Corn Pops aka Crack Puffs

Caramel Corn Puffs

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

50 mins

Author: Mandy Bird

: Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 (8 oz.) bag Barrel O' Fun Corn Pops or Cheetos Puffed Butter Pops (both found in the chips aisle)
• ½ c. butter
• ½ c. light corn syrup
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Directions

1. Place Barrel O' Fun Corn Pops in a large roasting pan.
2. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
3. Mix in a saucepan the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Stir for two minutes on med-high until bubbly around the edges.
4. Remove from heat and add baking soda. It will foam as you stir. Pour over the puffs and stir until all are coated.
5. *Place in a 250 degree oven and bake 40-45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and dump onto wax paper. Break into clumps before puffs cool.

*Nico's Note: I do not bake them because I like them soft and chewy.

Taken from: http://mandysrecipeboxblog.com/caramel-corn-puffs/

Light and Crispy Waffles

Light & Crispy WafflesRecipe from Aretha Frankensteins

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and whisk until combined. Allow to stand for 30 minutes.

Heat a Belgian waffle iron. Make waffles by ladling a generous 1/3 cup of batter into the waffle iron and cooking until golden brown. Serve with desired topping (Buttermilk Syrup is our favorite!)

Makes 5-6 waffles.

Taken from ourbestbites.com

Nico's Note:  I double (at least) the batch size for our family.

Westra's Contest Winner with Photo by Danielle Westra

Our friends spent a year making chocolate chip cookies to find the best recipe. This is their pick for now.  Right when I find that flour is not my friend.  I want to keep it for the future just in case.

Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 11 minutes

Total Time 21 minutes

Servings 8 cookies

Author Si Foster, A Bountiful Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter cut into tablespoons I prefer unsalted
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 1/2-1 3/4 cup all purpose flour* see notes
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• 2 cups walnut halves
• 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips* see notes

Instructions

1. Pre heat oven to 400 degrees and set rack in middle of oven.
2. Place butter into bowl and turn mixer on low. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.
3. Add sugars and beat butter until smooth on medium speed. This should take about 1 minute. Mix until the butter pieces are completely blended with the sugar and is no longer visible in pieces.
4. Add the eggs and beat on medium just until incorporated with butter and sugars, about 30 seconds.
5. Turn the mixer off. Add the cake flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pulse the dry ingredients on low until the wet and dry ingredients are mixed together.
6. Pour the walnuts into the batter all at once. Pulse the batter 5-6 times.
7. Pour the chocolate chips into the batter and pulse again 5-6 times.
8. Pour the batter out onto a clean surface. Fold the dough together a few times until all of the chocolate chips and walnuts are mixed into the batter.
9. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces about 6 oz each. Use your hands to shape cookies. Do not use a cookie or ice cream scoop. The cookies are meant to be roughly shaped. Do not flatten the dough.
10. Bake 4 cookies per pan, for 11 minutes on regular bake or 400 convection bake for 8-9 minutes.
11. The cookies are done when the top is a bit golden and the bottom is also golden.
12. Do not over bake. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.
13. To make the cookies without walnuts, see recipe notes

Recipe Notes

-It is important to let the oven fully heat up. Turn it on for at least 15-20 minutes before baking.

-I use 1 cup Cake Flour and 1 3/4 cup AP flour. You may try using 1 1/2 cups AP flour. I found the dough to be too sticky. If you have issues with the cookies flattening out, use 1 3/4 cups flour.

-If you do not have cake flour, try using All Purpose flour. 2 1/2 cups should work. When purchasing Cake Flour, look for it on the upper shelves of the grocery aisles. 

- If you can't find cake flour at your grocery, you can make your own at home by using this simple method: Measure out 1 cup of all purpose flour into a medium size mixing bowl. Remove 2 tablespoons of the flour and place back in the flour container. Add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to the flour in mixing bowl. Sift the flour and cornstarch mixture. Sift again about 3-4 more times. You now have cake flour! Place in a bag or container and use as needed.

-Cake flour is usually found on the top shelf at the grocery store, near the All Purpose Flour or near other baking goods.

-I buy chocolate chips in bulk and scoop my semi sweet chips out of a jar. This recipe calls for 2 cups of chocolate chips. Most bags of chocolate chips are 11-12 oz or closer to 1 1/2 cups of chips, which will work for one recipe, no need to open another bag of chocolate chips.

-I use food handlers gloves to shape the dough, and also weigh the dough balls on a scale. Each dough ball is approx 6 oz.

-These cookies freeze extremely well. After cooling completely, place cookies in a large ziplock bag or small sandwich size bags. Place in freezer. When ready to eat, either let thaw, or wrap in paper towel and microwave for about 15-18 seconds. The cookie will not have a crisp exterior after being frozen, but will still be moist and taste fresh.-In the recipe it says to turn the batter out onto a clean surface and mix the chocolate chips and the walnuts together by hand. I do not do this step. I add this to the recipe because it is shown in the video. I simply fold the dough a couple of times with a spatula in the bowl to make sure all of the walnuts and chocolate chips are distributed.

Update 5/3/2017**

-Dislike walnuts? You may add additional chocolate chips or try increasing the All Purpose flour by 1/4 cup. Add 4 cups chocolate chips in place of the original 2 cups chips and 2 cups walnuts. If you omit the walnuts, you must replace with another substance that will take up mass in the cookie. Two additional cups of chocolate chips or 2-11.5 oz packages per recipe. Bake as directed. Refrigerating dough for 30-45 minutes after shaping and before baking is recommended, especially if baking in a regular bake and not a convection bake oven.

taken from https://abountifulkitchen.com/levain-bakery-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe/

She tells the story of the cookie and gives a lot of tips on how to make it on her blog.

