Allison's Recipe Book

Ingredients:
for the fruit salsa:
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Golden Delicious apples – peeled, cored and diced
8 oz raspberries
1 (16 oz) carton of strawberries, diced
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp fruit preserves, any flavor (I used strawberry; would only use 2 tbsp next time)

For the cinnamon chips:
10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
melted butter or butter flavored cooking spray

Cinnamon sugar:
1 cup white sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar, and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes while the oven preheats to 350 degrees.

2. Coat one side of each flour tortilla with melted butter or butter flavored cooking spray. Sprinkle tortillas with desired amount of cinnamon sugar, cut into wedges, and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Spray again with cooking spray (not necessary if using melted butter).

3. Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture. This salsa can also be served with cinnamon graham crackers or cinnamon pita chips. Best when made and eaten the same day otherwise the fruit gives off so too much juice and it gets runny.

Ingredients:

1 head broccoli, chopped
1 head cauliflower, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound bacon, fried and crumbled
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and chill until ready to serve

Ingredients:

Pie dough
Fresh cherries, chopped
Ricotta cheese
Sprinkle of sugar
1 TBSP butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
Roll out your pie dough (I like to do this between 2 sheets of plastic wrap). Cut out shapes with cookie cutter.
Sprinkle and stir the sugar with the chopped cherries in a bowl.
Lay out your heart cut outs on the baking sheet. Spoon on some fresh ricotta cheese, then spoon on the cherries. Lay down the top dough, seal to press with a fork.
Brush the top with melted butter.
Bake for about 15 minutes or until mini hearts are golden brown. The baking time will largely depend on the thickness of your pastry dough and your oven. Just keep close watch.
Cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

 

Ingredients:

Ghoulishly Glowing Cupcakes
1 black light
24 prepared and cooled cupcakes

White Glow In The Dark Frosting
7 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
5 tablespoons tonic water {diet tonic water works too}
mini chocolate chips morsels

Extras Needed for Green Glowing Frosting
Neon Food Color
0.3 ounce package of either Lime or Orange Gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1 cup chilled tonic water

Directions:

Prepare desired cupcakes and allow to cool. Begin frosting by adding confectioners’ sugar, shortening, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons tonic water into a large bowl. Beat on low speed until no loss sugar is visible. Add remaining two tablespoons as needed to bring frosting to piping consistency. Mix at high speed for about a minute to allow frosting to become light and fluffy. Place half of white frosting into a separate bowl and set aside. Add neon food coloring to frosting until it reaches desired color {orange for orange gelatin, green for lime gelatin}. Pipe colored frosting onto cooled cupcakes and place in the freezer for at least an hour. Meanwhile pipe white frosting on half of the cupcakes using a large round frosting tip. Add two mini chocolate chip morsels for the ghost’s eyes to finish ghost cupcakes. After letting colored cupcakes freeze, prepare the gelatin by adding gelatin mix to 1 cup boiling water. Stir for about 2 minutes then add 1 cup chilled tonic water. Transfer to a container that will let you easily dip frosting into and place into an ice bath to cool. Keep gelatin in ice bath stirring occasionally until gelatin is cool but not yet set {about 5 to 10 minutes}. When gelatin is cool to the touch take cupcakes out of the freezer a couple at a time. Dip into gelatin upside down, submerging the frosting but not the cake {it is ok for the gelatin to drip onto cupcake, just don’t submerge it completely}. Rotate cupcakes dipping and then returning to the freezer for about a minutes to set gelatin, then re-dip. Dip 4 to 6 times for best results. Refrigerate until a couple minutes before serving to keep gelatin set. Then place cupcakes under a black light and watch then glow. {Make enough frosting for about 24 cupcakes}

Ingredients:
1 cup white chocolate chips
2 Tbsp. cream cheese
2 Tbsp. milk
5 cups rice Chex
1 cup boxed red velvet cake mix
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Make a double broiler with a pot filled with an inch or so of water, place a glass bowl that fits inside the pot- but the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water. Basically, the steam from the pot is going to slowly, delicately melt the chocolate. Turn the heat to medium. Toss the white chocolate chips in the bowl. Stir, and stir, and stir until the chocolate melts. Turn off the heat and add the cream cheese and milk. Stir until the cream cheese is melted and everything is combined. Stir the chex and the melted chocolate together until the cereal is fully coated.  In a separate, smaller bowl whisk together the cake mix and powdered sugar. Transfer cereal to a tupperware container, top with cake mix and close tightly. Shake, shake, shake!

