Spice Cake Donuts with Pecan Streusel

Ok, well, sort of donuts.  More like coffee cake in the shape of donuts--which are good, too, of course :)  Upon finding this recipe, I actually wanted so much to make it that I went out and bought donut pans.  Now I'll have to find more recipes to use them, but that just means more blog entries, right?  Anyhow, these were quite tasty, well worth getting up a bit early to prep.  Having made them now, I am adding in notes on what I will do differently the next time (yes, I will make these again for sure!)
Here is the link to the original recipe:
http://thegoldlininggirl.com/2015/09/spice-cake-donuts-with-pecan-streusel/

Ingredients:

--for donuts--
1 box spice cake mix
1 egg
1 c. water
1/4 c. canola oil
3 T. melted butter

--for streusel--
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 c. chopped pecans (I used food processor)
3 T. melted butter

--for icing--
**the amounts here are the original ones; this makes A LOT of icing, so I plan to cut in half for next time**
3 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. unsalted butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract
around 3 T. milk (I didn't measure)

Instructions:

1. Spray donut pans with non-stick spray and preheat oven to 350°F. **the original recipe calls for using 2 pans that hold 6 donuts, yet the yield she lists at the top is 16 (?).  I ended up with a bit of leftover batter and I overfilled the pans (supposed to be 3/4 full and I went nearly all the way full).  Will simply pipe remaining batter into cupcake tins next time.**

2. In a large bowl, combine the ingredients for the donuts part.

3. Pour batter into a gallon-sized ziploc bag.  Cut off a corner and use bag to pipe batter into donut pans.  Do not exceed 3/4 full (see note above in #1).

4. In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.  Stir until well combined.

5. Stir in pecans and butter.  Texture will be coarse crumbs/small chunks.

6. Sprinkle streusel over tops of donut batter in pans.

7. Bake for 12-14 minutes (I went 14).  After removing from oven, leave donuts in pans for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

8. Make the icing: place powdered sugar in a medium bowl.

9. Melt butter in small saucepan (or small skillet, like I used) over medium heat, stirring often, until butter just starts to brown (you will see tiny brown dots forming at the bottom).

10. Remove from heat and pour over powdered sugar immediately.

11. Add vanilla and milk.  Stir until well combined.  Add milk as needed until texture is just thin enough to drizzle.

12. Drizzle over top of donuts and enjoy!

Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

Back after a few days off--been a busy week and not much time for cooking, unfortunately.  Anyhow, I'll get straight to the point--these cookies are perhaps the best peanut butter cookies I've ever made/had.  Seriously.  Especially with a glass of milk (don't make them unless you have some on hand lol)!
I only did two things differently from the original below: used butter flavored Crisco instead of butter or margarine (didn't have any sitting out already) and baked them longer than time listed.  Here is link for the original:
http://www.food.com/recipe/soft-peanut-butter-cookies-205890

Ingredients:

1 c. butter flavored Crisco
1 c. creamy peanut butter
1 c. light brown sugar (packed)
1 c. sugar, plus more for coating dough balls
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Cream butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and sugar together.

3. Add eggs, one at time, beat well after each addition.

4. Add baking soda, baking powder, and vanilla.  Mix well to incorporate.

5. Mix in flour (depending on your mixer, you may have to add final cup or so by hand).

6. Form dough into 1" balls and roll in sugar to coat.

7. Place coated dough balls on cookie sheet.

8. Use a fork to flatten cookies, making a criss-cross pattern.

9. Bake for 9-10 minutes.

10. After removing cookies from oven, let rest on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

11. Grab a glass of milk and try not to eat every batch ;)

Honey Pepper Stir-Fry Beef

Stir-frying by nature is usually a quick dinner option--this one is quicker than most, as it has only a couple of ingredients, yet delivers great on taste!  I was skeptical, I'll admit, yet the picture in the book I got it out of looked great, so I figured I'd go for it.   Very happy I did--this will now be a go-to recipe when I don't have much time!  The book I adapted the recipe from is The Complete Cookbook Stir-Fry: Tasty Recipes for Every Day.  This was the first recipe I made from it, very encouraging results!

