Archive | Recipes RSS feed for this section

Mason Jar Lemonade

14 Aug

mason jar cover

Good morning! I am sorry for my lack of posts the past couple of days, we have been so busy!  But I am making it up to you with a really fun post today!  We went on a fun picnic in the park with our neighbors the other night, and it was our job to bring the drinks.  I thought it would be fun to pre-make lemonade in mason jars since they are so cute and can be sealed shut for easy packing!  Here is what I did!

picture 1

To Make:

– Trader Joes Organic Lemonade

– Slice of Lemon

– Two Mint Leaves

– Mason Jars

– Straws

* We also brought libations to add to the lemonade for if people were interested in having a mixed drink.

picture 3

picture 2

 

Strawberry-Lime Daiquiri Recipe

10 Jun

drink cover

Good morning friends!  How was your weekend?  We packed our lives away, but it feels good to now have a lot of the packing done!  This is our last week in Corvallis (5 days to be exact) so we are racing around to get everything done in time!  I am getting so excited for our big move!

Today, as promised, I have our Strawberry-lime daiquiri recipe for you that I think you will love!

ingredients cover

Strawberry-Lime Daiquiri Recipe:

Ingredients: ice, 1 pint of strawberries, juice from half a lime, 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar, 3 leaves of basil, and white rum

strawberry pic

Instructions: Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend them up.  If you aren’t drinking them right away, put the mixture in the freezer until you serve them.  *The ingredient measurements are a rough estimate as it will depend on how you want the daiquiris to taste.  Makes 2 to 4 drinks.

This drink is perfect for a summer evening on the patio!  Enjoy!

Homemade Donut Recipe

8 Apr

You guys!  Oh my goodness I have the most amazing recipe for you today…homemade donuts!  This post is long overdue, and I am sorry it took me so long. But, I promise it won’t disappoint!

donut recipe

Ingredients
Doughnuts
1/2 cup Buttermilk, Warm
1/8 cup Sugar
1 and 1/8 teaspoons Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
1 whole Large Egg, Beaten
1/2 stick Unsalted Butter, melted
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1/8 teaspoon Salt
Shortening – for frying the donuts
 
Glaze
1 and a 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 cup Cold Water Or Milk
 
Instructions
I adapted this recipe from The Pioneer Woman’s recipe that you can find here.  She gives very easy to understand (and detailed) instructions for how to make these donuts.  Because her recipe instructions are so fabulous, I think you should use them to make this recipe too!  I included my ingredients above because I made a few changes from the original recipe.  If you would like to use those ingredients for this recipe, I highly recommend it!  I also halved the recipe because the recipe makes SO many donuts and even with the recipe cut in half, you get enough donuts for at least 4 people!
 
donut pic 1
 
 
From making these donuts a couple times, I learned a few tips I thought I would share with you.
 
Tips:
1. To give a little variety I decided to dip half the donuts in the glaze and dip the other half of the donuts in white sugar.  Both were super tasty!
2. The second time I made these donuts we decided to have some friends over and throw a little donut party.  I made the dough the night before, and then the next morning before our guests arrived I rolled/cut out all the donuts and made sure they had all risen to their correct size.  Then once our friends arrived, we had fun frying the dough and choosing our flavors together.
3.  For the little ones:  As a way to include the younger kids who came over, we made a mini dipping station where we put all the flavors in small bowls next to a plate of the donut holes.  The kids had fun picking out their own flavors, and dipping the donut holes themselves!
 
donut pic 2
 
  • Comments Comments Off on Homemade Donut Recipe
  • Categories Recipes
  • Author

