Easter Doughnuts

Just a quick post before I head out to my friend’s house to have a little get together for our kids. I made Baked donuts. They were super easy to make. I hope they all love them. I also may cinnamon rolls or breakfast tomorrow but I will post more about those once they are baked. I picked up a Wilton’s doughnut pan at Hobby Lobby the other day. I was supposed to make cupcakes for the get together today but I think the donuts will be a nice treat for the kids.

Wilton’s Baked Doughnut

source: Recipe on the doughnut pan wrapper

makes 12 regular-sized doughnuts      

Ingredients:

2 cups cake flour, sifted

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp butter, melted

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425°F.  Spray the 6-cavity doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2.  Sift together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Whisk in buttermilk, eggs, and butter and beat until just combined.  Fill each donut cup until about 2/3 full.

3.  Bake 7-9 minutes, or until the top of the donuts spring back when touched.  Cool in pan for about 4-5 minutes before removing from pan.  Complete donuts with either a dusting of powdered sugar, glaze, or cinnamon-sugar topping.  Best served fresh on the same day.

I took half of the donuts and topped them with powdered sugar. Just but about a 1/2 cup of powdered sugar in a plastic bag and place one doughnut at a time in the bag and shake gently. Tap the doughnut a bit to remove excess sugar.

Cinnamon Sugar topping:

2 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. ground cinnamon
2 Tbs. butter, melted

Quick Weekend Dinners and Sewing

Just wanted to make a quick post and show you what I’ve been up too. I really should be sewing Christmas gifts but for those of you that know me personally you know that I tend to have Craft ADD ;). Anyway I made a peasant dress for my daughter this week using this tutorial. I was super easy to make and turned out super cute. Next time I make it I will be increasing the flare and making it long sleeves so that she can wear it this winter.

I also whipped up a cute skirt using a headband that I bought at WalMart for $1 and some orange polka dot fabric that I had in my stash.

For dinner this weekend I wanted something quick easy and good. Every weekend the kids request pizza but this week I decided to make pan pizza. So good and easy. The only problem is the pizza is limited to the size of cake pan that you have. I used a 9″ cake pan for one pizza and then I made a hand tossed pizza so that we would have extras for lunch the next day.

I used these recipe for the pizza dough and the sauce. The only change is that you oil your 9″ cake pan, I used extra virgin olive oil, and preheat your oven to 400°.  Stretch and press the dough into the pan covering the bottom and up the sides. Top with sauce and toppings and bake for 30-35 minutes.

On Saturday night we had BBQ Chicken Taquitos. These are so good. I tried the original but wasn’t impressed but once I found the BBQ version over at Pink Parsley I was hooked. You can use pork or chicken. I used leftover rotisserie chicken. I think it would be good with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving too.

 

 

 

Baked BBQ Pork Taquitos
inspired by these Baked Chicken Taquitos (which are from Our Best Bites)

3 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature (reduced-fat is fine)
1/3 cup bbq sauce1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chile powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp liquid smoke (I omitted this, I didn’t have any on hand)
pinch red pepper flakes
kosher salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup diced onion
3 scallions, thinly sliced (I omitted this, I didn’t have any on hand)
2 Tbs minced fresh cilantro or parsley (I used a sprinkle of dried parsley, because I didn’t have either of these fresh on hand)
hot sauce (optional)
2 cups shredded or chopped cooked pork or chicken
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese (I used Colby Jack)
8-10 (6-inch) corn or flour tortillas (I used flour)
cooking spray ( I used Extra virgin olive oil spray)
Ranch Dressing and/or BBQ Sauce, for serving

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese with the bbq sauce, paprika, garlic powder, mustard, brown sugar, liquid smoke, chile powder, red pepper flakes, cilantro, scallions, onion, and 1/4 tsp kosher salt.  Fold in the pork and cheese.  Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if necessary.  Add hot sauce if you like things spicy!

Take 8-10 (6-inch) flour tortillas, wrap them in plastic wrap and microwave for about 30 seconds, just to make them pliable.

Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of filling onto the lower third of each tortilla, and roll tightly.  Place seam side-down on the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.

Spray the taquitos lightly with cooking spray, sprinkle with Kosher salt.  Bake 15-20 minutes, or until the tortillas are crisp and golden-brown.  Serve with bbq sauce and ranch dressing for dipping.

Hope that everybody had a great weekend. Now I have to head back to my sewing room and get going on all the Christmas gifts that I have to make.

 

Cheap and good

Just a quick post. I whipped up a batch of granola today for the kids…oh yeah and me. This is a really easy recipe. The kids love it and it can be altered pretty easily. This picture is of a batch I made in February. I didn’t have any chocolate chips on hand so I added plain M&M’s. I don’t think the kids will mind do you?

Banana Peanut Butter Granola (adapted from Annie-Eats)

3 1/2 c. rolled oats, not quick oats

2 1/2 c. puffed rice cereal, I used rice krispies

2 TBS honey

1/3 c applesauce *

1/3 c mashed bananas

1/3-1/2 c. creamy peanut butter, warmed slightly

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon **

Add-ins: any combo works well

1-1 1/2 c. dried banana chips

1/2 c honey rosted peanuts

3-4oz. bitter sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or chocolate chips (any flavor) or M&M’s)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat. In a large bowl combine oats and rice cereal. In a small bowl or 4 cup measuring cup, combine honey, applesauce, bananas, warmed peanut butter, salt, cinnamon and brown sugar. Stir mixture til smooth. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Spread mix evenly onto baking sheets. Bake for 35-45 mins turning granola with a large spatula. Also rotate baking sheets and move the top sheet to bottom rack and visa versa, every 15 minutes or so. If edges of granola are becoming brown remove them and place baking sheet back into oven. Be careful not to burn. I’ve burnt almost a whole batch because I had forgotten to set the timer. Not good. Makes the house stink. Place baking sheet onto cooling rack. Once granola is cooled add in the goodies.

I separate granola into snack sized ziplock bags so that they are ready for snacking or yogurt. Enjoy.

* a single serving size of applesauce snack pack is about 1/3 cup.

** omit cinnamon if you use cinnamon flavored applesauce.

 

Banana Bread

I don’t know what is going on in this house but the last couple of weeks I have bought bananas but nobody seems to be eating them. So what do we do when we have very ripe bananas in the house? Well, make banana bread of course. This is going to be a picture heavy post. I am obsessed with banana bread. Love it! Can’t you tell?

I used the recipe that my sister uses with a few modifications. It turned out so good. Love to eat banana bread with a nice cup of coffee.

 

Banana Bread – heavily adapted from Crust and Crumb

• 8 ounces flour (1 3/4 cup)
• 1/2 TBSP baking powder
• 1  tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 TBSP butter, room temp
• 8 ounces sugar (6 ounces brown, 2 ounces white), I used 3/4 c Brown and 1/4 c white sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 11-12 ounces very ripe banana (about three medium), mashed
• 3/4 cup lightly toasted, coarsely chopped walnuts, I omitted this. I don’t like nuts in my bread. yuck! 🙂

Directions –

1. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

2. Using a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using a hand mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy – about 2 minutes.

3. Mix in eggs one at a time, incorporating each egg before adding the next. Mix in vanilla and continue beating for 2 to 3 minutes until light and fluffy.

4. Mix in 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then 1/3 of the buttermilk, then 1/3 of the mashed bananas. Continue in this manner until all the ingredients are incorporated and the batter is smooth. Stir in walnuts.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease one 9×5 loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until baked through. The safest way of knowing if it is finished is to test them with a probe thermometer. The internal temperature should be 180 – 185 degrees.

6. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out on a rack to cool for at least one hour before slicing.