snacks Archives - The Midnight Baker

Cheese Twists

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 00:02:18 +0000

These easy cheese twists are perfect snacks for your holiday get-togethers or any other time.

Use Leftover Pie Crust For Cheese Twists

Got any leftover pie crusts? Here’s one of the easiest snacks you’ll ever make.

The pie crust can be leftover scraps of your own recipe or those pre-rolled refrigerated ones that many of us find so convenient.

Since my store had the refrigerated ones on special for the recent Thanksgiving holiday, I bought the requisite two that the special required. They keep well so I figured why not.

If you did like I did and bought more than you actually needed, here’s a good way to use them before you forget about them entirely. Or if you are like my mother and save scraps of your own homemade pie crust, this is an excellent way to. use them.

The Best Cheese

For these cheese twists, the best cheese to use–in my opinion–is a good cheddar cheese. In these I used a mild variety and they were excellent.

Another good choice is Swiss cheese. The mild and nutty flavor is also perfect.

You do want a cheese that doesn’t “string.” Once cooled, a stringing cheese would only be a dense and rubbery glob, so the best thing to do–if you are not sure these will be eaten immediately–is to bypass such cheeses as mozzarella and those like it.

Why The Cayenne?

You actually use so little cayenne or hot sauce that it’s barely noticeable. What it does is enhance the flavor of the cheese much like chili powder does for chocolate (try this–Aldi sells it). If you like stuff hot and piquant, then use more.

On the other hand if you can’t tolerate any for dietary reasons or you feel uncomfortable using it, leave it out. They are perfectly delicious anyway.

The Recipe

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Cheese Twists

The easiest cheese snack ever

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheese twists, Christmas parties, cocktail party food, using leftover pie crusts

Servings: 8 varies--I got 16 twists

Calories: 259kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 refrigerated pie crusts or your own scraps/recipe
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 egg beaten
Pinch of cayenne or 1-2 drops hot sauce
Coarse salt
Paprika

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Beat egg and cayenne; set aside
Unroll pie crusts on a lightly floured surface. Brush entire circles of crust with the egg mixture (reserve a bit for brushing the twists). Distribute cheese evenly over half of each crust.
Fold the ends without cheese over the sides with cheese forming a semi circle and press or roll getting out any air bubbles and that the cheese adheres to the dough.
Using a sharp knife or pastry wheel, cut into 1-inch/2.5 cm strips and form twists by holding the ends and twisting in opposite direction. Place on prepared pan and brush with remaining egg mixture. Sprinkle with coarse salt (if desired) and paprika.
Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes

I got 16 twists and nutrition info is based on 2 cheese twists per person.

Nutrition

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Rich Jelly Donuts

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 18 Sep 2021 23:00:11 +0000

Love rich jelly donuts? Make them at home; they’re easy.

Rich Jelly Donuts

There’s jelly donuts and awesome jelly donuts.

These rich jelly donuts fall into the latter category. Most standard grocery store bakery donuts either come in completely done and are just thawed. That’s the way most bakeries do them nowadays. More old-school store bakeries buy the pre-formed dough then thaw, proof, fry and fill. I know that scoop well because for a short time years ago, I worked in a local supermarket bakery. My basic function was making all the donuts.

Now, the ones you make from scratch at home are far better. The reason is you’re making a great-tasting rich yeast dough for the donuts themselves and a good quality jelly or jam is far superior to the commercial stuff which rarely contains any fruit.

The Dough

My recipe for the dough is a pretty rich sweet dough. If you have a favorite sweet dough recipe, then use your favorite.

As with any yeast dough, there’s a time investment for the raising. Early fall is actually great weather for dough to come out at it’s very best. Sweet doughs take a bit more time to rise than regular bread doughs so keep this in mind when budgeting your time.

Now when it comes to frying the dough, I will warn you that they can get quite dark due to the sugar content. However, golden brown doesn’t mean they’re “done.” You will need to let then get pretty dark but not burned so keep an eye on them as they can go very quickly to burning. To check for doneness, the best way to do this (without destroying a donut) is to use an instant-read thermometer. The internal temperature should be 190F/88C.

Filling

Use any jam or jelly flavor you like. Anything will work.

You don’t need fancy professional equipment either. I just cut a slit in the side and used a regular tea spoon to get the jam in.

You could also fill with some creme patisserie if your passion is Bavarian or Boston cream donuts. I’d forgo the spoon in this case and use a pastry bag since it’d be less messy. And if you don’t want to bother making creme patisserie, cheap and cheerful instant vanilla pudding will do, but keep in mind it will separate if you plan to store the donuts for more than a day.

