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Homemade Jack Daniel’s BBQ Sauce

March 15, 2013

Oh my gosh! Last week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas was an incredible race to watch. Well, it was awesome if you were a Kasey Kahne fan, like myself, or a Matt Kenseth fan. Kasey Kahne dominated the race leading 114 laps of the 267 lap race and finished 2nd. While I wanted Kahne to win sooo badly, I’m happy for Kenseth for winning on his 41st birthday and happy that Kahne went from 31st in points to 14th. Let’s keep the ball rolling!

This weekend’s upcoming race is at Bristol Motor Speedway. So I was excited that this meant BBQ for this week’s edition of Sprint Cup Snacks! But guess what. I don’t really know Bristol so I don’t know what kind of BBQ they enjoy in that area of the state. See, Bristol and Memphis are no where near each other. They reside on opposite ends of the state, a decent 500 mile car drive. So I felt a little weird making Memphis baby back ribs, which is how I came to making a whiskey based BBQ sauce. I love Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey!!!

The moment I saw these Jack Daniels Baby Back Ribs I knew that I had to make the BBQ sauce. Oh my gosh loving all the recipes on Czech in the Kitchen but let’s stay focused on this BBQ sauce. I had never made BBQ sauce before so I liked the aspect of learning something new. And let me tell you a secret… it’s so easy and so good. Plus as the sauce cooked it filled our house up with such a good rich whiskey and hickory from the liquid smoke.

Enjoy this Homemade Jack Daniel’s BBQ Sauce this weekend or throughout the summer on chicken, ribs, pulled pork, or burgers. It’s quick to make and tastes so fantastic!

Jack Daniel’s BBQ Sauce

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients

1 white onion, diced
½ bulb of garlic, minced
½ cup whiskey, preferably Jack Daniel’s
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Liquid Smoke,
½ teaspoon each aalt and pepper

Process

In a saucepan, combine the diced onions, garlic, and whiskey. Simmer over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until onions are soft.
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for about a half hour.
Blend the sauce together with an immersion blender or transfer to a blender. Place the sauce in jars.

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{Sprint Cup Snacks Track Facts}

Bristol Motor speedway was built in 1961, and is the 4th largest sports venue in America, and the 8th largest in the world. This allows 165,000 people to watch is known drivers rip around the short track. Because the track is so small there are 2 pit lanes because the 43 cars can’t fit all on 1 side. As well, because the track is much shorter than the super speedways, the cars don’t go as fast, which not all fan enjoy. It can be quite divided! But no matter, everyone can agree on the nickname of Thunder Valley because the noise of the cars on the track is so amplified from the shape of the venue.

Track: .533 mile

Shape: Oval

Banking: 26-30 degrees in the turns and 6-10 degrees in the straights

Surface: Concrete

Capacity: 165,000

Race: 500-lap for 266.5-miles

2012 winner: Brad Keselowski

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How To Make The Best Baked Potatoes

March 6, 2013

Since getting our pup Kemper we have been trying to keep things pretty low key at home with him. For example, I’m more focused on the half dozen times we take him out at night instead of making a complicated dinner. But I don’t want that to mean that we are not eating good food. Which is exactly why we have been turning to making baked potatoes quite often to serve for or with dinner.

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I really love baked potatoes. Even when we go to Wendy’s- spicy chicken sandwich thankyouverymuch- I typically pick a baked potato over fries. They are great as a side or as a base to fun toppings. I personally love to pile on chili on them in the winter. Maybe add some cheesy broccoli with some hot sauce. Oh thinking about all these options are making me hungry!

I hate to admit that when we are rushed that I’ll make a baked potato in the microwave but they are just not the same. The texture is different as well as you can’t get that great crispy skin. So just plan in advance and pop these in the oven and you’ll have a fantastic baked potato to enjoy in about an hour.

Toppings are really endless but if you decide to keep it simple with some butter I insist you use a really good quality butter like Kerrygold because that is really going to make it just so wonderful.

The Best Baked Potatoes

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

6 russet potatoes
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
3 teaspoons salt
butter, chives, pepper- for serving

Process

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Wash the potatoes thoroughly. Pierce the potatoes all over with a fork, then rub the potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt on all surfaces.
Bake the potatoes on a baking sheet for 50-65 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and you can easily slide a knife into the center.
Remove from the oven and cool for 5-10 minutes.
Slice the potatoes down the middle, then carefully pinch the ends with your fingers to fluff the potato.
Serve with butter, chives, and pepper.

