minutes, until cookies are a light golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, making small holes in 1/2 of the cookies (for the tops of the sandwiches) before they set up. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cookies have cooled, make the filling.
In a large bowl, cream together smooth peanut butter, butter and confectioners’ sugar until very smooth. Spread 2-3 tsp onto half of the finished cookies and sandwich with the remaining halves. If you chose to make yours with GS-lookalike holes in some of the cookies, use these as the tops of the sandwiches.
Store in an airtight container.

Makes about 48 sandwich cookies.

Note: Use unsalted butter with this recipe, as different brands of peanut butter can vary hugely in salt content and it’s possible you’ll end up with a too-salty cookie with the salted butter, salted peanut butter and added salt. If you must use salted butter and are using brand of peanut butter that seems a bit salty, you can always reduce or eliminate the added salt. Personally, I like the salty sweet combination with peanut butter, but it’s only fair for me to give a little warning just in case!

Cook's Notes:
1. These were really good to me for I liked how the cookie wasn't overly sweet. With a sweet peanut butter filling a sweet cookie would have been too much.
2. If you bake the dough right away....it will spread so use a small disher to get a smaller thinner cookie. If you chill your dough, they will be thick as seen here. Do what works best for you.
3. Alot of work baking the cookies, making the filling, schmearing the filling, sandwiching the cookies....not a quick bake and eat cookie....but it's taste was worth the work.....once a year. lol

Got Milk?

Jalapeño, Sausage and Egg Braid

Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch or Snack? Anytime...it's awesome!

Jalapeño, Sausage, Jack, and Egg Breakfast Braid
adapted from Myrecipes.com

1 (13.8-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough (I used Pillsbury thick canned pizza crust)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 lb sausage (I used hot sausage), browned and drained
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Pepper Jack cheese
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped seeded jalapeño peppers
1 large egg white, lightly beaten (I forgot to do this and no one died)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Unroll dough onto a silpat or parchment paper; pat into a 15 x 10–inch rectangle.

3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sausage; cook 9 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in eggs; cook 1 1/2 minutes or until set. Remove from heat.

4. Sprinkle Pepper Jack lengthwise down center of dough, leaving about a 2 1/2-inch border on each side. Spoon egg mixture evenly over cheese. Sprinkle cheddar over egg mixture; top with jalapeño peppers.

5. Make 2-inch-long diagonal cuts about 1 inch apart on both sides of dough to within 1/2 inch of filling using a sharp knife or kitchen shears. Arrange strips over filling, alternating strips diagonally over filling. Press ends under to seal. Brush with egg white. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut crosswise into slices.

Braided like my apple strudel just a savory filling with a pizza crust instead of puff pastry. WINNING! K-man's eyes just popped when he saw this for breakfast. You can make all the filling the day before and just assemble it that morning. Yummy stuff. Cuts nicely for snacks later if you like. I'd love to try a bacon version sometime as well!

Enjoy!

White Chicken Pizza with Caramelized Onions

Surprise!

Another Tweak with the garlic breadsticks dough recipe from a few days ago....

White Chicken Pizza with Caramelized Onions
adapted from Recipe Shoebox

2 Tbsp. butter
3 cups thinly sliced sweet onions
1 tsp. thyme
2 oz. garlic herb cream cheese (I used Boursin light)
1 pre-baked pizza crust (breadstick recipe just NOT cut before baking)
1/3 cup prepared Alfredo sauce
1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken
1 lb. grated FRESH mozzarella cheese

Directions: Prebake Crust from link above (press into jellyroll pan and bake for only 10 minutes)

Melt butter in a skillet and cook onions for 20-25 minutes, until deep golden brown and caramelized; stir in thyme leaves.

Stir cream cheese and Alfredo sauce together.

Spread over pizza crust.

Top with chicken, then onions, then cheese.

Bake at 450° for 10 minutes or until heated through. Enjoy!

Creamy, dreamy...HEAVENLY. I just love white pizzas. The original recipe used sugar with the onions...but it made it too sweet for my taste. Didn't need it.

I am not sure if a premade thin crust could handle this....the thick dough of the breadstick recipe held up with the moist Alfredo goodness. Not only is this easy recipe awesome for breadsticks as in this original recipe....it also holds up well for pizza too. Gonna have to play with this recipe for my classes since it's so quick!

Pizza-licious!

Easy Cinna Sticks!

TA- DAH!

