Decadent Andes Cookies

Christmas Goodies Countdown day 21/number 5! These should probably be called Andes Mint Bombs, as they are decadently minty and wonderful. Seriously, if you love chocolate and mint, these are your cookie nirvana! These are a 10+ out of 10, especially when you have a glass of milk ready to go with :D

Note: I have adjusted the mint frosting amount below from what I said in the video so that it will be enough for the whole batch.

Link to my YouTube "making of the recipe" video: https://youtu.be/X0xM7chRuw8

Original recipe credit: https://www.whatmegansmaking.com/2015/12/ultimate-andes-mint-cookies.html

Recipe below contains my modifications.

Ingredients:

For the cookie dough--
1 box Devil's Food cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 T. brown sugar

for the mint frosting--
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp. pure peppermint extract
1 2/3 c. powdered sugar
green food coloring
~1 T. milk (not sure, as I did not measure)

for the chocolate Sauce--
3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 T. butter
~1 T. milk (again, did not measure)

8 Andes mints, finely chopped (or you can use Andes baking bits)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. For the cookies--In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the cake mix, eggs, butter, vanilla, and brown sugar.

3. Shape dough into balls that are just slightly larger than a Tablespoon and place on prepared cookie sheets (I used my cookie scoop to help with this).

4. Bake for 7-9 min--they will still look a bit poufy--then let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 min. after removing from oven, before transferring to cooling rack.

5. For the mint frosting--Beat the butter, peppermint extract, powdered sugar, and a little milk together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Keep mixing in small splashes of milk until frosting is fluffy/spreadable consistency. Mix in green food coloring (amount depends on how green you want to go; for the video, I went much heavier on the green for Christmas look).

6. Spread frosting on tops of cooled cookies.

7. For the chocolate sauce--Add chocolate chips and butter to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 10-15 sec. increments, stirring after each one until sauce is smooth and all chips are melted (took about 50 sec total for me).

8. Stir in small splashes of milk until it reaches correct consistency--it should be slightly less thick than the mint frosting, but not runny (see the video for example).

9. Spoon a little sauce onto each cookie, then top with chopped Andes mints. Enjoy!

Restaurant-Style Mexican Rice

As mentioned in the last post, I made this to go with the Stuffed Poblano Peppers, but it would go well with many Mexican dishes, I'm rather certain :)  Although I did not opt to do so, the original recipe has additional spice suggestions to add if desired.  At any rate, it's a great side dish, very easy to prep, so it gets a 10 of 10!  Again, my apologies for the lack of pix, but this comes together fast, and I was making the peppers at same time, so, yeah...this is why I'm not a professional blogger lol.

**Note: amounts listed below reflect me halving the original recipe as well as my modifications**

Link to original recipe: https://www.culinaryhill.com/restaurant-style-mexican-rice/

Ingredients:

around 8 oz. of canned crushed tomatoes (did not measure exactly)
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1/6 c. canola oil
1 c. long grain rice
1 tsp. bottle minced garlic
1 c. chicken broth
1/2 T. tomato paste
3/4 tsp. salt

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F with oven rack in middle.

2. Purée the tomatoes and onion together in a food processor.

3. Heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat (setting 7 for my stove) in a large Dutch oven until shimmering.  Add the rice and sauté, stirring frequently, until light golden in color--around 8-10 min.  (**watch carefully, as mine was about to burn just after it got to this point)

4. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 15 sec.

5. Add tomato mixture, chicken broth, and salt.  Bring to a boil, then remove from heat.

6. Cover and bake for 15 min., stir, then bake for 15 additional minutes. (**I forgot to stir mine at the halfway point--still turned out fine, and I think baking time could be reduced slightly, as mine looked on the dry side when I took it out.)

7. Remove from oven, fluff with a fork, and enjoy!

Stuffed Poblano Peppers

This was quite delicious indeed--a 10 out 10, once again :) It was only my second time ever making poblano peppers--first time was with a Hello Fresh meal kit that my husband ordered a while back.  We'd never tried such a thing before (meal kits nor poblano peppers); liked both, but meal kits are too pricey and over-packaged.  The peppers, however, I wanted to do again sometime.  The Hello Fresh version was with chicken; the one I tried for the blog is with beef, and I must say, I prefer the latter.  I also learned a valuable lesson about the heat of poblano peppers in having tried both recipes: cutting the peppers open and de-seeding to start, before broiling, creates FAR less spice/heat than broiling first.  While I do like some spice, these came out a bit too firey for our taste--we'll be doing the 'open/de-seed first' method from now on :)  We liked the stuffing part of these so much that we plan to try it with flour tortillas instead of peppers at some point.  The Mexican rice in the picture will be the next post; it is also quite yummy!
**Note: amounts listed below reflect halving the original recipe and my modifications**

Link to original recipe:  https://www.landolakes.com/recipe/20348/stuffed-poblano-peppers/

Ingredients:

3 (or 4) poblano peppers
1 T. butter
1/4 c. yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. garlic salt
1/8 tsp. ground chipotle chili pepper
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 tomatillo, finely chopped
Sargento Mexican 4 cheese blend (I did not measure, not idea how much)
3 T. crushed corn chips (I used yellow Tostitos)

Instructions:

1. Heat broiler and cover broiler pan with aluminum foil.  (**I used my toaster oven and just the regular tray that it comes with, which I lined with foil.)

