Peanut butter & nutella w/caramelized bananas
2 ripe Bananas
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Nutella
Peanut Butter
White bread
Heat a sauté pan over medium high heat and melt the butter, making sure it coats the pan. Place the bananas in the pan and sprinkle with brown sugar, making sure the bananas are not touching each other. Cook for a minute or two, waiting for the bananas to develop a crust before flipping. Turn and repeat. Assemble the sandwich by layering the caramelized bananas in between the Nutella and peanut butter.
Chicken-artichoke Pizza Puffs w/ Pesto alfredo Dipping Sauce
From abountifulkitchen.com
3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup skim milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup reduced-fat (or regular) mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup cooked chicken, cubed ½ cup artichokes
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder; whisk in the milk and egg.
3. Stir in the mozzarella, chicken and artichokes: let stand for 10 minutes.
4. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 minutes.
5. Microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through, Serve the puffs with the pesto alfredo sauce for dipping.
Tips: Unless you are having 2 people over, I suggest doubling the pizza recipe.
Pesto-alfredo sauce
***For pesto-alfredo sauce: simply mix 1/2 cup pesto with 1 cup alfredo sauce.
Guiltless Alfredo Sauce from Our Best Bites
Ingredients:
2 C low-fat milk
1/3 C (3 oz) low fat cream cheese
2-3 T flour
1 t salt
1 T butter
3 garlic cloves
1 C grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
Place milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. In a non-stick sauce pan, melt butter on med-high heat and add garlic. Let the garlic saute for about 30 seconds, you don’t want to burn it.
Then add milk mixture to the pan. Stir constantly for about 3 or 4 minutes or until it just comes to a simmer. Keep stirring and let it cook for a few minutes more. It should be much thicker now.
When it’s nice and thickened remove the pan from the heat. Add the cheese, stir it up and then cover immediately. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before using. It will continue to thicken upon standing. Also, if you have leftovers in the fridge, the sauce will thicken almost into a solid. Just re-heat and add a little milk and it will be back to normal again.
Baked Buffalo Chicken Bites with Blue Cheese Yogurt Dip
(Inspired by backtoherroots.com and Bobby Flay)
Makes 12 dinner-sized bites or 30 appetizer-sized
For the Blue Cheese Yogurt Dip
- 1 cup 2% Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons finely-chopped cilantro
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1/4 cup finely-diced red onion
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the Buffalo Chicken Bites
- 3 cups shredded cooked chicken or 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 1/4-3/4 cup buffalo wing sauce
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup green onions, white and pale green parts chopped
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- Salt and pepper
- Cooking spray
Directions:
- Mix all the dip ingredients together well. Stash in the fridge while you prepare the chicken.
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- In a large bowl, combine chicken, wing sauce, cheese, green onions, and cream cheese until well combined.
- Mix panko and a pinch of salt and pepper in a shallow dish.
- Form chicken mixture into 2-1/2″ balls (for dinner-sized) or 1-1/2″ balls (for appetizer-sized).
- Roll the chicken balls in the panko and place in a greased cookie sheet.
- Before cooking, spray the tops of the balls with cooking spray.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until tops of bites are brown and crunchy
Caramel Toffee Fruit Dip
From Our Best Bites
1 8-oz. package cream cheese (you can use light cream cheese)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla (you can add more to taste)
Toffee bits (look by the chocolate chips and try and find the chocolate covered ones if you can! Your dip won’t be pretty, but it will sure taste good!)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. (about a pinch) nutmeg
Allow cream cheese to reach room temperature. With an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, brown sugar, and vanilla. When ready to serve, stir in about 1/2 a bag of toffee bits. Serve with fruit.
Ham and Swiss slider
2 dozen Kings Hawaiian Sweet dinner rolls
1 lb shaved black forest ham
1/2 lb sliced swiss cheese
1 stick melted butter
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
Slice rolls (cut one whole dozen at one time, leave sides stuck together to save time.) Place bottom half of rolls in a glass baking dish, (9 x 13 will hold 1 doz) and top with ham and cheese. Place top half of rolls over the ham and cheese. Mix worcestershire sauce, garlic salt and poppy seeds into the melted butter. Pour the mixture over the top of the rolls. Cover well and refrigerate overnight. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
Garlicky potato wedges
Adapted from: Lottie + Doof
8 garlic cloves, minced
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 russet potatoes (about 8oz each), each cut into 12 wedges
3 tbsp cornstarch/cornflour
1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (use less for less kick!)
½ tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- Preheat oven to 225°C/440° F.
- Combine the garlic and oil in a large bowl, warming it until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Transfer 5 tablespoons of the oil (leaving the garlic in the bowl) to the baking sheet, coating it well.