Ingredients:

CHOCOLATE COOKIES
1 cup + 1 Tablespoon (133g) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (32g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (I use 1 package Baker’s Semi Sweet chocolate)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 Tablespoons (75g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup (150g) light brown sugar
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 cup (180g) mini chocolate chips
CANDY CANE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2.5 – 3 cups (300-360g) confectioners sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-2 Tablespoons (15-30ml) heavy cream or milk
1/2 cup candy cane dust, sifted (about 8-10 candy canes pulverized in a food processor)
crushed candy canes for rolling, optional
Directions:

Begin with the cookies. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave for about 1 minute. Stir. Continue to melt in 30 second increments until fully melted and smooth. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla. Set aside. With an electric or stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth and creamy – about 1 minute. Beat in the sugars, scraping down the sides every 10 seconds or so. The mixture will be granular.

Mix in the beaten egg/vanilla until incorporated. Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients on slow speed. Fold in the mini chocolate chips. Do not overmix at any point in this process.

Chill dough for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Scoop about 1 Tablespoon of dough and roll into a slightly flattened ball. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the cookies have just begun to set with the centers still appearing very soft. They will firm up as they cool.

As the cookies cool, make the buttercream. Beat the butter for 1 minute with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add 2.5 cups of sifted powdered sugar and slowly mix on low speed. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 1 Tablespoon of cream/milk. Beat for about 1 minute. Manually stir in candy cane dust. If your buttercream needs to be thicker, add more powdered sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk/cream. If frosting is too sweet, add a pinch of salt.

Frost the bottom end of a cooled cookie and top with another to make a sandwich. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

A Pack or 2 of fresh strawberries

Dipping Chocolate

Empty Egg Carton

Directions:

Simply cut and hollow out as many strawberries as needed, fill with your favorite chocolate, and set in your empty egg carton and set in fridge overnight.

Ingredients:

9×13 pan of brownies, baked and cooled
1/4 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 & 1/4 cups pretzel m&m’s

Directions:

1. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and peanut butter until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the sugars, and continue creaming until light and fluffy, about 1 minute more. Add the milk and vanilla, and mix until smooth. Add the flour, and continue to mix at low speed until fully combined. Stir in the m&m’s.

2. Spoon the cookie dough onto the cooled brownies and spread gently into an even layer. Slice into squares, and prepare for your life to change.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa
2 1/4 cup(s) granulated sugar
3/4 cup(s) packed brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon(s) baking soda
3/4 teaspoon(s) baking powder
3/4 teaspoon(s) kosher salt
1 1/2 cup(s) whole milk
3/4 cup(s) canola oil
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) peppermint extract
1 1/4 cup(s) boiling water
20 mini candy canes
3 package(s) (8 ounces each) cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup(s) (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 box(es) (1-pound) box confectioners’ sugar
Peppermint Meringues, for decorating (optional)

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat three 8- by 2-inch round cake pans with cooking spray. Line the bottoms with parchment paper; spray the paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, granulated and brown sugars, baking soda and powder, and salt. In a bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, eggs, and peppermint extract. Mix the milk mixture into the flour mixture until fully incorporated. Mix in the boiling water (the batter will be thin).
Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pans before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile, crush the candy canes and make the icing. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Place one cake layer on a platter. Spread 1 1/4 cups icing over the top. Top with another layer and 1 1/4 cups icing. Top with the last cake layer. Frost sides and top with the remaining icing. Gently pat the crushed candy canes all over the sides of the cake. Top with meringues (if using)

Ingredients:

1 17.5-oz. bag Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix, mixed according to package directions
(or your favorite sugar cookie dough recipe)
Liquid food coloring, as desired (McCormick Neon shades work well)
Rainbow sprinkles, if desired

Preheat oven to 350°F. Divide dough evenly into five bowls, and color each with a different color liquid food coloring. Roll each color of dough into grape-sized balls. Combine a ball of each color and quickly roll into a larger ball. It will look like a little beach ball. Then roll that ball between your hands and the counter until you have a cylinder about 12 inches long. Starting from one end, roll the dough into a coil, twisting the cylinder as you go. Roll edges of the cookie in sprinkles. Bake the cookies for 10 to 11 minutes, or until done.
Yields: approximately 3 dozen cookies

Cake Ingredients:

2 eggs
2/3 cup white sugar
4 Tbsp pineapple juice
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Topping:

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick or 4 Tbsp)
2/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
1-can pineapple rings
6-maraschino cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray your muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl, add eggs, white sugar, and pineapple juice.  Beat for 2 minutes.  In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to the wet ingredients and turn mixer back on for 2 minutes.

In a small sauce pan, melt the butter and add the brown sugar.  Stir on low heat for one minute.

Spoon a layer of the warm brown sugar mixture into the bottom of each muffin tin, then place a pineapple ring on top.  Add a cherry in the middle of each pineapple.    Pour cake mixture over to fill muffin tin 3/4 of the way full.  If you are using regular muffin tins, you will need to cut down the rings to fit or just use pineapple tidbits.