Baked Cinnamon Donuts

I woke up today and wanted donuts. I'm just guessing, but it was probably because I dreamed about them last night. Just guessing. Anyways, half an hour later, I was sinking my teeth into a warm, soft, cinnamon-y donut, and the kitchen smelled wonderful!

We had no cream cheese (or maybe we did, but the words were in Russian so I couldn't tell) so I simply omitted it. Just mix with a fork the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla together, then add milk a little at a time until it's the right consistency.

Baked Cinnamon Donuts

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 Tbs. light brown sugar, packed

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon (add more if you want a stronger cinnamon flavor)

1/2 tsp. salt, optional and to taste

6 Tbs. buttermilk

1 large egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 to 2 Tbs. cream cheese, softened

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

splash Milk, Half & Half, Cream, or Heavy Cream

Directions:

Donuts:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 F and lightly grease or spray a Nonstick 6-Cavity Donut Pan  (or a muffin pan) with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and optional salt.

3. Add buttermilk, egg, vanilla and melted butter.  Whisk to combine.

4. Use a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip, a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off, or a spoon to pipe the batter into the donut or muffin pan.

5. Bake 8 to 11 minutes, or until doughnuts spring back when touched.  Donuts will not be golden brown, but should be springy. Cool about 5 minutes in pan before removing.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze:

1. While donuts are cooling, make the glaze by combining powdered sugar, cream cheese, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and a small splash of milk. Whisk to combine, adding the milk as necessary, until desired consistency is achieved.

2. Dip the donuts into the glaze. Donuts are best fresh, but will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Recipe from: http://www.averiecooks.com/2011/11/baked-cinnamon-bun-donuts-with-vanilla-cream-cheese-glaze.html

Apple Salad

A nice, citrusy salad perfect for anytime of the year, but especially fall. Switch the types of cheese and toppings to mix it up.

Apple Salad

Dressing ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil

4 tsp apple cider vinegar

Small squirt Dijon mustard

1/8 tsp salt

For the salad:

Thinly sliced apples

Candied walnuts

Dried cranberries or dried cherries

Chunks of brie cheese or thin slices of parmesan

Mixed greens

Apple dressing

1. Put dressing ingredients in a small plastic bowl with a top.

2. Seal the lid and shake.

3. Add more ingredients to taste.

4. Sprinkle over mixed greens and add the rest of the toppings.

World's Best Bean Dip and Easy Quesadillas

Okay, so I haven't actually tried any other bean dip, as far as I can remember. But I am still fully convinced that this is, in fact, the world's best bean dip. We don't have it that often, but when we do, I eat a lot of it! It's good on quesadillas (which are also easy and customizable) or tortilla chips. Today we even figured out it's nice on pita chips too—the commissary was out of tortilla chips.

When my dad worked in a restaurant during college, he learned this recipe. Now, everyone in my family loves it...and it's so simple, only three ingredients!

First, scoop in the refried beans.

Next, the salsa.

Estimating is completely fine! I just dumped in about a 1/3 to 1/2 jar of this salsa.

Stir in a few handfuls of cheese until it's all hot and melty, and it's done!

The salsa and cheese in this bean dip can be increase or decreased according to preference. Any heat of salsa can be used, and any type of cheese. Use quesadillas, tortilla chips, or pita chips to dip in it.

Easy Quesadillas

Ingredients:

Tortillas

Cheese (Colby Jack or cheddar are best)

Suggested ingredients:

Shredded chicken

Black beans

Salsa

Sour cream

Directions:

1. Place a tortilla on a hot frying pan.

2. Sprinkle desired toppings on, and top with another tortilla. When the bottom tortilla is golden-brown, carefully flip using a large spatula.

3. When that side is also golden-brown and the cheese is melty, place on a cutting board and slice into pieces using a pizza cutter or sharp knife.

World's Best Bean Dip

makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:

1 can refried beans

3/4 cup salsa

3/4 cup cheese (Colby Jack or cheddar are best)

1. In a small pot over medium-low heat, mix refried beans, salsa, and cheese.

2. Stir frequently until cheese is melted and bean dip is hot.

3. Taste, and add extra cheese or salsa to preference.

Tuna Catnip Cat Treats

We have two cats, and I love them! Actually, I love cats in general. Ours are sisters that we got when we arrived here. They're no particular kind, but they are both super sweet! Both love to snuggle up on a warm lap for hours. Kamber has an adorable dark nose, and she was very timid at first. Now she is less so, even standing up to the dog at times. The other's name is Koshka, Russian for 'cat'. Koshka is more spunky, hissing and pawing when the dog tries to play, and pushing her way onto a lap, even when there is absolutely no space left.

