Home Again

After this wonderful labor day weekend at home, I'm finally able to say I have new food pictures to post to the blog! I had a FANTASTIC long weekend. I loved being at home. And I loved being able to bake. Here are a couple of things I made...

Soft Pretzel Bites 

(Cinnamon Sugar with a Vanilla Glaze and Parmesan and Garlic with a Cheddar Dip)

Soft Pretzel Bites

Texas size Rhodes Frozen roll dough (each roll makes 4 bites, so as many as you like) 

Coarse salt, parmesan, garlic, cinnamon, and sugar

Vanilla glaze

Directions: Take a thawed roll. Cut it in 4 equal sections. Place dough bites on greased sheets. Cover with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, and let dough rise until double in size (about 35-45 minutes). Bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil. When dough has risen, plop about 10 pieces into the boiling water, tossing gently for about 45 seconds. Remove with slotted spoon, and place bites on paper towels to drain slightly. Move bites to greased baking sheets, and bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes or until done and golden brown. 

Brush bites with melted butter, sprinkle with Kosher or Sea salt, garlic, and toss in Parmesan cheese. You can also make Cinnamon and Sugar bites. Make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar: about 1 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon. Mis together well. After you butter the pretzel bites, toss in cinnamon and sugar mixture. 

You can serve the Parmesan Pretzel bites with a cheddar dip and the Cinnamon and Sugar Pretzel bites with a vanilla glaze if you wish. I would definitely recommend it :) 

Vanilla Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine sugar, milk, butter, and vanilla and mix well.

Cheddar Dip:

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 1/2 to 2 cups of grated Cheddar Cheese

Melt the butter in a medium size saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and stir until blended, and butter has turned lightly golden brown. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook until thickened slightly. Remove from heat and stir in the Cheddar Cheese until smooth and all of the cheese has melted. Season with salt and pepper. Shake a few red pepper flakes into sauce for added zing. 

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes 

1 1/2 packages (15.25 oz each) Oreo Cookies, leave 30 cookies whole and 15 coarsely chopped

4 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, room temperature 

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

Pinch of salt

Directions: Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line standard size muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole Oreo cookie in the bottom of each lined cup. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar and beat until combined. Add vanilla. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add sour cream and salt, beat well. Stir in chopped Oreos by hand. 

Divide batter evenly among cookie filled cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate (in the tins) at least 4 hours. Remove from tins just before serving. 

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The Oreo Cheesecakes were made on gameday, so in honor of my Georgia Bulldogs, they were represented on a nice "Go Dawgs" Cracker Barrel Tray. 

I feel like I need to apologize for my serious lack of photography skills. I wish I had some. I know the pictures are what make food blogs, but I'm just not good at taking them. I should work on that.

Anyway, I also made some homemade cinnamon rolls, but never got around to taking a picture of them. Sad, I know. They were quite delicious. Well, that's all for now. There will be more to come in about 3 weeks...which sounds so far away right now!

Kristen