The Cranberry Sauce Conundrum

I have a really bad habit of letting food go to waste. I know it's a terrible thing to do, and I feel guilty every single time I throw away uneaten food that has gone bad in the refrigerator. I'm trying very hard to mend my ways, but sometimes it just isn't easy.

The other night, I had half a can of whole-berry cranberry sauce in the fridge. I had tried to use half of it in a recipe that failed miserably (not the recipe's fault--we had an ingredient go bad and didn't realized until it was too late in the process. We ended up eating grilled cheese for dinner that night.). So, there sat half a can of cranberry sauce. To be completely honest, the jelled consistency of the stuff grosses me out. But, keeping in mind that I have been trying so hard not to throw food away, I started looking for a recipe to use it up.

There is a new-ish website out there called Eat Your Books. I signed up for a lifetime membership back in May. Basically, they index cookbooks. You create a bookshelf with the cookbooks you own, and viola--you have a searchable database of the recipes on your cookbook shelves. Right now, only about 50% of my cookbooks are indexed. That's still a lot of recipes to search from--according to the website, when I log in, exactly 22.465 recipes, to be exact.

I performed such a search and found the perfect recipe to use up the cranberry sauce. As a bonus, it would also use the juice of the orange that was sitting in fridge, divested of its zest. The recipe was for Orange Cranberry Muffins from Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food.

So, I quickly mixed together the streusel topping, whipped up the muffin batter, scooped them out, sprinkled the topping on as well as I could (the muffin cups were over-full, so it was hard to make the streusel stick), and popped them in the oven in time to sit down and watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory on DVD. While I watched the hilarious antics of the ever-endearing nerds, my house started to smell ridiculously good. The kind of good that makes your stomach rumble and your mouth water, even though you just ate dinner an hour ago.

These muffins were a wonderful solution to my cranberry sauce problem. As a matter of fact, they were such a good solution that they have created their own problem. When I make them next, what will I do with the other half of the can of cranberry sauce? I guess that just remains to be seen. In the meantime, I would strongly urge you to make these muffins when you get the chance. They have the perfect fall/harvest taste. They are tender, and buttery, with a subtle crunch from the streusel topping. And, every now and then, if you are lucky, you bite into one of the whole cranberries, which gives you a joyful tart pop on the palate.

Orange Cranberry Muffins

adapted from I'm Just Here for More Food

The Streusel:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped almonds

3 Tbs butter

The Muffins:

8 Tbs unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp orange extract

1/2 cup plain yogurt

orange juice from 1 orange

3/4 cup canned whole-berry cranberry sauce

1. Mix streusel ingredients until cohesive, but still crumbly.

2. Preheat oven to 350, and grease a muffin tin.

3. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.

4. Cream together the butter and sugar.

5. Add the eggs and mix until combined.

6. Add remaining wet ingredients. Then dump all the wet ingredients into the dry. (I do this the other way around--dumping the dry into the wet, and I'm not sure it makes any difference. Alton would probably disagree, though.)

7. Scoop the batter into 12 muffin cups. The book says to fill them to the top. Mine crested over the top. They still turned out great.

8. Sprinkle with streusel topping.

9. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.

10. Allow muffins to cool before taking out of the tins.

Yield: 12 muffins

Cost: $0.36 per muffin

The Cranberry Sauce Conundrum

I have a really bad habit of letting food go to waste. I know it's a terrible thing to do, and I feel guilty every single time I throw away uneaten food that has gone bad in the refrigerator. I'm trying very hard to mend my ways, but sometimes it just isn't easy.

The other night, I had half a can of whole-berry cranberry sauce in the fridge. I had tried to use half of it in a recipe that failed miserably (not the recipe's fault--we had an ingredient go bad and didn't realized until it was too late in the process. We ended up eating grilled cheese for dinner that night.). So, there sat half a can of cranberry sauce. To be completely honest, the jelled consistency of the stuff grosses me out. But, keeping in mind that I have been trying so hard not to throw food away, I started looking for a recipe to use it up.

