Guacamole!

There's not much that beats a bowl of fresh guacamole made with perfectly ripe avocados and some crunchy, salty chips to scoop up all the yummy green goodness. This guacamole has diced onions, tomatoes, fresh garlic and cilantro and lime juice for the perfect balance of flavors and textures. If you like guacamole, give this tasty version a try. It's delicious!

Guacamole3 avocados - peeled, pitted, and chopped
1 lime, juiced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pinch ground cumin
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper

Mash avocados in a bowl with a fork (I like to leave them partly chunky). Stir in remaining ingredients. Serve immediately or refrigerate for an hour with plastic wrap pressed against the guacamole to keep it from browning.

Strawberry Crumb Cake Bars

I love fresh strawberries and I'm always looking for recipes to use them in. I wanted to make a strawberry dessert to take to a party that didn't require a plate and fork. These almost fit the bill. They were labeled as bars, but I would describe them more as cake-like than bars. They bake up super high and fluffy and have the texture of a moist coffee cake. I love the layer of fresh strawberries and brown sugar crumble on top.

These 'bars' would be perfect for brunch or a nice after-dinner dessert.

If you have a container of fresh strawberries on hand, this is a lovely and yummy way to use them up. Come to think of it, blackberries might also be nice!

Strawberry Crumb Bars

Yield: 16 to 20 bars

Ingredients
for the streusel:
1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted, plus room temperature butter for pan
3/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour

for the bars:
1 lb. strawberries, hulled and sliced 1/4" thick
2 T. light brown sugar
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour, divided
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-1/2 c. powdered sugar, plus more for dusting finished bars
3 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. almond extract

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 9'' square baking pan and line with parchment paper, leaving a 2'' overhang on 2 sides. Butter and flour parchment paper and pan, tapping out the excess flour. Set aside.
for the streusel:

Whisk together the butter, brown sugar, and salt. Add flour and mix with a fork until large crumbs form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
for the bars:

In a medium bowl, combine strawberries, brown sugar, and 1/4 cup of the flour. In another medium bowl, whisk the remaining 1-1/4 cup of flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. With mixer on low, beat in vanilla and almond extract, then flour mixture. Spread batter in prepared pan. Top with rhubarb and strawberry mixture, then top with prepared streusel. If you like to have some of the pretty red of the rhubarb and strawberries show on top (I do!), poke a few pieces up through the streusel.

Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a bit of moist crumbs attached, about 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool completely in pan. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and, using the parchment paper overhang, lift cake from pan. Cut into bars and dust with powdered sugar. Serve as is, or with some freshly whipped cream!

Adapted from A Farm Girl Dabbles

Baked Apples with Oatmeal and Yogurt

These baked apples are delicious! It's like having a yummy dessert for breakfast. And I'm all for having dessert for breakfast! But, that's not to say that these are overly sweet. 

Hollowed out apples are brushed with cinnamon butter and baked in apple cider. Once they are crisp tender, they're filled with a creamy oatmeal scented with fresh orange zest. The glorious stuffed apples get topped off with a caramel sauce made from the pan drippings and a dollop of yogurt. All the flavors and textures in these stuffed apples are wonderful together! I wish I had one of these apples right now. Yum!

A special thanks to my mom who made these for me when she was in town! I'm sure I'll be making this recipe often.

Baked Apples with Oatmeal and Yogurt

6 apples (Gala or Fuji), bottoms sliced so apples stand
1 fresh lemon, halved
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch ground black pepper
1 cup apple cider
1 cup whole milk, heated
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
1 1/2 cups cooked quick-cooking steel-cut oatmeal, prepared according to package

Low-fat Greek yogurt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut off the top third of each apple. With a small knife, and working from the top of each apple, carefully carve out a large "bowl," including the core, about 2 inches in diameter. Rub the cut part with lemon and put the apples into a 9-inch square baking dish. Dice the carved-out parts of the apples, without the seeds, and set aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, and then whisk in 4 tablespoons of the sugar, the cinnamon and pepper and cook until smooth. Brush the inside of the apples with the butter mixture. Pour the apple cider into the bottom of the baking dish. Cover the dish with foil and bake until the apples are tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 5 minutes longer.

Transfer the apples to a platter. Carefully strain the cooking liquid into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Cook until it is reduced and thickened, about 5 minutes.

While the apples are baking, stir the hot milk, remaining brown sugar, reserved chopped apples and orange zest into the warm oatmeal and cook for a few minutes. Divide the oatmeal among the baked apples. Top each apple with a dollop of yogurt and drizzle the reduced cider over the top.

Recipe: Bobby Flay

Pretzel Rolls

I was introduced to these amazing pretzel rolls when a neighbor brought them over when we moved into our house and again when we had our baby. They have the appearance and flavor of a baked pretzel on the outside and the soft, fluffy texture of a yeast roll on the inside. They are soooo good, especially warm from the oven. Who can resist a hot roll?

