teacher by day - chef by night
Installment #2 of GREEN recipes. I always read about detox smoothies and all sorts of other healthy-type-things, but am often too scared (or not enough dedication to “detox”) to try them. So when I found this Green Spinach Smoothie that included sweet flavors AND chocolate …
My custodian (yes – the same one who brought me a box of venison meat) is on a low/no sugar diet so I can never bake goodies for him without feeling guilty that I am giving him stuff thats bad for him. His birthday was …
Rich LOVES Cookie Dough (reminder here) so when I saw this recipe I knew that I needed to make it for his family’s Christmas Celebration! The best part about these truffles is that they are egg-free so you CAN eat your raw cookie dough (although I do not think they would bake well, but if anyone tries: let me know).
Although time consuming – this recipe was super easy (I need to work on the whole truffle thing, I think using higher quality chocolate might make it easier – not sure, but I got TONS of chocolate from Rich & his family for the holidays, so I can experiment and try to not gain weight in the coming months!) It went over really well and made plenty to go around.
RECIPE (as adapted from What Megan is Making)
Cream butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture is firm enough to form balls. Shape the chilled cookie dough mixture into approx. 1 inch balls (use a mellon baller!). Place on a wax paper-lined baking sheet and freeze for at least an hour.
When ready to dip the truffles, melt the chopped chocolate in a double boiler (or in the microwave at 50% power, stirring frequently). Using a toothpick, dip each chilled truffle, one at a time, coating in chocolate and letting the excess drip off. Now my chocolate never gets smooth enough to “drip” – so I can use some help with that OR I also add about a tablespoon of Crisco to the mix! Place truffles on waxpaper lined cookie sheet again and top if you choose quickly before the chocolate sets.
Store in the refrigerator and serve cold. These can also be frozen for longer storage. Makes about 5 dozen.
HAPPY NEW YEAR & HAPPY NEW COOKING!
YUM – I love Chocolate (although I hate headaches – one of which I had a pretty major one while everyone else was enjoying these at Aunt Pat & Uncle Mikes during our annual tree decorating this year)! Every year we bring dessert to Tree …
Rich LOVES cookie dough… I found this out when we first started dating & it just so happens my mom brought me up to be an expert at reading the back of the Nestle’s chocolate chip bags in order to create the best chocolate chip …
Last week we had my “2nd annual pumpkin carving party“. I knew I wanted to make some sort of fun dessert (and was going to try “cake pops” but then realized I needed a creative way to serve/display them). Finally I realized that I have wanted to try “Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes) for a while! After finding numerous different recipes online, I used this one from All Recipes as a basic kinda-sort-ish guide!
A few places I read that you should make these cupcakes like normal cupcakes but before putting them in the oven that you put the cone upside down on top of it. I wanted filled cones (the cones were never my favorite part of ice cream – so I didn’t want them to just be a handle). There were many places that I found where they filled the cones – but warned about overfilling. For the record – filling them to the part of the cone where it gets really wide at the top is probably a bit too much! There will also be enough from one cake mix box to make 24 cones (I made the rest in a mini-loaf pan & we snacked on it!!)
Once I filled up the cones I put them in the oven for the “cupcake” time on the box – that ended up being way too little. I think (when I kept adding a minute or 2 – I lost track of time) I ended up cooking them for about 8 minutes more than the cupcake time – just keep experimenting! As you can see – I ended up with some nice overflow (but if you notice – the method of covering your mini cupcake pan with foil & cutting an “X” in the openings really does work and make for easy clean-up and non-tipping cones!) but that overflow was the perfect time to taste-test!
The next day I opened the jar of frosting (sorry – I was doing everything else from scratch, just didn’t feel like making icing either!) & tried to use the cake decorating plunger thing Rich got me for my birthday. Some turned out more ok than others, but after talking to the baking expert from my school (she wins contests like crazy – it is always a GREAT day at school when Deb brings in a treat) – I was told that I should try to use a pastry bag, she finds it easier than the plunger thing. I will let you know how that goes in the next week or so as I am going to be a good friend to my band teacher & make her the cupcakes she requested (yes, I know you are probably reading this Jolene & yes, I will bring in cupcakes for your birthday on Friday!).
Once I put on some orange sprinkles (which I could not find ANYWHERE in the Mr. Z’s, but luckily the nice woman at the bakery gave me some), candy corn, & spiders we were beautifully in business. Overall – I was quite happy. These would be a hit at any kids party (no – make that any party) because they are easy to eat – a good serving size and just so darn cute when served (I was lazy by dessert and just served it up in those muffin pans!!)