S'more Brownies

Apparently all marshmallows are not created equal as evidenced
by the 3 in the middle that were from a different package!

This idea came up when I googled 'easy dessert' the other day. Of course the entire recipe was glutinous, so I have pieced together my own version :) If you are not gluten free, just make/buy a graham cracker crust and use your favourite brownie recipe! It's a fun recipe, that involves a lot of gooey marshmallows...just like smores :)

'Graham Cracker' Crust from Gluten Free Fix

4 Tbsp. Melted Butter
2 Tbsp. Honey
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 1/2 Cups Almond Flour (Meal), packed

Mix everything together and press into pan (I used a pie plate, but a 9x9 would work too!) with your fingers. Cook at 350F for 20 minutes or until browned all over. I cooked 10 minutes, then put a piece of foil over and cooked another 10 to ensure it was done, but not too brown.

Brownie Recipe from Taste

1/2 Cup Rice Flour
1/2 Cup All Purpose GF Flour
1/4 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/3 Cup Cocoa
1 1/4 Cups Sugar
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 Cup Butter, melted

Mix together dry ingredients, then add eggs and butter. Mix until just smooth. Pour over baked graham crust and bake at 350F for another 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs.

I made these ahead of company arriving, so I let it cool then did the final step later and the marshmallows didn't really stick to the brownies. I think if you made them and did all the steps while hot it would work better.

All lined up and ready to roast!

Marshmallow Top (original idea from Food Network)

Large Marshmallows

Top the brownies with marshmallows (standing on end), then place on rack close to burner and 'toast' them! Watch carefully because bad things can happen fast in the world of marshmallows!

When toasting is satisfactory, remove from oven, cut into squares and serve :)

Apple Crisp

I often try to come up with desserts that aren't really desserts, but are good enough to classify as such. Although my kids do get sugary desserts from time to time, I definitely try to limit them (even then, I do try to find the healthier route to it, such as the Puffed Quinoa Squares). I never thought I would be the type of mom that would serve fruit for dessert, or that I would have the type of kids who are excited by apples and peanut butter, but here we are :) I decided today to spruce things up a little bit and make it a little more dessert-y. We eat a LOT of fruit in our house. Being gluten free limits a lot of things we would normally have for snacks, so by default we go to fruit for snacks (and tomatoes, but that's another story). The amount of bananas I buy would make you laugh, and the amount of apples in our fruit bin could cause a small avalanche. 

Today's dessert is apples. Apple crisp to be exact. Just a unique, very easy version :)

Ingredients
Apples, halved and core cut out (see picture)
Cheese
1/2 Cup of Butter, or Oil works too. Coconut oil would be delicious I think!
1/2 Cup Oats (make sure they are GF oats if you are gluten free!)
1/2 Cup Quinoa Flour (If you are not GF, use regular AP flour here)
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
Pinch of salt.

Melt the butter (or if using oil just pour in!), and add oats, quinoa flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. \Mix well until everything is moistened. 

Cut cheese into small pieces and place inside apple holes (see picture). 

Place the crumble mix on top of the cheese and apple. 

Place on a pan in the oven and bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes. 

Enjoy hot with ice cream or frozen yogurt, or just by itself. 

The measurements above made more then enough for 2 apples (4 halves), and I have enough left over for probably another 2-4 halves, depending on how thick you top the apples. 

The type and amount of apples and cheese is up to you. Cheddar does taste wonderful with apples though!

Slice apples in half and scoop out core.

Add cheese cubes to the holes.

Add crumble topping and bake @350F for 20-30 minutes.

Serve warm. With or without ice cream or frozen yogurt.

These have a really cute presentation and the cheese adds that extra little taste that makes them delicious!!

Chocolate Puffed Quinoa Squares

A wonderful part of being a kid (and an adult!) is biting into a chewy, gooey chocolate puffed wheat square. I've been searching high and low for a gluten free option (since puffed wheat is obviously not a good idea!), and I finally successfully came across a great substitute ~ If I do say so myself!

I went by this recipe and changed the amounts up a bit for the gf version. Something that was important to me was to be able to make them without *gag* corn syrup, and this recipe was perfect!!

I found Puffed Quinoa on Well.ca as well as Puffed Amaranth. For this recipe I have only tried it with the quinoa so far. (Reminder: If you are ordering anything from well.ca use coupon code 'kitchenaddiction' for $10 off your first order of $40 or more. Expires July 10/12). 