I was so happy my neighbor was willing to share her recipe. I've tweaked it a bit so it doesn't make so many and added more detail to the instructions. I have made these countless times and they always turn out great. My kids love them too! Actually, everyone that tries them loves them. And they're great on their own or served with soup or used for sandwiches. Yum, yum, yum!

I'm not a bread baker and I had never made any kind of yeast rolls or bread from scratch before these, so I was a little hesitant to try them. But, the recipe is straight-forward and simple and requires only a few ingredients. These do have a few steps (making the dough, letting it proof, rolling out the balls, boiling the balls in baking soda water...) but I really enjoyed the process and now I want to try making other types of bread as well!

Don't be intimidated by homemade rolls, especially these ones! This is a great recipe to start with!

Pretzel Rolls

Yield: About 2 dozen 

1 1/2 cups water, warm to touch (just above room temperature)

2 teaspoons quick rise yeast 

1/3 cup white sugar 

4 tablespoons butter, melted 

4 to 4 1/2 cups flour 

1 1/4 teaspoons salt 

1 1/2 tablespoons baking soda 

  water for boiling 

1 beaten egg with a splash of water

Coarse salt for sprinkling

In a glass bowl, add yeast. Pour in warm water and let sit for 5 minutes or until bubbly and foamy. Using a stand mixer, pour yeast mixture into a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment. Turn to low. Add sugar and mix for 30 seconds. Pour in melted butter, flour* and salt. Mix until dough just comes together. Put on dough hook attachment. Mix until dough forms a ball, about 1 minute. Don’t over knead.

Remove from bowl. Knead dough a few times on floured surface. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled glass bowl. Cover with a tea or kitchen towel and let proof for 1 hour (choose the warmest spot in your kitchen. Yeast loves heat). Once proofed (the dough should be about double in size), divide dough into balls. This recipe yields around 2 dozen regular-sized rolls. You can make them as little or as big as you would like.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large pot, bring water (enough to completely cover balls) and baking soda to a boil. Add dough balls a few at a time and boil for 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer boiled balls to parchment-lined** baking sheet. Brush tops with egg mixture, sprinkle with flaked or coarse salt and bake until golden brown on top. 12-15 minutes. 

If you’re feeling naughty, brush warm rolls with melted butter. Serve hot, warm or cold. These babies are good at any temp!

* Start with 4 cups of flour. The dough should feel like play doh. If it's sticky, add in remaining 1/2 cup of flour.

** Make sure you use parchment paper. The baking soda will leave rings on your baking sheet.

Inspired by and adapted from Penny Timmer

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How-to with Pictures:

Once your dough just comes together, switch from the paddle attachment to the dough hook.

The dough hook will knead the dough and make a nice ball

Take the large ball of dough and place it in a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with a towel and let it proof (rise) for an hour. It will double in size.

 Once the dough has proofed, cut it into equal pieces.

Using the heel and palm of your hand, roll each piece into balls.

You should have a 'belly button' on the bottom of each roll. If not, don't sweat it. Roll the balls anyway you like. You can also roll them into snakes and twist them into a knot to make pretzel shapes. You'll have to google that :) 

The dough balls take a quick dip into boiling water with baking soda (that's where they get that golden pretzel hue and texture) and then onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet where they're brushed with an egg wash, sprinkled with flaked salt and baked until dark brown and delicious!

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Here's another quick and tasty treat that you can whip up in a few minutes. These chocolate chip bars are soft and chewy and have that classic buttery chocolate chip cookie flavor. You can use any chips you like in these. Butterscotch, peanut butter and white chocolate are all tasty options. I made one batch with half chocolate chips and the other half with butterscotch chips and my family really enjoyed both. I think I liked the butterscotch the best. Yum!

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. all-purpose or unbleached flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9"x13" pan. In large bowl combine sugar and melted butter; blend well. Add eggs, 1 at a time beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Spoon lightly into measuring cup, flour, level off. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread in prepared pan. Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until set. Do not overbake. Cool before cutting into squares. Make up to 36 bars.

Inspired By: Cooks.com

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

These oat bars may not look like much, but they are really delicious. You only need a few basic ingredients and your favorite jam and you can have scrumptious jam bars in no time.

These pack and travel really well, so besides being yummy to snack on anytime a craving hits, they're also great for packing in lunches. My little girl has been enjoying these in her lunch all week (and I enjoy them with coffee in the morning).

I like to cut them into bars or smaller sizes when taking them to parties or packing them in lunches.

If you have a few basic baking ingredients on hand, you can whip up these tasty bars in a matter of minutes.


