SHELLY SNACKS @shellysnacks - Tumblr Blog

Mochi Brownies (which happen to be gluten free)

INGREDIENTS

- 2 eggs - 6 Tbs butter, softened (room temp, leave out overnight) - 1 tsp vanilla extract - 1-1/2 c sweet glutinous rice flour (Mochiko on Amazon) - 1 c white sugar - 1-1/2 c whole milk - 1/2-c cocoa powder - 1-1/2 tsp baking powder - 1/4-c semi sweet chocolate chips (high quality) - 1/2 tsp salt - ** Finishing ingredient: e.g. large flake finishing salt, crushed peppermint, Heath Crumble, matcha powder

INSTRUCTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease butter dish with butter wrapper. 2. In a bowl, whisk to combine: butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk 3. To the same bowl, stirring until smooth: rice flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, espresso powder, salt. You don't have to worry about over mixing these brownies because they use rice flour. Feel free to stir to your hearts content! 4. Pour into greased baking dish. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Tap dish on surface to encourage chips to sink. 5. Bake until toothpick comes out clean. 8x10 sheet took me 30 minutes. **Sprinkle with finishing ingredient. 6. Allow to cool as much as possible before cutting with a clean knife. Don't be shy about pausing to wipe your clean between cuts. Brownies will keep for up to three days in an airtight container. Adding refrigeration or freezing can extend your brownie enjoyment for weeks or months! 7. Enjoy with a glass of milk or red wine.

Classic Spaghetti & Meatballs

Everybody loves a good plate of ‘balls.

Ingredients:

1-lb ground turkey

1/2-cup parmesan

1/4-cup italian bread crumbs

1/4-cup panko break crumbs

1-Tbs flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 egg

1-tsp salt

1-tsp pepper

4 cloves garlic, minced

olive oil

pasta sauce (jazzed up as you like, my technique is below)

pasta

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

In a bowl, mix the parmesan, bread crumbs, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic.

Add the meat & egg and mix with your hands until just combined.

Pour about 1-Tbs olive oil into a plate. Loosely roll meatballs to about golfball size, and roll in oil.

Arrange in a pan with sides and cook for 20-25min.

While the meatballs cook, bring your pasta sauce up to a simmer. I usually add 1/2 jar of water, some red wine, garlic, maple syrup (yes, really - just about 1-Tbs).

Once the meatballs are finished cooking, place into simmering sauce along with all pan juices. Continue simmering for as long as it takes your pot of water for the pasta to boil.

(Boil pot of salted water, as mentioned above.) Add pasta of your choosing. Follow box directions for cook time; strain from water at minimum time recommended.

Just before pasta finishes, removed meatballs from sauce. Add pasta to sauce to finish cooking (like 1 minute).

Plate with pasta, a few meatballs, parm, & some leftover parsley.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

It's no secret Ree Drummond is my new favorite chef. I have no idea how she is not a million pounds eating her "cowboy food," but if she can do it, I can too? Probably not. I was a little skeptical about these muffins because they do not follow Alton Browns's muffin method, but they're fantastic and I'll stop asking questions.

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

3 cups AP flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 cup sugar

2/3 cups butter, softened

2 eggs

1 cup milk

For the topping:

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Prepare muffin trays (grease or paper) for +/- 18 muffins.

In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice.

In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Add eggs and combine. Alternately add flour mixture and milk, mixing well after each addition.

Fill muffin tins (ice cream scoop time!) about 2/3 full. Bake 23 minutes until tops are golden brown.

Combine sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl. Melt butter in the microwave in another small bowl. Dip the tops of the muffins in the butter and then dunk into cinnamon sugar.

Enjoy!

Gorgonzola Ragu

This recipe is why I watch the Food Network. I was just minding my own business at the gym, watching Rachael Ray's "Week in a Day" and she made this gem. I made it as soon as I could get back to my kitchen and, in the words of Rachael, it was DELISH! Naturally, I switched some things up.

Ingredients:

1/2-lb ground beef (80-20)

1/2-lb ground turkey

2 Tbs olive oil

Pinch of nutmeg

4 cloves of garlic, minced

3 carrots, diced

3 ribs of celery, diced

1 large onion, diced

1 Tbs thyme (dried)

3 Tbs tomato paste

1-1/2 cups chicken stock

1 cup whole milk

1 cup dry white wine

4 oz gorgonzola

Directions:

In a large pot over medium-high heat, heat olive oil and cook meats until browned.

Add the garlic, carrots, celery, onion, and thyme. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have softened.

Add the tomato paste and stir to combine.

Add the stock, milk, wine, and cheese. Reduce the heat to low and simmer partially covered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Serve over pasta. Mix into potatoes. Eat plain. It's amazing. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I'm on a muffin kick. This is the latest installment.

