cranberry bliss bars

If you're a regular to Starbucks then you've surely come across these cranberry bliss bars. I never bought one at Starbucks because they are so overpriced--just like my latte's, but I was always curious to try and recreate them at home. Obviously we see something we love in a store, cafe, or mostly on one of our favorite food blogs, vowing to make them ASAP. Of course ASAP never happens. And then after the holidays have come and gone, that's when I decide to make them. I didn't know those bars were seasonal, oh well.
They were OK. They tasted really good without the frosting, at least I thought, but then I can be fussy. The next time I make these I am going to try Shelby's version; those look much tastier. These photos were too pretty to not post.

Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars (copycat recipe)
recipe from mrbreakfast.com

For shortbread base:
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1 and 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 t ground ginger
1 t vanilla
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup minced dried cranberries
1/4 cup white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup minced candied ginger

For frosting:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 T butter, softened
1 t vanilla

For garnish:
2 T dried cranberries, minced
1/3 cup white chocolate chips, melted

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9×13 pan.
Beat butter and sugar together for the cake base, and add eggs/vanilla beating until fluffy.
In separate bowl, sift together flour, ginger, and salt and then add to the butter/sugar mixture beating well.
Fold in the cranberries, chocolate and ginger. Spread thick batter in pan and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden.
When cake is cooled, mix all frosting ingredients together and spread a thin layer over the cake. Immediately sprinkle with the minced cranberries.
Next use a sandwich bag with a small corner cut (as your homemade pastry bag) add melted white chocolate and drizzle the chocolate over the cake. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm, cut into triangles and serve

sauerkraut relish

I wasn't going to post this one, I mean it's just a sausage sandwich, BUT when I tasted that sauerkraut relish I was over-the-moon speechless. This sauerkraut relish is amazing people, amazing. It is quite literally the perfect accompaniment for any type of grilled sausage or hot dog. I swear I want to bottle this stuff up and sell it. If you like sweet, tangy, vinegary, and a bit of heat then this is it for you. I even ate this relish on a sandwich with some hummus. So for my vegan friends, you can totally eat this up with a good veggie burger, hummus or you know what would be good? Falafel! Oh yeah, that good. But then again, I crave the uncraveable!

The whole reason I made this sandwich creation? Not for the relish really, but because I was inspired by an episode of that show Diners, Drive In's & Dives on Food TV. Guy Fieri has the best job in the world and an even better personality as a host. Well, on one of his many ventures they visited Primanti Bros. in Pittsburg, PA. If you're not familiar with Primanti Bros., they are famous for their mile high sandwiches filled with whatever meat be it hamburger, corned beef, roast beef, etc.., then a thick layer of coleslaw, and then a huge layer of french fries, and tomatoes. Crazy sandwich, I totally love it. When I set out to create this sandwich I didn't have any coleslaw, but I has sauerkraut and thus came the sauerkraut relish. Did anyone see that episode or better yet ever go to Primanti's?

sauerkraut relish
print recipe

1 1/2 to 2 cups Sauerkraut, (from package or jar, not canned), drained really well (I used whole foods brand)
4-5 TB ketchup
3 TB dark brown sugar
Couple dashes of hot sauce (about 5 to 7)
1 TB Worcheshire sauce
A couple pinches of celery seeds
1 package (16 ounces) kielbasa, grilled or fried

Cooked french fries
Warmed crusty rolls or hearty sandwich rolls.

In a medium saucepan combine the drained sauerkraut, ketchup, hot sauce, dark brown sugar, worcheshire sauce, and celery seeds. Heat through.
The sauce should thicken up, if not just let it reduce for a while on low heat.
Meanwhile, grilled or fry your kielbasa.
To assemble, place cooked kielbasa on roll, then a layer of the sauerkraut relish, then the French fries.
I've also used this relish on: hummus roll ups, veggie burger, hot dogs. I will try this with falafel.

peanut butter & pumpkin pie

Pumpkin pie? Now? What the....?

Oh yeah--it has peanut butter in it people! And you know what's even better? It has safe peanut butter in it. There are no recalls on this peanut butter.
This was not my own recipe, but I was inspired to make it simply by the sheer fact that I love Peanut Butter & Co. products. I think The Peanut Butter Boy made something kind of similiar to this? The Peanut Butter Company have stellar peanut butters, great sandwich stores and really out-of-the-norm recipes; I like that, a lot. Have any of you ever been to one of their sandwich shops? Crazy good. I think the guy behind this company is a genius. I keep emailing him (his company rather) and telling him he must, must, create a bacon & banana peanut butter. I told him I would come over and help.... he never emails me back. lol
I did make one addition to the crust. I did everything it said to do, but I added in about 1/2 cup of crushed graham crackers to the pie dough. I just felt it needed that extra "umff". I also used the maple peanut butter instead of the plain peanut butter, but you know, I think you could literally any type of their flavor peanut butter in this. This was really good. I'm not a huge pumpkin pie person, but I loved it once I made it this way.

peanut butter pumpkin pie
adapted from Peanut Butter Co.

