Shortbread Candy Bars

As promised, here is a recipe that will come in handy now that we all have bowls of candy (a.k.a. bribery ammunition) stashed somewhere in our homes.

This recipe is found on the last page of this month’s Everyday Food mini-mag (October 2010).  It’s also found online here.

First of all, has anyone else already tried this recipe?  I made one batch of the shortbread dough last night and tasted it before baking and found it to be incredibly salty.  Ew.  I tossed it out and started over this afternoon.  Instead of the 1 1/4 tsp of coarse salt I added a scant 1/4 tsp of regular salt and it was so much better.  I even think it would be fine without any salt at all.  My other shortbread recipes do not call for salt.
 
So here is the recipe (my reduced salt version):

Shortbread Candy Bars

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp regular salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (using the spoon/level method)
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups assorted roughly chopped candy bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar and salt on medium-high until light and fluffy (3 minutes).  With mixer on low, add flour in three additions and beat until combined (dough will be crumbly).
    

Press dough evenly into an 8-inch square baking dish.  Bake until golden brown and firm, 30-35 minutes.  (My pan was a little smaller than 8-inches and took about 38 minutes to bake.)

 

While shortbread bakes, chop your candy.  I used M&Ms:



Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups:



and Snickers:



When the shortbread is done, pull it out of the oven.  Scatter chocolate chips on top of shortbread.  Bake an additional 1 to 2 minutes until chips are soft.  With the back of a spoon, spread chocolate evenly over shortbread.



Scatter candies over top (I sprinkled the candies into their own rows, but you could also scatter them on all willy-nilly if you so choose.  I’m sure it will be just  as chocolatey and delicious.)



Let cool for 30 minutes.  Refrigerate briefly (mine took another 15 minutes) to set chocolate, then cut into 16 bars.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Everyone Wants a Window Seat

Happy Halloween my fellow food-loving friends.

I bought these cute little pumpkins and squashes to sit in a bowl in the center of my table. Within minutes my toddler decided they were toys. They’ve been rolled, kicked, thrown and lined up on my window sill.

Anyone else expecting a deluge of candy today and tomorrow? Don’t be too quick to toss it all out like you usually do. (I know you do it. Don’t worry, I won’t tell your kids.) I found a recipe that uses some of those Halloween candy bars. I’m trying out the recipe today. If it’s good I’ll share it with you. Well, I suppose if it’s yucky I’ll still share it with you so you’ll know to avoid it. ha ha .

Donut Muffins

My sister is to blame for this next recipe. Yes. Blame.

They are little bite-sized muffins that taste like donut holes. Why not just make donut holes you ask? Well because these are just as good, they are quick to mix up using things you most likely have in your pantry AND (a big bonus) they don’t get fried in oil.

These are the perfect little bite of fall-esque goodness. Mix a batch up for an after school snack. Serve them alongside a mug of apple cider, or hot chocolate. One batch makes 24 perfect little muffins. You’re going to want to try these. Really.

Here’s the link:

Donut Muffins

Please don’t be tempted to leave out the nutmeg. These really need the nutmeg. If you’re making these and you’re out of nutmeg, call me and I’ll lend you mine. Oh and thank you Mindy for the yummy recipe!

Dinner for One

Recently I overheard someone say how it is more time consuming to cook healthy meals.  For the most part I disagree.  I know there are a lot of fancy-shmancy recipes out there that are healthy and quite complicated.  But cooking healthy doesn’t need to be complicated.  For me, it just takes a little planning.
For example – tonight’s dinner.  Hubby was working late and kids wanted spaghetti.  I didn’t want spaghetti.  I dug through my fridge and found some vegetables and some leftover chopped romaine. 
In the time it took me to boil the water for my kids’ spaghetti, I preheated the oven to 425 degrees and washed and chopped a few veggies (not having to peel anything was a big time saver.)
In the time it took me to put the pasta in the water, the vegetables got a quick toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.
In the time it took me to cook the pasta I mixed up a quick balsamic vinaigrette and the veggies got a quick roast in the oven.
In the time it took me to drain the pasta and add the sauce, I had my salad plated and on the table. 

Need the details? 
I used: (1 serving) 4-5 brussels sprouts, 4-5 pieces of cauliflower, 8 asparagus spears, one small zuchinni
Preheat oven to 425.  Line a baking sheet with foil.
Cut the tough little stem off of the brussels sprouts and slice each in half.
Slice the small zuchinni into 1 inch slices (if you cut a little on the diagonal you get nice long, pretty slices)
Chop the cauliflower into small to medium sized pieces
Cut about 1 inch off of the asparagus (just the last bit of the stem – it’s usually pretty tough)
Place vegetables on foil-lined baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper.  Toss gently with your hands.  I do like to keep my vegetables in little groups like this so that if say the asparagus is done first (which it is) then it is easy to pull out and set aside. 


Roast vegetables in oven for 8-10 minutes, possibly less.  It all depends on the size of your vegetables!  I did peek at about 5 minutes and used a pair of tongs to toss the vegetables a little.
Serve as a side dish (easy dinner = store bought rotisserie chicken + quick oven roasted vegetables) or atop a bed of chopped romaine for a delicious roasted vegetable salad. 

Poached Pears with Cinnamon-Vanilla Cream

Need a simple but impressive dessert? These babies are microwaved! I know – I was skeptical too.
Here’s a link to the original recipe. Of course I made a couple of changes. I didn’t have any vanilla ice cream on hand, but I did have heavy cream. I used 1/4 cup of heavy cream, with a bit (maybe 1/8 tsp?) of vanilla and a sprinkling of cinnamon to taste. I loved the addition of the cinnamon and we couldn’t get enough of the sauce so the next time I made these I doubled it.

Hawaiian Beef Teriyaki Skewers

Hawaiian Beef Teriyaki Skewers were a favorite with us this summer. We buy our top sirloin from Costco and it’s oh so good. Be sure to soak your wooden skewers in some water before grilling.

Serve with grilled or fresh pineapple, rice and a green salad.

Bacon Wrapped Hamburgers

We’re not big burger eaters, but when we do have burgers at home this is the recipe we use:

Bacon Wrapped Hamburgers

We use the recipe for the burger patties, but we don’t bother to do the bacon-wrapping part.  If you still need bacon on your burger then add it on top along with the lettuce, tomato & pickles.  Oh these are delicious.  And just look how lovely the ingredients are in the bowl.  (Do you find it at all strange that I have a photo of the ingredients, but not the finished burger?  Me too.)