Homemade Cheese Cracker Recipe!

Today's edition of MmmMmmMmm-Monday is geared towards the kiddos (or for full grown men who like to eat like kids - like The Sailor)!

W could eat Cheese-Its and Gold Fish all.day.long.  So, instead of continuing to pump him full of artificial colors and preservatives (or having to sell a kidney to be able to afford the organic kinds) I decided to try my hand at making my own!  It is a super simple recipe that I originally found here.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 packed cups of finely grated sharp cheddar (all I could find was normal cheddar and it worked just fine)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened)
• 1 teaspoon salt and the recipe called for another 1/2 tsp to sprinkle on top but I chose to omit that and they turned out just fine
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 2-3 tbsp water (I actually only used 1)

Instructions

• Using a stand mixer with the paddle beater, combine cheese, butter, 1 teaspoon of salt, and pepper until it starts to stick to the sides of the bowl, 1/2-1 minute
•  Add flour and cornstarch and mix until combined, about 1 minute
• Add 1 tablespoon of water and mix briefly until dough ball forms. Add another tablespoon of water, if needed. 
• Wrap in plastic, press the ball of dough into a disc, and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
• Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat over to 375.
•  Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. 
• Unwrap the dough and place on a floured surface. Roll to 1/16 inch thickness. 
• Cut into 1-inch squares using a beveled-edge ravioli cutter. Separate the different pieces and transfer to baking sheets. 

• Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt (I omitted this)
• Bake until light golden around the edges, about 18 minutes, switching racks and rotating sheets halfway through baking. I let mine cook the full 18 minutes and some of mine burned, definitely check on them often during the second half of baking!!
• Let cool completely on baking sheets.

They turned out really delicious and made my house smell great!  But, it's a lot of work (rolling, cutting, separating) and doesn't made a ton of crackers.  But it's way better than store bought and less expensive, so I'll continue to make them for my little man!

Obviously, the are W approved!

 Cheese crackers make you thirsty!!!

MmmMmmMmm-Monday - French Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Filling and Buttercream Icing

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of hosting a baby shower for my very good friend Kelley.  The theme was "Oh Snap!  Kelley is Pregnant" because she is a photographer who is extremely passionate about what she does!  For the party I made a French vanilla cake with strawberry filling and buttercream icing.  It was absolutely delicious and a huge hit!  It is, by far, the best icing I have ever had in my life!

I want to apologize in advance that this is the only picture I have of the cake...isn't it cute though??

Up first, the actual cake...

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 tbsp pure vanilla extract (if you use imitation vanilla your cake will suck and you'll go to baking hell...just sayin')

Preheat your oven to 350.  This recipe makes enough batter to make two 9 inch round layers, or if you're like me and don't have a 9 inch cake pan, two 8 inch rounds plus an itty bitty 4 inch round for you and your husband to share after the party.  You can either butter your pan or use bakers spray.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside

Beat the butter for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.  If it isn't completely soft before starting you'll have to beat it for at least the full 3 minutes.  Add the sugar and beat another 2-3 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly and scraping the edges of the bowl between each addition.

Start adding the flour mixture one cup at a time and alternate with the milk (ending with the flour mixture).  Add the vanilla, mix well, and pour into the cake pans.  Do not fill the pans more than halfway or these cakes will take forever to cook!

Bake for 27-35 minutes.  The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.

Up next, the icing!  I'm not a huge fan of the taste of powdered sugar, and most recipes I've seen for icing use that over regular sugar.  So when I found out I could make buttercream using regular sugar and flour I was pumped.  This is seriously the most delicious icing recipe ever.  And as a sugar lover, I don't say that lightly!  I made a batch of icing, then use part of it to make the strawberry filling.

Ingredients

• 7 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups salted butter
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• Pinch of salt
• Strawberry Jam (to taste - I used a big old spoonful for my filling)
• Cut up strawberries (to taste)

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into cream and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens.  It will be the consistency of a thick pancake batter.

Remove from heat and let it cool completely.  If you don't let it cool completely it'll just turn the icing into a soupy mess once you add it to the butter!!!

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter, sugar, and salt together until light and fluffy on medium high (about 5 minutes).

Add the vanilla to the cream mixture and then add the cream mixture to the butter mixture.

Beat the crap out of it.  Seriously...it make look like it's separating at first, but eventually it'll look kind of like whipped cream (it took me about 5 minutes).

Remove 3/4 of the icing from the bowl and set aside.

