Eggless Cookie Dough Dip

Eggless Cookie Dough Dip

It tastes just like sugar cookie dough, but without the eggs so you can dip to your heart’s content and it only takes 5 minutes to make!

Author: Dinner at the Zoo

Recipe type: Dessert or Appetizer

Serves: 8 servings

A video can be found on this page

INGREDIENTS:

• Main Ingredients:
• 
  
• ½ cup Chobani® Non-Fat Vanilla Greek Yogurt
• 5 tablespoons of butter, softened
• 2 ounces of cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup flour
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 
  
• Additional Ingredients:
• 
  
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup holiday sprinkles, divided use
• graham crackers, fruit, etc. for dipping
• 
  

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place the butter, cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl. Using a mixer, beat the mixture until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
2. Add the flour and vanilla extract and beat for another minute.
3. Add the yogurt, ¼ cup at a time and mix on low to combine.
4. Stir in the sprinkles, reserving 2 tablespoons. Place the remaining sprinkles on top of the dip for decoration.
5. Serve immediately with fruit, graham crackers and other dippers.

This recipe is so simple – traditional cookie dough ingredients like butter, sugar and flour get whipped with a mixer and combined with cream cheese and Chobani® Non-Fat Vanilla Blended Greek Yogurt for a smooth and creamy dip that’s irresistibly delicious. I added a generous helping of sprinkles in holiday colors but you can make this dip year round with other sprinkles too.

The secret ingredient here is really the Chobani® yogurt – it’s what gives the dip its texture and adds a bit of a pleasant tang to counteract the richness of the cookie dough flavorings.  It’s also lighter substitute for something like sour cream.

Holiday Oreo Cream Cheese Cookies

Holiday Oreo Cream Cheese Cookies

This cookie recipe was passed on from Emily Franceschini @ Painting It Purple.  

Ingredients

1. 3 ounces cream cheese, softened (add 4 ounces if you want more cream cheese flavor)
2. 8 tablespoons butter, salted, softened
3. 3/4 cup granulated sugar
4. 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
5. 10-12 Oreo cookies, crushed, some larger bits too
6. 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
7. Optional: Food coloring for the holidays

Instructions

1. In a large bowl beat cream cheese, then beat in butter.
2. Add sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla and mix.
3. Add a couple drops of a holiday food coloring for a festive touch
4. Add flour gradually and mix until well combined.
5. Fold in Oreos, then cover bowl and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
7. Scoop out two tablespoons and roll into a 2 inch ball.
8. Place them on your cookie sheet and press down lightly.
9. Bake for 9-11 minutes – the edges will start to brown but the cookie will be soft. That's what you want. 
10. Remove from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes, then carefully transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread Cookies

Who doesn't enjoy making gingerbread men or women for their gingerbread houses or just to eat! Well here's a recipe you can follow to make your own gingerbread cookies.

• Preparation time: 30 minutes
• Ready time: 2 hours - includes 1 hour chilling time
• Servings: About 40 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1-¾ cup sugar
• ¼ cup fresh ginger, grated
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup molasses
• ¾ tsp white vinegar
• 5 cups sifted all purpose flour
• 1-½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter, sugar, and ginger on medium speed, until pale and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, molasses and vinegar. Slowly drizzle the wet ingredients into the butter mixture, scraping the bowl periodically in between.

Add flour, baking soda and cinnamon, and blend on low speed until just combined.

Remove dough from mixer, and shape into a log, and chill, at least 1 hour.

To make cookies, cut 1 inch thick medallions of dough (from the log), and roll between two sheets of paper to ¼ inch thickness.

Dip cutter in flour to prevent it from sticking to the dough, press the cutter into the dough, and stamp out the cookie.

Wiggling the cutter a little while pushing down on the dough will help to separate the cookie cutout from the rest of the dough.

Transfer the cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until the cookies have puffed slightly, and the bottoms are golden brown.

Cool, and decorate with different coloured tubes of royal icing.

