Magnolia Vanilla Cupcakes

I have never been to Magnolia Bakery in New York. I have heard of it. I don't know how they taste, or if this recipe is the same. The cupcakes were really good. I'm not sure I'd want to keep using two different flours in the future. I made them for my sister who lived in new york for awhile.

Here's the website: http://www.magnoliacupcakes.com/

This recipe supposedly came from their cookbook... I found it online.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350
• Sift two flours together
• cream butter until smooth, add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy. About 3 minutes.
• Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each
• Add some of the dry ingredients, and then milk, and then some more dry, and then the vanilla, and then the rest of the dry ingredients.
• Mix until combined remembering to scrape down the sides, but do not overmix.
• Scoop into a cupcake pan with liners. Fill them 3/4 full
• Bake 20-25 minutes

I did not make the frosting, as I haven't ventured to try it yet. Maybe one day. :) I just used a plain vanilla frosting in a can.

Chicken Sausage Pasta Bake

I wanted to make something easy for my inlaws. My husband and I make baked ziti all the time, so when I saw this recipe, It sounded easy, but different twist on what we normally do. It changes it up without being risky.

When I pitched the chicken sausage bake to my husband.. He didn't seem too enthused. He said - do you really think its safe to experiment on my family? Why not try it another night with just me?

So I said we'll its basically the same thing we always do, but it uses chicken sausage instead, so it shouldn't be too horrible. If anything it will be edible. Just not as good as the other.

Anyways, so he agreed... but he said we should nix the spinach and onions that was in the recipe, just in case since his dad didn't really care for either. So no big deal. If you want to add those back in, go for it. We didn't use them, but I'll probably add them in the next time I make this... and yes, there will be a next time. It was good!! It was just as good as the baked ziti that I normally make. I thought it was a refreshing change.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 c. vodka (optional)
1 onion chopped
1 can whole tomatoes with juice - slightly crushed with hands
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup heavy cream

10 ounces baby spinach

1 pound rigatoni or penne

12 oz smoked chicken sausage (I used 4 links)
6 ounces of fontina cheese - shredded

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta to al-dente. Add spinach until it is wilted. drain and put back in the pot.
• While the pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet. Saute the onions until they are translucent. Stir in the garlic. Remove from heat. Add the vodka. Return to heat and cook until almost evaporated.
• Stir in tomatoes and oregano. Cook the tomatoes until they are falling apart - about 10 minutes.
• Add cream. Cook until warmed through. Add salt and pepper.

• Add tomato sauce and sausage to the pasta pot. Stir to combine.
  
  

  
  
• Add half to a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with half the fontina cheese. Add the rest and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese and the parmesan cheese.
• Bake until browned and edges are crisp - about 30 minutes.

Baked French Toast

We love french toast. We just don't make it that often. That could be because we don't really cook breakfast too often - and when we do - its eggs and toast or eggs and potatoes, or we use our awesome waffle iron to make some humongous waffles. I must say my waffle iron was a gift from my husband about a year after we'd been together. It was a weird christmas gift. I know we were talking about getting one.. luckily it wasn't my only christmas gift that year.

Anyways, back to French Toast. I had seen some recipes for baked french toast and it intrigued me. It sounded easy enough. I worried about the direction to "let sit it in the fridge overnight" would make it soggy. I guess I would find out.

Ingredients
5 eggs lightly beaten
1 cup half and half
1/2 loaf french bread - cut diagonally into 1" slices
1/2 cup of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup of butter - melted
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons cinnamon

• In a large bowl - whisk together eggs, milk, cream, cinnamon and vanilla
• Dip bread slices into the mixture
• Place in a greased 9x13 pan and refridgerate overnight
  


• Preheat oven to 350
• Take pan out of the fridge to take some of the chill off
• In a small bowl - mix hot melted butter, brown sugar and maple syrup.
• Spoon sugar mixture over the bread.
  


• Bake 40 minutes
• Let stand 5 minutes before serving
  

Verdict? - We both thought it was soggy. Maybe it was the fact that I used french bread? Maybe I should have used a thick solid bread. Maybe it was because it soaked overnight. Either way. I'm going to try again tomorrow to see if not letting it soak overnight makes it any less soggy. Either way,it was edible. Just not our cup of tea. We like moist, but not so much that it falls apart in your mouth.

If that doesn't work, I'm going to change the bread.

Crispy Herb Grilled Chicken

This is a super easy dinner. I made this last night. The chicken has a crispy flavorful outside and a juicy inside. Yum!

