Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

One afternoon, a friend brought a granola bar to my house to share.  I was so grateful that she was willing to share the recipe because these granola bars are really tasty!  My family loves them (including me) and they even ate them all up (with the help of the neighbor kids) when I forgot to put in the oats (it's a long story)! 

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup corn syrup

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 1/2 cups quick oats

1 cup rice crispy cereal

2 tablespoon ground flax seed

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I am a semi-sweet girl)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar.  Add the peanut butter, honey, corn syrup, and vanilla and mix until well combined.  Stir in the remaining ingredients until well blended.  Firmly press mixture onto a sprayed or parchment lined baking sheet (jelly roll pan).

Place in preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes.  If you like them really soft and chewy, pull them out early.  Don't over bake or they will be hard and crunchy and we are going for soft and chewy.  Allow them to cool completely before cutting into bars.

*I love to freeze the granola bars and pull them out for lunches or afterschool snacks.

Brown Butter Toasted Coconut Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have a couple of chocolate chip cookie recipes that are my go to recipes and so I wasn't sure that I needed to try another one.  But how can one resist trying a cookie recipe with words like brown butter, toasted coconut and dark chocolate.  When my ten year old tasted the dough, he looked at me and asked, "Do these have brown butter in them?"  His words confirmed that I have been browning butter a lot, or at least enough for him to recognize the flavor.  Straight out of the oven, these cookies are divine (I think I ate 5 last night)!

Brown Butter Toasted Coconut Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, melted and browned

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 1/4-2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (start with 2 1/4)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1/2 cup toasted coconut

1 cup dark chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper, spread out shredded coconut.  Toast coconut in oven for about 6 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove from oven and place in a small bowl, set aside.

Brown your butter: Melt butter in a small/medium saucepan over medium-low heat.  It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty.  Stir frequently, scraping up any bits form the bottom as you do.  Keep your eyes on it; it burns very quickly after it browns.  Once butter is browned, place in a small bowl.  Allow the butter to cool for a few minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, measure sugar and brown sugar.  Add the brown butter and beat together, on medium speed, for about 2 minutes.  The sugar may still look grainy.  Add the egg and egg yolk and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  The mixture should become smooth.  Add vanilla extract and beat.

With mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients. Beat until just incorporated.  Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a spatula to fold in the toasted coconut and chocolate chips.  Dough will be thick.

Cookies can be baked immediately, or the dough can be left in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.

Spoon balls by the tablespoon onto the prepared baking sheets.  Bake for 10 to12 minutes, until golden brown but still slightly soft in the center.  Remove from the oven.  Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.  Eat while warm, sooo good!

Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker

Huevos Rancheros

This is so delicious!  The Ranchero sauce is so bright and flavorful.  This has quickly become a family favorite! 

Huevos Rancheros

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup chopped white onion

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 tablespoon minced jalapeno, seeded if you want less heat

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 cup chopped tomatoes and their juices

3/4 cup chicken broth

3 tablespoons cilantro

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

6 corn tortillas

1/2-1 cup warm refried beans

6 Eggs

Pepper Jack Cheese, shredded (about 1 1/2 cups)

Sliced avocados or guacamole

To make the Ranchero Sauce:  In a medium pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and bell peppers, cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.  Add the cumin, salt, cayenne, jalapeno, and garlic, cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.  Add the tomatoes and their juices and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.  Add the chicken broth and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes.  Remove from the heat and puree in a blender until smooth.  Stir in cilantro and adjust the seasonings to taste.  Cover and keep warm.

In a large skillet, heat 1/2 teaspoon of vegetable oil over medium-high heat.  Add 1 tortilla and cook until warmed through and just starting to brown, about 30 seconds.  Turn and cook on the second side.  Remove, cover to keep warm and repeat with remaining oil and tortillas.

In a medium nonstick skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter, over medium high heat. Break two to four eggs (depending on the size of your skillet) and fry until beginning to set, about 1 minute.  Sprinkle the eggs with the cheese and cover to finish cooking, about 1 1/2 minutes.  Repeat with remaining eggs.

Place 1 warm tortilla on each plate and spread each with 2 tablespoons of warm refried beans.  Place an egg on top of each tortilla and top with warm Ranchero Sauce.  Serve immediately.  Serve with sliced avocados or guacamole.

Recipe adapted from Emeril Lagasse

Waffle French Toast

Tonight we had waffle French toast for dinner.  It tasted like French toast, but a bit crispier.  It also had perfect square indentions where the butter pooled; it made little pockets of melted butter and powdered sugar deliciousness.  My little ones thought it was pretty cool that French toast could look like a waffle.  I thought it was a fun spin on a classic breakfast (or in this case, dinner)!

Waffle French Toast

6 eggs

2 cups half-and-half

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar

pinch of salt

8 slices brioche

Preheat waffle maker according to manufacturer's instructions.  Spray surface with nonstick cooking spray or brush with melted butter.

In a bowl, whisk eggs until frothy.  Add half-and-half, vanilla, cinnamon and brown sugar; whisk until blended.

Dip bread slices into egg mixture; soak, turning once, 30 seconds per side.  Place bread on preheated waffle maker, close lid and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 4 minutes. 

I found this recipe online, but now I can't remember where I found it.

BYU "Blue" Dinner

Tonight BYU played UTAH (actually they are playing UTAH; the game is currently in the 4th quarter)!  To be honest, I am not much of a football fan.  The only football I really enjoy watching is the football scenes from movies like Remember the Titans and The Blind side (I know, I'm lame).  This year, at least for this game, I made an effort to embrace the spirit of game day.  I may not love football, but I do love food and so I made a BYU "blue" dinner.  It wasn't fancy, but it was great football food!

