Heart Donuts

After searching for some inspiring sweets for Valentine's Day, I hit jack pot and got inspired to make my own heart glazed donuts from here. Not only did I make glazed, but I sprinkled some with cinnamon sugar too, oh yum!  Those may be viewed on behind the scenes on my instagram.

I used a different glaze for this recipe.  I have to say, the kids were excited to see these.  Who would have thought to use biscuit mix to make these lovelies?  Love that!

For these donuts I used Biscuit Grands Flaky Layers.

I use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut my hearts out or any shape you wish.

I used the same Heart Cookie Cutter that I used to make my heart shaped pancakes.

When you are done cutting your hearts, fill a pot with about 3 cups of vegetable oil,

enough to cover your dough when frying. 

Amount depends on the size of your pot, it should be about 3 inches deep.

Warm your oil on medium heat, set about 350 degrees. 

Fry the donuts for about 1 minute or so on each side.

Remove from heat and set on paper towels to soak excess oil.

Let your donuts cool.

In the meantime, make your glaze.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 1/4 cup Confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2-4 tsp milk

drop of red food coloring for pink coloring

 

Place sugar in bowl, add vanilla and milk, slowly mix until you have your desired consistency.  You will want your glaze to be thick.  When you have reached your thickness level, put aside a bit of the glaze in a small bowl to mix with food coloring to add pink design to the donuts.

When the donuts have cooled off, dunk your donuts halfway into the glaze mix then pull up.

Allow excess to drip off into the bowl.  Put aside and continue to do the same to each one.

For your pink glaze, take a plastic zip lock bag and pour your glaze into it.

Cut a small hole on a corner forming an icing bag.  This will help you add the pink icing to your donuts with ease.

Let your glaze cool and enjoy the donuts!

Happy Valentine's Day!

©2010. http://www.inspirationsbyd.blogspot.com. All Rights reserved.

Pumpkin "White Chocolate Chip" Muffins

Are you getting ready for Thanksgiving?  I hope that you enjoy your gathering.  We'll probably go to a friend's house and share in their Thanksgiving festivities.  I usually make Thanksgiving dinner for my little family and I did get what I needed just in case.  I've been feeling under the weather this week, so I hope that I'm better by then.
I noticed that my Pumpkin Muffins were a hit at home and on cyberspace as well.  The only person that was not feeling it was Mr. M.  He is not a big fan of pumpkin flavor and those muffins are rich in pumpkin flavor, (I know!)  Well what can you do, but make a special kind of a muffin overflowing with the sweetness of white chocolate.  You guys,  it is amazing and so addictive.  Mr. M LOVES it!  We couldn't stop eating them with soft melted butter on them and a side of coffee.  I was lucky to have a couple to photograph for you.

The wonderful thing about this recipe is that it's easy to make.  It is slightly different from the previous recipe, so I'll share it with you here.  By the way, I have also included a recipe card on my Facebook page, so drop by to get yours.  Great for Thanksgiving morning!

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup white sugar                                                             

1/4 cup vegetable oil                                                          
2 eggs                                                                                
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree                                            
1/4 cup water                                                                    
1 1/2 cups all- purpose flour                                                  
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).  Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners.
2. Mix sugar, oil, eggs.  Add pumpkin and water.  In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt.  Add wet mixture ans stir in white chocolate chips.
3. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.  Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.  Serves 12

Oh the goodness!
If you are not a big fan of rich pumpkin flavor in a muffin, then this is the muffin for you!  I know that you will like it.  For my gluten free readers; I could not find a "white chocolate chip" pumpkin muffin recipe, but instead a gluten free sweet chocolate chip pumpkin muffin recipe for you. Hope that you enjoy.
Happy Thanksgiving!



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©2010. http://www.inspirationsbyd.blogspot.com. All Rights reserved.

Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin makes a nutritious addition to fall menus.  I'm sure that I have mentioned this before, but I love pumpkin recipes; I just can't get enough of it.   I'm planning savory food for the cold days ahead, from fragrant morning breakfasts to warm, delicious, inviting suppers.  Don't get any ideas though, we'll have cereal in between those meals.  So let me begin by sharing my breakfast pumpkin muffins which of course, you may adjust to meet your pallet & health needs.  I include a link to the gluten free version of this recipe on this post, so read on.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked pumpkin puree, fresh or canned
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
(optional) for extra flavor I added 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.  In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, pumpkin pie spice and salt.  Mix these dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, beat together the pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, and eggs.  Stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture until it is smooth.  You may want to use an electric mixture to do so.

Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups, if possible you may use a ladle.  When all the cups are filled, place the pans into the oven and bake for 20- 27 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.  This assures that the muffins are done.

When the muffins are done, remove them from the pan and set them down.  This makes for a sweet after school snack for kids.

At our home, some of us use butter, pumpkin butter or even salted caramel sauce to add some richness to our muffins.  Give the recipe a try, I'm sure pumpkin lovers will enjoy it.  For gluten free muffins try this version.

Enjoy!

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©2010. http://www.inspirationsbyd.blogspot.com. All Rights reserved.

My First Pumpkin Glazed Scones

A few of my favorite blogs have made scones this fall and I just had to give it a try.  I finally made my very first scones, not just any scones, but Pumpkin Glazed Scones.  The triangular shapes were not perfect, but the taste was oh so sweet.  These are suppose to be double glazed, but I ran out of powder sugar and made it a single glaze instead.  Double glaze is probably better, but we loved it regardless.  I found the recipe on Pinterest which led me to this blog.  Have you tried making scones this Fall?  You should give it a try, it's pretty simple and tasty too.  Here is a gluten free recipe to try as well.  I hope that you enjoy!  The recipe is at the end of the post.

Scones Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
9 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
6 Tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3 Tablespoons half-and-half
1 large egg

Sugar Glaze Ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons whole milk

Spiced Glaze Ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons whole milk
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Scones Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.

3. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl.

4. With a fork, pastry knife, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter remain. Set aside.

5. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk pumpkin, half and half, and egg.

6. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball.

7. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide).

8. Use a large knife to slice the dough into three equal portions. Cut diagonally to produce 6 triangular slices of dough.

9. Place on prepared baking sheet from step 2.

10. Bake for 14–16 minutes until scones turn light brown.

11. Place on wire rack to cool.

Sugar Glaze Directions:
1. Mix the powdered sugar and 2 Tablespoon milk together until smooth.

2. Brush glaze over the top of each cooled scone.

Spiced Glaze Directions:
1. As sugar glaze firms, combine the spiced icing ingredients.

2. Use whisk to drizzle over each scone and allow to dry before serving.

Makes 6 pumpkin scones.

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©2010. http://www.inspirationsbyd.blogspot.com. All Rights reserved.

Spiced Pumpkin Nut Bread

We are still experiencing hot weather in this area with no sign of Fall.  It is still beach weather,

but I am hoping that it will cool down a bit in the following weeks.  There is usually no sign
of cool air until October here and I am already craving all things Autumn.  I decided that
I was not going to wait around for Fall, so I brought Fall into my kitchen.

I baked a Spiced Pumpkin Nut Bread.  The ingredients are at the end of this post.
To make this recipe, follow the directions below and I hope that you enjoy it.
(What is your favorite part of Autumn?)

1. MIX flour, spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

2. In another bowl, MIX pumpkin puree, brown sugar, juice, eggs, oil, and extract; mix well.  

3. Stir into the pumpkin puree bowl the flour mixture and 3/4 cup nuts until moistened.

4. SPOON into two (9 x 5-inch) greased loaf pans.  Sprinkle remaining nuts over the top of loaves.

5. BAKE in preheated 350 degrees oven for 60 - 70 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in 

the center comes out clean.  Let the bread cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove the bread from the pans onto the wire rack to cool completely.  Makes two loaves.  

Tip: Make a sweet glaze and drizzle it over the top of the bread to give it sweetness.

