Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

Name: Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 22 min
Total time: 42 min
Yield: 18
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cup cake flour; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter; 1 1/4 cup sugar; 2 eggs; 1/3 cup buttermilk; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 cup chopped strawberries; 1 stick butter (softened); 1 pound powdered sugar; 1 cup chopped strawberries

Mar 22, 2010

My favorite thing about this time of year is the cheap strawberries. Target had them for $1 a pound this past week! I’m pretty sure we’ve had strawberries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner almost every night. No one’s complaining though!

Strawberry cupcakes are something I’ve wanted to make for awhile but I’ve just never gotten around to it. These guys were everything I hoped for. The cake had a very subtle strawberry taste thanks to the gentle folding but the buttercream – oh, the buttercream. It was exploding with strawberry flavor. And the pink? Totally natural, no food colors at all! That is why I love working with strawberries.

📖 Recipe

Yield: 18 cupcakes

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 22 minutes

Total Time 42 minutes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

2 ½ cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
1 ¼ cup sugar
2 eggs
⅓ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cup chopped strawberries

For the frosting:

1 stick butter (softened)
1 pound powdered sugar
1 cup chopped strawberries

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare 2 cupcake pans.
Sift flour, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl.
In bowl of mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until combined. Add buttermilk, oil and vanilla until combined. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in berries.
Fill cupcake pans ¾ way. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
To make the frosting, use a mixer to beat butter until light and fluffy. Add in powdered sugar a little at a time until you reach a slightly stiffer consistency then you wanted. Blend the strawberries into the mixture. The strawberry juices should thin out your buttercream a little bit, add more powdered sugar if needed.

Banana Nut Muffins

Mar 14, 2010

My favorite muffin ever is the Starbucks banana nut muffin and for a couple years now I’ve been trying to recreate it. The only problem is that I’m not 100% convinced that they use real bananas in it because for one, it tastes more like banana Laffy Taffy than the real thing. And two, there are no banana chunks!

I can’t say I succeeded (might need to look into some banana extract or something) but I did make some awesome muffins! I used a mixer so there were no big banana pieces and I think I actually prefer it to mashing them. For the tops, I wanted to do what Starbucks does and just add some walnuts and raw sugar but I didn’t add enough of either. Still very good though, light but still rich! Even Spencer agrees that they are some of the best muffins ever.

📖 Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Banana Nut Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup chopped walnuts
raw sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and fill 2 muffin tins with liners.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the bananas and sugar together, for a good 3 minutes. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway. Sprinkle the tops with walnuts and raw sugar.
Bake until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Carrot Cake Pancakes

Mar 13, 2010

My kid is a huge pancake fan and requests them just about every morning. Unfortunately, he likes to eat as soon as his feet hit the floor and I need to check my email and have a cup of coffee before I’m ready to stand over the stove for 20 minutes. I do like to give in every once in a while (even if that means he’s grabbing cold hot dogs out of the fridge while I try to cook without coffee).

I have been holding onto this recipe for months. Carrot cake pancakes sound like a good idea until you actually consider making them. Carrot? In pancakes? With lots of spices? I wasn’t too sure but I also knew I’d always wonder about them.

They were fantastic! Straight out of the pan with nothing on them, a little too spicy for me but with some powdered sugar and Greek yogurt on top – the best breakfast I’ve had in a long time. The kid gobbled his up and then a couple hours later he took off with the only pancake that had survived breakfast. Definitely kid approved! Plus he got the added bonus of 1 veggie serving out of the way first thing in the morning!

📖 Recipe

0 from 0 votes

Carrot Cake Pancakes

Ingredients

5.6 ounces all-purpose flour about 1 ¼ cups
¼ cup chopped walnuts toasted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Dash of ground cloves
Dash of ground ginger
¼ cup brown sugar
¾ cup low-fat buttermilk
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs lightly beaten
2 cups finely grated carrot about 1 pound
Cooking spray

Instructions

Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 7 ingredients (through ginger) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine ¼ cup brown sugar and next 4 ingredients (through eggs); add sugar mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in 2 cups carrot.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Spoon 4 (¼ cup) batter mounds onto pan, spreading with a spatula. Cook for 2 minutes or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Carefully turn pancakes over; cook 1 minute or until bottoms are lightly browned. Repeat procedure twice with remaining batter.

