Create Something | Nutella Rice Krispie Treats

I pinned this recipe a few weeks ago and was dying to try it. Originally it’s from Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy.

This was another thing I wanted to make for our kindly hosts, so after it was done (which took all of 20 minutes), I cut them into squares and wrapped them in cello bags. In the process I might have tried one or two… they were mind blowing. Seriously, the best thing since sliced bread. Next time I make these I don’t plan on sharing.

See the recipe below, or visit Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy for the original post.

Nutella Rice Krispie Treats
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1 package (10 oz.) regular marshmallows or 4 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup Nutella
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Directions:
Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat.  Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in Nutella until melted.

Add cereal. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until well coated.  It helps to spray a little nonstick cooking spray on the spoon to keep it from sticking.

Using a sheet of wax paper, evenly press mixture into a 13 x 9-inch pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Cool and cut into 2-inch squares.

Create Something | Crispy Crunchy Granola

I’m assembling a care package for a very special family, to thank them for hosting us on our recent trip to Minneapolis. I wanted to put together something that they could enjoy (they’re really into sweets and treats) but that would last through shipping.

Granola immediately came to mind. The recipe below, is one of my favorites, but I strayed a but by just adding the nuts I had around the house (almonds, walnuts and pinenuts). The beauty of making granola is that you can’t go wrong. Add or subtract any ingredient that might work well in the mix and off you go!

If you end up trying this recipe, keep in mind, the granola gets crispy-crunchy after you let it cool. Then you can break it apart and store in an airtight container to enjoy throughout the week!

Ingredients

• 8 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup sunflower seeds (I substituted these with pinenuts)
• 1 cup finely chopped almonds
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans (didn’t add these this time around)
• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups raisins, dried cranberries, or dried cherries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment or aluminum foil.
2. Combine the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, and walnuts in a large bowl. Stir together the salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla in a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, remove from stove, then pour the dry ingredients into the pot, and stir to coat. Spread the mixture out evenly on the baking sheets.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until crispy and toasted, about 20 minutes. Stir once halfway through. Cool, then stir in the raisins, cranberries or cherries before storing in an airtight container.

Create Something | Fail

So, I had a sneak attack craving for a sweet treat last night. And with little to no ingredients in my kitchen, I decided to try making Pain au chocolat the quick and easy way. I used a tube of refridgerated crescent rolls and a bar of Godiva milk chocolate. It took my exactly 12 minutes to bake, what could be better! However, they were not as tasty as I remember them being in Paris.

My biggest complaint was that they didn’t have enough chocolate (my fault), and the crescent rolls had a salty flavor to them. Plus, they just weren’t as airy and flaky as the real deal. So all in all… Fail.

Next time I might try using a recipe like this one, from The Black Wok.

Create Something | Crème de Menthe Cookies

I love Andes Crème de Menthe candies. Enough said, post over.

Kidding. So when I saw that Andes was making baking chips out of their Crème de Menthe candies, I grabbed a bag and ran. I didn’t really have a recipe in mind when I bought the bag, but lucky for me, Andes provided one right on the bag! Those clever candy people.

Anyway, I followed the recipe to a T (is that how you write that phrase?), and the cookies came out perfect. I opted not to use green food coloring, as you’ll see in many recipes online. It just looks gross in my opinion.

So here’s the recipe, and they’re not lying when they say the recipe makes 4 dozen. My freezer is very happy this week!

Andes Crème de Menthe Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup salted butter – softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 package (10 oz.) Andes® Crème de Menthe Baking Chips
2-2/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• Blend butter, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs until mixed.
• Stir in Andes Baking Chips and then flour. Chill approximately one hour in the refrigerator.
• Measure out approximately 1 oz. of dough. Form a ball and slightly flatten.
• Raise oven rack one level above the middle and bake on non-stick baking pans.
• Bake at 350° F for approximately 8 – 10 minutes.
• Cool on pans for two minutes before removing.

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Create Something | Garden fresh salsa

We started a small raised bed garden this year, planting three grape tomato plants, a handful of herbs, some red peppers and jalapenos and a few crookneck squash on the side. It was way too much for that little 4 x 4 box, I should have known better.