Crust ingredients:
1 ¼ cups AP flour
½ cup graham cracker, crushed
1 ts sugar
1 ts salt
1 and ¼ sticks unsalted butter, diced & chilled
1 large egg, beaten & chilled

Filling ingredients:
¾ cup sugar
1 ts cinnamon
½ ts nutmeg
½ ts ground ginger
½ ts salt
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.) unsweetened pumpkin puree
½ cup Smooth Operator peanut butter (I used Mighty Maple)
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

To make crust, sift together the flour, crushed graham, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse meal. Add the egg and mix gently. If the dough is too dry, add ice water, ½ ts at a time, until it become workable. Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a disk. Cover it with another sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or more.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a 12-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie pan. Use your fingers to flute the edges, trimming any excess. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before filling.
For the filling: Combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs, then add the pumpkin and peanut butter, mixing until smooth. Continue to mix while you add the dry ingredients, then add the evaporated milk and mix until well combined.
Oven must be preheated to 420 degrees. Gently pour the pumpkin mixture into the pie shell and bake on top rack of oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temp to 350 degrees and bake for an add’l 40 to 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean.
Cool for at least 2 hours before serving.
Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (obviously I didn't in the photo, but you must).

cinnamon espresso cake

I love espresso. Do you know I would always spell it as expresso? For years I was doing this. I mean when you say it out loud it sounds like there is an X in there. Right? But if you are living in Italy then there are no X's expressed...it's all one lovely flowing beautiful language. uno scorre bella lingua. My Italian is good, no? That's when you say "sì, è in sospeso" (yes, it's outstanding).
Onto the latest creation of mine. I love my morning espresso. I drink about 1 or 2 cups per morning, depending on the day ahead of me. I love Illy coffee. It's so darn expensive, but it's really the only kind I can take. I need to feel like I am drinking real coffee, real coffee beans. Those mountainous cans of ground of coffee and powders in the grocery store are horrid and bitter. I do put a little bit of milk in my espresso so it's mostly a latte. With my love of espresso comes my love of creating baked goods using espresso. This cinnamon & espresso cake did not dissappoint at all. It was wonderful.
I think you could get away without using a glaze, but in all honesty, the espresso in the middle really went well with the glaze/frosting.
A note on the frosting: I tried my best to remember all the ingredients. It may be off a bit here and there, so taste it before using. I need to get one of those handheld recorders to speak into as I throw my ingredients in the bowl.

cinnamon & espresso cake
by dawn

Cake:
1 ¼ cups + 2 TB sugar
1 TB + 2 ts cinnamon
1 ½ ts espresso powder (such as medaglia D'oro)
1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
2 ts baking powder
a big pinch of sea salt
3/4 cup half & half or light cream
2 large eggs
1 ts pure vanilla extract
9 TB unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ cup mini chocolate chips (no substitutions, as the mini's work best here)

Glaze:
6 oz bittersweet chocolate morsel or block, chopped
2 TB unsalted butter, soft
Less than half a block of cream cheese, room temp
A tiny pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter or spray an 8-inch square cake pan. You can line with parchment paper, but I didn’t need to. In a small bowl, combine 2 TB of sugar, 2 ts of cinnamon, and the espresso powder. Set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, remaining cinnamon and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk the half & half, eggs, and vanilla.
Pour the wet mixture over the flour mixture and gently whisk until almost combined. Don’t overmix! Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, fold in the melted butter, just until the butter is absorbed.
Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan, spread evenly.
Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips over the batter and then top with the cinnamon expresso sugar mixture. Top with the remaining batter, spreading it evenly and slowly. Spreading the top half is a bit tricky as you don’t want to spread the middle filling around, so just go slow; working inside to the outside in small little circles.
Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350F, just until a toothpick comes out clean. Please turn pan around halfway, during the middle of cooking. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and remove the parchment. Turn it out again onto another rack so it is right side up.
(The cake will look dark, very dark while it cooks, that’s the cinnamon—it’s not burning.)
For the frosting, put the chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl and fit the bowl over a pan of simmering (not boiling!) water. Stir until the chocolate and butter have completely melted and it is super shiny and smooth. Add in the cream cheese. Remove from heat and combine well. (If it gets too thin, let it stand for about 10 minutes and it will eventually thicken up). Spread on the top of the cake and allow the frosting to set up before serving. If it does not set, put it in the fridge for an hour or more, and it will harden up.