When I saw this treat recipe from Joy the Baker, of course I had to make it for my kitties! These treats have tuna in them. Drain your tuna well, otherwise yours will turn out a bit more sticky, like mine. I don't like tuna—unlike cats—so of course the oil from the tuna got all over my hands. Ew! That's probably the reason I didn't drain the tuna completely.

Later, I gave them to my cats. Kamber and Koshka are messy treat-eaters...they push them around the floor and lick them, getting crumbs all over. I've learned to use a bowl! When Carbon, the dog, came over to Kamber while she was eating one, Kamber was not willing to share with him! Or with Koshka, for that matter.

Tuna Catnip Treats

makes 30

Recipe from: http://joythebaker.com/2014/01/tuna-catnip-kitty-treats/

Mochaccino Cupcakes

Now that we finally have some snow, a nice coffee and chocolate cupcake hits the spot.

Actually, these would be good anytime of the year, but that's besides the point!

You're probably asking yourself why you need more coffee and chocolate in your life right now, but that question answers itself. It's a coffee and chocolate cupcake! Yum! Just maybe you don't need this cupcake right before bed. Unless it's a mini one, because those are so small and cute you can eat them anytime of the day right? You could even argue eating them for breakfast...it is coffee, after all.

The cake has good, noticeable coffee and chocolate flavors, and the frosting tastes like coffee, but better because it's mixed with butter and powdered sugar! The chocolate pieces in the cake go a long way, making this cupcake extra good—so don't skip them!

Mochaccino Cupcakes

makes: 30 standard cupcakes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup softened butter

3 eggs

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled

2 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup dark, bittersweet, or semisweet chocolate pieces

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2. In a 2-cup glass measuring cup combine milk and coffee. Set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, beating on medium speed until combined. Scrape side of bowl, beat for 2 minutes more. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.

4. Stir in chocolate pieces.

5. Bake at 350ºF for about 18 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched.

6. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups. Cool completely on wire racks.

7. Top with coffee buttercream. Use cocoa powder, ground cinnamon, chocolate shavings, sprinkles, or creme-filled rolled wafers (such as Pirouettes) to garnish.

Coffee Buttercream

makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:

1/3 cup softened butter

4 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbs strong brewed coffee, cooled

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.

2. Gradually add 1 cup powdered sugar, beating well.

3. Beat in 3 tablespoons strong brewed coffee, cooled, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

4. Gradually beat in 3 cups additional powdered sugar.

5. If necessary, beat in additional coffee until buttercream reaches a spreading consistency.

Recipe from: "Cupcakes." Better Homes and Gardens 2011: 97. Print

Bread Bowls

Panera Bread has delicious bread bowls...or so I've heard, I haven't been there often enough to know. It's yet another restaurant that I miss. But these bread bowls almost make up for that. They're not Panera's sourdough bread bowls, but that doesn't mean they don't taste amazing with soup! Or, if yours are a little flat like some of ours, they make great sandwiches! Aaaand...you can put jam or honey on the left over tops of the bread bowls.

All of ours were a little bit too flat for comfort after the second rising, so we re-kneaded half of them and added some more flour, and they turned out much more bowl-ish than the ones we didn't knead again.

Bread Bowls

Makes 8

Recipe from: http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/bread/savory-bread/homemade-bread-bowls.html?cpage=1#comments

Gnocchi in Cheesy Tomato Sauce

Homemade gnocchi...mmm. Although it's not very cold out (come on, Russia!), these warm bowls of gnocchi were still perfect. Home-making the gnocchi is best, but it can be store bought, of course. The sauce doesn't even need too many spices with all that cheese and Italian sausage. We actually only had ground Italian sausage so we made little Italian-sausage-meatballs. Now those were some flavorful meatballs—worth the attack from the canola oil! You can also just cook ground Italian sausage normally if you don't want it to attack you, or use sliced Italian sausage.

We used regular mozzarella cheese, although I'm sure fresh cheese would be even better. You may be wondering why we have purple leaves on our food. Good question; it's purple basil. I didn't even know purple basil existed until a few days ago! It would make some interesting pesto...

Making this in individual bowls is fun and fancy, but unessecary. Since we have great polish pottery bowls, we went ahead and mixed and matched!

Gnocchi in Cheesy Tomato Sauce

3 servings

Recipe from: http://www.williams-kitchen.com/2012/12/homemade-gnocchi-sausage-in-red-sauce/

Baked Cake Donuts

My brother is returning to Michigan this morning. Of course I wanted to make him one more thing before he left (plus I wanted to try my new donut pans), so I let him pick a donut flavor. Vanilla, it was decided.

This Wilton recipe seemed like a safe way to go, so my mom and I mixed up these donuts from start to finish in about 40 minutes; they were very easy to make, plus a half recipe of Alton Brown's glaze covered all 12 donuts perfectly! While these donuts do not taste like Krispy Kreme's, they are a fun treat!

Some of our donuts were a bit over-filled, so some of the holes are hidden. You can make this recipe into donut holes by using a mini cupcake pan. They will also work in a normal cupcake pan. We used all-purpose flour, but if you do this, make sure not to skip the sifting step! Sifting keeps your donuts a little lighter, which is extra-important if you don't use cake flour.

Baked Cake Donuts

Makes 12 donuts

Ingredients:

2 cups cake flour, sifted

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray donut pan with vegetable cooking spray.

2. In large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt.

3. Add buttermilk, eggs and butter. Beat until just combined.

4. Fill each pan cavity approximately 2/3 full. Bake 7-9 minutes or until the tops of the donuts spring back when touched. Let cool in pan 4-5 minutes before removing.

5. Finish donuts with chocolate or vanilla glaze, or cinnamon sugar. Donuts are best served fresh.

Recipe from: http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Baked-Cake-Donuts

Vanilla Donut Glaze

Makes enough for 20-25 donuts

Recipe adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/doughnut-glaze-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Mozzarella Cheese Sticks

I don't know about your family, but mine loves mozzarella cheese sticks...there's never any extras. To make these ones, we bought out the last string cheese in the commissary, and Mom looked in multiple stores to find eggs (a lot of stores in Russia are closed on January 2).

I'm so glad Damon was here for these. I don't actually like to fry things because the oil is so hot, but Damon volunteered before I even asked him! It's like he read my mind. Our cheese sticks were insanely melty, more like cheese piles than cheese sticks, so it was a mess to dip them in Mom's delicious homemade pizza sauce!

The original recipe uses panko bread crumbs, as they are more light and flaky. We didn't have any bread crumbs at all, so we just crumbled and toasted some regular wheat bread.

To make them real mozzarella cheese sticks, you have to use mozarrella cheese, of course. We just got whatever string cheese the commissary had left, and they turned out great!

Be careful not to get the oil too hot, otherwise they will burn. Ours took less than a minute in the oil, and the cheese melted fast, so our oil probably could have been cooler. It probably would have also helped if I had put the cheese sticks in the freezer for 20-30 minutes, but I was excited and we wanted to eat them as an appetizer and not after pizza!

I forgot to add the parsley flakes since we made our own bread crumbs, but they still tasted good.

This recipe got a definite yum!

Mozzarella Cheese Sticks

Ingredients:

16 pieces string cheese, removed from wrappers

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 whole eggs

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

2 cups Panko bread crumbs

Canola oil, for frying

Marinara Sauce, for dipping

Directions:

1. Slice string cheese pieces in half, for a total of 32 pieces.

2. Place flour in a small bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and milk.

4. In another separate bowl, combine panko bread crumbs with parsley flakes.

5. One by one, roll mozzarella sticks in flour, then dunk in egg/milk mixture, then place in panko crumbs. Use your hand to sweep crumbs all over the mozzarella stick. Gently remove and place on a tray or cookie sheet. Repeat until all mozzarella sticks are coated.

6. Place tray in freezer for 20 to 30 minutes to flash freeze.

7. Heat 1 1/2 inches canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add mozzarella sticks 8 at a time. Watch closely and turn over to evenly brown, cooking less than 2 minutes. Do not allow cheese to bubble and leak.

8. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate. Serve immediately with warm marinara sauce.

Recipe from: http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2010/05/panko-mozzarella-sticks/