Easter Bunny Doll Cookies

· April 6, 2012 ·

Hi all! Happy Friday! It’s been a long week around here, so I’m glad the weekend has finally arrived! Easter is just around the corner!  Yay :)

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Every year around this time (give or take a few weeks depending on when Easter falls) my mom’s good friend Diane always brings some Easter Bunny Doll Cookies over to my house for my family to enjoy. Each time that I bite into this delicious dessert, I wish that I could figure out how create it myself! It’s that good.

Well lucky for me, this year Diane invited my mom and I over to her house so that we could learn how to bake the Easter Bunny Doll Cookies with her! All I can say is that I am so glad and thankful that she did! The dolls are fun to make, taste great and are SO adorable! Almost too adorable to eat! I can definitely see the Easter Bunny Dolls becoming a new tradition in my home for many years to come! :)

Easter Bunny Dolls

Yields 6 Bunnies or 2 Bunnies and 2 Wreaths

Ingredients

  • 6 Hard-Boiled & Colored Eggs
  • 1 Stick of Butter (Softened)
  • 1 Stick of Margarine (Softened)
  • 5 Cups of Flour
  • 5 Eggs (Room Temperature)
  • 1/2 Cup of 2% Milk
  • 1/2 Cup of Sugar
  • 1/2 Tsp of Salt
  • 4 Tsp of Vanilla Extract
  • 4 Tsp of Baking Powder
Frosting
  • 2 Sticks of Butter (Room Temperature)
  • 2 Lbs of Confectionery Sugar
  • 1/2 Cup of Milk
  • 1 Tsp of Vanilla Extract
First, color 6 (or more) hard-boiled eggs. Let them rest in a cool place for at least 1 hour before baking.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter, margarine and sugar together by hand.

Add in raw eggs and vanilla, and stir until all the yolks are broken, and there are no large chunks of butter.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt and baking powder. Once they are mixed, beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients by using an electric mixture with a dough hook attached.  Gradually add in some milk each time the dry ingredients are poured into the wet doughy mixture.

Once all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, the dough should be formed. * If you feel like the dough is too dry, add in a tad more milk and continue to mix.

When the desired consistency is achieved, remove the dough from the bowl and kneed it into a log. Cover the log with a damp paper towel, and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Cut the dough into 6 even pieces

Take each piece and gradually roll it until it is about 18 inches long.

Grab both ends of the 18 inch piece of dough, and twist one end around the other twice, to form the ears of the bunny. Make sure to leave a hole in the middle to place your Easter egg into.

Repeat above steps for all 6 pieces of dough, and then place the bunnies onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until the bunnies have become slightly golden brown.

To create a “wreath” shape as opposed to a bunny shape, simply cut your log into the same 6 even pieces. Roll out each piece until it is about 18 inches long and wrap 2 long pieces together around each other.

Continue to roll the 2 long pieces of dough until you have formed a circle or a “wreath”. Place an Easter egg at each rounded corner. Bake for the same amount of time.

Once the bunnies and wreaths have cooled for at least 1 hour, prepare the frosting. First mix together the butter and sugar with a mixer, and then gradually add the milk and vanilla into the butter mixture. Once a frosting consistency is achieved, frost the bunnies and wreaths with a knife and add sprinkles!

Enjoy!

Have a wonderful holiday!

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Is there anything specific that you cook or bake for Easter or any other holiday?

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9 Comments

Chicken and Broccoli Quiche Recipe

· March 15, 2012 ·

Holy Yum! I have another delicious recipe for you guys to try, and no it’s not oven roasted brussel sprouts this time, but it’s still good, trust me! Introducing: My FAVORITE Chicken and Broccoli Quiche recipe EVER! I absolutely love almost any type of quiche because they are quick and easy to make, can stay in the fridge for a few days and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner! It doesn’t get much better than that, I hope you guys like it as much as I do!

Chicken & Broccoli Quiche

Makes one whole quiche 

Ingredients 

  • 1 nine inch pie shell, unbaked
  • 1 cup of cooked chicken breast, cut
  • 1 cup of broccoli, chopped
  • 1 cup of grated mozzarella cheese
  •  3 eggs beaten
  • 1.5 cups of milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon of pepper
  • A dash of nutmeg

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees
  • Whip eggs and add milk to blend
  • Combine remaining ingredients and pour into unbaked pie shell, but make sure to leave out about 1/3 of the cheese
  • Sprinkle remainder of cheese along the top of the mixture
  • Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean
  • Enjoy!

