Baking recipes
Scroll through our posts below to try all sorts of delicious baking recipes from our instagram baking videos. New baking videos are posted the first week of each month on Instagram and Facebook.
To easily find one of our recipes type below:
Hey! Nice (Cinnamon) Buns!
Cinnamon buns…can you think of a GREATER bun?! The answer is no! Sweet, soft and oh so gooey! They are the perfect breakfast, lunch or dinner! This recipe has a delicious layer of “goo” aka caramel on top (some might call it a sticky bun!), but if you are more of a cinnamon bun with icing type of person, omit the goo and top with your favourite icing instead.
Yield: 12 buns (or you can make 8 ginormous buns)
Ideally use a 9”x13” pan but you can probably use 2 pie pans if you don’t have one
Dough:
3 cups All purpose flour
1/4 cup milk powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons or 1 packet Instant Yeast
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 1/4 cup milk, warm to the touch but not boiling
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
In the bowl of an electric mixer, place the milk, egg and melted butter.
In another bowl toss together the flour, milk powder, salt, yeast and sugar just to combine.
Pour the dry ingredients on top of the liquid ingredients in the mixer bowl and then mix using the dough hook attachment for 5-10 minutes, or until the dough forms a smooth ball. The dough will still be a little sticky.
Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover. Let rest at room temperature for about 1 hour or until doubled.
Goo:
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Corn syrup, honey OR maple syrup
1/4 cup heavy cream (if you don’t have cream, omit this and increase your butter to 1/2 cup)
pinch of salt
Combine all the ingredients: butter, brown sugar, syrup, cream and salt in a small pot.
Bring to a boil while stirring, basically we are melting the butter and sugar together, so you don’t need to cook it very much. You can also do this in the microwave if you prefer.
Pour the goo into a greased 9”x13” pan and set it to the side until your dough is ready.
Filling/Assembly:
1/3 cup - 1/2 cup Butter, very soft basically you want it to be the texture of mayonnaise, so almost melted
3/4 cup - 1 cup Brown sugar
1-2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
1/2 cup Add-in (optional): toasted pecans, toasted walnuts, raisins, chocolate chips, OR dried fruits
Once your dough has doubled in size place it onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a rough rectangle shape. Then roll out into a large rectangle using a rolling pin or wine bottle, whatever you’ve got on hand! Since we are making 12 buns, make sure your rectangle is at least 12” wide, but if it gets a bit longer that is no problem. Mine probably was about 15”x9” in the end.
Smear your super soft butter all over your rectangle but leave a strip about 1” wide across the top edge without any butter. This strip is going to be the end edge of our roll which we will use to stick the dough to itself and seal the log.
On top of the butter sprinkle a nice even layer of brown sugar all over, depending on the size of your rectangle you might need a little more sugar, or a little less, but as long as it’s nicely covered you are set, the measurements for the filling are more by feel, so if you have leftover don’t worry!
Next, sprinkle the cinnamon all over the sugar to your liking. If you are putting any add-ins into your cinnamon buns, you can sprinkle them all over the cinnamon sugar layer now as well.
Now time to roll! Starting at the edge closest to you, move from one side to the other, rolling the dough on top of itself, tucking in the dough into the layer of cinnamon sugar, until you reach the top edge that doesn’t have any butter on it. Your dough should look like a big wormie and be lying on top of the un-buttered strip of dough.
For ease, I like to roll my wormie over so the edge of the dough is on top, then you want to seal the dough together by pinching it all the way from one side to the other so it won’t unravel when we cut it.
Now using your sharpest knife cut the wormie into 12 even-ish pieces. The easiest way for me to do this is to cut the wormie in half, then you will have 2 pieces. Now, take each of those pieces and cut them in half, so now you should have 4 even-ish pieces. Then cut each of those 4 pieces into thirds. Viola! 12 even-ish pieces!
Now grab your pan that has the goo at the bottom (or if you don’t want goo, just make sure your pan is very well greased, or lined with greased parchment). Place your buns cut side down in the goo into the pan, in a 4 across and 3 down pattern.
Cover the pan and let sit at room temperature until doubled and starting to reach the top edge of the pan, about 1 hour. If you want to serve these for breakfast, make your buns the day before, then cover them and place into the fridge overnight. In the morning, take your buns out about 2 hours before baking so they can come up to room temperature and then continue to proof so they are doubled and reaching the top edge of the pan.
While your buns are rising, pre-heat your oven to 350*F.
When your buns have doubled, pop the pan onto a cookie tray (this is purely to catch caramel drips from falling into your oven which would be the worst to clean…speaking from personal experience) and then place the pan with cookie tray into the middle of the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and sounding hollow when you tap on the dough.
Let the pan sit for about 5 minutes at room temperature so it’s not boiling and then using oven mitts and being EXTREMELY careful, place a baking tray or a large platter (something that is larger than your cinnamon bun pan so it can catch the caramel) on top of the cinnamon buns, and flip them over and remove the baking pan. All your buns and delicious caramel should pour out onto the baking tray/platter, but if there are a few stragglers, just grab a spatula and scrape them out.
Now time to devour these delicious babies! Best served warm!
Peanut Butter and Jelly Panna Cotta!
YeeHAW! It’s stampede time, which means I get to don the Britney Spear’s microphone headset and hit the stage at the “Calgary Stampede”. This year I made a peanut butter panna cotta which is a peanut custard topped with strawberry compote and peanut brittle! Fancy!
