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Easy Recipes for Busy Parents

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Weekend Wrap-Up

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Previously, on CCS:
Monday - started really good with Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, my very own recipe in this series. I knew brown butter can be life-changing. 🙂
Wednesday - we celebrated the Independence Day with all things red, white and blue.
Thursday -  strawberry cheesecake got turned into skinny ice cream.
Friday - my Hubby showed you how to make pizzeria-style pizza at home in his photo-loaded tutorial.
The theme for this month's Blue Ribbon Challenge was revealed. To find out what it is, click here.
Have a fabulous Sunday!

 

Weekend Wrap-Up

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Previously, on CCS:

Monday - CCC Monday is back with Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies. Even if you are not vegan, I highly recommend trying this recipe. Two words: chewy goodness!!

Tuesday - useful links for food photography and styling obsessed. And there will be more to come! Don't forget to follow my Pinterest board "Food Photography".

Wednesday - cooling off with Peach Sorbet. Peaches are in Kansas! Enjoy this sweet and juicy fruit in a form of easy sorbet. YUM!

I ended the week on Wednesday for two reasons. It's hot and my kids are going crazy ( and so am I ). And... it's hot... Too hot to be outside so indoors entertainment and activities for kiddos consumed most of my time. I hope you will understand.. Gosh, seems like I've been having a lot of excuses lately... I will make it up to you next week. I have lots of goodies to share! Hope to see you then!

Weekend Wrap-Up

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Previously, on CCS:

Monday - was a failure... CCC Monday disappoints with humidity that ruined my batch of Dorie Greenspan's chocolate chip cookies... 🙁

Wednesday - was saved with my first savory dish! B@@r Bread with Cheese and Bacon. Talk about guy food!

Thursday - sunflower seeds are getting a makeover with ranch! Ranch Flavored Roasted Sunflower Seeds. Did you know they make them in Jalapeno too?

Friday - huge huge HUGE! My 1st guest post and it's on A Culinary Journey with Chef Dennis!! Special occasion requires a special dessert: No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake. The best. Ever. Yum. Go. Check. It. Now.

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This week was really big for my little blog. I crossed a savory line and loved it and I guest posted on A Culinary Journey with Chef Dennis! I want to thank everyone who was as excited as I was and for all the fabulous comments left here, on CCS, and on Chef Dennis' blog. It means a lot to me! THANK YOU!

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Thank you so much to all who participated in last week's Fabulous Friday Party! My personal favorite was:

It's Chestymallow by I-Lost in Austen!!!

Kit's sons made it for her for Mother's Day. How sweet is that?? ( total swoon)

Our Fabulous Friday Party is being postponed until further notice. Our sweet host, Tiffany, is taking a break to enjoy family time. But do not fret, my friends. The Party will be back soon! To see which entry had the most views, please, visit Tiffany's blog.

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Reminder: The 1st Blue Ribbon Challenge is on June 20th. Just few days away! I am so excited for it! All of you, who left comments or sent me e-mail about participating - you should have received a reminder by now. Your mousse post has to be a new post to your blog. I am in the midst of creating a page, here on my blog, with all the info and the badge.

As I mentioned before, my Little Guy just turned 1!! We are celebrating with family this weekend. I have a big project for this occasion - the Cake!  Did you guess? 🙂 I hope it will work out and I will be able to share it here, on CCS.

Next week is going to be very exciting with the challenge happening for the first time. I hope everyone will have lots of fun making mousse. I can't wait to see all the entries!

Have a wonderful and sweet Father's Day weekend!

xoxo,

Anna

 

Weekend Wrap-Up

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Previously, on CCS:

Monday - I came soooo close to finding my perfect chocolate chip cookie! Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies on CCC Monday.

Wednesday - seeking comfort in the classics. Pineapple Upside Down Cake on Back to Classics.

Friday - was fabulous and refreshing. Chocolate Whipped Milk Ice Cream and Fabulous Friday Party!

Have a wonderful and sweet weekend!

Chocolate Rolls with Biscoff Filling

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Be a grateful Mom.
This should be on our resolution list every year.
Right before getting organized.

But be a grateful Mom - that's quite important. First and foremost, be grateful that you are a Mom.
That you can carry your baby under your heart, and then experience the magic and wonder of giving birth to them. That you can carry for them every single minute of the day. Yes, be grateful for that.
That you can hug those little bodies, kiss their heads and inhale that baby smell to your hearts content.
Because so many women that would be grateful Moms, can't.
I have never experience it, but so many of my childhood friends are struggling with infertility issues and miscarriage. It breaks my heart to see how much they want to be moms and enjoy motherhood. It also makes me appreciate what I have.
And that I have two gorgeous, smart and caring daughters, that are best friends for each other and totally adore their Dad. I have a handsome little boy, that was a totally huge surprise for me and my Hubby. He is growing so fast, already crawling and if I work hard enough on it, he will be saying "mama" by Sunday! 🙂
They are my constant rays of sunshine. I love them to pieces and can't imagine my life without them.

