Chocolate Caramel Doughnut Holes

I saw this recipe here, and I had to try them!  They were surprisingly easy.  The kids were even able to help me make them (they rolled most of the balls).  So, not only was it a tasty treat, but it was a fun family activity, too.  These worked really well with egg replacer, so J could eat them, too.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour,plus more for work surface
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp coarse salt
• 1 cup sugar, plus more for coating
• 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter,melted
• 2 large eggs (or fake egg equivalent)
• 28-30 store bought soft caramel squares, unwrapped
• 5 to 6 cups vegetable oil, for frying

 Directions:

1. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together sugar, buttermilk, butter and eggs (or fake eggs) until thoroughly combined. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture just until smooth dough forms. 
2. On a lightly floured work surface, pat dough flat and lightly flour. Roll out dough to a 1/3-inch thickness. Cut into rounds with a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter (or appropriately sized cup, since I don't have round cookie cutters). Reroll and cut scraps. 
3. Place a caramel in the center of each round, pinch dough closed around it and gently roll into a smooth ball.
4. Line baking sheet with paper towels. Fill wide, shallow bowl with 1 inch of sugar. In a large, heavy pot, heat 4 inches of oil until it registers 350 on a candy thermometer. In batches, fry doughnuts for 3-4 minutes, turning once with a slotted spoon and adjusting heat as needed. Transfer doughnuts to prepared sheet; let rest for 4 minutes. Roll in sugar to coat. Serve immediately. (they really were better fresh, but if you have leftovers heat them in the microwave for 10 seconds to re-melt the caramel)

Hazelnut Cupcakes

I knew that I wanted to make some kind of cupcake with the hazelnut butter I had made, but I couldn't find any kind of recipies for what I wanted.  So I started looking for recipeies with peanut butter that I could repalce with the hazelnut butter.  This is a Paula Deen recipe from Food Network for a Peanut Butter Cake that I altered to make into what I wanted.  They were delicious!!!

Though I usually go eggless, I didn't worry about it with these.  The main reason being that J is now allergic to tree nuts as well, so he wouldn't be able to eat them anyway.  I got him a candy bar to eat while we ate these.


Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I crushed mine in the food processor until they were as fine as flour - it took about 18 graham crackers)
3/4 cup Hazelnut butter
1/2 cup butter
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Add graham cracker crumbs, peanut butter, shortening, milk, and vanilla. Beat mixture with electric mixer on low until moistened, and then beat on medium for 2 minutes. Add eggs and beat for 1 minute. 
3. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.  Fill each cup approximately 2/3 of the way up.  Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
4. I frosted them with a chocolate butter cream frosting and they were delicious!

Hazelnut Butter

So I was at Trader Joe's the other day, and I saw the bag of hazelnuts and had to buy them.  I knew I wanted to make something really yummy, but I didn't know what.  I decided to start with this.  So simple, yet so good!  Upcoming, the cupcakes I'm going to make with the hazelnut butter.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread hazelnuts onto cookie sheet and toast in oven for about 15 minutes.  When you can start to smell them, they are getting close to being done.  Let them start to get brown, but don't let them burn!  (the dark skins may scorch a little, and that is okay)

Stick the hazelnuts in a food processor and pulse for a few seconds, then turn it on high and let it go for a few minutes.  At first it will just look crumbly, but after you've let it go for a while, the oils form the hazelnuts will start coming out and it will look wet.

You can add sweetener or salt if you like, but this part you really should just do to taste.  I added a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of honey and it is delicious!

Upcoming - the hazelnut cupcakes I'm going to make with this!

Cookie Press Cookies

Yet another holiday cookie complements of my Mom.  This time of year is always reminiscent of baking for me, and I have tried to carry the tradition on with my kids.  I always thought that cookie press cookies were so cool!  If you don't have a cookie press, you can roll this dough out and cut it with cutters.

Ingredients

1 lb butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs, beaten (or egg replacer equivalent)
5 cups flour
food coloring (for Christmas I make green wreaths and trees)

Directions

1. Mix ingredients together and use cookie press to form cookies.
2. If you want to embellish with candies, do it now (I used red hots on the wreaths)
3. Bake at 350 degrees F until done (about 10 minutes).

Ring-a-ling

This is another recipe that I got from my Mom.  I was looking through recipes last Christmas and I picked this one to try because it didn't have eggs in it and I had recently found out about J's egg allergy.  Too bad he's also allergic to pecans now!  Oh well. I still really like them!