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 can (15oz) Pure Pumpkin Puree
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup apple juice
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 1 cup chopped nuts, divided

Follow directions for this recipe above and I hope that you enjoy it.

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Create with Joy

Vanilla Swiss Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich: Semi-Homemade

Who does not love a chocolate chip cookie sandwich?
I'm sure you have probably made these time and time again.
This is a no brainer, an easy afternoon fix or quick dessert after dinner.
Since we are busy moms with little time for great desserts, here is
an easy sweet treat that everyone will love, and the best part is that it's
semi-homemade, so go ahead and take some credit.

If you want to make your cookie dough from scratch, by all means go ahead.
But to save time, I managed to get already made cookie dough from the supermarket.

Bake your cookies and let them cool.
Once your cookies are cooled, layer your favorite creamy ice-cream.
In my case I used Vanilla Swiss for the double chocolate and crunch.
Then to make it look pretty, I added sprinkles.  Your kids will love that part!

Make a few for everyone to enjoy.

 Have fun with it and indulge in the wonderful sweetness of this treat.

My family was happy to find these special sweet treats waiting for them after supper.

If you loved dipping your cookies in milk as a child, you will enjoy this.

My son had the Dulce de Leche Ice Cream and it was, oh so good.

Mr. M was thrilled to know that they were not completely store bought, 

even though the ingredients were already made.

He appreciated the effort in making the finishing touches at home, Sandra Lee style.

Hope that you enjoy!

Slow Cooker Raisin Bread Pudding

This is a slow cooker recipe, but I'll share a little secret 

with you.  If you want it done fast, pop it on the stove and 

it will get done a lot quicker than the slow cooker.  

When you are planning something sweet after a good meal, 

this is a no brainier.  But what's that?

The doorbell rings and you have guests?  

This recipe can be done fast on the stove with minimal ingredients, 

it's delicious, simple, and it makes the house smell so good!

To make this yummy raisin Bread Pudding, you will need the following:

8 slices of bread, cubed

4 eggs

2 cups  milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter or margarine melted

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

SAUCE:

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the bread cubes in a greased slow cooker: 

In a bowl, beat the eggs & milk; stir in the sugar, butter, raisins & cinnamon.  

Pour over the bread cubes; stir.

Cover & cook on high for 1 hour.  Reduce heat to low; cook for 

3-4 hours or  until a thermometer reads 160 degrees. 

Just before serving, melt the butter in a saucepan.  Stir in the flour until it is smooth.

Gradually add the water, sugar & vanilla.  Bring it to a boil; cook & stir for 2 minutes

or until thickened.  Serve with warm bread pudding.

Makes 6 servings.

For on the stove top use same method, but cook for less time, 

about 15-30 minutes or until it reaches 160 degrees, on medium heat. 

Cook & stir  Make sure you stir occasionally, so it does not stick

to pan.  You will notice the bread will expand and it will get thick.

Then follow the sauce directions & enjoy!

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Strawberry Mojito Lemonade

I have one beverage recipe before taking time off.
Do you love strawberry lemonade as much as we do?  You'll love this mojito style strawberry

lemonade, contains NO ALCOHOL. You may want to make it for the Fourth of July Festivities.
This is how to make it:

Strawberry Mojito Lemonade, Serves One

You will need:

4-5 Strawberries

Small handful of mint leaves

1 teaspoon of sugar or agave nectar

Lemonade (already made)

Lime wedges

1/2 cup Club Soda (optional)

1- Rinse strawberries, cut strawberries in half and put it in a plastic cup. 

2- Add mint leaves and sugar and muddle the mix until it is completely
mashed with a wooden pestle or wooden spoon. 

3- Add a cup of fresh lemonade, top it off with a bit of club soda if you like and ice.

4- Pour into a glass, stir a little.
5- Garnish with strawberries & lime wedges and enjoy!
To make it an alcohol drink, add a light rum.

We hope that you enjoy your Fourth of July!

See you in a couple of weeks.

xo

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