The tomato plants are out of control, they’re taller than me and reaching their arms every which way. I tied a few of the stems to the fence that sits behind the planter box, but still, it’s chaos. And the squash … lets just not talk about them.

We’ve been getting an overload of ripe red grape tomatoes and I just wasn’t sure what to do with them anymore. I’ve used them in wraps, on sandwiches, in salads, for a snack, what else is there?!

Finally I resorted to tediously chopping each of them into quarters or more and making salsa out of them. I also added in a small jalapeno and bell pepper from our garden, then I added these ingredients from my pantry:

1 yellow onion
1 can golden corn
1 can black eyed peas (any bean would work here)
salsa seasonings
a little Italian dressing
about a half-jar of pre-made salsa (to add some thickness)

Its delicious, convenient to have in the fridge at all times, and used up almost all of my grape tomato collection.

Create Something | Plum Cobbler

Last week we passed up the big box grocery chain for a trip to the farmers market instead, and came back with a load of fresh fruits and veggies. We got about two pounds of these delicate little plums — I’m pretty sure they were fortune and yellow egg varieties, but I could be lying. I also had one straggler of a Santa Rosa plum from the grocery store, so I threw that in there too.

Anyway, we’ve had them for about a week, and with only 2.5 people in our household, they didn’t move incredibly fast. Some of them were starting to get really soft, so I looked for a simple recipe that would use them up. The combination of colorful plums made a beautiful and bright dessert. I ended up halving the recipe and dividing it into two oval ramekins for me and the hubs.

Here’s the recipe I found (courtesy of Simply Recipes, go figure):

Plum Cobbler Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp (170 g plus 30 g) of white sugar
• 10 fresh plums (we use Santa Rosa), sliced and seeded – about 4 cups
• 2 Tbsp corn starch
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup (110 g) all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (50 g) butter
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

2 In a large bowl, combine 3/4 cup white sugar, plums, cornstarch and cinnamon. Place the fruit mixture in a 2-quart casserole.

3 In a medium bowl, combine the remaining 2 Tablespoons of sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter in with a fork or pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk and egg until just moistened.

4 Drop batter on fruit, or if desired, spread batter in stripes. Bake in a 350°F oven for 35 minutes.

Serves 6. Serve with whipped cream (optional).

Create Something | Lemon burst cake mix cookies

I’ve adopted a new tradition in this household… it’s a little something Meg calls Treat Tuesday. I’ve been keeping up with my treat-making for about 5 weeks now, and I have to say, it’s a lot easier than I thought.

Plus, having freshly baked goods around the house every week has been a huge pick me up. It’s the simple things in life, right?

I swiped this recipe from a delicious lokoing photo from pinterest. It’s origins come from a little blog called Tidy Mom. Tidy Mom, aka Cheryl, has some beautiful photos of the lemon cookies she made, however mine don’t really follow suit. Even though they’re a little less sunshine yellow in color, they rank up there at a number 10 for taste! By the time I had a chance to photograph them there was only one left. One lonely cookie. I ate it promptly after these photos were taken. 🙂

Find the recipe here.

Create something, anything!

Sometimes I get into that crafty mood but have no time to actually tackle a craft. There’s dishes, dinner, laundry and a hungry baby clinging to my leg. When I find myself in this pickle, I always revert back to my trusty oven… and bake! I don’t have many tried and true recipes under my belt, so I usually google around until I find something that has a yummy photo, good ratings and ingredients within my reach.

Tonight I scratched the itch (but I washed my hands before I started baking, heh) by whipping up two loaves of homemade zucchini bread. Both loaves came from the recipe below, but I split up the batter and mixed in tiny chocolate chips in one pan and hearty dried sweet cherries (from here, oh yeah) in the other.

It felt good to create something, and now I have a delicious snack/breakfast/side for the rest of the week. We’ll see if they last that long.

Zucchini Bread

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups grated fresh zucchini
• 2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• Pinch salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
• 1 cup raisins, dried cherries, chocolate chips, etc. (your choice, pick something to spice it up)

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour, a third at a time. Sprinkle in the cinnamon and nutmeg and mix. Fold in the nuts and dried cranberries or raisins if using.

2 Divide the batter equally between 2 buttered 5 by 9 inch loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in to the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool thoroughly.

Makes 2 loaves.