2. Place peppers on the broiler pan and broil, turning occasionally, until skins begin to blacken (this took about 15 min total with my toaster oven--think it would be less with an oven broiler).

3. Remove peppers from oven and transfer to a bowl, then cover with a lid or plastic wrap.

4. Let stand for 15 minutes, then gently peel off the blackened skins.

5. Remove stem and de-seed.  Cut peppers in half lengthwise and set aside.  (**I let mine go a bit longer and they got so soft that I ended up just opening each one fully and topping it, not 'stuffing' it.)

6. Heat oven to 350°F.  Grease bottom of an 9" x 9" baking pan.

7. Melt butter in a 10" nonstick skillet over medium heat, until starts to sizzle.

8. Add onions, chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, chipotle chili pepper, and salt.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 4 minutes, or until onions are softened.

9. Add the ground beef and tomatillo.  Cook, breaking/chopping the meat to crumbles, until liquid has cooked off and beef is no longer pink.

10. Stir in 1/2 c. (?--not sure of this amount) of the cheese, then remove from heat.

11. Place peppers, cut side up, in baking pan, then fill each with some of the beef mixture (divide evenly).

12.  Sprinkle peppers with additional cheese, then top with the crushed corn chips.

13.  Bake 10-15 minutes or until heated through (10 was plenty for mine).

14. Serve with desired side and enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Crinkles

On the same evening I made the Hot Cocoa Cookies (previous post), I also made these, as some people in the household are more in favor of vanilla cookies than chocolate (not me lol!)  Plus I just love making lots of cookies to share at Christmas time (and pretty much any other time I can find an excuse to do so hehe).  These are really good, too--I rate them 8 out of 10.  Enjoy!

**Note: I only made a half batch of these, but the ingredient amounts listed are for full batch.  Also, pardon the lack of pictures--forgot to get all the steps!**

Link to original recipe: https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/vanilla-bean-sugar-cookie-crinkles/40369864-5058-422c-8d59-6935087b9689

Ingredients:

3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
seeds from 2 vanilla beans (split lengthwise, scraped out)
2 eggs
1 c. powdered sugar, in a small, separate bowl

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 325°F.  In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand-held mixer with large bowl), beat sugar, butter, and vanilla bean seeds on medium speed until fluffy.

3. Beat in eggs, one at a time, just until smooth.

4. Using low speed, beat in flour mixture gradually until well blended.

5.  Cover dough and let stand for 10 minutes at room temperature.

6. Shape the dough into 1 1/4 in" balls.  Place 3 or 4 balls in the small bowl with the powdered sugar and roll in the sugar until coated all over.

7. Place cookie balls on ungreased cookie sheet, 2" apart (I lined mine with parchment for ease of cleanup).

8. Bake 12-14 min, or until edges are light brown.  Upon removing from oven, let cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to cooking rack.

9. If desired, sprinkle with additional powdered sugar (I did not) and enjoy!

Hot Cocoa Cookies

As you might guess by the pic, I made these back at Christmas time--but they'd be good anytime of year!  These are very good and mostly easy to make.  The only parts that are more involved than a typical cookie are the 2-step baking process and the topping (a small learning curve to get the right amount each time).  Still, they are worth it--a 9 of 10 :)  Enjoy!

**Side note: I accidentally made these with bread flour and they turned out just fine!**

Link to original recipe: http://www.glorioustreats.com/2013/12/hot-cocoa-cookies.html

Cookie dough--
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. brown sugar (packed)
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

25 (approx.) large marshmallows, cut in halves

Icing--
2 c. powdered sugar
4 T. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c. hot water
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Sprinkles (if desired)

Instructions:

1. In a medium saucepan (or microwave bowl, using 50% power or 15 second intervals), melt the butter and chocolate, stirring frequently.  Set aside to cool after completely melted and smooth.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix together the brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla on low speed until well combined.

4. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and mix until just combined.

5. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture gradually and continued mixing until just combined.

6. Cover dough and refrigerate for 1 hour.  (Recipe says you can go overnight, too--just need to let dough sit at room temp for 30 min before shaping/baking.)

7. Heat oven to 325°F and line baking sheet(s) with parchement (or silpat type liner).

8. Form tablespoon sized balls (with your hands--the dough is a bit hard for the cookie scoop) and place on prepared cookie sheet about 2 in. apart.  Flatten each ball slightly.

9. Bake cookies for 12 minutes, then slightly press a half marshmallow, cut side down, onto center of each cookie.

10. Return to oven and bake additional 2-3 min.  After removing from oven, allow to cool on cookie sheet a couple of minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

11. Prepare the icing: Whisk together all ingredients in a medium bowl.  Place a paper towel or cookie sheet under the cookies on cooling rack and top each with a spoonful of icing.