Strawberry Oatmeal BarsIngredients
1 3/4 sticks salted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for greasing pan
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup oats

1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
One 10 to 12-ounce jar strawberry preserves
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch rectangular pan.

Mix together the butter, flour, oats, vanilla, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Press half the oat mixture into the prepared pan. Spread with the strawberry preserves. Sprinkle the other half of the oat mixture over the top and pat lightly. Bake until light brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely, and then cut into squares.
* I used a food processor to make the crust and topping. You could also use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter into the dry ingredients.

Inspired By: The Pioneer Woman

Appetizers!

With New Years parties and gatherings around the corner, I thought an appetizer round-up was in store. Here are some tasty and fun bite-sized snacks and treats from some of my favorite bloggers as well as the most popular appetizers from this site. Just click on the titles for the recipes.  

Enjoy! And Happy New Years!

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Chili Lime Shrimp Cups

A flavor-packed appetizer with zesty lime shrimp and a little kick of spice from ground chili powder all wrapped up in a crunchy wonton wrapper. 

Good ideas: add some diced scallions or fresh cilantro - mix in some of the spicy shrimp sauce with the sour cream for extra flavor.

Chicken Salad with Peas in Celery Ribs
Love this idea. You could do any flavor of chicken salad like curry, or switch it up and make a tuna salad. You feel healthy just looking at all that green!

Mini Baked Brie Roll Ups
Creamy brie is rolled up in a buttery biscuit dough and baked until warm and gooey.
Good idea: To make them extra decadent add in your favorite brie pairing like caramelized onions or jam.

Mini Veggie Dip Cups

These single serving veggie cups are great for a party because the veggies and dip are all-in-one. Just take mini plastic glasses (found at a party store or grocery store) and place some dip (ranch or this homemade dill dip) in the bottom of each glass. Then fill with your favorite sliced veggies. Carrots, cucumbers, bell pepper, broccoli, celery, zucchini and tomatoes are all great veggies to use.

This Picture: My Baking Addiction

Mac N' Cheese Bites
Yum! Creamy Mac N' Cheese is baked into cute popable portions. These are great for kids and adults.

Cookie Dough Truffles

I love these eggless cookie dough truffles! They are super simple to make and kids and adults can't resist them. I've made them with sugar cookie dough (dipped in white chocolate), peanut butter dough and chocolate chip. All delicious!

Bruschetta

Always a hit. This simple tomato bruschetta comes from The Pioneer Woman.
Good ideas: Smear the toast with avocado or goat cheese.

Cheesy Pull-Apart Bread

French bread gets sliced and stuffed with cheese and your favorite toppings and then baked into ooey gooey cheesy perfection. This is a crowd pleaser for sure!

Raspberry Coconut Macaroons

I love these macaroon cookies. They are tart, sweet and chewy and something different to add to your buffet.

Taco Meatball Ring

A fun and festive appetizer that's as pretty as it is delicious. Part appetizer, part dip, part salad. It's all your favorite taco fixings surrounded by a yummy ring of meatballs wrapped in crescent rolls.

7-Layer Greek Dip

This dip is a delicious twist on the usual 7-layer mexican dip. With all the yummy Mediterranean flavors like kalamata olives, feta and tomatoes, it always gets gobbled up! Serve with crackers, pita or bread.

Individual 7-Layer Dips

And if you like 7-layer dip, why not serve it in cute individual cups? Love this idea and all your guests will too!

Oreo Cookie Dough Brownies

The name says it all. These brownies are rich, decadent bites of heaven and everyone just loves them. How could you not?

Cheesy Chicken and Artichoke Bites

Classic ingredients baked into a flaky pastry shell. Yum!

Caprese Bites

All the fresh flavors of a Caprese salad, served on colorful tooth picks for an easy finger-friendly hor d'oeuvre . This is another crowd favorite. Plus, it can be made ahead!

Stuffed Mushrooms

There's just something about mushrooms stuffed with sausage that people go crazy for. These ones are so simple to make and so good too!

Potato Skins

At the last few parties I've been to, these potato skins are always the crowd favorite. There's just something about crispy potato skins filled with melty cheese and bacon that makes them always disappear quickly.

Raspberry and Oat Cookie Bars

Bars and cookies make for great party food because they're so easy to pick up and nibble on. No plates required. These bars are nice because they can be made ahead of time and you can use any flavor of jam you like.

Grape, Goat Cheese and Pistachio Truffles

Quick, easy, unique, tasty and impressive. There's something strangely addictive about these.

Caramel Corn

Sweet, salty, crunchy...this fabulous caramel corn disappears quickly. I wish I had some now!

What's your favorite appetizer/treat to make for a party? Feel free to link to your blog and share your favorites.

Cranberry Eggnog Cookies!

