RECIPE: Monkey Muffins... aka mini-monkeys...

Approximately two weeks, 3 days, 1 hour and 37 minutes ago I found a recipe here: Pioneer Woman's blog. It changed my life... and I'd like to share it with you now.

I remember early mornings in my Gramma's kitchen... we would sit around the kitchen table, cut apart biscuits, drown in them in sugary-goodness and toss them into a bundt pan. Fast forward to 2009 and me sitting at my desk, reading the Pioneer Woman's blog and drooling on the keyboard... I-must-make-these-muffins! I just know it will take me back to Gramma's kitchen table... in a weird 21st century sort of way.

So, let's try out her reccipe... here goes nothing...

First we start with some butter, sugar and cinnamon...



Next we add some dough (you can use prepared dough, leftover dough, etc)... I cut up canned biscuit dough...



And then you just keep going...



Then you add more butter, sugar and cinnamon... too much is not a bad thing at this point of the process...



They bake in a nice warm oven for only 15 minutes... and as soon as you take it out of the oven, you pour some yummy icing on top! Do you hear the sizzle from the hot pan?!



And again, keep going...



Beautiful, eh?! I don't know how it happens, but the sugar and butter and cinnamon creates this crispy crust around the bottom of the muffin... and oh, I'm speechless.



Pour yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy your Saturday morning...




RECIPE: Monkey Muffins
Recipe from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients
1 – 2 cans of refrigerated/canned biscuit dough, cut into thirds
Butter, softened
Sugar (or you can substitute light brown sugar as well)
Ground Cinnamon
Sweetened condensed milk

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Add ½ teaspoon butter to muffin tins. Sprinkle in 1 teaspoon sugar and ¼ teaspoon cinnamon.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls (or cut refrigerated biscuit dough into thirds). Place three to four dough balls into each muffin tin. Top with 1/2 teaspoon butter. Sprinkle on more sugar and cinnamon.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until caramelly brown and bubbling. Remove from oven and immediately drizzle with plenty of sweetened condensed milk over the top of each one – about half a can per biscuit tray. Be generous!

Allow muffins to cool slightly – but they are best enjoyed warm…



enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Buckeyes (or Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls)

When it comes to this time of year, I cannot get enough chocolate. And baking it and giving it out is just an excuse for us to have chocolate in the house. So, today I take a large batch of these to the office...

Editorial note - I had posted this earlier but have removed that so I could add pics and some notes and repost. Yes - you get to enjoy it all over again...

We start by mixing the first 4 ingredients together... and rolling the peanut butter mixture into balls. Then we pop them in the freezer for at least an hour (but I would suggest overnight).



The next day: we melt chocolate. And let the joy begin... party!



It's ok - they can fight over the chocolate... ahem, roll them around in the chocolate with a fork or spoon (until well covered) and remove to cookie sheet to allow to cool again.



Isn't THAT just gorgeous?! Enjoy...




Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls - or "Buckeyes"
Recipe from Janie Haraldsen

Ingredients
12 ounces peanut butter, crunchy or smooth
1 cup butter, softened
16 ounces powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, or dark chocolate

Instructions
In large bowl mix together peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar & vanilla.
Roll into small balls in palm of your hand. (It may be helpful to use a melon baller for making the balls similar size.)
Put on cookie sheet & in freezer for at least an hour, or overnight

When ready to roll peanut butter balls in chocolate, carefully melt chocolate chips (in double broiler or in microwave - stirring frequently, and watching not to burn). Roll pb balls in chocolate and remove with fork or skewer... or fingers. It's chocolate... enjoy!!!

Allow to cool on parchment paper.

Note from Mom: I've seen some recipes that add rice krispies for crunch - that'd be good too!






enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Tart Cranberry-Orange Sauce, from Debbie Graff

By popular demand... I'm posting my favorite cranberry sauce. My bestest girlfriend Debbie made me sample this (despite my insistance that I DID NOT like cranberry sauce).

And I was blown away... who knew I liked cranberry sauce?!

Tart Cranberry-Orange Sauce

Ingredients
4 cups fresh cranberries (about 1 pound)
1 cup orange juice, divided
3/4 cup sugar
3 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
4 teaspoons finely grated orange peel
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice


Instructions
Combine cranberries, 3/4 cup orange juice, sugar, cinnamon sticks, orange peel, lemon juice, lemon peel and allspice in heavy large saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until berries burst and liquids start to thicken, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Mix in remaining 1/4 cup orange juice. (Can be made 4 days ahead. Cover and chill.) Discard cinnamon sticks, transfer to bowl, and serve.