Pretzel Rolls

Mar 12, 2010

I promised myself that I wasn’t going to make or post any bread for awhile but yesterday I was making some soup (split pea, I know you wanted to know) and wanted a light roll to go with it.

These are by far the best rolls I’ve ever had. They were everything you could hope for in a pretzel but so much easier than shaping actual pretzels. The outside was crisp and salty and the inside was perfectly soft. My 3 year old (who obviously spends too much time in the kitchen with me) broke open a roll and said, “Look at all those pretty holes!”

This recipe is perfect for someone who wants to learn how to make bread but might be scared. From start to finish it took less than an hour and a half. The dough was very easy, not tacky or hard to work with. My only advice is to double the recipe. These went fast in my house!

📖 Recipe

0 from 0 votes

Pretzel Rolls

Ingredients

2 ¾ cups bread flour
1 envelope quick-rising yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons about hot water (125Â°F to 130Â°F)
Cornmeal
8 cups water
¼ cup baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg white beaten to blend (glaze)
Coarse salt

Instructions

Combine bread flour, 1 envelope yeast, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, and water in large bowl (or stand mixer) and stir until dough comes together in a ball. Put on floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes or until the dough is elastic and smooth. Grease medium bowl. Add dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then towel; let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 35 minutes.
Flour baking sheet. Punch dough down and knead on lightly floured surface until smooth. Divide into 8 pieces. Form each dough piece into ball. Place dough balls on prepared sheet, flattening each slightly. Using serrated knife, cut X in top center of each dough ball. Cover with towel and let dough balls rise until almost doubled in volume, about 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375Â°F. Grease another baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal. Bring 8 cups water to boil in large saucepan. Add baking soda and 2 tablespoons sugar (water will foam up). Add 4 rolls X side up and cook 30 seconds before flipping over and cooking for another 30 seconds. Using slotted spoon, transfer rolls to prepared sheet, arranging X side up. Repeat with remaining rolls.
Brush rolls with egg white glaze. Sprinkle rolls generously with coarse salt. Bake rolls until brown, about 25 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes. Serve rolls warm or room temperature.

Chocolate Biscotti

Mar 09, 2010

Lately when I’ve gone searching for something to bake, my requirements have been:

Doesn’t require me to spend any money
Isn’t something that Spencer would like (because of his diet)

I thought I’d covered both of those when I was thumbing through Dorie’s book and saw chocolate biscotti. I adore biscotti and spent my Starbucks years wishing and hoping for broken biscotti every time I was in charge of unloading the truck. Spencer never liked them. He did however really like these. Like, really. He told me that they tasted like “extra baked brownies” and I guess they kind of did. I’m not too into chocolate (especially something made with cocoa powder AND mini chocolate chips) but these were excellent. They would’ve been great with coffee if only they’d lasted long enough.

📖 Recipe

0 from 0 votes

Chocolate Biscotti

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoon unsalted butter room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup chopped pecans
¾ cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
With a mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes until light. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs and vanilla; beat for another 2 minutes. Decrease the speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until a dough forms. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix in the chopped nuts and chocolate.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead a few times just to incorporate any dry ingredients that didnâ€™t get mixed in before. Divide into two portions; on the baking sheet, shape each portion into a 12 x 2 inch log. Sprinkle each log with a little sugar. Bake for 25 minutes.
Remove the sheet from the oven and let it cool on a rack for 20 minutes. Then, with a very sharp, serrated knife, slice the logs into about ¾ â€“ 1 inch slices and leave the slices standing up on the baking sheet. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes of baking.
Transfer biscotti to a rack to cool.

Loaded Blondies

Mar 05, 2010

When I first joined Tuesdays with Dorie my intention was to bake every recipe in Dorie’s book, even though the book calls for too much dried fruit for my tastes. I managed to get about halfway through before giving up on the group which means I need to get my booty in gear.

Yesterday I just wanted something I could throw together quickly but would also make my 3 year old happy. He suggested a birthday cake because he’s pretty convinced that his birthday is coming around again soon but we settled on Dorie’s blondies.

I liked this recipe because it called for small amounts of chocolate chips, nuts, butterscotch chips, and coconut. I managed to get rid of all those mostly empty bags of baking supplies that have been taking up too much space.

