Pizza

One of my favorite things is going over to my older brother's house, to hang out with him and his girlfriend. Admittedly, it's mostly because they always have delicious foods. For Oscar night, they did not disappoint. We made pizza!My roommate was astonished when I told her that I'd never made pizza before, but... it's just something we didn't do when I was little. But hey, we got to make our own dough, so it was as close to baking as I could get!There are three great things about making pizza: 1) It's way cheaper than ordering a pizza, 2) You can make it exactly how you want it, 3) It can be a bonding experience!
My brother was watching the Oscars, oblivious to all but the screen, while his girlfriend and I were in the kitchen, kneading the dough for our pizzas. So fun!

She's a pro at kneading dough

Next time I'm going to make a pizza with provel cheese. According to Wikipedia, it's a processed cheese from a mix of cheddar, swiss, and provolone. The way I know it is a mix of provolone and mozzarella. Either way, it's my favorite!
Pizza Recipe

• 1 envelope pizza yeast (we used Fleischmann's brand)
• 1 c flour
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 c very warm water
• 3 tbsp oil
• 1/2-3/4c flour
• 1 can pizza sauce
• 1 package cheese (ex: mozzarella, or provel)
• Additional toppings

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 425
• Grease a pizza pan.
• Combine yeast, 1c flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
• Add water and oil, and mix together until well blended, about 1 minute.
• Gradually add remaining flour until a soft dough ball is formed; it will be slightly sticky. Add more flour if needed.
• Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, or about 4 minutes.
• Press dough into the pizza pan, flattening until it fills the pan. Prick the surface of the dough with a fork.
• Add desired amount of sauce, cheese, and toppings.
• Bake 12-15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and the crust is brown.

Fried Bread

Oh man, I am SO lacking in the entries! I made orange-flavored cupcakes in green papers for the Super Bowl (Packers!) but didn't frost them, so they really weren't worthy of even getting a blog post.

So here's one of my all-time favorite things, that my grandma used to make. Fried bread!My grandma used to make this every Sunday morning. I still the big family gathering, and the huge mixing bowl in her kitchen that was just -full- of dough. She'd grab a handful, flatten it out, and fry it up.

...I cheated. I just bought a bag of frozen dough balls at the store! But I still did like grandma, and put them in a dish under a rag to let the dough thaw and rise. The longer it sits out, the larger they'll be!The most important parts of this are to make sure that 1) you have enough oil, and 2) the oil is hot enough. If you don't or it's not, they won't cook properly. Which I guess is true of anything that you fry, but I don't fry stuff often! These float, so you only need about 1-2" of oil in the bottom of a pan to be sure they don't touch the bottom.If you like funnel cake, or those tasty doughnuts they serve in chinese restaurants, or sopapillas, you'll like these! I've always eaten them with plain granulated sugar, but my roommate put agave nectar and brown sugar on one of hers! Then she put brown sugar and a touch of cinnamon on her second one. Yummm.

Yes, it's just as unhealthy as it sounds, but... c'mon. It's worth it!
Fried Bread Recipe

• 1 bag frozen dinner rolls (I bought one with 12 rolls)
• Vegetable oil
• Optional:
• Sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, agave nectar, etc. for topping

Preparation

• Sit the amount of rolls out that you intend to fry. (ex: 6 rolls, to serve 3 people) Place in a rounded cake pan, and cover with a rag.
• Let thaw and rise for at least a couple of hours.
• Heat oil over medium heat, and make sure it's heated fully. At least 1-2" of oil should cover the bottom of the pan.
• One roll at a time, flatten to about 1/4" thick. Lay in the oil.
• If hot enough, it should immediately rise and bubble up around it. Cook until the bottom is golden brown, then use tongs to flip.
• Once the other side is golden as well, lay on a plate covered in a paper towel, to drain.
• Add your toppings, and enjoy!

Lemon Cupcakes with Meringue Frosting

While I was home, mom and I baked a few different things! We tried s'mores cupcakes, which were..not as good as they sound, in my opinion. I'm not going to blog about them. But I AM going to blog about the best cupcakes on the planet: These lemon cupcakes!

The cupcakes were filled with lemon curd, and then topped with meringue, which we toasted with the kitchen torch that mom got for Christmas. She got one from me and one from dad, and we liked the one he bought more..but still!
Mom asked me to rate these on a scale from 1-10. I gave them a 9/10 at first, and then decided that no, these were a 10/10. The perfect cupcake.

