Reindeer Feed

Christmas time is here! It has snowed in Utah and Portland is... sunny? I'm not complaining :) This recipe was found on Pinterest and it is yummy for Christmas! Who doesn't love a good Chex mix treat?

Reindeer Feed

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6 cups Rice Chex or Chocolate Chex cereal
1 bag (12 oz.) white vanilla baking chips (or white almond bark/candy coating)
⅓ cup coarsely crushed peppermint candy canes

Line cookie sheet with foil or waxed paper.

Place cereal in large bowl.

In microwavable bowl, microwave white vanilla baking chips uncovered on high about 1 minute 30 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds, until chips can be stirred smooth. Stir in half the crushed peppermint candy.

Pour over cereal; toss to evenly coat. Spread mixture in single layer on cookie sheet. Immediately sprinkle with remaining candy. Let stand until set, about 20 minutes. Gently break up coated cereal. Store in airtight container.

Enjoy!

Oreo Truffles

My recipe of the week is not a main dish, though these are so addicting that they can become the main dish if you're not careful. I just whipped up a mint batch of these for my Relief Society cookie exchange going on tonight and I know they'll be a hit.

Because it's the holidays (and because I think I like it better than the regular version), I have included the mint variation. Happy holiday baking!

Oreo Truffles

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1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
1 (16 oz) package Oreo cookies
12 oz. chocolate of your choice (white candy chocolate recommended)

Finely crush Oreo cookies and reserve ¼ cup.

Mix cream cheese and crushed Oreo cookies until well blended. Let mixture sit in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Shape mixture into small balls and put back in fridge for 1 hour or freezer for ½ hour. Can keep in fridge or freezer longer if desired. (I’ll let mine sit in the freezer overnight)

Coat balls in melted chocolate and sprinkle with reserved ¼ cup crumbs to garnish. Refrigerate until firm. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

Mint Oreo Truffle variation:
Because the Mint Oreo cookies have more creme filling than regular Oreos, either use less cream cheese (6 oz. or so), or remove the creme filling from 10 cookies when finely crushing. Dip in melted semi-sweet chocolate chips with a little oil to make the chocolate smoother. Garnish by drizzling with melted green mint chips.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Photo from The Non Pareil Baker, whom I originally found the recipe pinned to :)

Here's a recipe I found on Pinterest. After all my Thanksgiving pumpkin foods I made last week, I had just enough pumpkin for this muffin recipe. I just have to say that when I made these, I was STARVING, and starving people don't always make rational decisions or wait patiently. This recipe calls for the cream cheese goodness to be in the freezer for 2 hours. Like I was gonna wait 2 hours to alleviate starvation. So I did what any starving irrational person would do and I stuck the whole bowl of the stuff in the freezer (no spreading it out nicely to make a cream cheese log), and it was only in there there for as long as it took me to make the muffin and crumb topping mixture. And it turned out JUST FINE. I have no idea why you'd need to freeze it for that long. And since I didn't roll it out into a log formation, I just used 2 spoons to top the muffin batter with it, like scooping cookie dough with 2 spoons type scooping action.

I think theses turned out fantastic and I would make them the same way I did when I was starving, only double the cream cheese amount. I was hoping they would be like pumpkin cake roll and they kinda were, but not very cream cheesy and I like cream cheesy :) Try it out for yourself, let me know if you freeze the cream cheese part and if there are any perks to doing it that way :)

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

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Muffins:
1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Crumb topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Make the filling by combining the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl and stirring until smooth. Scrape the mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap at least 12 inches long. Form the mixture into a 12-inch log, wrap tightly, and freeze for at least two hours.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

Make the crumb topping by using a fork to combine the flour, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and melted butter in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, thoroughly combine the sugar, canned pumpkin, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir gently with a spatula just until completely combined.

Remove the cream cheese filling from the freezer and cut it into 12 one-inch pieces. Divide the muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups. Press one piece of the cream cheese filling into the center of each muffin, then sprinkle each muffin with about one tablespoon of the crumb topping. Gently press the topping into the batter to ensure that it sticks.

Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center muffin comes out clean. Cool muffins in the pan for about five minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in the refrigerator.

Makes about 12 muffins.

Enjoy!

Texas Roadhouse Rolls

These are the rolls I made for Thanksgiving dinner and they were a hit! Everyone loved them! It made about 3 dozen rolls, Parkerhouse style.

Texas Roadhouse Copycat Rolls

from Eat Cake for Dinner

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4 tsp. active dry yeast
1/2 c. warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 c. milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm
1/2 c. sugar
3 Tbl. of melted butter, slightly cooled
2 whole eggs
2 tsp. salt
2 quarts all purpose flour (7-8 cups), divided

Dissolve yeast in warm water with a teaspoon of sugar. Add yeast, milk, sugar and enough flour to make a medium batter. Beat thoroughly. Let stand until light and foamy. Add melted butter, eggs and salt. Beat well.

Add enough flour to form a soft dough. Sprinkle a small amount of flour onto counter and let dough rest. Meanwhile, grease a large bowl. Knead dough until smooth and satiny and put in greased bowl; turn over to grease top. (I used the dough hook on my Kitchen-Aid to knead this for about 4-5 minutes, but then hand mixed for a few minutes as well as the dough was pretty sticky and I felt like it wasn’t getting a good knead in the Kitchen-Aid). Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk. Punch down. Turn out onto a floured board. Divide into portions for shaping; let rest 10 minutes. Shape dough into desired forms. Place on greased baking sheets. Let rise until doubled.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Baste immediately with butter.

Enjoy!

ROTW- Chicken Marsala

Image from SweetSavoryLife.com

This recipe originally came from sweetsavorylife.com found via Pinterest, but as I was making it, I made some adaptations to make it my own and it was AWESOME. Guys, this is monumental. This is my FIRST ever recipe adaptation of my own! And I couldn't be happier to share it with you!

Chicken Marsala

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Ingredients
2 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts or 4-6 chicken tenders
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp oregano
1/2 cup all purpose flour or corn starch for gluten-free
up to 1/2 cup olive or vegetable oil
8 ounces container of mushroom, sliced and cleaned
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sweet Marsala wine
1/4 cup water plus 1 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup sherry or dry white wine
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Garnish with chopped parsley or oregano

Directions:
If using chicken breasts, split each chicken breast through the middle to make 2 pieces. If using tenders, keep whole. Place plastic wrap over chicken and pound each one flat using a meat tenderizer/mallet until they are about a quarter inch thick.

Place some flour on a plate and add salt, pepper, and oregano, and dredge each piece of chicken in it.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat and when the oil is hot fry each piece of chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side until they are golden brown.

Remove chicken and place them on your serving platter covering them with foil.

Reduce the heat to medium and add butter and mushrooms. Saute mushrooms for 4-5 minutes making sure to season them with salt and pepper lightly. Add marsala wine, sherry (or white wine), and cream, allowing the liquid to reduce slightly – approx. 3 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp flour to water to make a roux, add to the sauce, and cook another 3 minutes, or until mixture thickens to desired consistency. Pour mushrooms and sauce over chicken and serve.

Enjoy!

Recipe of the Week Club

Okay, all you followers, it's time to REALLY join the club. This here is the start of the Recipe of the Week Club (ROTW). What does this club do, you ask? Why, they get awesome new recipes to try each week, and get the chance to feature THEIR favorite recipes as well!

All you have to do is follow this blog (cookingwiththecreers.blogspot.com), and send me your email address by posting a comment on this post or sending it to me at briannecreer@gmail.com so I can send you the weekly recipes to your email!

And you're in! I will be posting WEEKLY recipes of things I have made and love and that you will love too!

I'd also love to feature your recipes as well! Please send any recipe feature requests to my email address listed above.

Happy cooking!

Enjoy!

Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Pie season is quickly approaching as November starts on Tuesday! This recipe works great with my freaking amazing cheesecake recipe you can find here.

Graham Cracker Pie Crust

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup melted margarine.

Melt butter. Stir in remaining ingredients. Press into 9 inch pie pan. Bake at 350 for a glass pan, 325 for a metal pan, for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!