Tag Archives: Snacks

Apple Pie Braided Danish

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My son started t-ball this week. I made the monumental mistake of telling him a month ago that t-ball was starting “soon”. Apparently I have no idea how slowly time moves for a three-year-old. Daily he has looked at me with big hopeful brown eyes “Mommy? Do I have t-ball today?”. Finally, I got to say yes. Of course, I had to make a special treat for him for when he triumphantly arrived home from his first practice. What goes with t-ball? Hmmmm. T-ball is like baseball.  Baseball…Americana…American as apple pie. Bingo! Problem is, apple pie takes a while to prepare and bake. Little munchkin t-ball practices are done in an hour. Which was plenty long enough for Donovan to come home drenched and covered in mud, but not really enough time to throw together a pie.

So, I improvised. Took a look in the fridge/freezer/fruit bowl and came up with this braided danish. It’s kind of like a pie. Except you can hold it in your hand, eat it for breakfast, dessert or a snack and it takes just minutes to throw together. Don’t let the braid part scare you. It’s really easy.

I’ve actually been practicing braiding on my daughter recently. She has incredibly gorgeous long hair that becomes a wild crazy mane if I don’t rein it in. One of her favorite things for me to do is a french braid. Or my attempt at a french braid anyway. It’s a work in progress. I’m not going to lie…I’m braiding challenged. But even I can manage this danish braid.

We start with some puff pastry, thawed. Roll it out a little then cut two triangles out of the bottom and slice off the corners at the top. Like this.

Then, starting at the middle of each side, slice into strips. Cut directly in the middle, towards the center of the dough. Then, cut each half in half. Then cut the four strips in half again. You’ll have 8 mostly even pieces of dough to braid. Repeat on the other side.

Slice some apples and give them a little mix with a some sugar and cinnamon.

Slap on some delicious cream cheese spread sweetened with a little sugar, vanilla and a hit of lemon zest. Right down the middle of your pastry. And top with the apple slices.

Fold up the bottom and top over the lip of the apples.

Then braid. Start with whichever side you want. Bring a piece of the dough up and over to the other side.

Then take a piece from the opposite side, overlapping it over the previous piece of dough.

Repeat all the way down until you’ve used all your dough pieces. Trim the ends if you need to so it’s nice and neat. Repeat with the other piece of pastry.

A little egg wash, a little bake and you have a perfecto danish with rich sweet cream cheese filling and perfectly cinnamony apples. Of course, it needed a drizzle of icing. Mmmmmm.

Cut into pieces and enjoy! My little t-ball star certainly did!

Apple Pie Braided Danish

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons greek yogurt
1/2 lemon, zest and juice used
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 Gala apples
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 box of frozen puff pastry, defrosted

Icing:
3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 tablespoon milk

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, place the cream cheese, yogurt, lemon zest, vanilla, 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar and mix until smooth, using an electric mixer. Set aside.

Peel and slice your apples into 1/4-inch slices. In a small bowl toss them with 1 tablespoon of sugar, cinnamon and juice from the half a lemon.

Carefully unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry and roll slightly with a floured rolling pin until it’s about 1/4-inch in thickness. Transfer the sheet of puff pastry to a piece of parchment.

At an angle, slice off the top corners and cut two notches in the bottom. Slice 1-inch strips diagonally down both sides of the puff pastry, leaving the center uncut. Try to cut the same amount of strips on both sides. I had 8 strips per side. It helps if you start at the middle. Cut in half, then half again, and half again. Then all your pieces will be even.

Add half of cream cheese filling, spreading it evenly down the center of the puff pastry. Top with apple slices.

Fold in the bottom and top flaps. Braid the puff pastry, by folding the strips over the filing, alternating sides, until you’ve worked your way down the puff pastry. Using your knife, trim off any leftover strips or extra dough. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry.

Transfer the danish (with parchment) to a baking sheet, and brush top with egg wash (an egg with 1 tablespoon of water). Transfer baking sheet to oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until puffed up and golden brown.

While baking, mix confectioner’s sugar with milk and mix. When the danish comes out of the oven, drizzle top with icing and serve warm.

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Ghirardellis Caramel S’mores

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No, this isn’t a “real” recipe. Just something I want to share with you all since campfire season is upon us. And that means kicking back listening to the crackle of wood burning and being mesmerized by logs turning to coals. I have to give a shout out to my amazing father. The beautiful stone fire pit you see in the background? Yeah, he built it.  He threw it together this afternoon for my mom so all us kids could come over for a campfire this evening. I’m not kidding. He’s so awesome.

