Pepperoni Pizza Snacks

In an effort to find something tasty to serve for my family's New Years gathering, I hijacked this recipe from an old Rachael Ray magazine, and added my own spin on it.

First you start out with the following ingredients:
- 3/4 cup AP flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup chopped pepperoni
- seasonings: I used garlic powder and italian seasoning blend
- OPTIONAL: serve with marinara/tomato sauce
Equipment:
- 24 cup mini muffin tin

Yields: 24 bite size pepperoni pizzas.

In the first step, combine the dry ingredients, flour and baking powder, in a mixing bowl and combine using a whisk (or fork if you don't have one!).

Next, add the milk and beaten egg, and combine until the mixture is fully integrated.

After you have mixed your wet and dry ingredients, measure out your cup of cheese, and pepperoni. I chose to use sliced pepperoni in my version, mostly because this is what I regularly have handy, and I prefer the flavor over the pre-diced stuff that is available. But feel free to use whatever works for you, just have a cup on hand! Once measured, mix these two ingredients into your mixture.

At this point, I added my seasonings of garlic powder and italian blend. The original recipe calls for fresh basil as a garnish at the end and for the tomato sauce, but I wanted mine to be baked in. Once mixed in, let this mixture rest for 5-10 minutes. While this is happening, you will need to preheat your oven to 375 degrees, and grease your mini muffin tin. Last, divide your mixture evenly among your 24 mini muffin slots, and bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

These gems are your end result! Serve with warmed marinara if you choose and enjoy!

Rolo Turtles - A Cheater's Christmas

Let me be the first to say - I LOVE SHORTCUTS! If I can spend minimal time making something that is super tasty, and will make my loved ones happy then I am all for it! I read about these "cheater" turtle candies recently and had to try them out (and now share them with you!). 

There are three simple ingredients:

1. Small shape pretzels ( I used windowpanes, because I had them - but feel free to use any pretzel you have!)
2. Rolo (caramel/chocolate candies)
3. Pecan Halves (about 50)

I prefer to use the microwave for these, and do them in small batches, you can also use the oven if that's your thing. If using the microwave, lay out 6-8 pretzels topped with Rolos and microwave for 20-30 seconds depending on the strength of your microwave. Once the Rolo is melted and has a nice shine to it, top each candy with a pecan half. Simple!

I have to admit, I sampled a few of these and they were heavenly! One bag of Rolos makes about 4 dozen candies, so plan accordingly, these will go fast!

Nutter Butter Santas

The holiday baking season is upon us! I decided to start out with something easy, yet totally adorable this year. These Nutter Butter Santas, are a great project to do with your kids, and are totally delicious too! Here is what you will need:

• 1 package Nutter Butter (or other peanut shaped) cookies
• 1 (12 oz.) package of white chocolate chips/ almond bark/
• Approximately 50 mini marshmallows
• Cinnamon Imperials
• mini chocolate chips (about 100) - I used black decorator icing though!
• red decorator sugar (or sub in any christmas color of your choice)

Before starting, lay out your entire package of cookies on your work surface. I recommend a cooling rack or large baking sheet for easy clean up. Next, melt your white chocolate in the microwave. I usually start out with 1 minute, take it out, stir, and then go in 30 second increments to avoid scorching. Burnt chocolate is a BAD BAD thing!

Next you will dip both the top and bottom of each Nutter Butter forming both the santa hat, and the beard. I prefer to decorate the hat as I go. You will place the marshmallow into the melted white chocolate of the hat, and then add your red sugar to the top of each hat. Once you have finished all of your hats, you can proceed to decorate the face of each santa.

Use any leftover white chocolate you have as the "adhesive" for the nose and eyes. A little dab is all you will need. For the eyes, you can use either mini chocolate chips, or if you have black decorator icing that will work too. For the nose, a cinnamon imperial works best. Once assembled, and all your chocolate is set, store in an airtight container, if they last that long :)

Enjoy your santa cookies! Yum.

Charter Post!

This is it folks. Out with the old in with the new. I've decided its time to get back into blogging. I desperately need an outlet for all of this random stuff floating around in my brain. Hope this trip is as fun for you as it will be for me!