Ingredients:

2 cups AP flour

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup milk

1/2 (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled

2 eggs

1 Tbs vanilla

1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1/2 cup reserved and the rest covered in flour

Steps:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Prep the muffin pans (grease or line with muffin papers).

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt.

In another bowl, mix together milk, eggs, butter and vanilla.

Make a well in dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients.

Stir until just combined.

Fold in flour-coated chocolate chips.

Scoop into muffin tins. Fill 2/3 of the way full. (I use a ice cream scoop. It's life-changing.)

Top with reserved chocolate chips.

Bake 17 minutes, until a fork comes out clean and the tops are golden brown.

Cool (or not) and enjoy!

Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Simple cookies with a sweet and tangy zing. Perfect for Spring! Inspiration recipes found here and here.

Also, small apartment kitchen tip: for easy clean up and to create another surface, grab an oven rack (before you turn on your oven) and place it over the sink. This way, your glaze mess drips right into the sink! (See picture.)

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

1-1/2 cups AP flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

zest of 1 lemon

1 large egg

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 stick butter; cut into 1 Tbs pieces, at room temperature

sprinkles

For the glaze:

1 tsp lemon zest

3 oz. cream cheese

1 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 Tbs butter

Steps:

Make the glaze: In the food processor, combine lemon zest, cream cheese, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. Mix to combine, until smooth. Transfer to microwave-safe container.

In the food processor (after rinsing out and drying), combine flour, sugar, and lemon zest. Mix until combined. Add egg and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add butter. Mix until combined. Dough will be grainy and will not totally come together. Turn out food processor onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form into a disc. I wrapped mine up like a mint. Freeze for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Prep a surface with liberal amounts of flour. Get out your rolling pin (or a wine bottle covered in plastic wrap) and a cookie cutter. I picked one that looked like a flower.

After 30 minutes, roll out your chilled dough to about 1/4-inch thick. Cookie-cutter out cookies, re-forming and re-rolling out dough until it's gone. I was able to make 18 cookies. Arrange cookies on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes, until edges are golden brown.

Remove cookies from oven and cool on cooling (oven) rack (that should be strategically placed over your sink). Allow cookies to cool to the touch.

Add 1 Tbs butter to glaze. Microwave for 30 seconds. Mix well.

Smear cookies liberally with glaze. Sprinkle with sprinkles! Leave cookies out over night to allow glaze to harden. Enjoy!

Snowball Cookies

aka Mexican Wedding Cookies; aka Italian Wedding Cookies.

Whatever you want to call them, they're delicious. But anything with practically a Tbs of butter per cookie would be...

Makes 36 1-inch cookies.

Ingredients:

2-cups AP flour

2-cups nuts (I like almonds. Also acceptable are pecans, walnuts or pistachios.)

1/4-cup sugar

1 cup butter, softened (I like using salted... because as Paula Deen says, salted butter is just so yummy)

1-tsp vanilla extract

Powdered sugar

Steps:

Preheat oven to 325°.

Combine all ingredients except powered sugar in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly (you should use an electric or standing mixer for this).

Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Arrange on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake cookies for 18 minutes, until just golden.

Allow cookies to cool on a cooling tray until just cool enough to handle. Roll warm cookies in a bowl of powered sugar.

Enjoy!

Optional: Sprinkle finished cookies with cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. So yummy!

Roasted Vegetables.

Based on recipes from my favorite, Ina Garten (here, to start).

Ingredients:

Roast-able vegetables (i.e. carrots, fennel, parsnips, brussel sprouts), peeled

1 Tbs olive oil per lb of vegetables (e.g. 2 lb carrots = 2 Tbs olive oil)

1/2 tsp kosher/sea salt per lb of vegetables (e.g. 2 lb carrots = 1 tsp salt)

1/8 tsp black pepper per lb of vegetables (e.g. 2 lb carrots = 1/4 tsp pepper)

Steps:

Preheat oven to 425°.

Chop vegetables into 2-inch cubes (try to make them all as equal as possible).

Arrange vegetables on a baking dish in one layer.

Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes, until the edges of the vegetables have browned. Turn vegetables once, half-way through cooking.

Enjoy!

Five-Ingredient Cranberry Sauce

Inspired by my all-time favorite chef, Alton Brown (found here).

Ingredients:

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 lb fresh cranberries

Steps:

Combine juice, water, honey and maple syrup in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer.

Add cranberries. Stir occasionally. Cook for no more than 15 minutes (consult with Alton's recipe for reasons why and then you'll probably want to read up on pectins).

Remove from heat and allow to cool. Transfer to a dish, cover, and chill.

Enjoy!

Sausage and Herb Dressing

Apparently it's stuffing only when it's stuffed inside the bird. (Which is bad, btw.)

This recipe is based off the one found here.