This makes a small recipe, but (of course) puffed quinoa is more expensive then puffed wheat, so I went with a small batch to experiment :)

Ingredients

3.5 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder

1/4 Cup Honey

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed

1/4 Cup Butter

2 Cups Puffed Quinoa 

Grease a baking pan. I only have a 9x13 so that's what I used, but the squares were quite thin, a square baking pan would be best. 

Ina  saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the cocoa powder, honey and brown sugar and stir until smooth. Boil for about 30seconds to a minute.

Pour the chocolate sauce over the puffed quinoa in a large bowl and stir until well coated. Pour into greased pan and smooth with a spatula. Let cool completely before cutting into squares. Store in the fridge, especially in the summer or they will start to melt!

They are not quite as chewy as a puffed wheat square, but they are very good. And they are a really good substitute if you cannot have wheat but are craving a puffed square! 

Chocolae Mousse

I know I havent been on here in ages. With company, the kids, my courses (Ill have 12 credits in just under 16 weeks!!) and regular day to day stuff I have been swamped. So when I needed a dessert the other night I knew it needed to be fast!

This was the easiest thing Ive made in awhile and it was a hit!

3 Cups Whipping Cream

2/3 Cup Cocoa

2/3 Cup Sugar

I whipped the cream part way and then added the sugar and cocoa and whipped it the rest of the way but Im thinking I could have put it all in at once and it would have been just fine. Whip until desired consistency (fairly thick but not overdone).

Serve by itself or with fresh strawberries etc. Soooo tasty!

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Hot Chocolate with Caramilk Cream Mousse

Wow, and double wow. We are not big drinkers in our house, but we do enjoy the odd treat. When I saw Caramilk Cream Liqueur in the store I knew we had to try it! So far, so good :)
I found this recipe for mousse, and then I made this recipe (slightly modified) for hot chocolate. We put the mousse on top of the hot chocolate and it was soooo good! My husband tasted it first and immediately told me that I wouldn't like it but that he would drink it for me so it wouldn't be wasted lol!

The mousse and the hot chocolate do taste good without the liqueur so if you don't drink, no fear. It does add a wow factor, but it is still very tasty without!


Mousse Recipe
2 Cups Whipping Cream
1/2 Cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
3 Egg Whites
3/4 Cup Sugar
2 Tbsp. Caramilk Cream Liquor(optional)



1. Whip cream to medium peaks.
2. Melt chocolate until it reaches 105°F (40°C).
3. Heat sugar to 240°F (115°C) softball stage.
4. Whip egg whites to soft peaks.
5. Slowly add hot sugar to the egg whites while whisking to form a meringue.
6. Fold meringue into melted chocolate.
7. Fold in the whipped cream.
8. Add Caramilk Cream Liquor, if using

It's a bit of a complicated recipe and I wasn't very good at the sugar part. I ended up burning it a bit and it turned brown and hardened when it mixed it with the egg whites, but I just picked out the pieces and it still tasted great! I also melted the chocolate in the microwave. I made a half batch of the above recipe as well because I had liquid egg whites so it was easy to get 1.5 egg whites!

Make sure you fold the meringue into the whipped cream. Don't beat it in, you don't want to over mix your whipped cream!

Hot Chocolate Recipe
1/3 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3/4 Cup Sugar
Pinch Salt
1/3 Cup Boiling Water
3 1/2 Cups Milk
1/2 Cup Half and Half Cream
2 Oz. Caramel Cream Liqueur (optional)

Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and 1/2 cup cream and heat until very hot, but do not boil! Remove from heat and divide between 4 mugs. Add 1/2 Oz. of caramel cream liqueur to each  mug, if desired. Top with mousse and serve! 

Skor Trifle

Skor, chocolate pudding, whipping cream, chocolate cake...cant go wrong with those 4 ingredients! Recipe from Vanilla Bean Baker, I just made the recipe bigger and of course mine was gluten free for hubby's birthday!

Use whatever cake recipe you usually make (Gluten free or otherwise). Bake and let cool. Cut into 1" squares.

Whip 500mL whipping cream.

Mix up 2-3 boxes instant chocolate pudding. (I used 2 and it wasnt quite enough so 3 would be better!)

Crush 8 Skor bars into small(ish) chunks.

Start layering....

Cake

Pudding

Cream

Skor chunks

Repeat until you bowl is full, ending with skor chunks.