There is a new-ish website out there called Eat Your Books. I signed up for a lifetime membership back in May. Basically, they index cookbooks. You create a bookshelf with the cookbooks you own, and viola--you have a searchable database of the recipes on your cookbook shelves. Right now, only about 50% of my cookbooks are indexed. That's still a lot of recipes to search from--according to the website, when I log in, exactly 22.465 recipes, to be exact.

I performed such a search and found the perfect recipe to use up the cranberry sauce. As a bonus, it would also use the juice of the orange that was sitting in fridge, divested of its zest. The recipe was for Orange Cranberry Muffins from Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food.

So, I quickly mixed together the streusel topping, whipped up the muffin batter, scooped them out, sprinkled the topping on as well as I could (the muffin cups were over-full, so it was hard to make the streusel stick), and popped them in the oven in time to sit down and watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory on DVD. While I watched the hilarious antics of the ever-endearing nerds, my house started to smell ridiculously good. The kind of good that makes your stomach rumble and your mouth water, even though you just ate dinner an hour ago.

These muffins were a wonderful solution to my cranberry sauce problem. As a matter of fact, they were such a good solution that they have created their own problem. When I make them next, what will I do with the other half of the can of cranberry sauce? I guess that just remains to be seen. In the meantime, I would strongly urge you to make these muffins when you get the chance. They have the perfect fall/harvest taste. They are tender, and buttery, with a subtle crunch from the streusel topping. And, every now and then, if you are lucky, you bite into one of the whole cranberries, which gives you a joyful tart pop on the palate.

Orange Cranberry Muffins

adapted from I'm Just Here for More Food

The Streusel:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped almonds

3 Tbs butter

The Muffins:

8 Tbs unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp orange extract

1/2 cup plain yogurt

orange juice from 1 orange

3/4 cup canned whole-berry cranberry sauce

1. Mix streusel ingredients until cohesive, but still crumbly.

2. Preheat oven to 350, and grease a muffin tin.

3. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.

4. Cream together the butter and sugar.

5. Add the eggs and mix until combined.

6. Add remaining wet ingredients. Then dump all the wet ingredients into the dry. (I do this the other way around--dumping the dry into the wet, and I'm not sure it makes any difference. Alton would probably disagree, though.)

7. Scoop the batter into 12 muffin cups. The book says to fill them to the top. Mine crested over the top. They still turned out great.

8. Sprinkle with streusel topping.

9. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.

10. Allow muffins to cool before taking out of the tins.

Yield: 12 muffins

Cost: $0.36 per muffin

The Empty House Cupcake

What do you do on a Saturday night, when the baby is asleep and the husband is out at his brother's bachelor party? Make cupcakes, of course!

I was faced with this scenario this evening. The house was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop...well, except for the hum of the monitor, but I don't even hear that anymore (yet the tiniest sound of movement through it clicks back into my consciousness). Even the dog is jumping and barking at phantom noises. I closed a cabinet, and she was barking at the front door.

The recipe I chose was for Doughnut Cupcakes. They promised the taste of a doughnut without the deep-frying. I'm all for that! The recipe comes from the King Arthur Baking Sheet CD I bought last weekend--this one from the Jan/Feb edition back in 1993. They came from a column entitled "Take It Easy," and they certainly delivered on that promise. From the moment I decided to make the cupcakes to the time they were cooling on the wire rack was only 50 minutes. That time probably could have been even faster, if I hadn't had to wait for the oven to preheat.

I did make two adjustments to the original recipe. First, it called for shortening. Yuck! I will not allow Crisco in my house. So, I subbed in butter, as I always do. I expect better of King Arthur, but maybe times were just different in 1993, and they didn't realize how bad shortening is (though it was always a vile substance, so I'm skeptical). Second, the original called for regular milk. I didn't have any in the house, so I used buttermilk.

The results were quite yummy, if not quite doughnut-like. Of course, that could be because of my substitutions. To me the biggest similarity to doughnts was the nutmeg and cinnamon sugar flavors. Nevertheless, they make a very satisfactory cinnamon-sugary cupcake.