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Do you like quiche? What is your favorite type?

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Oven Roasted Brussel Sprout Recipe

· March 6, 2012 ·

Hello all!

I hope that you are all having a fabulous week thus far. It’s already Tuesday, which means that it’s one step closer to the weekend! :)

Breakfast

This morning I enjoyed the usual Chobani 0% plain yogurt with ground Spectrum flax seed, almond halves and a cup of decaf coffee with skim milk!

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Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Brussel sprouts have gotten a bad reputation over the years, and have quickly become the dreaded vegetable of children and parents alike. Cook them the right way though, and these miniature cabbages can easily become a vegetable staple in your home. They are quick and easy to make, nutritious in so many ways, and have an absolutely phenomenal flavor! In this recipe I combine my favorite roasting ingredients, (olive oil and Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning) in order to create a savory tasting brussel sprout! Enjoy!

Ingredients 

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  • Rinse and halve brussel sprouts
  • Toss the sprouts into a large bowl, pour oil and sprinkle Grill Master Steak Seasoning all over them
  • Mix all the ingredients together and continue to add more seasoning until each brussel sprout is covered.

This seasoning is a blend of coarsely ground peppers, garlic and spices normally used  on  steaks and burgers, but believe me it is fabulous on vegetables as well!

  • Pour onto an aluminum lined cookie sheet
  • Bake at 400 degrees for 25 min or until all the sprouts have become soft and browned
  • Enjoy!
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Do you like brussel sprouts?
How do you cook them?
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16 Comments

Chobani Yogurt Banana Bread

· March 5, 2012 ·

I’ve been craving banana bread for weeks now, but haven’t been able to make it due to the lack of overly ripe bananas in my house. Luckily, this week I had a few leftover brown bananas that were just perfect for baking. I ceased the opportunity as quickly as possible because as much as I LOVE the taste of banana bread, I love the SMELL of it baking in the oven even more! This time,as the banana bread was baking I was still excited to smell the rich aroma, but quite a bit nervous to taste it. This was my first attempt at baking a yogurt banana bread loaf, and I was a little skeptic as to how it would turn out. Fortunately, the banana bread Gods were smiling down on me, because it was a huge success! This banana bread tastes more moist than an average loaf, and also contains a nice boost of protein! What more could you ask for?

Chobani Yogurt Banana Bread

Ingredients

Yields 1 full loaf

  • 1 & 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup of sugar
  • 3/4 cup mashed very ripe banana (about 3)
  • 1 container(6oz) of Chobani Greek 0% yogurt
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease the bottom of a 9×5 inch loaf pan with shortening or cooking spray.
  • In a large bowl,beat all of the ingredients except the nuts with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Increase the speed and then continue to beat for 45 seconds (make sure to scrape the bowl frequently).
  • Once all the ingredients are fully beaten, stir in the nuts.
  • Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean.
  • Cool for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack. Cool completely for 1 hour before cutting.

Enjoy! :)

Have you ever used yogurt when baking? How so?

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12 Comments

Organization Techniques

· March 2, 2012 ·

Happy Friday! Words cannot explain my excitement for this weekend! Nothing special is going on, I actually don’t really have any plans at all, but you know what? That’s why I’m excited! It’s been a loooong week to say the least, and quite frankly I am really looking forward to some good ole’ down time with this little guy!

Breakfast

This morning I scarfed down the usual B-fast of choice, which is the same as yesterdays, and the day before that, and the day before that! I didn’t bother taking a photo because A) I forgot and B) I’m sure you can call make an educated guess on what it was! If are so inclined to see it, take a look at this post where you will find a few detailed photographs :)

Organization Techniques

Organization is not something that I struggle with, but I wouldn’t say it’s one of my strongest points either. The hardest part for me is usually to just to start organizing. Once I begin decluttering my bedroom, car, closet etc…I won’t stop until I am done, and everything looks perfect. For the most part I try to organize my bedroom 3-4x per week, my closet 1x per season, my car 1x per month, and my desk once every few months.  There’s really no rhyme or reason to the way I organize my things, I have my own method and it works for me!