I told ya I'd tweak those Garlic Breadsticks....stop getting them from Domino's....knowing your own ingredients is DEFINITELY better! Using the same recipe from the garlic ones...here's the tweaked way.

Easy Cinna-Sticks

1 1/2 C warm water
2 T sugar
1 T yeast
1/2 t salt
3 1/2- 4 C flour (amount will definitely depend on your weather)
1/4 C butter (and butter ONLY)
1/2 C cinnamon and sugar mix

1 cup powdered sugar
milk
vanilla
Tbsp of melted butter

1. Mix the water, sugar and yeast together in a measuring cup or in the bottom of your mixer. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

2. Add the salt and the flour, one cup at a time, until it is well incorporated. Mix on high for 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

3. Melt the butter and pour half of it into a jelly roll pan (large cookie sheet).

4. Place the dough in the center of the pan. Let it sit for 2 or 3 minutes. Letting the dough rest makes it MUCH easier to shape.

5. Spread the dough out flat onto the pan until it reaches all of the edges. Doing all of the spreading and cutting of these bread sticks, in the pan makes cleaning up your counter so much easier!

6. Pour the other half of the butter onto the dough. Spread it around with your hands. Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mix all over the dough.

7. With a pizza cutter cut the dough into three rows lengthwise, and then into about 12 little height wise rows.

8. Put the pan into a 170 degree oven for about 7-10 minutes. The breadsticks should rise about 1-inch.
9. Turn you oven up to 350 and bake for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

10. When they come out of the oven let them sit and rest again for about 5 minutes. Then redefine your cutting lines with the pizza cutter. You may find using a pair of kitchen shears is easier to cut the edges where the cutter can't reach!

11. In a ziploc bag (pushed in a glass with edges draped over rim to make it 'hands-free') place the powdered sugar in the bag and add milk by TEASPOONS until still thick. Add a few drops of vanilla. Pull bag out of glass, seal and mix with hands. Open and add Tbsp of melted butter. If icing looks to thick to squeeze out add just DROPS of milk at a time.

12. Snip corner of bag and squiggle on warm (not hot or icing will melt off) sticks. Let drip off a cooling rack. ENJOY, immediately!

Did my TWEAK satisfy? Oh yeah....they will~ PROMISE!

In Cinna-Heaven,

Easy Garlic BreadSticks

Oh yum!

One of my favorite Bloggers Rachelle from Mommy I'm Hungry (she got it from Jamie Cooks it up!) posted about this and it caught my eye....I'm all about easy and in true Jenny Mac fashion- had to tweak it. First let me share the original recipe:

Easy Garlic Breadsticks

1 1/2 C warm water
2 T sugar
1 T yeast
1/2 t salt
3 1/2- 4 C flour (amount will definitely depend on your weather)
1/4 C butter (and butter ONLY)
3/4 C grated Parmesan
Garlic Seasoning/Italian Seasoning

1. Mix the water, sugar and yeast together in a measuring cup or in the bottom of your mixer. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

2. Add the salt and the flour, one cup at a time, until it is well incorporated. Mix on high for 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

3. Melt the butter and pour half of it into a jelly roll pan (large cookie sheet).

4. Place the dough in the center of the pan. Let it sit for 2 or 3 minutes. Letting the dough rest makes it MUCH easier to shape.

5. Spread the dough out flat onto the pan until it reaches all of the edges. Doing all of the spreading and cutting of these bread sticks, in the pan makes cleaning up your counter so much easier!

6. Pour the other half of the butter onto the dough. Spread it around with your hands. Sprinkle the seasoning of your choice all over the dough, and then the Parmesan cheese.

7. With a pizza cutter cut the dough into three rows lengthwise, and then into about 12 little height wise rows.

8. Put the pan into a 170 degree oven for about 7-10 minutes. The breadsticks should rise about 1 inch.
9. Turn you oven up to 350 and bake for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

10. When they come out of the oven let them sit and rest again for about 5 minutes. Then redefine your cutting lines with the pizza cutter. You may find using a pair of kitchen shears is easier to cut the edges where the cutter can't reach!

Break out the lasagna, spaghetti, marinara sauce or tomato soup. This stuff rawks! These definitely taste best the first day. If you eat them past the first day a little warming in the oven is better. If you are "cooking process challenged" then go directly to Jamie for pictorial directions.

OKAY, this was the unaltered recipe....I did it like a good foodie.....BUT tune in next time for my TWEAK...here's a peek. Not tellin' ya what it is yet....you gotta come check it out. Just as easy and the kids will FALL OUT!

Munch Out!