Doughnut Cupcakes

adapted from King Arthur Flour Baking Sheet Jan/Feb 1993

1/3 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

Topping:

2 Tbs butter, melted

cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the milk and egg. Add the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt, and beat at medium speed of an electric mixer for 2 minutes.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups, filling each about halfway. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Brush tops of cupcakes with melted butter, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Wait 10 minutes, then remove from pans to cool completely.

Makes 12 cupcakes

Cost: $0.14 Yup, that's 14 CENTS per cupcake. You can't beat that!

The Empty House Cupcake

What do you do on a Saturday night, when the baby is asleep and the husband is out at his brother's bachelor party? Make cupcakes, of course!

I was faced with this scenario this evening. The house was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop...well, except for the hum of the monitor, but I don't even hear that anymore (yet the tiniest sound of movement through it clicks back into my consciousness). Even the dog is jumping and barking at phantom noises. I closed a cabinet, and she was barking at the front door.

The recipe I chose was for Doughnut Cupcakes. They promised the taste of a doughnut without the deep-frying. I'm all for that! The recipe comes from the King Arthur Baking Sheet CD I bought last weekend--this one from the Jan/Feb edition back in 1993. They came from a column entitled "Take It Easy," and they certainly delivered on that promise. From the moment I decided to make the cupcakes to the time they were cooling on the wire rack was only 50 minutes. That time probably could have been even faster, if I hadn't had to wait for the oven to preheat.

I did make two adjustments to the original recipe. First, it called for shortening. Yuck! I will not allow Crisco in my house. So, I subbed in butter, as I always do. I expect better of King Arthur, but maybe times were just different in 1993, and they didn't realize how bad shortening is (though it was always a vile substance, so I'm skeptical). Second, the original called for regular milk. I didn't have any in the house, so I used buttermilk.

The results were quite yummy, if not quite doughnut-like. Of course, that could be because of my substitutions. To me the biggest similarity to doughnts was the nutmeg and cinnamon sugar flavors. Nevertheless, they make a very satisfactory cinnamon-sugary cupcake.

Doughnut Cupcakes

adapted from King Arthur Flour Baking Sheet Jan/Feb 1993

1/3 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

Topping:

2 Tbs butter, melted

cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the milk and egg. Add the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt, and beat at medium speed of an electric mixer for 2 minutes.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups, filling each about halfway. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Brush tops of cupcakes with melted butter, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Wait 10 minutes, then remove from pans to cool completely.

Makes 12 cupcakes

Cost: $0.14 Yup, that's 14 CENTS per cupcake. You can't beat that!

A Politically Incorrect Bread

I just got home from Vermont. I love Vermont. The rolling hills are beautiful. The air is fresh and crisp and clean. The people are friendly. There's a chance you might see a moose. And the King Arthur Flour store is there. The only thing I don't like about Vermont is that I have to spend a good portion of my visit giving myself pep talks about why I haven't just picked up and moved there yet. (Work, work, and work. There just aren't jobs in my husband's field there, and we need money to live--even in Vermont.)

As a bonus for going to the beautiful wedding of close friends, I got to visit the King Arthur Flour store. That store is so dangerous for me. But, I did walk out relatively unscathed. I bought a one-pound bag of cinnamon chips, because it has been driving me crazy that I can't find them (the supermarket sells cinnamon chip muffins, but not cinnamon chips--so where do they get their cinnamon chips????). I also bought a CD with the first ten years of the Baking Sheet--King Arthur's newsletter--on it in PDF format.

Upon returning home, I had some distinct emotions. The first was travel-weariness. In the last six weeks, we have traveled to Chicago, Florida, and Vermont. All with an infant. Not easy. I am standing firm that I am not leaving for an overnight trip until Thanksgiving. The other emotion was excitement for fall. Fall has already come to Vermont, it seems. New Hampshire is lagging behind. And then, as excitement for fall almost always translates for me, I was ready to bake.

So, I opened up my new CD and found a recipe for a bread machine bread that would work well for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Kurt starts a new job tomorrow, and we don't know what the lunch situation will be--if there will be a fridge, a mircowave, etc. So, a sandwich is a safe bet. And a sandwich on homemade bread is just that much better. I found a recipe for "Squaw Bread" that looked very interesting, if a bit derogatory. I mean, who uses the term "squaw" anymore? In any case, the recipe looked good, and I decided to try it.

