Tag Archives: Good Eats

Chocolate Rainbow Sprinkle Cookies

12 Wednesday Sep 2012

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Do you ever have those days where you just want 5 cookies a cookie? Does that happen to be every day for you? Okay good we’re on the same page.

I’m a dessert gal. I’d take a cookie over a steak any day.  When I saw this recipe on pinterest, I knew I had to make it… and I knew I had to make them rainbow.

The fact that these are so easy to make and sooo delicious makes them utterly dangerous. Do not make these! They are addicting! You’ll be eating 5 before you know it! They are chocolately, crispy, melt in your mouth, delicious. And pretty to boot! I’m thinking the sliver sparkly sprinkles hanging out in my kitchen are next. Boy, do I have a weakness for all things pretty and yummy.

THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP: taste test a warm one right off of the pan.

Tad ate about 10 in one sitting after I made these. They didn’t last long in our house and I don’t think they’ll last long in yours… good lookin’ and scrumptious cookies have a way of disappearing!

Chocolate Rainbow Sprinkle Cookies (Adapted from here)- yields ~ 48 cookies

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 Large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup rainbow sprinkles (or any kind you prefer!)
8 oz. semisweet baking chocolate, finely chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking sheets. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt, then set aside. Cream the sugars and butter together with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until just combined. Add in the vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture, until just combined. Add in the chocolate and sprinkles, mixing by hand.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto the baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until brown. Cool on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack. Enjoy!

*The recipe ended up making a lot of dough… it would have yielded more cookies than I should probably allow myself in a week. SO, I decided to freeze a third of the dough to bake later. Below are some pictures of how I rolled the dough and froze it… makes perfectly round cookies to be thawed and baked in no time! (Thaw in the fridge overnight before baking)

Plop about 3 or 4 large scoops of dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap.

Pull both sides of the plastic wrap together and roll the dough between the plastic wrap until it starts forming a log.

Seal the sides together and then twist the ends, making sure the dough is in the shape of a log.

Wrap the dough again in foil to seal in all of the cookie deliciousness. Freeze until you’re ready for another round of cookies!

Thaw, cut, bake!

ENJOY!

Natalie

Sour Cream and Beef Enchiladas

10 Monday Sep 2012

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Oh these are good. These are really good.  Cheesy, beefy (hate that word), creamy, flavorful… I could go on and on. I didn’t expect anything less from The Pioneer Woman though. I have yet to be disappointed by a recipe of hers and this is no exception.

The Set Up

I decided to add beef to the enchiladas for the meat lover in our household. He doesn’t really understand the concept of JUST eating cheese in/on something so I had to add the beef. It was a fabulous decision.

(On a side note: Can I get a shout out from some cheese pizza/ cheese enchiladas/ cheese plate fans? Tad doesn’t understand the concept. I’m baffled. What’s so wrong with just plain cheese?)

CHEESE

Make these right now. Make them tonight. Make them this week.  Make them every night of this week (too much?). Do it. You won’t regret it.

I made the filling the night before to save some time the night we had them (didn’t add the beef until right before the filling stage though). The more difficult part of this recipe is the fry–> dip –> fill part but it’s really not too bad.  They took me about 20 minutes to whip up.  Not too shabby!

Sour Cream and Beef Enchiladas (adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients
2 cups sour cream
1 cup green onions, chopped
3 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1 lb. ground beef
12 corn tortillas
1 20 oz. can enchilada sauce
Canola oil, for frying

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brown beef in a pan, drain the juice, and set aside. Mix together the sour cream, green onions, 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, cumin, and chili powder. Add the beef to the sour cream mixture and mix. Set aside.

Heat up the canola oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Add the enchilada sauce to another pan and heat on medium-low heat. One by one (using tongs!), add the tortillas to the oil for about 5 seconds per side. Don’t leave them in too long as they become really fragile! After the oil, move them to the enchilada sauce pan and coat them in the sauce. Then move to a plate and spoon about 3 Tbsp. of the sour cream-beef mixture to the tortilla. Roll them up and move to a 9×13 baking dish. Continue doing this for the remainder of the tortillas.

(There was quite a bit of the sour cream- beef mixture leftover so we saved it and ate it as a dip for tortilla chips! You can also save it and add it to tortillas for lunch the next day. It’s also delicious on its own… but you didn’t hear that from me 😉 )

Once all of the tortillas are filled, rolled, and added to the baking dish, sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on top of the tortillas. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until cheese becomes bubbly!

Serve with sour cream, guacamole, green onions sprinkled on top, hot sauce, etc… you choose!

