Carrot Spice Muffins

Happy pi day! Being engineers and loving math, we think that today is a great day! But sadly, today’s recipe will not be a pie. 😦 We have yet to make one – but this will be our new goal for next year’s pi day!

Today’s recipe does involve baking though… These muffins are really yummy and the recipe makes a dozen so you will have enough for about a week or so of breakfasts! They’re also not super sweet, which we liked for breakfast muffins (these aren’t cupcakes!), but you could always add a teensy bit more sugar to your tasting. Feel free to play around with this recipe (we’re thinking of adding zucchini next time?) and let us know how it goes!

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Vegetables in a baked good? Yes please!

• Servings – 12 muffins
• Prep time – 10 minutes
• Cook time – 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour (you can sub whole wheat if you want)
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking spice (if you don’t have this – just use 2 tsp total of cinnamon)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2(ish) cups of grated carrots (3-4 medium carrots – it’s super easy to do with a cheese grater)

Protocol

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Combine flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, and vanilla together.

4. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until just combined. This will seem kind of dry, but it’s okay – the carrots add a lot of moisture.

5. Add the carrots and stir until evenly distributed.

6. Divide the batter between 12 muffin cups and bake at 350 for 28-30 minutes.

7. Let them cool and store them in an airtight container.  For breakfast, try microwaving them for a few seconds to warm them up! Enjoy!

-D&E

Crispy Ranch Chicken

Our fall semester at Pitt begins only 10 days from now! This summer is flying by. We can still remember our trip to California like it was yesterday even though we were there this time last year. Oh well, life goes on.

Like we mentioned in our previous post, we haven’t cooked for almost 2 weeks so we’ve been trying to make easy meals this week. We stumbled upon this recipe for ranch chicken which is perfect for college students. All we did was change the servings size, but for the most part this recipe doesn’t call for any expensive or hard to find ingredients – chicken, cornflakes, Parmesan cheese, and ranch seasoning.

Come on now, you have to have these laying around the apartment (actually, you would be quite a slob if cornflakes happened to be laying around your apartment, rather we hope that they are laying around your pantry).

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Crispy and ranchy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside.

• Servings – 2
• Prep time – 10 minutes
• Cook time – 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3/4 cup cornflakes, lightly crushed
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 packet of ranch dressing mix

Protocol

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350ºF.

2. In a baking dish, mix together the crushed cornflakes, Parmesan cheese, and ranch dressing mix with your hands.

3. Dip your chicken breasts in the melted butter and evenly coat.

4. Dip the buttered chicken breasts into the cornflake mixture and evenly coat. Place in a separate baking dish (sprayed with non-stick spray).

5. Bake the chicken in the oven uncovered for 45 minutes or until the chicken has completely cooked inside.

6. Serve and enjoy!

-D&E

Gingersnaps

This past weekend was another busy one for us. Declan went camping with his dad and Erica had her second bridal shower. Since we already blogged about Erica and her first bridal shower, we’ll blog about Declan’s camping trip!

Declan took his dad to a local lake and camped out for the weekend. Here is a picture of their campsite:

Very primitive set up compared to the rest of the “campers” and their high-tech camping gear! It’s okay, Declan is an Eagle Scout so he and his dad survived. They ate very well, too – brats and beans for Friday night dinner, corn beef hash and eggs, mountain man pies, and campfire chili on Saturday, and fried Spam and eggs on Sunday. And lots and lots of beer to wash it all down.

Overall it was a much needed trip for both of them. Here are some more pics Declan was able to take:

And now for a recipe that has nothing to do with camping!

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Gingery and more gingery.

• Servings – About 4 dozen cookies
• Prep time – 10 minutes
• Cook time – 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg

Protocol

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Mix together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, and cloves. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine the oil, molasses, brown sugar, and egg. Tip: measure the oil in a measuring cup and then use the same cup to measure the molasses, and the molasses will pour right out. Mix until well combined.

4. Slowly add the dry ingredients and stir until incorporated.

5. Spoon out tablespoons of dough and place on a greased baking sheet (or one lined with parchment paper), spacing them around 2 inches apart.

6. Bake one sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes.

7. Let cool and enjoy!

-D&E

Homemade Bagels

Okay don’t get mad at us, but this past weekend we stopped by the Carnegie Library and stumbled upon this…

Oops, sorry we meant this one…

That’s right, we wanted to find a baking cookbook with easy recipes we could try with our new Kitchen Aid stand mixer. So of course we picked the “easiest” one out – bagels. Now you might be thinking we’ve gone a little too far here for this blog (and we agree) but we haven’t posted a really challenging recipe in awhile and thought it was time.

The recipe itself is not hard, but the labor to roll the dough is, especially if you don’t have a mixer. But if you are adventurous and want to make a dozen delicious homemade bagels all for around $4, then this post if for you! Now you can still make bagels without the help of a stand mixer so don’t be discouraged. We’ve adapted the recipe for those without one. But first, here is a good tutorial on kneading dough to help you out:

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Move over Einstein Brother’s Bagels, you have two other nerds to contend with now.

• Servings – 1 dozen bagels
• Prep time – 2 hours (1 hour 15 minutes inactive)
• Cook time – 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 2 packages (5 teaspoons) active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs at room temperature
• 7 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• Sesame or poppy seeds (optional)

Protocol

1. In a saucepan, boil the cubed potatoes in the water until tender (about 10 minutes). Measure out 2 cups of this water and add to a large mixing bowl.  (You can discard the potatoes if you want, or make mashed potatoes like us!)

