Saturday, July 2, 2011

Snickerdoodle Muffins

From Tasty Kitchen (this is a great site for step-by-step instructions)

Ingredients:
1 cup Butter, Softened
1 cup Sugar
2 whole Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2-¼ cups Flour
¾ teaspoons Baking Powder
¾ teaspoons Baking Soda
¾ teaspoons Cream Of Tartar
½ teaspoons Salt
1 cup Sour Cream
¼ cups Buttermilk (or about 1/4 milk with 1/4 t lemon juice, let sit for 5 minutes)
_____
FOR THE TOPPING:
1/2 cup Sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons Cinnamon


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Prepare a muffin tin with liners.

In a mixer, combine the butter and sugar and cream until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and combine.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add the sour cream and buttermilk and mix to combine. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until you have a smooth batter.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon for the topping.

Use scooper and plop a scoop of batter into the bowl with the sugar and cinnamon. Gently roll the batter in the sugar and cinnamon. Place the ball into the muffin liner.

When you have completed all of the muffins, sprinkle the leftover cinnamon sugar onto the tops of all of the muffins.

Bake the muffins at 350ºF for about 15-18 minutes or until they are golden on top and just baked through.

*The original recipe states that this makes 12 muffins, but the batter overwhelmed my muffin tins!  I should have made them into 16 muffins.  Very filling and very tasty.  Also, I decreased the amount of sugar and cinnamon for the topping.

Caprese Paninis and Garlic-Basil Mayo

*I've made these a half a dozen times since I discovered this recipe.  So good I almost convinced myself that I need a panini maker--and then I remembered I owned a George Forman!  It works great.  Love it--any way you make it.


Ingredients:
Panini bread or any delicious sliced bread
Fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
Fresh basil
Tomatoes, sliced
Olive Oil and/or Balsamic Vinegar and/or Garlic Basil Mayo (recipe below)
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
Place your sliced mozzarella cheese, basil and tomatoes on a slice of bread. Sprinkle some salt and pepper, then drizzle with a bit of olive oil and/or balsamic vinegar, or spread the bread with Garlic Basil Mayo before putting ingredients on the bread. Top sandwich with second slice of bread and cook in a panini maker or on the stove in a skillet with another skillet on top over medium heat. When side 1 is lightly browned, flip and cook until side 2 is browned and the cheese is melted.



Garlic Basil Mayonnaise
From Jane Maynard, This Week for Dinner
- Mayonnaise
- Salt and Pepper
- Fresh garlic clove
- Fresh chopped basil, a few leaves worth
For three good-sized paninis, I simply scooped out about three spoonfuls of mayonnaise into a bowl. I threw in some basil, two shakes of salt, two shakes of pepper, and 1/2 of a garlic clove pushed through a garlic press. Mix together and spread on bread for Caprese Paninis.



Kneaders French Toast

*On one of those rare mornings when the TV was on, but it wasn't a kids show, I saw this recipe featured on "Good Things Utah" and knew it would be a hit.  Very decadent, plus I love being able to make this ahead of time and then just put it in the oven before dinner (yes, we love breakfast for dinner at our house).  I will say that I couldn't really fit 8 slices of the bread into a 9x13" pan--so if you have a larger deep pan, use that, otherwise, just eat the extras!

Ingredients:
1 loaf Kneaders Chunky Cinnamon bread, sliced in 8 pieces
8 eggs
1 T brown sugar
1 T vanilla
3 c milk
3/4 t salt
2 T butter

Directions:
Butter a glass baking dish generously (9x13" or larger).  Place the bread in the baking dish.  Set the butter aside.  Mix all remaining ingredients and pour over the bread.  Cut butter into small pieces and dot over the top.  Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours.  Uncover, bake 45 -50 minutes at 350 degrees.  Serves 6 to 8.

Tomato and Feta Pasta with Shrimp

Adapted from Allrecipes
Ingredients:
1 pound linguine pasta
2 T olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 chopped roma tomatoes
2 T chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup crumbled sun-dried tomato and basil feta cheese

Directions:
1.  Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2.  While pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add the shrimp, and cook until opaque, about 3 to 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and heat through.  Season with basil, salt and pepper.
3.  Toss the cooked pasta in the sauce, and sprinkle with crumbled feta to serve.

*I made this one night when my husband had to work late (he's not a huge tomato or feta cheese fan).  The kids and I loved it!  So simple to make and can be whipped up in minutes.  To my surprise, my husband polished off all the was leftover and he really liked it, too (so sorry I didn't get them for lunch the next day, but I'm glad he's coming around to these wonderful flavors).

Kart-wheels

*This is a recipe for kids.  Basically a biscuit with jam cooked in the center, but we had fun making them!  This cute little girl got the Alpha-Bakery Children's Cookbook for her birthday and choose the letter "K" to try out a new recipe.

Makes 6 Kart-Wheels

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c margarine or butter, softened
1/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 t baking powder
2 T milk
about 1 c pie filling or jam (any flavor)

Directions:
1.  Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2.  Mix flour, margarine, powdered sugar, baking powder and just enough milk until dough forms.  (If dough seems dry, mix in more milk, 1 t at a time.)
3.  Divide the dough into 6 equal parts.  Shape each part into a ball.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, flatten slightly.  Make an indentation, 1 3/4 inches in diameter and about 3/4 inch deep, in center of each flattened ball.
4.  Fill each indentation with about 2 T of pie filling.
5.  Bake until the edges begin to brown, 20 to 25 minutes.













Aren't these the cutest cooks?

California Kabobs

Adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients:
1/3 c lemon juice
2 T vegetable oil
2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t paprika
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 t sugar
1/2 t salt
1/8 t red pepper flakes (or hot pepper sauce)
3/4 lb beef sirloin steak, cut into 1 inch cubes
veggies your like cut into chunks, ie. onion, green pepper tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, pineapple, mushrooms

Directions:
1.  In a bowl, combine the first eight ingredients; mix well.  Pour 1/4 c marinade into a large resealable bag; cover and refrigerate remaining marinade.  Add beef to the bag.  Seal and turn to coat; refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.
2.  Drain and discard marinade.  On metal or soaked wooden skewers, alternately thread beef and vegetables.  Grill, uncovered, over medium heat or broil 4 in from heat for 6 to 8 minutes on each side or until beef reaches desired doneness, basting frequently with reserved marinade and turning once.

*These were so good!  Served with rice and fruit on the side and it made a great meal.  With a lot of veggies, the skewers fill up fast--pictured is only 1/2 of our kabobs.  We'll be making these again.