Something Sweet Coming Your Way!

Christmas morning came and went so quickly this year, I guess it's because I spend most of my day in the kitchen.  Our kitchen really is the heart of our home.  Everyone who comes in, gathers around the counter and the kitchen table to snack on a variety of food items I put out before the big meal. We do have comfy couches and chairs in both the living room and family room, but everyone always chooses to gather in the kitchen, go figure. It's a busy day for everyone, and some do not eat breakfast because of all the running around they have to do that day.  I always try to have a breakfast item on the snack table to have with coffee or juice when they come in, it wakes them up!

So, every Christmas Eve I make a pan of my old fashion sticky buns, cover them and let them rise overnight.  I then bake them off in the morning, they're a special treat.  They only take about a half hour for piping hot, cinnamony, sticky, gooey, nut and raisin encrusted buns, you get the picture.  

This year I changed it up a bit to try something new, cinnamon buns on a smaller scale - Mini Cinnamon Buns made with puff pastry, they are so good we couldn't stop eating them!

Recipe below.

To print recipe, click on it, highlight and print.

To view photos in a larger format, click on them.

I used a 24 cup mini muffin pan for two bite buns.

Sometimes you have to buy the the best brand to make something good, and sometimes you don't.  I used this packaged puff pastry that I found in the dairy section at GIANT.  It worked perfectly for the rolls,  I got exactly 24 mini rolls from one package for about $2.39, pretty inexpensive for something so good!

 You don't even have to roll the pastry dough out, just unfold it, brush with some melted butter, sprinkle with brown sugar and raisins, if you like them, we do! These are so easy to make, you will make them all the time.

 Pop those babies in the oven and watch them turn into something totally delicious.

 In about 30 minutes........

 AWESOMENESS, right there folks.

Perfect little cinny rolls coming right out of the oven, no frosting or glaze required, they are that good!

 And yea, the family kept eating them before everyone got here.  I think I said they were good already didn't I?

These are my old fashioned sticky buns, that I usually make on Christmas morning, check out that recipe on this blog (8/6/2013), they're great too.

PUFF PASTRY MINI CINNAMON ROLLS

Ingredients For The Topping

2 sticks butter, room temperature

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

3/4 cup chopped pecans, or other nut you like

Directions For Topping

Preheat 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, with a fork or back of wooden spoon, mash the butter and the brown sugar together until all is combined.  Drop about a tablespoonful of filling into each cup of the muffin pan, then top each of the cups with chopped nuts, set aside.

Ingredients For The Filling

1 - 13.2 oz pkg WEWALKA Puff Pastry, GIANT dairy section

6 tablespoons melted butter

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

3/4 cup raisins

Directions For The Rolls

Unfold pastry dough onto a floured board or other flat surface.  Brush the dough with the melted butter, sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins.  Starting with the longest end of the dough, roll up tightly, tucking all the filling in as you roll. Make sure you finish rolling with the seam side down at the end.  Lightly pull on the dough at each end, to stretch just a little without tearing it.  Tuck the uneven ends under on each side.  For better measurement of the size of the rolls, cut the roll in half and then each half into twelve 1 inch pieces. You should have twenty-four 1 inch pieces when you are done cutting.

Place one of the rolls, cut side up, in each cup of the prepared muffin pan.  Brush each top with any remaining melted butter.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown and bubbly on top. Remove from oven, let stand for about 5 minutes. Flip the rolls out of the pan onto a parchment lined baking sheet larger than your muffin pan. Scoop out any remaining nuts from the pan and place on top of the muffins.  Serve warm or cold, they are great both ways.  Makes 24 buns.

Nutty Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is on it's way, and what better way to have a dessert that day with something a little different.  Pie is always on the menu, especially pumpkin.  My favorite, hands down, is the pumpkin pie at Costco, I love that pie!  Now getting back to dessert for Turkey Day, I want to make something besides pies.  I toyed with the idea of making my pecan pie from last year, but changed my mind and decided on these Chocolate Chip Bourbon Pecan Pie Bars.  Everything the pecan pie has but jazzed up with bourbon, oh yeah! I love Thanksgiving, the meal, family all around, of course the nap after the cleanup, and the best part - LEFTOVERS!

Recipe below.

To print recipe, click on it, highlight and print.

To view photos in a larger format, click on them.

I started with the crust - flour, butter and brown sugar. I used the food processor to blend it, made it faster.  You can use a pastry blender or a fork if you don't have a processor.  When it all combines, pat in the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 baking dish and bake until lightly browned.

 While the crust is baking, in the bowl of a mixer beat the eggs, corn syrup, sugar, salt, vanilla, butter and bourbon.

 Here is a little tip I learned a long time ago.  I don't always have a big bottle of certain liquors in the house, so I buy the little ones to keep on hand when I only need a teaspoon or tablespoon of it.  It's cheaper to buy those, than a big bottle of something you don't drink, so no waste.

 Add chopped pecans.....