Ingredients
1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon italian seasoning
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

• Mix all spices together in a bowl
• Add olive oil to cover spices, Mix to make a paste
• Spread over chicken breasts in a covered dish, cover and let marinate for an hour (or grill right away)
• Place on a grill over medium heat (we used a cuisinart griddler so that both sides would be crispy - you can use a regular grill pan or a foreman grill)
• Cook about 10-15 minutes. Rotate 90 degrees, about halfway through so that the crispy outside is all over and not just lines down the one way.
  


• Remove and serve.
• We served this with some pesto spaghetti and some homemade cheesy garlic bread.
• The next day we used the two left over breasts, cut them up and put them over a green salad for lunch.

Fabulous Sugar Cookies

I found this recipe online. The original recipe called for almond extract - which I didn't have - so I doubled the vanilla extract. I wonder if the almond extract would have made it sweeter? Either way, my husband didn't think the cookies were sweet enough. They didn't roll out very easily either. The dough was super sticky and kept sticking to my rolling pin and my counter. After awhile I gave up and just made cookie balls. My husband preferred the cookie balls to the cutouts because they were softer. The cutouts were crisp... but they held their shape really well.

Either way - here is the recipe I used:

Ingredients
1 1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. powdered sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

5 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

* Preheat oven to 400 degrees

* Cream butter and sugar with mixer until light

* Add eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly after each egg

* Add vanilla and almond extract

* Sift flour, baking powder and salt into mixture a little at a time

* do not overmix
*Chill dough for up to 1 week. (I chilled it for about 4 hours)
* Roll out on a floured surface and cut into your favorite shapes (all I had was the men cutout, butterflies, ladybugs and hearts..)

*Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes and cool on a wire rack

*I tried to make red frosting by adding what was left of my red food coloring to the white frosting. I guess I didnt have enough left because all it did was make hot pink. It turned out okay for the heart cutouts I made. I was just making the heart cut outs for my husband anyways, so no one really cared or saw them anyways. A few of my gingerbread men had pink scarves though. :)

Gingerbread People

One of the cookies I made this year for christmas was Gingerbread Men People.

This was a relatively easy recipe. I think I rolled them too thin because they were pretty fragile. My platter looked like a battlefield - broken heads, legs, arms, people broken in half... but they were pretty tasty anyways.

An important lesson I learned was do not frost when you are tired. Seriously.. some of them just looked ragged or messy... and I had a failed attempt at red frosting that turned out hot pink.. lol..

Oh and I didnt take much pictures because i forgot..

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup butter at room temp

1/2 cup molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350
• sift together flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and cinnamon and set aside
• cream butter and sugar until smooth
• Beat in the molasses, water and vanilla
• Gradually mix in the flour mixture a little at a time
• Cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate 2 hours or until firm.
  (I left mine in for about half a day)
• On a lightly floured surface - roll out dough just under 1/4" thick.
• Use cookie cutters of your choice
  

• Place cookies on a greased cookie sheet
• Bake 9 - 12 minutes
• Let cool five minutes and then move to a wire rack to cool
  
  

  

• Frost (or not) and enjoy!
  
  

Mint Chocolate Brownies

These brownies are really good. I love the ooey gooey brownies that are still soft days later.. and well this is it. I was kind of worried when I looked at the batter and it didn't look like the typical store bought mix batter. It was lighter - much lighter. I doubled checked the recipe and I didnt think I had missed anything. So I figured, I'll just bake them and see if they get darker.. and they did..

Ingredients
1 cup of Butter

2 cups of sugar

4 eggs

2 tablespoons of vanilla

1 package of andes mint chips (in the baking aisle)
OR a package of whole andes mints chopped

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Grease a 9x13 baking pan
• Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat - let sit for a minute or two to cool down





• Add melted butter to sugar, vanilla and eggs





• Sift together the flour, cocoa and salt
• Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture
• Add 1/2 cup of chopped andes mints and fold them in





• Pour the batter into a pan and spread it out
• Bake 35-40 minutes
• Right when the brownies come out, pour the rest of the mint chips on top
Wait for them to melt a little and start spreading the chocolate out with a spoon




Cut the brownies right away and let cool for 5 minutes or until you can safely touch the pan with your bare hands
remove brownies and let cool on a wire rack

Enjoy! :)

This made 12 brownies

Hollandaise Sauce

I love eggs benedict. I get it sometimes when we go out for breakfast. I've just never made it at home because of the sauce.

Hollandaise Sauce always sounded very daunting to me. I don't know why. When I came across this recipe online, I thought it didnt sound so hard. So I thought I'd give it a try. It was pretty easy to make. For awhile, I wondered if it was ever going to thicken, but when it did, it thickened fast

Ingredients

5 egg yolks

5 tablespoons of butter - melted

1/4 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 tablespoon of water

pinch of cayenne

• Whisk yolks and lemon juice together until mixed in a big glass bowl
• Place bowl over a pot of boiling water (the bowl should NOT touch the water)
• Whisk the egg mixture - don't let it get too hot or they will scramble
• Slowly add the melted butter
• Whisk until the sauce is thick
• Take off the heat and whisk in the salt and cayenne

I thought this recipe was really lemony. Almost like biting into the lemon itself. If thats what floats your boat keep it- I think if I make this again, I'll add only a little bit of lemon juice and just subsitute water for the rest.