The Recipe

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Rich Jelly Donuts

Much better than store-bought

Prep Time10

Cook Time8

Total Raising Time1 40

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: homemade jelly donuts, rich jelly donuts

Servings: 6

Calories: 431kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 1/4 tsp dry yeast 1 envelope
1 cup whole milk
2 egg yolks beaten well
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbs unsalted butter melted
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour
Oil for frying
Sugar for dusting
1/2 cup jam or jelly for filling

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Scald milk in a small saucepan--scalding is when you see bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan. The temp is about 180F/82C/. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.
Place the lukewarm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let this stand for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of the flour, mix together and let this stand for 20-30 minutes--till it gets nice and bubbly.
Next add the melted butter, sugar and salt and mix. Add the beaten egg yolks. Switch to the dough hook and add only enough of the remaining flour to get a soft, moist but not sticky dough. Knead for 2 minutes. If the dough appears sticky, add another tablespoon of flour. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled--about 90 minutes.
Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Roll out dough to 1/2-inch/1.25 cm thickness. Cut using a 3-incb/3.75-cm biscuit or tart cutter. A drinking glass of the same diameter works just as well.
Place the dough rounds on the prepared sheet. Cover with a cloth or paper towel (you don't want the dough getting damp, hence the cloth. Let rise for 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a deep skillet to 360F/182C. If you have a deep-fat fryer, that works very well because it will maintain the proper temperature.
Carefully add the dough to the hot fat--don't crowd the pan, work in shifts. In a 12-inch skillet, I fried 3 at a time.
Fry until the side in the oil is a very deep brown (but not burned), then flip them over and fry to the same color--hint--I use wooden chopsticks for this.
Remove to a cooling rack to drain and while they're still hot, roll them in sugar. Then let them cool completely.
When the donuts are cool, use a sharp knife and cut a small slit in the side of each donut. You can use a pastry bag to fill them using the plain round tip, filling with about 1 tablespoon of the jam.

Nutrition

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Congo Bars

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 23:00:44 +0000

Try these gooey congo bars with glass of milk and you’re in heaven.

Delicious Congo Bars

I can’t say enough how delicious these congo bars are.

Recently, someone in one of my cooking groups posted pics of these that they had just made and I wanted to dive into that photo!

The name is pretty curious since I doubt that they’re a popular cookie in the Congo. One day I’ll make it a point to find out–they may be popular there but I don’t know.

Regardless, these are some awesome bar cookies. They’re easy to make which is a definite plus for me.

Not A Typo

I know you looked twice at the amount of brown sugar in this recipe. Nope, it’s not a typo; there is that much brown sugar in these.

That’s what gives them that marvelous caramel-like flavor. Until I made these, I thought they were just another iteration of toll house bar cookies. They are, but then again, they are not.

The brown sugar also accounts for the chewiness of these cookies. That’s the first thing you notice at first bite. Then comes that blast of chocolate caramel flavor. It’s quite heady and very addictive.

Storage

How you store these cookies is very important.

They must be stored in a container that is as air-tight as possible. Otherwise they will dry out and won’t taste as good as they did the day they were baked. The flavor will suffer and that is something I discovered first hand with these.

However, warming them up a bit in the microwave will revitalize them considerably. I would recommend you do that even if your container is pretty sturdy. The chocolate chips will harden upon cooling and that does change the texture as well. Heating them up the next day will soften up the chocolate and make them much better.

The Recipe

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Congo Bars

Oooey and gooey bar cookies

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bar cookies with chocolate chips, cocolate chip bar cookies, congo bars, easy chocolate bar cookies

Servings: 12

Calories: 521kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2/3 cup unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
2 1/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
Spray a 9 x 13-inch pan with non-stick spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment,beat the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each.
Add the vanilla then slowly add the dry ingredients until mixed in but don't overmix.
Fold in the chocolate chips by hand then spread the batter in the prepared pan evenly.
Bake for 25 minutes. Cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting bars into the size of your choice

Nutrition

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Almond Coffee Cake

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 00:02:18 +0000

How about a nice piece of this almond coffee cake with your afternoon coffee?

Almond Coffee Cake Has Rich Flavor

This is a coffee cake that’s a bit unusual as coffee cakes go. Traditional ones are based on streusel with a cinnamon flavor and I do love me some of the traditional since I’m pretty traditional myself.

However, sometimes it becomes necessary to start thinking outside the box and change up things a bit. I started out to make a more classic one, but discovered my walnuts had gone over since I forgot to put the bag in the freezer.

