Coffee and Cannolis

If you like Snickerdoodles you MUST. TRY. THESE. NOW!!!  Seriously, one of the best cupcakes I've ever had.  They were moist, buttery, sugary and cinnamony.  Yes, I realize cinnamony is not a word but these were so good I just don't care!   The recipe, from Martha Stewart's cupcake book , suggests pairing with her Seven-Minute Frosting, however I paired with a Vanilla Bean Buttercream.  Top with cinnamon and sugar for a spicy sweet finishing touch.  If I'd have had a little extra time I would have made mini Snickerdoodles for a cute little garnish, but alas, time just was not on my side.   Snickerdoodle Cupcakes Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 1 3/4 cups sugar 4 large eggs, room temperature 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 1/4 cups milk Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare cupcake pan

Flavored butters always just brighten up my day when I see them on a table with the breads.  There's just something fun about them.  It's probably that essentially there are no limitations - you can flavor the butter with pretty much whatever you want! The best thing about flavored butters - they're easy to do at home!  Really, the concept is so simple that you don't need too much of a recipe.  You just take softened butter, flavoring of your choice and mix it together.  Voila! My favorite flavored butter is definitely honey butter, which goes great with so many things, such as cornbread , bagels, quick breads , etc. Honey Butter Ingredients: 1/2 cup softened butter 1 tablespoon honey 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract Directions: Mix together all ingredients using an electric mixer, or in a medium bowl with a sturdy spoon. Place in rammekins for serving, or spoon on parchment paper and roll to refrigerate for a few hours before s

I believe my search is over the perfectly creamy and cheesy stove top macaroni and cheese.  One night when planning to make Mac & Cheese to go with some chicken tenders from the freezer for a quick meal, I was actually looking through my Joy of Cooking cookbook while waiting for the oven to heat and the water to boil.  I decided to just glance and see what kind of stove top mac & cheese recipe they had and I knew immediately that I needed to try it.  I had all of the ingredients on hand, including the evaporated milk, which I actually needed to use relatively soon.  For a good, classic stove top mac & cheese you can't go wrong with this recipe.  This recipe can be adapted really well too, with some different cheeses based on what you have and what you prefer.  One day I may try it with White Cheddar to see how similar it is to my favorite Panera Mac & Cheese .  I've tried replicating , and have come REALLY close, but this may be better when adapted! Stove Top

I never knew how many different variations of cornbread were out there, let alone that there are two camps of cornbread fans - Southern and Northern.  That would explain why sometimes when I've had cornbread it's tasted different that what I grew up with.  Growing up I've typically been exposed to more of a Northern Style cornbread - more cake-like and a bit sweet.  A Southern-Style cornbread seems to be more dense and definitely not sweet, also typically cooked in a well seasoned cast iron skillet with bacon drippings or other lard.   Wanting cornbread I decided to go on a massive hunt for a recipe that seemed like the "baby bear" of cornbread recipes.  Not to dry, not to sweet - I wanted something just  right!  For some reason I never think to look on the King Arthur Flour website for recipes, but when a link directed me to it's store I nearly smacked myself in the head saying, "duh, of course they may have a great recipe!"  Well, that they di

I love white pizzas as I'm not a huge fan of pizza sauce.  I don't necessarily dislike sauce, but there have been too many occasions where I've had a pizza with waaay too much sauce for my liking.  Perhaps that's because my parents love to order their pizza with extra sauce and naturally growing up I ate what my parents put on my plate.   My husband, however, won't even try a white pizza.  He doesn't like a lot of sauce either (don't we work well together?!!), but he doesn't like to think outside the box much.  Lately I've been making a lot of smaller pizzas so we can both have what we want. Not too long ago I threw together what is, in my opinion, the perfect pizza. Garlic Olive Oil Sauce, cheese, spinach, basil and grilled chicken.  Um, hello deliciousness; I love you! I don't really have a recipe to share, but this pizza was too good to not share the general idea... White Pizza with Chicken and Spinach Ingredients: Pizza Dough ( homemade

I've got a joke for you... What's Ernie's favorite kind of ice cream?  Sher-Bert!  Ha!! Though, in all seriousness - this mocha sherbet might possibly be one of my favorite ice creams ever.  Remember fudgesicles?  There was no mistaking that rich chocolate flavor on a popsicle stick, but now this sherbet is the adult version.  The same rich fudgy  flavor with the added kick of espresso or coffee.  The flavors marry together perfectly, and this is a perfect way to use up the extra coffee from the morning if you're like me and often over estimate on the weekends!  Plus, bonus - easy peasy lemon squeezy! Note: you may not want to try it before it's set up to freeze in the freezer after churning - you may not have much left because it is addicting!! Mocha Sherbet Ingredients: 2 1/4 cup strongly brewed coffee or espresso 3/4 cup sugar 6 Tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder Pinch of sald 3/4 cup whole milk Directions: Whisk together the coffee

When trying to think of a new recipe to take to a family gathering I stumbled across these sugar cookie bars I had starred in my Google Reader.  These sugar cookie bars are quite the rage lately, but I couldn't pass blogging them as well.  These were out of this world amazing and I already can't wait to make more.  They remind me of the thick sugar cookies with gobs of frosting that you can buy prepackaged at Sam's Club - only better!  The only change I'll make to these in the future is to not thin out the frosting as much as I did - and maybe use a little smaller of a jelly roll pan, or make a little extra frosting so that it's a bit thicker.  Additionally, to flavor slightly, use other extracts instead of vanilla (such as Almond, lemon juice, etc.)  I do love being able to easily tweak a recipe for variety :) Sugar Cookie Bars Ingredients: For the Cookie 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 2 cups granulated sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 4 large eggs

In every group of friends, each person has their "thing"... in my group I'm coining myself "the Cupcaker".  Ever since I took Guinness Cupcakes with Baily's Irish Buttercream   to a friends party I'm continually asked for them again.  As much as I love them, I don't want to be "the Guinness Cupcake Girl" - not that that's a bad thing, but I'm not a one-hit wonder so to speak.  Wanting to play off of that I concocted a list of boozey cupcakes to try out and decided to take some to a 4th of July party.  After debating the list I decided to try White Russian Cupcakes because I've had those on my list for YEARS and the opportunity I wanted to try them at never came up.  For those not familiar with a White Russian - you must not have seen The Big Lebowski , and I urge you to do so immediately if you like cult-classic type movies!  A White Russian is made with Vodka, Coffee Liqueur (Kahlua) and cream (or milk like I make them) so yo

Not too long ago I received an email from  Foodbuzz  and Buitoni to receive a coupon to try the new  Buitoni Frozen Meals for Two  as part of the Tastemaker Program.  Admittedly, I occasionally eat convenience foods.  While I would prefer to cook everything myself, that's just not possible - people get busy and don't always have time to make home-cooked meals.  When I received the email I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try this out.  I knew that I had a really busy few weeks ahead of me and that at the end of them I would have a few days where I just needed to decompress and I'd want something a.) not ordered in, b.) quick and c.) convenient.  Once I got the coupon in the mail I added a Buitoni meal to my grocery list so I wouldn't forget, and threw it on the menu plan for the week I knew I'd want to try it out.   I chose the  Braised Beef and Sausage Ravioli with a Creamy Marinara Sauce  thinking it sounded the best for both my husband and I, though all