Nut-Free No-Bake Bars

I saw a recipe on Pinterest for no-bake bars that looked good, but my son and I are allergic to peanuts and several tree nuts, so I adapted this recipe using Sunbutter and no tree nuts.  They are quite tasty, and still have a buttery taste.  Not quite the same as peanut butter, but hey, if you can't have it, you take what you can get. 

Nut-Free No-Bake Bars

1 cup Sunbutter (or other sunflower butter)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup butter (or coconut oil) (I used butter)
2 cups old fashioned oats (not quick cooking or instant)
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup craisins, raisins, or nuts (I used craisins only)
1 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips (I bought Nestle dark chocolate chips)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line a 9x9 pan with non-stick foil or grease the pan. (I like foil, then I can lift it out to cut the bars)

In a medium saucepan, melt the peanut butter, honey and butter over medium low heat.  Watch this closely.  It won't take long to melt, and you don't want it to burn.  When it's just about all melted, add the chocolate chips and stir until they are melted.  Remove from heat. 

Stir in the vanilla.  Next add the oats, coconut, and nuts/raisins.  Stir until well mixed.  Spread into prepared pan.  Place in refrigerator until hardened.  Cut into bars and enjoy!


I thought these were really good, and my son was quite excited to have something he can eat for a change! (As if you couldn't tell from the picture.) We will definitely be making these again!

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

I saw this recipe on Facebook, you know one of those ones that people keep sharing the picture but you don't really know if it is going to taste as good as it looks.  Well, this is one of those recipes. 


Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

10 soft taco size flour tortillas
2-3 cups cooked shredded chicken
2-3 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 4oz can diced green chilies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray.  Mix the chicken and half the cheese together. (I used 3 cups each of cheese and chicken)  Fill tortillas with mixture, fold ends in, roll up and place seam side in pan.

Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan.  Add the flour, cook and stir for 1 minute.  Add the chicken broth and whisk until smooth.  Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.  Turn heat down to low and add the sour cream and chilies.  Whisk until sour cream lumps are gone. (If you use low fat sour cream, it may seem like it separates a little...this is fine, it will taste fine).  Do not let this come to a boil...you don't want curdled sour cream.  :)

Pour the sauce over the enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.  Bake for 22-25 minutes.  Remove from oven and set somewhere heat proof.  Move the oven rack to the second highest slot.  Turn your oven to broil HI.  Put pan back in for 3 minutes or until cheese is brown and bubbly.

NOTE:  You cannot broil stoneware, and I am pretty sure you shouldn't broil glass either.  If you choose to do either of those, do them at your own risk!  :)  I used a metal pan to be safe.


My whole family loved these!  I served them with refried beans and rice and it was better than a Mexican restaurant.  The only other things I wished I had were chips and salsa and a margarita!  Next time! 

Enjoy!

Baked French Fries

We LOVE these fries.  They take a little work (There is a trick to getting them brown and crispy that I didn’t know before reading this! You may be surprised!

Baked French Fries – adapted from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook (well, not so new anymore)

1 ¼ pounds baking potatoes
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
4 teaspoons oil
1 teaspoon paprika

1.  Fill a large bowl with water and add 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and the 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and mix to dissolve.  (It may not all dissolve and that's ok)
2.  As you cut the potatoes, put them in the water to soak.  Once you have all the potatoes in the bowl, let them soak for 15 minutes.
3.  Preheat the oven to 450°F; spray a nonstick baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. (I use Reynold's Non-Stick Foil instead! It's the BEST!)
4.  Drain the potatoes and use paper towels to blot them dry. 
5.  Drizzle the oil over the potatoes and sprinkle with paprika.  Stir to coat them well.
6.  Spread them out on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer.  Bake 30-40 minutes or until desired crispness, stirring and turning the potatoes about every 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining salt when done.

