Cookie BlogHop: Cinnamon Palmiers

It's a new month and that means a new BlogHop to bake with my fellow bloggers around the world! This month's BlogHop is focused on cookies. I LOVE COOKIES!! I decided to try something different and make Cinnamon Palmiers. I love cinnamon and couldn't wait to make these. This easy recipe can be made with homemade puff pastry or shop-bought. I used shop-bought puff pastry as I did not have enough time to make my own. There were quite a few recipes out there and I used them as guidance for my recipe. These sweet cookies are flaky and buttery, with a sweet caramelized bottom. I loved them! I was really happy with how they turned out and will be making them again for the holiday season!

Please join in on the #cookielove fun by linking up any cookie recipe from the month of December 2011. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #cookielove event! The twitter hashtag is #cookielove :). 

Recipe

Ingredients:
1 sheet of Puff Pastry Dough
3 tbs Butter, melted
2 tsp Cinnamon, ground
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup White Sugar

Steps:

1. COMBINE the butter, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and brown sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
2. MIX the sugar and rest of the cinnamon, then sprinkle onto a clean counter top.
3. PLACE the puff pastry dough onto the sugared counter top. Roll the pastry to about 10" x 12", with some pressure so the sugar sticks to the puff pastry dough.
4. SPREAD the cinnamon brown sugar glaze onto the surface of the puff pastry dough.
5. FOLD one of the 10" sides to the middle and repeat with the other side, so they meet in the middle. Fold both sides again so they meet in the middle, then fold one half over the other like a book. 
6. PLACE the log on a baking sheet and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
7. PREHEAT oven to 400F/200C.
8. SLICE the log in the 1/4" slices and place an inch apart onto non-stick baking paper.
9. BAKE for 10-12 minutes and remove to a wire rack keeping them on the non-stick paper until completely cooled.

Co-hosted by:

Badger Girl Learns to Cook, Baking and Cooking: A Tale of Two Loves, BigFatBaker, Bloc de Recetas, Bon a Croquer, CafeTerraBlog, Cake Duchess, Creative Cooking Corner, Easily Good Eats, Georgie Cakes, Hobby and More, Knitstamatic, Mike's Baking, Mis Pensamientos, No One Likes Crumbley Cookies, Oh Cake, Queen's Notebook, Savoring Every Bite, Simply Reem, Soni's Food for Thought, Teaspoon of Spice, That Skinny Chick Can Bake, The Art of Cooking Real Food, The Spicy RD, The Wimpy Vegetarian, Vegetarian Tastebuds, Vegan Yack Attack.

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Guest Post: Themed Gourmet Dinner Parties - Start from Scratch with a Great Grocery List

One of the most overwhelming aspects of throwing a dinner party for a group of foodies is staying on track. With so many amazing recipes and ingredients to choose from, walking into the grocery store empty handed can mean walking out with most of the store in-tow. Pick a theme, design the menu around that theme and head to the store with a well-crafted grocery list to get everything off to a smooth start.

Italian, Mediterranean, and Mexican dishes are both utterly fulfilling yet easy, using single ingredients in multiple dishes and sides.

Imagine the layout of your grocery store when composing the grocery list and try to write the list of ingredients to follow the flow of the store so you’re not scuttling back and forth tracking down forgotten items.

If you can prepare salsas, dips, dressings, desserts and appetizers earlier in the day or even the day before you will be free to welcome your guests, get their drinks started and facilitate introductions between guests.

Pick a main course that can cook till all of the guests arrive, and not suffer from staying on low heat for an hour or two while your party works its way through the appetizers and salad course. Things that need to be watched while on the stove should be avoided, like individually pan seared proteins or dairy based sauces that can scorch if left unattended. Timelines at dinner parties need to be flexible.

Ethnic themed parties are easiest served buffet style that way people can load up what they want and you don’t have to worry about taking the time to plate dishes. And in some cases like Mexican and Mediterranean some of the dips used for appetizers are also used with the main course. Giving people the freedom to load their own plates can result in some fantastic customizations!

Once everyone has finished with dinner, it is time to linger over dessert and coffee. A lot of desserts can be made completely in advance, like cheesecakes, mousses and tarts. Crème Brûlée and fried ice cream take only a few minutes to dress if the prep work is done in advance, or a bread pudding can be put in the oven at the start of dinner to be ready to go when it’s time for dessert. Sticking with the theme is less important here; it’s more about time and attention.

No matter which theme you choose, sticking to some kind of genre to keep the grocery list organized and manageable is your best bet. Trying to take on too many flavors at once can overwhelm and create space and time obstacles during prep and service. Plus, if you go with a theme you can get creative with fun cocktails and decorations!