They're lemony without being over-the-top sour. There's also no actual frosting, so it doesn't suffer from too-sweet-frosting syndrome either! The lemon curd in the middle is enough to give the cupcake a little 'pop', while being balanced with the meringue.

Getting torched!

I regret only eating one and a half. She took them to work the next day, and they were gone. Gooone gone gone... I want more now!

We had a hard time finding the lemon curd, but I found it in the grocery store aisle where they have jelly and jam! So if you're looking for it, look there.

Lemon Cupcakes Recipe

• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 1 package instant lemon pudding
• 1 c sour cream
• 3/4 c veggie oil
• 3/4 c water
• 4 eggs
• 1 container lemon curd

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350
• Mix everything but the lemon curd in an electric mixer on medium for two minutes.
• Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full, and bake 15-18 minutes.
• Cool completely.
• Core cupcakes, and fill with lemon curd. Use the cores of the cupcakes as caps to fill the hole.

Lemon Meringue Recipe

• 8 large egg whites
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 1/3 c sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• Pinch of salt

Preparation

• Bring 1-2" of water to boil in a saucepan.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk ingredients well. Place above the boiling water.
• Continue whisking until the mixture is hot to the touch, and sugar is dissolved, around 2-3 minutes.
• Move to stand mixer if available, and using the whisk attachment, beat at next-to-high speed until it holds a soft peak, around five minutes.
• Pipe onto cupcakes, and toast lightly with a kitchen torch if available.

Brown Bag Biscuits

My dad is off on a hunting trip, and as my mom says.. "While the cat's away, the mice can watch as much Harry Potter as they want!" So that's what we've been doing!

Last night we had giant, frozen strawberry daiquiris and watched Harry Potter and Despicable Me! And this morning, more Harry Potter. We also had bacon, eggs, and brown bag biscuits!

I haven't eaten these since junior high. They were one of the very first things that I learned to bake on my own!
While they're -called- brown bag biscuits, I didn't actually use a brown bag. That just spells a mess for me! But "bowl biscuits" isn't as catchy.

I always forget how much I love these until I make them. They remind me of monkey bread, but they're much less sticky. They're easier to make and eat, too. And, personally, I find them tastier.
The most important part of the recipe, to take a page from Paula Deen's book, is not to run short on the butter! You dip the biscuits in it, but you also pour the remaining butter over the biscuits before baking, so don't skimp.

You can serve these on a plate like I have in the picture, but...c'mon. They're so much better right out of the pan, where they can sit and soak in the butter!

Brown Bag Biscuit Recipe

• 3/4 c sugar
• 1 + 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1/4 t allspice
• 1/4 t ginger
• 6 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 container of biscuits

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 400
• Spray a 9x9 cake pan well with Pam.
• In a small bowl, melt the butter.
• In a medium bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.
• Cut the biscuits in 1/2 if small biscuits, or 1/4 if larger biscuits.
• Dip the biscuit pieces in butter, then drop into the bowl with the spices. Coat well.
• Line pieces up in a single layer in the cake pan as you go.
• Once finished, sprinkle the remaining spices over the biscuits, then drizzle remaining butter.
• Bake 10-12 minutes, until brown, or when the center biscuit is done.
• Note: You can serve these on a plate as I've done in the picture, but they're better right out of the pan, where they get to sit and soak up the extra butter!

Almond Bark Popcorn

One of the best tastes in the world is when sweet and salty are combined-- it's why chocolate covered pretzels are so good! As it gets closer to the holidays, I find myself craving all of the holiday treats that I haven't had in a whole year.
This is one of my favorites! Fast, easy, delicious, and sooo tasty. Trust me when I say that you can't eat just one bite of this. You'll be lucky if you don't eat the whole batch. ;)
I overdid it on the Almond Bark, so do NOT add a whole block of it like I did. It just didn't look like the popcorn was completely covered, so I kept adding more. It's still great, but the sweetness overwhelms the popcorn. 2/3 of a block would probably be a much better amount.

Almond Bark Popcorn Recipe

• 1 bag of 'natural'/unbuttered popcorn
• 2/3 package of white Almond Bark

Preparation

• Pop popcorn according to the instructions on the bag.
• Empty into a large bowl, and pick out any unpopped kernels ("old maids" as my mom calls them!) or burnt pieces.
• Melt Almond Bark according to instructions on the package.
• Pour over popcorn, then use a mixing spoon to mix the two together.
• On a large sheet of wax paper, pour the popcorn from the bowl and use the spoon to press it out into a thin layer.
• Let cool/dry completely.
• Once hard, break off into pieces and serve or store.

