Homemade Mint Oreos

Lauren A. wanted the recipe to the homemade mint oreos that were on my blog last week.  Here you go Lauren!  Hope you enjoy them and that you're doing well!  These were yummy and really easy to make, I had the cookies made, put together, and everything cleaned up within an hour.   My adaptations are in RED.

The orginial recipe can be found here...

http://www.confessionsofacookbookqueen.com/2011/03/shamrock-mint-oreos.html



INGREDIENTS


Cookies:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softenend
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder

Filling:
1/2 envelope (1 teaspoon plus heaping 1/4 teaspoon) unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
1/2 cup shortening (I used butter instead)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon mint extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Green food coloring


Preheat oven to 325. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

For the cookies:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter. Add the egg, water and vanilla and beat until smooth. Beat in the flour and cocoa until well combined; the dough will be very stiff.

Roll the dough into 1 inch balls, about the size of a walnut. Place the balls on prepared baking sheets and flatten each to about 1/8 inch with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. (I just used my hand to flatten the cookies, and I didn't add any extra sugar.)

Bake cookies for 18 minutes. If cookies begin to look too dark or you smell scorching chocolate, remove baking pans from oven immediately. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For the filling:
To make the filling, soften the gelatin in a cup containing 2 tablespoons of cold water, then place the cup in a larger dish of hot water and leave it until the gelatin is completely dissolved and the liquid is transparent. Remove the gelatin from the hot water and let it cool until it's room temperature but hasn't begun to set.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the shortening, then beat in the vanilla and mint extract. Add the powdered sugar, a little at a time, beating until mixture is creamy. Beat in the gelatin.If the mixture seems to dry, add a couple teaspoons of hot water and beat until it is the right consistency. Add green food coloring, a few drops at a time, until desired color is achieved.

Sandwich the cookies, placing a small ball of filling on top of a cookie, and flattening it with another cookie top.  (I stored my cookies in the fridge so the icing would stay firm.  I'm not sure if this was because I used butter instead of shortening, or because it's just too hot here in Grenada!)

If you want to make plain Oreos, omit the mint extract and green coloring.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

This sweet and sour chicken is amazing.  If you like this kind of meal you have to try it!!  Original recipe found here... My Kitchen Cafe

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced – about 6-8 minutes.

The Best Cornbread

This is another recipe from my new favorite blog, My Kitchen Cafe. It was soooo yummy, the perfect cornbread in my opinion!

½ cup cornmeal

1 ½ cup flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup oil

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

1 ¼ cup milk

Add dry ingredients, make a well and add oil, butter, eggs, and milk into the center. Stir until just mixed (batter will be runny – don’t be alarmed!). Bake in an 8” square pan at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. This doubles perfectly for a 9X13-inch pan.

Divine Breadsticks (from My Kitchen Cafe)

This is a fantastic recipe for breadsticks. I made these for the first time last week and even in our unpredictable Grenadian oven they turned out great!

The recipe comes from my new favorite blog...

My Kitchen Cafe http://www.melskitchencafe.com/

Divine Breadsticks

*Makes about 20-25 breadsticks, depending on how thick or thin you cut them

1 ½ cups warm water
1 tablespoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
3 ½ cups flour (I usually use a combination of unbleached all-purpose flour and white whole wheat flour but use whatever you have on hand!)
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted (for the baking sheet)

Mix all ingredients (except melted butter) in a large bowl or electric mixer and knead for three minutes. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread melted butter onto an 11X17-inch baking sheet. Roll out the breadstick dough about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick and cut into strips with a pizza cutter. Twist slightly if desired and place about 1/2-inch apart on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with garlic salt, herbs of choice and parmesan cheese. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes. Bake 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees until golden brown.

Cheesy Beef Popovers

This is not the healthiest recipe but the the kids LOVE these (they eat 2 each!) and it's very easy and fast.

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 can of refrigerated biscuits

BBQ Sauce of choice (I use about 1/2 of a small bottle)

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Preparation

Brown the ground beef. While this is cooking open the can of biscuits and flatten each biscuit (making them larger) and place in Ramekins or muffin tin (At home I use Ramekins because you can fit more meat into the biscuit, if you use a muffin tin there will be meat left over to add on the side). After draining the beef mix with BBQ sauce (I prefer KC Masterpiece for this recipe). Sprinkle a tad of brown sugar if you want a sweeter flavor. Spoon beef and BBQ mixture into the biscuits. Sprinkle cheese on top. Cook until biscuits are done, about 12 minutes. Enjoy!

Grenadian Spice Cake

Ingredients
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup unsalted butter - chilled, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lime zest
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the lime zest, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, stirring after each addition. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 75 to 90 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.

*I left out the lime zest and I used a shallow oval pan instead of a loaf pan so it only took about 40 minutes to cook. This is more like a sweet bread than a desert cake. We liked it!