Recipe & photos are the property of Dawn Finicane.

pumpkin-coconut bread

This crazy concotion was thought up by the sheer fact that I had many food items in the pantry to use up. So, everyone in the pool!
I had been craving toasted coconut for a while now. I was too lazy to make toasted coconut marshmallows by Ina; those are a big weakness of mine. But I was also craving pumpkin-something. The toasted coconut on this bread was soooo good. The good thing with homemade breads is you can add whatever you want to it. And now after having this bread, adding in some milk chocolate chips would be wonderful!

pumpkin-coconut bread
print recipe

1 (15 oz can) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie puree, just plain pumpkin puree)
½ cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 ts vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups of white sugar
1 ½ cups flour
½ ts salt
½ ts baking soda
½ ts baking powder
½ ts ground cinnamon
½ ts ground nutmeg
½ ts pumpkin pie spice mix
½ cup pecans
½ cup shredded coconut
½ raisins

Topping:
½ to ¼ cup of pecans
½ to ¼ cup of shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Or two smaller loaf pans.
In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and sugar.
In another bowl combine the topping mix and combine.
In another bowl combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice mix. Mix well, then slowly add to the wet ingredients until well combined. Don’t over mix!
Then fold in the pecans, raisins, and coconut into the batter. Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then add on your toppings, gently push down the topping into the loaf (if you don’t push them into the loaf they may burn). Then bake another 20 to 30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into bread comes out clean. Cook times may vary depending on your oven.

salty peanut caramel bars

A lot of times there are some stupid, good, boring, crazy "get to know me quizzes' on Facebook. Some of them ask you crazy things about yourself that no else knows and/or might find interesting. Well, on one of these random quizzes I told my friends that one of the crazy things I do is eat peanuts everyday. I don't think it's crazy, but it is strange. I mean, think about it, everyday I eat a handful or more of salty peanuts. Plus, I eat a lot of walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds and almonds. Never thought about it till I answered that quiz. Even hubby says when we are grocery shopping he is amazed at the the amount of nuts I buy, in bulk, at the store.
Those macadamia nuts are one of my favorites. So buttery, so crisp and so addicting. Why do they have to be so fattening you know? It's bad enough they are so expensive, but why all the calories from something so natural? Speaking of fattening---

These caramel bars are very rich and decadent, so make sure to cut them into candy/bite-sized pieces,. With all the caramel in there they are chew-worthy; you'll be chewing for a while. If you love those sea salt caramels, then you will love these.

salty peanut caramel bars
print recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
½ ts sea salt
3/4 cup cold butter, divided
3/4 cup chopped peanuts (I left them whole & used dry roasted)

caramel middle:
30 caramels, unwrapped (or I made my own:make your own caramel)
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
½ ts sea salt

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Grease a 13 x 9 inch pan, then line it with parchment paper, both side; two pieces overlapping each other (this will help you get bars out; there is caramel in here, so it will be sticky).
In large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, salt and egg; cut in 1/2 cup butter until crumbly. Stir in nuts.
Reserving 2 cups crumb mixture, press remainder firmly on bottom of baking pan.
Bake 15 minutes.
In heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt caramels with condensed milk, the other ½ ts of salt, and remaining 1/4 cup butter.
Pour over prepared crust. Top with reserved crumb mixture.
Bake 20 minutes or until bubbly. You need to cool this completely (about 2 hours) before cutting it. It is hard to cut so use a sharp knife. Wetting the knife helps too. Store loosely covered at room temperature.
Makes about 2 dozen + bars.

blueberry muffins

I love blueberry muffins. I love them so much that I tend to seek out new recipes for blueberry muffins. I'm amazed that there are a lot of various recipes out there specifically for blueberry muffins. I know Alton Brown's show 'Good Eats' devoted a whole show just to blueberry muffins! It was good, did anyone see it or try his version? I think I have a stash of about 7 blueberry muffins in my freezer for backup. Crazy right? Does anyone else do that? I must eat about 2 or 3 muffins a week. When I go to Whole Foods and see there is a fresh delivery of organic blueberries, I buy 4 pints.
Well, here is the latest blueberry muffin recipe I found. This one uses a crumble topping. Nothing like a good blueberry muffin with some coffee cake crumbies on top.

How many blueberry muffin recipes have you tried?
Which was your favorite one?

