Breaded Herbed Chicken Fingers

This was so good!! I was a little skeptical because I have never cooked with tarragon before, and when I opened it, it smells exactly like black licorice. I happen not to be a fan of black licorice, so I got nerves about that. Plus, one of the things that interested me the most about this recipe was the fact that the sauce has apricot preserves, Dijon mustard, and hot sauce. So I thought, "Either this is going to be disgusting, or it going to be awesome!!" I'm happy to say that this recipe turned out amazing! The sauce is just, ugh, so scrumptious, and the panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs) becomes so much more crunchy then normal breading. A total must try recipe!! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup apricot preserves
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 2-3 teaspoons hot sauce
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup all-purpose-flour
• 2  large eggs
• 1 cup panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs)
• 1/4  cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken tenderloins
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Combine apricot preserves, mustard, and hot sauce in small bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Spread flour in a shallow dish. Beat eggs in second dish. Spread panko and herbs in third dish. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Dredge each tenderloin in flour, dip in eggs, and coat with panko, pressing to adhere.

Heat 1/4 cup oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Cook half of chicken until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate. Wipe out skillet and repeat with remaining oil and chicken. Serve chicken with apricot and mustard dipping sauce.

Serves 4.

Printable Recipe

Recipe from 30-Minute Suppers.

Frosted Cookie Brownies

Oh my gosh!! Really? Chocolate chip cookie, brownie, and chocolate frosting!! This recipe had my mouth watering just looking at the picture in my cookbook. So of course it made it to my, "Must Bake" list :)

Here's a close up of the ooey-gooey layer just to entice you a little ;) I think that this brownie would be better without the walnuts, but if you like nuts add them. Usually I like my brownies without nuts anyways, but I just felt like the flavors didn't mesh as well with the walnuts as they would have without them. But, like I said, if you like nuts, throw them in there. I just want to add that I was really impressed with the brownie portion of this recipe. Every homemade brownie recipe I try is never as moist as the ones from a box, which is frustrating because if it's homemade it should taste better!! But this brownie recipe had it figured out. Moist and decadent! All together it was just plain awesome!! Fun and different, but yet so delicious! Yum!!

Ingredients

• 1 tube (18 ounces) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough, or prepare Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever recipe
• 3 cups miniature marshmallows
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup butter, cubed
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting

• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar

Press cookie dough into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. If you use my chocolate chip cookie recipe, you will only need to press 3/4 of the batter into your 9x13. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes (The original recipe says 10 minutes, but I would only bake for 5-7 minutes, especially if you use my cookie recipe).

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine the marshmallows, chocolate chips and butter.

Cook and stir over low heat until melted and smooth.

Transfer to a large bowl; cool. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir into marshmallow mixture. Stir in nuts.

Spread over cookie crust. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

For frosting, in a small saucepan, combine the marshmallows, milk, butter and chocolate. Cook and stir over low heat until smooth.

Remove from the heat; beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Frost brownies. Cut into bars.

Yields: 15 servings.

Printable Recipe

Recipe from Taste of Home Baking Classics

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Caramel Cake Cupcakes with Caramel Spice Frosting

Last week I finished the book The Help and throughout the whole book it kept talking about caramel cake. It got me really curious, so I started looking into recipes. I am not a huge fan of large cakes though, and since I couldn't find a cupcake recipe I really liked, I figured that I would just make one up that fit my style. I'm actually super happy with how this recipe turned out. I added in the cinnamon which made the cupcake less of a traditional caramel cake, but I was trying to figure out how to decorate these, since I used up all of my caramel attempting to figure out a good frosting recipe, and decided to sprinkle the cinnamon on top which gave it a really awesome accompanying flavor. If you want more of the traditional caramel cake taste though, then you can just leave out the cinnamon. It's really yummy either way. Enjoy!!

Cupcake Ingredients

• 1 cup self rising flour
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup well-shaken buttermilk

Caramel Glaze

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramel Spice Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup caramel glaze
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 5 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 to 4 teaspoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 cupcake tins with paper liners. Sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla, then add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed beat in buttermilk until combined {mixture may looked curdled}.

