Top 25 Recipes From 2012

This year has been fun. I finished my first year of college and started my second year. I saw a bunch of concerts. I went camping a bunch of times…oh, and I got engaged.

I would definitely say that 2012 has been the best year for this blog as well. More people seem to be stopping by to say “hello” and check out recipes, and I’ve even made some new blogger friends! As we say goodbye to 2012, I thought I would compile a list of some of my favorite recipes from this year. Recipes that I will make again as we go into 2013, and recipes that I hope you give a chance too! Hope you all had a great holiday and ring in the New Year in style!

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread
Zucchini Sweet Potato Bread
Green Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie
Banana Almond Smoothie
Vegan Pumpkin Pecan Bread
Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal
Whole Wheat Banana Bread Pancakes
Banana Sweet Potato Bread

Kick Ass Black Bean Skillet Nachos
Artichoke Feta Garlic Bread
Summer Veggie Rolls With Spicy Peanut Lime Sauce
Seven Layer Greek Dip
Roasted Corn Guacamole
Swiss Cheese Spinach and Mushroom Quiche with Crispy Potato Crust
Eggplant Marinara Flatbread
Roasted Garlic Hummus
Huevos Rancheros Wraps

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Tres Leches Cake
Rhubarb Crunch
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Streusel Topping
Peanut Butter and Honey Popcorn
Double Fudge Oreo Cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Brownies
Rhubarb Muffins with Crumble Topping

Homemade Peppermint Patties

I’ve been making peppermint patties since I began baking and cooking on my own.

It seemed easy enough – make the filling (no bake!) and coat it in chocolate. But you see, coating a soft filling in chocolate when you’re not experienced can sometimes lead to ugly treats. And this is why I haven’t posted these delicious chocolate covered balls of love before.

I’m happy to report that I made peppermint patties again this year with success. They are soft and chewy on the inside with an awesome chocolate coating on the outside. Perfect for the holidays!

Let’s get started! Add condensed milk, 2 cups of powdered sugar, and peppermint extract to a large mixing bowl.

Mix everything on medium speed using a hand mixer (or your paddle attachment) until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Add more powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time.

Work until the dough is stiff but still pliable.

Roll 3/4″ balls of dough between the palms of the hands.

Press each ball down slowly and set the flattened disk on a flat cutting board or plate. Transfer peppermint disks to the freezer for no longer than 30 minutes. While the dough is chilling, temper the chocolate coating.

Place chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl. Melt the chocolate in 30 second increments, making sure to stir after each time until chocolate is smooth. Stir in shortening to thin the chocolate. Remove patties from the freezer.

Place a patty on the tines of the fork (or super duper dipping tool) and dip in the chocolate until completely covered. Allow excess chocolate to drip off the patty before setting each one on top of wax or parchment paper.

Allow the chocolate coated peppermint patties to completely set up. This can be done quicker by placing the patties in the refrigerator.

The peppermint patties are ready when they are dry to the touch.

Enjoy! They kind of look holy in this picture, don’t ya think?

Homemade Peppermint Patties
Recipe adapted from Savory Sweet Life
Makes 32 candies

Ingredients
1 can sweetened condensed milk
5 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 tablespoon peppermint extract
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons shortening

Directions
Add condensed milk, 2 cups of powdered sugar, and peppermint extract to a large mixing bowl. Mix everything on medium speed using the paddle attachment until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Add more powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough is stiff but still pliable.

Roll 3/4″ balls of dough between the palms of the hands.

Press each ball down slowly and set the flattened disk on a flat cutting board or plate. Transfer peppermint disks to the freezer for no longer than 30 minutes. While the dough is chilling, temper the chocolate coating.

Place chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl. Melt the chocolate in 30 second increments, making sure to stir after each time until chocolate is smooth. Stir in shortening to thin the chocolate. Remove patties from the freezer.

Place a patty on the tines of the fork and dip in the chocolate until completely covered. Allow excess chocolate to drip off the patty before setting each one on top of wax or parchment paper.

Allow the chocolate coated peppermint patties to completely set up. This can be done quicker by placing the patties in the refrigerator. The peppermint patties are ready when they are dry to the touch. Enjoy!

Eggnog Fudge

Some things just scream Christmas for me.

1. Eggnog.
2. Gingerbread anything.
3. Cats in Christmas hats….

I officially finished all of my Christmas baking yesterday, and tried quite a few new recipes from various bloggers. Needless to say, my pants don’t fit. Despite running between 5-15 miles five days a week my body has decided to let me know that I’m now 25, and can’t eat whatever I wan’t anymore. I was warned about this day…damn you metabolism!