Oreo Peanut Butter Cups

February 12, 2013

When I was in High School I used to make chocolate pops and candies. We won’t even talk about the number of molds I have! But one of my favorite things I used to make where peanut butter cups. I used to make tiny ones using a mold and bigger ones using a cupcake tin with wrappers. Well I was thinking about all the recently and was thinking about how much fun it was to make the peanut butter cups and decided I’d make a batch. And then I got to thinking…

I was thinking about how I often use Oreos at the bottom of mini cheesecakes (another new recipe next week!) so it got me thinking into using a peanut butter Oreo at the bottom of the peanut butter cup. I’d start the process like normal with some chocolate in the wrapper and then slip an Oreo in before the peanut butter. This would make some some great layers in the peanut butter cup. Plus more chocolate and peanut butter can’t go wrong!

If you love peanut butter or Oreos or chocolate you will love these. I’ve already had requests to make more.

Oreo Peanut Butter Cups

Makes 9

Ingredients

9 peanut butter Oreos
11.5 oz bag of milk chocolate, such as Ghirardelli’s Milk Chocolate Baking Chips
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
pinch of kosher salt

Process

Line a muffin tin with 9 cupcake wrappers
Melt the milk chocolate. Put a 1 1/2 tablespoons of chocolate in each wrapper. Pull the chocolate half way up the wrapper.
Put an Oreo cookie in each wrapper, pushing it down into the chocolate.
Microwave the peanut butter until warm and easy to mix, approximately 30 seconds. Mix the powdered sugar and talk into the peanut butter. Spray your hands with no stick spray then divide the peanut butter mixture into 9 even balls and then work into disks the size of Oreos.
Press the peanut butter disk on top of the Oreo cookie. Then cover the peanut butter completely with the remaining chocolate.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

February 11, 2013

One of the first blogs I started to consistently started to read and drool over was Kim’s blog Lovin’ from the Oven. I was always craving one thing from the next. Go over and just look at her recipe index… seriously, drool worthy. I made Oreo Chocolate Chips Cookies from her blog before and they were a huge hit with everyone.

For ages I had been thinking about making the Snickerdoodle Blondies that I had pinned. After making some blondies last year I have been craving them every now and then. Well the time finally presented itself this weekend since we were snowed in because of Blizzard Nemo (really, does The Weather Channel have to name them??) Having the oven on make our house extra toasty which was perfect.

These were good good!! I loved the signature snickerdoodle flavor in these blondies. Plus it helps that they were super easy to mix up. Kim did mention that they were sweet and these really are so I think a small bar is more than enough. One other thing to mention is that this is a really, really thick dough so I think that reducing the flour from the 2 2/3 cups that is called for to 2 1/2 it could help making this dough a bit softer and in the end have a softer texture. Lastly, just be sure not to overcook them, like brownies I think they are best a bit ooey gooey.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Makes 20-24 bars

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup softened butter
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Process

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 pan.
Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat together the butter and brown sugar for 3-5 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla extract, and beat until smooth.
Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.
Combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and the surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool before cutting.

Mango Yogurt Cake

February 6, 2013

Every 4-6 weeks, I get on crazy food shopping trips where it takes me 2 hours since I bring all our coupons and go up and down each aisle looking for the best deals. We supplement our fridge and pantry between marathon shopping trips with weekly trips to Haymarket to get produce for us and the rabbits and occasional trips for eggs, milk, and bread. I like this system since I get the best deal and have a well-stocked pantry allowing me to make almost anything at any point. Only trick is to remember to defrost the meat before going work- which I’m awful at remembering… le sigh.

During one of my recent stock-ups I got a crazy amount of yogurt. My eyes were bigger than our stomachs situation. I knew we would go a bit bonkers just eating yogurt for B, L, D so I began to look around for some recipes to creatively use up all that cultured goodness. Well, since I know that plain Greek yogurt can be a great substitute for sour cream I decided to focus on using up some of the fruit flavored yogurts first. I grabbed a mango yogurt and dove on into the internets to find a recipe. While I enjoy Mango Lassi I quickly ruled that off as an option since I wanted to bake. My persistence paid off and I found a recipe for a Low Fat Mango Yogurt Cake.

