Nutella Filled Crescent Rolls

Since I first tried Nutella several weeks ago while visiting my in-laws, I have quickly become a Nutella addict.  I would spread it over/dip into it just about everything I could if I thought it wouldn't taste completely nasty.  One of my favorite new snacks is to spread Nutella on some flat-bread and have a sweet little sandwich of sorts.  I even told my husband the other day how I have discovered that Nutella is a PMS-ing girl's best friend, and it would be in his best interest when he returns to make sure we have some stocked in the house every four weeks.

I had seen a pin a little while back for sprucing up basic canned crescent rolls by spreading some Nutella inside, then rolling them up and covering them with cinnamon & sugar before baking according to the regular package directions.  I decided that this would be the perfect week to try out the recipe.

It is one of the easiest recipes to make, as there's only a couple additional steps to the standard canned crescent roll recipe of open can, pull out and divide rolls along perforations, roll up, and bake.

Now, I promise I am still motivated to get into better shape, and I've been sticking with my gym routine (I've actually begun getting my lazy butt out of bed early enough in the mornings now to go before work!).  So far I've really been enjoying my treadmill days when I work on tackling the Couch to 5K training program.  I've tried starting it a few times in the past, but never made it past week 1 day 2.  Currently I have completed week 2 day 1 and am going strong.  I have found that I actually enjoy the jogging/running portions and even though I'm tired afterwards, I really do love how I feel after that 30 minutes on the treadmill!

Fontina Macaroni & Cheese

As luck would have it, right after sharing my previous post about how I'm trying to be really good about working out and getting into better shape, which includes making sure I'm eating well, I found myself in need of some serious comfort food and indulged a bit after deciding to make a Fontina Macaroni & Cheese recipe I had sitting on my recipes-to-try list.

Mac & cheese is probably my most favorite food of all time, as it combines my love of pasta with my love of cheese.  It is the absolute perfect comfort food, in my opinion.  I currently have 12 different mac & cheese inspired recipes sitting on my Pinterest recipes board, not to mention others that are saved on my computer and in my recipe binder at home, and the only thing that has kept me from trying all of them already is the fact that quality cheese is expensive, so it takes a lot of willpower to overcome my more frugal tendencies and actually purchase cheeses that cost more than $4/lb -- the 1/2 lb block of Fontina for this recipe was just over $5.

Overall I really enjoyed this dish.  The recipe is super easy to make!  You simply cook 1lb of pasta to just under al dente, toss it with 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter until melted, and then stir in 1 cup of heated heavy cream and 8oz of shredded Fontina cheese (the heat from the warm pasta & heavy cream will quickly melt all of the cheese).  Next you season it to taste with salt and a pinch of ground nutmeg before adding it to a 2-3 quart casserole dish.  For the topping, you melt 1 tablespoon of butter and then mix into it 1/3 cup of panko breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup of grated parmesan, and then sprinkle the crumb coating over the pasta.

The recipe calls for then baking the dish for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, just until the pasta is bubbly and the topping begins to brown.  The dish certainly comes out tasty when following these baking instructions, however if you want a creamier dish, I would recommend not baking it for this time, but rather just place it under the broiler for a little bit to brown the topping, as the creaminess that first exists before placing the casserole in the oven is lost a bit after the baking time.

I think this recipe would also serve as a good base for experimenting with different seasonings and other mix-in ingredients, such as chicken, shrimp, bacon, or vegetables.  And of course you can also always change up the type of pasta you use -- I usually prefer to use whole wheat pastas, but for this recipe decided to go with a fun corkscrew shape from the pasta stockpile my husband and I had amassed last summer when we were able to score boxes of it for free at the store when combining an awesome $1 off coupon with a BOGO sale.

Slutty Brownies, Take 1

I really enjoy baking.  Not to toot my own horn, but I do think I've got a bit of a knack for it.  I can at least make really tasty cheesecakes, if nothing else.  Plus my oatmeal cranberry white chocolate chip cookies are pretty dang awesome too.

Last night I decided I wanted to finally try my hand at making Slutty Brownies...

Source: whatsgabycooking.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Cookie dough topped with brownie batter, with Oreo cookies sandwiched in between.  What's not to love about this combination?

Well, they didn't turn out all that great.  I think the brownie recipe is likely a good one, however I ended up over-baking the brownies because of a malfunction with the cookie dough layer.  I ended up using the cookie dough recipe that this blogger had listed, rather than my own recipe.  I wish I had gone with my gut and switched it up to my fallback recipe when the quantity and ratio of sugars for the cookie dough set off an alarm (1.5 cups granulated sugar mixed with 1/2 cup of brown sugar - compared to my usual ratio of 3/4 cup of each type of sugar, with the quantities of all other ingredients being practically identical).

