Recipes

Minty Muddy Chex Party Mix // A Fun Holiday Goodie

2 · Dec 16, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Ahhhh, I love this time of the year! Everyone is starting to focus more on family and getting ready for the holidays. I know in our house with the weather cooling down we are also slowing down and doing more things together like watching movies and playing games together. With all that… We are constantly on the look out for good snacks. One of our all time favorite is the iconic Chex® Party Mix. You can never go wrong when you are snacking on Chex® Party Mix!

Let's start with the cereal it's self… They have EIGHT different flavors! Seven of them are gluten free (Wheat Chex® cereal is not. For more Nutritional information please visit this site and make sure you read each label.) They have everything from Rice Chex®, Corn Chex® and even some super fancy ones like Chocolate, Vanilla and even Apple Cinnamon Chex® Cereal. All of them are like blank canvases when it comes to making Chex® Party Mix. Seriously… The sky is the limit. Don't believe me, check out the Chex® Party Mix Recipe site and you'll see all kinds of fun ideas. The nice thing about the party mix is that, yes… you get to have some of those scrumptious treats that we all crave but, you also get a nice helping of some good whole grains from the Chex® Cereal. Win / win!

The kiddos and I decided to create our own salty & sweet Chex® Party Mix recipe to have around the house. We call it Minty Muddy Chex® Mix and it's a fun flavor combination of sweet chocolate, Jiff's Whipped Peanut Butter & Chocolate Mint Spread, Peanut butter pretzels and salty Corn Chex® Cereal. It's sweet and nutty all at the same time. The bonus… It only takes 15 minutes to make!

Minty Muddy Chex® Party Mix Ingredients

8 cups Corn Chex® cereal

2 cups Vanilla Chex® cereal

1 cup butter

1 cup Jiff's Whipped Peanut Butter Chocolate Mint Spread

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 vanilla

1/2 cup powdered sugar

salt

1 cup mini M&M's

2 cups Rold Gold peanut butter pretzels

Minty Muddy Chex® Party Mix Directions

Start with a small microwave safe bowl. Add a 1/2 a stick of butter, the chocolate chips and the Jiff Whipped Peanut Butter Chocolate Mint Spread. Microwave in 30 second segments until the mixture has melted and is nice and smooth. Remove from Microwave and stir in vanilla. Place 3 cups of Corn Chex® into a large bowl and drizzle chocolate mixture on top. Carefully fold the chocolate mixture into the Corn Chex® Cereal. Place the chocolate covered cereal into a large Ziplock bag and add powdered sugar into the bag. Seal bag and shake the bag until the chocolate covered cereal is covered with the powdered sugar. Pour out onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Place in the refrigerator to set.

In another small microwave safe bowl or measuring cup, add the remaining butter. Place in Microwave for 45-60 seconds or until melted. Add the remaining Corn Chex® cereal into a large microwave safe bowl and drizzle the butter over the top. Add a generous amount of salt to the bowl and gently fold in the butter and salt into the cereal. Once the mixture is mixed well, place in the microwave for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the microwave and place in the refrigerator to cool for a few minutes.

Once your salty and sweet mixture is cool and set, place into a large bowl and add remaining ingredients. Mix well.

Now, this snack is fabulous to share with family and friends during all of your favorite activities. This year I am going to make up several large batches and then bag them up as a fun holiday treat to share with neighbors, friends, co-workers, the mailman… anyone really!

This post brought to you by Chex® cereal. I have been compensated and given free product for my time & commitment, but all opinions are 100% mine

Pie Crust the Perfect Canvas // Mini Cherry Pies

92 · Dec 13, 2013 · 28 Comments

This post brought to you by Crisco // It's no secret that I LOVE pie! I love making pie, I love eating pie. As far as I'm concerned pie crust is the perfect canvas to make what ever you want! A few weeks ago I created a post about some of my favorite tips for making Picture Perfect Pies. It all starts with my favorite simple pie crust recipe from Crisco. Once you have that down you can make anything. You can make sweet pies or savory pies. Last night after a day of pie making, I decided to whip up some more crust dough and make some Taco Pies in my new Breville Personal Pie Maker. The family LOVED it!! I will post the recipe soon, promise!

While I was working on this week's pie project, I thought I would make a little video on Instagram on how I make my pie crust.

Kinda fun… thanks to Rhonna Designs and Mindy Gledhill for letting me use some of their talents for the video.

So, I had a thought. Since I just adore pies… Why not make mini pies to give as neighbor gifts for this Christmas season?

Now, these couldn't be any easier… With a great pie crust recipe, some simple store bought filling and the Breville Personal Pie maker. Nothing too crazy here, I gathered my pie crust ingredients…

Click Here for the Recipe

If you still have any questions about making Pie Crust, you can always call the Crisco Pie Hotline 1-877-FOR PIE TIPS (877-367-7438) for all kinds of around the clock PIE help this holiday season!

Next, I took some store bought cherry pie filling and supplemented it with some frozen sweet black cherries. The color contrast makes the filling really pretty, plus I LOVE black cherries. I used one 12 oz. bag of frozen cherries to 2 cans of cherry pie filling.