I used the recipe for the Mango Yogurt Cake as a jumping off point as the recipe called for yogurt and mango puree so I did some adjustments and used the fruit flavored yogurt instead of the 2 separate ingredients. Our house filled with such a lovely smell while it was baking. The resulting cake was light, sweet, and very fragrant.

It is so cold now that this would be a nice cake to make. It will warm up your house and the tropical smells will take you away, far away. Maybe your imagination will take you the beach so you can work on your imaginary tan. Wouldn’t it be fun to imagine a sunny, hot beach with turquoise waters while you enjoy a slice of this cake?

Mango Yogurt Cake

Serves 10-12

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
Zest of 1 small lemon
1” fresh ginger, grated
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
4 egg whites
1 cup Mango Greek Yogurt, such as Chobani
1 tsp vanilla extract

Process

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan and place on a baking sheet.
In a medium sized bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Mix together the zest and freshly grated ginger with sugar until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Beat the egg whites and vanilla extract separately until frothy with small peaks.
Cream the butter, oil and sugar in a large bowl. Then gently mix the egg whites into the creamed butter mixture. In this mixture, slowly fold the yogurt and flour mixture in 3 batches each.
Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes until the top is golden brown and the tester comes out clean.

Peppermint Fudge

December 24, 2012

What happens when you have to stop by someone’s house last minute on Christmas Eve or on Christmas? What makes a great hostess gift? It should be festive! Something easy for you is the best. Hmm, do you rip the centerpiece off your own table to bring? You can’t re-gift an opened box of chocolates. So you make this last minute Peppermint Fudge to have on hand to gift, or just eat yourself.

Family Fun Magazine has some really cute holiday baking ideas that will have both you and everyone you are celebrating with so merry! The peppermint fudge sounded too good to pass up. Plus it had peppermint candies in there so I had to end my holiday baking season with peppermint as I’ve been addicted with the mint and chocolate combo this year.

If you can use a microwave and mix things in a bowl you can make this fudge. This is the perfect recipe to whip up yourself or to make with your kids.

Peppermint Fudge

Ingredients

24 ounces of while chocolate chips
14 ounce can of condensed milk
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups coursly crushed peppermint candies, such as candy canes

Process

Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper. There should be excess parchment hanging out of the pan, which provides handles for removal.
In a medium sized bowl, combined the white chocolate chips, condensed milk, and salt. Microwave for 2-3 minutes, stiring at 30 second intervals. Add the peppermint candies and mix to combine.
Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan.
Chill for firm and set, about 2 hours. Remove from the pan and then cut into 1″- square pieces.

Giant Peanut Butter and Pretzel M&M’s Cookies

December 16, 2012

My candy stash is getting out of control. I’m trying to use them up so I can buy more, obviously. Lately my focus has been M&M’s candies. M&M’s are awesome in general, but lately they have been coming up with great flavor combinations. Cinnamon M&M’s are great in oatmeal cookies and coconut are just great for snacking. I was a little puzzled with what to do with some pretzel M&M’s that I had.

The best thing to do is to start browsing Pinterest for ideas. There are so many great ideas at your finger tips. All of those great desserts gave me so many different ideas. In the end I decided that I would make a peanut butter cookie and add the pretzel M&M’s. Pretzels and peanut butter are a great combo and peanut butter and chocolate is a great combo, and well basically it would all come together nicely.

I made a special trip to my construction site just to bring some to one of my site supervisors. He is moving on to another project next week and I am crushed. We have worked together on this project for over a year. It’s to the point when we pick up each other’s phone calls we are really understand the real meaning of the call even when we can’t say it. Ahh never ending construction stress. So the next 3 months of the project will be tough but I’m just glad that I enjoyed the last 15 months of early mornings, long conference calls, and plenty of hilarious hair pulling situations that have resulted in some great boozy lunches. So in thanks I will be bringing him some treats featuring peanut butter, since it is his favorite.