For more of a relish, reduce amount of orange/lemon juice by half... and watch while mixture boils so that it doesn't boil dry.





enjoy your time in the kitchen...

a Christmas tradition in our house...

It's only two ingredients... and that's all it needs to be...



Tonight my hero-of-a-hubby came home to baked goodies on every flat surface in the kitchen... as he scanned the room his eyes didn't even sparkle. UNTIL he saw these in the works! And he said - "I know you're baking for Christmas goodies (meaning, to be boxed up and put into packages being shipped out of state) but those aren't leaving the house!"

I promised to make him a batch all his own...

And this is how it's done... open a bag of pretzels. This brand is my favorite!



Melt the vanilla flavored candy coating (this brand is also my fav - and I've tried MANY Others... none stand up to "Log House"... they should be paying me for these endorsements...) ... melt it according to the instructions on the back. It's THAT simple...



Find something in your kitchen to pick up the pretzels - you can use a chop stick, or a butter knife... tonight I used a skewer.



Keep dropping in the pretzels and flipping them over to coat them on both sides... pick up and transfer to parchment paper. It's a good idea to let them dry... BUT, if you happen to find some broken pretzels, enjoy them before they dry! It's Heaven... simply Heaven!

Each bag of pretzels this size goes through approximately 2 trays of candy coating. And each tray of candy coating will coat about 60-70 of these "tiny twists"... and to think, my hubby gets a batch all his own!



enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Minty-Chocolate-Goodness

So, how could you go wrong with any of the above?! I mean it... tell me, how could one go wrong with mint and chocolate?!

Today I'm doing some Christmas baking... I'm putting together boxes of goodies to go along with presents to the family in Oregon and Texas. In the boxes will be a trio of chocolate goodies... THESE cookies, dipped pretzels and Buckeyes. Oh yum...

First - chop up a mound of Andes mints. And when I say a mound, I'm being literal. Try not to eat any of them while you're unwrapping them...

Second - mix the 4 ingredients (super easy)... and throw in the mound of mint-chocolate goodness.



Third - line up some heaping tablespoons of dough and slide it into the oven.



Fourth - cool on rack. Again, try to repress the urge to pick up a warm cookie... oh, who am I kidding?!

Minty-Chocolate Goodness Cookies
Recipe by Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
1 box Devil’s food cake mix
½ cup butter (one cube)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
6-8 ounce bag of Andes mints, chopped

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix all ingredients well: butter, eggs, vanilla and cake mix. Stir in chocolate chips. By the tablespoon, scoop onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. Cool and serve.

Variations:
- Instead of mint candy, use chocolate chips (or any other kind of chip).
- Add 1 tablespoon of coffee granules to dough mix... the coffee flavor really pulls out the chocolate flavor.

enjoy time in your kitchen...

RECIPE: Krumkake, a Norwegian treat

The Haraldsen family shared in a Norwegian tradition this week. We made Krumkake. And I was fortunate enough to have inherited this beautiful iron, forged in Norway. My Grampa, Erling Haraldsen, passed this along to me. It had originally been his mother's.



And the recipe was written in her hand-writing. Once you bake the krumkake over the heat, it is rolled into a conical shape on the wooden piece below. They are smaller and flakier than waffle cones, but can be enjoyed in the same way. Yummy...







Grampa instead used an electric iron so we could get through the batter mix faster... here you will see his process.


Thank you, Grampa for sharing this tradition with me. I will treasure this gem for a long time.

Krumkake Cookies
Recipe from Great Grandma (Jenny) Haraldsen

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
3 eggs
½ cup whipping cream
1 ½ cup flour

Instructions
Beat eggs and sugar until light. Add vanilla, melted butter, cream and flour. Set iron over medium heat and test with small drop of dough. Drop 1 teaspoon in the iron at a time. Cook until light brown and roll on a pin or make them like a cone.

(Given to Helen Haraldsen May 1965 during a visit.)



enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Cary's English Toffee

I lead with the pictures because they speak louder than words for this post... my friend Dina (Eugene, OR) had two of these boxes delivered to me today. This continues to be one of my favorite sugar fixes... Cary's.

And they are literally melt-in-your-mouth goodness... thank you, Dina!!! You made my day! In fact, you made all of the days in between now and when they are all gone...


enjoy your time in the kitchen...