When the embers are just perfect, it is time to make s’mores. Classic campfire food. Did you know s’mores are not required to have plain chocolate on them. No, there’s a world of other possibilities for making gooey, melty marshmallow goodness.

My favorite is using Ghirardellis caramel squares instead of regular old Hershey bars. First of all, it’s better chocolate. Second, it’s filled with gorgeous oozing caramel. It is amazing. Try it at your next campfire. You’ll never go back! Do you have a go-to chocolate replacement in your s’mores?

Ghirardellis Caramel S’mores

Graham Crackers
Marshmallows
Ghirardellis Caramel Squares

First, you take the graham. You put the chocolate (caramel square) on the graham. Then, you toast the mallow. Onto the chocolate it goes, top with another graham and mmmmmmmmm, enjoy.

Pizza Puffs

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Sometimes, sandwiches just aren’t going to cut it for lunch. I mean really, I can’t expect my kids to eat them every day just because I can make them in my sleep. I made these pizza puffs to change-up our mid-day meal today and my two preschoolers ate the entire batch. They devoured them so quickly that all I got was a little taste and I had to beg for it from my daughter. I filled my version with some sautéed mushrooms, bell pepper and some ham. You could use pepperoni and sausage or just about any other pizza combo you can think of. Feel free to switch out the cheese too. Cheddar or pepper-jack would be delicious I’m sure. No matter how you prepare them, these light fluffy bites filled with big pizza-y flavor are sure to be a hit!

I used non-fat milk because it’s what I have in the house to use up. These still tasted fantastic, but were a little more difficult to get popped out of the muffin tin than if I’d used whole milk. So just keep that in mind. More fat = less bits stuck to your pan. I was planning to freeze some of these for a later use, but the ravenous children didn’t allow that to happen. I’m sure they’d freeze up very nicely though. Mmmm. Just look at all that cheesy goodness packed into a perfect mouthful!

These would be great appetizers for your next party or to celebrate the start of football season (it is less than 100 days away).

Pizza Puffs
adapted from Plain Chicken

3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
3/4 cup whole milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
2 oz Canadian bacon (or deli ham)
1/2 cup mushrooms, sauteed until slightly cooked
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup pizza sauce

Pre-heat the oven to 375°. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, garlic powder , Italian seasoning and baking powder; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella, mushrooms, bell pepper and Canadian bacon; let stand for 10 minutes.

Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.

M&M’s® Rolo® Pretzel Bites

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Looking for a fabulous, easy treat? How about a little caramelly goodness sandwiched between rich chocolate and a little salty crunch? I’ve got you covered with these rolo pretzel bites. They whip up in just minutes and are perfect for munching during a movie, long car ride or on a weekend getaway. They are also HIGHLY addictive. I’d recommend making a double batch. I made the epic mistake of bringing just a single batch to a family camping trip and they were devoured the first evening. I’m embarrassed to tell you how many I shoved in my face. I could not stop. They were just glorious.

Simply top waffle pretzels with an unwrapped Rolo candy. I used slave labor and had my kids unwrap all the candies. They love helping me.

Bake for a couple of minutes and then press a peanut M&M into the Rolo – smooshing it down into the pretzel. You could use a regular M&M, but I like the peanut crunch on top.

This recipe is proof that if Mars & Hershey combined, they could take over the world. You won’t be able to stop eating these.

There are lots of combinations you could do with these little bites. During the holidays, use just red/green M&Ms. You could use Hershey’s kisses or hugs instead of Rolos (but why on earth would you want to remove the caramel from this recipe?). All you peanut butter/chocolate combo folks could press a peanut butter M&M on top to get your fix. Personally, I think these are perfection just as they are. Gooey caramel, salty pretzel and just the right amount of chocolate with a peanut crunch. Oh. Baby.

M&M’s® Rolo® Pretzel Bites
makes about 50

1 bag Rolo candies
50 waffle pretzels
50 peanut M&M’s

On a large parchment paper lined baking sheet, spread out pretzels in a single layer. Unwrap Rolo candies and place one on top of each pretzel.
Bake at 275° F for 2-3 minutes until Rolo candies are soft.
Remove from oven and quickly press one M&M into each Rolo.
Allow to cool completely.

