Dulce De Leche-Chocolate Bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened

• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

• 2 14 ounce cans sweetened condensed milk

• Pinch salt

• 10 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

• 4 ounces white chocolate, melted

• Red and green food coloring

• Red and green mini M&M candies

• Red and green fruit leather

Directions

Make crust::

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F; place rack in center. Line a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with parchment paper, allowing paper to extend on two sides.

2. In a mixer bowl, beat together butter and confectioners' sugar on medium speed until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in extract, then flour and salt until combined well. Press along bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of prepared pan. Bake until just golden brown around edges, 12 to 18 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Make filling::

3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, milk and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and gently simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened and a deep caramel color, about 15 minutes. Pour over crust and spread evenly; refrigerate until completely cool, about 1 hour.

4. Melt semisweet chocolate; let cool slightly. Using a spatula, evenly spread over filling (for swirled top, see below). Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. Using a knife, score chocolate layer into 1-12-inch squares.

For swirled top::

5. Divide white chocolate into three parts. Tint one part red and one part green. Leave remaining part white. Dollop red, green and white chocolates over semisweet layer. Using a toothpick, gently swirl together colors.

For decoration::

6. Using white chocolate, adhere candies to squares, making holly or wreaths. Using a small, clean paintbrush, make a snowman out of white chocolate; decorate with candy.

7. Let stand until set, about 20 minutes.

8. Run a sharp knife under hot water; dry. Following score marks, cut into squares. Wipe knife after each cut (run under hot water and dry as needed). (Can be made ahead. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 1 week.)

Stovetop Avocado Mac and Cheese

Stovetop Avocado Mac and Cheese

ingredients:

10 ounces dry elbow macaroni
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 avocados, peeled and pitted
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
2 cups shredded Pepper Jack cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
Fresh avocado chunks, for garnish, if desired

directions:

1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Salt the water and add in macaroni. Stir and cook until Al Dente, about 8-10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. While the pasta is cooking, make the avocado sauce by placing the garlic, avocados, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper into a food processor or blender. Process until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

3. To make the cheese sauce, place butter in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. When butter is melted, whisk in flour to create a paste. Whisk in milk until smooth. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sauce starts to thicken. Add in Pepper Jack cheese and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is creamy.

4. Place macaroni in a large bowl. Pour the avocado sauce over the macaroni and stir until well coated. Add the cheese sauce and stir until macaroni is coated and creamy. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve warm. Garnish with fresh avocado chunks, if desired.

Note-the lime juice keeps the avocado from browning. The mac and cheese is best eaten the first day, but it is still good the second day. The pasta may turn slightly brown, but not bad. If you want a milder flavor, you can use Monterey Jack or White Cheddar Cheese.

(Source)

Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan

Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan

1 C long-grain brown rice (I used Uncle Ben's Brown Rice, but any long-grain rice will work.)
4 large green bell peppers, bottom trimmed, cap end cut off and diced, and seeds removed
1 large onion, diced
2 tsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
2 links (about 8 oz.) turkey Sweet Italian Sausage (or other sausage of your choice. Use diced mushrooms instead of sausage for vegetarian version.)
1/2 tsp. ground fennel
1/2 tsp. dried Greek or Turkish oregano
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Cook rice according to package directions, or using a rice cooker. (Rice can be cooked ahead and used in this recipe later.)

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Trim bottom of bell peppers so they have a flat surface to stand on. Cut off a fairly generous amount of the stem end of peppers, then remove seeds. Place hollowed-out peppers in a baking dish that you've sprayed with non-stick spray or olive oil. (A dish that's close in size to the peppers will work best.)

Remove stem part from the pepper caps and trim off any white membrane, then dice pepper caps and the onion into fairly small dice. Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a large skillet, then saute diced pepper and onion for 3-4 minutes, until they are starting to soften but aren't browned. Remove pepper-onion mixture to a bowl, add 1 tsp. more olive oil, then squeeze sausage out of the casing and cook until it's lightly browned, breaking apart with the back of the turner.

Put the onion-pepper mixture back into the pan with the sausage, add the dried spices, and saute 2-3 minutes to blend the flavors. Then add cooked rice and Parmesan cheese, season the mixture with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and cook just long enough to warm, about 1-2 minutes.

Stuff the filling mixture into the hollowed-out peppers, using a spoon to press the mixture down so it's tightly packed into the pepper shell. (A few years ago I stopped pre-cooking the peppers before stuffing, and now I prefer peppers that are stuffed raw.) If you have any extra filling, you can put it in a small ramekin and bake along with the peppers. Bake peppers for 30 minutes, then remove from oven and put a generous pinch of grated mozzarella on top of each pepper. Put peppers back into the oven and bake about 10-15 minutes more, until cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve hot.

You can freeze leftover peppers for a month or two, although the frozen peppers will be a little softer in texture (but still very tasty.) I cut them in half top-to-bottom before freezing and freeze two halves in a small baking dish with a snap-on lid.

Key Lime Cupcakes

Key Lime Cupcakes

1 ¾ cups cake flour

½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) cool unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs (room temperature)
2 ½ tablespoons key lime juice
1 tablespoon key lime zest
1 drop green food coloring paste
¾ cup buttermilk (room temperature)

Icing:
1 stick cool unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
8 ounces cream cheese (room temperature), cut into 8 pieces
2 ¼ cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon key lime zest

Preheat oven to 350*F. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.

Sift the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt three times, set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on low until it’s softened a bit. Add the sugar and increase the speed to medium. Beat until fluffy, about four minutes. Add one egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the lime juice, zest, and food coloring and beat until mixed. (The mixture will look curdled.)

Add the flour in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Mix on low until just combined. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full.

Bake 20-25 minutes. Cool completely and frost with cream cheese icing.

Makes 12-14 cupcakes.

Icing:
Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on low until it’s softened a bit. Increase speed to medium and add the cream cheese one piece at a time. Reduce speed to low and slowly add powdered sugar until combined. Beat in zest.

(Source)

Apple Pie Carmel Apple

Apple Pie Carmel Apple

(Original Recipe)

1 bag Kraft caramels
4-5 large, tart apples (You can use red apples too but I like the contrast of the tart apple with the caramel)

1 bag white chocolate chips or white chocolate candy melts

cinnamon sugar

1. Wash, scrub, and dry apples. This is important or your caramel won't stick because of the coating stores put on apples.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt caramel according to package directions.

3. Put popsicle stick in the apple. Dip in melted caramel making sure to fully coat it.

4. Place on parchment or wax paper that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

5. Cool in the fridge until caramel is set up. If you want a thick caramel layer, add another layer of caramel here and let it set up again.

6. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second intervals. You can add a little shortening if the mixture is too thick.

7. Coat the apple with the chocolate.

8. Let it set up a little bit before sprinkling it with the cinnamon sugar mixture.

9. Cool completely in the fridge.

10. Cut into slices and serve.

Can be made up to one day ahead of time. Store in the refrigerator.

...Or wrap them in cellophane and give them to your friends.

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans

(Original Recipe)

Ingredients:

• 12 oz green beans, trimmed (make sure they are dry)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• kosher salt + fresh cracked pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp shredded parmesan

Directions: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum for easy clean-up.Lay green beans out on the baking sheet and drizzle oil over them. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and toss to evenly coat.


Spread them out on the sheet so that they all lay flat and place on the lower third section of your oven. Bake 10 minutes, shake the pan to turn; bake 5 additional minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Grapes Dipped in Carmel and Nuts

Like a candied apple but better! This is a sweet, east treat to make Love this!