Yield: 8-10 ramekins
Ingredients:
Peanut Panna Cotta
Gelatin 7g
Water 60mL
Whipping Cream 750mL
Sugar 170g
Salt pinch
Peanut butter 50g
Milk 180mL
Strawberry Compote:
Fresh strawberries, chopped 1 cup
Sugar 2 Tbsp or to taste
Peanut Brittle:
Sugar 200g
Water 85g
Corn Syrup 140g
Peanuts 230g
Salt 1/4 tsp
Butter 15g
Vanilla 1 tsp
Baking Soda 1/2 tsp
Panna Cotta:
Bloom your gelatin in the water, set to the side
In a pot combine your cream, sugar, salt and peanut butter and cook until the sugar is dissolved and the peanut butter is combined, it will only need to simmer, not boiling necessary.
Melt your bloomed gelatin and then stir into the hot cream mixture and stir to combine.
Add your milk and stir until combined.
Pour into ramekins or whatever molds you are using and pop in the fridge overnight.
Strawberry Compote:
Combine chopped strawberries and sugar until you reach a sweetness you like, then set to the side. If you are making ahead of time, store in the fridge.
Peanut Brittle:
In a pot heat the sugar, water and corn syrup until it reaches 115*C on a candy thermometer.
Add your peanuts and cook while stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 155*C
Remove from heat and add butter, salt and vanilla, stir to combine.
Add baking soda and stir, this is going to start foaming, so be cautious!
Pour immediately onto a greased and parchment lined baking tray, or onto a silicone mat.
Let cool completely, then store in an airtight container.
Serving:
Your panna cotta can be served in it’s mold or unmolded. To unmold, dip your ramekin into a bowl of hot water to warm up the container, this is going to melt the edges of your panna cotta, then place your serving plate on top of the ramekin and flip it over. It should pop out of the ramekin and be ready to serve!
Spoon some of your strawberry compote onto your panna cotta.
Break up some of your peanut brittle and you are ready to serve!
Tres Leches Cake!
This delicious vanilla cake gets soaked in three types of milk and then topped with whipped cream! The milk soak softens the cake so it’s a bit like a pudding and it’s SO delicious!
Tres Leches Cake
Yield: 9”x13” pan
Preheat your oven to 350*F
1/2 cup Butter, soft
1 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
5 Eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups Flour
1 1/2 cups Milk
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 can Evaporated Milk
1 1/2 cups Whipping Cream
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Rum (optional)
In the bowl of your mixer whip together your butter, sugar, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, baking power until light and fluffy.
Separate your eggs and add the egg yolks to the butter mixture and continue whipping until light and fluffy.
Add your flour and stir until combined.
In a separate bowl whip up your egg whites until medium firm peaks.
Fold the egg whites into the butter mixture in 2 additions. Folding gently so they don’t deflate too much!
Pour your batter into a greased 9”x13” pan, you don’t need to worry about lining the pan with parchment paper just a little baking spray is great!
Bake your cake in a preheated 350*F oven for about 25 minutes or until lightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean when poked into the middle.
While your cake is baking stir together your milk, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk .
When your cake comes out of the oven, pos it ALL over with a fork so the milk has somewhere to soak into.
While the cake is still hot, pour ALL of the milk mixture on top of your cake as evenly as possible. It’s going to look like too much, but it’s going to soak in.
Let the cake cool at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes, then place into the fridge for at least an hour or ideally overnight.
Whip up your cream to soft peaks with the sugar and rum (if using).
Spread your cream on top of the cake and eat!
Cheese-y Mushroom "Danishes"
These danishes are made with puff pastry instead of the traditional yeast raised Danish dough. For this recipe I used half of the batch from the puff pastry dough I made for Sausage Rolls, you can check out that recipe if you would like to make your own puff pastry or you can just use the puff pastry from the freezer section of your grocery store! These little danishes are buttery and full of flavour! You can fill your danish with anything (sweet or savoury!) and they make an awesome and impressive appetizer! I am filling mine with some caramelized onions, mushrooms, ham and swiss cheese!
Cheese-y Mushroom “Danishes”
Yield: 9 large sized danishes
Preheat your oven to 400*F
1 sheet of puff pastry (if buying premade) or 1/2 batch of my puff pastry dough (see Sausage Rolls recipe)
~1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
~1 cup grated Swiss Cheese (or your favourite cheese!)
2 slices of Ham Deli Slices (or your favourite thinly sliced meat), cut into quarters
Egg Wash - 1 egg whisked up with a pink of salt and sugar
Mushroom Filling:
1 Tablespoon Butter
1/2 an Onion, diced
1-1 1/2 cups of Mushrooms, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Dried Thyme
1/2 teaspoon Dried Rosemary
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1-2 Tablespoons Wine (white or red), or both or water - anything you have on hand!
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce (optional)
In a frying pan melt your butter, then add your onions, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until onions start to brown and caramelize.
Add your mushrooms and continue cooking until the mushrooms start to brown and release their juices.
Deglaze your pan by pouring a tablespoon or two of wine into the pan and scraping the bottom to release any of those bits that have stuck on. Add your Worcestershire sauce.
Cook for a minute or so while stirring until most of the liquid has bee absorbed. Pour into a bowl to cool and Taste and season to your liking!