Graham-O-Toffee Candy

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The “O” is for oats. These treats are to DIE for. Incredibly easy and layered deliciousness. I’m taking them camping this weekend. If they last that long. I love recipes where the finished product seems like more work than it actually took. Shhh. It’ll be our little secret how simple these are.

Start with a jelly roll pan and line it with foil, then a single layer of graham crackers.

Mix up some oats, sugar and flour.

Then mix in an egg and some butter (mmmmm – melted butter).

Spread over the grahams. Don’t worry about getting it totally perfect. As it bakes it will spread and layer itself nicely.

Bake until golden, then top with chocolate, almonds and toffee chips.

Break apart into bars or chunks and shove into your face.

These bars are perfectly balanced. They have sweetness and crunch in all the right places plus the earthy goodness of oats.

They are a great camping food. Especially if you’re going somewhere you can’t have a fire. They are a little reminiscent of smores, except better, because they’re toffee. I love caramel buttery toffee. (happy sigh) Enjoy!

Toffee Oat Grahams
adapted from BHG

15 whole graham crackers (rectangles)
1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2/3 cup butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 12 ounce package semisweet chocolate pieces
1/2 cup whole almonds, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup heath bar toffee chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 15x10x1-inch baking pan (jelly roll pan) with foil, extending foil beyond edges of pan. Arrange whole graham crackers in a single layer in prepared pan. In a large bowl combine the oats, sugars, and flour. Stir in melted butter, egg, and vanilla until well combined. Spoon over graham crackers and spread evenly to edges of pan to cover graham crackers.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until oat mixture bubbles and is lightly browned on top. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate pieces. Return to oven for 1 minute. Spread melted chocolate over top to cover. Evenly sprinkle with almonds & toffee chips. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Use foil to lift from pan. Remove foil. Cut or break into bars. Makes 30 bars.

Apple Oatmeal Cookies With Brown Butter Frosting

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I’m pretty conflicted about sharing this recipe. On the one hand, the cookies taste delicious. They are kind of like an apple crisp cookie. They have chewy oats and sweet apples with a hint of cinnamon. Delightful. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure the recipe was missing a key step. Chilling the dough. My cookies spread all over the pan and were very flat. I recently got a new (giant) baking sheet, and fit all but about three cookies in one batch. So I got a bunch of flat flat cookies.

When they came out of the oven I got pretty irritated. I had to smoosh the cookies back towards the middle after removing them from the oven to get them mildly presentable. I don’t really want to admit this recipe failed, and blogging it means that I have to fess up. I hate with a passion when a recipe does not turn out. I feel like I’ve wasted my time, energy and ingredients. Rgh. Annoying. I’m sure you’ve all had this experience. Which is why I’m sharing. Sometimes, baking doesn’t produce what you are expecting. At times like these, you shouldn’t throw your pans out and start claiming you are “not a baker”. No. Just blame the recipe. Seriously. Many times, you are just missing a step. Like in this case, I think the dough should have been chilled. The taste was excellent so I’ll try making these again, this time with some fridge time for the dough. The resulting things on my pan just were not really very appetizing without some chilling. This is after I’d smooshed them back in.

Here’s the tricky thing. Because these cookies have a brown butter frosting (which is amazing), I can pretty well cover the shortcomings of this recipe. Just slap some frosting on and everything looks great. I suppose I could have just shared the photo below and told you these turned out great.

Brown butter frosting covers a multitude of sins. In addition to tasting incredible, it turned these lumps of misshapen cookie dough into beautiful(ish) looking delights. See? I could have just showed you this, and you’d never have been the wiser.

But that wouldn’t be very nice. Then when your cookies spread (just like mine did) you might think you’d done something wrong. I’m just keepin’ it real here. You will never get a recipe from me that looks good but secretly didn’t actually turn out. Everyone has baking failures. All of us. It happens. So, I’m not going to pretend they don’t. Go ahead and make these cookies, but be sure you chill your dough before scooping it onto the pan. Otherwise, you’ll have to spend a whole lot of time reforming them as they are cooling to get anything close to resembling this.

Apple Oatmeal Cookies with Brown Butter Frosting
from Lauren’s Latest

1/2 cup butter, softened
6 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup all purpose flour + 1 tablespoon
1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup peeled, diced apple

for the frosting:
1/4 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon milk {approximately}
cinnamon, for garnish if desired

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with silicone baking mat or parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Stir in egg and vanilla. Slowly incorporate all dry ingredients. Stir in oats and apples.  Chill for 30 minutes.

