More than a Spread

According to Foodimentary -- a website that keeps track of food holidays -- today is World Nutella Day.  Nutella, a creamy combination of cocoa and hazelnuts, is best known as a dip or spread, but it actually has many other uses.   You can add Nutella to cakes, cookies, pies, candies, ice creams and frostings too!  It's also an ingredient in beverages, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic.

This time last year, a friend gave me the recipe for Nutter Butter Nutella Icebox Cake.  When I read the recipe, I immediately thought of tiramisu. Instead of ladyfingers and coffee, though, this recipe uses Nutter Butters -- the peanut shaped cookies I transform into ghosts at Halloween -- and milk.

The Nutter Butters are softened by briefly dipping them in milk before placing them in the pan.

I use a spring-form pan, but you can use a 9-inch square pan or layer the ingredients in a pretty glass bowl.  Depending on the size and shape of the pan you use, you may need more or less cookies.

Half the filling -- cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, Nutella and heavy cream -- is spread over the first layer of cookies.  If the dessert is scooped out of the pan, you can get away with using low-fat cream cheese.  If the cake is cut into slices, the pieces will be firmer and retain their shape better if you use regular cream cheese.

Repeat the process with a second layer of cookies and the remaining filling.

You don't have to measure the filling, but make sure you leave enough to completely cover the top of the cake.  The cake needs to be refrigerated overnight to firm up.  

The cake is plain so I drizzle some chocolate syrup on the serving plate to add a little color before adding the piece of cake.

If you want to dress it up even more, add a dollop of whipped cream, 

a sprinkling of chopped leftover Nutter Butters 

and top with additional chocolate syrup.

The next time you see Nutella in the grocery and wonder what you can do with it, remember it's more than a spread!

Nutter Butter Nutella Icebox Cake

6 to 8 servings

2 (8 oz.)  pkg. cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 (13 oz.) jar Nutella

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

30 Nutter Butters (plus more for garnish, if desired)

1/2 cup milk

whipped cream (optional)

chocolate syrup (optional)

In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth.  Mix in Nutella until combined.  Add heavy cream; beat 2 minutes, or until very thick.  Dip Nutter Butters one at a time in milk.  Line the bottom of a spring-form pan with the cookies.  Top with half the cream cheese mixture. Make a second layer with remaining cookies and cream cheese mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Cut into slices and serve.  Top with whipped cream, chopped Nutter Butters and chocolate syrup, if desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

© Margaret's Morsels

Fall Fruit

The leaves may not have changed color and the temperature doesn't feel very fall like, but I know fall is here and it's not because of all the pumpkin flavored beverages and baked goods showing up on menus and in the grocery.  I know it's fall because freshly picked, straight from the orchard apples are appearing in the produce department.  These apples are so much prettier and flavorful than the ones I've bought all year that have been in cold storage since they were harvested.

Apples are a staple at our house.  They make a quick and healthy snack and are easy to pack in a lunch box or take on the go.  They're delicious baked, poached  and in a pie.  Apples are wonderful combined with other fruit in a fruit salad and they're the star of the recipe I'm sharing today.

A few years ago on a trip out of town, we ate at a restaurant that had apple salad on the menu.  I'd never eaten it before and was hesitant to order it.  I couldn't fathom how apples could taste good covered with mayonnaise and sour cream.  I ended up ordering the dish and was hooked after one bite. When our very friendly server found out how much I liked the salad, she was more than happy to share the recipe with me.

The dressing -- which I didn't think I would like -- was actually quite tasty. The sour cream contributes to the creaminess, but also adds a subtle tanginess that keeps the salad from being bland.  I use light sour cream, but regular sour cream will add a richer flavor to the dressing.  Depending on the sweetness of the apples you use, you may need to add some sugar, but don't add too much.  You don't want the salad to be too sweet.

I make the salad the way the restaurant did using only apples, craisins -- dried cranberries -- and celery.

Additions can include nuts, raisins  coconut, grapes, mandarin oranges and even pineapple chunks.  Depending on the size of the addition, you may need to cut the ingredients into smaller pieces.  You're pretty much limited by your imagination, the ingredients you have on hand and what your family likes to eat.

For a fancy presentation, serve the salad on a bed of lettuce leaves.  A nice touch for a party is to combine the dressing and apples and put all the additional ingredients in bowls.  That way, people can create and fall for their own one of a kind salad creation.
  

Apple Salad

4 to 6 Servings

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

sugar to taste

2 apples, diced (unpeeled)

1/2 cup craisins

1 stalk celery, sliced diagonally

Combine the first three ingredients until the sugar is dissolved.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to blend.

© Margaret's Morsels

A Be"witching" Halloween

It's been a couple of years since I posted anything for Halloween.  I thought I'd rectify that and share two witch themed cookie recipes this year.

Store bought fudge stripes cookies turn into witches hats with the addition of two ingredients.