FYI: DON'T SKIP THE SOAKING STEP! It is important in getting crispy fries.  The sugar in the water helps to pull the water out of the potato. This is the difference from other Baked French Fries recipes I have tried in the past.  These ones are not soggy!


These are the best, healthiest, fresh cut fries you are going to get without getting them from somewhere that deep fries them.  And I think they are just as good, if not better because there is no grease.  And no stomach ache later!

Enjoy!

Buffalo Turkey Meatloaf

My hubby and I have always loved buffalo wings, but what we really love is the hot sauce/blue cheese combination.  It has so much flavor!  I had previously made Buffalo Turkey Meatballs, but meatballs are so labor intensive, and I don't really want to spend my time rolling meat into balls.  So, I went ahead and modified the recipe and came up with this recipe for the meatloaf.  I also double it.  You can freeze the cooked meatloaf for another meal!  Feel free to cut the recipe in half if you don't want two.  :)

Buffalo Turkey Meatloaf

2-20 oz. packages of ground turkey (or chicken)
4 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese
2 eggs
1/3 cups chopped celery
1/3 cup crumbled low fat blue cheese
1 teaspoon pepper
6 oz. Frank's Red Hot + more for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix well.  Form into two loaves and place into a 15x10 glass dish.  You can also use two smaller dishes if you don't have that size.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Coat with additional Frank's Red Hot sauce and bake for 15 more minutes, or until internal temperature registers 165 degrees.  Let rest 5-10 minutes before slicing.

You will notice a lot of water bakes off the loaves.  That is normal.

We really liked this!  We tend to like things a little spicy, so we added even more hot sauce to the slices we put on our plate.  I served this with broccoli.  But it would be good with any hot veggie or a big salad!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

My mom and I had a recipe for Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that we used for years, but I was not happy with the way they had been coming out. So a few years ago, I found a new recipe. Same ingredients, but in different amounts and I was much happier with how they turned out!

Pumpkin Chip Cookies - adapted from Taste of Home's Halloween Party Favorites

1½ cups butter, softened
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup sugar

1 15oz. can solid-pack pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars together until they are well blended.  Add in the pumpkin, egg and vanilla.  Beat until blended.  In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the flour oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix well.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture a few cups at a time and mix well after each addition.  Once all the flour mixture has been incorporated, stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a baking sheet that is ungreased (preferable lined with parchment paper) about 2 inches apart.  (I like to use a medium cookie scoop).  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.  Less time if you make smaller cookies. These make an average size cookie.  Tops should be lightly browned.  Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for several minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.  These cookies are very moist and cake-like, so if you try to move them to soon they will fall apart.

 

These are one of our favorite cookies to have in the fall! I like to frost them using a container of vanilla frosting, and if I can find sugar pumpkin decorations to put on top, then I get those, too. The frosting just adds a little extra sweetness to the cookies. But they are also good without frosting! As always, I recommend using parchment paper on your baking sheets…it helps keep the cookies from sticking and leaving a chocolaty mess!

If you do frost them, do not stack them until the frosting has had time to firm up!

Enjoy!

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

Frankie asked for a giant chocolate chip cookie for his birthday party with his friends.  It would be so easy to just run to the mall and order one, except for the fact that he has some nut allergies.  So, to be safe, I decided to make it myself.

Who am I kidding?  I LOVE to bake, so I probably would have made it myself anyway.

I searched for recipes online and read lots of tips and tricks and did a test cookie myself so this recipe is a mash-up of all the things I read and came up with myself.

