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Double Chocolate Cookies

At one of my bridal showers my friend Mandy gave me a cookie cookbook called “The Cook’s Encyclopedia of Cookies.” I browse through it once in a while to find something new to bake. This morning I made a batch of double chocolate cookies from it. They were super easy to make. And I’m pretty sure they taste great…but none of us has actually tasted them yet 😛 No cookies for breakfast here. So I’ll have to update with the true verdict later. As usual the cookies on the bottom rack got pretty dark on the bottom. But Justin actually likes a little burn to his cookies. So he’ll love them 🙂 I eyeballed about 1/3 of a bag of each kind of chocolate chips instead of using chocolate chunks.

 

There are quite a few more recipes that I want to try from this cookbook. I know it’s not baking season now that the weather is getting warmer. But hopefully I can try a few here and there. I’m hoping to make shortcakes next week for strawberry shortcake. I’ve never cared for it, but Justin will love it.

Double Chocolate Cookies

makes 18-20 (I got 24 out of it)

 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cups self-rising flour
3/4 cups rolled oats
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 oz. white chocolate, coarsely chopped

 

Heat oven to 375. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla. Beat well. Sift the flour over the mixture and fold in lightly with a metal spoon. Add the oats and chocolate. Stir until evenly mixed.

 

Place small spoonfulls of the mixture in 18-20 rocky mounds on baking sheets. Leave space for spreading. Bake 15-20 minutes, until beginning to turn pale golden. Cool for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Banana Bread

I had some really ripe bananas to use up so I made a batch of banana bread yesterday. I can’t believe I haven’t posted this recipe yet…or made it in so long! This is my mom’s recipe. It’s the only banana bread I’ve ever made. So yummy. And very easy.

Banana Bread

3/4 cup organic cane sugar or sucanat
1/2 cup butter, room temp
2 eggs
2 cups whole wheat or all purpose flour
5 Tbsp. sour milk (4 Tbsp. milk + 1 Tbsp. vinegar) or buttermilk
1 cup mashed banana (the riper the better)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
 
Cream sugar, butter and eggs. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Put in two 9″ buttered loaf pans. Bake @ 350 degress for 35-45 min.
 
*I used one medium loaf pan and two small pans. The small pans took 25-30 min. The medium pan took about 40 min. Depends how done you like your bread. I like it on the less done side…lighter is better 🙂 Although these did end up fairly done/dark. Justin likes it that way better I think.

Apple Dumpling Muffins

I made a batch of muffins this morning for a church thing in a couple weeks. I got this recipe from my mom. I had never made them before, but had tried some she made. Very good!! And they are really easy. All in one bowl. All by hand.

Apple Dumpling Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup organic cane sugar (or sucanat)
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 cup melted coconut oil or EVOO
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 eggs
3/4 cups milk
2 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
 
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin cups.
 
Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cloves (I put them in a large bowl and whisk…does the same thing as a sifter…and much easier). Make a well in the center of flour mixture. Add in the oil, butter, eggs and milk. Stir with spoon. Fold in sliced apples. Spoon into muffin cups.
 
Bake 30-35 min.
 
Makes 12* (2-4 oz.) muffins or 6 (6-8 oz.) muffins.
 
*I got 15 muffins out of this. And they were good sized muffins.

Sugar Coated Pecans

I’ve had this recipe from All Recipes marked for quite a while now. I finally decided to try it as part of our Seder meal (see next post for details). With over 700 reviews and a 5 star rating I figured it had to be pretty good. And a while ago Justin asked for praline pecans…which I couldn’t find. So I gave these a try. These are wonderful!!!!! Our house smelled like those nut stands at the mall or at sporting events. And it was unbelievably simple. Only took a few minutes to get them in the oven. I followed the suggestions of some of the reviews and used 2 egg whites instead of 1. And I replaced a little of the water with vanilla. These will make a great snack (and they are gluten free:) or a good munchy to set out when we have guests. And it makes quite a bit, so I have some in the cupboard and some in the freezer. They really are good right out of the oven. Mmmm. I want some now. I bet this recipe would work well with other nuts too. Almonds would be really good. We sprinkled these on chunky cinnamon applesauce. I bet they would be really good on vanilla ice cream with caramel.
Sugar Coated Pecans

1 egg white (I used 2)
1 Tbsp. water (I used 1 tsp. vanilla + enough water to make 1 Tbsp.)
1 pound pecan halves (preferably soaked and dehydrated)
1 cup organic cane sugar (or sucanat)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I used 1 tsp.)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Grease one baking sheet (I just lined mine with parchment paper. Worked great.).

In a mixing bowl, whip together the egg white and water until frothy. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, salt, and cinnamon.

Add pecans to egg whites, stir to coat the nuts evenly. Remove the nuts, and toss them in the sugar mixture until coated. Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake at 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes.

Chunky White Bean Avocado Dip

I make this dip all the time. But I guess I’ve never posted it. It’s a Robin Miller recipe I got several years ago, saw it on her show. It’s super simple and so good. Kind of like guacamole. Justin and I love it. I always make it when we have a Mexican meal. I don’t use a recipe anymore. And I don’t measure anything. I just mash the beans and avocado, stir in salt and lime juice and taste. And adjust as needed. I think my bean/avocado ratio is a bit different…more beans. Sometimes I add the garlic, sometimes I don’t. And I don’t always drain all the liquid from the beans. Depends how much of a rush I’m in 🙂 It’s different every time but always good.

