by Dana | Feb 7, 2018 | Desserts, Recipes
Creamy rice pudding is one of those staple classic recipes you need up your sleeve, this version is sweet, creamy, and studded with raisins! If you love creamy desserts, this is the post for you! Super creamy rice pudding with warm spices and raisins, you can’t go wrong! This is the best rice pudding recipe I’ve ever made! It’s super easy too because you can use leftover rice. I love making rice pudding with cooked rice because that is one step already done for you and more than half the cooking time cut in half, score! I used long grain white rice to make this recipe but basmati rice works well too. What makes this version the best rice pudding recipe? It’s the addition of regular and golden raisins along with a pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon. Warm spices really make this easy rice pudding shine! Alternatives and Add-Ons: Experiment with dried fruits like dried cherries, apricots, or even mango in place of the raisins. If you are using dried fruit that is bigger than a raisin, make sure to chop them up first. Also, mixing up the spices will make it your own, try chai spice in place of the cinnamon! You can also stir in some nuts right before serving to add a nice textural element. I suggest walnuts or chopped almonds! Don’t have cooked rice on hand? No worries, bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a small pot. Add 1/2 cup rice, stir, cover, reduce to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Now, on with the rest of the...
by Kami | Feb 6, 2018 | Desserts, Recipes
Who knew vanilla instant pudding could be such a killer secret ingredient to THE perfect, MOST chewy, absolutely softest and best chocolate chip cookie recipe?!?! I made these cookies for church yesterday and they were a HUGE hit! I’ve been playing with this recipe for a few months now and wish I could say it only took me only a couple tries to create an easy, fool proof chocolate chip cookie recipe that was addicting. Well, it didn’t. I have attempted these cookies at least 5 or 6 times with different techniques like cold butter verses room temperature butter verses melted butter (melted butter won, BTW). OR with 2 eggs verses 3 eggs and different measurements of flour to even out the additional dryness of adding instant vanilla pudding. Well, I’ve finally figured it out and can’t wait to hear your feedback! I have read TONS of recipes and reviews on chocolate chip cookie recipes during the process. Since each cookie recipe is slightly different, I wanted to figure out what most cookie recipes had in common. Here are the two most common instructions which I think are included in almost every single chocolate chip cookie out there: First, do NOT over-bake! The cookie should only bake until there is a hint of golden brown and then removed from the oven. If you’re unsure about the color, I would error on the side of slightly under-baking these bad boys and go by your kitchen timer (8 to 10 minutes only). Once removed from the oven, allow them to completely cool down on the baking sheet. This will allow them...
by Kami | Feb 2, 2018 | Breakfast, Dairy Free, Desserts, Gluten-Free, Recipes, Smoothies, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian
Yummy fruit on any day is so refreshing and this orange juice smoothie is no exception! Not only do you feel good drinking it but it makes your taste buds wake up! The combination of strawberries and bananas is a personal favorite and the added orange juice gives this smoothie an added zing! Give it a try! You won’t regret it! What is it about smoothies that make me think of warm spring or summer days! Shorts, swimming pools and playing outside! Riding bikes, sprinklers and working in a garden. I can’t wait for warmer weather! This strawberry banana smoothie with orange juice is so easy to make and if it’s not summer yet it will bring you warm thoughts! Honestly it’s still really cold where I’m at. We are lucky if it reaches the high 40’s, and I know in other parts of the country it is way colder. But I still love to make smoothies even on cold days (as long as the house is warm!). This smoothie is super simple to make! Simply add orange juice, frozen bananas, and frozen strawberries to a blender and blend! Easy as that! This recipe makes enough for four glasses, if you want to share it that is! The fruit gives you lots of energy and is sweet with all the natural sugar in it. You won’t even realize you are getting several servings of fruit in one glass! Your kids will love it too! If you love this orange banana smoothie you have to try some of my others! They are all amazing and delicious in their own unique...
by Lisa | Feb 1, 2018 | Desserts, Snacks
These are some of the best oatmeal cookies I have ever had! They smell amazing when cooking, they are amazingly soft and chewy when fresh from the oven, and they are super easy to make! Growing up I was never a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies. I always thought- why raisins and why not chocolate chips! Let’s be honest, I still think this way most of the time! I think I didn’t like them when I was little is because I would be expecting chocolate and then get a raisin. Let’s be honest, when you expect chocolate, anything else doesn’t satisfy. Well, I’ve made and eaten lots of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, but I have also come around to enjoying these soft oatmeal raisin cookies because when I make them I know to expect raisins These easy oatmeal raisin cookies are super quick to mix together and will be gobbled up even faster! Simply cream the wet ingredients in a mixer and while those are creaming, mix together the dry ingredients. Then add the dry to the wet and mix. Finally, mix in the oatmeal and raisins and bake! The glaze isn’t necessary but takes the cookies to the next level. So, if you have powdered sugar and a little milk make it! You won’t regret it. While the cookies are baking, combine the glaze ingredients. I like to use almond extract in the glaze because I love the flavor, but feel free to use vanilla or omit the extract all together! When the cookies are done baking, brush with the glaze and enjoy! Now, a disclaimer- these are...
by Dana | Jan 30, 2018 | Desserts, Easy Recipe, Recipes
White Chocolate Truffles are one of those decadent desserts you don’t have very often. I have made this easy version so you can make them at home whenever you want! With just four simple ingredients… (including the sprinkle exterior), these truffles couldn’t be any more simple. Just butter, white chocolate chips, and sweetened condensed milk. Boom, done! Truffles are traditionally made with ganache. I make a microwavable ganache that I use on all sorts of desserts. Making them into truffles is just a super simple way of using ganache, but they are so good and easy you will want to make them all the time! Easy White Chocolate Truffles Recipe Directions: Place butter in the bottom of a microwave-safe bowl. Place white chocolate chips on top, and pour the condensed milk over everything. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Let sit one minute. Stir until everything is melted and combined, this might take a few minutes. Let the mixture cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge. You want to leave this in the fridge until the ganache is set, that will take about 2-3 hours. When the ganache is set, take about 2 to 3 teaspoons of it at a time and roll into balls, immediately roll into sprinkles of your choice and place on a sheet tray. Enjoy! You see these really can’t get much easier! Now that you have the easy white chocolate truffle base down, you can add all kinds of things to them to make it your own! I suggest dipping them in melted...
by Lisa | Jan 29, 2018 | Desserts
Alright, who is ready for a recipe for scones made with buttermilk? These are the best buttermilk scones and they are bursting with fresh orange flavor and yummy chocolate chips. These scones are so delicious! Even if you skipped the orange and chocolate they are still super soft and yummy! The buttermilk makes the scones light and fluffy and gives it a delicious depth of flavor! Oh, and these scones are super easy to make. You really can’t go wrong with them! First mix together the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter. Add in the wet ingredients and then the chocolate chips. Brush with some leftover buttermilk and sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake, glaze and now you are done. You now have a dozen, soft and amazingly delicious scones! Scones made with buttermilk are seriously some of the most delicious scones I have ever had. If you don’t believe me, give them a try! I couldn’t stop snacking on these and had to promptly think of who I could share them with so I wouldn’t eat them all! So, make these and make not only yourself happy but others too. Sharing is a wonderful thing. These scones are quick to make and are perfect any time of the day, but making them early and then sitting down with some hot tea, cocoa or coffee, and a light, sweet scone sounds perfect. Maybe curl up with a good book and a big squishy blanket. That sounds amazing! They also store well. I just put them in a gallon zip lock bag and they stayed fresh for several days....