I did have sliced almonds in the freezer so a quick change was in order. And this has amazing flavor if you’re into almonds.

Sour Cream Is Necessary

Sour cream gives this cake its lovely texture. I had loads of the stuff in the fridge because I took advantage of a recent sale–where I always overbuy.

It also imparts a slight tanginess to the cake itself. I can’t praise sour cream enough for its ability to do this.

Now, I haven’t tried these types of cakes with light sour cream. You probably can use it but the crumb won’t be as tender. And as a rule, you never substitute fat-free products in anything baked because the results are pretty dismal.

If you have plain Greek yogurt on hand, that should work equally as well.

Almond Flavor

The deep almond flavor comes from two sources.

The first, of course, is the almonds themselves. You need to use toasted almonds and they’re pretty simple to make. I do mine in the oven, but stovetop works pretty well too. Just have to keep stirring and keep a watchful eye on them.

The second is the almond extract. I only use pure almond extract and a high-quality one. The real deal is always better, however it costs more. If you’re very budget conscious, then the imitation is OK. In fact, that is the only imitation flavoring that’s pretty close to the real thing.

The Recipe

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Almond Coffee Cake

Great coffee cake loaded with almonds

Prep Time20

Cook Time1

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: almond coffee cake, breakfast cakes, sour cream coffee cakes

Servings: 9

Calories: 478kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1 1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp vanilla

Filling/Topping:

1 cup sliced almonds toasted
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbs butter melted

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Spray a 9-inch/23 cm pan with non-stick spray.
Combine flour, baking soda and baking powder; set aside.
Cream sugar, butter and eggs in a large bowl until smooth. Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth. Stir in the sour cream, almond and vanilla extracts.
Mix the almonds, sugar and melted butter in a small bowl.
Spread half the batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the filling mixture over the batter. Lastly, spread the remaining half of the batter on top. Sprinkle remaining filling mixture over the top of the cake.
Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.

Nutrition

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Bourbon Pecan Pie Brownies

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 01 Nov 2020 00:00:26 +0000

A touch or bourbon makes these pecan pie brownies extra special.

Brownies: America’s Favorite

Who doesn’t love brownies? They are a national favorite since there’s so many ways to make them. The ways range from simple to gourmet.

These bourbon pecan pie brownies come in somewhere in between. The base is as simple as you can get. In fact, the base is so simple it’s a mix. So as a result, there’s no work there.

It’s the topping that’s the interesting part of these brownies. It consists of a luscious pecan pie concoction to which you add a tad of bourbon. The liquor, of course, may be left out if you don’t appreciate the taste or are going to serve it to the kiddos.

The Basic Brownie

As stated, the brownie itself is from a mix. There’s plenty of varieties in these mixes now, so choose what you like. Just make sure the mix is also for the 13 x 9-inch size because that’s the size pan you’ll be using to make these. Remember you also need the ingredients that the box calls for.

Alternatively, you can make your own from-scratch brownies. Brownies are not difficult to make and you likely have all the necessary ingredients on hand. The only caveat is that with your own recipe, as for the box mix, there must be enough to make the 13 x 9-inch size.

Pecan Pie Topping

Here is where I’d say to use the high-quality ingredients. The topping is the major flavor for these brownies.

I usually lightly toast pecans, but here it’s not necessary. In fact since they are so expensive, I’d opt for buying pieces or chopped pecans. First of all, it will save time and I find they’re generally cheaper than the ones sold whole. Whole doesn’t do much here, unlike the pie where they’re decorative. Here, the topping is cooked so whole are bound to be broken just from the cooking process.

The bourbon is optional. If you’re serving this treat to grown-ups, it’s an interesting taste. However, kiddos may not appreciate the taste; the alcohol is evaporated in the cooking so no worries there. It’s just a taste that young children as a rule do not appreciate.

The Recipe

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Pecan Pie Brownies

Brownies for grown ups

Prep Time20

Cook Time45

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bourbon brownies, gourmet brownies with liquor, pecan pie brownies

Servings: 12

Calories: 362kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 box brownie mix 13 x 9 size plus ingredients stated on box

PECAN PIE FILLING:

1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
4 eggs
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs bourbon
2 cups pecans roughly chopped

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven according to brownie package instructions.
Whisk together the sugar, corn syrup, eggs, butter, bourbon and vanilla in a small saucepan. Place on the stove top over medium high heat and begin to cook, stirring continuously.
Mix brownies according to package instructions.
Pour brownie batter into a greased 13x9 inch pan and place in oven to bake for 20 minutes. * see note about cooking time below
As the brownies bake the filling in the saucepan should have thicken enough to coat your spoon (about 15 minutes). Stir the pecans into the mixture and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes until the mixture reaches the consistency of runny oatmeal. You want it to be loose enough to pour over the brownies but not liquid.
When the brownies have finished pre-baking remove them from the oven and pour the pecan pie filling over them spreading it out to cover the brownies completely.
Place them back in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the filling only jiggles slightly in the middle when you move the pan.
Let cool to room temperature before cutting.