Gluten Free Chicken Pot Pie

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Gluten-Free Hearty Chicken Pot Pie

• Prep15 MIN
• Total45 MIN
• Servings6

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Ingredients

2

tablespoons butter or margarine

1

medium onion, chopped

1

bag (12 oz) frozen mixed vegetables

1 1/2

cups cut-up cooked chicken

1 3/4

cups Progresso™ chicken broth

1

teaspoon seasoned salt

1/2

teaspoon dried thyme

3/4

cup milk

3

tablespoons cornstarch

Topping

3/4

cup Bisquick™ Gluten Free mix

1/2

cup milk

1

egg

2

tablespoons melted butter or margarine

1

tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Steps

• 1

  Heat oven to 350ºF. In 3-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook, stirring frequently, until tender. Stir in vegetables, chicken, chicken broth, salt and thyme; heat to boiling. In small bowl, mix 3/4 cup milk and the cornstarch with wire whisk until smooth; stir into chicken mixture. Heat just to boiling. Pour into ungreased 2-quart casserole.
• 2

  In small bowl, stir all topping ingredients except parsley with fork until blended. Drop topping mixture by small spoonfuls over chicken mixture. Sprinkle with parsley.
• 3

  Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of topping comes out clean.

To be honest, I haven't made the whole pot pie, I just use the filling recipe to keep it gluten free.  My kids love choosing their own vegetables to put in and then I put real crust on for them and leave mine without crust.

4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Chocolate Energy Bites

4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Chocolate Energy Bites

Prep Time

15 mins

Total Time

15 mins

Healthy energy bites that taste just like peanut butter oatmeal cookie dough!

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate, oats, peanut butter

Servings: 24 energy bites

Calories: 100 kcal

Author: Liv

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all-natural peanut butter (if your natural peanut butter is refrigerated and is thick, try popping the measuring cup of peanut butter in the microwave for 10-15 seconds)
• 1 3/4 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
• 1/3 cup honey (or slightly more if needed to bind mixture together)
• 1/3 cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips (I used mini)
• Optional: 1/4 cup wheat bran, hemp seeds, flax seeds, chia seeds, or hemp seeds

Instructions

1. Add peanut butter to medium microwave-safe mixing bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, or until peanut butter is less solid. 
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the mixing bowl, and stir for 2-3 minutes minutes until fully combined. At this point, if the dough is very sticky, you can refrigerate it for a 1-2 hours or pop it in the freezer for 30 minutes to slightly firm up.
3. Using a cookie scoop or spoon, form the dough into about 24 tablespoon-sized balls. Place on wax or parchment sheet or dish and refrigerate for about an hour before enjoying.
4. To store, place energy bites in a Ziploc bag or storage container. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 3 months.

Recipe Notes

Depending on the type of peanut butter you use and its thickness, you may need to add slightly more honey or peanut butter to help the energy bites come together.

Tools I Used: this small cookie scoop 

Nutrition Facts

4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Chocolate Energy Bites

Amount Per Serving

Calories 100

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition info (for 1 energy bite):
Calories: 100 Carbs: 11g   Fat: 6g  Protein: 3g Sugar: 7g

taken from https://www.healthy-liv.com/no-bake-4-ingredient-peanut-butter-energy-bites/

White Chocolate Raspberry "Nothing Bundt Cake" Copycat Recipe

White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake (copycat version of Nothing Bundt Cakes)

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

50 mins

Total Time

1 hr 5 mins

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 pkg. white or french vanilla cake mix
• 1 pkg. (3.4 oz) instant white chocolate pudding
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips, roughly chopped (measure, then chop)
• 3/4 - 1 cup raspberry pastry or pie filling (seedless raspberry jam works too)

Frosting:

• 1 (8 ounce) pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Grease and flour a bundt pan and preheat your oven to 350-degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, pudding, sour cream, eggs, water and oil. Mix until well combine, stir in white chocolate chips.
2. Fill prepared bundt pan with one third of the batter. Spoon half of the raspberry filling in separated spoonfuls over the batter. Use a knife to swirl the filling through the cake, only about 6-7 light swirls. Pour another 1/3 of the batter in evenly and spoon in remaining pie filling, repeating the "swirling" process above. Top with remaining batter.
3. Cook in oven at 350 degrees for 45-50 mins 0r until a knife inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven. Let cool for 20 mins. Remove from pan.
4. To make the frosting, in a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar, beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
5. Spread cream cheese frosting evenly over cake or to get the look of Nothing Bundt cakes, pipe on frosting starting at the bottom outside of the cake and moving upward towards center. Above is a picture of how I frosted mine, I went for the "Nothing Bundt Cakes" look, but feel free to just frost the entire cake if you don't want to worry about piping the frosting on.

Recipe Notes

This cake is even better after it has time to chill in the fridge for a day. I made it one evening, let it cool and then wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight.

You can decide how much pie filling you want. I usually use 3/4 cup.

Sometimes I use mini white chocolate chips if I happen to have them. If I do use the mini, I only use 1 cup and don't chop them.

A few readers have had problems with the pie filling sinking to the bottom of the pan so if you're worried you can pour half the batter in the pan, the dollop half the pie filling on top, give it a few swirls, then pour the remaining batter into the pan and dollop the rest of the pie filling and the swirl. 

Taken from: http://www.5boysbaker.com/white-chocolate-raspberry-bundt-cake-copycat-version/

I have make this one twice with canned raspberry pie filling that I have found at Walmart.  It is fabulous.  I would definitely say as good as the bakery bought one.  It did cost $17.00 to make so it is not a cheap cake but it is heavy and dense so, it can serve a lot of people.