Blueberry Lemonade

3 cups blueberries

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 cups cold water

Puree blueberries and sugar in a blender.  Mix lemon juice and water in pitcher.  Place mesh strainer over pitcher and strain pureed blueberries.  Stir well and pour into ice filled glasses.  Garnish with Lemon slices and frozen blueberries.

*Next time I would use 1 cup of sugar, it was a bit tart.

Recipe from Bobby Flay

"Blue" Super Nachos

Ingredients:

Blue Corn Tortilla Chips

Beef and Bean Topping:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound ground beef

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon Cholula hot sauce

1/2 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 large tomato, chopped

Cheese Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole milk

2 cups pepper jack cheese

Diced roasted jalapenos (optional)

Salt and pepper

Additional toppings:

Pico de Gallo

Sour cream

Guacamole

Cilantro

Chopped green onions

Sliced Roasted jalapenos

Cholula

Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add oil, garlic, onion and peppers to the pan and sauté 2 minutes, then add meat and crumble with wooden spoon.  Season meat with salt, chili powder, cumin and Cholula.  Cook meat until browned, stir in beans and chopped tomato and reduce heat to low. 

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter and add flour to it.  Cook flour and butter 1 to 2 minutes over moderate heat, then whisk in milk.  When milk comes to a bubble, stir in cheese with a wooden spoon.  Remove cheese sauce from the heat and salt and pepper to taste.

Top chips with beef and bean mixture, cheese sauce and your choice of toppings.  Eat immediately and enjoy!

Adapted from Rachael Ray's Super Nachos recipe

M & M Peanut Butter Bars

2 cups oats

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup peanuts, chopped

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, melted

Mix above ingredients with a fork.  Press half of mixture into a jelly roll pan.

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

2 cups creamy peanut butter

Mix and pour over oat layer.

Top with remaining oat mixture and sprinkle with a large bag of M&M's.  Press down with hands.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  Drink with milk!

This recipe came from my Aunt Traci (I use a little more salt than her recipe calls for).  The original name for this sweet treat is Christy's Totally Gnarly Peanut Butter Bars.

Flour Tortillas

I make these tortillas a lot and for how often I have made them, you would think I would be a pro at rolling them into nice round circles.  Well, I am no where near a pro (that would be my sister Stephanie) and in fact I'm really quite bad.  I rarely get a nice round tortilla, but no matter the shape, they are still delicious and definitely worth the little bit of extra time it takes to make them!

Flour tortillas

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup shortening

1 cup very hot water

In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer combine flour and salt.  Add shortening and mix until well combined.  Add hot water and mix until dough comes together.

Remove dough from mixing bowl and divide into portions.  The portion of dough depends on the size you want your tortillas.  Shape portions into round balls.

Preheat a non-stick or cast iron skillet to medium low heat.  If necessary, spray your work surface with non-stick cooking spray; you may not need to because the dough isn't particularly sticky, but it may be and you also don't want to add any more flour to your dough.  Press your palm against the surface of the dough ball, trying to maintain as much of a round shape as possible (this is where I begin to struggle a bit).  Place rolling pin in middle of flattened dough ball and roll to desired thickness, shaping in a circle as you go.

Place raw tortillas on preheated skillet.  Now...be forewarned, the first one may not work out great.  You are going to be watching for bubbles.  If you get little blistery bubbles, your skillet is too hot and you need to reduce the heat.  You're looking for big, fat, slow-bubbling bubbles.

When you start to see them, flip the tortilla and cook for another 30-45 second (I like mine to stay very soft and so I will only cook the tortillas long enough to have very light colored marks and sometimes no marks at all).

If you are cooking these quickly, you can just stack them on top of each other cover with a clean dish cloth and they will stay warm.  You can also wrap them in a damp paper towel and then wrap them in foil and keep them in a warm oven (170) until ready to use.

*I always use a little flour when I am rolling the tortillas out and have never noticed that they seem more tough because I do.

* To cook the tortillas, I use my electric skillet that I use for french toast because I can cook a few tortillas at the same time.

*Any extra cooked tortillas I have, I freeze and just pop them out of the freezer whenever I need them.

This recipe comes from ourbestbites.com

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

My neighbor gave me a bunch of tomatillos from her garden and they made their appearance at our dinner table in the form of salsa.  It was fresh and delicious! 

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

1 pound tomatillos (4-5 tomatillos), husks removed and washed

1 jalapeno pepper

1 Serrano pepper

4 unpeeled garlic cloves

1/4 cup diced white onion

1/3 cup cilantro

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Place tomatillos, peppers and unpeeled garlic cloves on a rimmed baking sheet.  Drizzle olive oil over tomatillos, peppers and garlic, lightly toss to coat.  Roast in oven for 20-30 minutes until peppers are slightly charred on all sides.  Remove pan from oven and place peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, let the peppers steam for 15 minutes.  Peel and stem the peppers.  If you want the salsa hot, leave the seeds.  If you want it milder, seed the pepper.

Add the tomatillos, peppers, garlic and remaining ingredients to the bowl of food processor.  Pulse the food processor until the salsa comes together. 

*Play around with this recipe (I did).  If you want more lime flavor, add more lime juice.  Not a big onion fan, add less onion.  This is definitely a recipe you can play with!