Oreo Ghosts

I was going to post this on Halloween, but I figured I'd post it the day before in case you want to actually make these festive treats!

Oreo ghosts are the same as oreo balls, just shaped differently. I also consider them easier to make, too, because with oreo balls you roll them, then freeze them, then dip them. With the ghosts you shape them, then spoon the almond bark right over them!
With these, it's definitely a "slow and steady" scenario. If you quickly dump the almond bark on, it'll get lumpy and won't cover evenly. So instead, go slowly. Spoon a decent amount over with a plastic mixing spoon (it acted weird when mom and I tried to use a metal spoon) and then use the back of the spoon to guide the almond bark where you want it to go.

Be sure you add enough for them to have a cute little "skirt" at the base, to make sure they really look like ghosts!
Adding the eyes is the most fun part to me!

Let the almond bark completely harden before adding the eyes, or you risk the almond bark simply sinking back into itself, or cracking the soft shell. Take a toothpick, and push it through the almond bark. If you twist the toothpick once embedded, you can create a larger eye socket.
And be sure to experiment with different little shapes! My favorite is the ghost with his little ghost head cocked! It's love at first spook. ;)

Oreo Ghost Recipe

• One package Oreos
• One package full-fat cream cheese, softened
• One package white Almond Bark

Preparation

• Finely crush the Oreos. (Mom and I used a food processor this time. Or, put them in a large bag, and smash up with a rolling pin.)
• In a large bowl, blend together with cream cheese until fully combined.
• Chill for 30-60 minutes, to make it easier to handle.
• On a sheet of wax paper, roll out oreos to 1-2" tall, with varying heights and widths.
• Chop up and melt Almond Bark, adding in vegetable oil if necessary to make it runny enough.
• Spoon A.B. over the oreo shapes, using the spoon to guide it along the ghosts to make sure they're fully covered. (Watch out for their butts! Mom and I miss those most often.)
• Let fully harden, then use a toothpick to form their eyes.

Candy Melt Pretzels

Halloween is fast approaching! Today mom came up and we made treats.

I don't know if they have a name, but she's made them before for Christmas, and wanted to make Halloween ones! Notice how they're all Halloween colored?
And since they use pretzels, candy melts, and M&Ms, I figure "Candy Melt Pretzels" is easy enough.

These are easy. SO easy, in fact, that I don't even need to put a recipe guide below. I will anyway, but it's astonishing how easy these are. I mean..have I mentioned how easy they are?
I'm just going to fill up this post with pictures!

Candy Melt Pretzels Recipe

• One package pretzel Snaps (The square/grid kind)
• Candy Wafers (Purchasable at craft stores like Hobby Lobby, and Wal-Mart)
• M&Ms (one large, or a few small bags)

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 200
• Arrange Snaps on a cookie sheet, in one flat layer.
• Top each with one candy wafer (the color is your choice!)
• Put into oven for 2-3 minutes, until you can press an M&M into the wafer without any resistance.
• Remove from oven, press M&Ms into remaining wafers. Let cool/harden!

Lemon Poppyseed Cookies

I got another new cookbook! This one is just called The Cookie Bible and it has amaaazing recipes in it. I already marked about a dozen pages that I want to try straight away.
The first recipe I tried is called HUNGARIAN Lemon Poppyseed Cookies. I'm not really sure what makes them Hungarian, but that doesn't really matter, does it?

Whoever tested this recipe didn't record it right though, I don't think. It says to measure them by 'heaping teaspoons', and then says to bake for 11-12 minutes, which overcooked them. It also says that it makes 2 dozen cookies, and it made a little more than 3 dozen for me. So I'm going to adjust the recipe for you! For this recipe, you'll need just one lemon, too.

Maaan, these things are great. I'm taking them to my writing group, but I want to keep them all for myself. But then, I'm addicted to anything lemon, so that's why!

Lemon Poppyseed Cookie Recipe

• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp grated lemon peel
• 1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp poppyseeds

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350
• Beat granulated sugar and butter until creamy.
• Beat in egg and lemon peel.
• Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in separate bowl. Add gradually to first mixture.
• Beat in poppyseeds on low speed until fully combined.
• Drop by teaspoon full, 2" apart on a baking sheet-- cookies will spread.
• Bake 7-9 minutes, until edges are lightly browned.
• Let cool 1 minute on sheet before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Lemon Glaze Recipe

• 1 c powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Preparation

• Combine powdered sugar and lemon juice.
• Blend until fully mixed.
• Put into a small zip-loc bag, and cut off a small corner. Drizzle over cooled cookies.

