Apple Cider Donuts

It’s that time of year, time to pick some apples! I love to bake, and found a great recipe in the New York times by Erin Jean McDowell for baked apple cider donuts. Sometimes I find it difficult to get hold of a recipe from them, as they constantly want me to subscribe, lol. However, this time I was able to get this recipe with no problem. Hope you enjoy it. Here it is:

What you’ll need:

  • 1 ¾ cup/225 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
  • ¾ cup/165 grams light brown sugar
  • ¾ cup/150 grams granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup/120 milliliters apple cider

    Preheat oven to 350°. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, 1 tsp cinnamon and nutmeg; Set aside.

I also added in some Pea Protein -shhh!

In another bowl, mix together 10 tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup white sugar and all of the brown sugar. Mix on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time. Be sure to mix thoroughly between each addition.

Add in your vanilla extract.

Add the flour mixture and small increments, being sure to combine thoroughly without over mixing.

While the mixer is running, pour the apple cider into the batter in a slow stream. 

Brush your donut pan lightly with a neutral oil.

Use the easy accent decorator to fill the donut wells.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until donut springs back when touched and cake tester comes out clean when inserted.

Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool 10 minutes more.

Mix the remainder of granulated sugar with the remaining cinnamon, whisk well.

Melt the rest of the butter in one of the coating trays. Place cinnamon sugar in another coating tray. Dip each donut first into the melted butter, then into the cinnamon sugar.

All done! Please let me know if you try this recipe, and what, if anything, you would add or change.

If you have any left, you can freeze them for a couple of months, or store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
My recipe video is at the bottom of this post, along with link to this wonderful recipe. 

Listed below are the products I used for this recipe. Please feel free to go to my website to purchase any or all of them here (please note I make commission if you do): https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/marianielsen

PLEASE NOTE: If you want any of these items, but DON’T want to pay full price, I would be happy to help you with a party on our NEW platform TABLE, so that you can get some products FREE and discounted! I am now scheduling parties for October! For the month of October, 2021, anyone who hosts a party with me on TABLE will be entered to WIN the Family Pizza Set! Let’s make great food together!

Link: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019593-baked-apple-cider-doughnuts

One-Pan Lemon-Herb Chicken and Potatoes

Can you guys tell that I received my quarterly Delish magazine again? They have fantastic weeknight recipes in this one, hopefully you guys can check it out. Here’s a recipe I’ve tried from this quarter, and the only thing I would change is to use Regular olive oil, NOT Extra-Virgin. We are using high heat at times in this recipe, and while EVO has a great flavor, it is not conducive to high-heat cooking, in my opinion. Okay, let’s jump right in!

What you’ll need:

  • Four boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • Four cloves garlic, pressed
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • One lemon, thinly sliced
  • One tbsp fresh thyme leaves, plus 4 sprigs
  • 1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 1/4 lb. Small potatoes, halved
  • Freshly chopped parsley, for garnish

Prep: Slice one lemon, then juice half of another.

Press four cloves of garlic. Please note, you can certainly use more, We usually do!


Chop your fresh herbs beforehand. This way, everything is ready to go once you start cooking the chicken.


Preheat your oven to 425°. Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper if you like. Slice your potatoes in half. I saved this for my last step, as potatoes can turn color if they’re not placed in water.


Now we’re ready to cook! Heat 1 tbsp oil over medium high heat. Add chicken, and cook about 4 minutes, until golden. Turn over, cook another 2 minutes, remove and set aside.


Reduce heat to medium, then add butter. Stir to coat the pan.

Add your garlic, cooking only about 1 minute or until fragrant.

Remove from heat, then add the lemon juice.


Pour butter mixture into heat proof bowl, I used my stoneware bowl.

Add time, Rosemary and oregano. Season with salt and pepper if you like, whisk well.


Add potatoes to Skillet, along with remaining oil. Season with salt and pepper if you like. Stir potatoes to coat fully with seasonings and oil. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through, until slightly golden.

Remove from oven and give a quick stir. Add your sliced lemon, thyme sprigs and chicken on top of potatoes, and return to oven.

Bake an additional 15 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked and potatoes are tender and golden brown.

Remove from oven. Drizzle with butter sauce and garnish with parsley if you like.

All done! Please let me know how you like this recipe.

