Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee Pretzel Bites

 

Daaaang, that's a mouthful of a title...and by mouthful I mean you are literally going to want to stuff your mouth full of these tasty bite size morsels!  Side note: aren't they extra scrumptious, nesting in the cutie vintage bowl that once belonged to my grandma?!? Love!

Create a double boiler by placing a couple inches of water in a
saucepan and topthe pan with a glass or stainless bowl. 
Over medium heat slowly melt the chocolate 

(equal parts Ghiradelli bittersweet and semi-sweet is my winning combo)

Once the chocolate is completely melted, set up an assembly line.

On the counter set up mini pretzels, the bowl of melted 

chocolate on a towel (you might have to pop the bowl back over 

heat for a minute, to loosen it back up) and plates of toffee bits 

and raw almonds.

Line baking sheets with parchment.

Dip the pretzel in the chocolate, shaking off excess.  Then set on the toffee,

place an almond on the chocolate (where it will stay put, once the chocolate sets).

 Use your fingers to toss a bit of toffee on the remaining chocolate 

(toffee will be sticking to the bottom as well...the more the merrier!)

Place dipped and candied pretzels on a parchment

lined baking sheet to set up.  It will only take about

an hour for the chocolate to fully set.  Good luck 

waiting that long!

Place set candies in a dish or better yet package up to share with

friends, teachers, neighbors, etc.  This would be a delicious addition

to a cookie exchange, in my humble opinion.

Enjoy!  So easy!

xo.

Frito Chili Grilled Cheese

 

If your going to mess with Frito chili, you might as well shove it in a grilled cheese.  Right?  Well, the thought came to me, I went with it and... OH MY. 

What you need:

sliced bread

tomato slices

shredded cheese (any variety you have on hand)

Frito chips

chili 

hot sauce (optional, but quite important if you ask me!)

I made up a batch of chili, to try this out.  I eliminated a lot of the

liquid that is normally found in a bowl of chili.  I browned 1 lb. of 97% lean

ground beef with a large onion, diced.  Once cooked I added chili powder,

sweet paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper to taste. 

 Once I thought it was perfect I added a few T. ketchup.  Then hot sauce!

You could certainly make life even easier by subbing a package of chili

seasoning...then add the ketchup and hot sauce to taste.

On a hot skillet melt a bit of butter and start layering on the base bread.

 

You could also bake these sandwiches, which I would do if I was making 

multiples.  On a parchment lined baking sheet build the sandwiches,

spreading a bit of butter on the top piece of bread and bake at 

375 for 12-17 minutes.  Until the bread is golden and a bit crusty

and cheese is melted and gooey.

I mean...whaaaat!  This is for sure will change up your thoughts

on grilled cheese!  I think I will be baking a bunch of these up for a

football party ASAP!  

And as Cousin Eddie (National Lampoons Vacation) so eloquently put it:

I don't know why they call this stuff hamburger helper. It does just fine by itself, huh?

I like it better than tuna helper myself, don't you, Clark?

Heavenly (seriously I heard angels singing) Cheesy Pumpkin Noodles

I cannot quit the squash family, this time of year.  It is a deep seeded love, 

and I am super excited to share this quick and super tasty recipe with you.

What you need:

1- 15oz. can of pumpkin puree (I prefer Trader Joe's brand)

1- 8oz tub of whipped cream cheese

2 cups whole milk

1 & 1/2 bags of 1 lb. spaghetti noodles

5 T. butter

1 large onion, sliced thin

1 & 1/2 cups finely grated parmesan cheese

1 T. pure maple syrup

8 sage leaves

hearty pinch of grated nutmeg

salt & pepper

 

Begin melting the butter in a saute pan.  Add the thinly 

sliced onions, salt & pepper.Cook over medium heat.

The butter will be bubbly and slowly start to brown.

 After the onions start to tenderize and the butter starts to brown, toss in 

the sage (I stack the sage and slice twice down the length of the leaves, then

chop across).  Cook an additional few minutes, while stirring the sage around.  

 Brown butter and onion perfection.  This will smell like heaven, 

infused with fresh sage!

 Toss the prepared spaghetti noodles in the onions and brown butter

 (the spaghetti is cooked to al dente in a big pot of boiling salted water),

coating each noodle with the infused butter.

Set the noodles aside on a platter, while you whip up the sauce in

the saute pan 

In the noodle free saute pan, add the milk, cream cheese, pumpkin,

maple syrup and fresh grated nutmeg.  Combine, then salt and pepper 

to taste. Like with any milk base sauce, I always think I end up 

needing more salt and pepper than I originally thought, so taste as you 

go and continue seasoning.  

After the milk, cream cheese and pumpkin are combined, stir

in the grated parmesan cheese. Taste it.  Is it seasoned appropriately?

The sauce will be thick and absolutely mouth watering!  If it is too 

thick for your liking, thin out with a tiny bit of milk.

 I simply garnished with some maple spiced pecans I had in the

kitchen. They are so good and were the perfect tiny crunch.

Do click above to see how absolutely simple they are to whip up.

I think some other wonderful additions to this heavenly pasta 

would be:

sauteed portobello mushrooms, chicken, bacon...mmmm!

Report back with the goodies you throw in. 

 Enjoy!!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Every time I order lettuce wraps at a restaurant, I am reminded how simple they are, 

and have recently been whipping them up at home.  Here's how I like to do it.

Oh, and all the steps, up to eating, were done a day in advance. 