The abundance of white sugar in the recipe caused my cookie dough layer to pretty much liquify and melt (some of it actually came up through the Oreo and brownie layers to crystallize on top of the whole thing).  I had baked my brownies for the recommended 30 minute bake time, checked for doneness, and when the top brownie layer was very gooey, I put them back in for an additional 5 minutes.  After checking again to see the brownie layer was still gooey, I decided to give just another 5 more minutes.  After 40 minutes of baking, the brownie layer finally appeared to be in good shape, so I pulled the pan out of the oven and let the brownies rest on a cooling rack.

After letting them rest for a bit, I pulled the brownies out of the baking pan via the aluminum foil lining recommended in the baking instructions, only to find that the cookie dough layer was a molten mess, and no where near set up properly.  Since I had nothing to lose at this point, as I didn't want to be left with oozing cookie dough, I decided to put the brownies back in the oven for another 10 minutes.  After it had finished, I let the pan rest on my cooling rack for about 15 or 20 minutes, and then pulled the brownies back out of the pan.  Along the outside edge, the cookie dough appeared to have set up.  It wasn't until I cut into them that I discovered I was left with about 2mm of cookie dough lining the bottom of my slutty brownies.

For my one last attempt with this cookie dough recipe, I took the remaining dough I had (you only use half of the cookie dough for a 9x9 pan of brownies) and followed the recommendation of the blogger and decided to make cookies with it.  Before I made the cookies, I let the rest of the dough I had sit in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to make sure it was chilled so the batter wouldn't spread too much.  I then scooped the chilled dough onto a chilled cookie sheet and placed the cookies in the oven, where they proceeded to spread out/melt so much that I was left with cookies that were a good 4 inches in diameter and about as thin as crepes.

The cookies ended up in the trash last night.  Most of the brownies likely will find their way there as well, after I do my best to salvage the best part of the brownies, aka the moister center.  I definitely want to try making these again though.  Next time I'll try it with my cookie dough recipe, add a tad more flour to the brownie recipe, and might upgrade to double stuff Oreos, because you cannot ever go wrong with them.  Wish me luck!

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Gouda Cheese Sauce

The first time I heard of gnocchi, I was very intrigued.  Who wouldn't be at the thought of a pasta dumpling made from a base of potatoes?  The first time I ever tried this magical food wasn't at some Italian restaurant, but rather one night when my husband decided he wanted to try his hand at making some at home.  What was amazing about his is he just glanced at a basic recipe for the dough to see the basic ingredients and general proportions, and then he whipped up a batch of basic potato gnocchi with a sausage cream sauce to go with it.  Yeah... my husband is one awesome cook!  He's always been good at creating new recipes out of thin air and making them taste wonderful.  His palette for knowing good flavor combos really is amazing.

After this first taste, I instantly became hooked and have since ordered gnocchi any time I've seen it on the menu at a restaurant we visit.  I think the best one I've had so far was at this local Italian restaurant on the square in Dahlonega, Georgia -- it was a basic potato gnocchi with a Carbonara sauce, smothered in mozzarella.  Sinfully wonderful!

Since the invention of Pinterest, it has become much easier for me to discover appetizing sounding recipes that I would like to try.  It should be no surprise that I found this wonderful Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Gouda Cheese Sauce recipe via this widespread source of addiction.  Growing up, I never really ate sweet potatoes.  They just were not something my mom ever served.  But I have come to find that they are quite tasty.  It is amazing how a food that tastes so delicious can be so healthy for you.

I decided to make this for dinner last night, and I have to say it was mighty tasty.  One item I noted about this recipe is it calls for one pound of potato, however after cooking and then mashing up my sweet potatoes, they only equaled 1 cup, whereas the recipe calls for 1.5 cups of potato to mix with the other ingredients.  So that you do not do like I had to and reduce the remaining ingredients to 2/3 the quantity so that everything is still in proportion, I would recommend starting off with more than one pound of sweet potato.  The gnocchi itself was a little light on the sweet potato flavor (I could taste more of the nutmeg than the potato), but overall was really nice.  It definitely had a good texture to it.  And the Gouda cheese sauce was light yet flavorful.  I will definitely make this recipe again.

Italian Rainbow Cookies

When I was little, my family's usual summer "vacations" were to head north to Connecticut to visit family.  Every time we went, we would always visit this little mom & pop Italian bakery in the town where my grandparents live to get various cookies and pastries.  The one treat that always stood out to me and that I just had to get was these little layered almond flavored colored cookies.  I think the main thing that excited me about them was their bright colors and the ability to break off each layer and savor them longer.

I had forgotten about them for a while until one day several years ago when I was in college and working for the University dining hall.  I was hanging out with the ladies in bake shop and we were all perusing some Taste of Home cook books looking for holiday sweets when I stumbled upon a recipe for this cookie.  I immediately made a copy of the recipe and was determined to replicate it at home.

I first made the recipe around Christmastime four years ago, and I fell in love with the cookie all over again!  It's not a recipe I make often because there are several steps involved in the assembly of the cookies and the process usually spans over two days.  It's very easy to make, it just takes time.

