Valentine's Treats

I just saw on Facebook that today is National Cream Cheese Brownie Day. What food will they think of next to celebrate and give it its own day?  In honor of all things sweet and Valentine's Day coming this weekend, I want to share a few yummy desserts with you.

Oreo Cream Stuffed Brownies
I love a rich, chocolatey brownie and recently I found a recipe on Pinterest for Oreo Cream filled brownies from the Cookies And Cups blog. I made them twice and both times they were a huge hit. I did learn its best to use the recipe for the brownie that she provides on her blog. I tried to use a box mix and the brownies weren't the right consistency. I had to throw away that batch and quickly make another. Her recipe provides enough cream filling to make these as "Double-Stuffed" Oreo cream brownies - how wonderful!

Assembling was a little tricky for me, but I found that if I cut the brownie sheet on half and then the unfrosted half, on half again, I could easily get this on top without it cracking and crumbling apart.

Once assembled, I cut the stuffed brownie into really small pieces because they are rich. I added some crushed candy canes on the plate for a little mint flavor for the holidays.

Homemade Hot Cocoa Sticks
I like to make homemade gifts every year and this year it was hot chocolate on a stick. I used the recipe I found (again) on Pinterest, but I added my own flavors to jazz them up. 

Instead of making them in a pan like the blog suggests, I bought ice cube trays at the dollar store and added a small amount of cooking spray to each cube. This will help the finished cocoa sticks come out of the tray easier.

Your house smells decadent while making these! I used a Tbsp measuring spoon to put the chocolate into each cube on the tray. I chose mini chocolate chips, mint chips, Andes Candies, caramel bits and sea salt. Just sprinkle the toppings over the chocolate and then lightly press them into the chocolate to help it stick. Make sure you do this right away so they don't cool off too much.

Insert a stick into each cube while the chocolate is still soft. I then transferred the trays to the fridge for a few hours to help them solidify quickly .

Run a warmed knife (run under hot water) around the edges of each cube to help it come out easier and then wrap each one in plastic wrap. Then, when you want to use them, unwrap and dip it into a cup of hot milk (or water) and swirl around so it melts and provides you a cup of delicious cocoa.

I gave these to friends and family for the holidays and asked my guy if his daughters enjoyed them. He laughed and said that I never told him he had to share them with his girls and also that they are great enjoyed just as a chocolate fudge treat. He makes me laugh so much. Guess I'll have to make some more so his girls get to try them this time :)

Kruschiki's
Finally, I am sharing with you a family recipe from my mom's side - Kruschiki's (Polish Love Knots). Every Christmas we would make these with my grandma. 

Although they look simple enough to make, the recipe needs to be pretty precise or they end up soggy and not fluffy.

Cutting the dough and flipping the knot can be tricky because it is a delicate dough, but the knot gives it the signature look.

They fry up in a matter of a minute and you have to watch them closely because they will turn brown fast. You want just a light golden color to each side.

 

I even took a turn at frying them this year. You can't take your eyes off them!

Fresh out of the pan, you can let them cool on paper toweling and let that absorb some of the oil.

A light dusting of powder sugar and the Love Knots are ready to be served. We eat these as Christmas dessert and then again the next morning with our polish sausage and eggs.

Easy Peasy Fruit Tarts

With Valentine's Day coming up next weekend, I wanted to share with you an easy treat that is quick to make and delicious. Besides baking the cookies and chopping the fruit, we let my guys' girls do the rest of the work to make these gems. 

It was my guy's birthday was a few weeks ago and he decided he wanted to spend some quality time with his daughters while he had them that weekend. I suggested that we work together to cook a wonderful meal and he could pick out what he wanted to eat. 

From my new cookbook "SkinnyTaste," he chose the Oven-Fried Chicken. I suggested garlic mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables to go with it and he loved that idea. More on that crispy, juicy chicken and mashed potatoes in a future post.

I then showed my guy the world that is Pinterest and my dessert board. He wanted to pick a treat the girls could easily help make. He scrolled and scrolled until he came upon a recipe for fruit tarts (or mini fruit pizzas) and it was decided that was the perfect dessert. 