Ingredients:

1 T. peanut oil
1 lb. flank steak, cut in bite size strips across the grain
1 tsp. bottled minced garlic
3 T. honey
3 T. low-sodium soy sauce
3 T. oyster sauce
2 to 3 tsp. fresh ground/cracked peppercorns (depending on how spicy you want--I used my pepper mill and went for less spicy)

Instructions:

1. Heat wok over medium-high heat, then add oil.  When oil is shimmering, add beef and garlic.  Stir-fry for around 4-5 minutes.

2. Combine honey, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and pepper in a small bowl.  Add sauce to pan and bring to simmer.  Simmer for around 3 minutes.

3. Serve with desired side and enjoy!

Cake Pops

For my son's upcoming birthday, I thought I would make some cake pops to go along with his cake.  I love eating cake pops--but making them?  Not so much.  Since I have done it a couple of times now, it was easier this time (still not "easy", though--please be warned).  I looked through recipes from a few sites and most of them are quite similar to the one I had used in the past.  I also took some hints from this site:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Make-Cake-Pops-Step-By-Step/

Whereas I'm sure there are people that really care if the cake pops look like perfect round balls on the end of a stick, having attempted such before, I decided I would just go for dipping them and leaving them with flat bottoms, stick up.  Not one person seemed displeased about this, especially my son lol.

Ingredients:

1 box of cake mix with the ingredients to prepare it (usually eggs, oil, water)
1/2 can of frosting
2 bags (12 oz. each) of candy melts
50 lollipop sticks

Instructions:

1. Prepare the cake as instructed on the box, but use only 3/4 of the amount of oil indicated.  Since the cake is going to get crumbled, it does not matter what size pan you use (I used 13"x9").

2. After the cake has cooled completely, cut into pieces and place pieces in food processor (unless you have a massive one, you'll need to do this in batches).  Process until only crumbs are visible.  **you can also crumble by hand, but it is quite messy and time consuming--I don't recommend it**

3. Add the 1/2 can frosting to the crumbled cake and mix together.  This is best done with your hands (yes, literally).  Mix until the texture is clay-like.

4. Line a baking sheet (or tray, or platter) with parchment paper.  Form balls by hand that are around 1 inch diameter and place on parchment.

5. Chill balls in fridge for a few hours or freeze for 20 minutes (I chose the latter).  If you are freezing them, do NOT go past 20 minutes or they will be too cold to coat correctly.

6. Pour the candy melts into a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and then repeat until the melts have just about melted and can be stirred to completely melt.  I only went for 1 minute and 20 seconds total and it worked perfectly.  The problem is, if you get them too hot, they will turn into a nasty globby texture and start to separate.  Also, reheating after this will result in the same thing, so basically, you get one shot at it.  I microwaved only 1 bag of melts, then dipped, then repeated, as this is a temperature sensitive process.

7. Once your melts are ready, dip one end of the lollipop stick in the melts, then insert in the center of a cake ball.

8. Plunge the ball into the melts and if it is not deep enough to coat entirely, use a spoon to help coat.  Don't roll the ball in the melts--it will most likely fall off the stick and it doesn't work very well even if it does stay on the stick.  Just use the spoon, trust me.

9. Return coated ball to parchment and if desired, sprinkle with sanding sugar or other decoration (I used mini m&m's this time).

10. The candy shell will harden fairly quickly, so no need for any extra cooling.  Enjoy with a glass of milk and celebrate!

Thai-Inspired Stir-Fried Chicken

I can't believe I haven't done this one for the blog yet--it's one of my favorites!  I get cravings for it, so tangy and spicy mmmmm.  I modify this one considerably--however, everyone that I have ever served it to has loved it :)  It has yet another ingredient that I love to smell: red curry paste.  As soon as I open the can, my mouth begins to water.  It's not something to smell too up-close, though--the spice will get your nose.  I indulge from a safe smelling distance lol.
I also adore the mushrooms in this recipe.  If I were out of chicken and wanted to make this, I think it would be a great vegetarian dish if you double or even triple the mushrooms.  You could also sub tofu if you like that.