-Sean K.

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I can't believe it is December already!! Where has the year gone? It certainly has flown by and way too quickly. We tend to have more parties around this time of year, so I was happy to have a guest post giving us all some tips for throwing a successful themed dinner party. So now I'm asking you, do you have any great tips or recipes to share? Add it in the comment section.

Happy party organizing!

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Announcing my first giveaway...

This year has flown by very quickly. I started blogging 6 months ago and to celebrate that I am hosting my first giveaway sponsored by Argos for UK residents. Click here or the 'Argos Competition' tab at the top of the page for more details. I am very thankful for all of you visiting my blog.  Hope everyone has a great stress free December. Make sure to keep visiting for some great tips and recipes over the next few weeks.

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Muffin Monday: Cranberry & Dark Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding Muffins

I love bread pudding, and once I got the email from An with this week's Muffin Monday recipe, I couldn't wait to try this one out. I would have never thought to do this in muffin form but guess what... it really works and tastes great! When I brought one out for Shane to taste test, I didn't get an answer to begin with, it was simply "MMMMMMMM....OMG...MMMMMMMMMM". So I knew they were tasty then got some actual words out of him, "Mike, these are the best muffins you have made, I love them!". And I have to agree with him, they really did turn out great. Give this one a try, I have made some changes to the recipe but check out Baker Street for the original recipe. This is perfect muffin for the holiday season. 

Happy Muffin Monday!!

 
Recipe
Courtesy of  Baker Street

Ingredients:
7 cups cubed brioche bread
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups warm half-and-half
4 eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon brandy (optional)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
icing sugar for dusting

Steps:  
1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray generously with nonstick cooking spray. 

2. Pour all but 2 cups of the bread cubes in a large bowl. Add milk and cream and let stand for 3 minutes, then stir to mush up some of the cubes and let the liquid soak inches Stir in eggs, sugar, vanilla, brandy and butter.

3. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon, then stir into wet ingredients. Add dried cranberries and dark chocolate chips, then stir well to make a chunky butter. Stir in reserved breads cubes just to mix.

4. Using a large ice-cream scoop, fill each muffin cup to just over rim. Place muffin pan in oven.

5. Bake for 30 minutes or until muffins are golden with tips of firmer bread cubes golden brown. Let cool in pan 5 minutes. Cool muffins on wire rack, and dust with icing sugar once completely cooled.

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

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Cupcakes vs Muffins: What is the difference?

Cupcakes Definition: a small cake baked in a pan having cuplike molds and typically frosted.	Muffins Definition: a quick bread baked in a pan having cuplike molds.

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Do a search on Google and there will be tons of pages arguing Cupcakes vs Muffins with lots of different theories, but I would like to simply define the difference with the simple definitions above. Do you agree?

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving to me means - spending time with family and eating lots of YUMMY food, and of course giving thanks! I have great memories of Thanksgiving, it is one of my favourite holidays, time off to eat loads and then kick off the Christmas shopping on Black Friday. Sadly the last time I had Thanksgiving with my family was 5 years ago, but that doesn't stop me from celebrating it in the UK with friends. In honour of Thanksgiving, I am going to do my first recipe roundup. This will be a collection of recipes I have tried, recipes I want to try, and recipes recommended to me! Hopefully, you will be able to try out one of these recipes in time for Thanksgiving this year. While most people will be celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday in the US, I will be celebrating it this weekend. So eat lots of turkey for me while I am at work!! I think they should make it a holiday here in the UK, wishful thinking... I know!

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Recipe Roundup for a perfect Thanksgiving meal...

Deviled Eggs
Stuffed Mushrooms 
Rolls
Pumpkin and Herb Stuffing
Marinated Green Beans
Sweet Potato Casserole
Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Gravy- 11 different recipes for TDay
Cosmopolitan Cranberry Sauce
Perfectly Moist Turkey Every Time
Chocolate Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie

Share your favourite Thanksgiving recipe in the comment section and I might just try it out this weekend! Happy Thanksgiving!

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Muffin Monday: Rocky Road Muffins

It's Monday again and I have another great muffin recipe brought to you from Baker Street. As a kid, I was not a huge chocolate fan and never tried anything with Rocky Road in the title. Looking back, I really missed out on great flavours, chocolate with gooey marshmallows and nuts. It's a great combination that just works! I think I see some rocky road inspired recipes in my future. Now these muffins, might not be the healthiest but they are a great indulgence to brighten my Monday Morning.
 
