Air Fryer Beignets!

So, I never realized that a biscuit could taste even better when it becomes an Air Fryer Beignet! This is another wonderful Pampered Chef recipe, it was so easy to make, and such a delicious treat, even the next day.


Let’s jump right in!


What you’ll need:

  • 1/4 cup (60 ml) sugar
  • 2 tsp (10ml) cinnamon
  • 1 pkg (16.3 oz./462 g) flaky biscuit dough (8 biscuits)
  • Flour for dusting
  • 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate morsels, divided
  • Oil for spraying
  • 1 tbsp butter, melted
  • Optional: chocolate sauce


First, you’ll want to grab a package of refrigerated flaky biscuit dough which contains eight biscuits. Open the package, then peel and divide each piece of biscuit and half to create 16 biscuits total.


Dust a rolling pin with flour and roll out each biscuit to a 4-in (10-cm) round.

Next, dip the hand pie and pocket maker in flower and place the dough on top fill one side of the dough with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of chocolate morsels (I used dark chocolate), pressed to seal, then remove from the pocket maker. Repeat for each piece of dough.


Spray the trays of the deluxe air fryer with oil. Divide the beignets evenly onto both trays.

Place the trays on the bottom to racks Cook on BAKE for 12 minutes, until golden brown, rotating the trays halfway through.


While they are cooking, combine 1/4 cup (60ml) sugar with 2 teaspoons (10 ml) cinnamon and a shallow bowl.


When they are cooked fully, brush the top of each beignet with melted butter and dip the buttered side into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.


Serve the beignets warm and drizzle chocolate sauce, if you’d like. I actually took about a quarter cup of dark chocolate morsels and melted them on HIGH in the microwave for 30 seconds, then whisked. I put it in for another 10 seconds, whisked again and that is what I used to drizzle over the beignets.

We found them to be delicious the next morning as well. I hope you enjoy these as much as we did! 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!

Coffee Ice Cream

Today is National Coffee Ice Cream Day!! Let’s celebrate by making some deliciously easy coffee ice cream, from Max Falkowitz over at Serious Eats! 
I love to eat coffee ice cream, but could never find a recipe that I liked enough to make again. Either they were too creamy with not enough coffee, or vice versa. This recipe is different, it was so easy and I love that it’s using actual coffee grounds and not brewed coffee.
After reading the reviews, I noticed that many people had an issue with the coffee grounds not being streamed out of the ice cream, creating a bitter aftertaste. Besides, who really wants to chew on coffee grounds? Not me. So I decided to use the mesh strainer bag that came with my Pampered Chef deluxe cooking blender. I put the coffee grounds in there, and it worked like a charm. We have all of that beautiful coffee taste, without any chewy or bitter grounds. It was a perfect balance of creamy and smooth coffee, and If you are a coffee lover, I know that you will love this recipe! 
Let’s get started with what you’ll need:

  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 5 tablespoons medium grind coffee
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

First, you’ll want to whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a pan that has a heavy bottom. This helps to ensure that everything cooks evenly, which is why I used my Enameled Cast Iron Skillet, which I now use at least once a day, because everything cooks so evenly in it.


When the eggs and sugar are fully mixed together, stir in the cream and milk making sure that everything is fully incorporated.

That’s when I added my mesh strainer bag filled with five tablespoons of coffee. I just placed it in and moved it around to ensure that it was so through, without any coffee grounds in the mixture.

Next, cook the mixture over medium low heat making sure that you whisk often. You’ll want the mixture to come to 170°F, but if you’re standing there and whisking it you’ll notice it starts to turn into custard. To test this, I like to take a wooden spoon and stir it and swipe my finger across the back of the spoon. If it leaves a clean line in the middle you’ll know it’s ready. 


Turn off the heat, and if you’re adding the salt this is the time to do it.

Strain the custard through a fine strainer, and you can chill it either in an ice bath or place your container in the refrigerator.

Check the temperature, and when it reaches 40° F then you’re ready to use your ice cream maker.
With my ice cream maker I made sure that the base was frozen at least 24 hours before using, and then I just put the top on press power and set the timer to 35 minutes. It was actually done a few minutes early but I let it keep turning anyway because who doesn’t like creamy ice cream? As soon as I set the timer, the paddle starts to churn and that’s when I added the coffee mixture.


I like to have harder ice cream, so I stored mine in some freezer containers. 

All done!

Let me tell you, it is absolutely delicious! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did. Thank you Max for a wonderful recipe, and I hope that my tip about this bag helps someone. I will definitely be making this again, please let me know if you decide to make this and how it turns out. I will post the link to Max’s delicious recipe at the bottom of this post. Please check out my video at the end. I look forward to hearing from you!

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 used for this recipe! Let’s make great food together!

Here is the link to Max Falkowitz’s DELICIOUS recipe: https://www.seriouseats.com/bold-bracing-coffee-ice-cream-recipe

Link to his bio: https://www.seriouseats.com/max-falkowitz-5118901

Here’s my video:

One-Pot Chicken & Gnocchi

Oh my goodness. This easy-to-make dish comes together, ready-to-eat in 30 minutes. It tastes decadent, with a silky, creamy sauce that comes from the gnocchi and NOT heavy cream. The chicken is cooked to perfection, and the tastes come together beautifully. It will make people think this recipe took you hours to put together. I love that!


