Monday, December 31, 2012

Chili's Salsa - Copy Cat Recipe

Really easy Chili's copy cat recipe for salsa. I made this today in less than 2 minutes. All you have to do is put everything in a food processor and blend it up. In fact, if you want the chunks of tomatoes, you can just dice the onion and then put everything into a bowl and mix it up.

6 - 14.5oz cans diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 c diced jalapenos
 1 onion
1 T. garlic salt
1 T salt
1 T. cumin
1 T sugar
1 T lime juice

Sunday, December 23, 2012

No-Chill Sugar Cookies


1 c sugar
1/2 c oil
2 eggs
1 T vanilla extract
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
3 - 3 1/2 cups flour

Place all ingredients in bowl of stand mixer and mix until completely blended. Add more flour if needed. Dough should be slightly sticky. Place dough on a floured counter *** and roll out to 1/4" thick. Cut into desired shapes. Bake at 350* 9-11 minutes.
***If you would like colored dough like shown sepearte the dough into 4 (or the number of colors you would like) balls. Knead food coloring in by hand.***

Pumpkin Cupcakes


1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar
1 c melted butter
4 eggs
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
2 c flour
1 1/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t ginger
1/2 package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 can pumpkin

Combine both sugars, butter and eggs in bowl; beat well. Add salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger and mix well. Mix in flour and then add the pudding mix and pumpkin puree. Mix well. Pour into prepared mini cupcake pans and bake at 350* for 12 minutes. (or 20-25 minutes for regular size cupcakes) Makes 75 mini cupcakes or 18 regular cupcakes.  Frost with Cream Cehese Frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cube butter, softened
1 package cream cheese*
3-4 cups powdered sugar (you can use more if you want)
maraschino cherry juice (optional)
1-2 t. vanilla
1 t. almond extract (optional)
1 c. heavy whipping cream, whipped

Cream butter and cream cheese together and whip until fluffy. Add in powdered sugar and extracts**. Add maraschino cherry juice (1-2 T.) for desired consistency. You can add more powdered sugar if you get it too thin. Add in whipped cream.
*If you want a stronger cream cheese flavor use 2 packages of cream cheese. You will probably want to up the amount of powdered sugar.
**Always add extracts before the milk because they will thin out your frosting somewhat.

Gingerbread House Recipe


1 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 T ginger
1 c molasses
2 t allspice
2 t cinnamon
2 t cloves
1 t nutmeg
1 T + 1 t baking soda
1 c (2 sticks) margarine
2 eggs, beaten
7 c flour

Place both sugars, ginger, molasses, and spices in a large saucepan and combine. Stir occasionally while bringing to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. *It will bubble and rise as shown in picture*

Add margarine and stir until melted. Place mixture in bowl of stand mixer and mix in eggs and flour with dough hook (or add other ingredients by hand). Roll out on floured surface to about 1/4" thinkness and cut into desired shapes for houses. (We made 5 houses out of this recipe - may vary depending on size of houses.)

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Caramel Glazed Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins




All five of my kids (ages 2-10) seriously devoured these muffins this morning. I was really glad I had made 24! My 2 year old finished her first one (without the caramel) and was on to a second one before I finished putting the caramel on the tops.
Line 24 muffin cups with paper baking cups or brush tins with this easy release. Pre-heat oven to 375°.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Filling:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
½ c brown sugar
¼ c powdered sugar
1 egg
2 t vanilla bean paste (or regular vanilla)

Combine all of the ingredients and beat until smooth. Set aside.

Pumpkin Muffin Batter:
2 2/3 c flour
1 ¼ c brown sugar
1 c sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 t pumpkin pie spice (You can also use a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in place of this if you don’t have it)
½ t. ginger
3 eggs
1 c pumpkin puree
1/2 c veg. oil
2 t vanilla bean paste (regular vanilla is fine, too)

Mix together flour, both sugars, baking powder, salt, ginger, and pumpkin pie spice. Add eggs, pumpkin, oil, and vanilla. Mix well. Scoop 1-2 T. of this batter into each muffin cup. Next, place 1 T. of the vanilla cream cheese mixture into each of the muffin cups. Top each one with another T. of the muffin batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes (adjust cooking time as needed). While muffins are baking make the caramel topping.

Vanilla Bean Caramel Topping:(optional)
1 c. cream
1/2 t. sea salt
1 c. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla bean paste (You can use regular vanilla instead, this is just what I had)

Pour the cream or milk into a small saucepan and place on a low to medium heat. Add the salt and vanilla to the saucepan and stir to dissolve. Bring to a steady simmer, and then add the brown sugar. Stir to dissolve. Bring the mixture to a steady, low boil, and stir frequently. It takes about 5-10 minutes to get to the desired consistency.

When the muffins are done you can either dip the tops of each one into the caramel or drizzle the caramel over the tops of each muffin.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Variation:
Skip the filling and the topping. Add chocolate chips to the batter.

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