Nutrition

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Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 23:00:48 +0000

These giant cookies are so huge, all you need is one!

The OMG Cookie

When I first saw these in the food section of a national newspaper, I was kind of “meh” about them. But after thinking more about these cookies, I decided to give them a try basically because the yield was relatively small, but of course they are giant cookies.

This recipe actually lends itself to many different iterations with the add ins. The basic is a mix of chocolates but you can get creative here not only with chocolate, but non-chocolate additions.

They’re easy as are most drop cookies. However, be advised that the batter is very dense you will need a sturdy stand mixer. A hand-held one just won’t be able to manage it.

Now, For The Chocolate

The original recipe called for a mixture of dark, semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips. A fine tasting assortment.

I didn’t have any milk chocolate morsels on hand so I substituted white chocolate. I found this to be a tasty substitution as well. To make life interesting, I added a handful of butterscotch chips and that gave the cookies a caramel-like flavor.

There’s no reason to lock yourself into the assorted chocolates. If you have semi-sweet only, go with that. Likewise on milk and dark chocolate. The only thing I’d say avoid using butterscotch chips exclusively. It may be too sweet and cloying and lack any deeply rich favors.

Fruit Too

Adding a little dried fruit is really good in these.

I made another batch using dark chocolate chips and dried cranberries. They were superb! Don’t forget raisins wither.

Next batch of these I make will be no chocolate–just dried fruit and nuts! The substitution should be the same amount as the original chocolate mixture.

With all the fruit, nuts and dark chocolate, these cookies may even be–gasp–healthy!

The Recipe

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Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

Huge cookies with an assortment of chocolate

Prep Time20

Cook Time22

Course: cookies, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bakery style cookies, cookies with dried fruit, giant cookies with chocolate

Servings: 8

Calories: 517kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

8 tbs unsalted butter softened to cool room temperature
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbs vanilla extract
2 tsp kosher salt may substitute 1 teaspoon table salt, plus more for sprinkling (optional)
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
2 large eggs cold
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups assorted chocolate chips such as a mix of milk, bittersweet and semisweet
1 3/4 cups walnut pieces or lightly toasted pecan pieces see NOTE

Instructions

Combine the butter, brown and granulated sugars, vanilla extract, salt, baking powder, baking soda and nutmeg in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low to moisten, then increase the speed to medium and beat until soft, fluffy and pale, about 8 minutes; halfway through, pause to scrape down the bowl and beater with a flexible spatula. With the mixer running, add the eggs one at a time, letting each incorporate fully before adding the next. Reduce the speed to low, then add the flour all at once. When the flour is incorporated, add the chocolate chips and nuts and keep mixing until the dough is homogeneous.
Divide the dough into 8 equal portions (about 6 ounces/170 grams each) and round each into a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 12 hours before baking; if well protected from air, the dough can be kept in the fridge up to 1 week.
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. When the oven comes to temperature, arrange up to 4 portions of cold dough on the prepared pans, leaving ample space between them to account for spread. If you like, sprinkle with additional salt to taste.
Bake, 1 sheet at a time, for about 22 minutes, until the cookies are puffed and lightly brown or to an internal temperature of between 175 and 185 degrees. The ideal temperature will vary from person to person; future rounds can be baked more or less to achieve the desired consistency.
Cool the cookies directly on the baking sheet until no warmer than 100 degrees (they should feel lukewarm) before serving. Enjoy warm, or within 12 hours; these cookies taste best when freshly baked.

Notes

Toast the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet in a 350-degree oven until slightly darkened and fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes.

Nutrition

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Lemon Cheesecake Sweetrolls

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 17 Nov 2019 00:00:22 +0000

These lemon cheesecake filled rolls are so delicious you won’t believe how easy they are to make. Yet another use for crescent roll dough.

Crescent Roll Dough Is The Secret

Well, maybe not so much a secret since there’s many things you can make with crescent roll dough. Actually, it’s pretty versatile since you can do sweet and savoury with it.

One of my most popular savoury recipes, Chicken Crescent Bake, uses crescent roll dough as biscuits on top. My Cheeseburger Ring also uses it. I’ve also made danish in my air fryer with it.