Giant Peanut Butter and Pretzel M&M’s Cookies

Makes 16 3-inch cookies

Ingredients

2 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup of crunchy peanut butter
2 cups self rising flour
9.9 ounce bag of pretzel M&M’s

Process

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract until blended. Mix the peanut butter until completely incorporated. Add the flour until just blended. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the M&M’s candies.
Drop very large scoops of dough, approximately 1/4 cup, onto the parchment paper leaving plenty of room between the cookies to allow for spreading.
Bake cookies until the edges are starting to brown and the cookies have set, approximately 18 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 2 minutes on the baking sheet prior to removing to cool on a wire rack.

Double Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies

December 4, 2012

So I’m going to let you in on a little secret… Mint and Chocolate ROCK together. Oh, so you don’t like that combo? GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!! Alright, I won’t throw you to the curb but really? Ew. Besides mint in iced tea I think that mint and chocolate is the best.

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Once I saw this bag of Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips I knew I had to dive right in and get right to baking. I toyed around with a bunch of ideas but I wanted to stick to chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!! So I found this amazing double chocolate chip cookie recipe and got started on making some holiday cheer cookies.

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Grab some milk and some cookies since these are a winter time winter. They are soft, fudgy, and minty. The texture is slightly chewy from the dense chocolate dough and the tons of chocolate and mint chips. Oh, those mint chips. I want to add them in everything… stay tuned…

Double Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar (I split it between white sugar and brown sugar)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 oz (2 cups)semisweet chocolate chips
10 oz Andes Creme De Menthe baking chips

Process

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture into the butter mixture until well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and mint chips. Drop rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring onto racks to cool completely.

Chubby Tates and a chat with Kathleen King of Tate’s Bakeshop

November 9, 2012

Last week when I received an email asking if I would like to chat Kathleen King of Tate’s Bake Shop I nearly fell out of my chair. Really me?!?! Really, Kathleen King?!?! Well, it was not a joke as I chatted with Kathleen last week as she was on her way up to some book signings for her most recent book, Tate’s Bake Shop: Baking For Friends.

Kathleen King started baking and selling cookies on her father’s farm at the age of 11. This all started as she needed extra money for the clothes that she wanted. From an early age Kathleen has been a go-getter, a problem solver. Well her simple selling cookies = clothes money has evolved to a bakeshop when she was 21 and then to a mail order company. In addition to all that she has just whipped out 3 cookbooks.

What I loved most about taking to Kathleen was her attitude. She is a very smart, deliberate woman but most importantly one that has an effervescence about her. The 20 minutes flew by as we talked about recipes, life attitudes, and ‘kids these days’. Kathleen realizes that most things have already been created at this point but it is her goal to develop the best. Also, things shouldn’t be too complex or a headache for it to be good, like a fresh blueberry muffin. Work at creating the best and don’t stress out about the proess, you just learn from it. Sometimes you will have succcesses and other times you will have huge failures but keep on going. Thankfully, Kathleen had great success in her gluten-free chocolate chip cookie when she was developing that and it right away became a best seller.

Kathleen and I discussed the upcoming holidays and she was saying that she hosts and the most important thing about pulling off a successful meal is to enjoy it. She can create a game plan for having friends over to hosting Thanksgiving to writing a cookbook, it’s important to manage, prioritize, and delegate as needed. And don’t sweat it if you have a kitchen disaster… “don’t stress, it’s just cookies”… or turkey or anything… just roll with the flow, and remember there always is take out!

I made Tate’s Bakeshop classic cookie called the Chubby Tate in honor of my conversation with Kathleen King. I had to see what all the fuss was about. Well, I got it since I ate… well I’m not telling how many!!! My coworkers also enjoyed the cookies. We have long work tables in our large corridor in front of our workstations so everyone knows that any baked goods left out are from me. So people would grab a cookie on their way into the kitchen or printer and while on their way back I’d hear ‘Nic’ and get a thumbs up or a comment about how good they were. They are best our of the oven but they last up to 3 days, if you don’t eat them all before hand.

Next week I”m back with some more yummy Tate’s Bake Shop goodness with another recipe from Kathleen’s new book. Just wait 🙂

Chubby Tates

Makes approximate 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks of salted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups (12oz) semisweet chocolate chips

Process

Position the oven racks in the top third and center of the oven and preheat your oven to 325. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.
Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
Beat together the brown sugar, butter, granulated sugar, and corn syrup with an electric mixer or in a stand mixer on high until combined, about 1 minute. Add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract to combine. In batches, add the flour mixture on low until just combined. Add in the chocolate chips.
Portion out 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie on the lined baking sheets. Cookies are to be arranged 3″apart.
Bake, rotating the sheets top to bottom and front to back half way through baking. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Let cool on the baking sheets 5 minutes prior to cooling completely on wire racks.