I have wanted to make these again for a while (I've actually had several of the ingredients for it sitting on my kitchen counter for about a month now), but I have now finally gotten the motivation to just do it.

I will warn you that if you're not a big fan of the flavor of almond, you probably won't like these cookies.  I have seen a recipe or two that also calls for adding almond extract, in addition to the whole can of almond paste that is already in the cookie, however I think that would be overkill and do not use the extract in my cookies.

Whipping up the batter and assembling the cookies is definitely easy, and I follow the recipe I've linked above exactly and come out with great results.  The hardest part of making these cookies is cutting them up as the chocolate layer on top likes to crack and break if you're not careful.  Per a recommendation I saw someone post online, the best method seems to be to first use a serrated knife to cut the chocolate layer on top, and the follow behind that with a regular smoother edged knife to cut through the remaining layers of cookie.  The edges of the cookies don't necessarily come out the smoothest, but the taste is really all that matters, right?

M&M Kiss Pretzels

I have officially begun whipping up my menu of Christmas treats.  Last year's holiday baking & candy making ordeal took me an entire week of late nights and a 14-hour day on Christmas Eve in order to get everything prepared to pass out to our families.  In total I believe I spent just about 40 hours in the kitchen or at the table working on all of the various goodies.

This year I am determined to get everything finished before the hubby even gets home for leave, which means over the next several days I will find myself in the kitchen.  Fortunately I have decided to do a lot less this year, and plan on doing much less candy making and more cookie baking, which means the whole process will be a lot less time consuming too.

After seeing these treats pop up on Pinterest, I decided to give them a try.  They're super simple to make, with the most tedious thing in the entire process being to unwrap all of the Hershey's Kisses.

You simply line a cookie sheet with some parchment paper, and then arrange a bunch of pretzels on it all lined up to be topped with your choice of Kisses.  I decided to go with half of the regular milk chocolate ones, and then half with the white & milk chocolate Hugs variety.

I simply preheated my oven to 200 degrees, and then placed each tray in the oven for just a few minutes.  The cookie sheet with the regular Kisses baked for about 5 minutes, and then the sheet with the Hugs baked for about 3.5-4 minutes (white chocolate melts faster so they didn't take as long).  Then once they're out of the oven, you very quickly just go through and top each with an M&M, pressing the candy into the Kiss.

I found that my white chocolate kisses were a little more melted than the regular milk chocolate ones, even with the shorter baking time, so the chocolate spread out a lot more when the M&M's were added, but I find that I actually like the look of them a little bit better after all was said and done and they firmed up in the fridge.  Next up: Italian Rainbow Cookies!

'Tis the Season for Pumpkin

Every year when fall rolls in and the holidays near, my desire to bake heightens.  I especially love trying new recipes at this time, perhaps possibly due to the fact that stores discount many of my favorite, and sometimes pricier, baking supplies.  I'm super excited about the new Publix ad that starts today that has Ocean Spray Craisins on sale B1G1 so I can pick up a few bags at half-price for this awesome Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chip cookie recipe of mine that is perfect for Christmas-time.  Coupons for baking items also tend to increase during this time of year (for example, I just found out about a coupon for 50¢ off any Gold Medal flour product, which means much cheaper flour once it doubles up to $1 off).

This weekend I attempted two recipes I've been wanting to try for a little while and combine them into one tasty treat.  I LOVE pumpkin in baked goods and have had many pumpkin cupcake recipes sitting on a shelf just waiting to be tested for some time and decided to just go for it after my awesome trip to Publix on Sunday.  While I do enjoy creating baked goods from scratch, I am not opposed to using cake mixes for simplicity's sake.  I found the recipe for this cake from Kraft Foods and decided to use just the cake portion of the recipe as I wanted to try my hand at a different icing recipe.

Chocolatey Goodness

My husband is one of those people who can just take a look into the pantry and fridge and come up with an idea for some wonderful dish that he just whips up out of nowhere.  As for me, I've never been much of a good cook.  I'm just not as familiar with different flavors to be able to easily combine various items without having a recipe to follow.

I do have my place in the kitchen though.  I love playing with my wonderful stand mixer and whipping up sweets!  The hubby loves that I enjoy baking and am somewhat decent at it.  For this last Christmas, we actually decided to give edible gifts to all of our families, which had me in the kitchen every night for an entire week, as well as all day on Christmas Eve, making up goodies like cookie dough truffles, mocha truffles, oatmeal cranberry white chocolate chip cookies, marshmallows (shaped like stars and trees to accompany mugs of hot chocolate), peanut butter fudge, meringue candy canes, and chocolate covered Oreos.

About two weeks after the hubby left for basic, he started bringing up in his letters a triple chocolate cheesecake that I made once a few months earlier that he fell in love with.  I could tell he was craving it and had decided that I might make it as a surprise gift for him when I go to visit him for his graduation from BCT.  He then finally came right out and said that I needed to bring it with me, making sure to bring enough for him as well as some of his friends there to whom he's been bragging about me and my baking abilities.