Candy Coated Marshmallow Pops

I had my grandsons over on Sunday and we made these cute little marshmallow pops.

I have a huge collection of sprinkles in my house for sprinkle emergencies. When my oldest grandson was about five, we would regularly bake a little five inch layer cake, frost it, and he would proceed to decorate it with sprinkles, M&Ms, and frosting swirls. I had one of those Easy Bake Decorating Pen Kits and he would have so much fun with it. In the end, the cake would have every single color and type of sprinkle available on top of it, and would be dripping with frosting swirls.

It's been a while since we've made treats together, so when I spied a big bag of marshmallows at the grocery store, I just knew I had to make these with "help" from the boys.

Of course, I let the boys loose on the rest of the sprinkle collection, and each one of them took home a box full of their own multicolored marshmallow pop creations (plus a bag of mixed sprinkles).

As much as I love to make complicated multi-step dishes that, as a good friend says, "require algorithms and graphs," these are so fun to make with kids, are adorable as part of a holiday table, and are actually pretty tasty. I have an Electric Chocolate Melting Pot (of course I do) that I used to keep the chocolate warm after melting it in the microwave, but it is not necessary (still, it's really convenient). And marshmallows are fat free!

Candy Coated Marshmallow Pops

Ingredients and Supplies

1 bag of marshmallows

1 12 ounce bar/bag of almond bark or candy melts in the color/flavor of your choice

Sprinkles

Shortening and/or paramount crystals

Lollipop sticks (can be found at craft stores)

Styrofoam blocks (for drying the pops)

Instructions

1. Melt the candy in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted. 
2. If the candy is too thick, add shortening or paramount crystals, 1 1/2 tsp to 1 T, until the candy reaches a consistency that is easy to work with. You can remelt the chocolate/candy melts as needed to keep it at the right consistency. 
3. Dip the sticks into the melted chocolate and stick them 3/4 the way through into the marshmallows. Allow the candy to harden. 
4. Swirl the marshmallows into the melted candy, and then tap the marshmallow over the bowl to shake off excess. 
5. Over a plate, sprinkle the pop with sprinkles. 
6. Place the stick into the styrofoam and allow the pops to harden, about 30 minutes. 

This the final week of 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats hosted by Brenda of Meal Planning Magic. Yay! Don't you think these marshmallow pops would be perfect on a holiday party table? Check out the links from other bloggers who are participating. 

Cracked Wheat Bread

This cracked wheat bread is delicious and nutritious. You get a ton of fiber without a lot of strong whole wheat flavor.

What is cracked wheat you ask? It's whole wheat berries that have been crushed or chopped. To use cracked wheat in bread, you soak it in boiling water first, and then add the rest of the ingredients to make the bread.

The resulting bread is perfect for toast, sandwiches, and especially sliced and slathered in butter. I suspect it will not last long in this house.

It's incredibly easy to make and the dough is really easy to work with. Give this bread a try. You can make your own healthy bread!

Cracked Wheat Bread

Recipe slightly adapted from Red Star Yeast

Ingredients

1 1/4 C plus 1 T water

2 T vegetable oil

4 ounces cracked wheat (I got mine from King Arthur Flour)

14 ounces bread flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 T sugar

2 1/2 tsp instant yeast

Instructions

1. Bring the water to a boil and add the oil. Pour it over the cracked wheat in the bowl of a stand mixer. Allow the mixture to cool to about 90 degrees F.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir together until all of the ingredients are combined.
3. Knead with the dough hook for about 7 minutes, adding water by the tablespoon if the dough is too stiff. The dough should be smooth but not sticky. 
4. Place the dough into an oiled bowl or dough rising bucket, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise until doubled in a warm spot in your kitchen. 
5. Flatten the dough into a 14 by 7 inch rectangle and roll into a loaf starting with a 7 inch side of the rectangle. Pinch the seams together and place the loaf, seam side down, into an oiled 9 by 5 inch loaf pan. 
6. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until it crests over the top of the loaf pan. 
7. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 
8. Bake the loaf for about 35 minutes until the interior of the loaf reaches about 190 degrees F and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
9. Cool on a wire rack. 
10. Slice and enjoy!

