Sweet & Salty Brittle Bites

HOWDY!  Once again, I've been away longer than I planned to be.  I hope everyone has been doing well in the meanwhile.  Here in Zig Zag, we’ve been blessed with lots of wonderful drought-ending rain!  It’s wonderful and amazing to see green grass growing, and to have to actually worry about finding time to keep the yard mowed after several years of drought.

I found this recipe quite a while back in a flier (HEB Texas Life) at my local grocery store.  It took me quite a while to get around to actually making it, but boy was it good!

They don’t have the recipe posted online, or I’d share a link for you.  I contacted them about it, and they told me to just give general credit to the HEB Chefs, so I’m more than happy to do that.  I’ve found lots of wonderful recipes in their store publications and on their website.  Check them out if you have a chance.

Anyway, I made a batch of these yummy snacks for our annual family Easter BBQ (with about 200 people in attendance), and they were a hit.  (Yes, there were some folks in my traditional family that thought they was a bit odd, and didn’t even want to try them, but almost all those who actually tasted them thought they were fantastic!)  This recipe is definitely on my “keeper” list now.

My batch turned out a little chewy (not sure if it was the humidity or that I just needed to cook it a little longer) but as it turned out, that was one of the things that folks liked about it, so I’m hoping I can achieve that same texture again sometime.

If you can keep these around for a day or two, the flavors will develop over time, and they’ll be even better.  However, let me warn you, keeping them that long WILL be a challenge!

Without further ado, here’s the recipe…

Sweet & Salty Brittle Bites

Ingredients:

NONSTICK COOKING SPRAY

1 cup sugar

¼ cup water

1 tsp. Kosher salt

2 Tbsp. Adobo sauce (from one 7 oz. can chipotle peppers)

1 cup pepitas (those little green pumpkin seeds)

1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts

1/2 cup unsalted roasted cashews

4 slices bacon, cooked, chopped

Instructions:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray (or you can just use a very well-greased flexible baking sheet).

Combine sugar and water over high heat, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved.  Continue cooking unstirred until sugar reaches a golden syrup like color.  Approximately 4 minutes.  Cook an additional 1 to 2 minutes while gently swirling pan over flame until sugar reaches a darker color.

Carefully stir in adobo sauce then remove from heat.

Stir in nuts and bacon to coat and pour onto prepared baking sheet.

Be sure to allow the brittle cool completely before cracking, then store in an airtight container (after sampling a piece!).

These wonderful little bites of yumminess would make a great gift…especially for the folks in your circles who like anything with bacon and a bit of spiciness.

Step out there on the edge and give these a try…they’re totally delicious and addictive.  After you’ve tried them, let me know your thoughts.  I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Blessings,

--Faithy

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

HOWDY!
Just thought I'd pop in and revisit my Cinco de Mayo Cookie recipe.  They're colorful, festive and fun to make, not to mention yummy.  It's also fun to get reactions from folks when you tell them the ingredients!  LOL!

You can find the recipe on my earlier blog post by clicking on this LINK!

May your day be filled with joy overflowing!!
Blessings,
--Faithy

Cinco de Mayo Cookies

I had some time to experiment in the kitchen this past weekend, so I tried several new recipes.  I found a recipe for Crunchy Tortilla Chip Cookies with Avocado Frosting over at Jazzy Gourmet Cooking Studio (by Sherry K).  It intrigued me so much that I just had to try it.  I’ve tried several sweet treats made with avocados in the past 10 years (avocado ice cream, avocado smoothies, avocado cream pie, etc.), and they were wonderful, so I figured this would probably be good too.  I also figured it would be fun to test it out on my family WITHOUT telling them what the “secret” ingredients were.  I was right.  NOBODY guessed, and everyone thought they were pretty good.

I made the frosting first, because I couldn’t wait to try it.  I started out making it exactly by the original recipe, but I thought the avocado flavor was a bit strong, and it was a little thicker than I wanted it to be…so…I added more powdered sugar, Neufchatel cheese (‘cause I LOVE that stuff!) and more lime juice, and came up with the version listed below.  I really like the avocado/lime combination though…very nice…AND…the acid in the lime juice keeps the avocados from browning in your frosting!

I made my usual adaptations to the cookie recipe, and then (…since I was experimenting…) thought I’d play with it some more.

My first batch was the plain ones - pretty much following the original recipe.  I added miniature chocolate chips to the second batch, just to liven them up.  Then, I was thinking that if I’m going to call these “Cinco de Mayo Cookies” (because I don’t want the name to give away the ingredients!), I wanted to follow along with a Mexican-style theme.

Cinnamon and chocolate are commonly used together in Mexican cooking, so…I thought…”I’ll try adding some cinnamon!”  I also had some extra coconut in the freezer that was calling out to be used…so…I thought…“coconut is a common ingredient in Mexican sweets too…let’s add that!”

Anyway…each batch had an additional ingredient added LOL!  Happily, the final batch (with ALL the additions) was my personal favorite, so that’s the recipe I’m sharing with you.  If you don’t like any of my additions, just leave them out…or go try Sherry K’s original recipe.

Either way…if you’re looking for something different, and FUN to make for your friends…give this recipe a try.  You can even use the cookies as a party game if you have folks try to guess the ingredients!