Whole Wheat Bran Apple Muffin Recipe

22 Jan

Good morning friends! I have a healthy (and yummy) recipe for you today! A few weeks back I made these healthy muffins as a quick breakfast option for Jonathan and I on our busy mornings. I found a muffin recipe from Smitten Kitchen, and then adapted it to the type of recipe we wanted for our breakfast muffins. These whole wheat bran apple muffins are great for an on-the-go breakfast. I hope you enjoy!
apple muffin pic 2
Whole Wheat Bran Apple Muffins
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Yield: They said 12
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed, divided
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup almond milk
1 cup bran oats (this is an estimate)
1 large apple, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease and flour 18 muffin cups and set aside.
Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix in the almond milk gently. (If you over-mix, the almond milk will cause the mixture to curdle.) Stir in the dry ingredients. Add in the bran oats to the batter, but pour slowly and just add as much as you would like in the batter. Then fold in the apple chunks.
Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar on top. Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400°F, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Sugar Cookie Recipe

21 Dec

sugar cookie recipe 1

Good morning friends!  And, happy Friday!  Can you believe it is almost Christmas?!  To celebrate, I have a very yummy Christmas cookie recipe for you today.  I thought it would be fun to put a little twist on the Christmas classic, sugar cookies. My secret ingredient is dark chocolate peppermint bark!  I adapted a recipe from Real Simple which you can find here.  Here is the recipe for you to enjoy!
 
sugar cookies 2
 
Ingredients for Sugar Cookies
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the work surface
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
 
Instructions for Sugar Cookies
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
 
Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high until smooth.  Add the egg and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add the vanilla.  Reduce mixer speed to low.
 
Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and add it slowly to the butter mixture, mixing until just incorporated (the dough will be stiff).  Shape into a flat 1-inch-thick disk.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
 
Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thick.  Cut into shapes and place on parchment-lined baking sheets.  The scraps can be combined and rolled out again.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are a light golden brown.  Watch the cookies closely because I found the second and third batch baked faster and you might want to take them out sooner.  Cool slightly on the baking sheets before transferring to cooling racks. 
 
Ingredients for Frosting
2 cups of powdered sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons of milk (I used 2%)
Food coloring
Trader Joes Peppermint Bark for Baking
 
Instructions for Frosting
This is a rough estimate for how much of the frosting ingredients you will need.  It is best to pour the desired amount of powdered sugar in a bowl and then slowly add milk.  Pour in about half the milk and then stir the mixture.  If the consistency is still too thick, pour in a little more milk.  Once you have the consistency right, add the desired colors of food coloring.  I chose to do hot pink because I am obsessed with the color AND to get a good red color you have to use a lot of red food coloring, and I don’t like having too much food coloring in the frosting.
 
Once the cookies are cooled, use a spoon to lightly cover the cookies with frosting.  Don’t try to cover the entire cookie or the frosting will just run off the sides.  Once the cookies are frosted, sprinkle the peppermint bark over the top of the cookies.  And, voila!  So tasty!
 
*Note:  If you are just baking for a couple people, cutting the recipe in half is a great amount.  
 
sugar cookie 3
 

Thanksgiving Treats: Sparkling Sugar Cranberries

19 Nov

Good afternoon friends and happy Monday!  It is raining like CRAZY here and the weather forecast says 100% chance of rain for the next few days.  Looks like I will be spending my days inside with a cozy blanket and a hot beverage.  My second round of coffee is brewing right now!

Can you believe Thanksgiving is this week!  Time is just flying by.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to post another fun treat I found for the big dinner.  As I shared before, I have been scouring the internet for fun Thanksgiving ideas (last week I posted this apple cake recipe) and I thought this simple cranberry recipe would be fun to try.

This Sparkling Sugar Cranberries recipe can be found on A Cup of Mascarpone right here.  I think this would be a fabulous appetizer or a great alternative to the traditional cranberries side dish.  Raw cranberries have lots of nutrients, making this a perfect (semi) healthy option.  And, they look so pretty too!

Do you like trying new recipes for Thanksgiving, or would you prefer to stick with the classics?

Happy cooking!