2. Once the water has cooled to a warm 110ºF, mix in the yeast and let dissolve. Set it aside until it becomes foamy (about 5 minutes).

3. Add in the oil and eggs and whisk to combine.

4. Whisk in 2 cups of the flour and salt until smooth (about 2 minutes).

5. Stir in remaining flour (5.5 more cups in about 1 cup batches) with a large wooden spoon until a soft dough is formed.

6. Scrap out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough until smooth and elastic (about 5 to 7 minutes).

7. Form the dough into a ball and place in a well oiled bowl. Set aside in a warm draft free spot until it doubles in size (about 1 hour).

8. Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Slice into quarters and take each quarter and cut into thirds.

9. With your fingers and palms, roll out the pieces into 10 inch long ropes, 1 inch in diameter.

10. Flatten one end and dabble just a bit of water. Bring the other end towards it to form a circle and pinch together.

11. Set aside all of the bagels on a lightly floured surface and let them rest for 15 minutes.

12. Position your oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425ºF. Grab 2 baking sheets and line with parchment paper and lightly oil the paper.

13. Fill a large wide pot 3/4 of the way with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to maintain a gentle boil.

14. Using a large slotted spoon, gently lower 3 bagels into the water and simmer for 1 minute. Flip the bagels over and simmer for another minute. Spoon out the bagels onto the parchment paper and repeat with remaining batches.

15. Brush the bagels with the beaten egg and sprinkle with seeds.

16. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

17. Cool on a wire baking rack before toasting then enjoy!

-D&E

Chocolate Chip Scones (Fit For a King)

Well congrats to the L.A. Kings for winning their first Stanley Cup last night after a 6-1 win over the New Jersey Devils. Now we’re pretty sure this is probably the wrong blog to be talking hockey but since we’re talking about Declan’s birth place, they deserve a shout out (though we’re still avid Penguins fans).

Okay we promise to stop talking sports for our foodie readers (unless of course the Pirates continue to win! We’re first in the division!). Today’s recipe is a very very simple dessert/breakfast recipe – scones! The hardest part is waiting for them to cool. Hope you like them!

Chocolate Chip Scones

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These would also be great with some lemon or orange zest, cinnamon, or raisins, or whatever you like/have!

• Servings – 12 large scones
• Prep time – 15 minutes
• Bake time – 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Protocol

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Mix the baking soda and sour cream in a small bowl and set aside.

3. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt in a large bowl.  Cut in the butter (see this video).

4. Stir in the sour cream mixture, vanilla, and egg until just combined.  Mix in the chocolate chips.

5. Knead dough briefly on a lightly floured surface and shape into a 3/4 inch thick round. Cut the round into 12 wedges.

6. Bake scones for 12-15 minutes on a lightly greased baking sheet (we had to use two sheets) until golden brown on the bottom.

7. Serve with a glass of milk and enjoy!

-D&E

College Berry Cobbler

Since Mad Men is on at 10 pm on Sunday nights, and that is a bit too late for us and our Mad Men friends, we started watching episodes on Monday nights instead. We call it Mad Men Mondays. Usually we make some kind of specialty drink or cook up some dessert. This week we decided to cook up this really easy three ingredient berry cobbler.

It turned out really yummy so we just had to share with you!

Berry Cobbler

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Easy as one, two, three!

• Servings – 8
• Prep time – 2 minutes
• Cook time – 45 to 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 twelve ounce bags of your frozen fruit
• 1 box cake mix (white or vanilla)
• 1 can of clear pop (Sierra Mist, 7 Up, etc.)

Protocol

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

2. Pour frozen berries into a 9×13 inch baking dish.

3. Pour the cake mix over the berries but do not stir.

4. Pour pop (or soda) over the cake mix but do not stir.

5. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

6. Serve with a side of ice cream or on its own and enjoy!

-D&E

Pizza Rolls

It’s that time of year again, when people begin to prepare for their Super Bowl parties! Unfortunately for us our beloved Steelers could not escape the Wild Card round this year. However, it was quite enjoyable for us to see the Ravens get knocked out of the playoffs (again). How did that transpire?

So anyway, today’s post is something you can make if you are hosting a Super Bowl party, even if you aren’t a Patriots or Giants fan.

• Servings – 8 rolls
• Prep time – 15 minutes
• Cook time – 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup pizza sauce
• 1/2 cup diced pepperoni
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded pizza cheese blend
• 1 pound pre-made pizza dough (dough not crust)

Protocol

1. Pre-heat your oven to 375ºF.

2. Using a 16×10 inch backing sheet, roll out your pre-made dough so it lays even on the sheet. Hint: spray the sheet with a little non-stick spray but not too much, this helps with the rolling.

3. Evenly spread your sauce, then cheese, then diced pepperoni over the dough but leave a 1 inch margin around the edges.

4. Start on one of the longer sides, and begin to roll the dough like a jelly-role. Pinch together the seam.

5. Slice the roll into 8 even slices and place, sliced side down, on a baking dish (that’s already been sprayed with non-stick).

6. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

7. Sprinkle with some grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

-D&E