Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter And More Peanut Butter ... And A Little Bit of Chocolate

So I have totally been on this peanut butter kick lately and this past weekend was no exception! My sister came home for the weekend for the first time since before the new year to run a half marathon here in Dallas and so I told her that I would make her WHATEVER she wanted! Well her 2 favorite cookies are Peanut Butter Blossoms and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip so I made her those plus Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cake Balls!!!

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Ingredients:

Hershey's Kisses

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

2 Tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

granulated sugar

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.

2. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

3. shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. remove from cookie sheet to wire racks. Cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

For the past year me and my sister have been trying to find the BEST Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie recipe and I think I have finally found one! It's from Allrecipes.com and you can see it here!

Me and my sister before the start of the race!

Ericka and her boss Ashley after they completed the Texas Half (This was Ericka's first 1/2 marathon and she finsished it in 2 hours and 15 mintues!) I am so proud of her!!!

Ashley's little girl was definitely enjoying the cake balls after the race! :-)

Another treat I made this weekend for my sister was 'Texas Sized' Peanut Butter Blossom Cupcakes! I first saw this awesome treat at Bake it in a Cake! What you do is take an already baked Peanut Butter Blossom and bake it INSIDE a Cupcake!

I made my cupcakes a little different though ... I used the Peanut Butter Cupcake and frosting recipes from my Betty Crocker Just Cupcakes cookbook! It is probably one of the easiest cupcake recipes in the world!

All you do is take a box of yellow cake mix and mix it up according to the directions on the box but you add 1/2 C of peanut butter to it all before mixing it together! I usually end up adding a little extra water and/or oil till I get the consistency that I like.

Then you just bake the cupcakes according the the temperature and time on the box!

For the frosting this time (since I was running short on time) I just took a can of store bought chocolate frosting and stirred in enough peanut butter till I got the taste I wanted but you can also make up a batch of buttercream frosting and add in some peanut butter!

All of the Peanut Butter goodies from the weekend ... now all I need is a tall glass of milk!

More Holiday Baking

So I was going through the photos for my blog when I found these that I forgot to upload from our family Christmas dinner!

For my birthday this year I was given the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer and so I have been trying different flavors of ice cream so for Christmas I made ... Peppermint Ice Cream!!!

Ingredients

4 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups whipping cream

4 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup crushed peppermint candies

Directions

1. In a heavy saucepan, whisk egg yolks, half-and-half, sugar and salt. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture reaches 160 degrees F and coats the back of a metal spoon. Remove from the heat. Place pan in a bowl of ice water; stir for 2 minutes. Stir in whipping cream and vanilla.

Press plastic wrap onto surface of custard. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Fill cylinder of ice cream freezer two-thirds full. (Refrigerate any remaining mixture until ready to freeze.) Freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. Stir in peppermint candy. Allow to ripen in ice cream freezer or firm up in the refrigerator freeze for 2-4 hours before serving

This recipe was DELICIOUS! If you have an ice cream maker I highly recommend this recipe ... it was so creamy! I am probably going to use this base recipe from now on whenever I make ice cream!

The other dessert I made for our family Christmas dinner was ...

Pumpkin Praline Cake

½ cup butter or margarine

¼ cup whipping cream

1 cup packed brown sugar

¾ cup coarsely chopped pecans

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® yellow cake mix

1 cup (from 15-oz can) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

½ cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Additional coarsely chopped pecans, if desired

1. Heat oven to 325°F. In 1-quart heavy saucepan, stir together butter, whipping cream and brown sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, just until butter is melted. Pour into 2 (9- or 8-inch) round cake pans; sprinkle evenly with 3/4 cup pecans.

2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, pumpkin, water, oil, eggs and 1 teaspoon of the pumpkin pie spice with electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Beat 2 minutes on medium speed. Carefully spoon batter over pecan mixture in each pan.

3. Bake 43 to 45 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Whipped Cream Frosting

4 ounces softened cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 – 1 cup powdered sugar (or more to taste)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup whipping cream until smooth (scrape and stir with spatula as necessary). Add the rest of the cream and beat until it has the consistency of whipped cream (don’t overmix). Spread half of the frosting between the two cake layers then spread the rest over the top layer. Decorate with pecan halves if you have some left over!