For more on this recipe click below:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/holiday-guide/holiday-recipes/gingerbread-cookies/article6154315/


For other fabulous recipes, click the link below!
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/holiday-guide/holiday-recipes/cookie-calendar-recipes-2014/article21834802/?click=sf_globe

3 Ingredient Fruit Cake (Vegan Recipe)

3 Ingredient Fruit Cake 

(Vegan Recipe)

Ingredients:

1 kg mixed fruit 

3 cups black tea

3 cups self-raising flour

Directions: 
Soak fruit in tea overnight. Preheat oven to 257 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir flour into soaked fruit and mix well. Add more tea if the mixture is too dry. It is quite a thick mixture but sometimes the fruit really absorbs the liquid and it is hard to dampen the flour. Spoon mixture into a 22cm lined cake tin. Bake for 2½ hours or until cooked through. Remove and leave to cool. Wrap in tinfoil or place in an airtight container. Keeps for a month.

Vegan Apple Crumble Tart with Salted Caramel

BY: LAUREN TOYOTA AND JOHN DIEMER

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Makes: 1 tart (approximately 8 servings)

Vegan Baking Tip: use Earth Balance Buttery Spread as your vegan butter, not margarine. Margarine often has added or hidden ingredients that aren’t vegan friendly and unlike most margarine varieties, Earth Balance Buttery Spread acts the same as real butter in baking.

Ingredients:

For the crust:
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup pecans
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp cold vegan butter
3 Tbsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp sea salt

For the filling:
3 apples
3 Tbsp coconut sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon

For the crumble topping:
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 Tbsp cold vegan butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp all-spice

For the salted caramel:
1 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup non-dairy milk
3 Tbsp vegan butter
1/4 tsp sea salt

Note: The caramel recipe makes extra so that you can bring it to the table for guests to add more!

Directions:

1. In a food processor, blend almonds and pecans into a fine meal, then add the remaining crust ingredients and blend until well combined. It should stick together when you pinch it.

2. Press into a 9 1/2″ fluted pie pan with a removable bottom. Poke a few holes in the surface of the crust with a fork and bake in a pre-heated 350°F oven for 8-10 minutes. Time may vary depending on your oven, so watch it closely. It should be half-baked with a slight colour difference.

3. Remove pie crust from the oven and place on a cooling rack while you make the filling and topping.

4. Peel, core, quarter and thinly slice the apples. Mix apples and filling ingredients together with your hands in a mixing bowl until well coated.

5. In another mixing bowl, blend the crumble topping ingredients together with your hands until it comes together into large crumbs.

6. Layer apple slices in the crust and top with the crumble topping evenly. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes.

7. While the tart is baking, make the salted caramel by combining the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly for 7 minutes as it thickens. Remove from heat.

8. Allow the baked apple crumble tart to cool for 10-15 minutes before slicing.

9. Just before serving, drizzle some salted caramel over the entire tart with a spoon.

How To Make A Pie

HOW TO MAKE A PIE

The turkey may seem like the star, but everybody knows it's all about the sweet stuff. Here are the 10 top tips for making flaky, buttery pastry, juicy fruit pies, and silky custard pies.

1. Keep ingredients cold.

• Butter should be kept refrigerated until using; vegetable shortening, like Crisco®, can be stored in the freezer without freezing solid.
• Add ice cubes to a measuring cup and fill it with more water than you’ll need; add cold water to the pastry mixture a tablespoon at a time.
• Great pie starts with a great crust. Learn how to make pie crusts.

2. Refrigerate the dough after every step.

• Chill dough immediately after mixing so that the flour can absorb all the liquid.
• Chill it after rolling it out and lining the pie pan, to relax the dough and prevent it from shrinking in the oven.
• For double-crust pies, roll out the top crust and refrigerate it on a flat plate or parchment-lined sheet pan while you prepare the pie filling.

3. Handle the dough as little as possible.
Try to patch cracks in your dough rather than re-rolling the crust. Over-handling makes the pastry tough.

4. Use as little flour as possible when rolling out the dough.
The pastry can absorb extra flour, which will also make it tough. After rolling out the dough, brush off loose flour with a pastry brush or gently brush it with the edge of a clean kitchen towel.

Personal-touch time! Use cutout shapes, crimps, braids, and other fun tricks to make your pie look like a party on a plate.

5. Bake plain crusts or filled pies in a hot oven to set the crust’s structure.
Most recipes call for a high initial temperature and then a reduced oven temperature for the rest of the baking time. For quiches, custard pies, and cream pies, it’s a good idea to pre-bake the crust, a.k.a. “blind baking” the crust. Here’s how to blind bake a pie crust.