This is another great Pampered Chef recipe. I love this company, they not only give us great tools to make our time in the kitchen easier, but they create TONS of amazing recipes in their own test kitchen, to make sure that we can use these tools properly, and to help us get in and out of the kitchen quickly, so that we can enjoy not only our food, but our family and friends. I will share the tools and seasonings that I’ve used here, please note that I may make commission on any products purchased


Let me show you how easy this is to pull this together!!

Note: I like to prep as many ingredients as I can before beginning my recipe. You can certainly do everything as you go along, the important thing I feel is to find whatever way works best for you when you are cooking. For me, I like to read my recipe a couple of times, because I know that I will forget something. Then, I will prep as much as I can before beginning to cook. This way, I ensure that I have everything I need, and if I don’t, then I can substitute (if I’m able to) and everything will be ready at my fingertips when I am actually cooking. Okay, let’s begin.


First, you’ll need two slices of bacon. I’m a firm believer that bacon belongs in almost everything! In this dish, it is as a bit of smoky flavor compliment to the chicken and gnocchi.


Next, you’ll want six boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Season them with salt and pepper, and Italian seasoning. Of course, I use my Pampered Chef Italian Seasoning Mix, what else?!


Of course, you have to have garlic. The recipe calls for three garlic cloves, but you could use more or less depending on your personal taste. For this recipe, we are pressing the garlic. That releases a lot of the garlicky flavor, giving it a nice “bite”.


The last thing we will prep is Parmesan cheese. I love to use freshly grated cheese for a couple of reasons. I believe that we get more (that is, more cheese and more money in our pockets) if we buy a wedge of cheese then if we purchase a container at the store. You’re paying for the container, and there are some fillers in store bought cheese that are not necessarily bad for you, but they need to use filler so that the cheese does not stick to itself and it keeps fresh for longer. So I like to use a wedge of cheese and freshly grate it as I need it, that way, I know exactly what is going into my recipes. You’ll want to finely grate 2 oz of Parmesan cheese, which is equal to about 1 cup.


Before we begin to cook, you’ll need 1/2 cup frozen peas, 2 cups of 2% or whole milk and 1 lb potato gnocchi. Okay, here we go!


Heat your skillet over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add your bacon and cook until crisp. Remove the bacon and set aside.


Next add your seasoned chicken to the skillet and cook about 5-7 minutes per side, or until chicken reaches 165°F (74°C). Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.


Now add the garlic, keeping in mind that because it’s pressed it can burn easily. You only want to let it heat up for about 10 seconds, just to get the flavors melding. Immediately add the milk, gnocchi, cheese, bacon, and one more teaspoon of Italian seasoning mix. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, stirring frequently, until the milk has reduced slightly and started to thicken. This should take about 3 minutes.


Last step, stir in the peas and add the chicken back to the skillet. Cook on medium low for an additional 3-5 minutes, or until the sauce thickens slightly.


All done! I hope that you’ll try this recipe, and please let me know if you like it, or if you did anything different. I love to hear how people change recipes around to make it their own. Check out my video at the end. Looking forward to hearing from you!

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: 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 used for this recipe! Let’s make great food together!

Chocolate Chip Mini-Muffins, aka my addiction to Sally’s Baking Addiction

Moist, delicious chocolate chip muffins that are also good for you? Yes, please!


My goal with this blog is to share the recipes and food bloggers that help me to look like I’m a great cook. Sally’s Baking Addiction is in my list of top 10 favorite food bloggers, and definitely the best for any of your baking needs!


I found her a couple of years ago, when I wanted to make my father-in-law something special, and I was searching around the internet and came across her blog. I love that she is self-taught, also how well she explains the different methods of baking, measuring in an easy to understand way. Please check her out, the information there is so helpful, anyone can leave there with the basic knowledge that you need in order to be a successful baker at any level.


Baking really wasn’t my thing, I love to make meals, dinner especially. With Sally’s blog however, I have found great success and so many recipes, and I’m sure you will, too!


Please check out my video of Sally’s chocolate chip muffins below. You can make them any size, and I will provide the link for the full recipe here, so this way you can check out her blog. 


The only difference that I made was to add my Enrichables Pea Protein to the muffins. You absolutely cannot taste it, and it adds 3 grams of protein per scoop! I add this to everything, from macaroni and cheese, sauce, chili, muffins and smoothies. Even the pickiest eater can’t taste it, and there are a lot of picky eaters in my house!


Here is a link to the protein: https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/marianielsen/shop/100435?sharedByConsultant=860094

Here is a link to Sally’s amazing chocolate chip muffins: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/bakery-style-chocolate-chip-muffins/#tasty-recipes-67365-jump-target

Finally, here is my video. I am using an app that is new to me, I am hoping this looks okay.


Enjoy!

Air Fryer Peruvian Chicken

We eat a lot of chicken in this house, so I’m always looking for different ways to make it That are easy and keep the meat very tender.  I was happily surprised to learn that an air fryer is a great way to make rotisserie chicken!
I learned how to truss a chicken for this recipe, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, as you will see in the video.  For this recipe, all you need is a whole chicken,  a lime, garlic and some spices – and an air fryer. Of course, you can certainly make this in the oven, it’s up to you!
This is a Pampered Chef recipe, and it was easy to make and very delicious. Many thanks to Doris Christopher, the founder of Pampered Chef, for stepping out in 1980 and realizing how she could help others be able to cook with the right tools in the kitchen.  I am forever thankful to you!