The results were excellent. The whole grain flavor doesn't overpower the whole loaf. Instead, it lends a sweetness to the soft, chewy bread. It was just perfect under a schmear of cream cheese for breakfast this morning.

Squaw Bread
adapted from King Arthur Flour's Baking Sheet Mar-Apr 1997

Makes 1 (1 1/2 lb loaf)

3/4 cup (6 ounces) buttermilk
1/2 cup (4 ounces) water
2 Tbs. canola oil
1 1/2 Tbs honey
2 Tbs raisins
2 Tbs light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup (3 ounces) rye flour
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. yeast

In a blender, blend buttermilk through brown sugar. Put this mixture into bread machine, followed by the rest of the ingredients. Bake on basic or white bread program, with light crust setting.

Cost: $1.69 for the loaf
Specialty whole grain sandwich loaf at supermarket bakery: $2.99

I submitted this post to the BYOB monthly round-up. You can see what the other BYOB bakers were making in September by clicking here.

A Politically Incorrect Bread

I just got home from Vermont. I love Vermont. The rolling hills are beautiful. The air is fresh and crisp and clean. The people are friendly. There's a chance you might see a moose. And the King Arthur Flour store is there. The only thing I don't like about Vermont is that I have to spend a good portion of my visit giving myself pep talks about why I haven't just picked up and moved there yet. (Work, work, and work. There just aren't jobs in my husband's field there, and we need money to live--even in Vermont.)

As a bonus for going to the beautiful wedding of close friends, I got to visit the King Arthur Flour store. That store is so dangerous for me. But, I did walk out relatively unscathed. I bought a one-pound bag of cinnamon chips, because it has been driving me crazy that I can't find them (the supermarket sells cinnamon chip muffins, but not cinnamon chips--so where do they get their cinnamon chips????). I also bought a CD with the first ten years of the Baking Sheet--King Arthur's newsletter--on it in PDF format.

Upon returning home, I had some distinct emotions. The first was travel-weariness. In the last six weeks, we have traveled to Chicago, Florida, and Vermont. All with an infant. Not easy. I am standing firm that I am not leaving for an overnight trip until Thanksgiving. The other emotion was excitement for fall. Fall has already come to Vermont, it seems. New Hampshire is lagging behind. And then, as excitement for fall almost always translates for me, I was ready to bake.

So, I opened up my new CD and found a recipe for a bread machine bread that would work well for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Kurt starts a new job tomorrow, and we don't know what the lunch situation will be--if there will be a fridge, a mircowave, etc. So, a sandwich is a safe bet. And a sandwich on homemade bread is just that much better. I found a recipe for "Squaw Bread" that looked very interesting, if a bit derogatory. I mean, who uses the term "squaw" anymore? In any case, the recipe looked good, and I decided to try it.

The results were excellent. The whole grain flavor doesn't overpower the whole loaf. Instead, it lends a sweetness to the soft, chewy bread. It was just perfect under a schmear of cream cheese for breakfast this morning.

Squaw Bread
adapted from King Arthur Flour's Baking Sheet Mar-Apr 1997

Makes 1 (1 1/2 lb loaf)

3/4 cup (6 ounces) buttermilk
1/2 cup (4 ounces) water
2 Tbs. canola oil
1 1/2 Tbs honey
2 Tbs raisins
2 Tbs light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup (3 ounces) rye flour
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. yeast

In a blender, blend buttermilk through brown sugar. Put this mixture into bread machine, followed by the rest of the ingredients. Bake on basic or white bread program, with light crust setting.

Cost: $1.69 for the loaf
Specialty whole grain sandwich loaf at supermarket bakery: $2.99

I submitted this post to the BYOB monthly round-up. You can see what the other BYOB bakers were making in September by clicking here.

Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

Funny how life works. On Friday night, I was thinking that I would finally get a chance to bake this weekend. Since I had to run out to the grocery store for dinner ingredients quickly, I chose my recipe rather haphazardly. I seemed to recall a chocolate chip and peanut butter cookie that I made once upon a time, that Sally the dog had eaten before I had really gotten my fill.