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie - recipe adapted from Nestle Toll House Original Recipe

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips

1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (This is lower than the original Nestle recipe!!!)
2) Grease a 14 inch deep dish pizza pan with shortening, bottom and sides
3) Combine the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
4) Beat sugars, butter, shortening in large mixing bowl until creamy.
5) Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.
6) Add half the flour mixture and beat well.  Repeat with other half.
7) Add in chips and mix until blended.
8) Scrape all dough into middle of pizza pan.  Start spreading toward the edge with a rubber spatula.  DO NOT SPREAD ALL THE WAY TO EDGE.  Leave about 1 to 1 1/2 inches between dough and sides.  Also, make sure the dough is thicker around the edge than in the middle.  Doing both of these things will help make the cookie come out more even instead of higher on the edges (and crispier on the edges).  The photo below tries to show you what I mean

9) Bake for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool in pan on wire rack.  Let cool for about 15 minutes then using a stiff but flexible spatula, run it around the edge of the pan carefully to loosen the cookie from the sides.  See photo below.  Don't use a knife because you could scratch your pan!!  Wait another 5-10 minutes and repeat.  Keep doing this every so often, and eventually you will feel that the cookie is loose in the pan. Trust me, you'll know when it is. Wait until it is completely cool before trying to remove it from the pan.

 

To remove from pan: Be sure it is not sticking to any side or bottom of pan.  Place a large cookie sheet on top of the pan, using two hands and working quickly, flip both over at the same time so the cookie sheet is on the bottom and the pan is on top.  Slowly start to lift pan.  It should lift off easily.
Repeat the process using a 2nd large cookie sheet to invert cookie right side up.

Decorate as desired.  I used Decorator Icing for this one.  I actually only made 1/4 recipe of icing and it was enough for what I needed.

Some questions you may have:

Why do you use shortening and butter, instead of all butter like the Nestle recipe?  I use a mix because all butter will result in a crisper cookie, and I want a little bit softer texture for this, but I want the butter taste.

Can I use non-stick cooking spray in the pan instead of shortening?  Well, you can try it and it make work fine.  I, however, don't know, because I used shortening.  :)

Why did you reduce the temperature to 350 degrees instead of using the original 375 degrees?  Lowering the temperature helps to not overcook it.  It will keep baking in the pan for a little bit after you pull it out. 

Hope all that helps!  Let me know if you have any other questions!!

Decorator Icing

Many, many years ago, in 2001, I took the Wilton Cake decorating class at Joann's to learn how to do some basic cake decorating techniques.  I also acquired this recipe from one of the instructors of that class.  This is your basic Decorator's Icing. There is no butter in this.  It will be pure white.  It is good when you are doing lots of decorating, because if you use real butter Buttercream, then it will be soft and won't hold up good.  It also won't be pure white.

Decorator Icing

Yield: 3 Cups

1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
3 tablespoons water
1 cup shortening
1 tablespoon meringue powder
1 lb. sifted confectioners' sugar (about 4 cups)
1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring
1/2 teaspoon clear almond extract
1/2 teaspoon fine salt (popcorn salt...not the kind with butter flavoring in it!)

Mix the shortening, salt, water and flavorings to a mixing bowl.  Start slowly as you don't want to splash your ingredients all over.  Add the sugar gradually and mix on medium until all ingredients are blended.  Then, turn up a little higher, and let it blend for a good 5 minutes.

At this point, you have a stiff icing that you can make those dramatic looking flowers that you see.  Like roses.  I have made these, but not in years.  And they are difficult (for me, anyway).  I just want to pipe some stars and borders, and other things that don't need to be 3 dimensional.  So if that is what you want to do then you need to:

Add 1 additional teaspoon of water for each cup of icing (recipe yields 3 cups), so 3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon) and mix for a couple of minutes.  This thins it to a consistency that is a little easier to work with.  Take out the amount you need for decorating, leaving what you want to use to ice the cake and do writing.  Because now we will thin that out a little more. 

Add a teaspoon of water to how ever many cups you have left.  So if you took out 1 cup to use for decorating, there are about 2 cups left in mixer bowl.  Add 2 teaspoons of water to that and mix for a couple of minutes.  That is what you will use to ice the cake and do any writing.

If I am making a cake with lots of decorating or lots of different colors, then I double this recipe.

Use the Wilton gel color to tint your icing to the colors you want.

Let me know if you have questions...I have so many tips and tricks, I can't even think of them all to type here!