.....and chocolate chips.

Fold them into the egg mixture.

 Mix it, mix it good! If it separates, mix it again before pouring onto the crust.

 The crust is nice and lightly browned, spread it over the top and bake.  This is so easy for such a rich dessert bar.

 They are baked and they are B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!  And there you have the flavor of pecan pie, with a little kick (the bourbon), without having all pies for dessert on T-day. Hope you enjoy them, I'm gonna have one now, no one is home, just me, so no one has to know it's my dinner.  Pecans are nuts and nuts are protein, right?  So they ARE good for me!

The crunchy top and soft gooey center, lucious, just lucious,  that's all I can say.   

 CHOCOLATE CHIP BOURBON PECAN PIE BARS

Ingredients

Cooking Spray

1 1/2 cups of unbleached flour

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into pieces

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

3 large eggs

3/4 cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 Tablespoons melted butter

2 Tablespoons bourbon, add more if you like

1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

2 cups chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray, set aside.

In a food processor, or with a pastry blender or fork, combine flour, butter and brown sugar, until a crumbly dough forms.  Press into the baking dish covering the bottom evenly.  Bake in the oven until lightly browned, about 15 minutes, depending on your oven.  Remove from oven, leave oven on.

In the bowl of a mixer combine eggs, corn syrup, sugar, vanilla and salt.  Blend together.  Add melted butter and bourbon and mix until all is combined.  With a spatula, fold in pecans and chocolate chips. Pour this mixture evenly over the top and to the sides of the crust.  Bake for 25 -30 minutes (again, depending on your oven) or until the top is browned and the egg mixture is set.  Cool completely, cut into bars and serve. Makes 18 bars.

Lovin' Pecan Pie

My youngest came home from college for Thanksgiving this year, and we were deciding what to make for after dinner desserts. She said "let's try a pecan pie" I like pecan pie, so I said "OK".  Off to the kitchen we went and to our surprise, for being first time pecan pie bakers, we made this delightful, not too sweet, full of alot of pecans and yummy goodness, beauty of a pie!

Recipe below.

To print recipe, click on it, highlight and print.

To view photos in a larger format, click on them. 

 We started with lots and lots of pecans, some orange zest, a little of the good stuff- Jim Beam Bourbon- eggs, light and dark Karo, vanilla, butter, salt and light brown sugar.

 This is the egg, sugar, butter, pecan mixture.

 There are chopped pecans in the egg mixture, lay down some coarsely chopped pecans in the bottom of the crust, and then toast some halved pecans for decorating the top.  I told you, there are alot of pecans, 2 1/2 cups!

 Pretty pattern of toasted pecans on top, and then it's ready to bake.  When it's done you have a gooey on the bottom, crunchy on the top, best flavored pecan pie you'll ever eat!

 Up close and personal with the pie.  It's so good, and not too sweet like some pecan pies.

Easy Pecan Pie

Ingredients

1 pie crust for a 9" pie, homemade or store bought,

keep in the refrigerator until the filling is prepped

Filling

3 eggs, at room temperature

3/4 cup light corn syrup (Karo)

2 tablespoons dark corn syrup (Karo)

3/4 cup light brown sugar

3 tablespoons melted butter

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons bourbon

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1 cup pecan halves

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Heat a large dry frying pan over medium high heat.  Arrange pecan halves in a single layer, toast until fragrant, stirring often.  It only takes a few minutes, be careful not to burn them.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a mixer on medium low.  Add the light and dark corn syrup, brown sugar, melted butter, salt, vanilla, bourbon, orange zest and finely chopped pecans. Mix until completely combined.  Spread the coarsely chopped pecans evenly in the bottom of the pie crust.  Pour the liquid mixture over the pecans and arrange the toasted pecan halves in a pattern on top.

Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour (as always all oven temperatures are different), or until the mixture is set and firm, not jiggly.  Remove from oven, let cool on a wire rack.

Makes 8 servings.

Autumn Pear Salad

I love the taste of fruit in a salad, it's a nice switch from a regular salad with vegetables, the flavors you get by pairing fruit with vegetables are so good and sweet, almost like dessert.  You can put any kind of fruit with any kind of lettuces.  I made this salad to go with dinner the other night and made an Apple Cider and Brown Sugar Vinaigrette to go with it.  Recipe is below. 

Looks pretty!

 For the Salad:
1 - 5 oz. container of spinach, arugula and radicchio blend salad mix
2 pears cored and sliced
1/2 cup of Ocean Spray dried cranberries
1/2 cup of  Emerald Candied Pecans
1/4 cup of Hormel crumbled bacon

Layer salad ingredients in the order above on a large platter.

For the Dressing
1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of canola oil
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard

Pour all ingredients into a jar or container with a lid and shake vigorously.

TIPS: If making the salad ahead of time toss the pears with lemon juice so they do not get brown.  Also, feta cheese or gorgonzola cheese would be great on this salad, so add it on if you like.