Recipe Box Archives | Page 25 of 30

January 2, 2012 by Krista

Homemade Marshmallows

Oh my heck. This project was like the recipe from you-know-where. And it’s not a good place. Ok, not really. It just took me A LOT longer to do than I had expected. It all started when we oh-so-spontaneously decided to make a 300 mile trip for Christmas… in four days. Eek. And we had no Christmas gift for our gracious hosts. Like, we didn’t even have any gift ideas, not just zero gifts. And we were at the end of our monthly budget. So, I called on the powers of Pinterest and saw something I’d wanted to try last year and never got around to it. Perfect, right? Ha.

I found this cute cocoa basket on Under the Table and Dreaming, complete with homemade marshmallow recipe. So, we set out to make our own cocoa basket (our cocoa mix wasn’t homemade though). On glass mugs, I etched our recipients’ names. I put a hot cocoa mix in a quart-size mason jar, some mini candy canes in a half-pint jar and then set aside a pint jar for some homemade marshmallows. And then the adventure began…

HOMEMADE MARSHMALLOWS

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Tbs of unflavored gelatin (apparently, I live in a cave and didn’t know what this was. But, My Mr Right knew. You can find it in the baking aisle for about $1 a box around the Jell-O. Knox is a common brand.)

1/2 c. cold water

1 1/2 c. white sugar

1 c. light corn syrup

1/4 tsp. salt

2 Tbs vanilla extract (you can substitute peppermint extract… or any other extract, for that matter)

1/2 c. water

Confectioner’s Sugar (the powdered sugar you find in the baking aisle)

Directions:

1. Combine gelatin and 1/2 c. of cold water in a bowl. (If you’re using a stand mixer, put it in that bowl.) Let stand for 30 minutes.

2. In a medium-sized sauce pan, combine white sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 c. of water. Place on medium-low heat and stir constantly until the sugar dissolves.

3. {This is where I ran into issues… and how I fixed it.} GRADUALLY, increase the heat to high and continue to stir until the mixture begins to boil. When the mixture boils, stop stirring and insert a candy thermometer into the goop. (Technical terms, I know.)

4. Let the mixture boil until it reaches 244 degrees on a candy thermometer. When you reach the temperature, remove the pan from the heat immediately.

5. Slowly, pour the mixture into your bowl with the gelatin. Turn your mixer onto low and combine the syrup and gelatin. Add in the vanilla or other extract. (I forgot that last part… so my marshmallows are a little bland.)

6. Increase the speed to medium or medium-high and beat for approximately 15 minutes until the mixture is white and very thick. It will nearly triple in volume.

7. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and sprinkle a thin, yet generous, coat of powdered sugar all across the pan. I used a baking sheet and got super thin marshmallows. However, I was trying to speed the solidifying time, as I needed to get the gift put together before we left. If you want thicker marshmallows, I’d suggest using something more along the lines of a 9×13″ pan. Pour your mixture into the pan. Just a heads up: this stuff is SUPER, SUPER, SUPER sticky. Like marshmallows-melted-over-the-campfire kind of sticky. A little warm/hot water and it’ll clean right up though.

8. Put a thin, yet generous, layer of powdered sugar on top of the mixture. Pat and shape the marshmallow mix so the top is generally flat.

9. Let the marshmallow sit on the counter top until solid. I put mine in the fridge (trying to hurry the process along) uncovered for somewhere between 3-4 hours.

10. Pull the waxed paper, with the marshmallow on top, out of the pan and lay it on the counter top. Cut your marshmallows down to size. I used a plastic cake cutter to cut my marshmallows into strips. Because my marshmallows were so thin, I rolled the strips to get a little more mallow for my money and give it more of a store-bought shape. Dust any sticky edges with powdered sugar to keep them from sticking.

11. Store your marshmallows in an air-tight container. They will keep for about a month.

It’s a good thing this was my first recipe of my Christmas-baking marathon… I probably would have given up after the sugar syrup boiled over all over my stove and I had a huge, stinky hot mess to clean up. However, should you need to clean any of it up, hot water will work wonders. It was a much simpler clean up than I expected. And when you clean out your bowl, let it soak in hot water for five to ten minutes and it will wash right out. And, next time I have a few tips and tricks to {hopefully} make this go a lot more smoothly. Although, next time might not be til next Christmas….

November 16, 2011 by Krista

Egg Nog Sugar Cookies

These cookies kinda happened by accident. Now, I am sure there are other egg nog sugar cookie recipes out there. But apparently I live under a rock and had never had them before, never made them, and never even heard of them. So, of course, I felt like a total genius when they turned out addictively delicious.

EGG NOG SUGAR COOKIES

Ingredients:

– 2 cups sugar

– 1 tsp salt

– 4 tsp vanilla extract (1 Tbs+1 tsp)

– 1/2 cup butter

– 1/2 cup egg nog

– 1/2 cup milk

– 4 eggs

– 2 tsp baking powder

– 7 cups flour

Directions:

1) Mix together the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, milk, eggs, and baking powder. When the mixture is smooth and consistent, add the flour a cup at a time. If you need to add more flour, do so.

2) When the dough is no longer sticky, pull it out of the bowl and roll into 3/4” balls and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

3) Preheat the oven to 350F and bake for approximately 12 minutes or until cookies are a light golden brown. Cool on cooling racks.