I can deal with stretchy pants though, because if nothing else, the extra pound or two I’ve gained has gone straight to my butt, and I think it looks just fine ;)

I’ve had this recipe for Eggnog fudge waiting to be made since I saw it a year ago on Brown Eyed Baker‘s blog. No need for me to repost the recipe here, since I followed her instructions to a T, but this recipe is a must make for any eggnog lovers out there. If you’re a hater…I’d skip this one.

Recipe for Eggnog Fudge here.

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

I had a birthday party for two on the 8th. I turned 25, and the boy and I celebrated with mulled wine, the walking dead, paneer curry…and cake.

Ohhhh the cake. It had a toasted marshmallow frosting, a delightful spiced sweet potato based cake and cinnamon brown sugar buttercream. Everything was going splendidly until, seemingly out of nowhere, I broke my buttercream.

This will forever be entitled “My 25th: Broken Buttercream Birthday”. Now that’s just not pretty, but it WAS tasty. Like out of this world good.

Another delicious thing I made on my birthday was this banana bread. With swirls of cinnamon and sugar throughout this bread it’ll make you think you’re eating a dessert! I love all kinds of banana bread, but this one is definitely one of my favorites. Shall we get started?

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a loaf pan (mine was 9 x 5). Mash those ripe bananas.

Mix bananas, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together. sprinkle baking soda and salt around on top of the banana mixture. Then gently stir in flour. Be careful not to over-mix!

In a small dish, mix together the 1/3 cup sugar and 1 Tbs cinnamon. This stuff makes me giddy.

Add 1/2 of the batter to the loaf pan and then sprinkle half, or a little more than half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture all over the batter in the pan. Add the rest of the batter, and then sprinkle the leftover cinnamon-sugar on top.

Bake for 50-60 minutes and keep a close eye on it!

Let cool on a rack and dig in!

For other banana bread recipes see my:
Banana Sweet Potato Bread
Swirly Nutella Banana Bread
Whole Wheat Brown Sugar Banana Bread Pancakes

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread
Makes 1 loaf
Recipe lightly adapted from Love in the Oven

Ingredients:
3 over-ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour

For the swirl:
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a loaf pan. Mine was 9 x 5, but you could use any sort, I suppose. Just keep a close eye on it in the oven, and adjust the time as needed.

Mix bananas, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together. sprinkle baking soda and salt around on top of the banana mixture. Then gently stir in flour. Be careful not to over-mix!

In a small dish, mix together the 1/3 cup sugar and 1 Tbs cinnamon.

Add 1/2 of the batter to the loaf pan and then sprinkle half, or a little more than half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture all over the batter in the pan. Add the rest of the batter, and then sprinkle the leftover cinnamon-sugar on top.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, but remember, if you’re using a different-sized loaf pan, be careful and keep a close eyeball on it!

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

When I think of Christmas baking my mind immediately goes to cookies. And hunny, I’ll take any kind!

I am so pleased that I was able to participate in the 2012 Cookie Swap this year hosted by Lindsay from Love and Olive Oil and Julie from The Little Kitchen. I sent out 1 dozen of these chocolate gingerbread cookies to three different food bloggers (The Gourmet Housewife, The Goodie Girl, and Sweet Twist of Blogging) and I’m so happy I learned about them through this process.

I was also sent 2 dozen cookies from 2 different bloggers. The first box to arrive was from The Yum Yum Factor. These were a compost bar filled with chocolate chips, pepitas and potato chips!!

The second box was from Strawberry Ginger, and she made a totally awesome and chewy classic oatmeal cookie. Thanks guys!

I was actually supposed to receive three boxes off cookies, but either the 3rd person sent their cookies late or not at all. Big time sad face if it’s the latter!! Anyway, this process was so fun and I sure hope it happens again next year!

Let’s make some cookies, shall we?! Gather all of your ingredients.

Sift the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa together into a medium bowl.

Place the butter and grated fresh ginger in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat (with paddle attachment) on medium until the butter is fluffy and light-colored (3-4 minutes). Beat the brown sugar into the butter until combined. Beat the molasses into the butter until combined.

In a small bowl, stir the baking soda into the boiling water until dissolved. Pour half of the flour mixture into the butter-sugar mixture and mix until combined. Add the baking soda-water mixture, beat and then add the remaining flour mixture and beat until dough is uniform in color and texture.

Mix in the chocolate and candied ginger.

HELLO!

Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap.

Place another sheet on top and flatten the dough to a 1-inch thickness. Wrap it up and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and tear off chunks of the dough to roll into balls – about 1 1/2-inches in diameter (move quickly!). Set each dough ball on a plate. Refrigerate the finished dough balls for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll each ball in the granulated sugar to coat completely.

Set on parchment-lined baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10-12 minute Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack (they will be very soft just out of the oven and fall apart easily).

Waiting is hard…

Enjoy!

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookies
Makes 2 dozen big cookies or 4 dozen small cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups + 1 tbsp (220g) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tbsp Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 lb. (4 oz. or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger (peeled)
1/2 cup (120g) dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup (190g) unsulphured molasses
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsps boiling water
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup candied ginger, chopped
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions:
Sift the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa together into a medium bowl. Place the butter and grated fresh ginger in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat (with paddle attachment) on medium until the butter is fluffy and light-colored (3-4 minutes). Beat the brown sugar into the butter until combined. Beat the molasses into the butter until combined. In a small bowl, stir the baking soda into the boiling water until dissolved. Pour half of the flour mixture into the butter-sugar mixture and mix until combined. Add the baking soda-water mixture, beat and then add the remaining flour mixture and beat until dough is uniform in color and texture. Mix in the chocolate and candied ginger.

Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Place another sheet on top and flatten the dough to a 1-inch thickness. Wrap it up and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and tear off chunks of the dough to roll into balls – about 1 1/2-inches in diameter (I made mine 1-inch diameter). NOTE: work quickly! The dough can get sticky! Set each dough ball on a plate. Refrigerate the finished dough balls for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll each ball in the granulated sugar to coat completely, then set on parchment-lined baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10-12 minute Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack (they will be very soft just out of the oven and fall apart easily).

Store in airtight container for up to 5 days.

Tres Leches Cake

Happy Birthday to me! 25 years old and I am not above eating cake for dinner.

This tres leches cake has been made for many birthdays and parties in my life. My fiance, my soon to be mother in law, my cat (it’s her favorite since it has a lot of milk products)…uhh, anyway, this actually wasn’t made for my birthday. But I’m baking my cake as I type this, so I’ll post about that later.

My lovely boy excitedly asked me what I would be baking for my birthday, and when I replies “a type of spice cake” he shouted: “you always make such weird cakes on your birthday”! Now what he doesn’t seem to realize is that it’s MY freaking birthday, and I want a damn spice cake and if you poo poo my cake choice, then you can’t have any! I assume he’ll eat two helpings and ask for more for breakfast…boys.

This cake is unreal. A top contender for my favorite cake ever so I’m super excited to share this with you. Shall we get started?! YES!

To start, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Separate eggs. Have you seen this method?! So. Freaking. Cool.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture.

Stir very gently until combined.

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface. Don’t worry that it looks weird. This is normal!

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.

Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. This is the magical stuff.

When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times.

Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.

It’ll look like this:

Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable. Spread over the surface of the cake. Decorate cake with maraschino cherries or toasted coconut. Cut into squares and serve.

Happy Baking!

Tres Leches Cake
Recipe from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
1 cup All-purpose Flour
1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
5 whole Eggs
1 cup Sugar, Divided
1 teaspoon Vanilla
⅓ cups Milk
1 can Evaporated Milk
1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
¼ cups Heavy Cream

Icing
1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
3 Tablespoons Sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.
Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.

Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable.

Spread over the surface of the cake. Decorate cake with whole or chopped maraschino cherries. Cut into squares and serve.

2012 Gift Guide For Winter (Lady) Runners (under $200)

As I mentioned before, the only Christmas gifts I’m giving this year are delicious baked goods. Not a bad thing, certainly, and definitely something I would be happy to receive, but a big reason for this is my selfish obsession for running. Running gear and signing up for running races, to be exact. Because, as you will see below, running gear is expensive!

I know that a lot of you are runners yourselves, or at least know a lot of runners, so I thought I’d put together a nice little gift guide for any of you shopping for your happy, insane to be running in the cold, running friends this holiday season.

1. Mizuno Wave Inspire 8 Running shoes ($154.99) – Hands down my favorite shoe. It’s light, breathable, and long lasting, which is especially important for the long distance runner. I’ve had many shoes in my day, but my favorite brand so far has been Mizuno.

2. Women’s GTD Tights ($75.00) – Compression fitting to make those buns look mighty fiiiiine! haha but seriously, these tights rock!

3. DryLine Ponytail Toque ($29.99) – Every woman needs a a good toque to keep her ears warm and hair at bay while running outside. I only have one of these, and have never needed to buy another one!

4. A good pair of socks ($29.99 for 3 pairs) – a good pair of socks is especially important in winter to help keep your feet dry. Wet feet = cold feet in winter, and that just sucks.

5. Nike Fuel Band ($149.00) – counts your steps and tracks calories burned throughout the day. What more could you want?!