Scoop onto prepared sheet (I used a melon baller) and bake 10-12  minutes or until the edges are golden.

While cookies are baking, place 1/4 cup butter into small saucepan. With heat on medium, melt and brown the butter. Once the butter is a medium brown/amber color remove from heat and pour into a small bowl. Beat in powdered sugar and enough milk to get a spreadable consistency.

Frost warm cookies and sprinkle with more cinnamon, if desired. Serve.

Super Moist Chocolate Zucchini Bread

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Baked goods involving zucchini are considered a vegetable in my book. I’ve been exercising like a crazy person lately and watching my calories, so more vegetables is exactly what I need. This amazingly moist absolutely decadent tasting chocolate bread fit the bill perfectly. I don’t feel too badly about it since it’s reasonably low-calorie and very low-fat. Unless I eat the whole loaf. Hmmmm. Not gonna lie. That might happen.

Start by shredding some zucchini. You’ll need about one medium-sized courgette (yes, I just used the fancy-pants term).

Mix up some sugars and applesauce. You can use oil if you’d like, but I was going the uber healthy route with this. Then, stir in some eggs and zucchini.

Some dry ingredients get stirred in. Those little hands belong to my son, who loves helping me bake. I don’t want any of you to think I have freakishly t.i.n.y. mitts.

Then the final touch to this yummy bread. Chocolate chips. Ok, so it just ceased to be a bread and became a cake. I know.

Bake, slice and enjoy.

Rich chocolate. And I’ve convinced myself it is actually a vegetable. Yes. I am in heaven. Please don’t wake me from this dream.

You will be too. There are little pockets of melty chocolate chips in every bite and the bread is all gorgeous and moist. Enjoy!

Super Moist Chocolate Zucchini Bread
adapted from Slice of Feist

1 & 1/2 Cups Shredded Zucchini
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup high quality Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
Dash of salt
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Applesauce
1/2 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Cup packed Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3/4 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips

Directions

In a large bowl, combine your applesauce, sugars and vanilla. Mix in your eggs and shredded zucchini. In a separate bowl, sift together your flour, cocoa, salt, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder. Slowly add this dry mixture into your wet mixture. Stir until combined. Mix in your chocolate chips.

Scrape your batter into a greased 9x5x3 loaf pan (I always do a little parchment paper action on the bottom too), and bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs clinging to it.

No Bake Energy Bites

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My husband recently brought home some chocolate from Israel. His co-worker brought it back from a trip. I was intrigued by the packaging. Instead of a caloric count on the back, the label read “energy”. I love that. Food = Fuel. Sometimes I forget that the food I eat provides energy to my body. These no bake bites are packed with delicious whole food that will give you a little get-up-and-go. Easy to throw together and perfect for stashing a couple in your purse for an on-the-go snack. My kids love these babies. They are easily customizable to your likes as well. Just about anything could be substituted here. Feel free to change it up with any variety of nut butter or whatever you have in your pantry that you think may be good. Have fun and enjoy! Continue reading →

Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

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I’m making peanut butter and chocolate for two reasons. I needed a snack to bring to conference championship weekend (it’s a football thing – pretty much the best day in the NFL all year) and secondly, I don’t really like peanut butter chocolate things. Since I’m trying to drop a few pounds, I need to make things that won’t tempt me personally. I’ve found that if I can resist the urge to eat “just one” of something, I’m much less likely to polish off the entire batch. These looked amazing and my husband (confirmed non-sweet eater) had three of them, so I feel very confident in telling you to give them a try. Plus, 3000 people repinning this on Pinterest can’t be wrong. Sweet and salty together is always a good plan.

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Fried Mozzarella Balls

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I have tried the fried cheese at just about every restaurant in the Seattle area. I love it. In sticks, wedges or balls. With marinara, sprinkled with parmesan, panko, breadcrumbs or beer battered. I would eat it in a box. I would eat it with a fox. I would eat it here or there. I would eat it anywhere.  Hmmmm. Might be reading too much Seuss to my kiddos. Seriously though. Melty cheese in a crunchy shell is absolutely glorious. There’s a fancy pants fried bocconcini (mozzarella balls) recipe floating around on Pinterest, but I figured there had to be an easier way than draining the cheese, patting it dry etc. And I found it in my fridge. String cheese. Genius! Still melty and delicious, without needing a special trip to the store for a $20 bucket of bocconcini.

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