4) Decorate anyway you like, although, I like them plain as well. I drizzled a few with a sugar glaze and sprinkled them with white sugar crystals, but they really are amazingly tasty straight off the pan.

Yields approximately 50 cookies

These cookies freeze amazingly. I roll them out into balls and then flash freeze them on a tray for an hour or two. Then, transfer them to a zip top baggie and store in the freezer. When you’re ready to bake them, pull a few out and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown.

Krista

November 8, 2011 by Krista

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites

These were scrumptiously yummy. But, what do you expect when you take one of our very favorite recipes and then wrap it in bacon. Heaven to my taste buds.

BACON WRAPPED CHICKEN BITES

Ingredients:

– Chicken breast, thawed

– Bacon strips

– Marinade Sauce (recipe below)

– Block of cream cheese

Directions:

1) Cut your chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. But don’t make them too small. Think between a bite-size and a fun-size candy bar.

2) Prepare the marinade and let the chicken bits soak for 6-24 hours. The longer they soak the more intense the flavor will be. Don’t soak for more than 24 hours unless you like your flavors really strong. This is our go-to marinade:

MARINADE
1 cup soy sauce
2 cups 7-up
1 cup oil
1 tsp. horseradish
1 tsp. garlic salt

3) Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with tin foil. Preheat the oven to 375F. Open and unwrap the bacon. Cut the bacon strips in half. Drain the marinade off the chicken.

4) Lay down a strip of bacon, a piece of chicken and cut off a small chunk of cream cheese and place it on top of the chicken. Sprinkle with a little garlic powder or any other seasonings you’d like. Wrap the bacon around the chicken and cream cheese. Place on the baking sheet.

4) Repeat step 4 with all the piece of chicken and bacon. Bake for 35 mins or until the middle of the meat is no longer pink and the juices run clear.

Krista

November 7, 2011 by Krista

Pizza Rolls

These are yummy and kid-friendly. Prep time is approximately 30 mins. AND, they freeze excellently for nights that you need a quick dinner fix.

PIZZA ROLLS

Ingredients:

2 cups of warm water

3 Tbs yeast

1/2 cup vegetable oil (I have substituted olive oil and decrease the measurement to 1/3 cup. It works fine.)

1/2 cups of sugar

2 beaten eggs

1 Tsp salt

5-6 cups flour

Pepperoni (your preference on how much)

Cheese (again, your preference)

1/2-1 cup Pizza Sauce

*You may put in any other pizza toppings you like. We have tried these with black olives, hamburger, pineapple and Canadian bacon, onions, green and red bell peppers, mushroom bits and bacon bits. It’s all very yummy.

Directions:

– Mix the yeast and water together in a small bowl. Combine all ingredients, except the flour, in a large bowl and mix well. This is where I call on my amazing KitchenAid and let it do all the hard work.

– Add the flour a cup at a time until it is no longer sticky. When your dough is mixed well, take it out of the bowl. Roll into a rectangle.

– Use a basting brush or the back of a spoon and spread the pizza sauce onto your dough. I don’t love red sauces, so I only use about 1/2 cup. You may want more on your pizza rolls. Add your pizza toppings to the top of the sauce. You’ll want to be sparing, but not too sparse, so they will still roll well.

– Roll the dough into a log. Try to keep the roll tight.

– Cut off sections of your dough log, approximately an inch in width. It should look like a cinnamon roll at this point.

– Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. You can sprinkle cheese on the tops of the rolls too, if you’d like. Bake @ 375F degrees for 15-20 minutes.

– If you want to freeze, let the rolls cool and then store each one in it’s own zip top baggie and freeze. Keeps for 2-3 months.

Krista

September 26, 2011 by Krista

Easy Sweet Peachy Cobbler

I love peach cobbler. My Mr. Right loves peach cobbler. And Little Monkey, yep, he’s a big fan, too. But I do not love spending 2 hours slaving away in the kitchen, peeling peaches and mixing batter. Especially, since you have to turn the oven on and our AC unit has a hard time without all the extra heat. So, I decided to try an idea I had. It still involved the oven, but only about 20 mins of slaving. I determined it was worth it. I rummaged through my mom’s baking cupboard and snagged a box of yellow cake mix. It was expired, so I figured she’d probably never even notice it was gone. She hadn’t noticed when I told her…

EASY SWEET PEACHY COBBLER

Ingredients:

1 Yellow Cake Mix (and the ingredients on the back of the box)

2 Large cans of Sliced Peaches (you can always substitute 3-4 fresh peaches)

Ground Cinnamon

Ground Allspice

Nutmeg

Vanilla extract

Directions:

Put the cake mix in a bowl. You can mix it up the way it says to on the back of the box (eggs, oil, and water). I substitute applesauce for the oil and milk for the water. The applesauce makes a more dense cake (not to mention, less fat). The milk makes it slightly more creamy than water. Mix well. Then add 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of vanilla. More or less to taste, if you want. Add a sprinkle of allspice and another sprinkle of nutmeg. Mix well.

Open your cans of peaches and layer them on the bottom of a lightly greased 9×13” pan. I didn’t drain the peaches, just dipped them out with a fork.

Pour the cake batter over the top of the peaches. Bake as directed on the back of the cake box, approximately 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Let cool (or don’t, but be careful, it’s hot!). Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Krista

Pin It

Privacy Policy