Taco Stuffed Shells

I have to admit that I am always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to cook my husband's favorite cuisine: tacos and really all mexican food in general. The only thing that he knows how to make other than things on the grill is tacos. He loves tacos so much that he figured out how to make them. That says a lot - it really does.

When I first proposed this recipe while walking around the grocery store, my husband did not seem impressed? Pasta and tacos? baked salsa? cream cheese? I could practically see him mapping his escape once dinner was done and declared completely disgusting - believe me its happened once or twice. There was the disasterous cornflake chicken incident.. which he likes to bring up every now and then when I suggest new recipes.

This was really good... surprisingly my husband had not only seconds.. but thirds. So much for the planned escape... in fact we have no leftovers. Surprisingly. I had figured that I would at least have lunch for tomorrow.

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
4 oz cream cheese (half a small container)
15 jumbo pasta shells (we made about half a box of jumbo shells)
1 jar of salsa
1 cup taco sauce
2 cups cheese (any kind you want - we used monterey jack)
2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• In a pot of salted water, cook jumbo shells plus a couple of extra incase they fall apart.
• When cooked, drain them and set them out apart on a piece of foil so that they don't stick together to cool (make sure the foil is large enough to fit and cover the 9x13 pan - you will be reusing it)







• In a pan, brown ground beef, and add taco seasoning according to the directions on the packet. When finished set aside to cool
• Add cream cheese over low heat and stir until melted and blended in with the ground beef
  



• Pour the jar of salsa on the bottom of a 9x13 pan





• Stuff the shells with the meat mix and place them in the pan face up.





• Drizzle the taco sauce over the shells.
• Cover with the now empty foil piece and bake for 30 minutes
• After 30 minutes, uncover and cover with cheese.





• Bake for another 10 - 15 minutes
• Sprinkle tops of shells with italian seasoning

Serve immediately and enjoy. I know we did!

Chex Muddy Buddies

I first had these when I was a kid. Who wouldn't like chocolate, peanut butter and powdered sugar together. Yum.

Its super easy, very snackable and people of all ages love it. I know I still do. I make this for movie nights when I don't feel like eating buttery popcorn.

Ingredients

6 cups chex cereal (any kind you like)

1/4 cup butter

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Now you can find two sets of instructions for this - stove top or microwave. I never really feel comfortable melting chocolate in the microwave. Its better to melt it over low in a saucepan - but to each their own.

• In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter.
• When the butter has melted, add the peanut butter and chocolate chips.
• Stir until melted and immediately take off the heat.
  



• In a big mixing bowl, measure out 6 cups of cereal
• Pour the chocolate mixture over the top and stir until all the cereal is covered - you can add more cereal if you think there is enough chocolate to go around.
  


• Put the chocolate covered cereal in a big Ziploc bag and pour the powdered sugar on top.
• Close the bag and shake until the cereal is covered with powdered sugar.
• You can pour the cereal on foil or wax paper to cool and dry, or you can just pour in a bowl and eat while its still gooey. Which is my choice. Its not really sticky or anything, it will eventually set. I'm a big fan of eating stuff while its still gooey or melty... but if thats not your thing. Then let it cool and dry first.

If you haven't tried this - I really recommend this. It satisfies both my crunch cravings that popcorn does AND my sweet cravings. Anything thats left, put in a Ziploc bag or a Tupperware on the counter.

nom nom nom

Macaroni and Cheese Bake

I usually get my macaroni and cheese fix from a little blue box. I'm sure I'm not the only one. I've never really had homemade mac and cheese. So I wondered - is it better? Is it worth the extra effort?

So I had to see for myself.

I got this recipe online, I also noticed that they had a recipe on the back of the macaroni box. It called for more milk and more butter. I wonder if it would have made it creamier?

Here's the recipe I tried:

Ingredients

1 lb elbow macaroni

4 tablespoons flour

4 cups of milk or half and half (I used half and half)

1 bay leaf

1 large egg (beaten)

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon paprika

4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

fresh cracked black pepper

Toppings
3 tablespoons of butter

1 cup panko bread crumbs

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a large pot of salted water, cook pasta to al dente.
• In a separate pot, melt butter and whisk in flour at a little at a time, keep stirring for five minutes. Make sure its lump free.
• Stir in milk, bay leaf and paprika. Simmer for 10 minutes and remove the bay leaf.
  


