the caramel dip

i love love my caramel apple dip! its only three ingredients! Block of cream cheese, 1/4 cup brown sugar and half a can of dulce de leche sweetened condensed milk. whip together. topped with pecans and drizzled with more dulce de leche! that easy! :♥)

French Onion Soup

i made homemade french onion soup and its sooooooooooooooo good!! i used mozza cheese though cause i dont like swiss cheese and gruyere is in the swiss family, also used red wine instead of the cider! lol i saw this being made in a masterclass on masterchef austrailia and talk about drool. 

the recipes at

http://www.masterchef.com.au/recipes/french-onion-soup-with-gruyere-toasts.htm

or below

1 tablespoon olive oil

50gbutter

2kgbrown onions, peeled and thinly sliced (chill to minimise vapours)

200ml dry good quality cider (or sherry or Armagnac)

1Lhomemade beef stock

2fresh bay leaves

2thyme sprigs

2sprigs rosemary

8 x 1cmthick slices of sourdough ficelle (Iggy’s bread) or small baguette, lightly toasted

250gcoarsely grated gruyere

100gfinely grated parmesan

1. Heat oil and butter in a large saucepan over a medium low heat. Add onions, cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove lid and cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and caramelized.

2. Add stock, the bay leaf, thyme and rosemary and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer, simmer soup uncovered for 10-20 minutes or until slightly thickened.

3. Ladle soup into ½ cup capacity oven-proof bowls set on an oven tray. Sprinkle a little gruyere and parmesan onto the top of each bowl of soup. Top each with two slices of toasted ficelle then sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Place under a hot grill for 3-5 minutes of until cheese is melted and light golden. 

Dark Chocolate Pecan Cookies

simple yet delicious cookie! gotta love pecans!

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 Eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup pecans 

1 cup dark chocolate chips

cream first three, scrape sides. add one egg at a time. add vanilla. blend and mix in remaining ingredients. spoon on parchment lined pan or stoneware pan. bake at 365 for 8-10 mins or until golden brown!

melt 1/2 cup white chocolate chips with 1 tbsp peanut butter, drizzle over cookies! :♥)

topped Whole Wheat Cookies

these turned out really well, i love my simple basic recipe for cookies and do a twist like add whole wheat flour instead! you only need a thin coat of chocolate, they also get softer the next day.

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 Eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

cream first three, scrape sides. add one egg at a time. add vanilla. blend and mix in remaining ingredients. spoon on parchment lined pan or stoneware pan. bake at 365 for 8-10 mins or until golden brown!

melt 1 cup dark chocolate chips with 3 tbsp peanut butter, spread over cookies and sprinkle with your choice of nuts! :♥)

Butter Rum Caramels

Caramel Asian Pears

Lemon Blueberry Macaroons

Chocolate Chip Cookies

best cookie there is! :♥)

1 cup crisco golden shortening (chilled)

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 Eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 bag dark chocolate chips

cream first three, scrape sides. add one egg at a time. add vanilla. blend and mix in remaining ingredients. spoon on parchment lined pan or stoneware pan. bake at 365 for 8-10 mins or until golden brown! 

Beavertails!

Ever since I had my first Beavertail topped with apple pie filling, I have been wanting to see if I can make it myself! What I made was so finger licking good, soft and crispy with a sweet cinnamon crust, like the brand name! In this batch I had to use bananas instead of eggs, they act like a great binding agent which is what an egg does. You will get a hint of banana but OMG.. bet its better than eggs! :♥)

1/2 cup warm water

5 tsp dry yeast 

1 pinch sugar

1 cup warm milk

1/3 cup sugar

 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs or 2 small ripen bananas(mashed,no lumps)

1/3 cup oil

4 1/4-5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the yeast, warm water with pinch of sugar, allow to stand for a couple of minutes. In another bowl, stir together sugar, milk, vanilla, eggs or bananas, oil, salt then add to the yeast, blend. Add in 4 cups of flour and knead 5-8 minutes by hand or with a dough hook, adding flour as needed to form a firm yet soft, smooth, elastic dough. 

Place dough in a greased bowl and let rise about 30 minutes. Gently deflate and knead for 30 seconds and then pinch off a golf ball size and stretch into a beaver like tail shape, thinning them out and enlarging them as you go like a pizza.  

In a deep fryer about 375 temp, fry the dough, turning only once until the undersides are golden brown or a little darker.


 Toss the tails in some cinnamon and sugar to lightly dust the dough!

Serve warm! You can try different toppings like jam or apple pie filling or chocolate or whip cream, fruits and nuts for added yumminess! 

Here is the site http://www.beavertailsinc.com/ to get ideas from!