I baked said cookies last night. I logged into my blog this morning, and reread my last post about the recipe. And I found that I made this same recipe during Labor Day weekend two years ago. What are the chances??? And where on earth did the time go?

In any case, the cookies are still wonderful. Oh my, that Dorie Greenspan knows how to build a super dessert recipe. The woman should be considered armed with butter and very dangerous to the waistline. But, she sure does deliver.

I am happy to report that I have kept these cookies on the stove, behind a tea kettle and big old empty Dutch oven so that Sally cannot steal them. So far, so good. So very, very sinfully good.

For the link to the recipe, I am sending you to one of my most favorite blogs. Rebecca's posts never fail to make me smile, and very often have me laughing out loud. If you haven't read her blog before, you should really consider starting now. Here is the recipe (and a great post).

Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

Funny how life works. On Friday night, I was thinking that I would finally get a chance to bake this weekend. Since I had to run out to the grocery store for dinner ingredients quickly, I chose my recipe rather haphazardly. I seemed to recall a chocolate chip and peanut butter cookie that I made once upon a time, that Sally the dog had eaten before I had really gotten my fill.

I baked said cookies last night. I logged into my blog this morning, and reread my last post about the recipe. And I found that I made this same recipe during Labor Day weekend two years ago. What are the chances??? And where on earth did the time go?

In any case, the cookies are still wonderful. Oh my, that Dorie Greenspan knows how to build a super dessert recipe. The woman should be considered armed with butter and very dangerous to the waistline. But, she sure does deliver.

I am happy to report that I have kept these cookies on the stove, behind a tea kettle and big old empty Dutch oven so that Sally cannot steal them. So far, so good. So very, very sinfully good.

For the link to the recipe, I am sending you to one of my most favorite blogs. Rebecca's posts never fail to make me smile, and very often have me laughing out loud. If you haven't read her blog before, you should really consider starting now. Here is the recipe (and a great post).

Mint M&M Bark

This recipe is a product of one of my biggest pet peeves. Peppermint ice cream is one of my all time favorite foods, but I can't understand why everyone insists on ruining it by putting candy cane pieces in it! I am not one to chew hard candy, I think it might be my neurotic obsession with my teeth. I mean when I am enjoying a nice smooth bowl of ice cream I don't want to have chomp on candy cane or worse swallow a bunch of ragged pieces.
Anyways how this is all relevant to the recipe to this recipe is that this is originally for peppermint bark, but I've replaced the candy cane pieces with a less offensive candy to chew, mint M&M's :)

So for Tracy, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 cups (12 oz) White Chocolate Chips
appox. 1 cup Mint M&M's
Dash of Vanilla Extract (optional)

A word on M&M's: Make sure you get the classic mint M&M's that are only available for the holidays. They should come in a bigger bag. They also make a gourmet type mint M&M in small bags, but they don't have shells and will thus just melt into the chocolate. (Which will still taste pretty good but won't look the same)

Directions:

1. Melt chocolate in Microwave

2. Place M&M's in plastic bag and crush using a rolling pin.

3. Holding Strainer over melted chocolate pour crushed candy into strainer. Shake. Leave the larger pieces in the strainer.

4. Pour chocolate onto wax paper. Sprinkle with reserved larger pieces.

5. Allow to cool then break into pieces.

White Chocolate Fudge

This is going to have to be a short post because guess how much I've packed for our trip tomorrow... yup nadda nothing none.

Ingredients:
2 pkg. Baker's White Chocolate
3/4 cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 cup Almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries
splash of vanilla extract

1. Line 8-inch pan with foil
2. Microwave chocolate and milk until melted (stiring frequently)
3. Add almonds, cranberries, and vanilla and stir well
4. Spread into prepared pan and refrigerate until firm.
5. Remove from pan and cut into pieces

Pumpkin Rolls

I was introduced to this amazing treat when I married my husband.
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Filling
1 cup powdered sugar
1 pkg. cream cheese
1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 Tbsp butter

Beat eggs on high for 5 min.
Gradually add sugar.
Stir in pumpkin and lemon juice.
Stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and nutmeg
Fold in pumpkin mixture
Spread onto greased parchment papered pan. (Top with nuts if using)
Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.
Turn onto or place parchment onto dish towel and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Start at the narrow end and roll towel and cake together.
Allow to cool.
Beat all filling ingredients together until smooth. Unroll and spread filling over cake. Roll cake back up and freeze.
Once cold cut into pieces. (hint: it won't cut very well unless it's cold)

Fudge!