Then, I rolled out my pie crust and cut it using the special cutter from Breville machine, here is a quick video on how I did that as well.

Didn't they turn out CUTE?! They fit right inside those clear cellophane bags that you can find any where these days. Then I added some holiday greenery to make it look festive.

These cute little mini pies are just so fun and so easy to make…

The are just scrumptious!! Crisco has made pie making so easy these days.

They have a Crisco Picture Perfect Pie Pinterest board that has all kinds of fabulous recipes.
The Crisco Kitchen has teamed up with Michele Stuart owner of Michele's pies in Connecticut, she is over at Crisco's site sharing all kinds of fun pie tips and ideas.
Crisco is hosting a fun Rate & Review contest for a chance to win a Michele Stuart pie prize pack. Visit the Rate & Review site to rate your favorite pie for a chance to win!

Crisco is giving away a fabulous Perfect Pie Prize Pack to one of you!! Here is what you will win…

A Prize Pack valued at $200!! Follow the directions in the Rafflecopter box below to enter. This giveaway is open to those with a shipping address within the United States and will be open from November 27-January 2 with the winner announced on January 3rd.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer // This post is sponsored by Crisco. I did receive payment for development of this post.

Gingerbread Granola

3 · Dec 10, 2013 · 2 Comments

I’ve known for some time that I want to recreate this recipe. Gingerbread has been on my mind a lot recently with the holidays. My two flavor staples for this time of year are gingerbread and eggnog. So when I tried out a granola that incorporated one of those I became giddy with the thought of building a recipe around the product! This gingerbread granola is now a staple in our home. Mainly because it’s so quick to prepare and packages up beautifully for last minute neighbor treats!

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups pecans, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup melted butter
1/3 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup molasses
3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment or a baking mat.

Mix all of your ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread into an even layer on your prepared pan.

Bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through the baking time. Allow to cool completely and enjoy!

While this bakes you get the wonderful smell of the Holiday’s floating through your home. It is so wonderful to wake up to and seems to last for days! We like to double the batch otherwise it never seems to make it to our friends and family!

Try it out on top of cereal, yogurt, fruit… or just on it’s own. It is unbelievably delicious and helps spread Christmas cheer whenever you decide to share! If you liked this recipe, check out these:

Coconut Macaroons // Easy Orange Blossom // Cranberry Bliss Bars

Peppermint Drop Cookies // Cookie Swap Recipe

21 · Dec 5, 2013 · 14 Comments

Peppermint Drop Cookie Recipe // The season is upon us… Holiday baking and general goodie making. I grew up with a Mom who created all kinds of goodies each year to share with friends and neighbors. This year I decided to experiment with a "cookie" or a meringue cookie really… to come up with a cute take on those traditional peppermint candies.

Meringue cookies are all over the patisseries in Paris in varies shapes and flavors. They are sooooo easy to make and are a fun unique treat that you can WOW your friends with. They are made just like a meringue for a pie, but you pipe them onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake them for quite a bit longer. They turn into these cute, crunchy, yet soft in the middle sweet treats. When you add a little red food coloring and some peppermint extract they get even better and are like peppermint candies, but WAY better!

Peppermint Drop Cookie Recipe

This recipe has been adapted from Martha Stewart's Peppermint Meringues with Chocolate Filling Recipe // It will yield about 30 two inch size meringue cookies.

3 egg whites

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

red gel food coloring

Instructions

In a heat safe mixing bowl, place the egg whites and sugar. Place over a medium sauce pan filled half way with water at a low simmer on the stove. Slowly whisk the egg whites and sugar until the sugar has melted. The best way to test that is using your CLEAN fingers. Just pinch a bit of the mixture and see if you still feel the grit of the sugar. As soon as the grit is gone, this usually take a few minutes, the whites are then ready to whip into a meringue.

Place mixing bowl in mixer and with the whisk attachment, whisk on high until the egg whites and sugar form stiff peaks. Once you have stiff peaks, add the peppermint extract and whisk until fully combined.

Place a large star tip in a large pastry bag. Then using a clean brush or tip of a butter knife, draw some stripes onto the inside of the pastry bag with the red gel food coloring.

It doesn't need to be pretty, or exact… just four or five lines to add the red stripes to the peppermint drops.

Next, pipe the meringue onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Make the cookies about two inches in diameter. A quick note… Due to the nature of these cookies you may want to use masking tape to tape down the parchment paper on the baking sheet. That way you won't have parchment paper floating around wreaking havoc on your peppermint drop cookies. Make nice little drops with the pastry bag and then carefully pull up to create the nice peak at the top.

Place in a 175˚ oven for 3 hours. I also place a wooden spoon in between the oven door and the oven so that any steam that is created can escape. Once the cookies are hard, remove them from the oven and let cool.

These little meringues turn into these bite size peppermint treats that just melt in your mouth. They are a perfect addition to a goodie plate, because they add DRAMA. The nice thing is they can be made ahead of time and stored in an air tight container for a couple of weeks. You can even create a fun little goodie bag just filled with these little treats. Either way, they would be a great addition to your holiday treat list!