6. Vent double-crust pies.
Cut slits in the top crust or use decorative cutters. This allows steam to escape, which is especially important for fruits with high moisture content. You can also create a lattice top for the pie. See how to Make a Lattice Pie Crust the Easy Way.

7. Use aluminum foil or “pie shields” to protect the crust.
Loosely fold two-inch-wide strips of foil around the edges of the crust to keep it from getting too dark during the long bake time.

8. Bake pies on the lowest oven rack on a preheated sheet pan.
This helps prevent soggy bottom crusts. A rimmed pan also prevents juicy fruit pies from bubbling over onto your oven floor.

• See how to bake fruit pies.
• See how to bake custard pies.

9. Bake your pies long enough.
Fruit pies, in order to thicken properly, need to be hot enough for the filling to boil. Custard pies require delicate handling: if you over-bake them, they can crack, pull away from the crust, and “weep,” or lose moisture. Custard pies are done when a knife tip inserted an inch from the center comes out clean (the center will firm up as the pie cools).

10. Let pies cool before serving.
The filling needs time to set or else the pie will be runny. Bake your pies well in advance of your holiday meal so that the filling has time to set — a warm pie does not make for easy slicing.

If your family prefers warm pie, cover the pie loosely with foil and warm in a preheated 300 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes before serving. Fruit pies should cool at least four hours before slicing; custard pies should cool for two hours before serving or being refrigerated.

How To Fix Pie Problems

Cracked or sticky dough? Soggy or pale crust? A pie that’s a bit runny or misshapen? If you’ve got problems, we’ve got solutions!

• VIDEO: How to Fix a Burnt Pie Crust
• VIDEO: How to Fix a Soggy Pie Bottom
• VIDEO: How to Fix a Cracked Pie

Click this link to learn more

Sweet Potato Casserole With Marshmallow and Pecan Streusel

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE WITH MARSHMALLOW & PECAN STREUSEL

With Thanksgiving coming up on the Holiday list, here is a recipe that will satisfy your sweet potato needs. This recipe includes a sweet potato casserole topped with toasted marshmallows and a brown sugar cinnamon pecan streusel.

 Prep Time 20 minutes

 Cook Time 1 hour

 Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

 Servings 8 + as a side dish

 Author Allison - Celebrating Sweets

RECIPE NOTES

*Some grocery stores might have these potatoes labeled as yams. Make sure you purchase sweet potatoes/yams with orange flesh.

MAKE AHEAD TIPS

• You can assemble the cooked and seasoned mashed sweet potatoes in a casserole dish and refrigerate tightly covered for 2 days (without any topping).
• You can also prepare the streusel topping (without the marshmallows) and refrigerate that separately.
• Before serving, bring the streusel topping to room temperature. Heat the potatoes (without any topping) in the oven until heated all the way through (30+ minutes depending on the size of your casserole dish). Once the potatoes are warmed through, sprinkle on the marshmallows and streusel and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the marshmallows are toasted.

INGREDIENTS

MASHED SWEET POTATOES

• 3 pounds sweet potatoes* (peeled and chopped into large chunks, see recipe note)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup milk or half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• salt

TOPPING

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 2 -3 cups mini marshmallows

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 2-quart casserole dish and set aside.
2. Place the sweet potatoes in a large pot, cover with water, and boil until tender (about 7 minutes, depending on the size). Drain and return to the pot. Add butter, milk, cinnamon, brown sugar and salt to the potatoes and mash until smooth. Use a hand mixer, if desired, to make them extra smooth. Taste the potatoes and add additional seasonings, if desired.
3. Transfer the mashed potatoes to the prepared casserole dish. Place in the oven until heated through (if they're warm it will only take a few minutes).
4. While the sweet potatoes are heating, prepare the topping. In a medium bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and pecans. Stir until thoroughly combined.
5. Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven. Top with half the marshmallows, then sprinkle half the streusel over the marshmallows. Top with the other half of the marshmallows and sprinkle the remaining streusel over the top. Place back into the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the topping is bubbly and brown (keep an eye on it so the marshmallows don't burn). You can also place it under the broiler very briefly to add a little more color to the marshmallows.

For those that are visual, here's the video. If you're having problems viewing the video, click here.

Recipe adapted from Tyler Florence