This was a really good cake and was really simple to make and put together. My only suggestion is that if you are taking this cake anywhere to frost it once you get there otherwise the cake will start sliding apart and I know this from experience! ;-)

Not Your Average Cupcake!

My favorite thing to bake is cupcakes and for Christmas I was given a jumbo cupcake pan that makes the cupcakes twice the size of a normal size cupcake.

I like to call them "Texas Size" cupcakes! So to try out the pans for the first time I decided to make one of my FAVORITE cupcake recipes ... Peanut Butter!

I love this recipe because it is so easy! All you do is mix a box of yellow cake mix according to the directions on the box and then add in 1/2 Cup Peanut Butter! simple as that!

For the frosting I made up a chocolate buttercream and added in some peanut butter but if you don't want to make a buttercream another easy frosting is to use the tub chocolate frosting from the store and just stir in peanut butter!

So if you ever need a quick and easy dessert definitely try this out ... try even adding chopped up Reese's peanut butter cups on top for a special treat!

2 of My Favorite Foods!

Anyone who has been around me when I cook or lived with me for any amount of time knows that my 2 favorite foods are Chicken and Macaroni n' Cheese! I probably eat Chicken for at least one meal a day and so I'm always trying to come up with new ways of cooking it. I found this recipe a little while ago and decided to try it this past Tuesday for dinner.

Parmesan Panko Crusted Chicken

3-4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs)
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup shredded/coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Trim any fat from chicken breasts, butterfly, cut in half, and pound to an even thickness, about 1/2" thick. Season both sides lightly with salt and pepper. In a shallow bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg and add a little salt and pepper (about 1/2 tsp each). In another bowl or on a plate, combine bread crumbs, cheese, thyme, rosemary, and garlic. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil, enough to coat the bottom of the pan liberally. Bread the chicken cutlets by first dunking both sides in buttermilk mixture and then coating both sides with bread crumb mixture. Add to hot pan. Don't overcrowd the pan, a 10" skillet will hold about 4 pieces so you may need to cook it in 2 batches.

Cook about 4-6 minutes on the first side, flipping when the breading is a deep golden brown crust. The second side will cook slightly faster. Line a large plate with paper towels and remove cooked chicken to plate. Cover with foil while you cook the second batch.

I really liked this recipe ... The only change I would make to this recipe is to sure to pound out the chicken before coating and cooking it.

I LOVE Macaroni and cheese ... it reminds me of my childhood I guess! I have found several recipes for Macaroni n' Cheese and my goal is to try them all and to find the best "grown up" version! Here is recipe #1

Stove-Top Macaroni and Cheese

Recipe adapted from Alton Brown via Food Network

14 oz whole wheat short cut pasta

3 T butter

2 eggs
9 oz evaporated milk
1/2 - 1 tsp all-purpose seasoning
3/4 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat a large pot of water to boiling, salt liberally and add pasta. Cook to al dente per package directions and drain. Reduce heat to medium low, return to pan and add butter. Melt and stir to coat pasta. Whisk together eggs, milk, hot sauce, mustard, thyme, salt and pepper and pour over pasta. Stir and cook about one minute.

Add cheese and stir to melt and incorporate, cook about two minutes, add additional salt and pepper if desired and serve.

I really liked this Macaroni a lot and I used fat free evaporated milk and skim milk which helped with cutting the calories. The only comment I have is when its creamy and ready to go pull it off the stove! I kept mine on the stove while my parents were out to keep it warm but it kept heating the cheese and so it wasn't as creamy when it came time to eat it as it was when I was making it ... but it was still delicious!

And here is the delicious meal, complete with a spinach salad and sweet tea!

Christmas Time Here in Texas!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

OK, I know I am behind in saying this but better late than never right?! Well it's been a crazy couple of weeks for me and I haven't had a lot of time to update on all the recipes that I have been trying but I will in the next couple of days. But for now let me show you what I've been up to these past couple of weeks ...

One of my favorite traditions at Christmas time is making Gingerbread houses with the cousins when we are all down at the Lake together at Thanksgiving, here is mine this year

Anyone who knows me knows that I love the color pink and this is my pink Christmas tree! I absolutely love it, I got it a couple of years ago and I have loved getting to decorate it different ways each year, this year I decided to just decorate it with all black to match my room!