YumFest, right! 

Grab a head (or 2 or 3...) of bib lettuce in the produce section

 1 lb. ground turkey (93% lean is preferred) and

in a small bowl mix: 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce,

1 tablespoon sriracha and 2 tablespoons light brown sugar)

 Use a fine grater (I get out my zester) to finely grate

carrots (yield ~1 cup grated carrot)

 Pulverized goodness

Cook the turkey thoroughly, then stir in the sauce and

carrot (add more heat, sweet or sodium to the sauce to 

meet your liking.  I do think the measurements I gave

you are a good base though)

It's hard to find that cup of grated carrot, huh! 

Sneaky, sneaky!!

 Chop the zucchini and drop into a pot of boiling water

for 1-2 minutes.

 Remove from the boiling water and submerge

in an bowl of ice water, to stop the cooking.

 Turn the heat off the boiling water and drop

the mai fun noodles in the pot.  They will

sit in the hot water (off heat now), covered,
 for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, drain the noodles.

 This step is for sure not compulsory, but I think it adds

 a wonderful crunch and is super simple.  If you want the

crunch, but aren't up for this step, use store bought 

crispy chow mein noodles.

I use my pizza wheel to make strips of wonton dough.

I find the packages of wonton wrappers in the 

produce section at the market.

 In a saucepan heat 2 inches of canola oil, test the temp

by dropping one strip in and watch it dance, if you will

 (I am not a seasoned deep fryer, but these are hard to screw up)

Use a metal tong (or spider skimmer) to remove from the oil 

when they are light golden brown in color. Place on a

plate with paper towels to drain.  

These can be made several days in advance, just store air tight.

 All the fixings for delicious Asian Lettuce Wraps:

Bib lettuce (cut off the base and cleaned very well and

wrapped in towel to dry), the ground-seasoned turkey, wonton

strips, jullienned sweet peppers, blanched zucchini, sliced

scallions, lightly salted cashews, cooked mai fun noodles.

Also, if you want whip up some more sauce, that was stirred into the

ground turkey, for topping the wraps.

Enjoy!!!  

xo.

Italian Cream Cupcakes, on the QUICK!

I was in a pinch for a dessert and thought I would give a go at making Italian Cream Cupcakes, 

starting with a box of cake mix.  The results were fantastic (and oh so quick), so give this a whirl!

What you need:

box of white cake mix (that will yield a 9x13 pan)

1/2 cup soft butter

1 cup buttermilk

3 eggs

2 T water

2/3 cup shredded coconut

1 cup raw pecans 

Click here for my delish frosting recipe, that must top

these cupcakes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the chopped

pecans to fold into the frosting.

Use a sharp knife to roughly chop the pecans.  If you don't feel like

getting your chop on, pulse the pecans in a food processor.

By hand or mixer, blend the cake mix, buttermilk, butter, water and eggs.

Then fold in the coconut and 1/2 cup chopped pecans.

 

I use a large scoop to plop the batter into muffin papers (I looove

the organic look of these parchment papers I picked up at King Soopers) 

Bake in a 350 degree, preheated oven.  17-21 minutes bake time.

While they bake, make the frosting!!!  Here is the link again. 

Stir in the 1/2 cup of chopped pecans you reserved.

After the cupcakes cool (I always set on a cooling rack for at least

half hour), top with as much frosting as you wish.

Then, ENJOY!!!  

xo.

Toffee Pretzel Crunch. Oh My!

I was making care packages this week to send off and deliver locally

as several friends needing the TLC of homemade treats.

I was thinking how tasty it would be to dip pretzel rods in toffee, but

then at a little Oprah light bulb moment and decided on this...

you can thank me later.

What you need to make this ridiculous treat:

3 1/2-4 cups Pretzel Crisps

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Line a large jelly roll pan* with aluminum foil, and then thinly coat the foil

with butter (I just gently rub one of the sticks used in the recipe along the 

foiled surfaces. You will not use much) then place a layer of Pretzel Crisps 

along the bottom of the buttered pan.  I break up some of the crisps. Don't 

worry if the crisps are overlapping. 

* a jelly roll pan is smaller than a sheet pan, but larger than a 9x13 pan.

 In a saucepan over medium/high heat, begin melting the butter, brown sugar and salt.

 This is one pot you want to watch boil.  Continue stirring as the sauce boils 

and thickens.  Watch that it doesn't burn.  I stir at boil for a couple minutes.

Pour the boiling sauce evenly over the pretzel crisps.  

Place pan in a 425 degree oven.

The sauce will thicken in the oven. After 4 minutes I pulled the bubbling concoction 

out of the oven.  Check at 4 minutes. If it isn't super bubbly and darker in color, 

put it back in for 1 additional minute.

 Immediately sprinkle the semi sweet chocolate chips evenly 

over the toffee pretzels. 

The heat of the pan will quickly melt the chocolate chips.  If you

find that they aren't melting, pop the pan back into the cooling oven for 

1 minute and the chocolate will be ready to spread with a knife.

After the chocolate chips are evenly spread across the top of the toffee,

pop the pan in the freezer to set up for 30 minutes.

 After setting in the freezer, I pull the brick of toffee from the foil,

double checking that all foil pulled away, then use my hands to 

break into chunks.  I store in the refrigerator in a sealed container.

It packages up nicely, in boxes, to drop with friends and neighbors.

I buy bulk food safe boxes on the Internet.

Enjoy!!!