Note: Cookies can be prepared and frozen in advance of baking. Freeze individually on a lined baking sheet before transferring to a storage container or zip lock bag. Cookies can be frozen for up to 1 month. Do not thaw prior to baking, increase baking time to 20 minutes.

Apple Pie Stuffed French Toast { & a Giveaway!}

November 4, 2012

When I was in high school I used to live off of apple butter and bagels. Because school let out at various times depending on the rotating daily schedule I would sometimes get out pretty early by the time I was a junior and senior so I would just wait to eat lunch at my boyfriends. His mom always had bagels around so I’d toast one up at have it with apple butter. I loved just how flavorful the apple butter was. I would occasionally drive to the next town to visit a farm store where I could get their apple butter. It was a real addiction I tell you!

When Musselman’s contacted me about using their Apple Butter in a recipe and having a giveaway I knew I had to accept. While my apple butter package was on it’s way, I kept thinking about different recipes to use with the apple butter because possibilities are endless. I kept going back to their site for inspiration as well as go through old magazines. I was tempted to make Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie but when it came down to it I kept thinking about something for breakfast. I thought about their Monkey Bread but decided that I would adapt one of my favorite breakfast recipes instead. I had recently adapted the Strawberry Almond Stuffed French Toast I had previously made using canned pumpkin. It turned out so well that I decided to swap the pumpkin for the apple butter and wah-la!

This might look intimidating because you have to cut the bread to form pockets but it is super simple and by creating this lovely pocket you get to full the bread with this great apple butter filling. I loved how I didn’t need syrup for this french toast.The sweetness and flavor of the apple butter is perfect for this without getting covered in syrup. It is perfect for a leisurely breakfast or for one on the go. Since this recipe makes so many servings I freeze the cooked french toast slices on a baking sheet and then I wrap them up to enjoy later. I just take one out of the freezer the night before and defrost it in the fridge Then when I am getting ready in the morning I toss the wrapped french toast in the oven to warm it up. Good to go!

Apple Pie Stuffed French Toast

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

1 loaf Italian Bread, 1 pound
6 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups apple butter
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, 3 egg whites
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Process

Slice the bread into 1″ thick slices. Lay each piece down on a cutting board. While holding each piece down, create a pocket in the slices of bread by almost cutting it in half. (Placing your hand on top of the piece of bread will help keep the bread in place and help you monitor creating a pocket.)
Combine the cream cheese, apple butter, cinnamon, and vanilla extract until light and creamy. Transfer the cream mixture into a large piping bag.
Pipe out 2 generous tablespoons of the filling inside the pocket of each slice. Gently close each slice of bread to help the filling stay inside.
In a shallow bowl, like a casserole dish, beat the eggs, milk and almond extract together.
Over medium high heat, heat a non-stick skillet to prepare it for the french toast. Immediately prior to putting pieces on the skillet, spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray or put a pat of butter on it.
Once the pan is heated up, dip slices of bread in the egg mixture to coat both sides. Cook each side of the stuffed french toast is golden brown. Repeat this process until all slices are cooked.

And now the good stuff… the GIVEAWAY!

You can win

To Enter:

Leave a comment telling me how you would enjoy a jar of apple butter.

Extra Entries:

Spread the word- Tweet: “I want to win a @Musselmansapple’s Package that includes a jar of Apple Butter & a Spurtle from @iamahoneybee http://wp.me/pzEAP-2Li”. Come back here and leave me a comment telling me that you did.

Follow @Musselmanapple’s on twitter for updates and to stay connected. Come back here and leave me a comment telling me that you did.

Contest Ends Wednesday the 7th at Midnight EST. Good luck but if you don’t win be sure to go to your jam/jelly aisle at your local grocery store and pick up a jar of Musselman’s Apple Butter!

S’mores Truffles

August 21, 2012

Day 2 of our most amazing, super special s’mores week! I’m so excited to share this truffle recipe, as well as the other 3 that I have planned for the rest of the week. Just you wait!