Slowly add flour mixture. Fill muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into centers come out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

While baking prepare glaze by combining cream, brown sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Over medium heat bring mixture to a boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved.

Boil until a candy thermometer reads 210 to 212 degrees. Set aside and let cool for about 5 minutes.

Using a butter knife, or the opposite side of a large icing tip, remove the top center of the cupcake. Fill removed area with 1/2 tablespoon of caramel glaze. Give caramel a couple of minutes to set and soak into the cupcake.

Meanwhile prepare the frosting by combining the butter, caramel glaze, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until almost completely incorporated. Add 2 teaspoons of milk and mix well. Add remaining 1 to 2 teaspoons of milk as needed to bring frosting to piping consistency. Beat frosting on high for 2 minutes to make it light and fluffy. Pipe onto cupcake and sprinkle with cinnamon if desired for decoration.

Makes about 18 cupcakes.

Printable Recipe

A Food Snots Original

Grilled Italian T-Bone Steaks with Tuscan Beans

It's about time for something other then chicken, and since I really don't cook fish, how can you go wrong with steak. If you were to ask me my ideal dinner, above anything else, I would say steak and potatoes. I guess this is attributed to the fact that my dad raises cattle, so almost every night growing up we had beef for dinner. You would think this would make me sick of it, but instead I'm all about the steak. I like that this recipe only seasoned the steaks with garlic salt and pepper cause that is how I prefer it, but be careful, most people under season their meat. You need to use about 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of garlic salt for the steaks and I like lots of pepper, so I usually use about 1 to 2 teaspoons. As per the beans go, I'm kind of blaw on those. I really can't say without being byes, since there are two herbs I really can't stand, sage and rose-mary, and the recipe calls for lots of sage. So the beans might be decent, but I really didn't like them. The steaks were awesome as always though!! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 (15.5 ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• Salt, garlic salt, and pepper
• 2 T-bone or porterhouse steaks (1 1/4 pounds each), 1 1/2 inches thick

Heat 2 tablespoons oil, garlic, and sage in large skillet over medium heat, stirring continuously, until oil begins to sizzle and garlic turns pale gold, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, increase heat to medium high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomato liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes.

Stir in beans and broth and simmer until liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle in remaining olive oil just before serving.

Meanwhile, season steaks with garlic salt and pepper. Grill over medium-hot fire until charred on both sides and cooked to desired doneness, 5 to 8 minutes per side. Transfer steaks to cutting board and let rest 5 minutes. Slice meat off bones. Serve.

Recipe from 30-Minute Suppers

Chocolate-Frosted Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

I saw this recipe on a blog I follow and I had to try them! And they are amazing!! These bars are a super moist peanut butter and oatmeal cookie base with a super delicious chocolate frosting. Seriously, if you like peanut butter and chocolate together you gotta try these!! I would recommend using chunky peanut butter because it makes the texture of the cookie base better. Also, when you are making the chocolate frosting, it sets pretty quickly after making, so it says to make it while your cookie is baking, but I would recommend waiting until they are done so that you can immediately put the frosting onto the cookie base. This way you wont have any problems. Other then that, these bars are so delicious!! Enjoy!

Cookie Base

• 1 cup real butter (2 sticks) at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 3 cups quick oats

Fudge Frosting

• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup boiling water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a rimmed cookie sheet (standard half-sheet pan) lightly with non-stick spray and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add peanut butter and vanilla and beat until combined. Add eggs, one at a time and beat between each addition. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt and add mixture to dough. Beat to combine.

Add oats and mix until incorporated. Press dough into prepared pan into a flat layer. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Then center should be puffed and set, but still soft.

While crust is baking, prepare frosting. Whisk powdered sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Add butter (make sure it's soft!), boiling water, and vanilla. Beat until smooth and glossy.

When cookie crust is done baking, if desired drizzle about 3/4 cups melted (just nuke it in the microwave) peanut butter on top.