The blondies were also very tasty. The chocolate chips and the butterscotch chips aren’t a combination that I thought would work but we really enjoyed it. And you can never go wrong with coconut! These were definitely a winner!

📖 Recipe

Yield: about 32 servings

Loaded Blondies

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Additional Time 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature)
1 ½ cups packed brown sugar
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sweetened coconut

Instructions

Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 325. Butter a 9 x 13 baking pan and put on a baking sheet.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until well incorporated. Add the eggs 1 by 1, beating for 1 minutes after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear into the batter. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chips, nuts, and coconut. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and use the spatula to even the top as best as you can.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the blondies come out clean. The blondies should pull away from the sides of the pan a little and the top should be a nice honey brown. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for about 15 minutes before turning the blondies out onto another rack. Invert onto a rack and cool the blondies to room temperature right side up.
Cut into 32 bars, each roughly 2 ¼ x 2 ½ inches.

Chana Masala

Feb 23, 2010

Before I tell you about my new favorite chickpea recipe, would you puh-lease go over to the right side of my blog and become a fan of Fake Ginger on Facebook? I put off starting a FB fan page because I had this crazy fear that my only fans would be my husband and my mother so I’d really love lots and lots of fans! Thanks ya’ll! :D

So chickpeas, I love them. This is a new thing for me because I always thought they had a weird texture. I think my first experience with Chana Masala is what did it for me. I bought a Target brand frozen version one day just out of curiosity and loved it. The chickpeas, the spices, everything was perfect. I didn’t think it was something I could recreate at home so I picked up a Kashi one when I was at a store other than Target (why do other stores even exist?). The Kashi one was bland and actually pretty disgusting. Not long after that, Smitten Kitchen posted this recipe. It was fate. Me + chickpeas = together forever.

📖 Recipe

0 from 0 votes

Chana Masala

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium onions minced
1 clove garlic minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin seeds toasted and ground
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 cups tomatoes chopped small or 1 15-ounce can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
⅔ cup water
4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ teaspoon salt
½ lemon juiced

Instructions

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, and ginger and saute over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, paprika and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice.

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Feb 19, 2010

Back when I just had one kid who liked to sleep a lot I posted on a food message board. I learned a ton from them in my early days of cooking and some of our favorite recipes were given to me by those girls. There were many debates about the best chocolate chip cookie recipe and the winner was always these guys, what they call BBFCCCC.

I finally got the opportunity to try the recipe this week since, you know, husband is on a diet and he doesn’t like cookies. We’ll come back to that.

The cookies were so simple. I appreciate any recipe that calls for you to melt butter because I rarely think far enough ahead to soften butter. I had them mixed and in the oven within 10 minutes.

I now see why they always won the great chocolate chip cookie debates. They are as perfect as chocolate chip cookies can get. You can’t tell from the picture but they really are huge. Bigger than my palm by quite a bit. They’re soft but the edges are still a little crisp. I didn’t have any semisweet chips so I did a mixture of dark and white which was awesome. I cannot wait to make them again.

The cookies were all gone within 24 hours. Yeah, so much for husband not liking cookies. And for the diet.

📖 Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup unsalted butter melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough ¼ cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Feb 17, 2010

I’ve had cinnamon swirl bread stuck in my head for weeks. I can’t tell you the last time I said some so I’m not sure why I was struck with the sudden need to make a loaf but I’m so glad I did.

This bread is perfection. The husband is on a diet but he’s been saving his calories to have a piece each day. The inside is soft and the crust is just crisp enough. Cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins – it’s a new favorite in this house. And bonus points for being bread machine friendly!

📖 Recipe

0 from 0 votes

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Ingredients

For the dough:

½ cup warm milk
2 tablespoons warm water
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter or margarine softened
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cup sugar
2 ½ cups bread flour
1 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast

For the filling:

2 tablespoons butter or margarine melted
⅓ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup raisins

Instructions

In bread machine pan, place the first eight ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select dough setting (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons water or flour if needed).
When cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 10-in. x 8-in. rectangle. Brush with butter. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins; sprinkle over dough. Roll up tightly jelly-roll style, starting with a short side. Pinch seams and ends to seal. Place seam side down in greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. Cover with foil; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until golden brown. Remove form pan to wire racks to cool completely.