Roll out your puff pastry into a large square about 1/8” thick.
Using a pizza cutter or knife, trim the edges and then cut into 9 portions, I did 3 rows horizontally and 3 rows vertically.
Going diagonally from on corner to the other, smear a thin layer of dijon mustard down the middle.
I sliced my deli ham into quarters, then placed one quarter on top of the dijon mustard.
On top of the ham but keeping to the centre area of your square, scoop about 1 tablespoon of the mushroom mixture.
Then place a large pinch of shredded cheese on top of the mushrooms.
Now you can bake the danish just like this, or make it into a shape!
To shape, grab the corner with the least toppings and fold it over so it’s reaching across the cheese and filling. Lightly egg wash, then grab the opposite corner and fold it on top of the first one, so they are “hugging” your filling. Egg wash the other side.
Sprinkle the tops of your danishes with coarse salt or pepper (optional)
Bake in a preheated 400*F oven for about 25 minutes or until golden brown!
Eat!
Cream Puffs with a Lemon Cheesecake Filling!
Cream puffs are made with ‘Choux Paste” which is a dough that is used for ALL sorts of things - eclairs, churros, cruellers, profiteroles, gorgieres and more! It’s a dough you cook on the stove, then add eggs to before piping and baking. I filled my cream puffs with a lemon cheesecake filling, but you can fill them with lightly sweetened whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream for a simple and delicious dessert!
A mountain of Cream Puffs!
Cream Puffs with Lemon Cheesecake Filling
Yield: 24-30 cream puffs
Preheat your oven to 400*F
Choux Paste aka Cream Puff Dough:
1/2 cup Milk
1/4 cup Water
1/3 cup Butter
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Sugar
3/4 cup Flour
~3 Eggs
icing sugar for dusting on top
Lemon Cheesecake Filling:
1 cup (8oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup Icing Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
zest of 1 lemon
In a small pot, bring your milk, water, butter, salt and sugar to a boil.
Once the milk mixture is boiling, add your flour and stir over a medium heat until the mixture become a dough ball and leaves a film on the base of your pot. Transfer to a bowl and cool for a minute or two.
Add your eggs one at a time, stirring to combine after each egg. Depending on how much moisture is in your dough, and how large your eggs are, you might not need all three. You want your finished dough to be soft and when you run your finger though it, it should slowly fill in the gap, but still leave a visible line where your finger had been.
Place your dough into a piping bag and pipe about 1.5” diameter rounds onto a parchment lined baking tray.
If there are little “kisses” poking up from where you stopped piping, wet your finger and lightly press them down so the tops of your cream puffs are flat.
Bake in a preheated 400*F oven for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Try not to open the oven at all (no peeking!) for the first 20 minutes, the cream puffs are creating steam that will help them bake, and we don’t want that to escape!
To make the lemon cheesecake filling, whip together the cream cheese, icing sugar, salt and lemon zest until light and fluffy. If you plan on piping it into your cream puffs, you can place it into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner cut off.
Once your cream puffs are baked, let them cool and fill with your choice of filling! You can use a knife to poke a hole in the base of your cream puff, large enough to fit the tip of a piping bag full of filling, then squeeze it into your cream puff, or you can cut the top of your cream puff off with a serrated knife, scoop some filling into it and then place the top back on once filled, both look cute!
Sprinkle the tops with icing sugar and devour!
Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies!
An oldie but a goodie! Peanut butter cookies are the perfect combination of sweet and salty! They combine that delicious nuttiness of peanut butter with the chewiness of a cookie and it’s pretty much perfection! These cookies are crispy with a soft, chewy centre, but if you like the crispier bake them for a minute or two longer, and if you like them chewier, pull them out a minute or two earlier.
soft and perfect!
Peanut Butter Cookies
Yield: 8-12 depending on how large you scoop them
Preheat your oven to 350*F
1/4 cup Butter, soft
1/4 cup Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla (optional)
1 Egg
3/4 cup Flour
Granulated Sugar for sprinkling on top (optional)
In the bowl of your mixer, whip together the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla, baking soda and salt until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
Add in your one egg, and continue whipping for about 1 minute, or until combined and fluffy.
Add your flour into the mixture and mix until combined, being sure to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to get any chunks of butter combined.
Scoop onto a parchment lined baking tray (or if you don’t have a liner, just spray with baking spray oil. I used a ice cream scoop but you can just use a spoon. Leave at least 2” between cookies so they don’t bake into each other.
Sprinkle the tops of your cookies with granulated sugar for a little extra crunch and sparkle!
Bake in a preheated 350*F oven for about 10-12 minutes, or until lightly golden.
Let cool and eat!
Honey Oat Sandwich Bread!
Sandwiches are delicious! It’s a meal you can eat anywhere! What makes the best sandwiches? Home made bread! This is a jazzed up version of your typical white bread, it’s got a touch of honey and oats to make things extra delicious!
Soft, fluffy and ready for sandwiches!
Honey Oat Sandwich Bread
Yield: 1 loaf (9”x5” pan)
Preheat your oven to 350*F
1 1/2 cups Milk, warm
2 Tablespoons Butter, warm
2 Tablespoons Honey
2 3/4 cup Flour
1/2 cup Oats
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
2 teaspoons Instant Yeast
In the bowl of your mixer combine the dry ingredients - flour, oats, salt and yeast. Toss to combine.
In a separate container stir together your honey, warm milk and butter. Then pour into the dry ingredients and knead with the dough hook in your mixer for 6-10 minutes, or until it forms a firm ball around the hook and isn’t sticking to the sides of the bowl.
Place dough into a greased bowl and cover. Let sit at room temperature until doubled, about 1 hour.
Place your dough ball onto a lightly floured surface and using your hands flatten into a rough rectangle shape that is about 8” wide.
Roll the dough up into a log, then pinch the seams together.
Place the dough log into a greased 9”x5” loaf pan, with the seam side going into the bottom of the pan.
Cover with saran wrap and let sit at room temperature for about 1 hour, or until the dough is starting to rise over top of the pan edge.
Bake in a preheated 350*F oven for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap it.
Let cool and eat!
Zucchini Muffins!
For when life gives you a GINORMOUS zucchini! These delicious muffins are similar to a carrot cake, but instead of carrots, we use grated zucchini! The flavour is cinnamon sugar, which is always delicious, but feel free to add in other things like dried cranberries or chocolate chips! Yum!
mmmmmmmmuffins!
Zucchini Muffins
Yield: 12 muffins or 1 loaf
Preheat your oven to 350*F
2 cups of grated Zucchini
2 Eggs
1/3 cup Sour Cream
1/2 cup Butter, melted
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla (optional)
1 2/3 cup Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar for topping (about 1/4 cup sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon)
In a large bowl stir together your wet ingredients - zucchini, eggs, sour cream, butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir to combine.
Add your dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir until just combined.
In a greased and lined muffin tin, evenly scoop your batter.
Top the muffins with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.
Bake in a preheated 350*F oven for about 25 minutes, or until lightly golden and the toothpick comes out clean when you stab it into the centre.
Time for eating!
Fruit and Nut Crisps! The PERFECT cracker for cheese!
Nothing is more perfectly paired than cheese and crackers, but sometimes you want to feel fancy so you get those delicious fruit crisp crackers from the store, but they are super expensive in terms of crackers pricing, so if you’re me, you only buy them when you are feeling fancy and having guests over. Instead of buying them, we can make them! These crisp crackers aren’t too tricky to make, but they do take a few hours because you need to let things cool and do a second bake. Feel free to switch up the flavours, you can use any nuts, dried fruit and spices you have on hand. You can even switch up the flour if you have some fun flours like whole wheat or rye flour, feel free to substitute 50% of the flour with that. Lots of fun flavours you can make!
Snazzy Crackers!
Fruit and Nut Crisps
Yield: about 50 crackers depending on how you slice them
Preheat oven to 350*F for the first bake, 250*F for the second bake
1 cup of Flour
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 cup Oats
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
2-3 teaspoons herbs and spices, I did 1/2 teaspoon each: cinnamon, dried rosemary, dried thyme, and paprika but do whatever your heart desires!
1/2 cup seeds/nuts (I used 1/2 cup sliced almonds)
1/2 dried fruit (I used 1/2 cup dried cranberries)
1 cup Milk
1/4 cup Sour Cream (you can also use yogurt, buttermilk, or even unsweetened apple sauce or pumpkin puree)
In a large bowl stir together your dry ingredients, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, oats, salt, pepper, and herbs/spices. Toss to combine.
Stir in your dried fruit and nuts.
Pour in your milk and sour cream, stir to combine.
Pour into a greased and lined loaf pan, I used an 8”x4” pan.
Bake in a preheated 350*F oven for about 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick stabbed into it comes out clean.
Let cool at room temperature, then freeze for 1-2 hours.
Once lightly frozen, slice your loaf as thinly as possible using a serrated knife.
Lay each slice in a single layer on lined baking trays.
Bake in a preheated 250*F oven for 35-50 minutes or until thoroughly dried out. We are not baking at this point so much as we are drying out the crackers.
Let cool and eat! These babies can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature.
Butter Tarts! Classic Canadian!
What’s the most Canadian dessert? I would say it’s a tie between butter tarts and Nanaimo bars, but butter tarts are definitely MY favourite! These little tarts are basically a buttery vanilla sugar pie, I love butter, I love sugar, what more do you need…RAISINS! Ok some people hate raisins in their butter tarts, I believe they are crucial, but do what you love, that’s the fun of baking, you can make them exactly how you want! The way I make my butter tarts is by adding the raisins before the filling, instead of mixing them together, so you can even make some with raisins and some without and then judge how you prefer them. So many options!
Look at those gooey edges!
Butter Tarts
Yield: 12 tarts (made in a muffin tin)
Preheat your oven to 375*F
Pie Dough:
Alternatively, you can skip the pie dough step and buy the frozen tart shells from your grocery store, just fill and bake them straight from the freezer, no thawing required!
2 cups Flour
1/2 cup COLD butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup shortening (you can replace this with butter if you prefer, I just like the texture it brings)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Sugar
1/4-1/2 cup COLD water
Filling:
1/2 cup Raisins (optional)
1 teaspoon Dark Rum (optional)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Corn Syrup
1/4 cup Butter, melted
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon Salt
In a large bowl combine your flour, salt and sugar for the dough.
Toss in your cold butter and shortening and using your fingers pinch and rub the butter into the flour until it looks crumbly like sand, but still has some large pea sized chunks of butter - this is going to make things flaky!
Add your cold water, start with about 1/4 cup, and see how it feels, depending on your flour and how the butter has been incorporated, you might not need the full amount, You want the dough to stay together when pressed in your hand, I used about 1/3 cup in my dough.
Your bowl should still have some drier bits at the bottom, that is perfect, then dump the bowl of pastry out onto your counter and give it a few kneads until it comes into a nice ball, then press into a flat disk or rectangle and wrap in saran wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Once your dough is chilled, roll it out on a flat surface to about 1/8-1/4” thickness and cut into about 4” diameter circles, you want a circle that will fit into the cavity of a muffin tin, so see what fits best in yours. Or maybe you have actual tart tins, you can definitely use those too!
If you run out of dough, just lightly press the scraps together and continue cutting out the rounds.
Take each circle and press it into each cavity of your muffin tin, making sure to press in the corners so they are filled with dough.
Once all your muffin cavities are lined with dough, poke the bases a few times with a fork, this is called “docking” and helps any trapped air release during baking.
Pop your muffin tin into the freezer to firm up, at least 20 minutes.
Now for the filling, you can skip this step but it makes things more decadent, take your raisins and cover them with boiling water to soak. Just enough water to cover them, the amount doesn’t matter as we will be draining it all off. Soak 10+ minutes.
Once your raisins have soaked, drain them off, and squeeze out any excess moisture. Then toss with the 1 teaspoon of Rum! Set to the side.
In a large bowl combine all the rest of the ingredients for the filling - brown sugar, corn syrup, melted butter, egg, salt and vanilla. Stir to combine.
Now to put everything together! In your chilled tart shells, evenly distribute the raisins into the bottom of each tart (or however many you want raisins in!)
Scoop your filling mixture on top of the raisins in each tart shell, then pop into a preheated 375*F oven for about 15-25 minutes until gold and bubbly! The longer you bake them, the thicker your filling, if you like them gooier, bake them a little less.
Let cool and devour!
Chocolate Marshmallow Puff Cookies!
I’m not going to name names, but there is a boxed cookie that I loved as a child. It’s a graham cracker with jam and marshmallow that is covered in chocolate! It was pretty much the fanciest boxed cookie I had, and you know how to make a boxed cookie even better? Make your own version from scratch! It’s quarantine so you shouldn’t really be in the grocery store anyways, plus there is SO many hours in the day to use up, and what better way than making cookies! This recipe starts with one batch of the graham crackers we made yesterday (scroll down for that recipe). Then we are going to make some homemade marshmallows! Marshmallows are great on their own, you can definitely just make the marshmallow recipe then press it into a grease and lined, and greased AGAIN 8”x8” baking pan. Then cut it into squares with a greased knife and toss in icing sugar, so delicious!
SOOOOOOO FUN!
Chocolate Marshmallow Puff Cookies
Yield: 12-18 (depending on how many graham crackers you have)
Bases:
1 batch of home made graham crackers cut into circles and baked (I had 18) - You could also use packaged graham crackers, it’s just going to be a bit tricker since they are square
about 1/2 cup of jam (raspberry and strawberry are really good with the chocolate)
Marshmallows:
2 packages Gelatine
1/3 cup Cold water
1 cup Sugar
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup Honey
1/3 cup Corn Syrup
pinch of Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla (optional)
Topping:
2 cups Chocolate
1 Tablespoon Oil
sprinkles! (optional)
Place your graham crackers onto a parchment lined baking tray in a single layer. Scoop about 1 teaspoon of jam into the centre of each graham cracker, then set the tray to the side.
in the bowl of your mixer, pour 1/3 cup of cold water, then mix in your gelatine, set this to the side to rest, it is going to absorb the water and firm up.
In a small pot, place your sugar, 1/3 cup water, honey, corn syrup and salt. Heat over high heat until it reaches 240*F. Then remove from heat.
Place your bowl with the gelatine onto the mixer with the whisk attachment.
Turn the mixer onto the lowest speed, and while it’s mixing, slowly pour in the hot syrup until the whole pot is mixed in and the gelatine is all melted.BE CAREFUL THIS IS SUPER HOT!
Turn up the speed to high, and whisk for 8-10 minutes or until the marshmallow looks super white and fluffy and the bowl does not feel hot to the touch.
Add your vanilla extract and mix for another minute or until combined.
Scoop your marshmallow into a piping bag, or a ziplock bag with the end chopped off, and pipe the marshmallow in a circle around the jam on your cookie, then continue piping over top of the jam until you have a nice mound of marshmallow and you can’t see any jam peeking through. It will look similar to the swirl on a cupcake or soft serve ice cream cone. Do this for all of your graham crackers.
Once all the marshmallow is piped, let your cookies sit at room temperature for about 2 hours until they firm up.
In a microwave or double boiler, melt your chocolate and oil until smooth and melted.
Dunk each of your marshmallow cookies into the chocolate, toss until covered and then shake them off a little so there isn’t too much excess chocolate on them, then place back onto the parchment lined tray. You can add sprinkles now if you love sprinkles as much as me, or just leave them off.
Place your tray into the fridge for about 20 minutes to set the chocolate up and then enjoy!
Graham Crackers...well imitation "Graham" Crackers!
Graham crackers… they’re really more of a cookie, but if we can call it a cracker and eat it at any time of the day without judgement I’m down for it! True graham crackers are made with graham flour, which is a whole wheat variety of flour. It’s quarantine, which means I am not leaving the house, and also finding graham flour can be a bit tricky, but if you have whole wheat flour feel free to substitute that in for the oats in this recipe. To add to the “whole wheat” flavour of this cookie…I mean cracker! I added in some quick oats, but if you don’t have those, just use straight up regular flour, they will still be delicious! These crackers are great for making the best SMORES or using as a base in other desserts, which we are going to be doing tomorrow!
“Graham” crackers…ok these are basically a very thin oatmeal cookie but shhhhhh! I’m not telling!
“Graham” Crackers
Yield: 15-20 - 2” cookies
1/4 cup Quick Oats (use whole wheat flour if you have it!)
3/4 cup Flour
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 cup Butter, soft
2 Tablespoons Milk
2 Tablespoons Honey (can substitute with corn syrup)
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
In a bowl combine all your dry ingredients - flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Toss to combine.
Using your hands, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until its fully combined and there aren’t any large butter chunks. It should look like sand.
Add your milk, honey and vanilla, and stir until fully combined.
Place your dough onto a baking tray sized piece of parchment paper, then top with another piece of parchment paper the same size and roll it until it is about 1/8-1/4” thick. If you plan on making square shapes try to roll it into a rectangle shape for easier cutting. Chill your dough with the 2 pieces of parchment until firm, at least 30 minutes.
Take your dough out of the cooler and peel off the top layer of parchment, if it is not coming off cleanly, your dough isn’t cold enough, just put back in the cooler until hard.
Cut out your desired shapes from the dough, you can use a pizza cutter to make squares easily, I made rounds using the edge of a water glass.
Peel the shapes off of the parchment paper and place on a lined baking tray about 2” apart.
Dock each cookie with a fork so they don’t get too many air bubbles.
Bake in a preheated 350*F for 5-12 minutes, until golden brown and delicious smelling!
Eat or save in a sealed container.
Honeycomb Toffee!
Buzz! Buzz! It’s honeycomb time! This candy is a delicious honey flavoured, honeycomb looking treat! Some people call is “sponge toffee” or “sea foam” because it’s light and airy! This treat is perfect for eating on it’s own, but it’s also great covered in chocolate, crushed up on ice cream, put into cake layers, in my world it’s the perfect accent to any dessert!
It’s the bee’s knees!
Honeycomb Toffee
Yield: about a 12”x10” rectangle
1 1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Corn Syrup
1/4 cup Honey
1/4 cup Water
1 Tablespoon Baking Soda
In a 2-3 qt. pot place your sugar, corn syrup, honey and water. Stir to combine and make sure all your sugar gets wet, then scrape down the sides so there aren’t any clumps of sugar sticking to them.
Line a baking tray with a silicon pad or a piece of parchment and grease with baking spray or oil/butter. Place next to your stove.
On a high heat, cook your sugar mixture until it reaches 300*F with a thermometer, this is called the “hard crack” stage, remove from the heat.
Quickly whisk in your baking soda and it is going to start GROWING! Be careful this is still SUPER HOT! Quickly pour your honeycomb onto the greased and lined baking tray. Don’t smooth out, just let it go where it may, the more your smooth, the less bubbles you will have.
Let cool for about 2 hours, then crack into pieces and store in a sealed container.
Pizza Dough!
Pizza party time! Pizza dough is fairly easy to whip together and then you can have both a delicious meal, and a fin activity for your family. Each person can make their own pizza with whatever toppings they like, super fun!
It’s a pizza party!
Pizza Dough
Yield: 3 approximately 9-10” diameter pizzas
Preheat the oven to 450*F with your Cast Iron Pan or Pizza Stone inside so it gets hot hot hot!
2 2/3 cup Flour
1 teaspoon Instant Yeast
1.5 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Sugar
1 cup Water, warm
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
Toppings for your pizza like pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni, vegetables, pineapple, anything!
In the bowl of your mixer, combine your dry ingredients - flour, yeast, salt and sugar, toss to combine then pour in your liquid ingredients - warm water and olive oil
Knead in the mixer for about 6 minutes, until you get a nice firm dough ball, and the dough is not sticking to the sides of your bowl, but wrapped up around the hook.
Place your dough ball into a greased bowl with a lid and let sit at room temperature for about an hour or until doubled.
Preheat your oven to 450*F with your cast iron pan inside of the oven (or pizza stone) so it gets nice and hot.
If you want to make this ahead of time, you can put your dough in the fridge now, otherwise divide the dough into 3 even portions and take each portion and roll out into a roundish shape 9-10” in diameter.
Add whatever toppings you like to your pizzas.
Once your pizzas are ready, pull your hot pan out of the oven and slide one pizza onto it and quickly place it back into the oven.
Bake for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the bottom of your pizza is golden brown and crispy.
Once your pizza is ready pop it out of the pan and immediately place the next pizza on it and pop it back into the oven, and continue until they are all baked!
Now it’s pizza eating time!
Herb and Garlic Pull Apart Bread!
This loaf of bread is made up of many squares of dough layered with herb and garlic butter! The layering results in a flaky loaf you can just pull apart with your fingers! So tasty and easy to eat!
Layers of buttery goodness!
Herb and Garlic Pull Apart Bread
Yield: 1 loaf sized 9”x5”
Dough:
1.5 cups Milk, warm
1/4 cup Butter, melted
3 cups Flour
1.5 teaspoons Salt
1.5 teaspoons Instant Yeast
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
Herb and Garlic Butter:
1/3 cup Butter, soft
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
1/2 cup chopped herbs - I used green onion, cilantro and parsley, but use what you got!
pinch of Salt
pinch of pepper
In the bowl of your mixer combine all the dry ingredients for your dough - flour, salt, instant yeast, sugar and pepper. Toss to combine, then add your warm milk and melted butter.
Mix with the dough hook about 10 minutes or until the dough is no longer sticking to the sides of your bowl and is in a nice firm ball around the dough hook.
Place the dough into a grease bowl with a lid and let sit at room temperature for about 1 hour or until doubled.
While the dough is resting, stir together the herb butter- soft butter, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper.
Once your dough is ready, roll it into a large rectangle about 12'“x16” on a lightly floured surface.
Now spread your garlic butter on top of the dough covering the entire thing.
Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 12 pieces 3 columns x 4 rows, don’t worry if some aren’t exactly square.
Now grab one of the 12 squares and fold it in half so the butter layer is in the inside like a herb butter taco, you will do this with each square of dough.
Place all the folded pieces of dough into a greased loaf pan, placing the folded edge on the bottom of the pan so you can see the buttery centre from the top of your loaf. I find it easiest to place my loaf pan on it’s side so I can stack all the pieces of dough on top of each other without them falling over, then I can place the pan back on it’s bottom and rearrange the pieces if needed.
Once all your dough is in the pan, cover with a piece of saran wrap and let sit at room temperature until it has expanded and filled the pan, about 1 hour.
Bake in a preheated 350*F oven for about 30-45 minutes, or until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped.
Cool and eat!
Pavlova!
Pavlova is the fluffiest of cakes! It’s a GIANT meringue with a marshmallowy centre that you fill with whipped cream and top with fresh fruit! It’s our favourite dessert for any bakery staff party! Named after a ballerina’s fluffy tutu this cake is as light as air!
it’s a mountain of deliciousness!
Pavlova
Yield: 1 approximately 8” round pavlova
Preheat oven to 300F, then reduce to 250*F when you place the pavlova into the oven.
Pavlova:
5 Egg Whites, room temperature
pinch Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract (optional)
1 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
Filling:
1/2 cup Whipped cream
1-2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 cup Fresh Fruit
1 Tablespoon Sugar
In the bowl of your mixer place your egg whites and the pinch of salt.
Using the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites until they start to turn white and foamy.
While the machine is running on a low speed, slowly pour in the sugar until it is fully incorporated, then increase the mixer speed to medium high speed and whip until super thick and fluffy, at least 10 minutes. The meringue should not feel grainy when you rub it between your fingers.
Add the vinegar and cornstarch to the mixer and mix on a medium speed for 20-30 seconds until combined.
Using a bowl or plate, trace an approximately 8” diameter circle onto a piece of parchment paper, then flip oven the parchment so the outline is on the bottom of the paper, and place the parchment onto your baking tray. You can use a little baking spray on the pan to stick down your parchment so it won’t slide.
Load your meringue mixture onto your drawn circle on the parchment. Then gently spread it into the circle shape. You can use the back of a spoon or a spatula to create decorative lines on the side of your pavlova, or just leave it with a rustic look.
Place pavlova into a preheated 300F oven, then as soon as the pavlova is in, REDUCE the heat to 250*F and bake for 1.25-1.5 hours. The pavlova should be crispy feeling on the outside.
Turn off the oven, but leave your pavlova in the oven to cool - about 2 hours (or just leave overnight.)
Once your pavlova has cooled, whip your cream to soft peak and sweeten to taste with sugar (1-2 Tablespoons if usually good for me), place the whipped cream on top of the pavlova.
Chop up your fresh fruits and toss with a little sugar to taste - if your fruit is sweet enough don’t worry about adding any sugar. Place fruit on top of the whipped cream.
Serve right away! So delicious!
Lavash Crackers
What’s better than cheese and crackers…cheese and HOMEMADE crackers! Lavash crackers are a super thin flatbread that you can top with any type of spices and seeds to customize to your liking. They look beautiful on a cheese board as you can break them into large pieces that you can place in a glass for added height.
Crunchy Crackers!
Lavash Crackers
Yield: about a 15”x10” rectangle
Preheat oven to 400*F when you are shaping the dough.
Dough:
3/4 cup Flour
1/4 teaspoon instant Yeast
1/3 cup water, warm
1 teaspoon Honey
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Topping:
Olive oil and seasoning of your choice - I used a pre made spice blend normally used for steak, but whatever you like is great! Or you can just use coarse salt.
In the bowl of your mixer combine all the ingredients for the dough.
Mix with the dough hook on your mixer for about 10 minutes, or until a non-sticky dough ball forms.
Place your dough ball into a grease bowl with a lid for about 1-2 hours at room temperature.
Once your dough has rested roll it out as thin as you can with a rolling pin, then place on the BOTTOM side of a baking tray that you have greased and use your hands and rolling pin to stretch and pull the dough as thin as you can.
Drizzle your dough with a little olive oil and smear it over the dough so it is fully covered.
Sprinkle the dough with your seasonings.
Bake in the preheated 400*F oven for 5-10 minutes, keep an eye on these as they can go from unbaked to burnt very quickly, I check the crackers every minute or two. My crackers took 9.5 minutes. The dough will be crispy and golden, thinner pieces will be a bit darker but that is fine.
Let your crackers cool for at least 10 minutes before cracking into pieces and eating!
Cheese-y Garlic Knots!
It’s like garlic bread and dinner rolls were KNOT together in perfect harmony! These tender buns get the addition of delicious cheese, because cheese makes everything more delicious! No pizza parlour required!
Knots of deliciousness!
Cheese-y Garlic Knots
Yield: 8 buns
2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Instant yeast
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder (or one chopped garlic clove)
1 cup Milk, warm
3 Tablespoons Butter, melted
1/2 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Tablespoon Parmesean
Glaze:
2 Tablespoons Butter, melted
1 Clove of Garlic, chopped (optional)
pinch of Pepper (optional)
pinch fo dried parsley (optional)
In the bowl of your mixer combine the dry ingredients - flour, salt, yeast, sugar, and garlic powder. Stir to combine.
Add the warm milk and melted butter, then mix with a dough hook on your mixer for about 8 minutes or until the dough ball isn’t sticking to the sides of the mixer.
Add your cheese to the dough and knead for one more minute, until fully combined.
Let your dough rest at room temperature for about an hour until doubled.
Place your dough onto a lightly floured surface and cut into 8 equal pieces.
Roll each piece of dough into a wormie about 6-8” long, then tie them together by criss crossing both ends, once crossed, then pinch the ends together and place them onto a lined baking tray.
Once all your dough is knotted, cover your baking tray with a clean dish towel and let rise at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour, or until doubled in size.
Combine your glaze, mix the melted butter with the garlic, pepper and parsley.
Glaze each bun with the garlic butter glaze, then bake in a preheated 350*F oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and when tapped on the bottom, they sound hollow.
Enjoy!
Peanut Butter Balls aka Peanut Butter Truffles if you want to be fancy!
Who doesn’t love a peanut butter cup? Probably some people. but not me! I love peanut butter cups! These peanut butter balls are a confection/cookie that taste like a peanut butter cup, but like the most LOADED peanut butter cup you’ve ever made! These treats are great to store in the freezer, and not that I am looking forward to Christmas time just yet (when will the snow go away!), but they do make a great addition to any holiday baking platter!
Peanut Buttery goodness!
Peanut Butter Balls
Yield: 20-25 balls
3/4 cup Peanut Butter (smooth or chunky, whatever you got!)
1/4 cup Butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 3/4 cup Icing Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (optional)
Dipping chocolate:
2 cup chocolate
1 Tbsp Oil or butter
in a bowl combine the peanut butter, melted butter, salt, and vanilla. Stir to combine.
Add icing sugar and stir in, it’s going to be fairly dry, so you will have to mix with your hands once you get most of the icing sugar mixed in (or a mixer will work too!). The mixture will look fairly dry and crumbly, but you should be able to press it together into a ball and it will hold its shape. If it is too dry to do that, add a tablespoon or two more melted butter until the mixture can be pressed into a ball.
Press the dough into balls using your hands and place them onto a parchment lined baking tray.
Place your chocolate and oil into a bowl and melt together in the microwave or on a double boiler until smooth.
Dunk each ball into the chocolate and pull out using a fork, scraping any excess chocolate from the bottom of your peanut butter ball by dragging the base of your fork along the edge of your chocolate bowl.
Place the coated balls onto your parchment lined tray. Add sprinkles if you like!
Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or until chocolate have firmed up.
Eat!
Mud ball Cookies aka Easter Nests!
Mud ball cookies, sounds like your eating mud, but they’re actually a delicious chocolate coconut oatmeal cookie! This recipe is from my mom! We made them ALL the time growing up, and they are still a favourite today. They are a great cookie because they are quick to make and don’t involve any baking! Today we shaped them into nests with little mini eggs in the centre, but you can just scoop them and eat them without any chocolate eggs on top. These are also egg free and wheat free, which is great for anyone with allergies!
The most delicious bird’s nest you will ever eat!
Mud Ball Cookies
Recipe courtesy of Patty Lotecki - mama extraordinare
Yield: about 12 nests, or 24 smaller cookies
No oven required for these cookies!
1/4 cup Butter
1/4 cup Milk
3/4 cup Sugar
1 1/2 cups Oats (quick or rolled, both work great)
1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
1/2 cup Coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
pinch Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract (optional)
Mini Eggs for garnish (optional)
In a pot heat bring your butter, milk and sugar to a boil, then boil for 1 minute while stirring.
In a bowl combine all your dry ingredients - oats, cocoa, coconut, and salt. Stir to combine, breaking up any cocoa balls.
Once your butter mixture has boiled, pour it into the dry ingredients and add your vanilla extract. Stir until everything is well combined.
Grab a baking tray lined with parchment, and scoop your batter into little mounds on the tray. I used an ice cream scoop, but two spoons work great too! Then press the centre of each mound down slightly so it looks more like a nest shape.
Place a few mini eggs in the centre of each mound like eggs would be placed in a nest.
Let them cool at room temperature for about 2-4 hours, or until set and you can remove them from the parchment paper.
Eat! You can also store these in a sealed container…if you don’t eat them all!