Recipe
Courtesy of Baker Street
Ingredients:
300g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp cocoa powder
75g milk chocolate chopped
1/2 cup walnuts
60g mini marshmallows
150g soft brown sugar
200 ml milk
2 eggs
75g butter

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F/190C. Grease or line a 12 hole muffin pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and marshmallows. Set aside.
3. Reserve about 1/3 of the chocolate chunks and walnuts and add the rest to the flour mixture.
4. In a separate bowl, combine sugar, milk, eggs and butter.
5. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients just until combined.
6. Spoon dollops into muffin cases and sprinkle chocolate and nuts on top. Press them gently into the batter
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool for 5 minutes and transfer to wire rack.

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick visit to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

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Vegan Chai Latte Cupcakes

I was looking through photos off of my old phone and found this one of Chai Latte Cupcakes! I went through a stage of vegan baking from the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World recipe book. It's a great book and has some really great cupcake creations. Try this recipe out and I bet no one would know they are vegan cupcakes. I will have to do some more recipes from this book and take better pictures with my camera.

Recipe
Courtesy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over...
Ingredients:
1 cup soy milk
4 black teabags
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup plain soy yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
pinch of ground pepper

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Heat soy milk to almost boiling in a small sauce pan. Add the tea bags, cover, and remove from heat. Let sit for 10 minutes.When ready, dunk teabags a few times in soy milk and squeeze gently to extract any soy milk before removing. Discard tea bags. Measure the soy milk and tea mixture and add more soy milk if it is less than 1 cup.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, yogurt, sugar, vanilla and tea mixture until all yogurt lumps disappear. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and pepper into wet ingredients. Mix until large lumps disappear, some small lumps are okay. Fill tins full and bake for 20 to 22 minutes.
4. Cool completely on a wire rack before decorating with icing sugar and cocoa powder.

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Beef Stroganoff

I love Beef Stroganoff and found a great recipe at SimplyRecipes.com last year and recently made it again. It is an easy and yummy recipe to make, lots of butter, mushrooms, shallots, beef, and sour cream. Try making this one for dinner tonight, you will love it! Check out the other great recipes at SimplyRecipes.com, I've made the African Chicken Peanut Stew and that turned out great as well. I plan on trying out many more recipes from SimplyRecipes.com. *Pictures taken with my mobile*

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Muffin Monday: Gingerbread Muffins with Lemon Drizzle

Another Monday... another muffin! We are getting closer and closer to Christmas. I don't like doing anything Christmas related until a couple weeks before the big day. But the shops already have tons of Christmas stuff out, we are using the Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee, and I made these muffins which would be great to make for Christmas! Have I been transported to the middle of December?? No, just hard to escape from it when it is all around. Hopefully my other half doesn't read this or the Christmas tree might be going up earlier then I would like!! These muffins turned out great, very yummy and nice to have the gingerbread flavor in muffin form.

Happy Muffin Monday!

Recipe 

Courtesy of BakerStreet

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Brown Sugar, packed 

1/2 cup Molasses

1/3 cup Milk

1/3 cup Vegetable Oil

1 Egg

2 cups Plain Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Ground Ginger

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Ground Allspice

1 cup Icing Sugar

2 tbs Lemon Juice

Decorator Sugar Crystals, if desired

Steps:

1. HEAT oven to 400F/200C. Place baking cups in a regular sized 12 cup muffin pan.

2. BEAT brown sugar, molasses, milk, oil and egg in a large bowl with a spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients expect for icing sugar, lemon juice, and sugar crystals. Mix just until flour is moistened. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. 

3. BAKE for 18 to 20 minutes. Immediately remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool for 30 minutes before decorating.

4. MIX icing sugar with the lemon juice. Drizzle over cooled muffins and sprinkle with decorator sugar crystals.

5. ENJOY.

 Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

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"Pumpkin Pie" Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

The pumpkin gets a lot of love around this time of year with Halloween and Thanksgiving Day but most people just throw the seeds away. Don't throw them away!! They are so many yummy roasted pumpkin seed recipes out there from savory to sweet. I decided to try making a sweet version of roasted pumpkin seeds and they turned out great. It smelled like pumpkin pie was being cooked in my oven without all the hassle of making a pie... although it took awhile to get all the seeds away from the pumpkin pulp and cleaned. Can you buy plain pumpkin seeds at the grocery store? That would be a good shortcut to try this recipe out.

Happy Roasting!! If you have a favorite recipe for roasting pumpkin seeds, share them in the comment section below.

Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups Raw Pumpkin Seeds, dried
1/3 cup Butter, melted
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Ground Cloves

Steps:

1. PREHEAT oven to 150C. 
2. TOSS all ingredients together until all pumpkin seeds are thoroughly coated.
3. LAY them out in a even layer on a large baking sheet and place on the center shelf of your oven.
4. ROAST for 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning them every 15 minutes. They are done when the mixture is dried on the pumpkin seeds and they have a nice golden color.

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Muffin Monday: Apple Buttermilk Muffins with Coconut Crumble

Happy Muffin Monday!!! I was happy to join in on this week's Muffin Monday. These extremely easy to make muffins are wonderfully moist and very tasty! The only trouble I had was finding buttermilk. I have never needed it for a recipe before this and thought my local shop would have some... nope. Thanks to Google I found a substitute, try this if you're in the UK and can't find buttermilk.

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week. 

Recipe

Courtesy of  BakerStreet

Ingredients:

For the Muffins: 

2 1/2 cups self raising flour

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

410g can pie apples

1 egg

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

For the Coconut Crumble: 

1/4 cup plain flour 

1 1/2 teaspoons caster sugar

1/2 cup flaked coconut

20g butter

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400F / 200C

For the coconut crumble: 

1. Place all the ingredients in a small bowl and rub the butter using your fingertips till it is nice and crumbly. Set aside.

For the muffins: 

1. Grease or line a 12 hole muffin pan. 
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and cinnamon. Stir in the apple. Do not over mix. 
3. In a measuring jug or medium bowl, combine egg, buttermilk and oil. 
4. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the apple mixture and mix gently. 
5. Spoon the mixture equally into the prepared pan and top with coconut crumble. 
6. Bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.

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Squash BlogHop: Easy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

It's a new month and that means one thing, time to bake with my blogging friends across the world. This month the love has been given to the squash family. Now the squash family is a big one but I chose to use pumpkin. I knew I wanted to make pumpkin cinnamon rolls and found quite a few recipes online. Then I found one from the Keep It Simple Foods blog. The reason why I chose this was because there is no yeast in the recipe, so no having to wait for it to rise. This one was ready to go as soon as I mixed everything up! One day I will make proper cinnamon rolls but this makes a great alternitive. Whip this up in the morning and get the lovely smells going through the house to wake everyone up. Then sit back and enjoy with a cup of coffee!

November is #SquashLove month! Please join the #SquashLove fun by linking up any squash recipe from the month of November 2011. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #SquashLove event! The twitter hashtag is #SquashLove. 

Recipe
Courtesy of KISF
Ingredients:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup pureed pumpkin

For the icing: Mix together 1 Tbs milk, 1 Tbs maple syrup and 1 cup powdered sugar.




  Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 425F/200C.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, 4 tablespoons granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon melted butter. Stir until the mixture resembles wet sand.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and remaining salt.
4. Next, add the milk and 2 tablespoons butter and stir until you’ve formed a good dough ball. 
5. Transfer the dough ball  to a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth. Roll the dough into a large rectangle. 
6. Spread the pureed pumpkin evenly over the surface of the dough. Then, sprinkle the dough evenly with the brown sugar filling, leaving a half inch border at the edges. Pat the filling into the dough.
7. Then, begin rolling the dough carefully, using a spatula to loosen it from the work surface as you go.  Roll the dough into a long, tight log. 
8. Cut the log evenly into 1 inch pieces, you should have 9 to 12 pieces. 
9. Fit the rolls tightly together in a nonstick baking pan. Pour remaining butter over the rolls.
10. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden on top. Let cool slightly before pouring on the icing.

Meet this month's co-hosts and follow us on Twitter!

Baker Street | Anuradha : @bakerstreet29

Bloc De Recetas | Salomé : @blocderecetas

Bon à croquer | Valerie : @valouth

Cafe Terra Blog | Terra : @cafeterrablog

Cake Duchess | Lora : @cakeduchess

Elephant Eats | Amy 

Food Wanderings | Shulie : @foodwanderings

Hobby and More | Richa : @betit19

Georgie Cakes | Gorgie : @georgiecakes

Mike’s Baking | Mike : @mikesbaking

Mis Pensamientos | Junia : @juniakk

My Twisted Recipes | Dudut : @mytwistedrecipe

No One Like Crumbley Cookies | T.R : @TRCrumbley

Queens Notebook | Elizabeth : @mango_queen

Simply Reem | Reem : @simplyreem

Skip To Malou | Malou : @malou_nievera

Teaspoon Of Spice | Serena : @tspcurry

The Daily Palette | Annapet : @thedailypalette

The Professional Palette | Regan : @profpalate

The Spicy RD | EA : @thespicyrd

Vegan Miam | Rika : @veganmiam

 

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