This isn't really a recipe, but it is such a quick and easy kitchen trick, that I had to share it.
Recently, I noticed that my saltines tasted like..........nothing!! They were pale and flavorless (even the good quality brands), when did that happen?
So I set out to see if I could bring my crackers back to life in the oven. I was shocked at how quick and easy (and effective) it was to do!!
Lay some crackers on a dry cookie sheet and put them under a pre-heated broiler for about 30 seconds or so, flip them over and do the same on the other side, but watch them because once they start to turn golden, they get dark fast. You don't have to toast both sides, but there is more flavor if you do.
There are a million uses for these toasted crackers. They are great in a salad, they are great crushed and added to meatloaf mixture, they are great for snacking with some sharp cheddar or peanut butter, but my favorite is with tomato soup!!
I hope you'll try this fun tip, but here's a warning: once you try these, you will never be happy with a non-toasted saltine again!!
Make your kids happy with these quick and super easy smiley rice krispies treats
Perfectly gooey, crispy, nutty, chocolaty... and so much fun!
Rice krispies are so much fun! There are lots of ways to get creative with such simple ingredients. Here is a sweet recipe made with rice krispies packed in individual round sizes, decorated with white and brown chocolate chips into smiley faces. Super easy and so cute!
You could really use this idea and decorate plain rice kripies treats. But why just stop at plain when you can have more?!? Rice krispies are very easy and quick to prepare. These are just as simple and as fast. All you have to do is add nutella (at the beginning with the marshmallows and butter), and crushed hazelnuts (later with the rice Krispies cereal). You can turn a simple snack into a delicious homemade goodness: perfectly gooey, crispy, nutty and chocolaty.
Listen up! Before you run to the kitchen and grab the marshmallows, here is an important advise. Remember to set out and measure all the ingredients before you start with the microwave. You need to be quick and mix the cereals and hazelnuts to the melted mixture of mashmallows/butter/nutella when still warm. So I beg you please! Don't try to figure out how to crush the hazelnuts when everything is cooling down and hardening into a big mass. You won't be able to incorporate the hazelnuts at that point, and it will be harder to shape anything into the muffin cups. So be ready ahead of time, and you will rock this recipe!
about 2/3 cup (about 220 gr) of Nutella, or other chocolate spread
6 cups (about 200 gr) of rice krispies cereal
1/2 cup (65 gr) of crushed, roasted hazelnuts
white chocolate chips and mini chocolate chips for decoration
Preparation time: 20 minutes Directions: 1. Crush the roasted hazelnuts. Set out and measure the rice krispies cereal in a bowl. So all ingredients are ready.
2. In a microwave safe large bowl, place the marshmallows, nutella and butter (cut in pieces). The bowl needs to be large, because the marshmallows in the microwave will inflate, and you don't want them to spill all over.
3. Microwave for 60 seconds. Check and mix. You will probably need another 30 to 40 seconds in the microwave to melt completely the ingredients. Mix again.
4. Add the rice krispies cereal and the crushed hazelnuts and mix quickly, until well coated.
5. Spoon the mixture evenly into about 24 round muffin cups. Press down with the back of a spoon to pack the treats into shape.
5. Flip the rice krispies (the bottom looks better than the top!). Decorate with the chocolate chips. I used 4 white chocolate chips for the mouth, two white for the eyes, topped with a mini (brown) chocolate chip to finish it up. Microwave the smiley faces for about 15 seconds, and let it sit there for minute, so that the chocolate chips will slightly melt and stay in place (if not they might roll all over!)
I have tried a LOT of snack cake recipes in the past 40+ years, but this one is, BY FAR, the best yet. It is super moist and tender from the crushed pineapple, pumpkin and grated carrots and it would be PERFECT for any potluck or party; your guests of all ages will love it. It is one of those RARE recipes that is super easy AND it gets RAVE reviews.
