Vegan Kosher Icebox Pie

I am on a mission to prove to my mom that you can Veganize just about any meal and it will taste amazing!  I decided to try a vegan version of her ice box pie. 

-make or purchase graham cracker crust...I found a premad vegan Kosher chocolate graham cracker crust in Walmart Neighborhood market and they sell them at kosher markets as well.
-4 sliced frozen sliced bananas
-1/2 cup of almond milk
-1/4 cup of cocoa powder
-flavoring if desired - I added a few drops of vanilla extract
-toppings if desired - I added pecans

-Mix frozen bananas, almond milk, cocoa powder and vanilla in a blender or food processor until smooth.  I like to make my nice cream in my ninja blender but as there is not a lot of room for the bananas to move around as they process I sometimes have to stop the blender and move the bananas around with a spatula.  The almond milk also helps to break up the bananas as well so if you are having a hard time you can add some more milk.  When bananas are smooth pour into pie crust and top as desired.  Freeze until set and enjoy!

 The pie on top is before adding topping and freezing and underneath it is after freezing overnight.

orange dessert

I bought a bag of oranges when they were in season and I was trying to find some new uses for them as I quickly got sick of eating them plain.  I decided to try making a baked desert and it came out great - well really how does anything with cinnamon and sugar ever taste bad?

 

What I did was peel and orange and break up the slices...I then divided the slices between several oven safe dishes.  I drizzled maple syrup over the oranges and topped with cinnamon, brown sugar and chopped candied ginger.  I baked them on 350 until the sugar melted - yum:)  I need to try this again!

Doctored white cake mix: peanut butter, Nutella cupcakes

I had white cake mix but was in the mood for cupcakes. I also had Nutella and peanut butter that was nearing their expiration dates so I decided to whip something up. I made the batter according to package directions and mixed in two heaping scoops of peanut butter. I then filled the muffin tins (make sure to grease them) halfway full of batter, put a scoop of Nutella on top of each batter/cupcake and covered with remaining batter. I also baked them according to package directions. I was in a rush to go somewhere and bring the cupcakes with me so I quickly frosted them and added sprinkles..the frosting melted a bit but they tasted great!

I've started eating paleo only lately and this post makes me want to cheat! 

Cousin Lisa's Cinnamon Rolls

I recently visited my family in Virginia. My cousin Lisa is a home ec teacher and one of my inspirations to start cooking. I remember Lisa trying to teach me how to make grilled cheese and saute onions for on top of burgers. She was teaching her brother and I how to test if the oil in the pan was hot enough by sprinkling just a little water in the pan...we almost burnt her mother's kitchen down that day...ahh, memories...

Well, I was lucky enough to stay with Lisa on this visit and she made all sorts of yummy things for me like these cinnamon rolls!

Above picture is pre-glazing.

And she even shared the recipe:

Dough:
-2 and 1/2 to 2 and 3/4 cups flour
-1 package yeast
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of sugar
-2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of crisco
-1/4 cup of warm water (115 degrees)
-1/4 cup of warm milk (155 degress)
-1 egg

Filling:
-1/4 cup of sug mixed with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
-2 tablespoons of melted butter

Glaze:
-1 cup powdered sugar
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
-1/2 tablespoon milk

Directions:

In a food processor with dough blade - combine water, milk and yeast. Let yeast soften for about 30 seconds. Then add 1 cup of flour, sugar, crisco, salt, egg and mix together. Add remaining flour a little at a time until dough forms a ball. You may not need all of the flour. Put dough ball in greased bowl and let rise - this should take around 45 minutes to 1 hour. Roll into a rectangle around 12x7 inches. Brush dough with melted butterand sprinkle cinnamon and sugar mixture on top. Roll into log from the long side. Cut into 12 pieces and arrange in a 9 inch circular pan. Let rise for 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees for about 18 minutes.

While the rolls are baking combine glaze ingredients in a bowl and mix together. When rolls are done take out of oven and allow to cool slightly before drizzling glaze on top.













Lisa began cutting the rolls and they were getting a bit smooched so she took out a piece of floss and cut the rest of the rolls with floss...I'm not a baker - it's definitely not something I would of thought of - I was very impressed:)























I apparently, was not the only one impress...note the glaze all over her son's face:)











What was left of the rolls after we finished breakfast...yum!

Monkey Bread

I have seen recipes for Monkey Bread everywhere and it looked some yummy (anything with brown sugar and cinnamon wins me over easily) I had to try it! This can be eaten for breakfast/brunch or as a dessert with coffee.