Chill until ready to serve. Be prepared to dish up seconds :)

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Gluten Free Brownies

These actually tasted good...even the batter!
They do however fall apart so I think next time I would add some xanthan gum :) The recipe is from the back of the Clubhouse Potato Starch package.
2 squares unsweeted chocolate or 1/3 cup semi sweet chips
1/3 Cup Butter/Margarine
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1/2 Cup Potato Starch
1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1/2 Chopped Nuts
1/2 Cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (optional)

Melt butter and semi sweet squares on the stove until smooth. Remove from heat and mix in sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes. Beat in eggs 1 at a time and add vanilla. Stir together potato starch, baking powder, salt and nuts. Add to chocolate mixture and mix until smooth. Pour into greased 8" square or round pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips, if desired. Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool, then chill. Cut into squares. Store in the fridge.
I topped mine with Buttercream Icing...yum! (the green/red in the picture is icing mixed in from cutting it...just fyi!)

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Peppermint Candy Cane Sugar Cookies

This was my other cookie swap cookie...that I of course forgot to write up a recipe for.

Actually the main recipe is the same as the Caramel Chocolate Sugar Cookies. The main difference is instead of 1 Tsp. Vanilla use 1/2 Tsp. Peppermint extract. Add some crushed candy canes to the dough and mix well. (I didnt measure, just poured some in and mixed.)
Roll out dough and cut out circles or other shapes. Sprinkle the tops with more crushed candy cane and push the pieces down slightly. Bake at 350°F for 8-10minutes or until slightly browned at the edges.

Thats it. Pretty simple and it produces a very pretty, very tasty and very Christmasy cookie!

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Caramel Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Cups before baking

Cookies after baking

I hosted a cookie swap last night and of course I was the only person who forgot to print out copies of my recipe :( Tsk Tsk. So I promised to get it written up right away...I'm apparently fairly scatterbrained when it comes to event details...even when I make them up myself!

These were originally supposed to be a cookie made in a mini muffin tin, but they were ridiculously time consuming and even more ridiculous to try to extract from the pan when cooked. Thus this method was born!

Sugar Cookie Ingredients
3/4 Cup Hard Margarine/Butter, softened
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Large Egg
1 Tsp. Vanilla
2 Cups Flour
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tsp. Cream of Tartar
1/4 Tsp. Salt

Filling
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
20 oz Caramels, unwrapped (or use the Homemade Caramel Recipe)
1/3 Cup Whipping Cream
Pecans (optional)

Dough: Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add egg and beat well. Add vanilla, beat until smooth. Combine the remaining 5 ingredients in a small bowl and mix. Add to butter mixture and mix until a dough forms and no dry flour remains.

Caramel Mixture:
Melt caramels and whipping cream over medium low heat until melted and smooth. Leave over very low heat and stir frequently while waiting to use it.
Roll dough into 1" balls, form these into small 'cups'. Bake for 8 minutes, remove from oven (they will have flattened out) and with the handle end of a wooden spoon carefully press the center down. Bake another 2 minutes. Remove from oven, re-press the center again and place a few semi sweet chocolate chips in each. Spoon caramel mixture on top of this and let sit on pan for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Place either a pecan on top or a decoration of some sort (we had a nut free exchange so I used a snowflake candy).

Once cooled they are quite firm, but chewy :)

Microwave Caramels

Tis the season for lots of baking and lots of expensive ingredients!
Caramels are one of those ingredients. I already bought caramels for the baking I plan to do for a cookie swap I'm hosting next week but I decided to try making them from scratch today with this Recipe. I think it works out to be a lot cheaper! And yes, they have corn syrup in them...sue me :)I have a recipe for homemade 'corn syrup' but I haven't tried it yet and I was running short on time! Thankfully I had just enough corn syrup left in my pantry from I don't know how long ago!

1/4 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (I used Demerara)
1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup (just less then half is fine)
1/2 Cup Condensed Milk (I made my own)

Combine everything in a microwavable bowl. Cook 5 minutes stirring every 1 - 1 1/2 minutes. Line a pan with parchment paper or lightly grease a pan (pan size depends on how thick you want your caramels. I used a 9x13 because I wanted fairly thin) and pour the mix. Spread it out evenly and refrigerate. Cut, wrap in wax paper and store in an air tight container or use immediately in your recipe.
If you know how much melted caramel your recipe calls for you can skip the cooling stage!