My recipe video is at the bottom of this post, along with link to Julie’s blog and this wonderful recipe. 

Listed below are the products I used for this recipe. Please feel free to go to my website to purchase any or all of them here (please note I make commission if you do): https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/marianielsen

PLEASE NOTE: If you want any of these items, but DON’T want to pay full price, I would be happy to help you with a party on our NEW platform TABLE, so that you can get some products FREE and discounted! I am now scheduling parties for October! For the month of October, 2021, anyone who hosts a party with me on TABLE will be entered to WIN the Family Pizza Set! Let’s make great food together!

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chunk Muffins AKA my New Favorite Food Blog, Table For Two

As today is National Pumpkin Spice Day, I wanted to share a new recipe with you That fits this special day.

Pumpkin plus dark chocolate? Yes, please! I found this recipe on Julie Chiou’s Table for Two blog and, let me tell you, this recipe does not disappoint! 

Julie recommends changing it up, so I took that as my permission to do so. I was able to add some Pea and Veggie proteins, changed the semi-sweet chocolate to dark chocolate and even sprinkled some coarse sugar on top. Oh, as I was using my large muffin pan, I doubled the recipe. Delicious!!

I will say that this was honestly one of the easiest recipes to throw together, Julie’s instructions were very easy to follow and I would definitely make these again. If the rest of her blog is anything like this, I will be back there often. Can you tell how much I love this recipe??

Let’s jump right in!

What you’ll need:

  • 1 ⅔ cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup plain pumpkin puree
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat your oven to 350°. You can use muffin liners, but since I was using my large muffin pan, I simply brushed each well lightly with canola oil.

In one bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt. I also whisked in scoop of super veggie protein and of pea protein. Leave me when I say, no one can taste either one! Plus they have the added benefit of getting extra protein and veggies in their muffins. Shhhh!!!🤫


Mixed together eggs, pumpkin and melted butter.


Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix until combined. Please do not over mix, this will result in a tough muffin (I have learned this the hard way).


I used a bar of dark chocolate, but you certainly could use semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips. By chopping the chocolate bar, this gives you a variety of chunks and sizes throughout your muffins.


Fold your chocolate into the muffins using a scraper.


I used my large scoop four times to fill each muffin tin.

Then, I sprinkled coarse sugar over each muffin.


I baked for 28 minutes, until my cake tester insert it in the middle came out clean. Again, this was the large muffin pan, if you are doing a regular sized muffin pan, adjust the time accordingly, 20-25 minutes.


Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, and then remove onto a cooling rack to allow to cool completely. Remove from pan once cooled.


All done! If you have any left, you can freeze them for a couple of months, or store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. They are so good, I need them yesterday and they taste even better today! I am seriously looking forward to checking out more recipes from Julie’s blog, and I hope you will, too.
My recipe video is at the bottom of this post, along with link to Julie’s blog and this wonderful recipe. 

Listed below are the products I used for this recipe. Please feel free to go to my website to purchase any or all of them here (please note I make commission if you do): https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/marianielsen

PLEASE NOTE: If you want any of these items, but DON’T want to pay full price, I would be happy to help you with a party on our NEW platform TABLE, so that you can get some products FREE and discounted! I am now scheduling parties for October! For the month of October, 2021, anyone who hosts a party with me on TABLE will be entered to WIN the Family Pizza Set! Let’s make great food together!

Here is her full recipe, PLEASE be sure to follow her, I am thrilled to have found this blog, and looking forward to checking out more recipes!!! Please let me know what you think of these muffins. https://www.tablefortwoblog.com/pumpkin-spice-chocolate-chunk-muffins/

Air Fryer Beef Empanadas!

Trying out a new recipe from The Recipe Critic. This blog appears to be run by Alyssa Rivers, recipe by Kelley Simmons. As this is the first recipe I’m trying from this blog, I will have to read up on it and get back to you.There seems to have been some kerfuffle on the site because folks were saying that empanadas are actually Argentinian and not Mexican. Either way, they were really delicious. I made only one change to this recipe, and that was to cook them in the air fryer. Let’s jump right in!
What you’ll need for the dough:

  • Three cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup cold butter cubed
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup cold water

For the filling:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium red onion
  • 6 oz boiled diced potato
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 jalapeno
  • 12 oz ground beef
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 cup frozen peas
  • 1 tbsp chopped green onions
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  • Oil to spray on air fryer trays

To make the dough, add the flour butter and salt to your food processor fit it with a blade attachment. Pampered Chef just came out with something called the Flex Plus which is amazing, it is a food processor, a mixer and an immersion blender that is cordless. It runs for 2 hours on one battery, and if you’re still cooking, just switch out the battery and you can go for another 2 hours!

