Monday recipe x2

Today you get a two-fer for a couple of reasons, one I'm running really late at getting this up and two because I am going to make both of these recipes today so I had them both out.

Peanut Butter Cups:

1 cup creamy peanut butter, divided

4½ teaspoons butter, softened

½ cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

4 milk chocolate candy pars (1.55 oz each), coarsely shopped

Directions:

In  a small bowl, combine ½ cup peanut putter, butter, confectioners' sugar and salt until smooth; set aside.

In a microwave bowl, melt the chocolate chips, candy bars and remaining peanut butter; stir until smooth.

Drop teaspoonful of chocolate mixture into paper -lined miniature muffin cups. Top each with a teaspoonful of peanut butter mixture; top with another teaspoonful of chocolate mixture.

Refrigerate until set.

Rum Balls

2½ cups crushed vanilla wafers (about 75 wafers)

1 cup ground pecans

1 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons baking cocoa

¼ cup rum

3 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons water

additional confectioners' sugar and/or crushed vanilla wafers

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the wafer crumbs, pecans, confectioners' sugar and cocoa. Combine the rum, honey and water; stir into crumb mixture.

Shape into 1 inch balls. Roll in additional confectioners' sugar and/or wafer crumbs. Stir in an airtight container. 

Monday Morning (afternoon?) Recipe Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

TOPPING:

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars with an electric mixer on high speed.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.

2.  In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar.

3.  Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.

4.  Preheat the oven to 300 degrees while you let the dough rest for 30-60 minutes in the refrigerator.

5.  In a small bowl combine the sugar with the cinnamon for the topping.

6.  Take about 2 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball.  Roll this dough in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and press onto an un-greased cookie sheet.  Repeat for the remaining cookies.

7.  Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes and NO more.  The cookies may seem undercooked, but will continue to develop after they are removed from the oven.  When the cookies have cooled they should be soft and chewy in the middle.

Makes 16-18 cookies.

Monday Morning Recipe: Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Things You'll Need:
1 cup chicken breasts, cooked and diced
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups cream
½ cup celery, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup carrots, finely shredded
½ cup onion, finely diced
1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin oil
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon parsley
Freshly grated parmesan cheese - optional
1 pound potato gnocchi - can buy this in the gourmet section of many supermarkets or find a recipe for homemade in the resource section

Step 1
Sauté the onion, celery, garlic, spinach, carrots in the olive oil till the onion is nearly translucent.

Step 2
Add the chicken, chicken broth, and spices. Bring to a boil.

Step 3
Slowly add the gnocchi into the boiling broth.

Step 4
Turn down the heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

(If you want a thicker soup, add 1 tablespoon corn starch to the cream before you add it into the broth). Add the cream. Slowly allow the mixture to come to a boil and then turn it off.

Monday Morning Recipe: Waffles anytime

Sorry this is a bit late. I have been trying to think of what to post this morning and everything sounded good but nothing said that it was THE ONE.

Whenever I hit that mood when I don't know what to make for dinner, this recipe is the one that wins. Because really? Who can pass up Waffles for dinner?  And when I'm feeling extra nice, I'll pull out varied toppings for the family to make them special. My kids love to make them look like an ice cream sundae, they put chocolate syrup, whipped cream and a cherry on top.

Waffles

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk (see note at bottom if you do not have buttermilk on hand)

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

⅓ cup butter, melted

Heat waffle iron. In a bowl beat eggs. Add buttermilk, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt. SLOWLY add the melted butter, beat until smooth. Pour batter onto a lightly greased waffle iron. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about 4 cups of batter or 4 to 8 waffles, depending on size. I personally triple the recipe and make extras, let cool on a cookie sheet, layer with wax paper and freeze in a freezer safe bag. Then the kids can either nuke or pop them in the toaster in the morning & have waffles for breakfast too.

*Note:

If you do not have buttermilk you can make a substitute by using 1 tablespoon of lemon juice OR vinegar then enough milk to make one cup. Let set aside for 5 minutes then use as normal.

If you have any type of recipe you'd like to see posted here feel free to find me on Twitter @Christag_banner and let me know. 

Monday Morning Recipe: Wonderful Cheese Soup

I had to take down the Green Chili Chicken & Rice soup recipe b/c I had typed it up on my word program to make it easier to do the fractions and didn't know the bullet points I added would cause problems with IE (Internet Explorer) Browser.  Thank you for those who let me know.  I'll add that recipe back up once I can type it up again without the bullet points.

This recipe calls for a can of beer but, for those of you who do not drink beer/alcohol you can substitute it with water or chicken broth. I rarely have beer on hand at my house so I take the ounces of liquid that would have been the can of beer (12 ounces) and do half of them (6oz) water and the other half (6oz) chicken broth.

Wonderful Cheese Soup

½ cup butter

½ cup EACH: diced onion, celery and green pepper

1 cup diced carrot

2 cloves garlic, minced

Saute first 6 ingredients in a skillet until tender.