Add the strawberry jam to the remaining 1/4 of the icing and mix well.  Taste it and decide if you want it more strawberry-y.  Like I said, a heaping spoonful was enough for my taste.  Then add the chopped up strawberries.  Be sure to taste a bite of icing that has a chunk of strawberry in it, because it is flipping delicious.

And your icing is done!!

Once your cakes have cooled completely, put the strawberry icing between the layers and ice the outside of the cake with the plain buttercream.  Then decorate however you please!!

Oh, and enjoy ferociously licking the bowl of icing after you've finished decorating your cake!!

MmmMmmMmm-Monday - Homemade Waffles with Strawberries and Whipped Cream

W has seriously loved me being pregnant solely for the fact that I've added a lot of variety to our breakfast menu.  I used to eat oatmeal and he would have turkey sausage and eggs almost every day.  Now all bets are off when it comes to what we'll have for breakfast because I want something different every day!  And one of our favorites has been homemade waffles!

The recipe I have created morphed out of a super complicated recipe where you were separating eggs so you can whip the white and fold them in at the end and all sorts of other time consuming (and dish dirtying) steps.  I got lazy and quickly realized it didn't matter - the waffles were just as good even if you were lazy and only wanted to dirty one bowl like me!

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tbsp melted butter
• 2 eggs

In a medium size bowl mix all the dry ingredients together.  Then add all the other ingredients and mix those in.  Waffle batter is supposed to be "lumpy" but if it's too lumpy your waffles are gross, so I like to mix everything up with a whisk to minimize the lumpiness.  Bam!  Your batter is done!  By the way - I don't measure out honey, it's too much of a pain in the ass since it sticks to measuring spoons so much.  I just eyeball it and it turns out fine.  If you're super paranoid you can try your batter and see if it needs to be sweeter.  Or if you're afraid of salmonella (damn those raw eggs) you could make a waffle and try it before adding more honey.  You'll get the hang of it eventually, I promise.

I don't have a full "waffle iron."  They're kinda expensive and they take up way too much space in our tiny kitchen so I actually have a waffle pan that I got off Zulily a while ago when they had one of their "breakfast events."  It was less than $20 and tucks away nicely with my other pans.  I was apprehensive about how I would be able to flip waffles when I ordered it but it's actually super easy...

I set the burner to medium heat and let the pan heat up before starting with my first batch.  I always rub some butter on each section of the pan.  It's non-stick, so it probably isn't necessary, but it tastes delicious.  Then, pour batter on pan...

When it's crazy bubbly flip them with a fork...

Easy peasy.

And I'm actually not a huge fan of syrup.  The only kind I like is "maple flavored syrup" also known as corn syrup that's been dyed a lovely brown color.  So instead I like my waffles with strawberries and whipped cream.  I cut up my strawberries and sprinkle a tiny bit of sugar on them and then microwave them for 20-30 seconds depending on how much I have.

Since I'm kinda a whipped cream snob I actually like to make my own.  I put the bowl and the whisk for my hand mixer in the freezer when I start making the waffle batter so it's chilled by the time I'm ready to make the whipped cream.  Then I just kinda eyeball it (sorry, not useful at all, I know).  All I put in it is whipping cream and sugar.

I start with just a little sugar and taste and add more as necessary.  Just whip it until it's the desired consistency...

Et voila!  A delicious breakfast!

W LOOOOOVES waffles...

 He shoved half a waffle in his mouth for this picture...

 Yay!  Homemade waffles are the best!!!

MmmMmmMmm-Monday - Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

My mother is a pie master.  Her Thanksgiving apple pies are legendary and at some point during every summer she makes a strawberry rhubarb pie.  Nothing tastes more like summer to me so I decided to make one for a cookout The Sailor and I were going to on Saturday!

The most important part of a pie is the crust.  If the crust is crap it isn't even worth eating.  And my mother, the pie master, has always been very particular about her crust!  It shouldn't be flavorful - that's what the filling is for.  But it should be light and flaky.  So, the crust recipe that I use is absurdly simple!

Ingredients 

• 2 1/4 cups flour - pie master tip - the fresher the flour the better!  Either a bag that has just been opened or keep your flour in an air tight container
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 8-10 tablespoons ice cold water - put it in a bowl with a few ice cubes and let it sit so it is literally ice cold 

First mix your flour and salt together.  Then you're going to use a pastry cutter to incorporate the shortening into the dry ingredients.  I like the sticks of shortening because I can cut them into little cubes before adding them to the dry ingredients.

The better you incorporate your shortening the flakier your crust will be - so don't slack!

