Happy New Year! And Sweet Clementine Cranberry Muffins too!

Happy New Year to each of you!  I hope you all had a safe and happy celebration and enjoyed the first day of 2014!  We're in the homestretch to my sister-in-laws wedding and will be spending the next couple of days assisting in final preparations.  But - I still wanted to be sure to stop by and share a recent recipe with you!  Check is out!

Sweet Clementine Cranberry Muffins
Adapted from Blue Bonnets and Brownies

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 2/3 cup flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 clementines, sectioned and chopped
1 5-oz package dried cranberries
1 cup buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease 2 standard muffin trays.

Melt butter and add to mixing bowl.  Add sugar, salt, eggs and vanilla and whisk briskly to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and baking powder.  Use a dry whisk to mix.  Pour mixture on top of butter mixture but do not stir.

Peal and chop clementines and mix with dried cranberries.  Add on top of flour mixture.  Fold the mixture together and few times until mixture is crumbly.  Be careful not to overmix.

Create a small dip in the mixture and add the buttermilk.  Gently fold until the buttermilk is absorbed into the dry mixture.

Fill your muffin cups to the top with the mixture.  Bake for approximately 27-30 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.  Remove from the pan and allow to cool.

Makes 24 muffins.  Store in airtight container.

These muffins are quite delicious!  They were a hit with the family when served on Christmas morning!  One thing to note, they are a little heavier than a "normal" muffin, but still taste great!  Enjoy!

Chocolate-Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Hey all!  I hope you each had a wonderful Christmas holiday with friends and family.  We're recuperating quite well from the travel, food, and bustle of activity.  We were blessed to spend Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with my husband's family enjoying each other's company, opening gifts and eating delicious food.  I have a few recipes from our Christmas breakfast to share with you in the coming weeks, but wanted to share a delicious cookie recipe with you today: Chocolate-Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies.  This recipe is adapted from Ocean Spray's online recipes.

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cup brown sugar, Splenda
4 large eggs
3 cups old-fashioned oats
3 cups flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon milk
1 5-ounce package dried cranberries
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Using a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and mix well.  In a separate bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Slowly add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition.  Finally, add milk and mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

Drop by  rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 8-11 minutes or until golden brown.  Then cool on wire rack.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

These cookies were a hit at work and at home!  My husband loved them and couldn't be more excited about leftovers from the office!

Coming soon!
Cranberry Clementine Muffins
Breakfast Casserole
Layer Biscuits

Chocolate Peppermint Meringues

Hi everyone!  Hope you're having a great weekend so far!  Just thought I'd stop by and share a quick recipe if you're in need of a last minute holiday treat.  I made these for my work Christmas party last week and they were delicious!  Without further ado: Chocolate Peppermint Meringues (adapted from Joyofbaking.com).

Ingredients:
6 egg whites
2 cups granulated sugar - I chose to use Splenda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/3 cup crushed candy canes
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Put egg whites into stand-up mixer and whisk until small bubbles form.  Add sugar and mix until stiff peaks form.  Add cocoa powder and vanilla and mix well.  Fold in crushed candy canes and mini chocolate chips.

Pour mixture into piping bag and pipe onto parchment paper lined cookie trays.  Place in preheated oven for 1 minutes and then turn oven off.  Leave in oven with door closed for 3 hours or until cookie is crisp.

Yum yum!

Peppermint Meringues

Hi everyone!  Hope you're all doing well!

I wanted to drop in and share the recipe for the Peppermint Meringues made for my sister-in-law's bridal shower.  They were delicious!  And so easy to make!  This recipe was adapted from Simplyrecipes.com and Whipperberry.com.  

Ingredients/Supplies:

6 egg whites

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Pinch of salt

Red food coloring gel

Parchment paper

Gallon size freezer bag

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Put egg whites and pinch of salt into stand-up mixer.  Start mixing the egg whites on low and gradually increase until foamy and soft peaks form.  Slowly add sugar and increase mixing speed.  Mix until stiff peaks are formed and then add peppermint extract and food coloring.  Mix on low until food coloring is well blended.

Place parchment paper over the top of your cookie sheet.  Spoon mixture into the freezer bag and cut one corner.  Pipe about 1 to 1 1/2 inch mounds onto the cookie sheet.  

Put meringues into oven and close the door.  After 1 minute, turn the heat off.  Leave the doors to the oven closed for at least 3 hours or overnight.  The meringues will cook and dry out with the residual heat of the oven.  A completed meringue will be hard and crunchy.

Store in an airtight container.  Makes approximately 40-50 meringues.

Enjoy!

Easy Fruit Salad

Lately, I've been craving some summer time.  I love the sunshine, warm summer nights, and fresh fruit.  We're not quite into fresh fruit season, but I made a simple fruit salad to suffice until the time comes.

Ingredients:
1 bag frozen blueberries
1 bag frozen strawberries
1 bag frozen mango
1 can pineapple chunks, drained

Directions:
Mix frozen fruits in a bowl and let thaw overnight in refrigerator.  Add pineapple chunks and serve.  So delicious! 

So I'm not sure why this photo is turned.  I've uploaded it a few times with the same results. Boo. :(

Strawberry Oat Muffins

Morning!  I thawed strawberries earlier this weekend for the delicious Strawberry Cheesecake Delight, but later made an adjustment to the recipe.  I wanted to use the strawberries before heading back to work this week, so I decided to try out a Strawberry Oat Muffin recipe from Spark People. 

Ingredients:
1 cup quick oats
1 cup buttermilk (I didn't have buttermilk, but found a simple substitute on About.com.  You'll need milk and lemon juice.  Put 1 tablespoon lemon juice into liquid measuring cup.  Add milk for total of 1 cup liquid.  Let stand for 5 minutes.)
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup strawberries, chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a muffin tin, or use paper liners.  Prep your buttermilk substitute if necessary. 

In a small bowl, mix oats and butter milk.  Let stand for 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together egg, applesauce, brown sugar and vanilla.  Add oat mixture.  Next, add the flour mixture, until just moistened.  Fold in strawberries.

Pour batter into each muffin cup 3/4 way full.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cup is clean.

Makes 12 muffins.

These were wonderful!  I'm looking forward to trying this recipe with different fruits - peaches, blueberries, etc. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

I received a newsletter from a local quilt shop named Demelia's the other day with a sweet little recipe called Lazy Cake Cookies.  I immediately knew I was trying this out as part of T's Valentine's Day gift.  So glad I did!

Ingredients:
1 box butter yellow cake mix
6 tbsp melted butter
1 tsbp water
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all ingredients together and put into a greased cake pan.  Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick is clean.

So easy and so tasty!  Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for more deliciousness.

Grilled Bananas

I often find that I take waaaaay too many pictures.  While organizing them, I ran across a photo of a fantastic grilling item: bananas.  Seriously, it's like a warm banana split.  Seeing the picture makes me wish summer was here (or maybe its the 30 degree weather). 

All you need are bananas, foil, your choice of toppings and a grill. Make a foil bowl to hold your banana. Cut the banana the long way and add your toppings. Transfer to your heated grill for 10-15 minutes (the banana peel will turn black). Once the banana has been cooked, remove from the grill and transfer to a dish.  Add ice cream, whipped topping, or whatever else you'd like and serve!  So delish!