I generally try to first thoroughly clean out whatever I am organizing by vacuuming, dusting and using disinfectants.  Then I proceed to put everything in some type of order. Sometimes I get frustrated and go on a “throwing away” rampage, where I throw out a bunch of papers, clothes and nick-knacks that I think I don’t need. Months later, I usually ending up re-buying whatever I threw out, because I find out that I actually do need it!  I have my mother to thank for this type of behavior, no hoarders in this household!

When it comes to organizing my recipes, I am at a loss for words. I have tried electronically storing them in a favorites folder on my computer, I have tried printing them out and putting them in a folder and I’ve also tried the whole recipe box thing. All of these methods worked for a little while, but then quickly faded away within a few months. The problem is that I have SO many recipes that I want to try, but I haven’t yet discovered a method to organize them in way that makes them easily accessible and pleasing to the eye. Any suggestions???

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I’m pretty much stumped! I am currently leaning towards creating a “recipe binder” like the one’s pictured below, where I would put my recipes into sheet protectors, and label them by categories. I am hoping that this will work because my current method (or lack there of) is down right BAD!

 

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It’s really annoying when I know I have a recipe that would be perfect for a certain occasion, but when it comes time to make it, I can’t find it! I either forgot the website, don’t know which magazine I ripped it out of or lost the piece of paper that I wrote it on! Any insight that you could give me on you organize your recipes would be much appreciated! Clearly I need some assistance in this area! Thanks! :)

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How do you organize your recipes?

Do you think that you are an organized person?

How often do you organize your room, closet, car, recipes etc ?

Have a GREAT weekend!

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8 Comments

White Chocolate Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

· September 17, 2011 ·

There is just something about baking during the fall season that just makes me feel all fuzzy inside. Now I know that fall doesn’t technically start for another week, but according to me the first day that is too cold for me to go the beach, marks the official start of fall (in Massachusetts at least)! These white chocolate pumpkin oatmeal cookies have kicked off my fall baking extravaganza.

Recipe adapted from Picky Cook.

What you will need:

Yields 45 cookies

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1  1/2 sticks of unsalted butter – softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree (2 cans)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees, and lining your baking sheets with parchment paper. Next combine the flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a bowl.

Next, beat butter,and sugars in a large bowl until light and fluffy (this will be difficult if your butter is not softened).

Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract; mix well. Add flour mixture; combine until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed together. Lightly fold in white chocolate chips. Try to refrain from consuming all the batter, this will be difficult!

Drop the batter by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees for 14-17 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to cooling racks.

Enjoy!

What do you enjoy most about fall baking?

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Watermelon Bombe

· September 6, 2011 ·

Hello everyone!

I hope that you all enjoyed a fun and safe Labor Day weekend, I know I did! I spent my weekend celebrating the last days of summer by enjoying some quality time with the fam. On Saturday we had our “goodbye summer, hello fall” BBQ which obviously involved a lot of eating, and of course some indulging too!

Since the forecast predicted a humid day, I decided that I wanted to make some sort of sweet but refreshing dessert. After brainstorming several ideas I was determined to create my first ever “Watermelon Bombe Cake”. This dessert may look complicated, but its actually very easy to make because it involves no baking! I like to call this a “freeze and forget” dessert, as opposed to a “stand by the oven all day” kind of dessert! ;-)

Watermelon Bombe Cake

Yields 8-10 slices

1 Quart of lime sherbet

1 Quart of raspberry sherbet

1 Cup of chocolate chips

1 Package of lady fingers

First, remove your lime sherbet from the freezer and allow it to soften for about 5-10min. While the sherbet is thawing, line a a round bowl (plastic, metal or glass) with plastic wrap. This will help you to remove the bombe from the bowl later on.

Once the lime sherbet has softened, use a spatula to evenly smooth it into your bowl. Running your spatula under some hot water before molding the sherbet to the bowl makes it easier to sculpt around the sides. Freeze for 10-15 min.

Take out your raspberry sherbet and allow it it thaw for about 5-10 min. Once it has softened, stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon the raspberry sherbet into the lime sherbet bowl. Again, use a warm spatula to evenly smooth it in.

Lastly, set the lady fingers on top of the sherbet. Return to the freezer for at least 2 hours, or until ready to serve.

Remove the bowl from the fridge about 5 minutes before serving. Use the plastic wrap to help remove the bombe from the bowl. Turn upside down onto a cake platter. Serve and enjoy!

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