Sure motherhood is not all bliss. Sure there is mounds of laundry when you just want mounds of chocolate covered coconut candy. Sure there are piles of dishes in the sink, when you wish a magic fairy would appear and do it all for you. ( By the way, if you have one - please, send her my way 🙂 I will pay you back in cookies! ).
But there are also the happy, blissful coos of your child, those little arms reached out to you, the sweetest smiles just for you.

Last year, on Mother's Day, I was 9 months pregnant with our third child. We didn't know the sex of our baby. I was miserably huge, had swollen feat and no desire to even look at my mascara. Chocolate was banned from the house, along with sugar ( by me! ), so there was no comfort for me in baking.
This year, I have a handsome little boy in my arms, my jeans don't have a stretch band and mascara and I are friends again. And I have a baking blog. How times change! 🙂

My children are healthy, happy and carefree. In the end of the day, I can watch them sleeping peacefully, breathing calmly, and even smile while dreaming.

I am a grateful Mom.

I am also a mom that loves Biscoff spread! Did you know they make a crunchy spread too? YUM!
As soon as I had the first spoonful, ( don't judge, that's how you eat it too! ) my mind was filled with ideas of desserts and treats I could use it in!
This is just one of them.

I have to warn you: these rolls are rich! There is not much sugar in the actual rolls but the filling makes them a very satisfying treat.

I used the same recipe for this rolls as I did for my Roasted Strawberries and Cream Cheese filled Rolls.

Chocolate Rolls with Biscoff Filling

for the rolls:

2 c all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 c butter, cubed
3/4 c milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9" round baking pan. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients ( flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder ).
Drop in the butter and using a pastry cutter - cut it in until the whole thing resembles coarse crumbs.
Add the milk and stir everything until is comes together.
Turn it onto a floured surface and kneed for a minute.
Roll the dough out into a rectangle, about 1/4" thick.
Spread with the prepared filling.
Gently roll it up starting from the long side. Pinch the seems together.
Cut it in half and then each half in half and so forth. It's the easiest way to cut it, but feel free to use any technique. It makes 12-15 rolls.
Place the rolls in your baking pan. No need to crowd them - they will expand.
Bake 13 - 15 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.

for the filling:

1/2 c biscoff spread

Place the spread in a microwave safe bowl and warm up for 15 - 20 seconds.
Stir with a spoon and spread over the dough.

Enjoy!

I will be back on Monday with another delicious post that includes Biscoff spread!
Until then, have a wonderful weekend and for all of you Moms out there:

 

Chocolate Covered Snickerdoodle Hearts

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This is another idea for this upcoming Valentine's Day.

It's super fast and easy, involves melted chocolate 🙂 ( who doesn't like that? ) and you can make it with your favorite cookie, because we are cutting the heart out after the cookies are baked and slightly cooled.

I shared before that my Hubby's favorite cookie is the Snickerdoodle.

It was an obvious choice for this idea. I think by now, you can see that I am taking my Man's favorite treats and tweaking them a little bit this month. 🙂

This is our favorite recipe for Snickerdoodle cookies.

Snickerdoodle Cookies

1/2 c butter, softened
1 c granulated sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon


Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line the baking sheets with silpat or parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mix butter until creamy.
Add the cup of sugar, soda and cream of tartar. Beat until combined.
Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.
Add the flour and mix until all combined.
In a small bowl, whisk with fork the remaining sugar and cinnamon.
Scoop the cookie batter with a cookie scoop and roll each ball in the sugar-cinnamon coating.
Place on a baking sheet.
Repeat to make all the cookies.
Bake 10 - 12 minutes, until the edges are turning golden color.
Cool on a wire rack.

source: Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book Bridal Edition

To make the hearts you need:
candy wafers
heart cutter(s)

After your cookies cooled slightly, cut out the hearts with cookie or fondant cutters.
In a microwave safe bowl, melt the candy wafers according to the manufacturer's instructions. I always add about a tablespoon of shortening to thin it out. Whisk until smooth.
Dip each cookie, desired way, and place on a wire rack so the chocolate can set.

It's a great activity for kids. I know - I have two Girls that love to help me in the kitchen!

What is your favorite cookie?

Enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Brown-Butter Icing and Cinnamon Sugar Sprinkles

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Quite a title, no? Just wanted to make sure you know what we are dealing with here.

Snickerdoodles are my Husband's favorite cookies. I caught those cupcakes floating on the web and knew immediately  that I wanted to make them. For my Hubby. 🙂

The original recipe calls for the seven-minute frosting. That's when I wrinkled my nose. I made this type of frosting once and didn't really like it. Besides, the idea of adding a frosting to snickerdoodle, even if it's a cupcake, wasn't really in my plan. I wanted to keep the sugar-y cinnamon-y coating from the cookie.

I went ahead and baked the cupcakes. Oh, yum! They were good. Just like the cookies! I brushed them with melted butter and dipped in sugar and cinnamon sprinkles. Even better! After few more bites... Darn it! It needs some creaminess. Yeah, It's a cupcake after all...