Devilled Eggs

Bonus treat!

I had some eggs in the fridge that were nearing their time (8 out of 12..I'm bad at eating eggs), when I was smacked in the face with a 2x4 of an idea: Devilled eggs!

These are things that, believe it or not, have a special meaning to me.

Aside from being the most delicious form of egg on the planet, we only made them in my house when they were going somewhere else-- Easter dinner, Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas Eve dinner, and so on. Strictly an "entire family" sort of hors d'oeuvres (Which I like to pronounce as "hors doov-ruh" when the mood strikes me.)
When mom makes them, she never measures. I figured I could get some good out of making them, because I actually figured out how much to put in. Now, some people go crazy, what with the relish and the paprika and the other nonsense that DOES NOT BELONG IN A DEVILLED EGG. I keep it simple! Enjoy.

Devilled Egg Recipe

• 8 eggs (Because this is how many the recipe is measured for)
• 1/2 c Miracle Whip
• 1/2 tbsp yellow mustard
• Dash of salt, a few dashes pepper

Preparation

• Hard-boil your eggs as follows:
• Put eggs in a large pan, and fill with water until just covered.
• Put on a burner at high heat, and bring to a boil all at once.
• Once at a rolling boil, let boil for 1 1/2 minutes.
• Remove from heat, and let sit in water for 15 minutes.
• Carefully pour out hot water, and fill the pan with cold water. Either let the water run for 10 minutes or so, or drop some ice cubes in to make sure the egg temperature is brought back down.
• Note: My egg yolks always come out with that grey ring-- I don't really mind. At least I know for certain that they're cooked this way.
• Once cold, crack and peel away the shells. Dry eggs with paper towel.
• Slice eggs length-wise in half, putting the yolks into a large bowl and the eggs on a plate or paper towel, cut-side up.
• Use a fork (or electric mixer) to break up the yolks.
• Add in Miracle Whip, mustard, salt and pepper.
• Mix well with a fork (or mixer) until completely blended and soft, instead of lumpy.
• Spoon, or pipe, into the egg halves.

Mini Cinnamon Rolls

These are the cutest and most delicious thing I've eaten all week!

I found a recipe online, but looking at it the measurements didn't sound right, so I tweaked it and made my own! They are SO tasty, and also filling. I had one and was satisfied, so (hopefully) you can share the batch with others. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't though.

My roommate loved them, too. I had two rejects (they weren't pretty enough!) and she gobbled them up. And they're so easy!
You'll have extra cinnamon sugar, because I just used an old mixture amount that I knew worked, but save it. Have some tasty toast later. :)

Mini Cinnamon Roll Recipe

• 1 can of Pillsbury crescent rolls (that says it has 8 rolls)
• 1/4 c sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp butter

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 375
• Carefully unroll the crescent rolls, so you have 4 rectangles instead of 8 triangles.
• Pinch, then press the perforations together to seal them.
• Melt the butter. Brush, or spoon and rub across the rectangles.
• Mix together cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle over each rectangle until coated.
• Roll the rectangle up starting with the short end. Slice into 5 rolls.
• Place, cut side down, into a lightly greased/parchment paper covered 9" cake pan (round or square)
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.
• Let cool slightly, and top with glaze.

Glaze Recipe

• 1 1/2 c powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp milk (or apple juice? The recipe said that-- I've never tried it!)

Preparation

• Mix together until totally blended and smooth. Drizzle over rolls.

Butterbeer with Butterscotch Whipped Cream

Harry Potter nerds, rejoice!
For I have discovered, and created from other recipes, butterbeer!

There are so many on the internet that it's hard to decide which one to try. I wound up picking two that sounded interesting, and then smashing them together and creating a delicious beverage!
Now, this is completely family-friendly. You COULD add butterscotch schnapps, but this one uses butterscotch syrup instead. So think of it as belonging to the rootbeer family, not the regularbeer family.

I also reused my whipped cream recipe, but fiddled with it a little. In the HP books, as far as I can remember, the drink naturally foams on its own, but adding foam is just as good! I made it for my friends when they came to visit, and they said it was a perfect dessert drink.
I'm providing two recipes. One for a single or double serving, and one for a large pitcher. The measurements probably don't correspond to eachother, but...whatever. I'm not a math person, so I just went by taste!