This is another easy peasy recipe that you can throw together in a sec. The fudge is tasty, not award winning but tasty and foolproof. (you'll see why this is important later)

Ingredients:
3 cups Chocolate Chips (I used semi-sweet)
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1. Combine Chocolate and Sweetened Condensed Molk
2. Microwave until chocolate is melted (stirring frequently, ever 10-30 sec)
3. Stir in Vanilla
4. Pour into wax-paper lined 9-inch pan
5. Let cool & harden cut into pieces

Ok so that was the pretty fudge I took to the neighbors now for complete honesty... I am absolutely HORRIBLE at making fudge! Last year my fudge was harder than a rock we broke it into pieces and gave it out as chocolate. This year I was committed to making good fudge so I started with Danny's family cookbook. (it's never led me astray yet) Things started out well I put the sugar and evaporated milk on the stove and let it boil for the 6 minutes. The whole time I stood right there so that nothing would happen to it. Somewhere along minute 3 or 4 my computer beeped letting me know I had an email...

I came back 10 seconds later to find this. So all that is in the pot is sugar and milk can someone explain the floating black pieces that appeared out of no where!?! At last my slight distraction had let to me burning the fudge. I knew that there was no rescue from this so I threw it out and searched for easy, foolproof recipes thus why my neighbors actually received fudge this year.

Chocolate Truffles

These are my favorite holiday treat! My brother-in-law told me last year that they were better than the fancy smancy truffles he bought from a chocolate shop. Oh and did I mention they are super easy to make?

Ingredients:
Insides
1 pkg. (8 sqaures) Semi-Sweet Chocolate
1 pkg. (8 oz) Cream Cheese

Outsides
1 pkg. Semi-Sweet Chocolate
or
Powder Sugar
Cocoa Powder


1. Melt 8 chocolate squares. I melt my chocolate in the microwave in 10-30 seconds spurts just make sure you stir frequently and don't overheat.
2. Beat cream cheese into chocolate until creamy. It should look something like this. Now place in the refrigerator until firm. This takes about an hour or two, but you can leave overnight.

(Sorry this is where my camera battery died)

3. Using a cookie scoop or measuring spoon shape filling into tsp-Tbsp size balls. I scoop out a bit then roll them in my hands to make them round and smooth. Warning this gets messy as things warm up. (if things get too soft return to the fridge to harden again)

4. Melt 8 more squares of chocolate and using a fork dip truffles, then return to wax paper-covered tray. Refrigerate until firm.

Other options include rolling the truffles in cocoa powder or powdered sugar. (this is a faster, easier option)

So Much Baking!!!

I finally went to and survived the dentist so what to I do on the way home? Stop by the store and load up on all this sugar! I had to load up on baking supplies to prepare for this year's Christmas baking. Can I just say I love holiday baking! Every year I block out a whole day and turn my kitchen into a pastry shop. So if you haven't been bitten by the baking bug yet this year my next posts are for you. I'll post one treat a day until we take off for London so enjoy!

Here's some tips to help making your baking day faster and more enjoyable. First, a couple days in advance plan what you'll be making and stock up on supplies. Then, on the day of set them all out within easy reach. Something I learned a while back is to always have a glass of cold water close by when your baking sweets. All that sugary smell can really make you sick after a while and the water will also help keep you from "sampling" your goods all day long. I know those chocolate chips are calling to you, but if you eat them all day you'll regret it by the time everything is done.

Next, fill up a sink with very hot soapy water. If you start with really hot water you won't need to change it as often. I found that having this wash station set up is really helpful if your like me and only have one set of measuring cups and mixing bowls.