Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp cream of tarter
1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Beat sugar and butter together in a large bowl until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs; blend well.  Add flour, cream of tarter and baking soda; mix well.

3. In a shallow dish mix together cinnamon and sugar.  Roll dough into 1" balls, then roll in the cinnamon/sugar mixture.

4. Place balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.

Notes: Depending on the size of your balls, this recipe will make 3-4 dozen cookies.

Recipe Origination: I've been using this one since I was in high school.  I have no idea where it came from!

Indian Chicken Kabobs with Naan

Indian Chicken Kabobs with Naan

Naan
1 (0.25 oz) package active quick rise yeast
1 cup warm water
1/8 cup white sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 egg
1 tsp salt
4 cups flour (we use half regular, half white whole wheat)
2-3 tbsp butter, melted

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt and flour to make a soft dough.  Knead for 8 minutes on a floured surface.  Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth.  Let rise for 30 minutes.

2. Punch dough down.  Pinch off golf ball sized chunks of dough and roll into balls, placing on a tray.  Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 15 minutes.

3. Preheat grill to high.  Flatten dough balls into thin circles with your hands and place on lightly oiled grates.  Cook for a few minutes until puffy, brushing with melted butter.  Flip and cook a few more minutes, brushing with melted butter.

Notes: During step 2 you can knead in minced garlic and/or soft cheese chunks.  This recipe as is will make about 16 pieces of naan.

Recipe Origination: Some tweaking of an allrecipes.com recipe


Indian Chicken Kabobs

5 whole cloves
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice from 1 lime
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground ginger
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, largely cubed
1 red pepper, seeded and cut into large chunks
1 yellow onion, peeled and cut into large chunks

1. In a large bowl whisk together all ingredients except the chicken. Use a fork to puncture the chicken chunks, then add to the marinade.  Stir to coat.  Refrigerate for at least one hour (up to overnight), stirring occasionally.

2. Thread kabob sticks with chicken, red pepper, and onion.  Lightly oil the grates, and grill on medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes, turning occasionally, until no longer pink in the center.

Notes: This will serve 4 people.

Recipe Origination: After pouring through tons of Tandoori chicken recipes from various places, I put together my own blend of spices based on what we had and the time I was willing to spend on it.  The entire family was happy with the results!

Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

1/2 bag mini pretzel twists
2 sticks butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 bag chocolate chips
Sea salt (or kosher salt)

1. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper (or aluminum foil) and spread pretzels evenly over the bottom of the pan. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a medium saucepan melt the butter and sugar on medium heat.  Bring to a boil and stir continuously until mixture sticks to bottom of pan and forms a smooth caramel.  Once it thickens and bubbles pour evenly over the pretzels.

3. Place pan in oven for 5 minutes.  Remove, sprinkle with chocolate chips and place  back in oven for 1 minute.  Spread the chocolate evenly over the pretzels.  Sprinkle with sea salt.  Let the pan sit for 5 minutes before placing in the freezer for at least an hour.

4. Break bark into pieces by hand and store in an airtight container in the freezer.

Notes: You can easily make this one GF - just use GF pretzels.

Recipe Origination: This one came from the lovely Joy Helfers!

Falafel

Falafel

2 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained (15-16 oz each)
1 shallot, chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup loosely packed flat leaf parsley
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 lemon
6 oz plain yogurt (Greek is fine)
1/2 cup chopped or sliced cucumber
2 tbsp olive oil (or coconut oil)

1. In a food processor, combine beans, shallot, garlic, parsley, chili powder, and salt.  Pulse until finely chopped.  Add flour; pulse just until mixture holds together.

2. Divide mixture into 12-15 chunks and roll into balls.  Place on a cookie sheet, flatten slightly, cover and chill for 30 minutes (or overnight).

3. Meanwhile, remove 1 tsp zest from the lemon and juice half of it.  Stir together the lemon zest and juice, yogurt, and cucumber.  Cover and chill.

4. In a large skillet heat oil over medium heat.  Add falafel patties and cook for 8ish minutes (flipping halfway through) or until golden brown.

5. Serve with lemon wedges, yogurt sauce, and pita bread.

Notes: The hands on time for this recipe is under half an hour, but you do need to build in refrigeration time or the falafel will fall apart when cooking.  White onion substitutes fine for the shallot, too.  One recipe will feed about 4 adults.

Recipe Origination: "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine

Honey Goat Cheese

Honeyed Goat Cheese

16 triscuits (or other cracker, pita chip, thinly sliced baguette, etc.)
8 oz goat cheese
3-4 tbsp finely chopped pecans
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Honey to drizzle

1. Slice the goat cheese log into 16 even slices.  Press and form into discs if they crumble.
2. In a shallow bowl combine the pecans and cinnamon. Firmly press each goat cheese disc into the pecans.  Place on a cracker and drizzle with honey.

Notes: This can be altered to fit any size meal in an approximately 1/2 goat oz cheese per cracker ratio.

Recipe Origination: I've made these before sans pecans and then recently saw a recipe on Allrecipes.com that had pecans with the goat cheese so I added that in.

Cookie Dough Truffles (AKA Jingle Balls)

Cookie Dough Truffles

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (mini chips work great!)

14 oz candy coating (or chocolate to melt)


1. Beat butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add milk and vanilla. Beat until mixed.
2. Stir in flour and salt. (Or use the mixer on low speed.)  Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Chill dough for 1 hour, covered.
4. Form 1" balls, placing on a wax lined cookie sheet.  Freeze for half an hour.
5. Melt candy coating (or chocolate) according to package directions.  Using toothpicks as a dipping tool, dip each ball in the candy coating.  Chill until set.
6. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.

Notes: Wilton has over a dozen colors of candy melts, so you can coordinate them with holidays or just go with plain chocolate.  They are fairly easy to make, but they do require planning ahead for all the chilling and freezing time.

Recipe Origination: Vince Romanelli posted it on my FB page back in 2011, and I finally got around to making them last Christmas.  I should done it sooner - they're delicious!  It's from eat-drink-smile.com

Apple Bread

Apple Bread

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
4 cups peeled, cored and chopped apples (tart work best, like Granny Smith)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2-3 tsp cinnamon

1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees F.  Grease two 9" x 5" bread loaf pans.
2. By hand, mix flour, baking soda, salt and apples in a large bowl.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, eggs and cinnamon.
4. Pour oil mixture into flour mixture and stir just until all ingredients are moistened.
5. Divide mixture evenly between two pans.
6. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  

Notes: You can substitute half the flour with whole wheat flour (white whole wheat if you have picky kids) and reduce the sugar to 1 cup if you want to make a healthier version.  You can also add a cup or so of chopped walnuts if nuts are your thing.  (They are not my thing!)

Recipe Origination: Experimentation until I came up with something that bakes nicely and my family asks for!