Then spread on frosting. Let cool (or leave slightly warm) and cut into squares to serve.

Recipe from Our Best Bites

Chicken and Black Bean Green Enchilada Rice Bake

In my opinion there are two types of people, those who eat to live, and those who live to eat. I probably am the second of the two. Oh let just face it, I am most definitely the type that lives to eat. It seems like my whole life revolves around what I get to make next. In my world cooking is an adventure. You have the opportunity to experiment, be inventive, or even explore a different culture all in the comforts of your own home. And this recipe was a need to satisfy my craving for some Mexican food. I saw this recipe a couple of weeks ago and was just waiting for a good time to make it, and since it was such a beautiful night, I figured it was a good night to be busy in the kitchen.

While cooking I had to stop and appreciate the awesome sunset out my kitchen window. I love monsoon season in Arizona. In the evening it almost always smells like freshly dampened dirt and in the distance large storm clouds roll in leaving a blank slate for the sun to paint all kinds of amazing colors during the sunset. But back to cooking!! This recipe was really yummy and really simple. I loved all the different flavors and textures going on. And since your combining the beans, rice, and enchiladas in one dish you don't need any accompanying sides to make this a dinner. Super comforting and delicious meal! Enjoy!!

Ingredients

• 2 cups white long grain rice
• 2 1/2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast
• One 15-ounce can mild green enchilada sauce
• One 4-ounce can sliced black olives
• One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon roasted ground cumin
• One 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray. Cook rice according to package directions.

Place chicken, enchilada sauce, olives, tomatoes, sour cream, salt, pepper and cumin into a large bowl, mixing to combine. Pour cooked rice into prepared baking dish and layer beans on top of rice.

Pour chicken mixture over rice and top evenly with cheddar cheese. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until cheese is melted and rice is hot.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Recipe from pickypalate.com

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes

I'm helping out with a friends baby shower today, and I'm in charge of bringing the desserts. Yay! So I wanted to do some kind of cheesecake since I feel like cheesecake is kind of a dressier dessert then say just a normal cupcake. Plus, for some reason I am in a Oreo phase. I've been craving them like 24-7. Sad I know, but hey who doesn't love Oreo's, right?

I love this recipe. It is actually surprisingly super simple cause you don't have to cook a crust. I ended up adding 18 chopped Oreo's instead of 12 cause I felt like 12 just wasn't enough. You could even do 20 just to give the cheesecake that cookies and cream flavor. So you are going to need to buy two packages of Oreo's for this recipe. That was one thing I was trying to figure out in the grocery store that was a little frustrating, because trying to count the cookies through the package just wasn't working. But in a nutshell, these mini cheesecakes taste almost exactly like a cookies and cream milkshake. So yummy! You just need to give it time in the refrigerator to set, so make then the night before. Enjoy!!

Ingredients

• 42 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole and 12 coarsely chopped
• 2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 cup sour cream
• pinch or salt

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt.

Stir in chopped cookies by hand. Divide batter evenly among cookie-filled cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate (in tins) at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

Recipe from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

Back to school!! Today was my kiddos first day of school, and it is kind of a tradition that on the first day I sent them with homemade cookies and a little note that says "Have a great day!!" So for today I wanted something for them and me since I totally needed a chocolate fix after sending 2 or my 3 babies off. Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, I shed a couple of tears.

Here are my big kids all ready to go. Brody, on the right, hates pictures. So that's why his smile makes him look like he's in pain :) Gotta love boys!