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Hot Buttered Soft Pretzels | Avid Baker's Challenge

This month the Avid Baker's Challenge group is baking these hot buttered soft pretzels from the King Arthur Flour recipe site. This recipe is super easy and fast, so if you have a craving for soft warm pretzels, you can whip these up in less than an hour and a half.... and you can eat them right out of the oven!

The dough starts out fairly slack and sticky, but after the first rise, it is really easy to handle. Since this is my first time trying to form pretzels, I was really happy to see the King Arthur Flour blog page for shaping instructions. (You can see my pretzels prior to baking on my Instagram page.)

In lieu of pretzel salt (what? An ingredient I don't have? How can this be?) I sprinkled coarse sea salt on my pretzels, Once these pretzels are removed from the oven, they are brushed generously with melted butter.

Verdict? On the first day, these are tasty, but more like hot dinner rolls than the soft chewy pretzels you might buy from a pretzel vendor. That being said, Mr. K immediately ate two of them.

They warm up wonderfully the next day in the toaster oven (I actually toasted them) and are a bit more chewy, more like the soft pretzels from a vendor. Would I make them again? Yes. After I've ordered the pretzel salt. =)

Hot Buttered Soft Pretzels

Ingredients

For the dough:

298 g unbleached all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 1/4 tsp instant yeast

7/8 to 1 C warm water (depends on the humidity, because it's winter here, I used all of the water)

For the topping:

1 C boiling water

2 T baking soda

Coarse salt such as kosher or pretzel salt

3 T unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

1. Place all of the dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir until fully combined. Knead with the dough hook for about 5 minutes.
2. Form the dough into a ball and coat it with flour. Place the dough into a plastic bag and let it rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. In the meantime, prepare the topping by combining the boiling water and baking soda and stirring until the baking soda is dissolved. Allow to cool. Pour into a 9 inch square pan. 
5. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Let the pieces rest for 5 minutes, uncovered.
6. Roll each piece of the dough into a 28 to 30 inch rope and shape into a pretzel. 
7. Place four pretzels in the water bath for 2 minutes, basting the tops of the pretzels with the water. 
8. Place the pretzels on the baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with the salt.
9. Repeat with the next four pretzels.
10. Let the pretzels rest on the baking sheet, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
11. Bake the pretzels for 8 or 9 minutes, until they are golden brown. 
12. Brush immediately with the melted butter. Use up all of the butter. 

Serve warm.

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Chinese American Shrimp with Lobster Sauce | Wok Wednesdays

This Chinese American Shrimp with Lobster Sauce is probably not the most photogenic dish, but it is amazingly flavorful. Amazingly.

Hardest part of making this shrimp dish? Finding fermented black beans. Fortunately I am part of a fabulous Wok Wednesdays community, so as I wandered through my local Asian market unable to locate said beans, and unable to get help from the employees, I turned to my Wok Wednesdays friends and posted my plea for help. Within minutes, someone posted which aisle as well as a photo of the package of the beans. Others chimed in with their feedback as well. What an amazing community!

Another thing I learned? Lobster sauce does not contain lobster. All righty then.

This dish contains shrimp, clam juice, cornstarch, soy sauce, pepper, garlic, ginger, ground pork, Thai chili, fermented black beans, egg, and scallions. It involves peeling the shrimp and boiling the shells in the clam juice to create the lobster sauce. It's pretty cool watching the shrimp shells turn pink as they boil in the clam juice.

The egg and scallions are added during the last few seconds of stir frying, and give the dish it's "cloudy" look. Just know that it is totally flavorful. You just want to eat it. And eat it some more.

The members of the Wok Wednesdays group are wokking their way through Grace Young's Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge. We get assistance from Grace herself when we have questions about the recipes and wok cooking. How cool is that? To get the recipe for this dish, check out page 179 of the book. You won't regret it. Every recipe in this book has been a revelation.

Homemade Turkey Pot Pie

The only problem with this turkey pot pie is that you will want it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's filling, comforting, and the perfect dish for leftover Thanksgiving turkey.

I love pot pies. Along with meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese, they the ultimate comfort food.

You don't have to wait until Thanksgiving to make this pot pie. You can buy a turkey breast or turkey legs and roast them for the filling. If you don't like turkey (and why not?), this recipe also works for chicken.

I found and adapted this recipe from the Thanksgiving leftover section of  The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays: 140 Step-by-Step Recipes for Simple, Scrumptious Celebrations.