Turn the cookies so the chocolate side is on top.

Put a dollop of orange frosting -- I use Wilton decorating icing -- in the center 

and add a Hershey's kiss.  

Let the cookies dry and then store them in an airtight container.

If you don't mind doing a little additional work, a pretzel rod and peanut butter cookie are easily transformed into a witches broomstick.  I like the look and texture of these braided pretzels, but you can use a regular pretzel rod.

Put the pretzels on a cookie sheet.

Mix up a batch of peanut butter cookies and roll the dough into balls. Place one ball on each pretzel, pressing down so the cookie will adhere to the pretzel when baked.

Use a fork to make vertical lines on the cookie to resemble the bristles of the broomstick.  

Bake the cookies as directed and let them cool on a wire rack.  Store the cookies in an airtight container.

The cookies don't have to look perfect because, at Halloween, the uglier, grosser and more disgusting, the better!

© Margaret's Morsels

Hop Into Easter

A few years ago, a cousin emailed me pictures of a cake she'd made for Easter.  The cake was so cute, I knew I wanted to make it for Easter, but I didn't know when.  My family was disappointed the year before when I replaced our traditional bunny cake with a carrot cake.  I knew I couldn't replace the bunny cake two years in a row, so I filed the idea away until one Easter when we were having enough company I needed two desserts.

The cake isn't a recipe, but a method.  Start by making a two layer cake, either from scratch or a mix.  Fill and frost the layers with white icing such as buttercream or cream cheese.

I think the cake would also look pretty with pastel pink or yellow icing. Although chocolate icing would be tasty, I don't think the decorations would stand out as well as they do on a lighter color icing.

When the cake is frosted, decorate the sides with marshmallow peep bunnies.  The year I made the cake, the hardest part was finding all the different colored bunnies!  I found pink and blue at Kroger, purple at CVS and green at Rite Aid.  The bunnies aren't quite tall enough to cover both layers.

You can decorate the sides with just the bunnies, or add some pastel color M&M's above or below the bunnies.  I found it easier and faster to put the candy above the bunnies.

The top is decorated with more pastel M&M's.  My cousin piled the candy all over the top, but I used it sparingly.  I also like to turn the candies over so the "m" doesn't show.

This cake is easy to make, quick to assemble and a festive ending to an Easter meal.  Easter is less than a week away, but there's still time to find the bunnies before they hop out of the store.

© Margaret's Morsels

12 Days of Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen: Day 11

My most popular recipe in 2013 -- and my fourth most popular of all time -- is my grandmother's made from scratch pound cake, or what we refer to as loaf cake.  Instead of making one cake, make multiple cakes by baking the batter in miniature loaf pans.  A nice touch is to bake and give the loaves in holiday themed pans like the ones pictured below.  The number of cakes will vary depending on the size of the pans you use.  The mini loaves will bake faster so remember to reduce the baking time.

© Margaret's Morsels

12 Days of Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen: Day 10

Bar cookies might not come to mind at Christmastime, but for me they are the equivalent of a bow and go gift.  Bar cookies are a real time saver since they don't have to be rolled and cut out.  Frosting is easy since it's typically done in the pan -- not individually -- and can be as simple as a sprinkling of powdered sugar.  Lemon Bars are quick and easy to make, especially when they start with a tasty shortcut!

© Margaret's Morsels

12 Days of Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen: Day 7

Kids love to help decorate these snowman cookies.  You don't even have to make the cookies.  They start with a package of Nutter Butters!

© Margaret's Morsels

12 Days of Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen: Day 6

Today's gift from the kitchen is a match made in culinary heaven!  Peanut Butter Brownies elevate brownies from ho hum to wow!

© Margaret's Morsels

12 Days of Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen: Day 5

I thought I'd stick with yesterday's theme and share another candy recipe. I've made this Peanut Butter Fudge for Valentine's Day, but it's also wonderful to give as Christmas gifts.  One batch yields 70 pieces making it easy to cross several names off your list at one time!  You don't even have to turn on your stove to make this fabulous fudge.  It's made in the microwave!

© Margaret's Morsels

12 Days of Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen: Day 4

Every year at Christmas, one of my former coworkers would give me a Mason jar filled with homemade chocolate covered cherries made by his wife.  She decorated the jar by attaching a round piece of Christmas fabric between the lid and the ring.  This added a touch of festivity to the delicious treat waiting inside.  I don't have her recipe, but I do have one that I shared four years ago.  If you want to make these, you need to plan ahead because the finished cherries need to sit five days before they're ready to eat.  

© Margaret's Morsels

12 Days of Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen: Day 3

If you love cinnamon, you'll love today's gift from the kitchen. These Cinnamon Cookies have cinnamon in the batter and on top of the cookie.  They're also easy to make when you're pressed for time.

