S'more Cereal Bars

We discovered this recipe on the back of some generic marshmallows.  I have tried to locate the recipe online to give credit somewhere with no luck as of yet, so I'll post it here to share.  I used it today with some Young Women handouts and my kids devoured all the extras.  Let me add that I made a double batch, so it is impressive that they ate ALL the extras!

1/2 cup peanut butter
2 Tbs milk
1 package miniature marshmallows
3 1/2 cups Cocoa Puffs
3 1/2 cups Golden Grahams
1/2 cup peanuts



In a large heavy bottom saucepan stir together peanut butter, milk and marshmallows until melted.
Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.
Immediately pour into 9x13 pan and press down evenly in pan.
After the mixture has cooled, cut into 24 pieces. (For my handouts I only did 12 in a pan)

The original recipe only calls for 6 total cups of cereal, but I think they are a little TOO sticky and gooey if you don't add the extra cereal.  My general rule of thumb is if you add more to your homemade rice crispy treats, add more here also.

Cinnamon Rolls

Not to pat myself on the back, but these cinnamon rolls are absolutely AMAZING!!!  I had promised them to my young women for their presidency meeting Sunday, so I'm posting the recipe to share with all the rest of you cinnamon roll lovers.

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

Dissolve the yeast and the sugar in the milk.  Wait about five minutes to be sure it proofs.  I have found from sharing this recipe in the past it is really easy to overheat the milk, and you don't want to kill the yeast...it's easier to redo the yeast than the entire batch of dough.

Add butter, eggs, flour and salt.  Knead together until you have a smooth ball of dough.

Place dough in a bowl and cover with a warm damp towel. Allow the dough to rise until it is double.  This is a heavier dough, so it may take a while.

Mix together the filling while the dough is rising:
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 Tablespoons cinnamon

On a floured surface roll it out to about 1/4" thick. The idea is to get 1 dozen good size rolls from this dough. we make them a little smaller, so my kids feel as though they were able to eat more.
Spread evenly 1/3 cup butter or margarine across the surface of the dough.  Sprinkle the filling over the butter.  Roll from the widest side of the dough to make a roll. Cut into even pieces, approximately 1-1/2" for smaller rolls and 2" for larger rolls.

Place the rolls onto a greased baking sheet and cover with a warm damp cloth. Allow them to rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400.
Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.

Icing
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup cream cheese softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

Beat together while the rolls are baking.

Coconut Lime Cupcakes

I adapted this from a White Cupcake recipe posted on Beantown Baker.  I changed the ingredients a little to make a coconut cupcake, but followed the mixing of the ingredients as in the original recipe.  I have to agree with the author, Jen, that I was a little intrigued by the assembly order of ingredients in the recipe which is why I tried it in the first place.  I've added a tangy lime frosting to make what I consider coconut lime heaven.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Coconut Cupcakes
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut milk
6 large egg whites, room temperature
1 tablespoon coconut extract
1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 and prepare cupcake pans.
Whisk together coconut milk, egg whites, and coconut extract.  Set aside.
In your mixing bowl mix together cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt at a slow speed.  Add butter.  Continue beating on low until the mixture resembles moist crumbs.
Add all but 1/2 cup of the milk mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes.  Add the remaining milk and beat 30 seconds more.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat an additional 20 seconds.
Fold in the shredded coconut.
Pour batter into cupcake liners.  Bake 15 - 17 minutes or until a toothpick entered in the center comes out clean.
Cool on cooling racks.

*** I usually use a 1/4 - 1/3 cup scoop to fill the cupcake liners and have never yet baked them for more than 15 minutes.
Don't try to skimp on the cake flour.  The reality is a box of cake flour can make this recipe at least three times so it is well worth the investment, and you will not get the same results from regular flour because of the higher protein content in other flours.  Just splurge and do it right.

Lime Frosting
4 tablespoons butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons lime juice
5 cups powdered sugar
8 - 10 drops florescent green food coloring or 5 - 6 drops yellow and 3 - 4 drops green

Blend butter and cream cheese together until smooth.
Add lime juice and half the food coloring.  Blend until smooth.
Add 4 cups of powdered sugar and blend together until smooth.  Add additional powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time until desired consistency is reached.  (I like the frosting thick so it will keep it's form)
Add additional food coloring if desired.
To add a finishing touch, top with zest of lime.

This recipe makes enough to generously frost the batch of cupcakes with a little frosting left over.  If you don't plan to frost as generously I would recommend halving the recipe.

Fortune Cookies

For some reason, this year my kids became very excited about Chinese New Year.  They wanted to know what we were doing to celebrate and what we were eating.  This caught me a little off guard because we have no Asian background in our family, but since we were planning to have Asian Chicken Salad for dinner that night anyway, I decided I'd run with it.