Butterbeer Recipe:

• FOR SINGLE SERVING
• 8oz (1 can) cream soda (chilled)
• 1 - 1 1/2 T butterscotch syrup (add less, then add more to taste)
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1/2 t heavy whipping cream
• FOR MULTIPLE SERVINGS
• 2L cream soda (chilled)
• 1/2 - 3/4 c butterscotch syrup (add less, then add more to taste)
• 2 + 2/3 T vanilla
• 2 T heavy whipping cream

Preparation

• Combine butterscotch syrup, vanilla, and heavy whipping cream in a bowl. Mix well to combine syrup.
• Pour cream soda into a second, large bowl.
• Add mixture to cream soda; stir until combined.
• Note: The more you stir the cream soda, the more quickly it will lose its carbonation. Hence why mixing the three first will provide the best beverage.
• Top with whipped cream and serve. Refrigerate remainder.

Butterscotch Whipped Cream Recipe:

• 1 cup (or 1 pint) heavy whipping cream
• 4 T butterscotch syrup
• 1 T vanilla

Preparation

• Combine ingredients in large mixing bowl (stand mixer if you have it!)
• Beat until the mixture thickens, 5-7 minutes, stopping occasionally to make sure the syrup is integrated and not on the bottom of the bowl.
• Either pour (if still liquidy), or spoon/pipe whipped cream onto the butterbeer.
  

Apple Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream

I've wanted to make ice cream cone cupcakes for so long, but I never knew how!
Surprisingly, it was really, really, really easy.

So I made an apple ice cream cone cupcake, with cinnamon buttercream frosting. This frosting will make people bow down to you, because it's SO GOOD. It's SO GOOD in fact, that capital letters are warranted for it!

BUT. I wasn't paying attention (I was watching King Of The Hill with my little bro) so I wound up adding, instead of 1 1/2 cups of grated apple (which the recipe called for), two grated apples. I'm reaaally not sure how much extra apple I added.. but they were delicioso! Actually, I suggest it!

The batter wasn't runny like regular cake batter. It was oddly dry to begin with. Before I added the apple, it looked like fine bread crumbs. After I added the apple and mixed it in it got more liquidy, but with the apple it was more like a heavy muffin mix.
But it smelled so good! And tasted so good! There's no egg in it, so don't feel nervous about sneaking a spoonful of the batter while you're putting it in the pan.

The batter can be used in regular cupcake tins or in the ice cream cones (obviously.) My suggestion, though, is to make 20 instead of 24. Because they don't rise exponentially, this'll let you fill the cups more fully.

As for the cinnamon buttercream, depending on whether you frost it on with a knife or use a piping bag, you'll either need one batch or two (two batches being a full bag of powdered sugar.)
Really, I cannot recommend this frosting enough. It would be good thinned out as a glaze for muffins, or added to waffles, or even as an accent on ice cream. Om nom nom!
Have an enemy? Give them one of these cupcakes. They will never say another bad thing about you.

Apple Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream (in an ice cream cone!) Recipe

• 20 ice cream cones, or 20 cupcake papers
• 1/4 c butter, softened
• 2/3 c sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 c all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and grated

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350
• Beat butter until fluffy.
• Add sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla and cream together. (Texture will be weird)
• Combine flour and baking soda, then add slowly to mixture and beat. (Texture will resemble bread crumbs.)
• Add apples, and beat together on a low speed so the apple juice gets into the mixture, but so the grated apples are still visible.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes. (See below for what a finished cupcake will look like inside.)
• Let cool completely.

Cinnamon Buttercream Recipe

• 1 lb (1/2 bag) powdered sugar
• 1/3 c butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 c milk

Preparation

• Use a mixing spoon to combine cinnamon and powdered sugar. This will ensure that the cinnamon is fully infused later.
• Add in butter, vanilla, and about half of the milk.
• Blend together until thoroughly mixed, adding more milk if neccessary.
• Note: Don't overdo the milk. You want THICK frosting.
• Note: If you plan to pipe, definitely make the double batch.
• Pipe onto the tops of the cooled cupcakes.
• Then, sit back and enjoy as eeeverybody who sees them fawns over them!

Tip for piping the ice cream cone design:
Start in the middle of the cupcake, and pipe slowly in a spiral until all of the cupcake is covered.
Pipe a second spiral in the center, on top of that.
In the very center, squeeze out one more bit of frosting, then push down and pull up to get the tip!

Center of the cooked cupcake

Oreo Balls

I've got a loooong work week starting tomorrow. Everyone is taking days off at once, so there's really only a couple of us who are available to work all of the shifts.