• Add egg and stir in 3/4 of the cheese, season with salt and pepper.





• Fold macaroni into the mix.





• Pour mixture into a cassarole dish. Top with remaining cheese

Topping

• In a skillet, melt butter and fold in the bread crumbs.





• Wait until they turn golden brown
• Top cassarole with bread crumbs
  

  

  
  
  Bake for 30 minutes and remove from oven.
  Let sit for five minutes before serving.

Amazing Artichoke Stuffing

My brother in law is a really good cook. He would have to be... my sister can barely cook.

He made this stuffing for thanksgiving and it was really really good.

Ingredients
15 cups 1-inch cubes crustless sourdough bread (from two 1-pound loaves or sourdough rolls)
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups chopped onions
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 8-ounce packages frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, coarsely chopped
4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint
2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
2 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth (or vegetable stock to make it vegetarian)

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Divide bread between 2 baking sheets.
• Bake until cubes are dry but not hard, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
• Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add onions, celery, and garlic.
• Sauté until celery is soft, about 10 minutes.
• Mix in artichokes, thyme, and mint; sauté 2 minutes longer.
• Transfer artichoke mixture to large bowl. (Bread and artichoke mixture can be made 1 day ahead.
• Cover separately. Store bread at room temperature. Refrigerate artichoke mixture and reheat to lukewarm before continuing.)
• Add bread to artichoke mixture; toss to blend well. Mix in cheese, then 1 cup broth. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake seperately from turkey:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Generously butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish.
• Add enough extra broth to stuffing to moisten (3/4 cup to 1 1/4 cups).
• Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Cover with buttered foil, buttered side down.
• Bake until heated through, about 40 minutes.
• Uncover and bake until top is slightly crisp and golden, about 20 minutes longer

Spicy Shredded Pork

I found this recipe for spicy shredded pork somewhere online. It sounded good. My husband and I love Mexican. Usually when we make tacos, we cut up carne asada or use hamburger. Carnitas is something we eat when we are out. It looks easy enough.

I need some more Mexican recipes. My husband love Mexican food. I'm sure if he had to choose one cuisine to live off of, Mexican would be it.

Ingredients
4-7 pound Pork Shoulder Roast
1 medium sized onion
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 to 4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried cumin
1 to 2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vinegar
Lime wedges (for garnish)

• Peel and quarter a medium sized onion and three to four garlic cloves
  
  
  
  
• Put the garlic cloves, onion, all of the spices and the vinegar into a food processor





• Turn the food processor on to create a chunky paste





• Wash the pork shoulder
• Rub the paste all over the shoulder.
• Pour 1 to 2 cups of water into the bottom of a crock pot.
• Place the pork roast into the crock pot and pour the rest of the paste over the top





• Turn the crock pot onto low and cook for 6 to 8 hours occasionally basting the roast with the juice at the bottom. Also check periodically towards the end to make sure that the water has not evaporated.


• When there is about an hour to go, break the pork roast up so that it will simmer in the juices.



• Scoop the meat out and place on a platter, garnish with avocado slices and lime wedges. If you want you can drizzle lime juice over the top.

Optional: If you want the roast to come out spicier - add some red chili flakes or some hot sauce to the food processor.

Fried Mozzarella

I was hungry and I didn't feel like making anything big. I was thinking about a caprese salad, but then decided that I wanted something hot too. I considered a can of soup I had in my pantry.. but then I had a great idea. Fried Mozzarella with a green salad.

Its really easy to do...

Ingredients
Mozzarella (the round balls works best)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 egg (beaten)
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup olive oil

• First set up a breading station.
  From left to right - flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs





• Slice a ball of mozzarella into thick slices
• Take the slices and dredge them through the flour, egg and breadcrumbs. Be sure to make sure they are well coated





• In a frying pan, heat up the 1/4 cup of olive oil on medium heat, you can add more oil depending on your pan size, to get the depth to come up about halfway on the mozzarella slices.
• You can tell if the oil is ready by putting the end of a wooden spoon in the oil, if it bubbles up around the handle, its ready.
• Put the slices in and let them sit. Wait until you can see the edges are browning up, and then flip them. Try not to move them too much. You don't want the coating to break and the cheese to melt out.





• When the breading is golden brown and the cheese has melted (you can check this by lightly pushing in at the top), remove them from the pan to a plate with paper towels or napkins on it to soak up the excess oil.
• Serve with a side of marinara sauce, or a salad. I almost put the salad on top - that might be really good, salad on top, or maybe some shrimp scampi? or sauteed veggies...

However you serve it, it really should be served hot out of the pan. This way the cheese is still the same melty goodness it was right out of the pan.