Olé!
Natalie

Chocolate Coconut Almond Scones

04 Tuesday Sep 2012

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Is it just me or do recipes that require careful watching, kneading, and timing scare you to death? I have a tendency to stay away from biscuits, cinnamon rolls, pie crusts, and scones for this very reason. Just too much work. Too much stress. Too much worrying! Is the butter broken up into small enough pieces? Have I rolled it out too long? Is the butter still COLD enough?? Is this work of art I’ve spent the past hour on going to look like a pile of slop??

This is why I avoid such recipes. However, when I saw this recipe on Joy the Baker’s blog I couldn’t NOT make it. Chocolate, sliced almonds, and sweetened coconut? Hi, I’m in Heaven. I had to try it. And good news! It wasn’t too stressful! Sure, I had my doubts during the process (minor temperature situation) but this recipe took less than an hour to make (and less than an hour to eat). It turned out to be a relatively easy recipe and one I will definitely be making again.

I HIGHLY suggest you make this recipe soon. The scones are the perfect start to a saturday morning with a cup of coffee. They aren’t too sweet so if you’re not into really sweet things, these are for you! I have a mighty strong sweet tooth so adding a bit of jelly or apple butter made them absolutely perfect. The chocolate chips provide a sweet touch to these biscuits and the almonds and coconut add amazing flavors. Doesn’t get much better than these.

Chocolate Almond Coconut Scones

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1 large egg
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. buttermilk
1/3 cup shredded coconut (I used sweetened but unsweetened is also fine)
1/3 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Buttermilk and sugar for topping

Directions
Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Place rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the coconut and almonds and place on an uncovered baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until browned (watch the coconut! It browns quickly!). Set aside and allow to cool.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking power, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter cubes to the flour and using your hands, quickly mix the butter into the flour mixture. The pieces of butter should end up the size of peas or small pebbles. Place bowl in the fridge.

Whisk together the buttermilk and egg. Remove the bowl from the fridge and whisk in the almonds, coconut, and chocolate chips. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the buttermilk-egg mixture to the well in the center of the bowl. Using a fork, bring the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Continue until ingredients are well mixed. Flour a work surface and place the dough (it will be clumpy!) on it. Form a 1 1/2 inch disk with the dough using your hands. Using a biscuit cutter (I used a wine glass…), cut out the biscuits and place on the baking sheets about 1 inch apart*. Brush a little bit of buttermilk onto the biscuits then sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 14-18 minutes or until golden brown on top.

*I like to only bake one sheet at a time to make sure everything is cooked thoroughly. I placed the biscuits waiting to be baked in the fridge until it was their turn in the oven… Gotta keep the butter happy and cold!

Serve warm with jelly, apple butter, or plain!

Enjoy!
Natalie

Buttermilk Roast Chicken

29 Wednesday Aug 2012

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Hi! Natalie here… I’ll be testing recipes and sharing them here with you on the regular (only the delicious ones, of course). Today is a tasty recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen (Deb is an absolute genius in the kitchen).  This is definitely a go-to recipe in our house for those extra busy weeks (is there ever NOT a busy week??) where you want something homemade, delicious, and quick! This recipe is SO easy and is sure to please everyone.

I typically serve this with a green bean casserole and roasted potatoes. Make the casserole and potatoes ahead of time, and you’ve got yourself a hassle-free dinner! That leaves extra time for a glass of wine, a good book, and Mad Men (anyone? anyone? I’m absolutely obsessed)! I may or may not picture myself as Betty Draper when I make this dish… I think you should do the same. 🙂

Buttermilk Roast Chicken

Ingredients
2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. paprika + 1-2 tsp. for sprinkling
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp.  granulated sugar
5 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 Tbsp. dried basil
Large amounts of ground black pepper (I used around 2-3 Tbsp.)
Roughly 2-3 lb. chicken parts (I use all legs)
Olive Oil for drizzling
Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Directions
Whisk together the buttermilk, paprika, salt, sugar, garlic, basil, and pepper. Place chicken in a gallon size bag or a large tupperware container. Pour the buttermilk mixture over the chicken, close the bag or container tightly and let it sit in the fridge to marinate. I like to make this the day before and let it sit for 24-36 hours in the buttermilk. However, I’ve also made it the day of with only marinating it as little as four hours (either way, it’s delicious).

When you’re ready to cook the chicken, pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking dish with foil (easy clean up!). Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and arrange the parts in the baking dish. Drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle the paprika and salt on the chicken. Bake in the oven for 30 mins until brown and scorched in some spots. If baking chicken breasts, increase the time to 35-40 min. Serve immediately!

Bon Appétit!
Natalie