Healthier Peanut butter Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies are addictive and healthier than the usual recipes but you cannot tell at all! The coconut flavor from the coconut oil makes these cookies.

 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/3 cup PB2 chocolate peanut butter powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups quick oats
2 cups brown sugar or honey
1 cup coconut oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. Beat together coconut oil, sugar or honey, eggs, and vanilla extract in a medium-sized bowl.

2. Now mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl, flour, salt, cinnamon, protein powder, peanut butter powder, baking soda, baking powder, and oatmeal.

3. Now combine the dry mixture into the wet mixture and stir until completely combined.

4. Now scoop dough into balls using a tablespoon measure, place on parchment lined sheet  2" apart and bake for 5 minutes, rotate the baking sheet and return to oven for 4 to 5 minutes, until caramel in color, let cool 2 minutes and transfer cookies onto another sheet pan to cool.

Mango Turnovers

I love mangoes, they are such a beautiful and vibrant fruit and so delicious in these mouth-watering turnovers. :-)

Ingredients:
3 ripe mangos, small dice
3 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tiny pinch of nutmeg
1 egg+1 tablespoon water beat together
1 package puff pastry, thawed
demera sugar for the top


Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

1. In a small bowl add mangos, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Gently stir with a spoon, set aside.

2. Lay out puff pastry sheets, cut each sheet into 4 squares by cutting down the middle then across in half.

3. Spoon 2 tablespoons of filling into each square, brush edges with egg wash and fold over, press the edges with a fork, brush tops of turnovers with egg wash and sprinkle with demera sugar crystals

Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream or at room temperature.

Cheesy Spinach Rolls

Perfect party appetizer!

Ingredients:
1 bag of pre-washed baby spinach
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 egg+1 tablespoon water, beaten together in a small bowl.
1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 teaspoon grated, Romano cheese
2 green onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1 pinch freshly cracked black pepper
1 pinch kosher salt
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 dash of dried oregano
1 dash of dried basil
flour for the surface

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and have a strainer in the sink ready for spinach.

1. In a medium-sized pot add about 1 inch of water and heat to medium-high.
Once water starts to boil add in spinach and lemon juice, stir spinach while it wilts down.

2. Once spinach is dark green in color and has shrunk in size pour spinach into a strainer, rinse with cold water until spinach is cool to touch.

3. Place a bowl inside strainer and push down to drain water out of spinach get as much water out as possible you don't want soggy pastry. If it still has a lot of water put spinach between several layers of paper towels and squeeze tightly.

4. Mix together in a small bowl, cheeses, green onion, garlic, and all other seasonings with a spoon until combined.

5. Sprinkle a clean surface with flour, remove 1 puff pastry sheet out so the short end is facing you. Lightly brush pastry with egg wash.

6. Now, break up spinach into small pieces, evenly distribute over pastry and sprinkle the cheese mixture evenly over spinach.

7. Next, carefully lift the short edge closest to you, fold forward like a jelly roll, freeze for 15 minutes It will make the roll much easier to slice.

8. After 15 minutes have passed. Using a sharp knife, cut into 20 1/2 inch pieces. Place rolls onto two baking sheets, brush with egg wash, and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, cheese should be bubbly and pastry should be golden brown in color.

Let cool for 5-10 minutes, if you can wait that long. :)

Yummy!

EASY Pineapple upside-down cake

Pineapple upside-down cake always brings back memories of my Grandmother's kitchen, she loved this cake. She was an amazing cook and always had some kind of dessert and kool-aid popcicle cubes in her freezer :) Make this cake for someone you love.

Makes 1-12in cake 12 slices

Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
120oz can pineapple slices
1 jar maraschino cherries, stems removed and halved
1 box duncan hines deluxe pinepple cake mix
11/3 cups pineapple juice
1/3 cup vegetable oil or applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

1. Melt margarine in a 12-inch cast iron skillet swirling around to coat pan sides on medium heat, once butter is melted sprinkle brown sugar to cover the bottom of the pan.

2. Arrange pineapples starting from the center of the pan to cover the the bottom of the pan, place maraschino cherries cut side up inside of pineapple rings. (Decorate with as many cherries as you like.)

3. In a large bowl mix together cake mix, pineapple juice, oil, vanilla, and eggs beating well after each addition of eggs. Whisk batter until everything is well incorporated, there will be some little lumps but make sure all larger lumps are gone.


4. Slowly pour batter over pineapple and cherries, scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to get all the batter in the pan. Bake on center rack for 40-45 minutes, once a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean the cake is done.