Ingredients:

-3 cans of 10 count buttermilk biscuts

-1 cup of sugar

-3 tablespoons cinnamon

-1 and 1/2 sticks margarine or butter

-1 cup dark brown sugar

-optional nuts: I used chopped walnuts

-greased pan or bundt pan (If you use a bundt pan put a cookie sheet under it incase any of the butter/margarine melts out of the pan)

Directions:

-preheat oven to 350 degrees

-mix the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and stir until blended

-rip or cut each biscut into four pieces

-put several pieces at a time into the sugar mixture and coat well

-arrange biscut pieces in pan

-at this time you can sprinkle nuts on top

-melt the margarine/butter and mix in brown sugar and stir until completely blended

-pour the brown sugar and margarine mixture on top and bake for approximately 30 minutes

-take out of oven and let cool for a few minutes before slicing - as it stands it will firm up more

Side view from bundt pan.

I have made this twice now - the first time I made in a pound cake pan and only used 1/3 of all ingredients- I kind of liked it better.

Enjoy for brunch with an omlet and a mimosa:)

Renee's Jo Jo Treats

My coworker Renee makes these for every work party. Someone finally convinced her to give us girls the recipe and now I make them for parties and holidays- everyone loves them and they are so easy to make!

Ingredients:

-1 box saltine crackers
-2 sticks of butter
-1 and a half 12 ounce bags of semi sweet chocolate morsels
-1 and 1/4 cups light brown sugar
-Assorted toppings such as: slivered almonds, crushed candy candys, grated coconut and marshmallows

Directions:

-Preheat over to 400 degrees
-Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil
-Over foil line cookie sheet with crackers in a row to fill entire cookie sheet - never overlap crackers

When crackers are arranged like this you are ready for the next step

-Cut up the 2 sticks of butter and melt slowly in a pan over low heat
-When butter is completely melted add brown sugar and bring to a boil
-Stir or whisk sugar and butter mixture exactly 5 minutes while boiling
-Spoon mixture over crackers - make sure mixture is covering all crackers
-Bake in the oven for 5 minutes
-After the 5 minutes are up take out of oven and evenly distribute chocolate morsels over cookie crackers
-Place back in the oven for another 5 minutes
-When 5 minutes are up take out of oven and spread chocolate over crackers with a knife or spoon
-While chocolate is hot sprinkle toppings of your choice on top
-Refrigerate for at least one hour then take out and peel off of foil and break into pieces (like brittle) the pieces should be different sizes

When you peel the jo-jo treats off of the foil the bottom should be coated with butter and sugar mixture.

I couldnt decide what kind of jo-jo treats I wanted to make so I just made every combination I could think of!

The peppermint one's are my favorite - yum!

Sufganiyot for Hanukkah - Jelly Filled Donuts

I am not a fan of jelly donuts but it is a tradition to eat them on Hanukkah. Anything fried is really traditional for hanukkah but sufganiyot has become a staple - especially in Israel. Typically my mom just picks them up from Dunkin Donuts, I eat a bite and thats it. This year I decided to try to make them ourselves and she loved the idea. I loved these dark cherry filled donuts that we made and I couldn't stop eating them! They are pretty small, only a few inches and oh so cute! I found this Israeli recipe online posted by Ciaran from Momfluential:

Step one: dissolve 2 tablespoons of yeast and one teaspoon of sugar in a half cup of warm water. After 15 minutes it gets nice and bubbly. While the yeast is working its magic begin step 2: place 2.5 cups of flour and 2 tsp salt in a large bowl and sprinkle with a little bit of allspice.

Step 3: When the 15 minutes has pst and the yeast and sugar mixture is bubbly make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour in the yeast mixture, two tablespoons of room temp butter, 1/3 c sugar, and 2 large eggs.

Step 4: Mix everything together well and knead dough until it is smooth and bounces back when touched. This should take 10-15 mintues. Dough will be super sticky so make sure your hands are well floured to knead the dough.

Step 5: Let stand to rise for 2 and a half hours in a warm place (my mistake was putting it in the fridge - didnt really rise!)

Step 6: When the two and a half hours are up roll dough out on a well floured surface and cut with a round cookie cutter or in my case (I dont do a lot of baking) with round glass. Once circles are cut cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise for 15 more minutes.

Step 7: While donut circles are rising heat several inches of vegetable oil in a skillet - it hanukkah - these donuts are deep fried! Make sure to test the oil with a small strip of dough before putting dough circles in oil.

Step 8: Once the 15 minutes are up and oil is hot enough begin to add dough to hot oil in batches of 4-5. Use a slotted spoon to flip over or roll over donuts once bottom side is browned. When donuts are browned on both sides remove from oil and place on a plate or baking sheet. Continue like this until all donuts are cooked.

Step 9: Pick a jelly to fill your dougnuts with - strawberry is common or cherry. We used black cherry jelly. Cut a small slit into one side of the donut and use a baby spoon to insert some jelly into the donut.

Step 10: sprinkle with fine sugar and enjoy!!

Completed donuts waited to be consumed the next day for Hanukkah! We made these a day early but of course we had to "sample" some to make sure they were fit for consumption. I must say they were a lot better all nice and warm when they were first made. I would recommend making them the day you want to eat them. They dont store well - after about 2 days they were pretty stale.

My mother filling them with jelly - mmm!

Happy Hanukkah!