Mustard Pretzel Chicken

Love this recipe!! Found on Pinterest, I originally got this recipe from Cinnamon and Spice and Everything Nice www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com.

Ingredients
4 cups hard pretzel crumbs
1/2 cup Canola oil
1/2 cup coarse mustard
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts

Steps
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a food processor, pulse the pretzels until coarsely ground. Transfer into a shallow bowl.
2. Wipe out the food processor, mix the olive oil, Dijon mustard, water, and vinegar and pulse until mixed smoothly. Season with salt and pepper!
3. Pour half of the dressing in a shallow bowl, dredge chicken and then coat with pretzel crumbs and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes until done.
4. Cut the chicken and serve warm with the rest of the dressing.
5. Pair with any vegetables, I served with corn and asparagus.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Coca Cola Cupcakes

Something new to try, right? Not too bad of a result either! I got this recipe from www.acozykitchen.com.

Ingredients for Cake
2 cups Coca-Cola (do not use diet)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

Steps
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. In a small saucepan, heat the Coca-Cola, cocoa powder, and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add both sugar and the brown sugar and whisk until dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.
4. In a small bowl whisk the eggs until just beaten, then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Batter might be lumpy, that is okay, don't overbeat.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Cool completely.

Ingredients for Frosting
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Maraschino cherries for topping

Steps for Frosting
1. Beat whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until peaks begin to form.
2. Choose your icing tip, I used the round tip for these cupcakes.
3. Top with a cherry and enjoy!








- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

UPcakes

These cupcakes are based off one of the best movies, UP! Months and months ago Loree tagged me in this pin for UPcakes, so for her 25th birthday I surprised her by making them for her, never mentioning another thing about them since she pinned it!

I made 24 mini vanilla bean cupcakes and one jumbo vanilla cupcake to complete this dessert! I found the recipe off of Pinterest but it originally comes from Gimme Some Oven, www.gimmesomeoven.com.

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out (cut the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds)
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream (avoid non-fat versions)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup whole milk

Steps
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Add sugar and vanilla bean to a large bowl and beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add in cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, beat for additional 1 minute until well mixed. Add butter and mix on medium speed for about 2 minutes until well combined.
3. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, Greek yogurt, and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat on medium until just combined.
4. Slowly add milk and beat on low until just combined. The batter will be thin.
5. Fill the cupcake liners just over 1/2 full. Bake for 14 minutes at 350 and test to see if they are done. Cool completely before frosting.

Ingredients for Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean (optional)
3-4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Steps for Frosting
1. Add the butter and beat on medium speed for 1 minute until smooth.
2. Add powdered sugar, salt, vanilla extract, the seed of a vanilla bean and about 2 tablespoons milk, beat on low speed for about a minute. Increase to medium speed and beat for an additional minute until smooth. Add an extra tablespoon or two of milk if you want a thinner frosting.

Decorating the UPcakes
1. Separate frosting into 4 different bowls and color to your choosing (I did pastels- blue, green, yellow, and pink). Save some frosting aside for the big cupcake.
2. I used a round tip for these cupcakes and decorated each of the little cupcakes, alternating the colors.
3. Frost the larger cupcake with the vanilla frosting with the round tip and use food coloring pens to draw on the house.
4. Arrange the smaller cupcakes above the larger cupcake and using your food coloring pens add some balloon strings! I used a baking sheet to make transporting easier.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Spinach Pasta with Ricotta and Pine Nuts

Pasta, yum. Spinach, yum. Ricotta, yum! What could go wrong with this recipe? I got this recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Food Everyday, Great Food Fast (yes, while most of my recipes do come from Pinterest I still have a few printed and bound cookbooks that I live by!)
Ingredients
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 pound spinach penne (I actually used rotini for this recipe)
1 1/2 pound baby spinach
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the pine nuts on a rimmed baking sheet; toast in oven, toss occasionally, 6-8 minutes. Set aside.
2. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta according to the package directions. During the last two minutes of cooking, add the fresh spinach and continue cooking. Drain and then return the pasta and spinach to the pot.
3. Add the olive oil, season generously with salt & pepper and toss well.
4. Serve immediately, topped with ricotta, pine nuts, and Parmesan.
5. Enjoy!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tacky Christmas Sweater

Again, this is an untimely post but save it for December, you'll be glad you did! Our Toastmasters club has started having an annual "Tacky Sweater Party" in December and this year, I decided a themed dessert was in order!

This post is more for the decoration of the cake so I will not have recipes attached but I believe I used a simple yellow cake recipe and I know I used a cream cheese frosting, which you can find in many of my blogs (Carrot Cake Cupcakes or Red Velvet Cupcakes)!

You can design this sweater however you like, make it as tacky as you can! I chose to do red and green frosting and added edible cake decorations purchased at JoAnns, Target, or Michaels!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Cheesecake

This is a simple, never failing cheesecake recipe! Who doesn't love a good slice of rich cheesecake? I got this recipe from my mom and hope I can live up to it!

Ingredients for Crust
12 ounce box vanilla wafers, crushed
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Steps for the Crust
1. Mix crushed vanilla wafers and butter and press into 10 inch spring loaded pan.
2. Cover bottom and at least half the sides.

Ingredients for Filling
40 ounces cream cheese
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 large eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream

Steps for Filling
1. In a large mixing bowl cream the cream cheese.
2. Mix in sugar, flour, salt, lemon peel, and vanilla. Beat well.
3. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, beat after each egg.
4. Blend in the heavy cream.
5. Pour into the crust.
6. Bake at 500 for 10 minutes. The top of the cheesecake may get brown but as long as it is not burning that is fine.
7. Then bake at 225 for 70-80 minutes.
8. The filling will almost set. Let it cool to room temperature and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
9. Run knife around the edge of the pan before releasing the spring.
10. You can top it with whip cream, strawberries, or a jelly of your choice.
11. Enjoy! For a Christmas treat, a birthday cake alternative, or just a random dessert!







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Chocolate cupcakes with Peppermint Swirl frosting

I have been slacking on uploading new recipes, never fear I'm back and plan to do a major upload today!

While I know these cupcakes are a little more for the "winter" season, it doesn't mean you can't plan enjoy them any time! I tend to find one cupcake flavor that I love for a season and make it for everything I do, these cupcakes were my Christmas season go-to! Lets get on to the recipe!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Swirl Frosting
I originally got this recipe from Glorious Treats glorioustreats.blogspot.com and love it!!

Cake Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions
1. Line muffin tin and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder,baking soda, and salt.
3. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for about 1 minute.
4. Stir in boiling water (your batter will be thin, this is correct).
5. Fill liners about 2/3 full.
6. Bake for 22-24 minutes, I still turn the pan halfway through.
7. Cool completely before frosting.

Ingredients for Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup butter
6 oz. cream cheese
4 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions
1. Place butter in a mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined.
2. Add powdered sugar, a little bit at a time,and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed until fluffy.
3. Add vanilla and peppermint extracts.
4. Slowly add cream, a little at a time until desired consistency is reached.
5. Beat about a minute, until fluffy.

Because I use a piping tool to frost I usually 1 1/2 the icing recipe, the ingredients above are the original ingredients

Before filling the piping bag or tool, take some red food coloring gel on a toothpick and drag it down two sides of the piping tool then fill with the frosting. Once you frost the cupcakes add a Hershey's peppermint kiss on top, I tend to only put the kisses on half the cupcakes in case some prefer them without. Enjoy!







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad