Cinnamon almonds, AKA, mall nuts!

 

One of the BEST things about going to the mall this time of year is THAT SMELL! There aren't many things that smell as good as they taste, but this is one of them. 

 

!!WARNING!!

Highly addicting.

 

My kids seriously could NOT stay out of these.

 

 

 

 

Cinnamon almonds:
Whip until peaks form, 2 egg whites and 1 teaspoon of vanilla
Toss in 4 1/4 cup raw almonds and stir until coated
Mix together 3/4 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1/2 t. salt
Toss egg white coated almonds in the sugar mixture until coated
Dump almonds on parchment paper covered baking sheet and spread
Bake @ 275 for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes

*These are HEAVEN served warm and fresh but also crazy good over the next couple days. If they last that long, that is.

 

 
 

Posted by Cambria

 

Homemade Big Hunks

Not THIS Big Hunk... although, this recipe excites me almost as much.

One of the happiest times in my life is when my husband and I were first dating- he would pick me up in his shiny blue truck, we would stop at a gas station, and buy the essentials.  A bag of sunflower seeds, a big Diet Pepsi for me, and a couple of Big Hunks.  Life.was.GOOD.  It still is good, but our time alone these days is very limited due to our 4 little people we have since acquired.

For me, Sunday evenings need to include 2 things.  People and FOOD.  I've been in the Christmas candy-making mood since our last week's Relief Society night on candy making.  A sweet lady from our ward shared this recipe and I knew it would need to be included in our Sunday night snacking.  This tastes exactly like a Big Hunk, only softer and more fresh.  My family and friends LOVED these.  I can hardly wait to add them to the Christmas baking list.  Enjoy!

 Ingredients:
20 ounces of marshmallow cream (3 small jars or 1 1/2 big jars)
2 1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 cup corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla
6 TB butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 large jar of salted peanuts

Bring corn syrup and sugar to a boil in a heavy saucepan, stirring constantly.  Once it begins to boil, clip on your candy thermometer and let the mixture boil until it reaches 285.  While this is cooking, add the marshmallow cream, butter, and salt into a large bowl.  Pour sugar mixture over marshmallow mixture and stir to combine, then add the vanilla and peanuts.  Pour into a buttered cookie sheet and let sit at room temperature for a couple hours.  Cut into small (I did 1x1 inch squares) and wrap in wax paper.  Share with all the people you love :)

You're welcome.

Posted by: Tiffany :)

Butterfinger Muddy Buddies

Oh they're muddy buddies all right...  

The Twins

Flashback...

Hose left on - garden turned mud bog - 2 year old twins - buck naked - WWF throw down - hysterical laughter - mud from hell to breakfast - mom profanes/laughs/cries/snaps pics...

And that's how it went down. 

No wonder these two Muddy Buddies LOVE Muddy Buddies. 

It's what they do.  

It's who they are.

  Let me introduce a stepped-up, embellished Muddy Buddy... 

BUTTERFINGER MUDDY BUDDIES

Not puppy chow - we're not at girls camp people.

Butterfinger Muddy Buddies

1 bag (12 oz) milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 15 oz. bag mini butterfingers , coarsely chopped - minus one (I'm no idiot)
8 cups Corn Chex cereal
3-4 cups powdered sugar

In the microwave, melt together the chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter.  Stop and stir occasionally, and don't melt the chocolate chips all the way, just stir them until smooth.

Put cereal and butterfingers in a huge bowl, and mix gently until the cereal is fully coated. Put the powdered sugar in a ziploc bag, adding chocolate/cereal mixture in batches and shake to coat.  Let set up on waxed paper.

Addicting little morsels.

Make some.  Everybody's doing it.

Posted by: Rona

Lemon Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze

 

Oh so moist and Oh so lemony

Lemon pound cake

                     

There are PLENTY of  great things about this cake, but one of the best things about it is, it's make with a cake mix! Now I'm not a fan of cake mixes, although I do think that with a certain amount of doctoring, there is a place for them in my kitchen.

 

 

One box of Lemon cake mix

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup oil

1 cup sour cream

4 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 Tablespoon lemon zest (or maybe more if you feel inclined)

 

Mix all ingredients together and bake in either two loaf pans or a bundt pan. Bake at 325 for an hour, or until done. Remove from pan after about 15 minutes. Don't cut it until it's completely cool. We wouldn't want to release that steam now would we?

 

 

This cake stays moist for DAYS and you can really taste the lemon.  It's great without the glaze but why would you want to do that? Glaze it.

 

                     

                                                                                                                                                      

 

The glaze is simple. Tart enough to taste the lemon but sweet enough to belong on cake.

 

Put about 1 cup of powdered sugar in a bowl.

Add the zest of one lemon and maybe even a lime. I've done both and you can't go wrong.

Add the juice of that lemon. More or less to desired consistency.

Splash of vanilla and pinch of salt



 



Oh yes.

Here's a lovely tip, try it with ANY flavor of cake mix.

Obviously omit the Lemon with others. 

 

For pound cake.

 

Posted by Cambria

Ooey Gooey Salted Caramel Corn

This is one of my most requested recipes.  It is GOOD!  It's perfect for a last-minute treat or if you need something to bring to a potluck.  We seem to make some kind of yummy popcorn on Sunday nights.  It's the perfect porch-sitting snack.  Plus it's super easy, you really can't screw this one up.

My kids LOVE when I bust out this retro air-popper.  

It's a party.

In a saucepan add:
1 stick of butter
1 pound of brown sugar
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup corn syrup. 

Turn burner onto medium heat stirring often.  Meanwhile, you can start popping the corn.  I did two 1/2 cup batches of kernals to get this big bowl.  I've also done it using 3 bags of microwave popcorn, and that works perfectly too.

Continue to cook mixture until it begins to boil.  Here's the trick to the ooey-gooeyness.  Bring it to a boil, but don't actually let the mixture boil.  Cooking it past a boil will make tacky popcorn, not ooey-gooey popcorn.  Remove from heat and add 1 tablespoon of vanilla.

I'm spoiled and have a mom who makes the worlds best vanilla.  That's right, homemade vanilla (more on that later).  The flavor is much more pure than its store-bought friends, which only adds to the richness of this treat.

Pour caramel over popcorn, using a large bowl helps!

 Stir to combine and make sure every piece is deliciously coated.  Finally sprinkle with salt, I like to use a coarse salt.  MMMM.

Oh baby, this is good!

Posted by Tiffany :)

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

These are one of my favorite types of cookies, so awhile back I started experimenting and came up with this recipe.  It works every time.  One tip, buy GOOD white chocolate chips.  I like the Guittard brand.  It will make all the difference.  One challenge though, try not to eat all the dough before you get around to baking the cookies.

1 cup room-temp butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
        Cream together these 3 ingredients on high speed for a good 2-3 minutes, then add:

2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
       Turn mixer back to high for another minute, making sure everything gets nicely incorporated.  Once it's looking good and fluffy, switch to the paddle attachment and add:

3 (ish) cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
       Mix just for a bit to combine, don't over-mix this part.  Next add 1 bag of white chocolate chips and 1 5 oz. bag of macadamia nuts.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.  I like to bake these on a stone, and if I do that, it seems to need a minute or so longer than if I bake them on a regular cookie sheet.  Also, I never really measure the flour exact, so add it gradually and do a tester cookie to see if you need more flour.  If the cookie comes out flat, add a little more flour until it comes out right!

Posted by: Tiffany

Churro popcorn

It's no secret to my family and friends that one of my all time favorite treats is a nice hot churro.  I can spot the signature "churro smell" anywhere.  This past spring we had a family vacation to Disneyland and I think it's safe to say I spent way to much money on those $3.75 churros, and i'd do it again in a heartbeat.  I found this recipe a while back, and knew it was something I needed to add to my list of things to try.  I was hooked.  It's an easier way to get that churro fix.  Enjoy.

12 ish cups of popcorn ( I have an air popper and I did 2 1/2 cup pops)
1 stick butter
1 packed cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup white chocolate chips

Combine butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and corn syrup in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 30 seconds to melt butter a bit, stir, and return to micro for 2 more minutes.  Stir again and microwave yet another 2 minutes.  Remove from microwave and add baking soda, pecans, and vanilla.  Pour over popped popcorn and stir to evenly coat.  Pour mixture onto a foil-lined baking sheet (makes for super easy clean-up) and bake at 250 for 30 minutes, stirring half way through.  After it's done, I like to transfer it to wax paper so that it wont stick to foil while it's cooling.  Cool and drizzle with white chocolate. 

Posted by Tiffany :)