Photo source here

Apple Cake with Cinnamon and Sugar Recipe

15 Nov

Hi there!  I am so excited about the recipe I have for you today!  I have been hunting for fun, new recipes for Thanksgiving this year and here is one I highly recommend.  It is an amazing apple cake with cinnamon and sugar.  I can say with out a doubt it is one of the tastiest things I have ever eaten!  I found this recipe on Call me Cupcake and it was adapted from Smitten Kitchen.  I have included the recipe (with my changes) below.  I hope you love it as much as I did!
 
Ingredients
6 Tbsp of butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of salt
A little less than 1 cup of sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup of milk (I used almond milk)
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1-2 apples peeled and sliced
 
2 Tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of cinnamon
 
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch pie pan or an 8-9 inch cake pan. Wisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until combined. Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth. Pour into prepared pan. Arrange apple slices on top of batter in a single layer. Mix 2 Tbsps of sugar and and 1 tsp of cinnamon together in a small bowl. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over the cake. Bake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake until golden brown and a tester comes out clean, about 45-55 minutes. Let cool in the pan. Enjoy!
 
 
Call me Cupcake recipe here

My Healthy Smoothie Recipe

11 Oct

Ok friends I have a yummy AND healthy smoothie recipe for you today.  I have always loved smoothies. In fact, when I was in high school my best friend and I made smoothies all the time and were quite sure we would open our own smoothie place one day.  We had a secret ingredient that we refused to tell anyone.  This smoothie is a little different than the ones we used to make but it is also healthier. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

– 1 banana (cut into 3 pieces)

– 1/2 cup of orange juice

– Vanilla yogurt (Brown Cow is what we use and it is kind of like the secret ingredient!)

– Lots of spinach (at least a cup)

– 1 to 2 spoonfuls of rolled oats

 – Carrots (Optional)

Now blend it all up in a blender and serve chilled.

Pumpkin Cookies with Carmel Frosting Recipe

25 Sep

Oh my goodness, I have the most fabulous recipe for you today!  I found this recipe for Pumpkin Cookies with Carmel Frosting on Pinterest the other day and it is amazing!  And quite perfect for fall.  It is originally from letsdishrecipes.com and I made a couple changes to it which I have included below.  I picked this recipe because my husband doesn’t like cheese in any form, especially cream cheese, so I thought the carmel frosting would be a great supplement for the traditional cream cheese frosting that is often put on pumpkin treats.  The recipe is a little time consuming but SO worth it.  This might be my new favorite fall recipe!  I hope you like it too!

Pumpkin Cookies with Carmel Frosting Recipe adapted from Letsdishrecipes.com

Ingredients
Cookies
3/4 cup butter, softened (this recipe originally calls for 1 cup but I didn’t wantt to use that much butter and honestly after making them, you could probably use even less)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour

Frosting
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 and 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
Pinch of salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Stir in pumpkin. In a medium bowl, sift together the baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, salt and flour. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well.  Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. To get the perfect shape of cookie, try to flatten them a bit before you put them in the oven.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

To make frosting: In a medium saucepan, combine butter, cream, and brown sugar over medium heat.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture just begins to boil; remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool then stir in confectioner’s sugar.  Spread frosting over cooled cookies.

French Muffins

21 Aug

I have a really tasty recipe for you guys today. I found this recipe on Camille Styles last week and had to try them for myself! These French muffins were adapted from a French breakfast donuts recipe that you can see here. I really like how the muffins turned out and it is a super easy recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
– 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
– 1/2 cup sugar
– 1 egg, beaten
– 1 1/2 cups flour
– 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
– 1/4 teaspoons salt
– 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
– 1/2 cup milk (*I used a 1/4 cup of vanilla almond milk and 1/4 cup of vanilla coconut milk)
 
– 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
– 1/2 cup sugar
– 1 tablespoon cinnamon
 
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill muffin pan with muffin cups. Set aside.
2. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg; mix well.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg together. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk.
4. Fill muffin pans half full. Bake 15-20 minutes. Take out of pan immediately and swirl tops into melted butter, then sugar and cinnamon mixture. Makes about 9 muffins.
 
← Previous Entries