Gingerbread Cutouts (Soft)

I made these while at my mom's for Christmas--and did not take any pix of the process--oops.  This and the next few entries will be just recipes for the most part--until I get the chance to make again and add more photos.  I liked these a lot and wanted to make sure I kept a record of making them and any modifications thereto. 
These gingerbread men are so very perfect--soft with excellent flavor.  The dough is easy to work with, too.  I used my own homemade frosting to decorate, which of course I had my 6 year old help with.  The one in this photo is his design, drawn on the cookie by me :)

https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/gingerbread-cutouts/29072204-d392-4ce5-850d-7e3cf11f4cde

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. unsalted butter (or margarine), softened
3 T. molasses
1 egg
2 T. milk
3 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

frosting for decoration

Instructions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat sugar, butter, and molasses together until well combined.

2. Beat in the egg and milk until just blended.

3. Mix in (or stir by hand) remaining ingredients (except the frosting, of course).

4. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour (we went overnight).

5. Heat oven to 350°F.

6. Roll 1/3 of the dough at a time on a floured surface, to 1/8" thickness.  (Keep remaining dough refrigerated until ready to roll.)

7. Use a floured gingerbread man cookie cutter to cut cookies out of rolled dough, then place on ungreased cookie sheet, 1" apart.

8. Bake for 6-7 min. or until set.  Transfer from cookie sheet to cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

I'm not usually one for using mixes to make desserts (as should be obvious by most entries in this blog :)), but this one just sounded too good not to try.  And oh am I even glad I did!  The original has it pictured/made with chocolate frosting--I'm sure that is quite lovely, yet I assure you that vanilla frosting (whether just spread all over or in drops like I did here) is a nice balance for the rest of the chocolaty goodness.  Yep, 10 out 10 for this one, too.

Link to original recipe: https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/frosted-chocolate-chip-cookie-brownies/eed4b2ac-42b3-4084-93ca-8a5fcda2a29c

Ingredients:

1 box (1 lb. 6.25 oz.) Betty Crocker™ Supreme original brownie mix
Water, vegetable oil, and eggs called for on the brownie box
1 pouch (1 lb. 1.5 oz.) Betty Crocker™ chocolate chip cookie mix
Butter and egg called for on the cookie mix pouch
Vanilla frosting (if desired--I used up some leftover homemade that I had on hand)

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark/nonstick pan (which is what I used)).  Grease bottom only of 13"x 9" baking pan with shortening or cooking spray (I used shortening).

2. Prepare brownie mix per directions on box, then spread in prepared pan.

3. Prepare cookie mix per directions on pouch.  (**Note: The dough does not like to come together with a spoon--I ended up using my hands to mix it, which worked far better.  It is rather coarse texture for cookie dough.)

4. Drop cookie dough in tablespoonfuls evenly all over the brownie batter and press down lightly.

5. Bake 34-38 min. or until toothpick inserted 2" from side of pan comes out almost clean.  (I checked at 35 min. and it was still quite messy, so I went 5 more min, which was perfect.)

6.  Cool completely on cooling rack before frosting.  Enjoy!

Roasted Balsamic-Garlic Pork Tenderloin

Mmmm this is ever tasty and simple--yep, it's another 10!  (I swear, not all of the recipes I try are, honestly!)  As you can see in the pic, I served it with homemade mac 'n' cheese, which was a perfect pairing.

Link to original recipe: https://kitchenconfidante.com/if-you-cant-stand-the-heat-part-ii

Ingredients:

2 T. canola oil
2 pork tenderloins (mine were a total of 1 1/2 lbs. together)
5 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
2 T. olive oil

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 400°F and line a rimmed baking tray with foil (for ease of cleanup).

2. Heat canola oil in a skillet (preferably iron) over medium-high heat and sear/brown tenderloins on all sides.

3. Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl.

4. Place tenderloins on prepared baking sheet and spoon/rub mixture all over tenderloins.

5. Roast tenderloins, turning occasionally, for about 25 min. (internal temp = 160°F).

6. Transfer pork to cutting board and let rest 10 minutes before slicing (if you can wait that long :)).  Enjoy!

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!