Ingredients:

1 pkg pepperidge farm country stuffing with herbs

1 large onion

1/2 lb mild italian sausage, casings removed

2 cups sliced mushrooms

3 stalks celery, diced

2 cups chicken broth, warmed (microwave)

1 tsp fresh thyme, leaves removed & finely chopped

3 tsp fresh sage, finely chopped

1 tsp fresh rosemary, leaves removed & finely chopped

1 tsp fresh marjoram, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 375°. (Or if you plan on cooking a turkey at the same time, 325°)

Toss stuffing bread cubes together with finely chopped herbs. Set aside.

In a very large skillet, begin cooking sausage over medium high heat. As soon as sausage starts to brown, add mushrooms, celery, and onion. Cook until vegetables have softened and meat is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add bread cubes/herbs to skillet. Gently stir to combine.

Add warm chicken broth to skillet. Stir to combine.

Transfer to a greased 9x13 baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes if cooking at 375° (or 1 hour if cooking at 350°).

Remove from oven and serve. Or keep warm in warming drawer until ready to eat - remember to keep it tightly covered with foil. Enjoy!

Almond Joy (Almond/Coconut/Chocolate chip) Cookies

I've been on this almond/coconut kick. If you have extra almonds and/or coconut, they make FANTASTIC toppings for chocolate ice cream.

Makes 2 dozen cookies. Modified from original recipe.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups AP flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cups butter, softened

1 cup + 2 Tbs granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp almond extract

3/4 cup slivered almonds

3/4 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup shredded coconut

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 375°.

Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl.

Cream together butter and sugars. Add extract and egg.

Gradually blend dry ingredients into wet.

Fold in almonds, coconut, and chocolate chips.

Spoon kumquat-sized (<1-1/4 inch) balls onto an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown. If your oven (like mine) cooks unevenly, rotate pan after 4 minutes.

Cool on wire racks and enjoy!

Quinoa is the next best thing. And has so much protein. You can pretty much substitute it for pasta in any pasta salad. So good!

Original recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups vegetable stock

1 cup quinoa; rinsed

2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger

salt and pepper to taste

1 green (Granny Smith) apple; peeled, diced, sprinkled with vinegar/lemon juice to prevent browning

1/3 cup of unsweetened (or sweetened) shredded coconut

1 cup of frozen shelled edamame

1/2 cup of sliced almonds

Steps

Toast the almonds in a saucepan over medium heat (no oil needed) for about 3 minutes or until the almonds are fragrant and slightly golden.

In a medium saucepan, add the vegetable stock, grated ginger and some salt and pepper to taste. Add the rinsed quinoa and cook according to packaging directions.

Once the quinoa has cooked, remove from heat and add the frozen edamame. Allow the mixture to stand for 5 minutes; covered.

Refrigerate quinoa/edamame mixture. Add the apples, almonds and shredded coconut. Enjoy!

Make Your Own Starbuck's Shaken Iced Green Tea

Ingredients:

Water

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

6 bags of Tazo Zen Green Tea

Steps:

Make a simple syrup. Combine one cup of water with 2 cups of sugar in a sauce pan. Heat over medium-high heat until all of the sugar is dissolved. Pour into a sealable bottle and refrigerate.

Make the tea. Boil 8 cups of water. Remove from heat and add the tea bags. Let steep for 20 minutes. Pour into a pitcher and refrigerate.

Make the shaken-ness. Fill a cup with a lid with ice. Add 1 Tbs. simple syrup. Fill with green tea. Cover with the lid and shake.

Enjoy!

Buttermilk Waffle Sticks (or Pancakes)

I got a waffle stick iron for Christmas from my MeMa. This recipe is delish and super easy! (As are most pancake recipes...)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbs sugar

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1-3/4 cups buttermilk

2 eggs

4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick, melted and cooled)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Steps:

Heat waffle iron.

Combine the dry ingredients. Mix together the sugar, buttermilk and eggs. Stir in the butter and vanilla.

Stir the wet into the dry ingredients.

Spread a ladleful or so of batter onto the waffle iron and bake until the waffle is done, ~4 minutes.

Serve immediately or freeze for later!

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

Quinoa is all the rage. This salad is just one more reason why quinoa is 100x better than pasta. Although this could totally be a cold pasta salad, quinoa has 8 (EIGHT) grams of protein per cup. Can you say that about your pasta? (No... no you can't.)

Find the original recipe here.

Ingredients

2 cups quinoa, uncooked

4 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock

1/3 cup olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon

1 large red onion; chopped

8 1/2 ounces sun-dried tomatoes; drained, julienned

1 12-ounce jar kalamata olives; drained, roughly chopped

1 bag baby spinach

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

2 lemons, juiced

4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Salt & pepper

Directions

Begin by preparing the quinoa following the instructions on the package. Use chicken (or vegetable) stock instead of water for more flavorful quinoa. Use a larger pot than necessary so that you have room to add spinach once the quinoa is finished cooking.