Chunky White Bean-Avocado Dip

2 ripe Hass avocados, pitted and peeled
1/2 cup drained canned white beans
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
Salt and ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, combine avocados, white beans and garlic. Mash with a fork until chunky. Fold in cilantro and lime juice. Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper.

Canned Applesauce

I canned my first batch of applesauce of the season last night. I finally got to try out my apple peeler. All I can say is WOW! What a time saver. If you want to do any significant amount of canning and/or baking with apples I highly recommend getting one. It only takes a few minutes to peel, core and slice enough apples for a whole batch of sauce (15-17 LARGE apples) instead of like a half hour doing it by hand. I wish I had gotten one years ago.

Since I didn’t have a ton of time last night I did a batch of chunky applesauce. I added sugar to this batch…it will be for Justin and me (or Rebecca when she’s older). I cooked another batch this morning before breakfast (that’s how fast it goes with the peeler:). I’ll run that through the food mill and can it later today. I didn’t add sugar to this batch. Hopefully it’s sweet enough. Some of the apples are kind of tart this year.

I’ve still got lots of apples, so I’m hoping to do several more batches of sauce…especially since it’s so fast now. I want to freeze some sliced apples. And I’m hoping to try apple butter tomorrow. I got Justin’s mom’s recipe. Looks like it takes a while, but it’s soooo good (I’ve had hers). So we’ll see how it goes. I’ll post that recipe after I make it. Here is the basic applesauce recipe…also from Justin’s mom

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Canned Applesauce
4 1/2 qts. apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped into big chunks
1 qt. water
1 cups sugar (optional)
 
Boil water with sugar.
Add apples. Bring to a boil.
Boil 5 min.
Can in boiling water for 20 min. Makes 7 pts. (Can in boiling water for 25 min. if using quarts).
 
*This is the original recipe. From experience here is what I’ve come up with that works for me:
30 med – large apples
3 cups water
 
*After cooking the apples for a few minutes I mash them with a potato masher to break them up a bit more.

** I puree the apples in my Vitamix for smooth applesauce. When using this method you don’t have to peel the apples. The peels blend right in.

Granola

Homemade granola is such an easy breakfast or snack to have on hand in the cupboard or in the freezer. You can adjust it to your own taste.
 
Mary’s Granola
12 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups dried fruit (any mix or just raisins)
2 tsp. cinnamon
optional mix ins:
-1 1/2 cups wheat bran or wheat germ
-1 cup chopped crispy nuts (almonds, pecans and walnuts work well)
-1 cup crispy seeds (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, etc.)
-1 cup shredded coconut
-1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup honey and/or maple syrup
1/2 cup melted butter or coconut oil or combo of each
 
Heat oven to 325. Mix all dry ingredients, except fruit in one or two large bowls (however it is easiest to stir). (Mix a small amount of safe (oats, coconut, wheat bran, coconut, rasisins), dry ingredients in a smaller bowl for a toddler to mix and eat:) Heat honey and butter/oil in small pan until all melted/mixed. Pour over dry ingredients. Mix well. Spread granola onto baking sheets (you can do all of it on 2 sheets…they’ll be very full. Or you can do it on 4 sheets (2 batches) so that it bakes a little more evenly. You may have to cut the baking time down a bit if you do it on 4 pans). Bake 20 – 30 min., stirring 2 or 3 times throughout. Add fruit during the last 5 min. or after granola is done baking. Let cool. Store in sealed container or bag. Freezes well. I generally freeze it in gallon freezer bags then just take out a little at a time as we need it. It can even be eaten directly from the freezer. You can scale the recipe down if you don’t want to make a large batch. I make a ton and freeze it so that I don’t have to make it all the time.

 
Here is the recipe we have from Justin’s mom:
 
Granola
 
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup coconut
1 (1 oz.) can sesame seeds
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey
1 cup chopped dates (optional)
 
Heat oven to 300. Combine dry ingredients. Heat oil and honey to combine. Pour over dry ingredients. Mix well. Spread on baking sheet. Bake 12 min., stirring after 6 min. Add dates. Let cool.

More Pies – Blueberry and Apple

Since I started with a pie recipe I might as well add a couple other family favorite pie recipes and a basic pie crust.

Pie Crust

2 cups flour (I either do 1/2 ww, 1/2 white or all ww flour)
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup + 2 Tbsp. palm shortening or chilled butter
1/4 cup water w/ 1 tsp. vinegar

Sift flour and salt. Cut in shortening in parts. First 1/2 to look like corn meal. Second 1/2 to look like small peas. Add water/vinegar and mix well. Roll out on floured surface. Makes top and bottom crust.

**Edited 8/5/10 – Finally tried making pie crust in the food processor…soooo much easier than by hand. Instead of cutting in the butter with a pastry blender or by hand, just pulse the processor. Then pour in the water while it’s running and let it go until a ball of dough forms.

Blueberry Pie

4 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup sugar (organic cane sugar or sucanat)
3 Tbsp. cornstarch (or arrowroot…that’s what I use)
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Heat oven to 450. Combine blueberries with remaining ingredients. Fill pastry lined 9″ pie pan. Add top crust. Put slits in top. Bake at 450 for 10 min. Reduce temperature to 350 and bake for 30-40 min.

Apple Pie

7-8 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 cup sugar (organic cane sugar or sucanat)
2 Tbsp. flour (whole wheat works fine)
dash of salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Heat oven to 400. Place apples in pastry lined 9″ pie pan. Mix sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add to apples. Dot with butter. Add top crust. Put slits in top. Brust top crust with milk (sprinkle sugar on top if desired). Bake for 50 min.