29 May 2011

Dangerously Delicious Garlic Knots

Holy crap, y'all, I do love garlic.

I love garlic so much it is almost unbelievable that I have any friends at all.  I guess it's because I feed them things like this.

These garlic knots are pretty easy to make, and VERY tasty.  I recommend doubling the recipe, because the knots are tiny and you will not be able to stop yourself from eating them.
See?  Real little.

The recipe comes from Food Mayhem.
3/4 c. +1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. instant yeast
1/2 tsp. table salt
1/3 c. water at room temperature (70 to 90 degrees)
5 1/2 tsp. olive oil, divided
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 packed tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Whisk together flour, sugar, and yeast in a small bowl. Whisk in salt last (preventing direct contact with yeast). Make a well in the center and pour in water. Stir together to moisten the flour, just until dough begins to form, about 20 seconds. The dough will look shaggy and bumpy, not smooth.

Pour 4 teaspoons oil in a 2-cup sized bowl or cup (bigger if you are increasing recipe size). Place dough in and turn to coat. Cover tightly and rest on the counter until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Place a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F at least 30 minutes before baking. Meanwhile, stir together 1/2 teaspoon olive oil, garlic, and kosher salt in a large bowl (you’ll see why later). Set aside.

When the dough is ready, place it on a board and gently press into a 10″ x 6″ rectangle. There will be left-over oil in the cup/bowl that the dough was rising in. Spread that oil over a baking sheet.

Spread half of the garlic mixture across the rectangle dough. Cut into 3/4″ strips (6″ long).

Tie any type of knot and lay on baking sheet with about 2″ space in between. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden. Meanwhile, add the remaining teaspoon of olive oil and parsley to the garlic mixture. Stir.

When garlic knots are done baking, toss in the garlic and parsley mixture and serve immediately.

This recipe makes 12 little garlic knots.  That's two for my mom, two for my dad, and eight for me!
And all too soon, they were gone :(

Enjoy!

25 May 2011

I've Missed You. Have a Cupcake.

Hello.

It's been a long time.

I've missed you.

I haven't had much time for cooking lately, and when I have, they just haven't turned out the way I wanted.  But today I had a free day, and I was inspired to create these Cookies 'n' Cream Cupcakes.

I was looking for a great chocolate cupcake recipe.  I've been looking for a while, but every cupcake I've tried is just not quite there.  This morning, I was looking around, and I found that a number of different blogs cited this recipe from Chockylit as the very best chocolate cupcake recipe.  I had to try it.

But, since I don't like coconut, I decided to use an Oreo-cream-cheese frosting instead.  OH MAN it is good.  Let's try it, shall we?


For cupcakes:
3/4 c. (1-1/2 sticks) butter
2 c. sugar
3 eggs
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. cocoa powdered
2 tbsp. instant espresso powder
1-1/2 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla

1. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each addition.
3. Measure the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and espresso powder into a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Measure the milk and vanilla into a measuring thing.
5. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
6. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 3/4′s full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

For frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese
4 oz. butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 and 1/2 c. powdered sugar
4 Oreo (or similar) cookies, crushed

Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together.  Gradually add the powdered sugar and beat until fluffy.  Just toss the crushed Oreos in right at the end.

Let's see those cucapes again, huh?
 Yum.  Yum yum.  Are you thinking, I wish she'd show another picture of those cupcakes but with more dramatic lighting?  Well, here you go.



Are you thinking, Now, how about one with a kitten in it?


Sweet.

Happy caking!