My sister-in-law actually gave me this cookie recipe a while ago to try. I've kind of been putting it off because I don't really like cookies from cake batters. To me a cookie is just suppose to have kind of a dense consistency, and most cake box cookie recipes turn out so fully you might as well just make it into the cake and cut yourself a small piece. I actually really like this recipe though. Still a little fluffy, but the cream cheese makes this cookie so yummy!! I used devils food cake just cause I wanted that chocolate flavor to really come out over the cream cheese, and I feel like they are perfect, but use your favorite. Also, just a heads up, that it take a little longer for these cookies cause you have to refrigerate them for two hours or so. But other then that, this recipe is so easy and delicious!! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioners' sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and gooey. Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Recipe from foodnetwork.com 

Strawberry Mousse Tart

I just got a new dessert cook book and am totally excited!! Most of the desserts are pastries, which is one of my main interests. Something I'm not very experienced in baking, but one of my all time dreams is to go travel around Paris and spend like a whole week doing nothing but sampling pastries. So this dessert is like a traditional pastry. Not overly sweet, but really just right. The crust is to die for. The mousse was good, but the crust is what I couldn't stop eating. I found myself scooping out the mousse just to eat the straight crust. A quick hint to help your crust not get soggy is after your crusts cools, brush a thin layer of melted white or dark chocolate onto the crust before filling with the mousse. You want to brush about half way up the side and cover the entire bottom so the chocolate is everywhere that the mousse with be. Just make sure to let the chocolate completely set before you add the mousse. Also, when you are making the filling, save the gelatin and water till right before you add it to the strawberry mixture. The recipe says to do it like half way through and then add it at the end of making the filling, but when I did this my gelatin and water turned into jello. So do this step right before adding it so that is doesn't set while you are finishing up. Other then that, this dessert is really fun and way delish!! Enjoy!

Pastry

• 2/3 cup (150 g) unsalted butter, cubed, softened
• 1/2 cup (75 g) confectioners' sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 2/3 cup (250 g) all-purpose flour
• 3-4 teaspoons iced water

Filling

• 3 cups (450 g) strawberries
• 2 tablespoons boiling water
• 3 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin
• 2 large eggs + 2 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) heavy cream
• Confectioners' sugar, to dust

Pastry: Lightly grease a 10-inch (25-cm) tart pan with removable base. Beat the butter and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy. Add the egg yolks one at a time beating until fully combined. Mix in the flour and enough water to bring the dough together. Shape into a ball, cover in plastic wrap (cling film), and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured work surface to 1/4 (5 mm) thick. Line the prepared tart pan with the pastry and trim the edges. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C/gas 4). Cover the pastry case with parchment paper and fill with baking weights, dried beans, or rice. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and weights and bake for 5 more minutes until golden brown.

Filling: Place half the strawberries in a food processor and blend until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a small saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring almost to a boil. Set aside. Put the boiling water in a small cup, sprinkle with the gelatin, and stir until dissolved.

Beat the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Gradually pour in the hot strawberry puree, beating until combined. Return the mixture to the pan and stir over low heat until thickened slightly.

Remove from the heat, add the gelatin and stir to combine. Pass the strawberry mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, until cooled, about 30 minutes. Whip the cream in a small bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form.

Fold the cream into the cooled strawberry mixture and pour into the prepared tart case. Slice the remaining strawberries and arrange decoratively around the top of the mousse. Refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours. Dust the tart with confectioners' sugar and serve.

Recipe from The Golden Book of Desserts

Oven-Fried Chicken

Ugh!! So frustrated! Yesterdays recipe totally sucked!! And this one was kind of a dud as well. Not completely horrible, but just ok. This was my attempt at trying to pick something somewhat healthy, and I'm wishing that I would have just gone ahead and made traditional fried chicken. A couple things, don't "spritz" the chicken too much. I did a couple of spritz, and the breading pretty much pulled all the way off the chicken. The only other thing I would say is serve this with some barbecue sauce to add some flavor. Alone it's just a little blah. I'm going to try a Country Fried Chicken recipe soon though, so hopefully that one come out better. This recipe really wasn't bad though, just not great so I was disappointed.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3 egg whites
• 2 tablespoons fat-free milk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 bone-in chicken breast halves (about 6 ounces each)

In a shallow bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. In another shallow bowl, whisk egg whites and milk. Place flour in a third shallow bowl. Coat chicken with flour; dip in the egg white mixture, then roll in cornmeal mixture.

Place in a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Spritz with butter-flavored spray. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until juices run clear and a meat thermometer reads 170 degrees.

Recipe from The Taste of Home Cookbook