But I still wasn't making the seven-minute fluff. I knew I had to find something else. Long story short, I came across the delicious brown-butter icing recipe and it is perfect for my Snickerdoodle Cupcakes. 🙂
I iced the cupcakes, sprinkled with the cinnamon-sugar mix and was finally happy with them.

Then came the moment of truth. What will the snickerdoodle fan say? I was walking back and forth in my kitchen waiting for the verdict. ( Ok, maybe I was just staring into his face awaiting the opinion ).

He loved it! My Hubby said they taste just like the cookies and the icing is great!

😀 That's me. Grinning.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
adapted from Martha Stewart

makes 28 cupcakes

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c cake flour ( see tip if you don't have cake flour on hand )
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
2 sticks ( 1 cup ) unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 c sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 c milk

Note: The recipe calls for cake flour. You can imagine I didn't have any on New Year's Day, so I used a little trick: measure out as much flour as the recipe calls for and take out 1 tablespoon of flour per cup needed. Meaning, I needed 1 1/2 cups of cake flour, so I measure out 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and took out 1 and 1/2 tablespoons from it.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line the cupcake pans with liners and set aside.
Whisk together dry ingredients ( flour/s, baking powder, salt and cinnamon ).
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each addition. Add vanilla. Beat again.
Add the dry ingredients, alternating with milk. Make sure you start and finish with dry mix. ( 3 additions of dry, 2 of wet ). Beat after each addition. Make sure everything is combined.
Fill each liner 3/4 full.
Bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before icing.

Brown-Butter Icing

1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp milk

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, 6 - 10 minutes, until it's brown and has nutty fragrance.
Pour it into a heat proof bowl, add sugar and vanilla. Stir until smooth. It should be quite thick, so add the milk and stir again, until it reaches icing consistency. It should not be too runny. Glaze cupcakes and use a spoon to scrape the bowl and fill your mouth with this creamy, buttery goodness.
The icing will set as it stands. Sprinkle the cupcakes ( see below ) right after glazing.

Cinnamon Sugar Sprinkles
To maintain the coating of a real snickerdoodle cookie, I mixed 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon in a small bowl. After you glaze the cupcakes, add a little magic with this sprinkle mix. 🙂

 

2011 Recap and a Happy New Year!

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My Dear Blog Friends,

The year nears it's end and it is common for the food bloggers to make a top list of their favorite post of the year.

Crunchy Creamy Sweet's first post was up in August - which is pretty late in a year, too late in my opinion to make a list of my top recipes. Don't get me wrong, I could go on and on about my favorite cookies, this amazing jam, or this divine sauce. 🙂

I decided to focus on what new this year brought me. It's a lot of it and it's amazing!

In June of this year, we welcomed our Baby Boy into the Family. He is so precious! Loves to giggle watching his Big Sisters making silly faces. 🙂 It finally allowed my Amazing Hubby to get some boy's stuff ( think cars and bikes 🙂 ) and me to add blue to our favorite colors!

We celebrated our oldest Daughter's birthday with a big bash this year. A lot of the treats I made for the party ended up being my first posts on this blog. I still kick myself for not taking the picture of the cake, which was Rapunzel's tower from "Tangled" and it looked amazing!

I started Crunchy Creamy Sweet shortly after and what a great experience that's been! I am very grateful for all of you who read it. You might think that triple digit number would be something to brag about, but for me every Follower / Fan is special and I thank you today for clicking the "Like" or "Follow" buttons. I notice each and every one of you. I try to respond to every comment you post. You encourage me to bake more and share it here, in my little sweet piece of the blogosphere.

Thank you to all the readers via e-mail!

And those who just happen to stumble upon my blog!

I hope you will have a wonderful time tomorrow, wherever you are, clinking the glasses toasting the New Year. May the New Year bring happiness and joy to your life! And lots and lots of sweetness! ( I will try to take care of that anyways 🙂 ).

Happy New Year!

Eggnog Truffles

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Remember the fire red tree I posted about? The leaves are raked, the branches bare, the magic is gone. Now it's just a memory. Until next year.

But there is new magic coming. The magic of Christmas time. The red and green decorations are out, garlands found their place on the fireplace, and I am planning our Christmas dinner menu.

This time is also a time of baking. And lots of it! This year, even more than the last, my Girls are helping me with this task. Audrey is 5 and Vivienne is almost 3, so they can cut out the cookies, frost them and add some sprinkles. Last year they mostly watched me, but this year I could step away and watch them. 🙂

There are also the evenings when they go to sleep and dream about the cookies they just made, and the St. Nick that "came down the chimney with a bound". That's when my Husband and I sit in front of the fireplace and enjoy classic Christmas movies. Like "Wonderful Life".

As a baker, I wanted to make little treats we could enjoy. Eggnog truffles seemed like a prefect choice. They are so easy to make, smell delicious and just melt in your mouth. Those little gems are so sweet and creamy - it makes you happy! 🙂

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