Next you'll start adding the ice water.  I usually add 4 tablespoons, mix with a wooden spoon, then add another four tablespoons and start incorporating it with my hands.  If you live in a super humid climate you may not even need the 8 tablespoons.  The less water you use, the better your crust will be!  We live in a desert form of Hades and I still only needed 9 tablespoons.  Only add water until you can roll the dough into a ball and it stays together well so it can be rolled out.

My mom was a master at rolling out pie crusts.  She'd divide the dough in half, and with a few swipes of a rolling pin her dough would be in two perfect circles.  I'm not quite that good yet so I cheat to start mine out.  I actually put it between two pieces of parchment paper to start rolling it out into a circle...

Then I lay it on a floured surface (if you have a slab of marble that's ideal; the colder you keep your dough the better) to finish rolling it out:

Then, to transfer it into the pie pan, I roll it up on the rolling pin and then unwind it onto the pan...

While I make the filling I keep the other half of the dough in the fridge to keep it cold and I start to pre-heat my oven to 400 degrees.

Ingredients

• For the filling you need 6 cups of fruit - I like 3 cups of chopped up strawberries and 3 cups of chopped up rhubarb but you can adjust the proportions any way you like
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons quick cooking tapioca
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Mix together the fruit, sugar, tapioca, and salt in a medium sized bowl.  Let it sit so it gets all juicy and beautiful for at least 10 minutes before transferring it to the pie pan.

Next you'll roll out the other half of the pie crust just like you did with the first half then transfer the filling into the dish.

Cut up the unsalted butter into little cubes and place them randomly on top of the filling.

Then put the other half of the pie crust on top!

Now pinch and roll the edges of the pie to seal it shut and poke some steam holes in it.

Finally I like to brush the top with milk and then sprinkle it with sugar in the raw.  And you should cover the edges with foil before putting it in the oven.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes then remove the foil and decrease the temperature to 350.  Bake an additional 30-40 minutes; the pie is done when the crust is a beautiful golden brown.  I always put a cookie sheet under my pie pan in the oven to catch any juice that may bubble out.  And this pie is best served warm with vanilla ice cream (the vanilla pairs well with the tangy-ness of the rhubarb).

It was sooooo good!  I was one happy preggo.  But, I was a horrible blogger and forgot to take pictures of the final pie.  I haven't been able to stop thinking about it though so I'll probably make another one while strawberries and rhubarb are still in season and I'll update the post with mouth-watering pictures then!

What kind of desserts do you think taste like summer?

MmmMmmMmm-Monday - A Dessert So Decadent, It's Scandalous

Also known as - Slutty Brownies

My apologies in advance, I didn't take any photos while I was baking, I was too anxious to get these suckers in the oven.

In case you couldn't tell, I like to bake.  I also like to think I'm pretty good at it.  And given the fact that both The Sailor and I have insane sweet teeth, it's a miracle we aren't obese (seriously).  But when I have a potluck to go to, I almost always bring a dessert.  Last week, The Sailor's squadron's "family readiness group" (AKA FRG) had a cookout and this is what I made to bring.  I must give credit where credit is due, and I actually got inspired to make this promiscuous dessert by Baking and Babies a few weeks back, but I do not make Slutty Brownies the same way she does.

When I think of Slutty Brownies, I think chocolate chip cookie, layered with Oreos, finished off with brownie.  You can find a billion different recipes on Pinterest, but I just put together my favorite recipes to create my own Slutty Brownies.

First - the chocolate chip cookie...my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe is the Ghiradelli Chocolate one.

Ingredients

• 11 1/2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate baking chips
• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups unsifted flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy and lightened in color.  Add eggs (one at a time) and vanilla.  Mix on low until incorporated.  Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips.

I then filled a greased 7 x 11 Pyrex dish to almost halfway with the batter (I had enough cookie dough left to make 15 rounded half-tablespoon sized cookies after the slutty brownies were done baking).  Then put a layer of original Oreos on top of the cookie dough.

At this point you'll want to pre-heat your oven to 350.

Now, for the brownie batter, my go-to is the recipe that is on the Baker's Chocolate package.

Ingredients

• 1 package (4 ounces) Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate
• 3/4 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour

Microwave chocolate and butter in a large bowl on high for 2 minutes or until butter is melted.  Stir until chocolate is completely melted.  Stir in sugar.  Blend in eggs (one at a time) and vanilla.  Add flour and mix well.