I made caramel fondant rolled toffee with mine! Recipe and delectable pictures to follow soon!!

Buttercream Icing

This is my favourite icing recipe! It always turns out and is super simple! After you try this you will wonder how you possibly ate that canned stuff before!

Ingredients
1 Cup Butter
4 Cups Icing Sugar
2-3 Tbsp. Milk

Soften the butter. Mix in icing sugar add enough milk to achieve required consistency. Colour if desired! Lick the bowl...and the beaters...you get the picture!

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Cake Pops!

This was my first try at cake pops, and they were surprisingly easy yet time consuming. I think they turned out pretty good and were very tasty...just ask my kids who have been running off sugar rushes for the last hour! I forgot to take pictures while I was making them, but I did manage to get a picture before they were all eaten. I made them with a (gasp!) cake mix because I needed them to be gluten free and I have yet to find a cake recipe that tastes like the real deal. You can make them with whatever cake recipe or mix you want.

Ingredients
A baked cake
Icing
Candy Melts/Melting Chocolate
Sprinkles, crushed up chocolate bars etc.
Lollipop sticks if you want them

Bake your cake as directed by your recipe/box. Let it cool. Do the unthinkable....Break it up into a million little pieces in a mixing bowl. Add some icing. This part is by feel. Add some icing and then mix it up. You should get a 'dough' forming. Add small amounts of icing at a time because you can always add more but you can't take any out! A formable dough is what you are going for. Roll into balls, place on wax paper/parchment paper on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for AT LEAST 30 minutes. More is better.

Towards the end of the freezing time melt the chocolate/candy and dip the ends of your sticks into it (about 1/2 an inch). Let these set in the fridge/freezer for a couple of minutes. It helps to hold the cake balls on. Make sure your candy/chocolate it melted properly. Take everything out of the freezer. Stick the chocolate/candy ends of the sticks into the cake balls. Dip them into the melted chocolate/candy, roll in whatever topping you desire and put back on the wax paper, ball side down (obviously!) (Unless you happen to own a cake pop stand or have styrofoam kicking around this is the easiest option. It does make the tops a little flat, but really...who cares?!)

Let set in the fridge. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve. The icing mixed with the cake makes them very soft and the longer they are at room temperature the messier they are to eat. Much better directly from the fridge!
I dipped mine in Wilton Candy Melts and then rolled them in sprinkles or cut up Crispy Crunch bars or smashed up M&M's.....soooo tasty!


A couple of things I learned on this first time around: 
1. If you are going to dip in chocolate, melting chocolate is the best option. I tried with chocolate chips and it was too thick and really ended in disaster!
2. Keeping the cake pops cold and working in small batches works best
3. They use up a lot of sprinkles! Have a lot on hand!
4. Don't attempt if you have to have dessert ready to serve in 3 hours...this results in frantic rushing around the kitchen and lots of ignoring everything else that needs to be done lol!

The best thing about these is you choose the type of cake you want to make them with. This way, it can be vegan, egg free or anything 'free' that you need!

Chewy Chocolate Squares

Yet another Pinterest find! The recipe is technically labelled a Granola Bar but I cant bring myself to refer to them as that. They are creamy, chocolatey and delicious. More of a dessert delicious then a breakfast delicious! Although I would still classify these on the healthy end of the spectrum :)

Without further ado...

Ingredients
1 cup peanut butter (Sun Butter works well for a nut free version)
2/3 cup honey
1/2 cup coconut oil (no substitutes, this is what gives its creamy texture and flavor)
2 cups oats
1 1/4 cups mini semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 Cup Dried Cranberries or Dried Blueberries (Cranberries = Chewy, Blueberries = Crunchy)

Melt the peanut butter, honey and oil in a pot. Once the mixture is smooth and combined add oats, chocolate and fruit. Mix until the chocolate is melted. Pour into a 9x13 pan and refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve because they tend to get 'melty'.

Trust me when I say "GO MAKE THESE NOW!!"

Bite Size Apple Pie

These are a delicious treat if you need something tasty in a hurry! From the Cookin Up North blog via Pinterest (of course!) The original recipe calls for using Pillsbury Premade Pie Dough. I just can't bring myself to eat that stuff, so I used the Lardless Pie Dough recipe (made with Almond Milk), and it was probably almost as easy! But way better tasting!

