Easy Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients:

1 stick butter
3 cloves minced garlic
1 package Philadelphia cream cheese (NOT LOW FAT!! OR ANY OTHER BRAND!!)
2 c whole milk (can replace with 2%, half and half, or cream, but not skim)
6 oz finely shredded Parmesan cheese (NOT KRAFT!!)
salt to taste
pepper to taste
nutmeg to taste

Directions:

1. NOTE: have pasta ready before making sauce
2. Heat butter on stove over medium heat.
3. Add garlic.
4. Add room temperature cream cheese. Whisk. Get it as smooth as you can.
5. Add warm milk. Whisk till smooth. DO NOT boil.
6. Add parmesan. DO NOT bring to boil or it WILL separate. Whisk till smooth.
7. Take off heat.
8. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.
9. Sauce will get thicker as it cools.
10. Add sauce to pasta and enjoy!

Hot Buttered Apples and Vanilla Yogurt

In pot over med/low heat:

3 apples, sliced
1/2 stick butter
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 c brown sugar
pinch salt

Let cook around 10 min, until done (cooking time varies by apple type).

Vanilla Yogurt

Mix:

1 c plain yogurt
1/4 c white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp maple syrup (optional)

Enjoy!

Also tastes great topped with granola.

Rice Krispies Treats

Rice Krispies Treats

NOTE: This is not the original recipe. This is MY recipe. And it’s awesome.

Ingredients:

1 bag KRAFT brand marshmallows (yes, it matters)
1 stick butter
6 c Rice Krispies brand cereal (yes, it matters)

Directions:

Place butter and marshmallows in big pot.

Stir on low heat until melted.

Add rice krispies.

Turn off  heat.

Mix well.

Put into lightly greased 9 x 13 pyrex dish.

Wet your hands with water.

Press down on rice krispy mixture so it sets into bar shape nicely.

ENJOY!

Lemon Butter Cookies

INGREDIENTS

Cookie
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
Juice of of 1/2 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 1/4 cups flour

Lemon Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS

COOKIE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together.

Add egg and beat in well.

Add lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla and mix until well blended.

Add salt, baking powder and flour and mix until well incorporated.

Use 1 inch cookie scoop, place cookie balls 2 in apart on nonstick cookie sheet (on silpat). You can get 12 cookies on one cookie sheet. That’s half the dough. Save the other half of the cookie dough for another time.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes or until lightly golden on the edges of cookies.

FROSTING

Combine glaze ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth glaze is formed.

Drizzle as much as desired over slightly warmed cookies and let finish cooling completely before eating.

NOTE: Yum! Soft and delicious, perfect cookie to serve with tea. Tastes excellent without frosting. Nice balance of lemon and butter. The amount of lemon I used is in parenthesis above.

Outback Steakhouse Honey Wheat Dinner Rolls

These are the Outback Steakhouse Honey Wheat Dinner Rolls.

Makes 12 rolls

Ingredients:

Dough
1 1/3 cups (10 5/8 ounces) warm water
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) butter, softened
1/2 cup (6 ounces) honey or molasses
2 3/4 cups (12 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
1 3/4 cups (7 3/4 ounces King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour OR regular whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon powdered caramel color OR 2 teaspoons liquid caramel color (optional, but without it the rolls will lack their distinctive color) OR 1 tsp ccocoa powder OR 1 tsp coffee powder (I used both the coffee powder and the cocoa powder)
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

Topping
yellow cornmeal or rolled oats

Directions:

DOUGH MAKING TIME: 30 MINUTES: Combine all of the dough ingredients in a Kitchenaid, bread machine, or mix by hand. Dough will be sticky and slightly elastic.

If you’re using a bread machine, program it for the dough or manual cycle.

If you’re using a Kitchenaid, start with the flat beater, then switch to the dough hook when the dough starts to form a ball and come away from the sides of the bowl.

If preparing this dough by hand, remember that it’s very sticky and a bit messy at first, but just keep at it, flouring your hands and trying not to add too much additional flour to the dough; eventually it’ll smooth out.

FIRST RISE: 60 MINUTES: Let the dough rise for 1 hour. It won’t have doubled in size, but should be just a bit puffy.

Divide the dough into 12 even pieces (about 4 ounces each), and shape the pieces into 6 x 2-inch oval rolls.

Coat each roll, top and bottom, with some yellow cornmeal.

SECOND RISE: 90-120 MINUTES: Place them on a lightly greased baking sheet, and allow them to rise, covered, in a warm place, for 90 minutes to 2 hours. They won’t have doubled in size, but will appear puffy; when you gently press your finger into one, the indentation will rebound quite slowly.

BAKING TIME: 24 MINUTES: Bake the rolls in a preheated 350°F oven for 24 minutes, until the bottoms appear slightly browned (you’ll have to carefully pick one up to look), or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a roll reads about 200°F. Remove the rolls from the oven, and cool them on a rack.

Note: I did not brush these with butter when I took them out of the oven. They didn’t need it. And, it would have dislodged the corn meal.

TOTAL TIME TO MAKE THESE ROLLS: 4 HOURS
Nutrition information per serving (1 roll, 109g): 304 cal, 5g fat, 7g protein, 44g complex carbohydrates, 14g sugar, 4g dietary fiber, 13mg cholesterol, 430mg sodium, 173mg potassium, 46RE vitamin A, 3mg iron, 12mg calcium, 131mg phosphorus.

This recipe reprinted from The Baking Sheet Newsletter, Vol. XII, No. 3, Early Spring 2001 issue.

Honey Butter

1 stick butter, softened and at room temperature

1/2 c honey

Mix butter and honey with fork. Serve with rolls.

VERDICT: BEST RECIPE EVER. NEVER MAKE ANOTHER DINNER ROLL RECIPE. NEVER. NEVER. NEVER. BE A HERO AND MAKE THIS. PILLOWY SOFT, LIGHT, AMAZING TEXTURE, HONESTLY THE BEST. THING. EVER.

THIS IS THE GOLD STANDARD OF DINNER ROLL RECIPES.

THANKS, KING ARTHUR FLOUR, FOR SHARING THE AMAZING!!!