Dipping S'mores

No mess. No fuss. No fire. No smoke. No mosquitoes. Now you can have the deliciousness of s'mores any time of the year, any time of day, any time you want. All you need is four ingredients and a microwave.  Sound too good to be true? Well, today is your lucky day because this is real, people! You can see the picture for proof! Whip a batch of this up and you might thank me - or hate me - for introducing you to the sinfully delectable gooeyness of Dipping S'mores. Dip away, my friends!

Dipping S'mores
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (will be too sweet if you use milk chocolate, but don't be afraid to use a good quality chocolate here!)
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup marshmallow fluff (estimate works)
graham crackers, enough for dipping (so a lot)

1.  Combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a microwavable dish (a pie plate works great, and can be used for serving as well). Microwave 1-2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until chocolate chips are melted.

2.  Drop marshmallow fluff on top by the tablespoon and microwave about 30-45 more seconds, until fluff is softened.  Stir in until mixture looks 'swirly.'

3.  Serve in dish if desired, but I also found it worked great to pour it into a small crock pot to keep the mixture warm and melted. This works especially well if you don't plan on devouring it all at once (just be sure to stir it every now and then as the bottom gets pretty hot!) This method works great on the patio with an extension cord. :)

Enjoy!

Cherry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

These are quite possibly my favorite oatmeal cookie. For all those raisin-haters out there (of which I am not one), just bake your mom a batch of these and she might start using cherries instead of raisins in her oatmeal cookies. The recipe is easy and quick, but be aware - it makes a large quantity of dough so you'll be baking cookies for awhile! (I was thinking of halving the recipe next time to see how that turned out.)

The batter is thick, so you'll definitely want a Kitchen-Aid or something heavier duty than your arm or a hand-held mixer. The original recipe I tweaked said to lightly grease a cookie sheet; I used parchment paper and it worked great.  I've also found quite frequently that I am able to use a sheet of parchment twice when baking cookies, so give it a try if it's not looking burned after the first batch!

Cherry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups dried cherries (about 9 oz) - or slightly more never hurt anyone!
about 1 cup white chocolate chips

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cut a few sheets of parchment paper to the size of your cookies sheets.

2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and baking soda; stir in the rolled oats.  In the electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture in 2 batches, mixing well after each addition.

3. You will have a  very stiff dough - that may try to pop out the top of the mixer! Mix in the cherries and white chocolate chips until just incorporated.

4. Scoop the dough out in rounded tablespoons and place on the cookie sheet. Slightly flatten with the bottom of a cup so the cookies are even in height/flat on top.  The cookies do not spread out much, so you may place them fairly close together; because they don't spread out much, if you don't flatten, they will likely be uncooked in the middle! I also found that I had to sometimes roll or pinch the dough to get it to adhere and make a 'ball' of dough that didn't crumble.

5. Bake 10-12 minutes, rotating the sheet if necessary for even baking. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Lime Cake with Coconut Frosting

I am in love.  It's true.  I find myself wanting to bake all the time and make scrumptious things; the slightest reason to make something and I'm off to the kitchen!  With whom am I in love, you may be asking?  Well, with what might be the more appropriate question.  It's a cookbook. Weekend Baking by Sarah Randell.  She's British (I think) and has you tipping in and whisking about!  I'm pretty sure she means add and mix - or at least that's what I do and it seems to be working.  Anyway, it's a great cookbook with thoughtfully paired flavors - not your regular run-of-the-mill recipes that you see everywhere.  And the recipes are pretty simple, because who wants to spend your weekend working on a complicated recipe?

This particular recipe is one I've made 4 times.  Well, twice really; the second time I made 3 cakes.  It's deliciously limey and fresh.  The cake itself is a little on the sweet side, which pairs perfectly with the less sweet, but very coconutty frosting.  It's paradise in a slice.  Literally.

Lime Cake with Coconut Frosting
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups self-rising flour
3 eggs
finely grated peel of 2 limes

Lime Drizzle
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
freshly squeezed juice of two limes


Coconut Frosting
6oz. cream cheese, room temperature
5 T coconut cream (I also used coconut milk, and reduced on the stove to cream)
2 T confectioners' sugar
grated peel of 1 lime (use a zester, if you have one, rather than a fine grater)

a 7-in. round, deep cake pan, lightly buttered and baselined with baking parchment

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare the pan. If your pan is not deep, I found that lining the sides with parchment that stuck up over the edges slightly helped the cake rise straight as well as kept the edges from getting too dark.

2.  Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl with an electric mixer and beat until combined.

3.  Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake in preheated oven for about 50 minutes - check 10 minutes early as mine have sometimes finished that quick! Bake until cake is golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.

4.  While the cake is baking, make the lime drizzle sauce: sift the confectioners' sugar into a bowl and stir in the lime juice. Set aside.

5.  To make the frosting, combine the first three ingredients in an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. (If you are reducing coconut milk to make the coconut cream, it will take almost a whole can of coconut milk to get 5 tablespoons and will take a bit of time!  It's probably the most time-consuming part of making this otherwise quick cake! Feel free to do this step ahead of time and refrigerate the cream in an airtight container a day or two in advance.) Refrigerate icing until needed.  Allow a few minutes for the frosting to warm before spreading on cake - doesn't take too long to be spreadable though!

6.  When the cake is done baking, remove it from the oven and with a fine skewer, make holes all over the cake, about 1-inch apart, that reach down the bottom of the cake.  Spoon the lime drizzle over the entire cake, allowing it to soak in.  Let the cake cook completely in the pan on a wire rack.

7.  Once cold, pop the cake out of the pan, remove the parchment paper, and spread the frosting over the top. Sprinkle with the lime peel.

Enjoy!

Sweet Chili Stir Fry

A wonderful discovery - made the first time out of leftovers! Discoveries don't get much better than that. How many times do we find ourselves staring into the depths of the refrigerator, wondering what we can make for dinner? The second time it was perfected (with more vegetables).  Behold, I share with you Sweet Chili Stir Fry!!

Sweet Chili Stir Fry
3/4 large red bell pepper, large dice
1/2 large orange bell pepper, large dice
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
3 scallions, 3greens ends only, chopped into 1-inch sections
1/2 chicken, boned with meat chopped into bite-size pieces
4 Roma tomatoes, sliced length-wise into eighths
3 cups diced broccoli
1/3 cup sweet chili sauce, or to taste
Soba noodles (about 3 cups, cooked)
2 T olive oil

1. Heat olive oil on medium heat, add broccoli and cook for a minute, then add bell peppers. When bell peppers.  After a minute, add the rest of the vegetables. 

2.  When tomatoes and cucumbers start to look tender crisp, add the noodles, 1/4 cup water, chicken, and chili sauce.  Cook a minute or so more until noodles are warm and al dente.

Enjoy!  (Pairs well with a Riesling wine.)