Sunday, January 18, 2015

In the Kitchen

Another challenge that I am doing this year is "52 New Recipes". I'm behind in posting them so Everything so far will be in this post.

January 1st  was a bonus day. Thank goodness because my first recipe was a complete failure. (But it has a great ending so hope you make it through to the end.) This was given to me by a co-worker.
Graham Cracker Toffee Bits
Ingredients:
1/2 pound (two sticks) butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 box (approx.) plain graham crackers (not crumbs)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Course sea salt
Optional: 1 cup chopped nuts
 
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan with non stick foil. Arrange whole graham crackers to fit the bottom of the pan in a single layer, breaking up the last few to fit the space.
 
Melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and white sugar. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and let mixture gently bubble for 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
 
Carefully pour evenly over the graham crackers. Spread to cover. Bake for 10 minutes.
 
When done, remove from oven and let rest until bubbling stops. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over top. Wait 1-2 minutes for chocolate to melt, then use spatula to gently spread chocolate into an even layer over graham crackers. Sprinkle with course sea salt. If you use nuts, sprinkle on top, pressing down gently into chocolate. ( Do not use both salt and nuts.)
 
Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for 2 hours. Peel from foil and break into 2 inch pieces. Keep refrigerated.
 
Yields about 1 pound of candy bark pieces.
 
Here's how my journey went......
I went wrong right from the start. Can you guess what my mistake was?
 
Boiling butter and sugars. It looks like there is milk in it but I promise it's just butter and sugars.

Can't go wrong with Hersey's Chocolate!

Baking time.

Melted chips over graham crackers. Figured it out yet???

Here it is!!! The big failure. I used wax paper instead of non stick foil. It not only stuck to the wax paper, it stuck to the pan. It was in no way fit to eat. LOL I bought some  non stick foil and tried again.

It turned out great. It is now a new Hubby favorite. He requested I make it again this week.  I decided to make a couple of changes.

 I made one batch with white chocolate chips.
 
And one batch with butterscotch chips with chopped pecans. Both turned out absolutely YUMMY and addictive.
 
Now for the first official recipe of the year.
Week 1: Cool Whip Cookies
I used a lemon cake mix for these. Another new favorite.
 
Ingredients:
1 cake mix (any flavor)
1 8oz tub of cool whip
1 egg
powdered sugar
 
Preparation:
Mix cake mix, cool whip and egg until well mixed. Will be very sticky. Chill for 1-2 hours. Roll into small balls and coat with powdered sugar. Place on cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.
 
Week 2: Everything Bread
 
 
In large bowl dissolve 1 TBS (1 pk) active dry yeast into 3/4 cup warm water. Add 1 cup warm milk, 1/4 cup softened butter, 2 TBS sugar and 1 egg yolk. Mix well then add 4-5 cups flower and 1 1/2 tsp salt and mix well. (I used about 4 1/4 cups of flour). Knead a few times and place in bowl, cover and let rise until double in size.
 
Punch down and put on floured surface, knead several times. Divide into 4 clumps. Separate one clump into three pieces. Roll each piece into a snake. Braid the snakes. Do the same with the other three clumps. Place them on a greased cookie sheet. Whip egg white until foamy, brush onto braids. Sprinkle with choice of toppings. (garlic, parmesan cheese, salt, sesame seeds etc)
 
Let dough rise until double. place in 375 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Cool completely (after trying a bite warm LOL). Store in air tight container. 



3 comments:

  1. They all look delicious! I've tried the bark before using mint chocolate chips. My grandma calls them Christmas Crack. Lol.

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  2. Yum! They all look delicious, especially the cookies. Thanks for sharing :-)

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  3. I have made the graham cracker bark before but a little differently. I just use brown sugar but I use a cup of sugar and a cup of butter, just to make sure it tastes good :) and boil it for 5 min then pour it over the graham crackers. I don't bake it at all (which is probably why mine comes out chewy sometimes, which is equally as good) and I don't use anything in between the crackers and the pan and I have never had a problem with it sticking. Then I sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top but I don't spread them. And I am definitely going to steal your sea salt step next time I make it!! You are the first person I have every come upon that makes it :)

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