The fresh cranberry lemon cookies I posted about last week were so well received, I was inspired to make another cranberry cookie! I thought the flavors of cranberries and eggnog would be a festive and tasty combo and I was right! The sweet, rich flavor of the eggnog gets offset by the tart cranberries and makes for a really delicious cookie. 

The cookies are super soft and have a lovely warm flavor from the nutmeg and rum extract and a nice punch from the cranberries. The eggnog frosting is too scrumptious and makes these a delicious treat!

Cranberry Eggnog Cookies
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp rum extract
1 1/4 cups fresh cranberries, diced

Eggnog Frosting
4 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1-2 Tbsp eggnog

directions:

In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and rum extract, mixing until smooth. Add in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in the cranberries by hand.

Preheat the oven to 350. Gently form the dough into balls and bake for 13-15 minutes on parchment lined cookie sheets. Let the cookies cool slightly before moving them to a rack to cool completely.

To make frosting, beat butter until fluffy. Add in powdered sugar and nutmeg, beat until smooth. Beat in 1 tablespoon eggnog. Mix in another 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of eggnog or until desired frosting consistency. Frost cooled cookies. Sprinkle with more nutmeg if desired.

Egg Nog Cake Bites

These egg nog cake bites are one of the most viewed recipes on my blog right now, so I thought I would repost the recipe. 

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Cake bites, cake pops, cake balls...whatever you call them, are everywhere now. But, my favorite come from a bakery in Salt Lake called The Sweet Tooth Fairy. On my last visit to SLC I had the chance to try the peppermint, pumpkin, gingerbread and eggnog cake bites. My favorite was the eggnog. So, I decided to make my own when I got home.

I just followed the basic idea for making cake bites/pops which is  1.) bake a cake 2.) mix cooled and crumbled cake with frosting 3.) roll cake/frosting mixture into balls 4.) chill cake balls 5.) dip cooled cake balls into melted chocolate.

These take a little time, but cake bites are super simple to make and assemble. And you can make them in any flavor you want (chocolate peppermint cake/dark chocolate coating, spice cake/white chocolate, strawberry cake/ white chocolate, you get the idea). Plus, they make great neighbor/friend gifts!

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Ingredients

Vanilla cake mix , Egg Nog, Nutmeg, Rum, Frosting, Candy Coating

Make a vanilla or white cake mix according to the box, substituting the water or milk with Egg Nog. Add in fresh nutmeg and rum extract for that classic egg nog flavor.

 Bake that wonderful batter.

 Once cake is cooled slightly, coarsely crumble.

 Mix crumbled cake with canned or homemade frosting. It seems like cream cheese flavored frosting is the favorite with the recipes I've seen. I had a Trader Joe's vanilla bean cake mix that only made enough to fit an 8 x 8 inch pan. So, I used a little less than half a container of canned frosting. Most cake mixes use a 9x13 pan, so when you go to mix the cake only add about half a can of frosting and then more as needed so you don't end up with gooey cake. Chill this mixture before rolling into balls.

The cake balls go into the freezer so they are nice and firm to dip in the chocolate.

 Melt white candy coating until smooth and pourable.  I heated mine in a pan over really low heat. I let it cool just a tad, but it still had a runny consistency.

Tip:

Cut chocolate into even pieces so it cooks quicker and doesn't burn.

 Dip chilled cake balls into melted chocolate. I choose white chocolate because it paired well with the egg nog flavor, but of course you could use any combo of cake/chocolate coating.

 Use tooth picks to dip the balls into the chocolate and then to get them on the baking sheet. While the white chocolate is still soft you can smooth out the little hole the tooth pick leaves or you can drizzle more chocolate on top and add sprinkles.

 See. No hole. 

 I didn't have a chance to cut one open and show how moist and yummy they looked inside. Once my husband got home, him and the kids devoured an entire tray and the rest went to neighbors. Speaking of which...

 I packaged the cake bites in these cute little holiday boxes.

And bundled the cake bites with some hand crocheted kitchen towels. Very cute!

Egg Nog Cake Bites

1 Vanilla or White Cake Mix

3/4 tsp. Nutmeg

1 1/2 tsps. Rum Extract

1 can cream cheese frosting

White chocolate coating

Bake cake according to package directions. Substitute egg nog for any water or milk called for and add 3/4 tsp fresh nutmeg and 1 1/2 tsps rum extract to cake mix. Cool cake. Crumble cake in a large bowl and mix in one half of canned frosting. It's best to just get in their with your hands. Add frosting as needed until you can roll the cake into balls. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Freeze for a half hour.

Melt candy coating in the microwave or on the stove stop. Dip chilled balls into melted chocolate, coating all sides evenly. Place balls on cookie sheet. Let stand at room temp until coating has harden. Repeat with remaining balls and chocolate. If desired, drizzle more chocolate on top of each ball and top with sprinkles.