Because we wanted four fruits used on the tarts, I let each girl, my guy and myself each pick our favorites. Kiwis, raspberries, mandarin oranges and blackberries were chosen. Unfortunately the grocery store didn't have any kiwis so green grapes were used in place. 

To keep the recipe efficient, I bought pre-made sugar cookie dough and while the girls were watching a little TV with their dad, I popped the cookies on a pan and baked them off. My guys oldest helped with making the "frosting" for the tarts by using the electric mixer to "whip it good!" And because our cookies were smaller, I chopped each piece of fruit on half to make them fit. Then it was time to assemble.

Take a cookie and slather it with as much frosting as you like. 

Then take a piece of each fruit and decorate the top. 

It's really that simple and his girls got pretty creative with it. 

We made 24 cookies in total - check out those masterpieces! We put the tarts in the fridge while we ate dinner, which by the way everyone loved! Then it was time to sing my guy Happy Birthday and have a treat!

He ate one from each girl, and then maybe a few more later that night. And maybe that was breakfast the next morning too! They were really good and the cookie was a bit softer the second day.

This recipe called for shortbread cookies, but we used sugar cookies instead. I think this recipe could be something to try with the Shortbread cookies I just bought from my guy's oldest daughter who is a girl scout.Also, we had a lot of extra frosting. We didn't skimp on the tarts either. My guy ended up buying more cookies and brought all the ingredients to my house later that week for an after dinner treat for us.

We all really enjoyed the tarts and it made for a very memorable birthday for my guy!

Carrot Cake Cream Pies

One of my favorite treats as a child was a Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie. I didn't get these very often because they definitely aren't the healthiest treat, but I would save my money and ride my bike up to the gas station to get one with my friends. I loved the soft cookie and who can resist the creamy frosting in the middle!

I was searching around on Pinterest a few weeks ago and came across Carrot Cake Cream Pies. Instantly my mouth started to salivate at the thought of these delicious treats. It just so happened I was invited to watch the Packers' playoff game at a friends and because I can never show up empty handed, I decided to make these.

The only ingredient that I didn't have was the grated orange rind and I didn't substitute anything else in its place.

I had carrot chips that I put in my food processor and chopped down quickly. Before this recipe, I didn't know that you needed to let the carrots drip in a strainer, but it makes sense because they do have quite a bit of water in their makeup.

 Then it was time to mix part of the dry, then add some wet, then more dry and more wet.

They did take a bit longer in my oven to be done to my liking. I think I added about 5 minutes to the cook time, but remember these are a softer cookie, so don't expect the edges to crisp up. 

I put them in a storage container for a day before frosting them. I realized that sealing them caused them to get a bit softer, so I actually spread them out on a pan for an hour before frosting.

 Then I paired up cookies of the same size and started frosting them.

Voila! I ended up with 14 cookies to take to my friend's house. They were enjoyed by all and I was told to keep this recipe as one of the favorites because I should definitely bring these again sometime! I'm glad they were such a hit.

I did learn another thing about carrots with this recipe. If your baking soda is olde, or if you don't mix it thoroughly through the recipe, it can cause the carrots to change pigment - in this case: green! It's a known effect. My baking soda wasn't old as I just bought it at Christmas time. But I could have skimped on the thorough mixing of the dry ingredients and caused this occurrence. I'm also wondering if the missing grated orange peel would have helped in this situation. (After all, lemon juice helps with apples and other fruits not turning brown when exposed to air.) The green carrot doesn't affect the flavor of the cookies at all.

To eliminate any chance of worrying my friends  about the green parts of the carrot cake cookies, I planned to tell them it was zucchini that I added for Packers cheer! (Plus, who wants to hear about alkalinity imbalance during a Packers party?!?!)

Thankfully, no one questioned the color. :)

Easy-Bake Oven???

Growing up, I never had an Easy-Bake Oven. I always helped bake with my mom and grandma  but I did want one. All my friends had them and they looked so fun.