I posted this picture of the ingredients on my Facebook page before I made them, asking people to guess what I was making.  I got all kinds of interesting answers, but nobody guessed cookies.  Hee, hee!

Cinco de Mayo Cookies

Cookies:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened (but NOT melted)

1/4 cup DiabetiSweet sugar substitute (or regular sugar - I know this alone doesn’t make the recipe diabetic friendly, but it does reduce the calories!  Besides, I recently found a bunch of this stuff on a clearance sale for a GREAT price, and wanted to try it out.  It’s really good!)

1/4 cup brown sugar (I found out that DiabetiSweet also makes a brown sugar substitute…if it’s as good as their regular variety, you’ll love it!)

1/4 cup HEB Real Egg (the original recipe calls for 1 egg yolk)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (you can use all-purpose flour if you prefer)

1 cup crushed tortilla chips (I used yellow corn tortilla chips when testing this recipe.  They have a little stronger flavor than the white ones, so I think I will probably use white corn ones in the future.)

1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1 cup miniature chocolate chips (optional)

1 cup flaked coconut (optional)

zest of 2 limes (optional - save some to sprinkle.the tops with)

Frosting:

1 cup mashed ripe avocado

4 ounces Neufchatel cheese, softened (or regular cream cheese)

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons lime juice (you can use the bottled kind, but fresh is SOOOO much better!)

1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a large mixer bowl, cream together butter and sugars.  Add egg (or egg yolk) and vanilla, mixing until combined and fluffy.  Stir in flour and crushed tortilla chips.  Once mixed, stir in any optional ingredients you decide to try.  

Using your favorite sized cookie scoop (or a teaspoon) drop 1 inch apart onto a parchment lined baking sheet and flatten slightly.  (I forgot to flatten the first 2 pans full…they tasted fine, but took a little longer to cook…AND were a little more difficult to frost!  Also, if you don’t have parchment paper, just use an ungreased cookie sheet.)

Bake at 350°F. for 12-15 minutes, or until edges start to brown.

While cookies are baking, combine avocado, cream cheese, powdered sugar, lime juice and salt in a small bowl, and mix well.  (I actually just dumped all the ingredients into my food processor and pulsed it all until it reached the consistency I wanted.  This way I didn’t have to mash the avocados first.  Feel free to adjust the amounts of the frosting ingredients to suit your own taste preferences…that’s what I did!)  Set aside.

After baking, allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Once your cookies have cooled completely, you can frost them with the avocado/lime frosting, then sprinkle the tops with lime zest.  (I completely forgot to use the zest, but I’m sure it would make the cookies even prettier, and give them an extra zing of flavor!)

Depending on the size of your cookie scoop, this recipe will make 3 to 4 dozen cookies.

If you try these, please let me know what you think…and what other ingredients you may have played with while making your own variation of them.

Remember, if you like them, be sure to go give Sherry K a shout out, and tell her that Faithy sent you!

Blessings,

--Faithy

“Oatrageous” Cookies

HOWDY once again my friends!

I’ve been behind on my recipe sharing, so today I’m playing “catch-up”.  This is an oldie-but-goodie recipe of mine that I’ve been meaning to share for some time.

I developed it years ago after trying the yummy cookies served to guests by the DoubleTree hotel in Austin, TX.  My friends and I liked those cookies so much that I was determined to come up with a close copy.  I tried lots of things, and finally came across a bar cookie recipe in a magazine, that was pretty close.  I adapted it into regular cookies, and the rest is history.

It’s been so long that I truly can’t remember what magazine I got the original recipe from.  If I could, I’d gladly credit them.

I’ve made this recipe many times over the years, and it’s always a hit.  Most recently, I made a double batch of “Mega-Cookies” to share with the truck drivers at the company where I work.  They loved ‘em!  I’ve even had a few of the guys offer to pay me to make them a batch.  Ha! Ha!  (It’ll more fun to just surprise them with some when they least expect it!)

Anyway…their enthusiastic response reminded me that I need to get this recipe posted so you all can enjoy it too.  Here goes…

“Oatrageous” Cookies

Ingredients:

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

½ cup dark brown sugar

½ cup Smart Sugar (or regular sugar)

¼ cup HEB Real Egg (or 1 large egg, beaten)

1 Tbsp. fat free (skim) milk

1 tsp. vanilla

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup whole wheat flour

½ tsp. low-sodium baking powder

¼ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

1-1/4 cups old-fashioned oats

½ cup mini chocolate chips

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted (you can use raw too, but the toasted ones are more flavorful)

1 cup flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350° F.  In large mixer bowl, cream butter & sugars.  Add egg, milk and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

In medium bowl, stir together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and oats.  Add to creamed mixture and mix until blended.  Remove from mixer and stir in chocolate chips, pecans and coconut.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet, and bake for 8 to 10 minutes (or until golden brown).  Remove from pan and cool on wire racks.

NOTE:  I generally prefer to make “mega-cookies”.  To do this, I use my large cookie scoop (but an ice cream scoop would work well too) to drop batter onto the cookie sheet.  The cookies will need to cook a little longer, so keep an eye on them (should take about 15 minutes or a little longer to cook - depending on your oven).  I can get about 9 or 10 “mega-cookies” from one batch of this dough.

I hope you’ll give these yummy cookies a try, and feel free to pass along the recipe.  I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I have!

Blessings,

--Faithy