© Margaret's Morsels

12 Days of Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen: Day 2

The recipe I shared yesterday is the cookie I've been gifting at Christmas for years.  However, with its blend of cloves, ginger and cinnamon, nothing smells more like Christmas to me than Molasses Sugar Cookies.

© Margaret's Morsels

12 Days of Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen: Day 1

This time of the year, I start getting emails with 12 days of Christmas cookie recipes.  Since I love giving gifts from the kitchen, I thought I'd share 12 recipes -- not all of them cookies -- that would make wonderful Christmas gifts.  I hope to share one or two new recipes, but I can't make any promises. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

What better way to start this series than with the recipe I shared five years ago in a post titled, "Gifts from the Kitchen."  I've been making these three (four if you use sprinkles) ingredient cookies at Christmas for years.  I prefer chocolate almond bark, but you can use vanilla if you want a white cookie.  Seasonal sprinkles add a festive touch to the cookies.

Chocolate Covered Ritz Cracker Cookies

© Margaret's Morsels

Pure Pumpkin

This time last year -- the afternoon before Thanksgiving -- I realized I'd failed to buy a can of pumpkin pie mix at the grocery.  I couldn't go to the grocery because I was too busy baking biscuits and cornbread for Cornbread Dressing, making Potato Salad and Sweet Potato Souffle, cooking Aaron's Green Beans, whipping up a Chocolate Dream Pie and prepping ingredients for homemade rolls.  My then 16 year old only had his learner's permit so he couldn't go to the grocery for me.  I texted my husband and asked if he could pick up a can of pumpkin pie mix on his way home from work.  This meant it would be later in the evening before I could make the pie but, with the sugar and spices already added to the mix, it would be a quick task.

When my husband got home, he explained that the grocery was out of pumpkin pie mix and handed me a can of pumpkin puree.  He said he hoped it would be ok since he knew I kept a well stocked pantry.  I wasn't thrilled about making a pie from scratch --  after all I'd been cooking all day -- but I knew he was right.  This is how I'd always made Pumpkin Pie until a sister-in-law introduced me to timesaving pumpkin pie mix 20 something years earlier.

The pumpkin, eggs, sugar, salt, spices and evaporated milk are mixed by hand with a spatula.  If you read my blog, you know I like to substitute healthier ingredients whenever possible.  However, this is one time I use regular evaporated milk instead of the fat-free version.  The fat in the milk helps make the pie firm which means the pieces hold their shape better.

The filling goes into a pie crust, but not just any pie crust.  My mother taught me to always use a deep-dish pie crust, no matter what kind of filling goes in the crust.  Not only does a deep-dish crust hold more of the scrumptious filling, it keeps the filling from spilling over into the oven.

Unlike my mother, I don't make my own pie crust.  I always use frozen store bought pie crusts, unless the recipe specifically calls for a package of refrigerated pie crusts.  However, I have a trick for making a store bought pie crust look homemade.  I transfer the pie crust from the foil pan to a pretty glass pie plate.

To do this, let the crust soften at room temperature for a few minutes.  Turn the pan over, letting the crust fall into your hand and transfer it to your pie plate.  If the crust doesn't fall out the first time, let it sit a few more minutes. Don't force the crust out, or you'll risk breaking the crust.

If you're transferring the pie crust, make sure to use a pie plate that's close to the size of the pie crust.  A frozen 9-inch pie crust works perfectly in my 10-inch pie plate.  My experience has been that the crust expands during baking and conforms to the size of my pie plate.

Put the pie plate on a baking sheet and add the filling.

Bake the pie an hour and then let it cool on a wire rack before storing it in the refrigerator.

I'm thankful pumpkin pie mix exists, but I'm also thankful for canned pumpkin puree.  Without it, I'd have to seed, cut, roast and puree the pumpkin before making the pie!

Pumpkin Pie

8 Servings

1 (9-inch) deep-dish pie crust

2 eggs

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. cloves

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk (not fat-free)

Preheat oven to 425°.  Lightly beat eggs.  Add remaining ingredients; stir until thoroughly combined.  Put pie plate on a baking sheet; pour filling into pie crust.  Bake 15 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 350°.  Bake 45 minutes longer, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Remove from baking sheet and cool 2 hours on a wire rack.  Refrigerate. 

© Margaret's Morsels

Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup

It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is only eight days away!  If you're planning your menu or looking for something new to serve, here's some Thanksgiving recipes I've shared in the past.  I'm putting the finishing touches on two recipes -- one vegetable, one dessert -- I plan to post before Thanksgiving.  

Cranberry Delight Spread

 

Cornbread Dressing

Cranberry Orange Relish

 Sweet Potato Souffle

Potato Salad

Carrot Souffle

Southern Cranberry Salad

Quick and Easy Candied Sweet Potatoes

One Hour Buttermilk Rolls

Fruit Tea

Pecan Streusel Pumpkin Pie

No Bake Turkey Cookies

© Margaret's Morsels