Ingredients
Pie Dough (1/2 the ingredients below if you only make 1 batch of Lardless Pie Dough)
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
3 tbsp. melted butter, divided (I used margarine so my son could eat them, it worked fine!)
2 medium apples, each cut into 8 wedges

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon, set aside 1 Tbsp. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry. Brush with  2 Tbsp. melted butter, sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture.

Cut into one inch strips, about 8 in. long. Wrap one strip around each apple wedge, placing sugared side of pastry against apple.

Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar mixture. bake at 425 for 13-15 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Serve warm or cold was pretty good too!

So the next time you want some dessert but don't have much time, give these a try. I'm pretty sure you wont be disappointed!

I think next time I'm going to try with different fruits. I think peaches would be amazing, just a few different spices of course!

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Mug Brownie

I found this on, yup you guessed it, Pinterest!
Such a great idea if you are craving a little dessert but dont want to make something big. Ive made these a couple of times and every time I have forgotten to take a picture...they are that tasty!

Ingredients
1/4 Cup Flour
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed
2 Tbsp. Cocoa
Pinch of Salt
2 Tbsp. Oil (use Canola or something else plain)
2 Tbsp. Milk (of any kind), water or coffee.

Mix together the dry ingredients in a coffee mug then add the liquids. Mix well to make sure all the dry is incorpoarted and you have a gooey paste. Pop into the microwave for 1-2 minutes. There might be a tiny bit of liquid on top that you could pour off after cooking. Because there is no egg in the recipe there are no raw ingredients that have to be cooked thoroughly so undercooking is not a huge deal. If you want gooey brownie then cook it less!
Top with ice cream, whipped cream etc. and enjoy! Such a good 'need a late night snack but theres nothing tasty in the pantry' snack!! Its better tasting then a chocolate bar but its almost as instant!

I think I might try added chocolate chips next time. Or maybe walnuts...or maybe both! Or maybe chunks of cream cheese. Oh the tasty possibilities!!

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Grapefruit

Of course everyone knows how to eat a grapefruit :) but did you know you can make it into a healthy 'dessert' easily? I know its tasty on its own but sometimes a craving for something dessert/snack-like comes along.

Peel the grapefruit and remove the chunks into a bowl. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg over top of the pieces. Add a small amount of sugar or a sugar substitute (I used xylitol). Its a tasty, healthy refreshing snack. One you dont need to feel guilty about having if you are trying to lose weight!
Its not really a pretty dish so I never thought to take a picture :)

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Raspberry Pie

Without LARD!!! This is the easiest pie dough I have ever made and it turned out flakey and light :)
I love to make pie but hubby cant eat really fatty things like lard or shortening so I only make it once or twice a year. A friend posted on Facebook that she wanted to make pie but was out if shortening and it got me thinking. There had to be a way!
I came across several recipes and this one seemed the simplest. I had to throw my first try in the garbage because I followed the recipe exactly :( Once I realized it needed less flour then it actually called for it was smooth sailing!
I have a deep pie plate so I made two recipes to make a covered pie.

Best raspberry pie Ive had in a long time...possibly ever!

Pie Dough Ingredients
1/2 Cup Oil
1/4 Cup Milk
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1/8 Tsp. Salt
Mix together and roll out. I did find it was stickier then regular pie dough so I rolled it between two pieces of plastic wrap (wax paper or parchment paper would work too).
Bake as you would your regular crust.

Raspberry Filling
4 Cups Fresh Raspberries
1 Cup Sugar (I used cane sugar)
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1/4 Tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 Cup + 1 Tbsp. Corn Starch (I used Arrowroot flour but Tapioca would work too)
Milk or Cream for brushing the top before baking.
My berries were really squished and juicy so I also added 1 1/2 Tsp. Xanthan Gum. I really should have added more because it was quite runny.
Bake at 425 F for 15 minutes then at 375 F for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

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Butterfingers

Oh so deliciously tasty! And easy to make too :)

Ingredients
3/4 Cup Butter, Room Temperature
3/4 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed
1 Egg
2/3 Cup Peanut Butter
3/4 Tsp. Baking Soda
3/4 Tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Cups Oats
1 1/2 Cups Chocolate Chips

Topping:
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 Cup Peanut Butter
2-8 Tbsp. Milk (Depends on if you want it thick or thin) 

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix the butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg, peanut butter and vanilla. Mix the baking soda, salt, flour and oats and tehn add to the wet ingredients. Stir until mixed. Press into  a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes
Sprinkle the crust with the chocolate chips and leave. When the chocolate chips melt, use a spatula to spread over the entire crust. Place in the fridge to cool. Mix topping ingredients together and spread over the chocolate. Cut into squares. Best served slightly chilled. 