King Cake

Feb 16, 2010

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!!

I made 6, yes 6, king cakes this year. They were all hideous. I’m pretty sure I just wasn’t supposed to make them.

I wanted to make beautiful braided king cakes with bright sprinkles and then stand back and ooh and aah over how amazing I am (ha!). I started looking for king cake babies shortly after the new year. I mean, I’d assume the city that gave us Mardi Gras (true story) would be well stocked with babies. Nope. Hobby Lobby has had their Mardi Gras stuff out since before Thanksgiving but no babies.

I should’ve taken that as a sign and just given up on my king cake hopes.

So I wandered into a Mardi Gras warehouse one day where I finally found these freaky gold babies. And ended up with 30 of them. Because they wouldn’t just sell me one baby.

From there, everything else went wrong. My dough was sticky. They rose too much. The filling oozed out. The glaze didn’t stick because I was rushed and put it on right out of the oven. Or all of the above, like the one up top.

Next year! Next year I will make a beautiful king cake. I promise.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream

Feb 14, 2010

Happy Joe Cain Day to everyone around here! Happy Valentine’s Day to the rest of you!

I know a lot of people hate Valentine’s Day but I actually kind of love it. Not because it’s a day of love blah blah blah but because it’s an excuse to put hearts on everything and I heart hearts. I really didn’t want to do too much for V-Day (Hello lazy!) but I did want to use these cupcake wrappers and the sprinkles that I snatched up as soon as Target put their Valentine’s stuff out. So I decided on plain vanilla cupcakes and some cinnamon buttercream for a little spice.

The cupcakes were amazing. The cake was so soft and delicious, and the cinnamon buttercream is my favorite. I wish someone had told me how life changing cinnamon buttercream is. I’m already thinking about the next cake I’ll pair with it.

📖 Recipe

0 from 0 votes

Vanilla Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

1 ¾ cups cake flour not self-rising
1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the buttercream:

1 cup butter softened
4 cups powdered sugar sifted
3 â€“ 4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

To make the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.
In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.
Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about ⅔ full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter.

To make the buttercream:

Beat butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar a ½ cup at a time until completely incorporated, adding up to 4 tablespoons of milk when the icing gets to thick. Add vanilla and cinnamon and beat until just combined.

Bacon Mushroom Mac and Cheese

Feb 03, 2010

Bacon Mushroom Mac and Cheese – the BEST macaroni and cheese recipe! Pasta, bacon, and mushrooms in a decadent creamy sauce made with sharp cheddar and swiss cheese and topped with crunchy panko breadcrumbs.

Alternately titled “Best Mac & Cheese Ever”.

Honestly, I’m not much of a mac & cheese person but I tend to experiment with it a lot since my husband loves it and I get tired of his favorite version that features diced ham and canned mushrooms.

Awhile back I saw a recipe for bacon macaroni and cheese and made a mental note to remember it but then what happened? I forgot where I saw it. Doesn’t that always happen?

So I set out to come up with my own recipe and it’s perfect. So ridiculously decadent with all the cheese and bacon and baby bella mushrooms.

How To Make Bacon Mushroom Mac and Cheese

Boil pasta according to package instructions
While pasta is boiling, cook bacon until crisp; remove using a slotted spoon
Cook mushrooms in some of the bacon fat until browned
In a separate saucepan, melt butter and whisk in flour until smooth
Whisk in chicken broth and heavy cream until thickened
Remove from heat and stir in shredded cheese
Season to taste with salt and pepper
Add pasta to the cheese sauce and transfer to a baking dish
Sprinkle panko bread crumbs over top and lightly spray with olive oil
Bake for 20 minutes until the dish is bubbly and the breadcrumbs are browned

How Long is Homemade Mac and Cheese Good For?

Homemade mac and cheese should be good in the fridge for up to 4 days. Make sure it’s covered tightly.

To reheat, you can use the microwave but if you want the panko topping the crisp back up, putting it in the oven for a few minutes is the best option.

More Mac and Cheese Recipes

📖 Recipe

Yield: 8 servings

Bacon Mushroom Mac & Cheese

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound small pasta
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ pound bacon, diced
8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced thinly
¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream, or milk
salt & pepper to taste
4 cups extra sharp white cheddar, shredded
1 cup Swiss, shredded
½ cup panko bread crumbs
spray olive oil

Instructions

Bring a lot pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions.
While pasta is boiling, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until bacon is cooked and slightly crispy. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Pour off some of the bacon grease (or all & add a little more olive oil to the pan) and add mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms are browned and soft, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour until mixture is smooth. Slowly add in chicken broth and cream, whisking the whole time. Continue whisking until the sauce has thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cheeses until melted. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Once pasta is al dente, drain and put in large bowl. Add bacon, mushrooms, and cheese sauce and stir to combine. Pour into prepared 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle panko bread crumbs over the entire pan and spray lightly with olive oil. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until pasta is bubbly and panko is slightly browned.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Jan 25, 2010

I’m generally not a raisin person, something about the texture just weirds me out, but I was watching Wizards of Waverly Place (not even gonna try to lie) this weekend and they were talking about oatmeal cookies. I was hit immediately with a craving.

I went to my baking bible and started getting the ingredients for the only oatmeal cookie recipe in the book only to realize that I’ve already made and blogged them. Hate when that happens. Luckily, almost every baking blog has at least one oatmeal cookie recipe so I had no problem finding one.

These were so spicy (not spicy spicy, just cinnamon spicy of course) and wonderful! A little chewier than I prefer but I can’t complain too much. I liked the addition of nuts which isn’t something you see too often in oatmeal cookies. They made it easier to tolerate the squishiness of the raisins.

📖 Recipe

0 from 0 votes

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients

½ cup 1 stick or 4 ounces butter, softened
⅔ cup light brown sugar packed
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups rolled oats
¾ cup raisins
½ cup walnuts chopped (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, raisins and walnuts, if using them.
At this point you can either chill the dough for a bit in the fridge and then scoop it, or scoop the cookies onto a sheet and then chill the whole tray before baking them. You could also bake them right away, if youâ€™re impatient, but I do find that they end up slighly less thick.
The cookies should be two inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes (your baking time will vary, depending on your oven and how cold the cookies were going in), taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.

French Onion Mac and Cheese

Jan 23, 2010

French Onion Mac and Cheese has all the flavors of French onion soup in a pasta dish! Pasta in a Swiss cheese sauce with caramelized onions.

My favorite favorite favorite soup is French onion but it’s something that I only have once or twice a year. I won’t make a big batch of the stuff because I know the boys won’t eat it and the canned stuff just doesn’t do it for me. So I was beyond excited when I found this recipe.

It’s so delicious – you really can’t go wrong with pasta, cheese, and caramelized onions!

Ingredients

Butter
Onions – the onions get cooked at a low temperature for about 20 minutes so they are nicely caramelized.
Thyme
Bay leaf
Salt and pepper
Penne – any small pasta shape will work. I like penne because the sauce goes inside the noodles.
Flour – flour is used to thicken the cheese sauce.
Chicken broth – I suggest a low-sodium broth or make your own broth!
Milk
Swiss cheese – traditional French onion soup has gruyere cheese on top, which you can definitely use, but Swiss cheese is significantly cheaper and easier to find.

How To Make French Onion Mac and Cheese

Cook onions. Melt butter. Add onions, salt, and bay leaf. Cook on low heat until onions are caramelized.
Cook pasta. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
Make sauce. Melt butter. Whisk in the flour for 1 minute; whisk in the chicken broth and milk and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cheese until melted.
Combine. Toss together cooked pasta, onions, and cheese sauce. Warm through.

More Cheesy Pasta Recipes

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📖 Recipe

Yield: 6 - 8 servings

French Onion Mac and Cheese

French Onion Mac and Cheese has all the flavors of French onion soup in a pasta dish! Pasta in a Swiss cheese sauce with caramelized onions.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter divided
2 large onions very thinly sliced
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
1 pound penne
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
3 cups Swiss cheese shredded

Instructions

In a skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over low heat. Add onions, thyme and bay leaf; season with salt and pepper. Cook until the onions are browned, 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a plate and discard the bay leaf. Reserve the skillet.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and return to the pot.
In the reserved skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour for 1 minute, then whisk in the chicken broth and milk and bring to a boil; season with salt, and pepper. Lower the heat and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cheese until melted.
Combine the onions and sauce with the pasta and toss well.