¾ cup flour

3 cans (14 oz) chicken broth

2 cans water

1 can beer

1 c diced raw potatoes (I use about 2-3 c instead)

1 lb. Velveeta cheese - diced

Add flour and brown. Place chicken broth, water & beer in a large soup pot. Stir in vegetable mixture. Add potatoes and Velveeta to pot. Cook over low heat until potatoes are done - usually about an hour. Taste for seasoning and add salt/pepper if desired (I never do). 

Monday Morning Recipe: Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips
½ cup nuts (almonds or walnuts)

Beat sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time; blend well. Add sour cream and vanilla.

Combine flour, baking powder & baking soda in separate bowl; add to creamed mixture; mix well.

Spoon half of the batter into a greased 9x13 pan.

Combine in separate bowl, brown sugar, cinnamon, chocolate chips and nuts; mix well. Sprinkle half of this mixture over the batter in the pan. Spoon remaining creamed mixture over this layer and repeat with the remaining sugar/nuts mixture layer.

Bake at 350 F degrees for 35 minutes.

I plan on making this one today so I'll post a picture once it is done. First I have to finish the loaf of bread that is in the oven and cut and bake the energy bars I have waiting for their turn in the oven this morning. What can I say? Monday mornings are a busy baking day here at my house.

Monday Morning Recipe: Cinnamon Rolls (easy)

Sorry guys, I wasn't feeling very well yesterday so I forgot to post a recipe for you all yesterday. Better late than never, right?

Cinnamon Rolls

(make the dough the night before)

1 cup water

1 cup butter

¾ cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup cold water

4 eggs - slightly beaten

2 (0.25 ounce) package yeast

½ cup warm water

7½ cups flour

½ cup butter, softened 

1 cup brown sugar

¼ cup cinnamon 

1 recipe Powdered Sugar Glaze (below cinnamon rolls direction)

In a large pot bring 1 cup water to a boil. Add the 1 cup butter, sugar and alt. Remove from heat. Add the 1 cup cold water. When the mixture is lukewarm, add beaten eggs. In a separate bowl, dissolve yeast in the ½ cup warm water.  Allow Yeast to rise about 5 minutes, until foamy. Stir into mixture. Add flour and stir together. Cover pan with lid and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to roll out, divide dough into thirds. Lightly flour surface of a bread board (I use my pastry cloth frame). Roll dough out into a 12x6 inch rectangle about ½ inch thick. Spread each rectangle with one third of the softened butter. In a bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle one third of the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture over the surface of dough.

Roll up jelly-roll-style and cut into 12 rounds. Place on greased baking sheet. Repeat for the remaining 2 dough sections. Let raise for 2-3 hours. Bake one sheet at a time at 375 degrees F. for about 15 minutes until lightly browned. Spread with Powdered Sugar Glaze while still warm. Makes 3-4 dozen cinnamon rolls.

Powdered Sugar Glaze

½ cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Cream above ingredients together, spread over warm cinnamon rolls

Monday Morning Recipe: Chocolate Pudding Cake

I'm going to start off with a simple one today. One I can actually type here w/o having the recipe card with me. It is actually my families favorite cake recipe. Both my children prefer this for their birthday cake over a store bought cake.  It is so easy and be adjusted to pretty much anything you might have on hand in your pantry.

Chocolate Pudding Cake:

1 Devils Food Cake box mix (and ingredients to make the cake, oil, water, egg)

1 large Instant Chocolate Pudding mix (and ingredients to make the pudding, milk)

1 package Cream Cheese, softened

1 container Whipped Cream

Chocolate Sprinkles

Directions: 

Make your cake using the instructions on the box with the exception of baking it in a sheet cake pan. Bake and cool.

While cake is cooling, pour half the milk needed for the pudding (as if you were making it for a pie) in a large mixing bowl. Add cream cheese and beat until smooth, gradually adding in the rest of the milk. Once all the milk is added and the mixture is smooth, add the instant pudding mix. Beat until smooth and thick about 2 minutes.

Once the cake is cooled spread the pudding mixture over the cake, top with the whipped cream and then the chocolate sprinkles.

*This is where your creativity comes in as well as what you might have in your pantry. I have switched the cake & pudding flavors up to what ever combination I want. If you have a yellow or white cake mix you are open up to so many possibilities for your pudding combination. You do not have to put sprinkles on top if you don't want to, it is up to you.

Some of the different combinations I have used are as follows:

cake/pudding/topping:

Chocolate cake/chocolate pudding/chocolate sprinkles

Chocolate cake/Oreo pudding/Crushed Oreos 

Yellow Cake/Banana pudding/ cut up bananas 

White Cake/ Vanilla pudding/ whatever candy I have on hand

Enjoy!

Something new...

So, it appears we've started something new here on Christag Banners blog. It would be called Monday Morning Recipe.

I've admitted quite openly, I have an addiction to cookbooks and love to try new recipes. So, I've been asked to share some of the good ones. I'll be posting one every Monday morning.

If you have a good recipe you think I should try and post, feel free to email me at christag_banners@yahoo.com and I'll try it out.

If you have any suggestions on what type of recipes you'd like posted then you can always tweet me those as well at @Christag_banner

Christine