When I was thinking about what recipes to make this week I also had to think about how I would make them. In this case once I thought of making a S’mores Truffle I began to think about how to do that. I looked at other truffle recipes, specifically Oreo truffles, to create a recipe for these truffles.

I shared these with the guys on my job site and with the contractors working on residing he house next to ours. These were enjoyed very quickly. They did not linger around on the job sites. I highly suggest these for guys with huge appetites or for anyone at all!

Please be sure to head over to Amanda’s blog and check her Microwave S’more Turtles! A quick, easy recipe that had me looking around for more s’mores supplies to try myself!

S’mores Truffles

makes 4 dozen truffles

Ingredients

4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cups of Graham Cracker Crumbs
12 oz of fluff marshmallow spread
2 cups of milk chocolate chips
2 to 4 oz cup cream
cooking spray

Process

Spray your bowl and mixer with cooking spray. Add the cream cheese, graham cracker crumbs, and marshmallow spread to the bowl. Mix until all the ingredients are combined. The mixture should be held together pretty, but don’t worry if it is a bit crumbly.
Spray your hands with cooking spray. Pinch pieces of the mixture off and roll in your hands to form 1″ balls. Place on wax paper lined cooking sheets. Put in the freezer for at least 4 hours.
When you are ready to coat the graham truffle balls, melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a microwave. Slowly add the cream to the mixture until the chocolate is smooth and the consistency is loose enough to be able to drop a ball in and shake the chocolate off . If you chocolate breaks in the process, then continue to add cream until the chocolate becomes smooth again.
Drop the balls in the chocolate to completely coat. Using 2 forks or a Candy Dipping Tool remove the truffle and tap and shake off extra chocolate. Place on a waxed lined baking sheet. Chill until ready to enjoy!
Find some fun dip-able things like cookies, pretzels, or fruit to use up the any remaining of the chocolate.

S’mores Week

Day 1

S’mores Chex Mix and S’mores Ice Cream Sandwiches

S’mores Chex Mix

August 20, 2012

You know those times on twitter when are you DMing someone about your shared love of s’mores so you guys come up with the idea to do a week of s’mores recipes on your blogs?

Yep, those moments are pure genius.

And that is exactly what happened between Amanda and I after I was complaining to her how I could not stop thinking about the baked s’mores bars that I made after she posted s’mores bars on her blog and the new s’mores pizza she just posted.

So many s’mores, so little time? I don’t think so!!

So that became a springboard for us to post different s’mores themed recipes on our blog everyday this week.

So here I am bringing you a S’mores Chex Mix while Amanda shares S’mores Ice Cream Sandwiches.

The S’mores Chex Mix is so addictive that you can’t stop munching on and the S’mores Ice Cream Sandwiches are the perfect summer time treat to change up the roasted, toasted routine.

I loved when I made muddy buddies and biscoff muddy buddies before so I used them to inspire me to make this S’mores Chex Mix. I love the texture of muddy buddies with the cereal being coated with a chocolate based mixture and then coated again with powdered sugar so I wanted to do that same for this S’mores Chex Mix. I made a mixture of milk chocolate and marshmallows to coat the cereals before the powered sugar. Then I added more milk chocolate chips and mini marshmallows to the mix for an extra s’mores flavored kick!

I hope that you enjoy my S’mores Chex Mix and Amanda’s S’mores Ice Cream Sandwiches as much as the rest of the ones we have planned for the rest of the week!!!

S’mores Chex Mix

Makes 18 servings

Ingredients

4 cups of Corn Chex (120 grams)
5 cups of Golden Grahams (206 grams)
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cups of milk chocolate chips, divided in 1 cup portions (123 grams)
mini marshmallows, divided
2 cups powdered sugar

Process

Measure out the Golden Grahams and Corn Chex cereals. Pour the cereal out on a large sheet tray.
Combine the butter, 1 cup of milk chocolate chips, and 3/4 cup mini marshmallow in a bowl. Microwave in 15 second increments and mix until the ingredients every time until the mixture is melted together.
Pour the melted chocolate mixture onto the cereals. Gently mix until all the cereals are evenly coated. Sift the powdered sugar in small batches on the cereals and mix every time to incorporate.
Once the coated cereals have cooled, mix in the remaining mini marshmallows and chocolate chips.