No need for an electric mixer, this quick and easy treat goes together in a flash with a big bowl and a spoon. 2 cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 4 eggs 1 2/3 cups white sugar 2/3 cup vegetable oil 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree 2 cups shredded carrots (see note below) 1 cup crushed pineapple (see note below) Preheat oven to 350°F and grease and flour a 10x15 baking pan (see note below). Mix the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice in a bowl and set it aside. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs till smooth, then add the sugar, oil and pumpkin, whisking it until its very well mixed, then stir in the drained crushed pineapple and grated carrots. Stir till well combined. Stir in the flour mixture and gently fold until its all well mixed. Pour into prepared 10 x 15 pan and bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes (my electric oven took 30 minutes). Remove from heat and cool before you frost. CREAM CHEESE FROSTING (1) 8 ounce pkg. cream cheese (room temperature) 6 tablespoons butter (room temperature) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar Beat the cream cheese and butter till smooth, add extract and powdered sugar and beat until right consistency. NOTES: This cake will turn out better if you hand grate the carrots with a box grater rather than grating them with your food processor. The food processor leaves very long strings of carrot, which doesn't do so well in a cake/bar.The box grater will give you a smaller/shorter grate. Make sure the crushed pineapple is squeezed dry of all of it's extra water. I found that a 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple.....squeezed dry with my hands, gives me 1 cup of ready to use crushed pineapple which is just right for this recipe. Not everyone has the 10 x 15 baking pan that is called for in this recipe. You can bake this cake in a 9 x 13 pan if you bake it a little longer (about 10-15 minutes longer... just test it with a toothpick to make sure its baked all the way through). The 9 x 13 pan will give you a thicker bar (almost like a cake) but it tastes the same. If you decide to use the 9x13 pan, the bars will be more like a cake
Personally, I like to line my baking pans with parchment paper and then spray the parchment paper with cooking spray. When the cake/bars are completely cool, you can just lift the whole thing out of the pan and it makes it much easier to cut up neatly.
These cute and spooky ghosts are made with deliciously rich and fudgy brownies, topped with a big marshmallow covered in white chocolate ganache
I'm feeling that Halloween is creeping up on me without warning this year. It's only two weeks away, and I'm not ready. I just finished with my little boy's birthday party this week, and I need to start worrying about some fun Halloween recipes for you, costumes for the boys, decorations ...yes, I have not filled my front yard with any scary things yet. Shame on me! So, here it is - at least one recipe: Easy-to-bake, little ghosts made with a big marshmallow, covered in delicious white chocolate ganache, sitting on top of a dark, rich, and sinfully fudgy brownie. I know. Spooky, right?!? ... definitely spooky for the waistline! Haha!
I saw this idea the other day on BettyCrocker.com. That recipe uses Betty Crocker's brownie mix and ready-to-use white frosting. You could do that, if you are feeling lazy ... Ahem. I mean, if you want to save a couple of minutes of your time :) Homemade brownies and white chocolate fondue sound and taste so much better. And it's really not that much more work. So check out my video, and you will see:
This recipe is so easy, that you can do it with your kids too. You could even be the amazing mom (or dad, of course!) to throw the coolest decorate-your-Halloween-brownie-ghost party!!!!! Sounds fun, right?!? The kids will love it for sure :) Here is what you'll need to do.
Ingredients: to make 6 ghost brownies. For the brownies:
4 oz (110 gr) of unsalted butter
1/2 cup (100 gr) of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
2 eggs
3/4 cup (150 gr) of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 cup (75 gr) of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (35 gr) of unsweetened cocoa powder (Ghirardelli, or another good quality)
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
pinch of salt
For the top:
6 large marshmallows
1/2 cup (100 gr) of white chocolate chips (Ghirardelli or other good quality)
2 tablespoons of heavy cream
mini chocolate chips for decoration (to make the eyes and mouth of the ghosts) or brown/black frosting
Preparation time: about one hour and and fifteen minutes. Directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C). Place the half cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and the butter into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for about 30 seconds (set on high). Check, mix and add about 15 more seconds if needed. If you prefer, you could also melt the chocolate with the butter in a double boiler - Place the bowl over a steamy pan partly filled with simmering water. Mix until fully melted.