5. Let cake cool for no longer than 10 minutes run a sharp knife along the sides of the cake and quickly invert onto a large plate to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Sweet Wheat Hawaiian bread

I love sweet breads, this bread would make delicious french toast for a Sunday morning brunch.  Feel free to comment with any questions.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water, for proofing

2 packages active yeast

1 1/2 cups pineapple juice

3/4 cup white sugar

3 eggs, at room temp

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

1/2 teaspoon  dry ground ginger 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 cups whole wheat flour

3 cups AP flour, plus some for your surface

Directions:

1. In a small bowl mix yeast with warm water, cover with a clean towel and let proof for 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl whisk together; yeast mixture, pineapple juice, sugar, eggs, butter, ginger, vanilla, and salt whisk until the eggs are incorporated .

3. Slowly add in the flour 1 cup at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon until you have a soft slightly sticky dough, form into a ball and cover with a damp towel set aside in a warm place to rise for 1 hour until it has doubled in size. (I preheat my oven early and put the bowl next to the oven) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

4. Punch down dough and turn out onto a floured surface. Split dough into 3 equal parts and roll into 3 balls, score the top with a sharp knife. Transfer dough balls to parchment lined baking sheets with plenty of room to rise. Cover again with a damp towel for 40 minutes in a warm place to rise.

5. Remove towels and bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, tap the bottoms of the loaves it should make a hollow sound. 

Serve this bread warm with any meal.

Toffee Cookie Sandwiches

I have been looking for ways to use up some Heath toffee bits I had in the fridge, I also had leftover frosting from cupcakes and I ended up with these! My boys loved helping me make the cookies and the frosting I should have taken pictures of my 18mo mixing the cookie dough and my 3yo fighting over the spoon! LOL. These cookies would be a best seller at a school bake sale as well. But anyways I got this recipe from the Hershey's website check it out for other great recipes using Hershey's products.

Makes about 36 cookies or 18 sandwiches

Ingredients: 

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs, at room temp (they incorporate a lot better.)

1 1/3 cups (8 oz. pkg.) HEATH BITS 'O BRICKLE Toffee Bits

Buttercream Frosting

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Stir together the dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, and salt.

2. In a separate bowl cream together butter and sugar, next stir in eggs mixing well after each addition, stir in vanilla. Slowly mix in flour mixture. Lastly stir in toffee bits.

3. Drop 1 inch sized dough balls onto a cookie sheet, bake for 8-12 minutes. Until golden, cool for 2 minutes on the sheet then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool.

 

 

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

This frosting is very sturdy, it's fluffy and thick! Great for decorating cookies, cupcakes etc. If you are looking for a good thick frosting here it is.

The cake I made for these was very moist chocolate cake

*Makes enough to frost at least 24 cupcakes.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 sticks of unsalted butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-3 tablespoons hot water

Directions:

1. With a hand mixer, mix all ingredients except for water. Cream until smooth, add water to desired thickness.

Sweet Sausage n' Cheese Kolaches aka Pigs in a Blanket

 Kolaches are definitely a staple in Texas doughnut shops, there are so many varieties of these sweet bread snacks. They can also be frozen* for a quick snack or breakfast.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted
1/2 cup warm water
2 packages of yeast
2 eggs beaten
5 cups all purpose flour
1 package cocktail weenies (any variety, I use cheese filled)
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

1. Heat milk, sugar, salt, and butter until sugar and salt is dissolved. Set aside to cool till lukewarm.

2. In a small bowl mix warm water and yeast until well combined, cover with a towel and let rest for 5 minutes.

3. In a large bowl combine milk mixture with yeast and water mix, to that add in beaten eggs and whisk till smooth; add flour in 3 additions mixing well after each addition. Turn dough out onto a floured surface.

4. Knead dough until it is no longer sticky and is elastic. Transfer to a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Let rest in a warm place until dough has doubled in size (about 1 hour).

5. Divide dough into 32 balls, roll out into circles about 3-4 inches in diameter.

6. Place a pinch of cheese in the center of each dough circle, then 1 sausage. Fold like a burrito.

7. Transfer to kolaches to the parchment lined baking sheet, brush the tops with melted butter and bake for 5 minutes, brush the kolaches with butter again and return to baking for 5 more minutes they should be a golden brown, let them cool for 10 minutes.

Cheese. Sausage.

Fold.

Roll.

Cool.

EAT!

*Freezing Instructions: Once cooled, wrap kolaches individually in plastic wrap. Freeze in a freezer ziplock bag for up to 3 months. Great for a quick snack or breakfast, just unwrap and microwave for about 2 minutes a kolache.*