Blueberry Muffins with crumbly topping

Muffin batter:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup white sugar
½ ts salt
2 ts baking powder
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup whole milk
1 cup fresh blueberries

Crumb topping:
½ cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup butter, melted
1 ½ ts ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Whisk together to fluff it all up.
In a separate bowl mix vegetable oil, the egg and milk. Combine well. Incorporate the wet with the dry. Do not over mix, only mix till just combined; it's ok to have lumps! Next fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
Make the crumb topping by mixing the sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon.
Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

chicken curry burgers w/ tzatziki

I'm going to let the pictures speak for me. Not that I don't have tons to say, I always do, but these chicken burgers were soooooo good. A pinch of this, a pinch of that, and then a pinch or two of curry thrown in and we have a delish burger. Not to mention the tzatziki sauce is one of my all-time favorites to use as a dip, a sandwich spread and on my hummus roll ups. Oh yes, my hummus roll ups have warm falafel balls , some hummus and then smother it in tzatziki. Delish.
This great recipe is inspired by my friend Esi over at Dishing Up Delights, who just made a wonderful batch of Greek Burgers, and from seeing that post I had to have something similiar. So here is my creation of a curry burger...hope you like it or are inspired to create something similiar. And if you can, grill these burgers for the ultimate taste, and serve on warmed Naan bread. ***And for you vegans out there, I've made this before using those Boca burgers and it was fabulous and tasty!

chicken curry burgers
print recipe

1 lb. ground chicken breast
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 TB fresh ginger, minced
1 TB fresh lemon juice
2 ts paprika
1 ts ground cumin
1 ts curry powder
¼ ts cayenne pepper
A dash of salt & pepper

1 small cucumber, sliced thin
Red onions, sliced thin
Tomatoes, thinly sliced (optional)
Naan bread, warmed
Taziki sauce

In a bowl, gently combine the first 9 ingredients.
Form into mini burgers or meatballs and set aside/refrigerate for 20 minutes or longer to combine flavors.
Grill or fry the patties until cooked through. Remember chicken burgers cook a lot faster than beef. Don't forget to warm your Naan bread before serving!
Place cucumber, onions, tomatoes on warmed Naan bread, followed by the patties. Drizzle, no, smother with the tzatziki sauce.
Made about 7 mini burgers.

Tzatziki Sauce

16 oz. Greek style yogurt*
1 cucumber, washed and peeled
3 - 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 to 2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1/2 tsp salt
A pinch or two of cayenne pepper (optional, but wonderful)

*Greek style yogurt is much thicker and richer than normal yogurt. If you can’t get a hold of it you can make your own. Place some plain yogurt in a cheesecloth, tie up the edges and hang it over a bowl or place the cheesecloth in a strainer over a bowl in the fridge for a few hours.
Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a small spoon. Then coarsely grate the cucumber.
Gather the grated cucumber in a cheesecloth or paper towel and squeeze out the excess water, otherwise the tzatziki will be too runny.
Mix the grated cucumber with everything else.

sweet potato-cheddar and oat cookies

Do not let the word cheddar turn you off. You hardly notice it. To be honest, I have never in my life tasted a cookie as good as these. I only had two of them and the rest were sent off to friends as I knew I would easily eat them all. I worked hard on finding the right balance of sweet to savory in a gentle way, and I finally found it. I wanted a cookie that was moist hence the sweet potato, wanted a savory cookie hence the cheddar cheese, and wanted a bit of sweet with some texture hence the chocolate chips and the nice texture of raisins. I knew they would all work together nicely in a cookie. And there is a healthy aspect to this too with the sweet potato and oats. These cookies have all that nice savory and sweet, but not overly so on both. Trust me you will love these; they tasted so good with my morning coffee and were the kind of cookies that 'stick to your ribs' if you know what I mean. And I know you all are daring bakers and fabulous foodies, and love the chance to kick recipes up a notch--well, here's your chance!

sweet potato-cheddar & oat cookies
recipe by vanillasugarblog.com
print recipe

1 and ½ sticks of unsalted butter, room temp.
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup + 2 TB cooked & mashed sweet potato
1 and ½ cups of mildly sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ts baking powder
¼ ts cinnamon
¾ ts salt
¾ cup old fashioned oats (or quick cooking)
¾ cup milk chocolate chips
1 and ½ cups pecans
1 cup raisins

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, whisk a bit; place to the side.
In another separate bowl combine the oats, raisins, pecans and chocolate chips, mix well.
In a big bowl, cream the butter and both sugars together. Add eggs, then the sweet potatoes, and then the cheddar cheese, combine. Then fold in the dry ingredients; then pecan, raisins and oat mixture.
Don’t over mix, just fold in.
Drop by tablespoon size onto a non stick cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. These cookies do rise a bit. You could shape them into smaller sizes if you want.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Or until a light golden brown around the edges.
Should make about 30 cookies,depending on size +/-