Link to original recipe:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/thai-style-stir-fried-chicken

Ingredients:

6 T. rice vinegar
3 T. brown sugar
3 T. fresh lime juice
1 heaping T. red curry paste
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper (more if you really like spicy)
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs (I've used both, went with thighs this time), cut into bite-size pieces
1 T. canola oil
1 can (15 oz,) straw mushrooms, drained (*peeled are best, unpeeled work, too **if you love mushrooms, use 2 cans)
3/4 c. coconut milk
1 1/2 T. fish sauce
3/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large ziploc bag or non-metallic mixing bowl.

2. Add chicken to mixture and let marinate in the fridge for 15 minutes.

3. Heat oil in wok (or large skillet) over medium-high heat.  Use slotted spoon to remove chicken from marinade and place in wok to cook.  Stir-fry for 4 minutes.

4. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.  Add mushrooms to pan and stir-fry for 3 minutes.

5. Add reserved marinade to pan.

6. Add coconut milk and fish sauce.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 minute.

7. Return chicken to pan and add salt.  Cook for 1 minute.

8. Serve with desired side (I prefer boiled basmati rice) and enjoy!

Quick Crêpes

I love crêpes and wanted to make some the other day for breakfast.  However, I was being lazy and didn't prepare for it the night before, as is usual for most recipes I have tried.  I used to make crêpes that did not need refrigeration when I was teaching French at high schools, but have since lost that recipe (well, it's somewhere in all my old stuff...let's just say that's a task for six rainy days in a row lol).  This recipe looked similar to mine so I decided to give it a whirl.  Eventually I added enough milk to make the batter thinner and they turned out good enough; I plan to try other ones to find a better version :)

Here is a link to the original recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/16383/basic-crepes

Ingredients:

1 c. all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 c. milk (possibly more--add until batter is very thin)
1/2 c. water
1/4 tsp. salt
2 T. melted butter

Instructions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and eggs.  (Actually, DON'T do this--I'm only including it because I followed the recipe's directions, despite thinking it would become lumpy (which it did).  BETTER PLAN: Whisk together milk, eggs, and water, then the flour.)

2. Gradually add in the milk and water (again, see note on #1).

3. Add salt and butter; beat until smooth.

4. Heat a griddle or non-stick 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Pour approximately 1/4 c. of batter into center, then immediately tilt pan to swirl and coat.  (You want a nearly paper-thin layer.)

5. Cook until edges are lightly browned (usually 1-2 minutes).  Flip and cook for 1 minute on other side.

6. Serve immediately with topping of choice.  I chose Nutella, which I spread over it and then folded in half twice (if you are serving with fruit, I suggest rolling up instead).

Monkey Bread

The first time I had this was at my mother-in-law's and I fell in love with it.  It's such a great thing to have to start the day (and not eat for hours afterward lol).  Very easy, maybe even too easy for everyone's good...you've been warned, addiction potential is very high here!!
Link to original recipe:
http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/grands-monkey-bread/7a1e41b1-4708-4028-8ce6-fcb5baebbc19

Ingredients:

1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 cans (16.3 oz. each) Pillsbury Grands Flaky Layers refrigerated biscuits
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 c. butter (or margarine), melted

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a Bundt pan.

2. In a large plastic food storage bag, mix sugar and cinnamon.

3. Separate dough into individual biscuits.  Cut each biscuit into fourths and place in cinnamon-sugar mix bag.

4. Shake bag to coat biscuit pieces.

5. Pour biscuit pieces into prepared Bundt pan.

6. In small bowl, mix brown sugar and butter.  Pour mixture over top of biscuits in pan.

7. Bake for 30-35 minutes (I went 35).

8. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert onto plate.

9. Pull apart and enjoy!