Ingredients

1 cup flour
dash salt
1/2 cup butter at room temp
3 Tbsp confectioner's sugar
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla
your favorite jam or jelly (I used cherry jam, but I also like raspberry and apricot)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
2. Sift flour and salt.  Cream butter and sugar.  
3. Combine parts and add pecans and vanilla.
4. Chill several hours.  Roll into balls and press hallow with thumb.  Fill with jam.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Cool then enjoy!

Gingerbread

This recipe is one that I have been eating my whole life.  For as long as I can remember, my Mom has made Gingerbread every Christmas.  She made a ton so that all eleven of her kids could decorate houses.  Sometimes we shared big houses and sometimes she made small houses for each of us.  This gingerbread always just brings back good memories for me.  When I bake it now for my kids, the smell brings me back to my own childhood.  This year I decided to make four houses so that each of my kids could decorate their own house.  We went to the candy shop in the mall to pick out candy (they each got to fill a bag with what they wanted).  They had so much fun decorating!  This recipe makes a TON of gingerbread.  I was able to make four medium sized houses, plus a whole bunch of gingerbread men (and a few gingerbread dinosaurs just because A wanted to).


 
Ingredients

1 lb margarine
2 cups sugar
1 12oz bottle of molasses
1 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp dry ginger
other spices that you like (nutmeg, cloves, etc)
10 cups flour

Directions

1. Cream together margarine, sugar and molasses.  Add water and mix well.
2. Sift the salt, baking soda and spices with a little bit of flour, and then add.
3. Add remaining flour or more to make a soft dough that you can kneed.
4. Roll out on ungreased cookie sheet and cut.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F.  I'm not sure exactly how long - when I'm doing cookies I do it a little shorter because I like them soft, but when I do houses I let it get a little more done so that it is more firm.

** The pattern for the houses you can make out of card-stock - simply spray your card-stock with cooking spray so that it doesn't stick to the dough - then cut around them with a knife.

Frosting

2 egg whites (or egg replacer equiviant - this works well with the egg replacer)
1 lb of powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tarter

Beat until peak holds shape


** This frosting is good for putting the houses together, since it will dry very firm.  I put the houses together earlier in the day so that they are set when it comes time to decorate.  I actually use cake frosting to put the candy on, simply because it is easier for the kids to use.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Crunch Bars

So, I haven't posted in a long time, not because I haven't been baking, but because I've been baking so much that I haven't had time to post stuff!  So today I'm posting a whole bunch of holiday baking.

This recipe is one that my friend Katie gave me.  She's a Pampered Chef consultant, and I'm pretty sure she got it from there.  This is like rice crispy treats gone wild.  They are so delicious!  If you ever want to wow someone with a fancy rice crispy, this is definitely the way to go.


Ingredients

1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts
3 cups mini pretzels (about 1 2/3 cups crushed), divided
3 cups crispy rice cereal
3/4 cup butter, divided
1 bag mini marshmallows (10.5 oz bag)
1/2 cup light corn syrup, divided
1 bag peanut butter morsels (10 oz bag)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Grease a 9 x 13 pan with butter and set aside.  
2. Coarsely chop the peanuts; set aside.  Place pretzels into a large resealable plastic bag; coarsely crush with the flat side of a meat tenderizer.  Set aside 1/3 cup of the pretzels.  Place remaining pretzels and cereal in a large mixing bowl.
3. Place 6 Tbsp of the butter in a microwavable bowl and microwave until melted.  Add marshmallows; microwave again for 60-90 seconds.  Stir until marshmallows are completely melted.  Immediately add marshmallow mixture to pretzel/cereal bowl and mix thoroughly.  Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan, and firmly press down.
4. Combine 2 Tbsp of the butter and half the corn syrup in microwavable bowl, and microwave until butter is melted.  Stir in the peanut butter morsels and mix until melted (this mixture is going to be stiff).  Spread peanut butter mixture over cereal/pretzels.
5. Place remaining butter and corn syrup in another microwavable bowl and microwave until butter is melted.  Stir in chocolate chips and mix until smooth.  Spread chocolate mixture evenly over the peanut butter mixture.
6. Sprinkle with peanuts and reserved pretzels.  Allow to harden (you can place in freezer for 5-10 minutes for faster set time).  Cut into pieces and eat!