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

Jan 18, 2010

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf is moist and tender meatloaf wrapped in bacon and topped with a tangy ketchup-based sauce.

If you love meatloaf as much as my family, try Honey BBQ Meatloaf or Mini Turkey Meatloaves!

Once a year or so, I really just crave meatloaf. And then I make one and usually make a meatloaf sandwich because that’s my favorite way to eat meatloaf and then I don’t think about meatloaf at all for another year.

But this one is one I’ll be making over and over again.

This was the best meatloaf recipe I’ve ever made. How can you go wrong with meatloaf with bacon and cheese?!

The bacon on top was awesome of course but the real star was the Parmesan cheese. Do not buy the already shredded stuff for this recipe. Grate your own into big chunks so that you get big bites of it every once in awhile.

Raw meatloaf with bacon on top. The meatloaf is filled with parmesan cheese and herbs

Ingredients

Milk
Sliced bread
Ground beef
Ground pork – you could do all ground beef if you don’t eat pork
Parmesan – buy a block of parmesan and break it into smallish chunks – don’t use the pre-shredded stuff
Lawry’s seasoning salt – you can use any seasoned salt that you have on hand
Salt and black pepper
Fresh parsley – you can use 2 tablespoons of dried parsley if you don’t have fresh parsley
Eggs
Bacon
Ketchup – this is for the sauce that goes on top of the meatloaf
Brown sugar – this adds a bit of sweetness to the sauce on top of the meatloaf
Dry mustard – you can use dijon mustard if you don’t have dry mustard

Instructions

Soak bread. Pour the milk over the bread and allow it to soak in for several minutes.
Assemble meatloaf mixture. Place the ground beef, milk soaked bread, Parmesan cheese, salt, seasoned salt, black pepper, and parsley in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the eggs. With clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined.
Shape the meatloaf. Form the mixture into a loaf shape on a broiler pan, which will allow the fat from the meat to drain. Lay the bacon slices over the top, tucking them underneath the meatloaf.
Make the sauce. Pour the ketchup into a small mixing bowl. Add the brown sugar and dry mustard. Stir the mixture until well combined. Pour ⅓ of the mixture over the top of the meatloaf.
Bake the meatloaf. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes, then pour another ⅓ of the remaining sauce over the meatloaf. Bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Slice and enjoy! Serve with the remaining sauce on the side as a dipping sauce.

How Long Is It Good For?

Meatloaf is good for 3 – 4 days in the fridge. Make sure to store it in an airtight container – these glass airtight containers are my favorite for leftovers.

You can reheat in the microwave or oven when you are ready to serve it.

Can You Freeze It?

You can freeze this meatloaf for up to 3 months. I recommend freezing it in individual slices – wrap each slices tightly in plastic wrap and then place them in freezer ziploc bags.

When you are ready to serve it, defrost overnight in the fridge and then reheat in the microwave or oven. You may want to make some extra sauce to add to it.

What To Serve with Meatloaf

More Ground Beef Recipes

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📖 Recipe

Yield: 8 Servings

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf is moist and tender meatloaf wrapped in bacon and topped with a tangy ketchup-based sauce.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup milk
4 bread slices
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1 cup Parmesan, grated
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon seasoned salt
black pepper
½ cup parsley, minced
4 eggs, beaten
8 to 12 thin bacon slices
1 ½ cups ketchup
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
Pour the milk over the bread and allow it to soak in for several minutes.
Place the ground beef, milk soaked bread, Parmesan cheese, salt, seasoned salt, black pepper, and parsley in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the eggs. With clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined. Form the mixture into a loaf shape on a broiler pan, which will allow the fat from the meat to drain.
Lay the bacon slices over the top, tucking them underneath the meatloaf.
To make the sauce, pour the ketchup into a small mixing bowl. Add the brown sugar and dry mustard. Stir the mixture until well combined. Pour ⅓ of the mixture over the top of the meatloaf.
Bake for 45 minutes, then pour another ⅓ of the remaining sauce over the meatloaf. Bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Serve with the remaining sauce on the side as a dipping sauce.

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