It’s always a good idea to keep a couple of tubes of this in the fridge. Now, they are selling solid sheets of crescent roll dough. I find this a much better option than the pre-cut sheets.

Easy To Shape

There’s really no complicated rolling or twisting necessary to shape these rolls.

You simply cut each tube of dough into 4 pieces. Now, that seems like it’s really thick; and it is. But you flatten the dough down with the palm of your hand until it’s about 1-inch thick, then you make a nice depression in the center and build a little “lip” for the edge. Each piece should be about 3 or so inches in diameter and it should look like a pizza crust–with a depression in the center and a little hump around the edge.

Just make sure the depression in the center is thin enough so the dough cooks completely.

Lemon Cheesecake And Lemon Icing

Not only do you have a lovely lemony cheesecake filling, but the icing is buttery and lemony too!

It’s not a drizzle icing–it’s more of a regular buttercream consistency and should be piped on top. If you don’t have a cake decorating set, a zippered freezer bag with a teeny bit of the corner cut off will do fine. I have a cake decorating set, but 9 times out of 10 I will use the freezer bag method. Why? Nothing to clean up!!!

The Recipe

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Lemon Cheesecake Sweet Rolls

These cheesecake filled sweet rolls are quick and easy to make

Prep Time15

Cook Time18

Course: breads, Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheese danish recipe, danish pastry with crescent roll dough, easy danish pastry, recipes using crescent roll dough

Servings: 8

Calories: 268kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 tubes 8 oz each refrigerated crescent roll dough
1 tbs unsalted butter melted
1 tbs sugar

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Icing:

1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 1/2 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs unsalted butter softened

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment.
Open crescent roll dough but DO NOT UNROLL. Cut each roll into 4 pieces and place on baking sheet.
Flatten each piece to about 1/2-inch thickness then using your fingers, make a well in the center of each piece leaving a “wall” at the edge, making a nest for the filling. The pieces should resemble a bird’s nest. Brush the edges with the melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.
Beat all the filing ingredients until smooth. Divide equally among prepared rolls.
Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.
Beat together the icing ingredients. Place in a zippered freezer bag and cut off a small piece at the edge of the bag. Pipe evenly over rolls.

Notes

Refrigerated crescent roll dough is not available outside of the US & Canada I am told. I can't recommend a comparable European product, but there are recipes available to make crescents from scratch.

Video

Nutrition

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Cheese Coins

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 23:00:41 +0000

Cheese coins are neat little cheddar cheese “cookies” and perfect for after-school snacks!

These Cheese Snacks Are Easy

These cheese snacks are so easy, you’ll whip them up whenever a craving hits you. A food processor makes easy work of it and it has very few ingredients. I bet you have them all on hand too,

The recipe calls for cheddar, so I used some extra sharp in these. However, as long as it’s a hard cheese that will melt, substitute what you have on hand. Cheeses such as Parmesan or Romano won’t work because they don’t melt, but you can try a tablespoon or two in the dough in addition to what you used for flavor purposes. I adapted this from a recipe from Cuisinart.

About The Dough

I won’t fib here–the dough is pretty sticky and hard to handle right out of the food processor. This requires some chilling.

The good news is that you can easily make a double batch because once they’re shaped and wrapped in plastic wrap (cling film to those in UK) they’re ready to go when a snack attack hits you.

The initial chilling so you can shape them easily is about 30 minutes or so. Make sure to put them in the coldest section of the fridge. You can also stick the dough in the freezer for about 15 minutes. That would shorten the process a bit.

Once they’re rolled into log shapes, they’re wrapped tightly in the plastic wrap and then chilled again until they’re very firm. Then you just cut slices and bake what you want/need.

Bake Easy

These do spread a bit so give them room on the cookie sheet. Also, it’s a good idea to line the sheet with baking parchment even just for clean-up sake. Burnt-on cheese is no fun to clean up. They’ll release easily and keep your cookie sheet clean if you use the parchment.

The Recipe

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Cheese Coins

Great snack for cheese lovers

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Required Chilling3

Total Time3 15

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheese cracker recipe, cheese snacks, cookies, savory snacks

Servings: 50

Calories: 44kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

8 oz cheddar cheese cut in chunks
4 oz soft unsalted butter cut in chunks
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp hot sauce or a pinch of cayenne pepper
1 cup flour

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Process cheese until it resembles a coarse meal, approximately 30 seconds.
Add butter, hot sauce (or pepper) and salt; process until smooth.
Scrape down the bowl and add the flour. