Chocolate Bread Pudding

(copied directly from source)

Ingredients

• 1-pound loaf French or Italian bread, cut into cubes (about 15 cups)
• 3 cups milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup coffee-flavored liqueur
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons pure almond extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Place the bread in the baking dish.

In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, cream, and liqueur.

In another bowl, combine the granulated and brown sugars with the cocoa powder and mix well. Add this to the milk mixture and whisk to combine.

Add the vanilla and almond extracts and the cinnamon to the beaten eggs. Combine the egg mixture with the milk mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread cubes; let stand, stirring occasionally, for at least 20 minutes, or until the bread has absorbed most of the milk mixture. Bake the pudding for 1 hour, or until set; a knife inserted into the center of the pudding should come out clean. Serving the pudding warm, or refrigerate it and serve chilled.

Serve it warm or cold, with whipped cream or a dessert sauce.

Source: Paula Dean, Paula's Home Cooking, Food Network.

I made this for Father's Day because my dad likes bread pudding a lot.

Orange-Peanut Butter Scones

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbs. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled
• 1 tbs. whole milk
• 2 tbs. orange juice
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter
• 2 tbs. orange marmalade
• 1 tbs. freshly grated orange zest
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbs. light or heavy cream

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until resembles coarse meal.
3. In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, combine the milk, orange juice, eggs, peanut butter, orange marmalade, and orange zest. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and knead until combined. Try to handle the dough as little as possible, as this create a more tender scone.
4. Pat the dough into a large round and cut into triangles or use a biscuit cutter to cut into rounds. Place the scones on an un-greased cookie sheet.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and cream. Brush the mixture on top of each scone to glaze. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar the scones.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.

Source: Personal Library: The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook, Quirk Books, 2005.

This was a more complicated baking recipe that I had made before, but I went very slow and took my time in making it. They look good. I got 16 instead of 12 like the recipe said. We will have them for dessert when my brother and sister came over for dinner. They came out really really good! They are very heavy and very filling! If I make them again I will add dried cranberries in them, orange and cranberry go good together.

Baked French Fries I

Ingredients

• 1 large baking potato
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. paprika

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Cut potato into wedges. Mix olive oil and four spices together with potatoes. Place on baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes, turning halfway.

Source

I was getting sick of my sweet potato fries so I tried these. As I was making them it looked like a lot of spices. Depending how they taste I may only do 1/4 teaspoon of each. They were good but I like the sweet potato fries better, I think they cooked too long because all of the seasonings were burnt.

Peanut Butter Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tbs. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened 
• 1/2 cup White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter
• 1 1/4 cups of sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup blueberries (frozen or fresh)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit. Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In another large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, peanut butter, and 1 cup of the sugar. Add the egg and milk and mix well. Fold in the flour mixture, and once the dry ingredients are combined, carefully fold in the blueberries. Do not over mix the batter- a few lumps will create a better texture.
4. Pour the batter into the muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops have risen and are golden brown. Allow to cool before removing from the muffin tins.

Source: Personal Library: The Peanut Butter & Company Cookbook, Quirk Books, 2005.

I made these before and I was bored today. I had everything in the house except white chocolate chips because I made my own peanut butter. These muffins are really really good!

Homemade White Chocolate Wonderful Peanut Butter

Ingredients

• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 tbs. white chocolate chips, melted

Directions

1. Gently melt white chocolate chips in double boilers or microwave, directions are usually on back of bag.
2. Combine the two ingredients and mix.

Source: Personal Library: The Peanut Butter & Company Cookbook, Quirk Books, 2005.

I made my own white chocolate peanut butter because it is a lot cheaper then buying the white chocolate peanut butter. Or you can just buy it in all grocery stores, they all carry it mostly.

Tagliatelle with Smashed Peas, Sausage, and Ricotta Cheese

(copied directly from source)

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh or dried tagliatelle pasta(or other wide, long pasta)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 pound frozen peas, thawed
• 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 bunch fresh basil leaves chopped (about 3/4 cup)
• 1/4 cup fresh grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes if dry or according to package directions if fresh. Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet heat the olive oil and garlic over medium-high heat and add the sausage. Use a wooden spoon to break up the sausage into bite-sized bits. When the sausage has browned, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add the peas to the pan and, using the back of the wooden spoon, smash the peas. Turn off the heat. Add the ricotta cheese along with the cooked pasta and toss to coat, adding the pasta cooking water in 1/4 cup additions, if needed, to make the pasta moist. Return the sausage to the pan. Add the basil, Pecorino Romano cheese, and salt. Toss gently to coat and serve immediately.

Source: Everyday Italian, Food Network

This was very very good, could feed like 6 people! Instead of the called for pasta I used fettuccine pasta, like it says any long wide pasta. While I was eating it I was trying to thing something red in it, my dad had the idea of sun dried tomatoes, which I like!

Bird on a Biscuit

Ingredients

• 10 oz can chunk chicken breast, drained and flaked
• 11 oz can reduced fat cream of chicken soup
• 8 oz can peas, drained
• 5 reduced fat refrigerator biscuits
• 1/2 cup of fat free milk
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
• 8 ounce package light onion and chive cream cheese
• 1 tsp. oregano

Directions

1. Dump the soup, milk, and garlic powder into a skillet. Boil for ten minutes, until slightly thickened.
2. Stir in the cream cheese over medium heat until melted.
3. Dump in the chicken, peas, and oregano. Heat through.
4. Slop an equal amount onto each of the prepared biscuits.

Source: Personal Library, A Man, A Can, A Plan, Rodale, 2002.

I did not make this at home but I went to my sisters and she had planned on making this but I just took over and made it myself. Very easy to make! We used a bag of frozen veggies with peans and pearl onions. Next time if we make we would use boneless chicken breast, they are most likely cheaper too because the can of chicken was $3.50!