So this was the first Christmas that we had in our new house and so it was fun trying to figure out where to put all our decorations. I love the fireplace in our new house and it was the perfect place to hold my moms snowman collection!

I also got to go back up to John Brown before Christmas to visit my cousin and friends there as well as going and seeing the Cathedral Choir Christmas concert that my cousin sang in.

Every couple of years my cousins and they're family go up to Colorado for Christmas to celebrate with their dads side of the family, so when they do we always celebrate with them early, which means then I get to celebrate Christmas 4 times that year! This was our family picture this year.

I love these 3 girls with all my heart, they are my best friends and I can't imagine life without them!

So my cousin Steffi got this AWESOME cupcake stand for me for Christmas! I am so excited to use this for parties and other events and it will definitely be used at her bridal shower this summer!

Every Christmas eve me, my mom, sister, aunt and grandma all go out together for a girls afternoon and get manicures and pedicures done for Christmas!

My sister, grandma (Omi) and me after Christmas Eve service at our house

My dad's side of the family. In Germany they Celebrate Christmas on Christmas eve by going to Christmas eve service, coming home and having a big dinner and then opening gifts and so we have continued that tradition over here now

Every Christmas morning my mom always makes us cinnamon rolls, bacon, and hot chocolate. I love waking up Christmas morning to the scent of the cinnamon rolls baking and the sound of the bacon sizzling on the stove!

The traditional sister picture Christmas morning in front of the fireplace!

Celebrating Christmas day with my mom's parents at their house.

This is definitely one of my favorite if not my favorite meal ever and I always look forward to the winter because that means we can finally make Klüse and Rouladen! Klüse is a traditional German potato dumpling. There are several ways to prepare Klüse, this kind is the kind that they make in my dad's hometown of Coburg.

Then came new years! We had a big party out at my house that included lots of food, games, 2 ping-pong tournaments and lots of fun playing Wii Just Dance II!!!

I'm excited to see what God has in store for me, my family and friend in this coming year!

I hope that this year is filled with joy and happiness for everyone!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Holiday Party Baking (Part 2 - Andes Mint Cookies)

So for the White Elephant Party the second dessert I made was my new favorite obsession this Christmas ... Andes Mint Cookies!

I have always loved Andes Mints and so when I saw these mint bits I knew I had to buy them and try them in something but when I got home I saw that there was a cookie recipe on the bag and so I decided to try out the recipe ... Man these cookies are delicious! They're chewy and have the perfect balance of sweetness and mint! They were such a big hit at the party that I decided to also make them as gift for Christmas, I even sent them to my best friend Jamie (A Pair of Pears) for her and her husband to enjoy!

Andes Mint Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 (10 ounce) package Andes mint baking chips

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Blend butter, brown sugar, white granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs until ingredients are mixed.

Add Andes Baking Chips and mix.

Add Flour and continue to mix until all ingredients are well blended together.

Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 45-60 minutes.

Spoon out approximately 1 oz of dough per cookie.

Form a ball and then slightly flatten.

Place on non-stick baking pans and bake for approximately 8-10 minutes.

Cool on pans for 2 minutes, then remove.

Holiday Party Baking (Part 1 - Mint Chocolate Cake Balls)

So this past weekend I went to a friends house for a Christmas/White Elephant party and I was asked by the host to bring cake balls and some other desserts! Well since it was a Christmas party I decided to try a new flavor cake ball ... Mint Chocolate Chip!!!

I started out making a chocolate fudge cake and mixed that together once it cooled with vanilla frosting. Then I decided to try adding Andes Mint Chips into the mix ... I have never added anything into my cake balls before so I was interested to see how they would be in the cake balls but they were amazing!!!

After I rolled the mixture into balls and let them freeze for a while I dipped them into green colored vanilla candy coating ...

For a finishing touch I sprinkled crushed peppermints on top before the candy coating cooled to give it the Christmas red, white and green look!

Before the party I put them in the fridge for several hours to make sure they were nice and cold before the party, because I've discovered that when you leave them out at room temperature they tend to be more mushy and they just taste better cold!