2. In another large bowl whisk together the eggs, the sugar and the vanilla extract.
3. Mix in the flour, the cocoa powder, the baking soda, and the melted butter/chocolate mixture (which should be cool down a bit by now). Stir all the ingredients are combined, do NOT over-mix.
4. Spoon the batter into about 6 muffin cups, about 3/4 of the way. You can use silicone cup as is. If you have tin cups, please spray or grease with butter and flour. Or line with paper cups.
5. Bake for about 25 minutes at 350° F (175° C). Do not over-bake, or the brownies will dry up. Let the brownies cool down, before removing from the mold. When cooler, remove the brownies and set aside while you prepare the topping.
6. Melt the white chocolate chips with the heavy cream. You can microwave for about 20 seconds, mix and add a few more seconds (maybe 15 more seconds) until melted. Or you can melt the chocolate with the cream in a double boiler, same as before.
7. Place one marshmallow on top of an upside down brownie. Note, the bottom of the brownie is much flatter than the top. Hold the marshmallow with the tip of a toothpick, and pour some of the melted white chocolate on top. The white chocolate will harden quickly when it cools off, and will hold everything together.
Decorate with the mini chocolate chip and make the eyes and mouth of the ghost.
You are going to love this simply delicious apple cake!
Let's start the weekend with something sweet! And what's better than a deliciously soft and moist, made-from-scratch apple cake?!? Now that apples are in season, you will not be able to resist and bake this right away. Especially when you see the list of ingredients. Nothing weird there. Just plain flour, eggs, sugar, and apples of course. Well ... a couple of other things too! But I'm sure you have everything in the list in your kitchen right now. So you can whip this up in no time.
This recipe is very simple, fast and easy to follow. Trust me: you can't go wrong with this cake. Stick it in the oven, and wait to enjoy the comforting aroma of baked apples that will fill your whole house. And when ready, you will enjoy a super soft slice of heaven! Every bite is filled with the sweet and tart flavor of apple. So easy, yet so delicious!
This cake looks really pretty and elegant. And you don't need to be an expert baker to pull this off. Just line up the apple slices on top, starting from the outer edge moving in. So easy that even your kids can do it too! And don't forget... a touch of powdered sugar at the end, when the cake cools off, will make this dessert look even more impressive! Check out my quick video recipe here:
4 medium (or 3 large) apples (golden delicious), mine were about 1.4 lb (640 gr)
powder sugar for decorating
Preparation time: 20 minutes to prepare, 60 minutes to cook Directions: 1: Melt the butter in the microwave for about 20 seconds or on the stove, by placing it in a heat resistant cup (I use a Playtex glass cup) and placing it in a pot of simmering hot water. Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C). 2: In a large bowl, mix together the two eggs with the cup of sugar.
3: Stir in the lemon zest, vanilla extract, salt, milk and the melted butter (cooled down).
4: Add the flour and the baking powder. Mix well.
5: Peel, and thinly slice the apples. Sprinkle with some lemon juice.
6. Add about half of the apple slices to the cake batter, saving the nicer slices in a separate bowl for later (to put on top of the cake for decoration).
7. Grease a the pan with butter and flour. You can cover the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, and only grease the sides. Pour in the mixture and flatten it out.
8. Decorate with the remaining apple slices, starting from the outer edge Note, it doesn't have to be perfect! When the cake cooks, the apple will only partly show.
9. Bake for about 60 minutes until golden on top. Check with a toothpick to see if the cake is fully cooked: insert the toothpick in the middle of the cake, and check: the cake is ready if the toothpick comes out clean, with no streaks of batter.