Because I KNOW I won't want to bake anything after working 9-5 tomorrow, I thought I'd make something tonight. So I spent the entire day making oreo balls!

They're messy to prepare, but are sooo worth it. Plus you only need three ingredients, so it's easy to do these from memory. Everybody at work loooves these, too.

Note: Using different food colorings in the Almond Bark can instantly make these festive little goodies! Always use a gel-based food coloring though-- the liquid food colorings make the Almond Bark "seize up" and you'll have to get a new package. You could either color all of it, or dip the oreo balls in plain white Almond Bark, then color the leftover and drizzle it over.

Oreo Balls Recipe

• One package Oreos (plain/original)
• One package cream cheese
• One package white Almond Bark

Preparation

• Leave the cream cheese out to soften/get to room temperature.
• Put the Oreos in a large Zip-Loc back (The freezer bag/gallon bag is what I use.)
• Seal out the air, then use a rolling pin to crush the Oreos as best you can. When you think they're crushed enough, keep crushing for another minute or two because larger chunks are harder to blend.
• Put the Oreos and cream cheese in a large bowl and blend together until you get a smooth, well incorporated mixture.
• Put the mixture in the fridge for half an hour to help it firm up.
• Cover a cookie sheet with wax paper. Roll the mixture into 1" balls, and put on the cookie sheet.
• Put back in the fridge for an hour.


• Chop up the Almond Bark and heat until it's melted. (Heat for a minute, then stir every 20 seconds.)
• Prepare a second cookie sheet with wax paper, for the dipped balls.
• Taking 4-5 balls from the fridge at a time, drop one at a time into the Almond Bark. Use a toothpick to lift it out, and once it's evenly coated shake off the excess A.B., then put on the wax paper to let it set. (You'll want to have a second toothpick on hand; use it to put extra A.B. over the toothpick hole in the Oreo Ball.)
• Once they're all coated, put the new pan in the fridge to let them firm up and chill. Then serve!
  
  

Rock Chalk Jayhawk Cookies

This really hasn't been my two weeks! I got over my sickness, but I've been sooo ridiculously stressed from my finals (and the papers I have to write!) that I didn't even remember to update my blog until today. So there's going to be a double post.

My lil bro's dorm has the most awesome RA ever. She arranges all sorts of activities to make them feel like they really do have a home away from home. For their last big bang their entire floor had a picnic, and they had one request-- Jayhawk cookies.

L5 stands for his dorm and floor!

I don't know what's in the cookies that makes them so great, but everybody loves them.

So mom and I made Jayhawk cookies. It took us FOUR hours to frost FOUR dozen cookies.

And it was worth it!

Here they go marching one by one hoorah, hoorah...

No recipe (sorry kids, it's a secret ;) but you can enjoy the pictures!

Cinnamon Pinwheels

Back to the book!
This week I made cinnamon pinwheels, and let me tell you: They were amazing!

The flavor was awesome, the texture was pleasing, and they're just big enough to enjoy one (or two!) without feeling really guilty about it. The only issue I had was with the pastry itself. I bought the package of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry (and this is what I'm using as a measurement in the recipe) which is folded into thirds-- when I unrolled it, it actually split into thirds. This didn't really cause a problem though, and it was actually easier to cut the three smaller logs than the one big one that I got on my second batch.

Second, be sure to test your cinnamon/sugar mix before you use it. Mine tasted a little too sharp from the cinnamon so I added a tad more sugar to balance it out. Just a heads up!
Cinnamon Pinwheel Recipe

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 sheet of puff pastry
• 1 egg white
• OR FOR A DOUBLE BATCH (which I suggest)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 package puff pastry (comes with 2 sheets)
• 1 egg white

Preparation

• Put the puff pastry out on the counter to thaw for an hourish.
• Preheat the oven to 425°
• In a small bowl mix together the cinnamon and sugar.
• Unfold/lay out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to keep it from sticking later.
• Sprinkle 1/2 (or 1/4 for a double batch) of the sugar mixture onto it.
• Roll out to 10" square so the mixture is pressed into it. Sprinkle with the rest of the mixture.
• Roll into a loose tube. Use the egg white to seal the edge of the tube, and press together with your fingers to make sure they stay secure.
• Roll the tube in a bit of the mixture to give it a little more color on the outside.
• Cut into about 1/4" thick rolls. Put on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
• Cook for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
• Once out of the oven, sprinkle the tops with a little more sugar then put on a cooling rack.
• When you pack them, seal them in an airtight container to keep them crisp!

Note: The crispness isn't really -hard-, it's just..not soggy.