- Add the potatoes to the bowl with the garlic mixture and toss to coat. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and microwave on high power until the potatoes are translucent around the edges, 3 to 6 minutes, shaking the bowl to redistribute the potatoes halfway through cooking.
- Combine the cornstarch, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the hot potatoes and toss well to coat.
- Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake, turning once, until deep golden brown and crisp, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Serve with ketchup, mayo or sour cream.
Beecher’s “World’s Best” Mac & Cheese
from Martha Stewart
This recipe for the world's best mac and cheese is from Kurt Beecher Dammeier's "Pure Flavor" cookbook.
Serves 4 as a side dish
Ingredients
- Butter or vegetable oil, for baking dish
- 6 ounces penne
- 2 cups Beecher's Flagship Cheese Sauce (***SEE RECIPE BELOW)
- 1 ounce cheddar cheese, grated (1/4 cup)
- 1 ounce Gruyere cheese, grated (1/4 cup)
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or oil and 8-inch baking dish; set aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Cook penne, according to package direction, for 2 minutes less than recommended on the package. Rinse pasta in cold water; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together cooked pasta and sauce gently but thoroughly. Pour pasta into prepared baking dish; sprinkle with cheeses and chile powder. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
***Beecher’s Flagship Cheese Sauce (Makes about 4 cups)
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups milk
- 14 ounces cheddar cheese, preferably Flagship, grated (about 3 1/2 cups)
- 2 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, preferably Just Jack, grated (about 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Directions
- Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat; whisk in flour. Continue whisking and cooking for 2 minutes.
- Slowly add milk, whisking constantly. Cook, stirring frequently, until sauce has thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add cheeses, salt, chile powder, and garlic powder. Stir until cheese has melted and all ingredients are well incorporated, about 3 minutes. Use immediately or refrigerate up to 3 days.
- To reheat sauce, place in a saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently, until heated through.
Fresh Fruit with Vanilla Bean Honey Yogurt Dip
From Best Bites
2 cups fat free plain yogurt
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ of a vanilla bean, sliced with seeds removed
Combine ingredients and mix in a bowl. Serve with strawberries, grapes and pineapple (or any fresh fruit). This is also great over granola.
Mango Peach Pineapple Punch
1 12 oz can lemonade (make per instructions)
3/4 cup sugar
1 large can of pineapple juice
1 packet of mango peach kool-aid (or your favorite flavor of kool-aid)
2 liters lemon lime soda.
This recipe makes a large quantity so you will need to use a large pot and/or 2-3 pitchers to mix well. Mix all the ingredients into prepared lemonade concentrate, Use LOTS of ice!
Toffee chocolate chip cookies
Adapted from abountifulkitchen.com
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour* (make sure to read note below)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter (not margarine), softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup toffee bits
¼ cup white chocolate chips
¾ cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375° F. If using convection, preheat to 375 as well.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, beating well. Stir in flour mixture and chocolate chips all together, taking care to not over mix. Using a cookie scoop, drop onto ungreased baking sheets. I use a large scoop, and place 6 cookies per baking sheet. Flatten slightly with palm of your hand.
Bake for 7-10 minutes on middle rack until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets completely.
This recipe yields 18 large cookies.
**If baking in ramekins, fill ramekins ½ full. Bake at 350 for 17 minutes
School Lunch Peanut Butter Bars
1 1/2 C Flour
1¼ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Baking Soda
¾ C Butter
¾ C Sugar
¾ C Brown Sugar
1 ½ tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 C Creamy Peanut Butter (split)
2 Eggs
1 ½ C Quick Oats
Frosting:
½ c. butter
3 ½ c. powdered sugar
2 TBSP cocoa
¼ c. milk
1 tsp. Vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugars, 3/4 C peanut butter, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually add dry ingredients, just until incorporated. Then, stir in the oats. Spread onto a greased 11 x 15 Jelly Roll Pan (cookie sheet). Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes.
The frosting is a two step process. First, whip the remaning ¾ C Creamy Peanut Butter until it becomes lighter colored and fluffy. Carefully spread the whipped peanut butter over the pan cookie.
Then, add butter to a small sauce pan and melt the butter. Add the milk and cocoa. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Heat just until boiling. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Then, gradually add the powdered sugar. Stir until thickened. Pour over the peanut butter and gently spread over the cookie. Cool completely, and slice into bar cookies.
Caramel Apple Dip
8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
Marzetti's Caramel Dip (15 oz.)
Heath Bits (found in the baking aisle)
Mix a generous scoop of caramel and the cream cheese together and spread in a pie plate.
Make individual caramel dip favors by filling in 1/2 pint size mason jars. Fill jars ½ full with cream cheese/caramel dip mixture. Top with remaining caramel, followed by a solid layer of Heath bits. Serve with apple wedges.
