Cookie Dough Billionaire Bars

I made these tonight and am currently waiting for them to sit… I did run into a few problems, there are a few places where the measurements on the pictures is different than the recipe at the bottom. The brown sugar in the shortbread and in the cookie dough. I also have never been good with caramel, so I thought I would give this one a shot. No surprise, I burnt the sugar. Luckly I had a secret stash of caramel candies that I melted with heavy cream and vanilla in the microwave. I also added a few pinches of sea salt to the mix. All and all, not a hard recipe to make, just a bit time consuming..

Recipe >> Cookie Dough Billionaire Bars @ kevinandamanda.com

Homemade Thin Mints

These came out wonderfully! I used a double boiler to slowly heat some bittersweet chocolate chips (65% cocao) with oil based peppermint extract, because of the bitterness of my chocolate I ended up using about a tablespoon of the extract to get the flavor I was looking for. I also used 100% whole wheat in the cookie mixture, my cookies were brittle when they first came out of the oven (due to the high butter content I believe) but I let them cool on the pan and once they came to room temperature they were fairly structurally sound. I was able to dip with minimal crumbs.The recipe yielded 56 cookies just under 2″ in diameter for me, but I only had enough chocolate chips to coat half of them so I would have needed about 20 oz to coat all the cookies. Overall I am very pleased with the recipe..

Recipe >> Homemade Thin Mints @ theviewfromgreatisland.com

Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole

Here is one such recipe that is gluten-free, low-fructose and low-FODMAP. The only issues with this recipe may be with the dairy products. Hard cheese, such as cheddar, and heavy cream are very low in lactose and I don't seem to have much issue with them. I'm really not sure if I'm lactose intolerant. I was always a big cottage cheese eater and recently stopped eating it and I feel maybe just a tad better. I'm still not sure if it's enough of a difference to go completely dairy-free, though. I love cheese and I love this casserole. It started out as just a chicken and potato casserole, but then I made some changes to it and I decided that it was so similar to the ingredients in a loaded baked potato, I would just call it that!

Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole

serves 4

Ingredients

• 3 - 4 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed and diced (about 1.5 lbs. or 4 1/2 cups)
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
• 4 slices bacon, cooked crisp, cooled and crumbled
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 green onions, sliced (green parts only for low-FODMAP/low-fructose)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

1.     Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9" x 9" baking pan or casserole dish.
2.     Spread half of the diced potatoes in bottom of pan. Place the diced chicken breasts evenly on top. Season chicken with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Sprinkle with half the bacon crumbles, 1/2 cup of the cheese, and half the green onions.
3.     Spread the remaining diced potatoes on top, followed by the remaining bacon, another 1/2 cup cheese, remaining green onions and another 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Pour heavy cream over top of casserole and then dot with the butter. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Uncover and bake another 30 minutes. In the last few minutes of baking, sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and bake until melted. Serve.

Deliciously Dark Chocolate Cheesecake

It doesn’t get better than lush layers of creamy cheesecake and chocolate ganache in a crust of chocolate wafer cookies..

Deliciously Dark Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 20 chocolate wafer cookies
• 1 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

• 10 ounces DOVE® 71% Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate, chopped
• 4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, fat-free
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 4 eggs

For the ganache:

• ½ cup heavy cream
• 5 ounces DOVE® 71% Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 9-inch spring form baking pan
• Reynolds® Parchment Paper

Read More >> Deliciously Dark Chocolate Cheesecake @ justapinch.com

Mousseline Cream

Mousseline Cream

Ingredients

•     2 cups milk (480ml)
•     4 egg yolks
•     1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (80g)
•     ¼ cup all-purpose flour (30g)
•     ¼ cup cornstarch (30g)
•     2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
•     A pinch of salt
•     1/3 cup unsalted butter (75g)
•     1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened (75g)

Read More >> Mousseline Cream @ eugeniekitchen.com

Japanese Cheesecake

Japanese Cheesecake


Ingredients:

• 7 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1⁄4 cup whole milk
• 1⁄2 cup superfine sugar (caster sugar)
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1⁄4 cup cornstarch (don't use flour)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 1⁄2 cups boiling water

For the glazing:

• 2 tablespoons jam (Apricot or Strawberry)
• 1⁄2 tablespoon water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 9-inch cake tin with cooking oil spray.
Beat cream cheese with milk to soften.
Add half of the sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch and lemon juice.
Beat until smooth.
Beat egg whites in a separate bowl until foamy.
Gradually add remaining sugar and cream of tartar, to the egg whites, beating on high speed until soft peaks form, about 8-10 minutes.
Gradually fold beaten egg whites into the cream cheese mixture, stirring gently.
Pour into cake pan and smooth the surface.
Place cake pan into a larger roasting pan and place in lower rack of oven.
Pour enough water into the roasting pan to come half way up the side of the cake pan.
Bake 35-40 minutes, until a pick inserted in the middle of the center comes out clean.
You can eat like this, or you can put jam on top of it.
Put the jam in a sauce pan with the water on a low heat and warm up until it's melted.
Then spread the glaze on top of the cake.
If the surface becomes too dark while baking cover with a piece of tin foil, but be careful not to open the oven door until it has been in the oven for at least 20 minutes.

The Best Homemade Cheesecake

What makes it so great? It is super light and fluffy. How does it get that way? The egg yolks are beaten in with the cream cheese and then the whipped egg whites are folded into the batter. That makes all the difference. The cheesecake can be made ahead of time and frozen until you are ready to serve it.

Recipe Here >> The Best Homemade Cheesecake @ plainchicken.com

Homemade Yellow Cake

Many people like yellow cake. You don't have to buy it in a box, you can easily make yellow cake from scratch.. This recipe makes a very light and delicate-crumbed cake. Great for making plain cake with a favorite filling, then frosted to suit your family, or left as is. A very simple and easy recipe.

Homemade Yellow Cake

Ingredients:

•     3/4 cup butter, softened
•     1 2/3 cups sugar
•     2 eggs
•     2 tsp. vanilla
•     3 cups sifted cake flour
•     2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
•     1/2 tsp. salt
•     1 1/3 cups milk

Directions:
 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (9 inch) cake pans.

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well combined.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture alternately with milk; beating until smooth after each addition.

Bake in prepared pans 30 minutes or until tests clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pans and let cool completely on rack.

Frost as desired.

Note:

To make your own cake flour, measure 3 cups plain flour into a bowl, then remove 6 Tbsp. of it and put them back into the canister or flour bag. Now, add 6 Tbsp. corn starch to the remaining flour and sift it all together 5 times (at least 5 times, but if you like, you can sift it a couple more times to be sure it is very light). Now you have created your own cake flour and can proceed with your recipe.

I usually make about 12 cups of cake flour at the time, so I don't have to stop and make it every time I need cake flour. Just keep it in a big jar or even a Ziploc Freezer bag well marked so that you know what it is.

When making 12 cups at the time, I'll replace 24 Tbsp. of the flour with 24 Tbsp. of corn starch. Better to do it in 3 cup increments so that you get it all sifted together evenly. It takes a while to sift it as many times as you need to, but it's very necessary you don't skimp on this step.

Keep in mind that you are saving quite a bit of money when you make your own. I never minded doing these things as I'm very much at home in my kitchen and I enjoy all the puttering it takes.

Blueberry Breakfast Grilled Cheese

Made this AMAZING creation this morning as a special treat for my daughter’s 2nd birthday breakfast.
Pretty sure this is going to be a staple breakfast until (if ever) I get sick of it lol

I was inspired by this ‘Blueberry French Toast Sandwich’ recipe I saw on Pinterest.

Although I do love my sweets, I’m not one for an overly sweet breakfast so I adapted it and have renamed it accordingly.

Here is my “Blueberry Breakfast Grilled Cheese” (could also be known as “homemade blueberry pop tart” because that is totally what it reminded me of while eating it!)




Blueberry Breakfast Grilled Cheese 

 Ingredients:

•     Cream cheese
•     Icing sugar
•     Whole wheat bread
•     Butter
•     Blueberries
•     Sandwich maker (I’m sure you could use a frying pan, but the sandwich maker sealed everything in which was perfection)

Directions:

1.     Mix cream cheese with icing sugar (to taste – I didn’t want it super sweet)
2.     Butter outside of bread
3.     Spread cream cheese mixture on the inside of one slice of bread
4.     Place butter side down on sandwich maker and top with blueberries
5.     Place second piece of bread butter side out on top
6.     Close lid
7.     Grill for about 1 minute