 
You’ll want to pulse your food processor several times, until when you look at the dough, it is crumbly and the butter instead of being cubed resembles the shape of small peas.


Next, add the egg and cold water to the food processor. Only pulse until the dough comes together and forms a bowl. You don’t want to over mix!


Remove the dough from the food processor, place on plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Wrap it up, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.


Now for the filling: Dice your green onions


Dice your red onion


Dice your jalapeno


Dice and boil your potatoes


Chop your parsley


Heat the oil and a large skillet, and add in your onion and jalapeno. Cook for a couple of minutes until slightly softened.


Add your ground beef, and cook about 5 minutes until no longer pink.


And all of your seasonings, salt, chili powder, paprika, cumin and of course, some veggie protein! No one will ever know you cannot taste it!


Stir in the tomato paste, and in your frozen peas cooked potatoes parsley and green onions.


Let’s bring it all together!
Roll out your dough to about 1/4 in thickness.

Use the hand pie and pocket maker to cut circles out of your dough. Place circle on the hand pie and pocket maker. Use the scoop that came with it to scoop the filling, then fold in half.


Since I wanted to have a nice look on the outside, I am using an egg wash. All that is is simply one egg beaten with one tablespoon of water. You brush that on top and it will give a nice golden color.


Set the air fryer to bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until golden brown on the outside.


That’s it! I thought Kelley’s recipe was very delicious, and I would make it again.


It looks like she has quite a few recipes, so I hope you’ll go and visit her blog. My recipe video for this is posted at the bottom of this post, along with the link to Kelley’s recipe/Alyssa’s blog.

Listed below are the products I used for this recipe. Please feel free to go to my website to purchase any or all of them here (please note I make commission if you do): https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/marianielsen

PLEASE NOTE: If you want any of these items, but DON’T want to pay full price, I would be happy to help you with a party on our NEW platform TABLE, so that you can get some products FREE and discounted! I am now scheduling parties for October! For the month of October, 2021, anyone who hosts a party with me on TABLE will be entered to WIN the Family Pizza Set! Let’s make great food together!

Original recipe link: https://therecipecritic.com/empanadas/

Banana Bread!

If you’re looking for an easy and delicious quick recipe for banana bread, look no further. Here it is! Absolutely delicious, super quick to make basically dump everything in and bake, it really doesn’t get much easier. 


Banana bread was the first recipe I shared with my daughter, she was only 3 months old and I was still trying to learn how to bake. It was so nervous as I thought I would mess it up, so I just sat her and her little bouncy seat and I talked to her about the recipe, what I was going to add, and I swear she really was paying attention! She couldn’t have banana bread until several months later, but to this day it is one of her favorite breakfast recipes.


This particular recipe is one I’ve been using for several years. I found this on Allrecipes, from Jeannie Meyer, and I hope that you will enjoy it as much as we do. Let’s get started!


What you’ll need:

  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 3 bananas, mashed
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/3 cup sour milk*
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract


*SOUR MILK – it sounds gross, but for baking it’s wonderful. It helps to give your breads A nice texture, along with a bit of tangy taste. Without it, some recipes might be a bit too sweet. The sour milk in this recipe creates a lovely balance.
To create sour milk, you add one tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice per cup of milk. For this recipe, since we’re using 1/3 cup milk, I added 1/3 tablespoon white vinegar.


Mash your bananas, and be sure that they are ripe the sweeter the better!


The rest of the recipe is very easy. Simply combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well.


Pour your batter into a prepared pan. Since I am using my Pampered Chef stone loaf pan, I actually didn’t have to butter my pan at all. If you’re using a different type of pan, prepare it as you normally would with butter and flour. You can also sprinkle the batter with sugar, if you like.


Bake at 350° for 60 minutes, or until your cake tester when inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.


Remove from oven, and let cool in loaf pan on a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes.