6. Good Gloves ($40.00) – Keep those digits warm! These are fabulous and allow you to change your ipod without taking off your gloves.

7. Women’s Animagi Jacket ($180.00) – Ultralight jacket that’s great for the cool weather. It also has thumb holes at the base of the sleeve, which is KEY!

Happy shopping! xoxo

Artichoke Feta Garlic Bread

As I cross “being vegan for a month” off of my 30 Things To Do Before 30 list, I am excited to get back to my old pals cheese and butter, but I’m extremely happy that I was able to consume animal free products for an entire month.

During the 30 days, I must say that my body didn’t feel any different than it normally does with a vegetarian diet. I expected a big change and surge of energy like a lot of the books I read said I would, but I simply didn’t. This could be because I watch what I eat, making sure to take in the right amount of protein, whole grains and nutrients from fruits and vegetables anyway. But it’s good to know that I must be doing something right day to day!

The biggest thing I learned after this process, was that reducing the amount of dairy I eat is definitely needed and that I need to cook more vegan foods! I experimented with a few, and was absolutely delighted with the results. Vegan cooking and baking is something I definitely want to get into more. Some of my favorite vegan recipes were my Kale Salad with Oranges, Almonds and Avocado, my Vegan Pecan Pumpkin Bread and Cheeky Kitchen’s Taco Pasta Shells.

Also, if you want to check out great vegan bloggers see:
Healthy Happy Life
Oh She Glows
Post Punk Kitchen

Anyway, the process was fun. And as I mentioned I’m super happy to get back to all things cheese and butter. This is a recipe I found on Tasty Kitchen and can genuinely say it is now one of my favorite foods. No joke. This is a MUST on your kitchen table.

To make this bread gather your fresh herbs. Our stars are parsley, dill, basil and chives (from left to right).

Throw the chopped herbs into a food processor along with the marinated artichoke hearts.

It’s time for feta, butter, and garlic. Oh my! Pulse that goodness until it’s nice and smooth.

Eat with a spoon. You’re done!…kidding.

Slice the bread in 1-inch slices, stopping before the base of the bread. Stuff the bread with the mixture. Wrap in the bread in foil and bake for 25 minutes. Serve while hot!

Love.

Artichoke Feta Garlic Bread
Recipe taken from Tasty Kitchen
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
½ cups parsley, chopped
¼ cups dill, chopped
8 basil leaves, chopped
¼ cups chives, chopped
6 whole marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
6 cloves garlic
¼ cups Feta cheese, crumbled
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 stick butter
1 whole Italian loaf of bread

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Chop the first 4 ingredients and place them in a food processor. Blend. Add artichoke hearts. Blend. Add the garlic, feta, softened butter and salt and pepper to the food processor and mix until smooth.

Slice the bread in 1-inch slices, stopping before the base of the bread. Stuff the bread with the mixture.

Wrap in the bread in foil and bake for 25 minutes. Serve while hot.

Christmas Baking Time – 2012 Edition

I hope you like Christmas baking, because this year it’s all I can afford! You’d think I was kidding, but I’m totally not.

You need to know two things about me.
1. I’m a student and barely make any money.
2. I put all the saved money that I have into running clothes, props for the blog, baking ingredients, high quality food and coffee (the only important things, really).

If you have a blog and have put up a gift guide, don’t fret! It’s not lost on me. I’ll pin and and wish I had the money to buy it and maaaaaaybe get it when it’s 5 years out of style. It’s my thing.

So here we are. Poor, and with a heck of a lot of baking to do. I can guarantee this stuff is top notch. If it’s a recipe of mine, then it’s one I make every single December. If it’s a link to another blog, then it’s something new that I’m JUMPING with excitement to try.

Have the happiest of holidays! What are you baking this year?

Candy:
Puppy Chow
Buckeyes
Rum Balls by My Baking Addiction
Peppermint Patties by Savory Sweet Life
Eggnog Fudge by Brown Eyed Baker

Cake-ish things:
Chocolate Peppermint Roll by Bakers Royale
Gingerbread Cupcakes by Bakers Royale
Eggnog Tres Leches Cake by Cheeky Kitchen
Eggnog Bread by Recipe Girl
Vanilla Snowman Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting by Skinny Taste

Cookies:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Kiss Cookies
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies by Martha Stewart
Giant Rainbow Cookies by How Sweet It Is
Chai Cookies by My Baking Addiction

Squares:
Pecan Pie Bars
Nanaimo Bars
Shortbread by The Cookbook Chronicles
Baklava by How Sweet It Is
Toffee Squares by The Pioneer Woman