We had egg rolls (store bought), Asian Noodles, and homemade fortune cookies.  They were so fun to make that I decided to give it a go again.  Now, this is not a quick and easy treat.  When I am in the zone I can get six done in a batch...when I'm in the norm...more like four before they start drying because I'm not moving fast enough.  I watched a you tube video when I was looking for recipes.  I really wish I could find the clip again to reference it, but I do remember the girl saying to start with two at a time, then gradually work yourself up to six.

Before you start make sure you have your fortunes typed, cut and ready to go.

Preheat oven to 300
Blend together the following until frothy.  Do not beat so long the mixture becomes thick.
     2 large egg whites
     1/2 tsp vanilla
     1/2 tsp almond
     3 Tbs oil
Add to the above:
     1/2 c flour
     1/2 c sugar
     1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
     1 Tbs water
     1/8 tsp salt
Blend the batter together until it's smooth.
Generously grease a cookie sheet.  Use a tablespoon to drop the batter into small circles and spread evenly until it reaches approximately 3" in diameter.  You will probably only be dropping 1/2 - 2/3 of the batter out of the spoon.  That's fine, it should be plenty to create your circle.

• Bake the cookies for 11 minutes, or until the edges become golden brown.  If the cookies are cooked too long you will not be able to shape them.
• When the cookies are ready, open the oven and pull the oven rack out enough that you can remove the cookies from the cookie sheet.
• Remove the cookies one at a time, place the cookie upside down on your working surface, and place the fortune in the center of the cookie.
• Fold the cookie in half, then using a mug or bowl, fold the cookie in half again using the mug or bowl to help shape the cookie.
• Place the cookie in a cupcake pan to help hold the shape.
• Repeat until all the cookies have been removed from the pan. You want to move fast so the cookies won't harden before you shape them, and also because you are pulling them straight from the oven and they're hot!
• Keeping the cookies in the warmth of the oven will also help keep them from hardening too quickly.
• Start with 2 cookies on a cookie sheet, then work yourself up to more.  To keep the dough from touching on the cookie sheet, you can most likely do no more than six cookies at a time.

Sugar Cookies

Today's post has nothing to do with menu planning. I'm making sugar cookies for my daughter's class, and it is our favorite sugar cookie recipe so I thought I'd share.  I was given this recipe by my friend, Whitney, years ago.  I believe she got it from her mom, and I'm not sure if she's the original source or if it came from somewhere else before that.  The cookies stay soft even a few days later, making it a great sugar cookie recipe for the holidays also.

We use the frosting recipe if we aren't stacking or packaging them, or a basic icing recipe if we don't want frosting on everything else they touch.  I'm including all three recipes, but the pictures are of the cookies with icing.  We also made these for valentine's day for the girl's classes and packaged them in white paper cd cases.  In fact, the whole reason they are being baked today was my daughter's after school group loved them on Monday and asked her if she would bring more today.

I do have one disclaimer with the cd case packaging, however.  The cd cases do not create an airtight seal.  This means your cookies will dry out faster regardless how moist and soft they are.  If at all possible, package the day you plan to deliver the cookies, or you can also use plastic wrap or a smaller plastic bag to seal the cookie in first before placing it in the paper cd case.

 

Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 c sugar

1/2 brick cream cheese

2/3 c butter, softened

2 eggs, beaten

2 Tbl milk

1 tsp vanilla

3 1/4 c flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Cream sugar, cream cheese and butter.  Add eggs, milk and vanilla.  Sift dry ingredients together and beat into creamed mixture combining thoroughly.  Refrigerate 2 to 3 hours.   

Roll dough to approximately 1/4" thickness and cut shapes.

Bake at 400 for 8 minutes or until light brown on a LIGHTLY greased cookie sheet. (I usually line mine with parchment paper or pan liners.

Frosting

2 cubes soft butter

1/2 brick cream cheese

1 lb bag powdered sugar.

Mix together, add more butter or milk if needed. (Makes enough for two batches of generously frosted cookies.

Icing

2 c powdered sugar, sifted

2 Tbs milk

3 1/2 tsp light corn syrup

1/2 tsp almond extract 

1/2 tsp vanilla

liquid food coloring, if desired

Blend together milk and sugar.  Add the corn syrup, almond extract and vanilla.  Mix together until smooth.  If the icing is too thick add corn syrup, 1/2 tsp at a time.

Divide the icing into separate bowls and add coloring one drop at a time.

I usually pipe mine from a ziploc bag.  You can also spread the icing with the back of a spoon.

Allow the icing to dry before packaging or stacking.