Fluffy Macaroons

Mmmm....I love coconut! I've made macaroons before, but never with an egg white base. These are fantastic! Light and chewy and ever so slightly sweet. This recipe was also incredibly easy and nearly fool-proof.

Ingredients: yield ~ 40 macaroons


14 oz bag of sweetened coconut
4 egg whites
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract

Equipment:

Baking sheets
Mixer with whisk attachment


Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 375F and lightly grease the cookie sheets

• Whisk the egg whites and salt at high speed until soft peaks form
• Slowly add the sugar and extract (with the mixer still at high speed) until you get glossy stiff peaks

• Fold in the coconut

• Drop spoonfuls onto the cookie sheets about 2 inches apart, although they shouldn't spread
• Bake for about 12 minutes or until just golden on top

Cost:

Coconut	1.80
Eggs	0.50
Sugar	0.10
Salt/Almond flavoring	0.05
	2.45	6 cents

Sweet Potato Dumplings

The final picture is not the prettiest. The colors clash and, well, don't look very appetizing. But if you can look past this and give it a taste....ohhh. It's such warm, hearty, creamy comfort food. I've adapted the recipe from allrecipes, mainly because the original makes such a wet sticky batter, it's nearly impossible to work with. It's supposed to make a nice dough that you can roll out, and cut into little pieces to make gnocchi. I've not had any success with this, and the mixer unfortunately didn't magically fix the stickiness. You can just as easily drop spoonfuls of the batter into boiling water and accomplish basically the same result. Simply watch out for overcrowding in the pot so that the end result is individual bite-sized or smaller dumplings.

Ingredients: yield 3-4 servings


Dumplings:

2 cooked sweet potatoes (I like to boil because the skin falls right off. Baking also works well with a drier result)
1 egg
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup parmesan


Balsamic Cream sauce:

1/4 cup of cream or cream cheese (I used Philadelphia's Cooking Creme - garlic...fantastic!)
3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Equipment:

Mixer with beater attachment or bowl & spoon
A potato ricer makes a smoother consistency but isn't at all necessary
LARGE pot for boiling - the bigger the better


Directions:

• Mash the potatoes into the large mixing bowl.

• Blend in all the ingredients but the flour

  

• Slowly mix in the flour until you've achieved a dough that sticks to itself more than anything else
• Set a large pot of lightly salted water to boil

• Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the boiling water. *don't overcrowd!*

•  Dumplings are cooked when they start to float.

• To make the cream sauce simply mix all the ingredients over high heat, until warm and smooth.
• Serve hot.

Cost:

Sweet Potatoes	1.50
Flour	0.50
Egg	0.12
Salt/Garlic/etc	0.10
Parmesan	0.15
	2.37
Parmesan	0.20
Cream Cheese	0.88
Balsamic	0.15
	1.23

Cheese Fingers - Possible Addiction Warning

WARNING: Margaret V and Mix for Six blog cannot be held responsible for any obsessions or weight-gain caused by reading/making this recipe.

I really do feel the above warning is necessary. Within 5 hours of making these cheesy fingers I'd consumed 17 of them!!!!!!! And I had to FORCE myself to not eat the last 3. Interestingly the 2 year old who loves bread and loves cheese couldn't stand the texture. I didn't notice anything texturally odd, but this may have been due to the fact that I was inhaling them. Recipe is adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients: yield ~ 24

1 cup flour
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
6 oz melted butter
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 water
dash garlic powder
dash Worcestershire pepper


Equipment:

Bowl & Spoon or Mixer w/ beater
Cookie tray
Clean, lightly floured surface


Directions:

• Thoroughly mix all ingredients except the water

 

• Slowly add water until a soft dough forms (it only took 3 tablespoons for me)

• Tear off chunks of dough and roll into finger sized lengths

• Bake @ 400F for 10-15 minutes until golden
• Give away as many as you can before you taste one....because you may not be able to stop yourself! 

 
 
 
 
 Cost: - PRICELESS! (kidding....mostly)

Flour	0.15
Cheese	1.00
Butter	0.50
Spices,etc	0.10
	1.75

2-ingredient Chocolate Muffins

The 2 year old and I spent 3 hours in the 'sick-room' of the Pediatricians office today. Poor baby is a mess! Pink eye, sinus infection, ear infection. Not only did he need cheering up, I needed a simple recipe. Can't remember where I first heard about this method of brownie/cupcake/muffins, but it is SUCH an easy recipe...and slightly better for you than traditional treats. It makes a stiff batter though, so I appreciated being able to use the KitchenAid to incorporate the flour more thoroughly.

I recently started using liners with my cupcakes/muffins because my pan has developed quite the 'worn and haggard' personality after so many years of abuse. These are called 'Stay Bright' liners since the aluminum coating keeps the batter from soaking into the outer pattern. Cool idea! This particular set is Christmas-y because I'm cheap and buy stuff on clearance, hehe.

Ingredients:

1 box of chocolate cake mix (easily convert to gluten free with Betty Crocker's new gf mixes)
1 can of 100% pumpkin

Equipment: 

Cupcake pan
Cupcake liners (optional)
Mixer w/ beater attachment or bowl & spoon


Directions:

• Dump ingredients into bowl

•  Mix on medium low speed until incorporated. The batter turns out the consistency of bread dough which is interesting.

•  Fill the baking cups. This batter doesn't rise much so fill up to the top. Also, they don't sink down while baking, so if you want a smooth top flatten them now with a spoon.

• Bake @ 350 for about 20 minutes. You don't have to worry about raw eggs, so remove them from the oven when they are as moist or dry as you prefer.

 Cost:

Cake mix  $1.99   ($0.12 on sale)
Pumpkin   $1.39   ($0.79 on sale)
                $3.38
 $0.28 each