Then I pour this batter on top, and basically fill the pan to the top (I had enough brownie batter left to make 6 brownie "muffins") then cover it with (nonstick) foil.  Bake for 35 minutes, then remove the foil (it will probably have some brownie on it).  Then bake for another 25 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick can pierce the actual brownie part (you'll have to poke between the Oreos) and come out clean.

They are rich, and decadent, and amazing. Enjoy!

MmmMmmMmm-Monday - Fruit Pizza with a Homemade Sugar Cookie Crust

I came across this recipe on Pinterest and I knew I had to make it, so when I was invited to a Summer Solstice Potluck last Friday, I decided it was a perfect chance!

I'm not going to lie though, I think it's kinda dumb to use a store bought sugar cookie dough; I mean, sugar cookies are the easiest thing on the planet so I made mine from scratch.  For that, I used this Martha Stewart Recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (please don't ever buy imitation vanilla extract, the real stuff is worth the extra money...I promise)

1. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl; set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; mix until light and fluffy.  With mixer running, add egg, milk, and vanilla; mix until well combined.  With the mixer on low, slowly add reserved flour mixture.  Mix until just combined.
2. Transfer dough to a work surface.  Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

At this point we're done with that recipe.  Next I shaped the "crust" of the pizza.  I only used about 2/3 of the cookie dough (or else it wouldn't have fit in my container to transport it to the party, haha) and the easiest way to make one big circle is to place the ball of dough between two pieces of wax paper.  First mush it down, then use a rolling pin to roll it out to about 1/8 of an inch trying to keep it as round as possible.  Pull off the top piece of wax paper, and you can keep it on the bottom piece to bake it so it won't stick to your cookie sheet.

The massive cookie needs to be baked at 350 for 10-15 minutes (until it is a golden brown color).

Next we make the "sauce."  Take a softened 8 ounce package of cream cheese and a 7 ounce jar of marshmallow fluff and beat them together.  Voila - that's all you have to do for the sauce!

Finally you spread the sauce on the crust and decorate with whatever fruit you want!  The recipe I referenced says to not put it together more than 45 minutes before people will be eating it or else it will get soggy, but I didn't have that issue (maybe because she used crappy, store-bought crust...just sayin').

It was super delicious!  I used plums, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, and grapes on mine (and all of that except the grapes were from our local farmer's market).  I 100% recommend it for any summer parties you plan to attend!

MmmMmmMmm-Monday - Classic Diner Style Blueberry Muffins

When I was in high school I worked in a diner.  Cute, little, family run place (actually my two sisters and I all worked there) with classic, greasy diner food.  One of my favorite things to get for breakfast was a "grilled" muffin which although it was technically heated up on the grill, they did it in a large dollop of butter, so it's more fried than grilled.  Still to this day, my favorite way to eat muffins is to pan fry them.

Blueberry muffins are something that I really don't think you should mess with.  I don't want any crazy spices or flavors in them, I just want a blueberry muffin.  So my favorite recipe is actually the one from my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. Not only are they delicious, it's a super quick and easy recipe.

1 3/4 c all purpose flour
1/3 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 c milk
1/4 c cooking oil
1/2 c blueberries (the recipe calls for 3/4 c but that's way too much for my taste...I like more muffin in my muffins)

And I add sugar in the raw on the top

Put liners in your muffin pan and preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  (I always sift my dry ingredients together, although the recipe doesn't call for it)

In another bowl combine egg, milk, and oil.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add egg mixture all at once to it.

Stir until moistened (it's a thick, lumpy batter).

Add blueberries and stir again.

Spoon batter into muffin pan and cook for 10 minute.

Remove muffins and brush with a little bit of milk then sprinkle with sugar in the raw (the milk helps it stick).

Cook for another 10 minutes - et voila!  Delicious and simple blueberry muffins!

There are like a million reasons to pan fry your muffin.  Didn't cook all the way through?  Pan fry it - it'll finish cooking it.  Cooked it a little too much and it's dry?  Pan fry it - the butter will make it less dry.  Don't like a cold muffin?  Pan fry it - it'll heat it up.

But the most important reason is it's effing delicious and adds a crispy, fried layer to it ::nomnomnom::

All you do is heat up a skillet (if I had a cast iron skillet, this would be a perfect use for it, but alas, I do not) throw some butter on there and cook the muffin until you think it's "done."

Then you can throw it on a plate with a few strawberries and take pretty pictures of it...

Sooooo good.  And it's Wesley approved!

Please notice Gabby hoping he's dropping something off the side of his high chair.

Enjoy!!!

**All personal photos**