Tag Archives: holiday

My Favorites: Recipes #MTBoS12Days

Did you see @pamwilson and @druinok have started a “Yule Blog Challenge“? 12 days of blog prompts!  And only some of them actually involve thinking about teaching, which is a nice break for the holidays. In fact, it starts with favorites, including recipes!

(Also, guys, did you know that if you copy a link, and then highlight the words you want to be a hyperlink in your post, then ctrl + v, it automatically changes it to a hyperlink? Why am I just finding out about this now?)

If you like recipes and nice people, you should follow Sally’s Baking Addiction. I have two of her recipes that I actually get requests for:

Nutella-Stuffed Cinnamon Sugar Muffins (I usually make them the morning I have off for my prep period final, but this year I decided to sleep in instead. I think there were almost tears when I didn’t show up with them… 😉 )

Peanut Butter Monster Cookies. Confession: I tried making these with the peanut butter cup surprise and it went horribly. The cookies spread out way too much, so it was like this flat pancake with a bump in the middle (they still tasted good, though). So now I make them just as normal-size cookies, without the peanut butter cup. Super easy-no mixer or chilling!

My most recent find was the Ovenly Chocolate Chip Cookies. Warning: These are labeled as “vegan” and contain no butter. Or eggs (hence, “vegan”) Right now you’re thinking, “I don’t want some sad tree-bark cookie, Meg. This makes me question all of your recipe recommendations.” But you’ll just have to trust me. If you know me at all, you’ll know I don’t mess around with my desserts (e.g. having 3 people tweet me locations of cupcake bakeries within 1 hour of TMC16 location announcement). Mix ’em up today and bake them tomorrow and then you can shower me with gifts and accolades. Because I have tested a bajillion chocolate chip recipes and they always turn out somewhere from “ok” to “edible” to “WTF.”  I have made these probably 5 times since I tried out the recipe a couple months ago and every time they’ve turned out beautifully. Mr Craig says it’s his favorite chocolate chip EVER!

But now you’re asking, what is his FAVORITE cookie?  Well, that would be good ol’ Chocolate Crinkles. You know, the brownie-like cookie rolled in powdered sugar? Here’s the recipe I use:

Chocolate Crinkles

Beat together:
1/4 c oil
2 oz unsweetened chocolate (melted)
1 c sugar
1 t vanilla

Add 2 eggs 1 at a time

Beat in:
1 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt

Refrigerate 3+ hours. Spoon out dough, roll into balls, roll in powdered sugar
Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Somehow they get better the next day? (If they last that long)

My next one comes with a warning: DO NOT MAKE THESE WHEN YOU WILL BE LEFT UNSUPERVISED IN THE HOUSE. For real, you’ll take a handful now, ooh, just one more, and all of a sudden, there’s nothing left. And you’re in a sugar coma.

Candied Pecans
Whisk 1 egg white and 2 tablespoons water.

In a separate bowl, stir together:
1 c sugar
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon

Pour the egg white mixture over 1 pound of pecans (in yet another bowl) and stir to coat. Then pour the sugar mix over the pecans and stir to coat. Spread out onto cookie sheet (greased or silpat-ed or non-stick foiled) and bake at 225 for 1 hour, stirring every 15-20 minutes. Eat at least 3 when they are nice and hot from the oven. After cooling, store the rest in an air-tight container, on a high shelf, behind a padlock that only your dog knows the combination to.

Ok, last one! If you are not making your own whipped cream, you are missing out, my friend. And if you are not making your own whipped cream with a little “adult addition” then you are really missing out. It is super easy! I PROMISE! Use it to top anything (I may have been known to dip the above Chocolate Crinkles in it)

Amaretto Whipped Cream
Whisk 1 c of heavy cream until soft peaks form (Note: on my kitchenaide, that is 30 seconds at Level 7)  (Note: some people say you should chill the bowl and whisk in the freezer before making it, but I’ve done it both with and without and don’t a difference)

Add 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar, 2 Tablespoons Amaretto, and 1/2 t vanilla and beat. I won’t judge you if you need to “sample” it more than once. You just want to make sure it’s perfect, right?  Enjoy the oohs and aahs from friends and family when you tell them it’s homemade whipped cream.

Please join in on the Yule Blog fun!  I love reading other people’s favorite recipes. 🙂