Deep Fried Cheese Curds

Deep Fried Cheese Curds

So I know deep fried cheese curds is not a pastry. But.... Bryan and I both love going to Culvers and getting cheese curds, so this weekend Bryan had the idea to make homemade cheese curds! These cheese curds are so delicious! If you like fair food you will love these cheese curds! They are a great appetizer to go with a dinner or if you need something at a party these are excellent!

Yields: Serves Many

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil for frying

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup of milk or beer

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 9 oz. package of fresh cheese curds, room temperature

Directions:

1. In a deep fryer or large pot, heat vegetable oil.
2. In a medium bowl, combine egg, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and milk OR beer until well blended.
3. Add flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder; mix until smooth
   
4. Drop cheese curds in batter. Using a spoon, turn cheese curds to coat thoroughly.
5. A few at a time, drop the coated curds into the hot oil; fry around 1 minute or until golden brown and puffed, turn to coat all sides. 

   

   My Sous-Chef frying up the cheese curds

Baked Cinnamon and Sugar Churros

Baked Cinnamon and Sugar Churros

If you are ever in the mood for a churro make this recipe! It is super quick and easy to make. It is crunchy on the outside and a chew inside! If you have tried the chimichanga recipe you can use left over cinnamon sugar if you like! It is the same as what goes on the chimichangas.

Yields: 12 Churros

Ingredients:

For the Churros:

1 cup of water

1/2 cup light butter spread

4 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Ingredients for Churros 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the water, butter spread, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Set the pan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. Stir until the mixture forms a ball. Stir in the egg until the mixture is smooth and glossy.
   
4. Transfer the dough to a pastry bag or freezer bag fitted with a large tip (preferably star-shaped). Pipe the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, making 12, 8-inch long strips. Baking for 20-30 minutes, until the churros are golden brown.

   

   Make sure your plastic bag is strong enough!

5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and cinnamon.
6. Spray the baked churros with cooking spray and sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture over top. Flip the churros and repeat on the other side. Serve warm. 

Finished Result!

I enjoyed making these churros a lot this week. I had my boyfriend Bryan help me make these this week and they were very yummy! Super easy to make and quick. These are great for a quick snack or for a fun treat for a special occasion. Bryan definitely made this recipe fun just by singing about churros and playing his guitar. I hope everyone finds this recipe fun and as good as I did!

Enjoy!

C-H-U-R-R-O spells Churro!

Source: http://what2cook.net/2013/04/09/baked-cinnamon-and-sugar-churros/

Homemade Strawberry Pop Tarts

Homemade Strawberry Pop Tarts

I recently found this recipe on Pinterest and had to make my own pop tarts right away! They taste a lot better than what you get in a box from the grocery store. Its easy to make and doesn't take up a whole afternoon like some recipes I have recently made. This is definitely a recipe you want to try! 

Yield: 6-7 Pop Tarts

Ingredients:

For the Pie Crust:

1 1/2 cups sifted flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup shortening OR 1/4 cup unsalted butter

4 tablespoons cold water

Strawberry Jam

For the Glaze:

1 cup powder sugar

3 tablespoons milk

Sprinkles

Ingredients for Pie Crust

Directions for Pie Crust:

1. Combine flour and salt in bowl. Add shortening OR butter and blend with fork, or your fingers until mixture is fairly coarse.
2. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time. Gently mixing the dough after each addition until dough forms a ball.
3. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle. Cut out long strips about 2 inches wide, and 3 inches long.
4. Repeat until you run out of dough.
5. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
6. Take one pie crust rectangle and fill with a teaspoon of jam. Cover with another piece of pie crust. Crip all four edges
7. Repeat step 6 until you run out of pie crust.
8. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until slightly brown.

   

   Allow for Pop Tarts to cool before glazing them.

Directions for Glaze:

1. Place powdered sugar in bowl. Pour milk slowly until it has a consistency of really thick syrup. (About 3 tablespoons)
2. Once Pop Tarts are cooled pour glaze onto Pop Tarts and decorate with sprinkles.

Homemade Waffles

Homemade Waffles

So recently I have been obsessed with waffles. I have been eating them for lunch a lot! So this morning I woke up and wanted waffles but we were out of mix, so I found this recipe to make homemade waffles. These are so much better than from a box! I will never be making waffles from a box anymore! They are fluffy, moist, and have a little sweetness to them. Also from my last recipe the apple chimichangas I had left over apple pie filling. I had no idea what I was going to do with the leftovers so it worked out perfectly that I wanted waffles this morning!

Yields: 6 Waffles

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon white sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients for Waffles

Directions:

1. Preheat waffle iron. Beat eggs in large bowl with hand beater until fluffy. Beat in flour, milk, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder, salt, and vanilla, just until smooth.

   

   Everyone loved these waffles...even Oreo!!

2. Spray preheated waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot.
   
   
   
   These waffles are super easy to make. Hope everyone enjoys them as much as we did!
   
   
   Enjoy!
   
   

   

   Even while working on this post Oreo just HAD to have some waffles!!

Apple Cinnamon Chimichangas

Apple Cinnamon Chimichangas

These apple cinnamon chimichangas are treat! They taste like little apple pies. They would work as a dessert or as a small breakfast. If you want to indulge a little try drizzling caramel over the top! You can always warm them up again by putting them in the microwave to get that warm apple pie feel to them. 

Yields: 10 Chimichangas

Ingredients:

For Apple Pie Filling:

4 baking apples, Chopped

1 1/2 cups of water

1/4 cup cornstarch

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

For the Chimichangas:

8-10 small tortillas

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Oil for frying

Ingredients for Chimichangas

Directions for Apple Pie Filling:

1. Combine the water, cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cook for three minutes, or until the mixture becomes very thick.
2. Add the chopped apples and reduce to a simmer. Allow the apple mixture to simmer until the apples become tender (around 10 minutes). Allow mixture to cool.

   

   Apple Pie Filling after it has cooled.

Directions for Chimichangas:

1. Mix cinnamon and sugar in a shallow bowl and set aside.
2. Spoon apple pie filling across the bottom 1/3 of the tortilla.
3. Roll in both sides of the tortilla before rolling up the bottom of the tortilla over the filling, then continue to roll the tortilla up like a burrito.
4. Meanwhile, heat a small skillet with 1/2 inch of oil. Once the oil is hot, fry the chimichangas on all sides until the tortilla turns golden brown. (30 seconds each side)
5. Remove the chimichangas to a paper towel-lined plate and allow to drain briefly. Immediately roll the warm chimichanga in the cinnamon sugar mixture.