These are very sweet and I even used natural no sugar added peanut butter. If you use regular peanut butter you may want to cut back on a bit of the sugar. But then again if you love really sweet stuff then don't! 

Red Beet Cupcakes

My daughter is turning 1 this week and I took the kids on a road trip to see the grandparents this last weekend. Because we were away from home I didnt want to introduce her to anything really sweet. I did want to have a little birthday party though!
This recipe turned out so pretty and was quite tasty! You couldnt taste beets in the cupcakes or the icing! They are a little more dense then a regular cupcake but tasty nonetheless :)
So nice to have pretty pink cupcakes and icing for her birthday and not have to use any red food dye!
Recipe from Weelicious.

Cupcake Ingredients
2 Cups Flour
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
½ Tsp. Salt
2 Eggs
1 Cup milk (I used homemade vanilla rice milk!)
½ Cup honey
1/3 Cup Oil
1 Large beet, roasted, cooled, peeled, and pureed, (about ¾ cup)
2 Tsp. Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine first four ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Slowly add the dry into the wet ingredients and combine. Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter into each lined muffin cup and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool before icing. Best kept in the fridge.

Red Icing Ingredients
1/2 small beet, roasted, cooled and peeled (about 2 Tbsp)
1/2 Cup Cream Cheese, room temperature
1/4 Cup Butter, room temperature
1/2 Cup Icing Sugar
1 Tsp. Vanilla
I ended up using a bit of zanthan gum to thicken it but I would assume you could also use corn starch or gelatin instead.

White Icing Ingredients
1 Cup Cream Cheese, room temperature
1/2 Cup Butter, room temperature
1/4 Cup Honey
1 Tsp. Vanilla

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Everybody Loves Doughnuts!

If you have played the video game 'Splosion Man, then you will understand the title, if you haven't played it, you are missing out and you should play it sometime!! (Yes I am a bit of a geek, this is one of my favourite games!)


Either way, most people love doughnuts! The other night I wanted to deep fry a dessert, and my husband laughingly suggested crullers. I, of course, jumped at the challenge immediately! I'm so glad I did, they turned out perfect! I have already made them twice :)
This is a Food Network recipe.

They barely lasted long enough to get a picture!

Ingredients
Crullers: 
1 Cup Water
8 Tbsp. Butter
1/2 Tsp. Salt (Adjust this if you use salted butter)
1 Cup Flour
3-4 Eggs
Oil, for frying


Glaze:
2 Cups Icing Sugar
1/4 Cup Milk


 Combine the water, butter, sugar and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. 
Remove from heat and add the flour all at once. 
Stir hard with a wooden spoon until incorporated. 
Return to heat and cook about 2 minutes (until some moisture has evaporated), while stirring constantly.
Move mixture to a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (you can use a hand mixer or mix it by hand too), turn it on to medium speed and add 1 egg at a time while mixing. 
Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. 
The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when lifted from the bowl. If the dough doesn't do this, add the 4th egg and mix again. I made the mistake of thinking I needed a 4th egg the first time, and it was really runny. The next time I used only 3 and it was perfect!
Line a baking sheet with wax paper/parchment paper. 
Using a pastry bag (icing bag works fine!) fitted with a star tip (a large one) pipe the dough onto the pan in rows of 2 1/2 inch rings. 
Freeze for at least an hour to make them easier to pick up. (Almost frozen solid works best. If not frozen they will still taste fine, and cook fine, but they will be messy to get into the oil and will lose their 'cruller' shape).
Heat the oil to 375 degrees F. 
Lift the dough circles off the pan and carefully slip into the oil. 
Fry turning once until lightly browned. 
Drain the crullers on a cooling rack (make sure you put paper towel or something underneath!). Dip them completely in the glaze. 
Let the crullers cool and set before serving (if you can resist!!).

I think these are definitely going to be on the 'most requested' list in our house! We live within walking distance of Tim Hortons, and I would prefer to patiently wait for them in the freezer and then cook them rather then eating one of their crullers!!
I think I might double the recipe next time and let some freeze solid in the freezer. If left to thaw for 10-15 minutes before frying, I think they would defrost nicely and taste just as good and be more of an 'instant' treat!