Remove loaf from pan, place on rack and let cool at least another 10 minutes. This was a hard feat the last time I made this, as I had five hungry little ones who were desperate for a delicious piece of banana bread!


Slice and serve, you could add a dab of butter or jam if you like, but honestly it’s just great as is.

My recipe video is at the bottom of this post. 

Listed below are the products I used for this recipe. Please feel free to go to my website to purchase any or all of them here (please note I make commission if you do): https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/marianielsen

PLEASE NOTE: If you want any of these items, but DON’T want to pay full price, I would be happy to help you with a party on our NEW platform TABLE, so that you can get some products FREE and discounted! I am now scheduling parties for October! For the month of October, 2021, anyone who hosts a party with me on TABLE will be entered to WIN the Family Pizza Set! Let’s make great food together!

Original recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/16999/grandmas-homemade-banana-bread/

Garlic Butter Shrimp Scampi: Recipe from Cafe Delites – Much More than a Food Blog


I just found out that today is National Linguine Day! Which makes it a perfect day to share with you the recipe I found from Karina at Cafe Delites, Garlic Butter Shrimp Scampi.


First though, a little about Cafe Delites. Karina has been around for several years, and I only just realized how much her recipes are a go-to for me and my family for quick, easy, healthy and delicious dinners. Two of my favorites are the ham and bean soup and honey garlic chicken, which I will share in later posts with you.


Karina has also written a book, in which she shares about her cancer diagnosis, link here: Liberation: Breaking the Chains to Survival and Freedom – a True Story https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0792SB1ND/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_FHNEKXCRYN9DYSAK5Z4VShe is a beautiful writer, and I encourage you to read her book and definitely check out her blog: https://cafedelites.com/


Karina is a cancer survivor, and as I have been diagnosed with Smoldering Multiple Myeloma, I find her strength and honesty encouraging to me personally. I love her courage and opening up about her struggles, and how she has not let that stop her from pursuing her passion for cooking.
What I understand about her philosophy is that she does not use diets, rather healthy and balanced foods and meals, even including desserts that are delicious so that you can still maintain your weight and enjoy life with the food that you actually like to eat. That is exactly how I want to live! 


Okay, let’s jump into the recipe.
What you’ll need:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 4-5 large cloves garlic
  • 1 1/4 lb (600 grams) large shrimp
  • Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine or broth
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes or to taste (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

TIP: For this recipe especially, you’ll want to have everything on hand or, as they say in France, mise en place. This recipe comes together very quickly, and prepping a little bit ahead makes it much easier for you.


First, you’ll want to peel and de-vein your shrimp. To remove bottom portion of shell,Squeeze with thumb and forefinger, pull firmly. 

Use a sharp knife to de-vein shrimp.
So let’s talk about that for a minute, de-veining shrimp. The dark line that you see in my video shows the digestive tract of the shrimp. While there is no harm in leaving it in, I definitely prefer to remove it. To use a very sharp knife and slice down and remove it, easy peasy!


Next, we’ll use the garlic press to mince 4-5 cloves of garlic.


Now to chop enough flat leaf or Italian parsley to make 1/4 cup. 


Heat your olive oil and two tablespoons of butter in a large skillet.


Add garlic and saute just until fragrant, this shouldn’t take more than a minute.


Add in wine, salt, black pepper and red pepper, if using.

Add in your shrimp and saute for a couple of minutes on each side. Simmer for a couple of minutes more, just until your shrimp is cooked through. Please do not overcook your shrimp! If you do, it will become very chewy, and we do


Stir in the remaining butter, press half a lemon into the sauce which should give you about two tablespoons lemon juice.


Stir in your parsley!


Since today is National Linguine Day, I’m serving this over linguine, of course.


This is such a wonderful recipe, and I again encourage you to go over and visit Karina’s blog, Cafe Delites. 
My recipe video is at the bottom of this post. 

Listed below are the products I used for this recipe. Please feel free to go to my website to purchase any or all of them here (please note I make commission if you do): https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/marianielsen

PLEASE NOTE: If you want any of these items, but DON’T want to pay full price, I would be happy to help you with a party on our NEW platform TABLE, so that you can get some products FREE and discounted! For the month of September, 2021, anyone who hosts a party with me on TABLE will be entered to WIN the Enameled Cast Iron Skillet! Let’s make great food together!