This has got to be one of the most illustrated step-by-step cookbooks ever. If you like illustrations in your cookbooks, this one's for you. I definitely do, and I also love pretty food photos.

I was originally looking for a turkey soup recipe, but this pot pie looked so delicious that I ended up buying a turkey breast just to make this dish. The original recipe says that it's 12 servings, but we managed to stretch it to four. It was that good. In addition, you can make the filling a day before assembling the pie. In fact, I roasted the turkey breast on day one, made the filling on day two, and assembled and baked the final dish on day three.

How's that for a make ahead dish?

Homemade Turkey Pot Pie

Ingredients

4 T butter

3/4 C finely diced onions

3/4 C finely diced carrots

3/4 C finely diced celery

2 C chopped or shredded turkey meat

1/4 C flour

3 C low sodium chicken broth

1/4 tsp turmeric

salt to taste

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 dash hot sauce (optional)

1 T chopped fresh thyme

1/4 C heavy cream

1 recipe pie crust of your choice or store bought pie crust

One large egg + 1  tsp water, whisked to use as an egg wash

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
2. In a large Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery. 
3. Saute the ingredients for about 3 minutes, until the onions are soft. 
4. Add the turkey, add the flour, stir, and then continue to cook for another 2 minutes. 
5. Add the chicken broth, turmeric, salt, pepper, hot sauce, thyme, and cream.
6. Stir and bring to a simmer. Let cook for about 3 minutes, until thickened. 
7. Pour the filling into a deep dish 2 quart pie dish or casserole dish. 
8. Brush the edges of the pie dish with the egg wash and cover the filling with a pie crust round. Arrange the pie crust so that it will stick to the edges of the pie dish.
9. Slit the pie crust with a sharp knife and brush with the rest of the egg wash. 
10. Place the pie pan on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, until the crust is a deep golden brown. 
11. Serve in bowls with shards of the crust on top. 

Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dark chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate dough. Chocolate chips. Just chocolate.

These cookies are rich and chewy, and completely decadent. Plus, you can make the dough in advance,  refrigerate or freeze it, and bake the cookies when you need them. Perfect for holiday gifts, right?

The dough for these cookies is formed into a log, refrigerated or frozen depending on your timeline, and then sliced and baked. You will need to place the cookies two inches apart on your baking sheet, because the dough will spread quite a bit.

I used a mix of mini semi sweet and large bittersweet chocolate chips in these cookies. This dough could easily lend itself to other combinations and flavors.

Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

155 g unbleached all purpose flour (about 1 1/4 C)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C room temperature unsalted butter

100 g light brown sugar (1/2 C firmly packed)

6 T granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

4 T Dutch process cocoa powder, sifted through a strainer

170 grams bittersweet chocolate chips

170 grams semisweet mini chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the butter and sugar on medium speed for about a minute. 
3. Add the egg and vanilla and mix for another minute. 
4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture and mix for another minute. 
5. Add the cocoa powder and mix until just incorporated. 
6. Add the chips and mix briefly until mixed in. 
7. Divide the dough in two and form into two 9 inch long logs and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. 
8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 
9. Slice each log into 16 pieces and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. 
10. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for about 14 minutes.
11. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely. 
12. Keep in an air tight container for up to four days. 

I am participating in 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats hosted by Meal Planning Magic. Check out all of the treats everyone made this week!

Pandoro | #twelveloaves

I have wanted to make Pandoro bread ever since I saw this post on Wild Yeast. I had been having great success with a panettone recipe, and that Pandoro sounded like a great challenge.

Pandoro (or pan d'oro/golden bread) is buttery sweet bread that is served at Christmas in Verona, northern Italy. It is a cousin of panettone, but without the fruit. It is a slightly sweet dough, resembling brioche, and is delicious served with sweetened mascarpone with rum and toasted almonds. I loved it with whipped cream and raspberry jam.

So many recipes, so little time! Especially when the recipe is a three day affair. While I still must try Susan's recipe, the formula I used here takes just one day to make.

The original recipe calls for active dry yeast. Instead, I used SAF Gold, an osmotolerant yeast. Osmotolerant you say? It is designed to work well with sweet, enriched doughs. In this case, the rising times shortened quite a bit. Depending on the yeast that you use, the rising times will vary. Don't worry, as long as you keep an eye on your dough, you will be fine.