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to use one with my guy's daughters. And let me tell you, I suggest using the word "easy" loosely. Overall it's an easy process to make the food, but the oven itself is another story. And it's really time-consuming for the minimal amount of food you get at the end of the process.

We let each girl pick out one treat to make and although one of the girls picked out a chocolate cake ball treat, the package actually had red velvet mix in it. We improvised and went with it and she was happy it was red with pink frosting! Bonus win!!!

The girls did all the mixing, stirring, and pouring, and even started sneaking bites of the treats before cooking. My guy and I managed the oven because even though it's made for children, it still gets rather hot and adult supervision/assistance is a must!

We learned right away on the first cake that we (as adults) should have read a bit more about the oven. The first cake went in and 16 minutes later, came out raw. We accidentally slid it too far over in the oven and had it in the "cooling area." So back in the oven it went for another 10 minutes until cooked through. Then before the cake could be crumbled into balls, you have to let it cool completely. During this time, we started the second treat.

His other daughter picked brownie sandwiches, which involved mixing up brownie dough and frosting. We had to add a lot more water than the directions stated in order for the dough to form. Then there was flouring the child's hands, rolling the dough in a large ball, then cutting it and forming 12 flat balls with the dough and placing them on the pans. Each ball was about an inch around - such tiny treats!

And here is where we learned another thing about the Easy-Bake Oven. It truly can burn the food. I had issues getting the "muffin" tin to come out of the oven straight and I ended up getting one of the brownies stuck on something inside the oven. It came out with a scrape in it and the next thing I saw was a little smoke coming out of the oven from the food left inside. There is a collection drawer in the bottom, so this must happen from time to time and that's the only access you get to clean it out. The entire oven is sealed with screws, so you are truly at the mercy of the entrance and exit of the oven to see what you are doing. But this makes it very safe for the children to not burn themselves.

Once everything was cooled down, we let the girls add their own frosting and sprinkles to the treats and fingers were the chosen spreading tool. They both did a great job with their treats and we all shared the final product.

I will say that it is a lot of work for the minimal amount of food that you get from the oven. But the girls really loved it and seeing their smiles made it all worth it.

I definitely would like to bake with them in the future, but I'm thinking we make a batch or two of full size cookies that they can help with. You get a lot more treats from a full size recipe with just as many dirty dishes!

Holiday Party Foods

I had my first of many Christmas parties this past weekend and boy did we have a spread of food. My friends really know what they are doing in the kitchen and I ate and ate and ate my way through the party :)

I made two treats that I have wanted to make for quite some time and finally had the opportunity: Apple Pie bites and crescent cream cheese bites. Recipes are below. Here are a few snapshots of other great party snacks.

Brandon treated all of us to two homemade cheesecakes - Eggnog and Pumpkin - I didn't have any but everyone raved about them. My Apple Pie bites are behind the two cheesecakes.

Mo wraps up front and my crescent rolls are in the back of the picture. Mo wraps are just lunch meat, lettuce, cheese and sauce wrapped in a tortilla.

It's Wisconsin so what is a party without cheese and sausage. The pepper jack had a bit of a kick to it - definitely mellowed out my palette after all the sweets I consumed.

Caroline found a recipe called "Just Like Wendy's Chili" and she had cheese, sour cream, chives, pepper flakes and Fritos for us to dress it up with. It was delicious and it did resemble Wendy's chili.

Bagel Dip! Another Caroline specialty that is always loved by all.

 Meatballs - there were little smokies too but I didn't get a picture of that.

 Sweets! It's not a Christmas party (or any party) without them. Oreo balls and sugar cookies!

 

And of course libations and a roaring fire set the mood for the evening. This is one of my favorite holiday beers. I also tried the Cranberita from Budweiser and it has a wintery taste to it when you mellow it out over some ice. Straight from the can it's too sweet. And at 8% alcohol per 8-oz. can, it's good to water it down a bit.

Apple Pie Bites:
I found them on this blog. I had to cook mine a bit longer but my apple slices might have been larger. My mom sprinkled her's with powdered sugar and I think a powdered sugar and water glaze would be a nice addition and make it more like a turnover. But everyone loved them.