While the quinoa is cooking, sauté the red onion over medium heat in one tablespoon of olive oil until it is completely soft and browned, about 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside.

In a very large mixing bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, 1/3 cup of olive oil, and the lemon juice. Liberally add freshly cracked pepper (~1/2 teaspoon).

Once the quinoa is finished cooking, remove it from the heat and add the baby spinach to the pot, putting the cover back on to steam the spinach, about 5 minutes.

In the large mixing bowl, add the quinoa/spinach, sautéed onion, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes.

Taste test the salad and add salt as necessary - remember feta is salty too!

Sprinkle the feta cheese on top and serve either warm or cold. Enjoy!

Lemon-Glazed Raspberry Scones

I know how pretentious scones sound, but that does not mean they're hard to make! These were so easy and so so good. I found the original recipe here.

PS. I let mine cool/drip in a cooling rack set up over the sink. It made clean up so easy!

PPS. I always use salted butter, just because I think it's delicious. That may or may not have been a Paula Deen quote.

Ingredients

Scones:

2 cups AP flour

1 Tbs. baking powder

2 Tbs. sugar

5 Tbs. salted butter, cold and cut into chunks

1 cup heavy cream (plus more for brushing the tops of the scones)

1 cup fresh raspberries

Glaze:

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cups powdered sugar

1 Tbs. salted butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°, and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or greasing with cooking spray.

In a food processer, add the flour, baking powder, and sugar. Pulse to combine.

Add the COLD butter. Pulse food processer until the texture is "sandy."

Add the heavy cream and raspberries, and pulse until the mixture is just incorporated. (Do not overwork the dough.)

Press the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and shape it into a rectangle that is approximately 12×4 inches. The texture might be a bit sticky, but don't worry.

Cut the rectangle in half, and then cut both halves in half, giving you 4 equal portions of dough. Cut diagonally through each portion of dough, giving you two triangles on either side of the diagonal cut. You should end with 8 triangle-shaped scones.

Place the scones on the baking sheet.

Brush the tops with heavy cream. (If you don't have a brush, like me, using a napkin soaked in the cream totally works - don't worry, the scones don't end up tasting like napkin.)

Bake scones for 15-18 minutes, or until the tops turn a light, golden brown and scones are cooked through (poke a fork in to test - it should come out clean). Allow scones to cool completely before glazing.

While the scones bake, mix the powdered sugar into a microwave-safe bowl containing the lemon juice. Add the butter and microwave for 30 seconds. Whisk until smooth.

When the scones are cool, dip scones into the glaze (or you can drizzle).

Let the glaze harden and cool for about 15 minutes. Enjoy with a glass of milk or cup of coffee!

White Lasagna with Zucchini and Spicy Sausage

Delish! Adapted from Food Network's Guy Fieri.

Ingredients:

White Sauce:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups whole milk

3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Lasagna:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pounds spicy Italian turkey sausage

2 cups sliced button mushrooms

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons granulated garlic

15 ounces whole milk ricotta

1 large egg

1 cup finely grated Parmesan

Coarse salt

1 package no-boil lasagna noodles

4 small zucchini, finely sliced on the bias (2- to 3-inch pieces)

16 ounces shredded mozzarella

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the white sauce:

Make a roux! Bring a medium saucepan to low-medium heat and add the butter. Once the butter is melted, stir in the flour with a wooden spoon; cook for 2 minutes (do not let it color).

Add the milk and bring to a boil, continuing to stir. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 1 minute.

Remove the saucepan from the heat.

Add in the Parmesan, whisking to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper. (Taste!)

For the lasagna:

In a skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and cook the turkey sausage until just beginning to brown, about 4 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and continue to saute until golden brown and the turkey is cooked through, 4 to 6 additional minutes.

Season with kosher salt, pepper and granulated garlic.

Stir well, and then shut off the heat and set aside to cool.

In a small mixing bowl; combine ricotta, egg, parsley, Parmesan, about 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt and a few rounds of cracked pepper.

Spread 1/4 cup of the white sauce in the bottom of a 9- by 13-inch nonreactive baking dish. Begin layering with 3 noodles.

Spread about 1 cup ricotta mixture; layer over about half of the zucchini evenly over the ricotta; follow with half the turkey sausage and mushrooms, finishing with 1 cup white sauce; sprinkle with 1/3 of the mozzarella; top with 4 noodles (break them up to fit into the corners).

Repeat 7.

Top the second layer with 4 noodles, white sauce and sprinkle with all left over cheeses.

Bake, covered with foil, for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and remove the foil cover. Heat the broiler to maximum temperature. Broil until the cheese is browned and bubbling, about 1 minute. Enjoy!

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

SHELLY SNACKS