I found my pandoro pan from the San Francisco Baking Institute. For the other half of the dough, I used two 5 1/2 inch panettone papers and shortened the baking time to 40 minutes.

The loaf baked in the pandoro pan is large, and the first question I always get is, "how do you cut it?"

I'm not exactly sure of the proper way, but I like to cut it in half horizontally and then cut vertical slices like a cake.

Pandoro Bread

Makes two large loaves. Adapted from The Italian Baker.

Ingredients

Sponge

4 1/4 tsp instant yeast

120 g warm water

1 large egg

2 T sugar

100 g unbleached all purpose flour

First Dough

380 g pastry flour

435 g unbleached all purpose flour

1 tsp instant yeast

1/4 C sugar

2 large eggs

55 g unsalted butter, room temperature

Second Dough

4 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 C sugar

The rest of the reserved flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp fiori de Sicilia or lemon oil, or 1 tsp lemon extract

10 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature

105 grams all purpose flour as needed, for kneading the dough

Instructions

Make the Sponge

1. Whisk the ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled. This should take about 30 minutes.

Make the First Dough

1. Whisk the two flours together in a bowl.
2. Measure 2 1/2 cups of this flour mixture and set aside the rest for the second dough.
3. Add the 2 1/2 cups of flour, the yeast, sugar, and eggs into the sponge and stir. Add the butter and beat with the paddle attachment until mixed. 
4. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Make the Second Dough

1. Add the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and extracts to the first dough and beat with the paddle attachment. 
2. Add the butter by tablespoon into the dough.
3. Mix in the rest of the flour and the salt. 
4. Switch to the dough hook and mix for about 6 minutes. Add about 70 grams of all purpose flour by tablespoon while kneading. 
5. The dough will be light, buttery, and sticky. 
6. Scrape the dough into an oiled bowl or dough rising bucket and let it rise until doubled, about 1 to 3 hours. 
7. Sprinkle about 3 T of flour onto the top of the risen dough and drop it onto the counter. Flour the top of the dough as well as your hands. 
8. Cut the dough in half with a bench knife or dough scraper. 
9. Form each half into a ball and place each into an oiled pandoro pan. Alternatively, you can use 2 pound coffee cans that have been lined with parchment. 
10. Let rise until the dough rises to the top of the pans, about 90 to 240 minutes, depending on the room temperature and the dough activity. 
11. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F and bake for about 20 to 30 minutes more. 
12. Let the bread cool in the mold before removing. 
13. Place the loaf on a plate and shower with powdered sugar.

#TwelveLoaves-Holiday Breads. November was a delightful month of spice breads. December #TwelveLoaves is here and we are celebrating Holidays! Share your  December Holiday Bread (yeast or quick bread). Let's get baking!

If you’d like to add your bread to the collection with the Linky Tool this month, here’s what you need to do!

1. When you post your Twelve Loaves bread on your blog, make sure that you mention the Twelve Loaves challenge in your blog post; this helps us to get more members as well as share everyone's posts. Please make sure that your bread is inspired by the theme!

2. Please link your post to the linky tool at the bottom of my blog. It must be a bread baked to the Twelve Loaves theme.

3. Have your Twelve Loaves bread that you baked this December, 2013, and posted on your blog by December  31, 2013.

#TwelveLoaves is a monthly bread baking party created by Lora from Cake Duchess.  #TwelveLoaves runs so smoothly thanks to the help of the lovely Paula from Vintage Kitchen Notes and Renee from Magnolia Days.

Let's see what our #twelveloaves bakers baked this month:

• Cinnamon Pull-Apart Coffee Cake by Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Cranberry Apple Cinnamon Rolls by Dionne at Try Anything Once Culinary
• Cranberry Orange Scones by Renee at Kudos Kitchen by Renee
• Crunchy Almond Holiday Bread by Paula at Vintage Kitchen Notes
• Holiday Breakfast Wreath by Lora at Cake Duchess
• Mini Toffee Banana Bread with Caramel Sauce by Holly at A Baker's House
• Nut Brittle Topped Holiday Bread by Deepti at Baking Yummies
• Pandoro by Karen at Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Stollen by Renee at Magnolia Days

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