Crescent Wreath:
I made the wreath last year for a Christmas party but put veggies on it. This year I used the same concept, but went for a completely different flavor.
1 tubes of refrigerated crescent rolls
1- 7 oz tub of Honey Cream Cheese
1 tsp. cinnamon
12 grapes cut on quarters
1/4 cup Craisins
1/3 cup pistachios (I used Wonderful Roasted and Salted Shelled)

Open each tube of rolls and cut into 8 pieces and arrange on a cookie sheet in a wreath shape. Cook for the time on the package or until the crescents are lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool. Mix  cream cheese and cinnamon together. Spread evenly over the crescent rolls. Top with Craisins, grapes and pistachios. That's it - nice and simple.

#MKEfoodies Bake Sale 2013

Today is the #MKEfoodies Bake Sale for Cookies for Kids' Cancer. We have a new location this year in the Historic Third Ward at the Hudson Business Lounge. The sale goes from 1 - 4 pm, but if it's anything like in years past, we will sell out quickly - which is an amazing feat!

Many members of the #MKEfoodies group and others in the community bake scrumptious treats to donate to the organization. Everything looks so great and the room smells heavenly when all the treats are in. Santa will even be making an appearance for the children of all ages to enjoy and take pictures with.

Bake sales are held across the nation for Cookies for Kids' Cancer and some corporate sponsors have jumped on board to up our earnings for the organization. OXO has pledged to match bake sale proceeds dollar for dollar up to $100,000 and Glad Corporation will match all donations in the month of December up to $25,000! So every dollar counts THREE TIMES! 

Here are the wonderful treats that I have made and the recipes that go along with them. Pinterest helped me find a few recipes that I wanted to try out this year and I pulled a few family favorites as well. 

Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cookies - I found the recipe on this blog but modified it accidentally. I followed the cake box directions instead of the recipe they provided and they still turned out. And I bought miniature Reese's instead of mini Reese's and had to chop mine into 4 pieces before putting them in the recipe. They still taste wonderful!

Oreo Cheesecake Cookies - Another recipe from Pinterest that I just had to try. You don't need quite as many oreos and I made my cookies a lot smaller so I got 36 cookies instead of the 15 the recipe says it makes.. 

Applesauce Gum Drops: My grandma would always have these for Christmas Eve but because she would make them weeks in advance, my brother and I would sneak into her cellar and steal a few. We were never smart enough to hide the wrappers so she always knew but never cared. 

1 - 6 oz. box of any flavor Jell-O (I used Strawberry and Lime for my two batches)
1 cup sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

Mix all ingredients together in a 1-2 qt. kettle over medium-high heat and stir continuous until it boils. Continue stirring while boiling for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a 9 X 5 greased (cooking sprayed) loaf pan. Set on a flat surface until firm. 

Then, rim pan with a knife and cut into long even strips. Place long strips on a lightly sugared cookie sheet or pan. Cut strips into squares (1/2 inch) and make sure all sides are sugared. Set out to dry for at least 1 week turning daily. 

100 Good Cookies: Another cookie that was passed down to me from my grandma. These cookies were one I remember my grandma always having in her cookie jar. The batch makes 100 or more if you make them smaller and because they are a rich cookie, you do want to make them rather small. 

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup margarine
1 cup oil
1 egg
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup Rice Krispies
1 cup coconut
1 cup oatmeal
3 1/2 cup flour

Mix in sugars, margarine, oil, egg, salt, baking soda, vanilla and cream of tartar. Slowly add flour until dough forms. By hand, mix in Rice Krispies, coconut and oatmeal. Drop by small spoonfuls onto a non greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 8 - 10 mins or until lightly browned. 

*Consider adding 1 cup butterscotch chips to half the batch for an even sweeter treat! 

If you can't make it to the Bake Sale, consider making a donation online to Cookies for Kids Cancer  online. Every bit helps those that can't help themselves against cancer. Maybe someday we will live in a cancer-free world.