12. Add sprinkles to cookies after you have iced just a few, as the icing begins to set fairly quickly.

13. Let cookies set for 30 minutes and then enjoy!.

Garlic Knots - bread machine

Mmmmm!  Made these as part of my Thanksgiving here at home this year and we all loved them.  And they are super easy, thanks to the bread machine!  I want to make these again very soon...they are a 10 for sure :)  **I forgot to get a pic of the finished ones alone, oops...so here is a pic of the whole dinner instead, where you can see the knots :)**

Link to original recipe: https://www.fortheloveofcooking.net/2010/11/garlic-basil-knots.html

Ingredients (for the dough):

1 c. water
2 T. unsalted butter, softened/room temp.
1 egg, room temp.
3 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 T. bread machine yeast (regular active dry yeast)

Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients in the hopper for your bread machine in order listed (unless otherwise indicated by your manual).

2. Select 'dough' cycle and press start.

3. Meanwhile, line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (or a silpat mat) and coat with cooking spray.

4. Once the dough cycle has finished, remove hopper from machine and turn dough out onto a well floured surface.

5. Flatten out the dough (not sure of exact thickness, guessing 1/2"), then cut into strips as shown:

6. Tie each strip in a knot and place on prepared baking sheet.  Cover sheet with a dishcloth or plastic wrap and place in a warm area for 30 minutes to let dough rise.

7. Heat oven to 400°F, bake 9-12 minutes (or until golden brown).

8. Meanwhile, prepare the buttery-garlic coating--

Ingredients (for buttery-garlic coating):

2 T. butter, melted

garlic salt, to taste (I didn't measure, think I used around 1/8 to 1/4 tsp.)

9. Mix all ingredients in small bowl.  Right after the knots come out of the oven, use a basting/pastry brush to coat each knot with the buttery-herb mixture.

10. Serve immediately and enjoy!  (These keep well in fridge for reheating, too.)

Chicken and Potatoes with Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce

Yes, it has been a while since my last post, my apologies.  Ever since I got back from France, I have been quite busy with trying to sell our house and get a new one, thus little time for cooking and blogging.  Hopefully all this will be done soon...but meanwhile, I'm still trying to get some cooking in here and there and will catch up with blog entries as I can!
Anyway, I had to make sure I got on and blogged this one before I forgot the modifications I made--it's so darn yummy!  Will be making again for sure.  Since the original indicates that it serves 2-3, yet only calls for 1 lb. of chicken thighs (and shows 5 in the picture--where does one get bone-in thighs so small?), I went double.  Very glad I did.  The amounts listed below are for the doubled recipe with my modifications.  Enjoy!  **I would normally use more of a bowl-shaped dish for this, but those are already packed away!**

Original recipe: http://www.eatwell101.com/chicken-potatoes-with-garlic-parmesan-cream-sauce

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lb. bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
4 tsp. Italian seasoning, divided
4 T. butter, divided
Kosher salt and coarse ground pepper, to taste
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. paprika
4 cups baby red potatoes (was 8 potatoes for ones I got), cut in bite-size chunks
4 medium tomatoes, diced (I used just under a quart of jarred chopped tomatoes my mom gave me)
2 c. chicken stock
2 c. heavy cream (could use half and half to cut calories if needed)
fresh spinach--recipe would call for 2 cups when doubled--not sure how one measures 2 cups of spinach, so I just put in a good bunch that looked like the right amount...
2 c. (didn't actually measure, just estimated) finely shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more to garnish when serving
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Instructions:

1. Place potatoes in a microwave-safe bowl and cover.  Microwave on high for 7 minutes and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, season chicken thighs with 2 tsp. of the Italian seasoning and salt and pepper (I mixed 1/2 tsp. of kosher salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper with the Italian seasoning for this step).

3. In a large skillet over medium-high heat (7 on my stove), melt 2 T. of the butter.  Add chicken, skin-side down and sear each side until golden brown, 5 min. per side.

4. Transfer chicken thighs to a plate and drain skillet (no need to wipe/clean).

5. Return skillet to heat and melt remaining 2 T. of butter in it.  Add garlic, paprika, and remaining 2 tsp. of Italian seasoning, along with potatoes.  Sauté for 3 minutes.

6. Add tomatoes and chicken stock, bring to simmer.  Simmer for 5 minutes.

7. Add the cream, spinach, Parm-Regg. cheese, and red pepper flakes.  Reduce heat to medium (5 on my stove) and simmer for 3 minutes.

8. Return chicken to skillet, skin side up, and simmer for 15 min.  Check doneness of chicken--continue cooking until done (I had to go 10 more minutes).

9. Serve with additional Parm-Regg. cheese on top to garnish, and enjoy!  (Next time, I shall have a baguette with it to mop up the sauce at the end...)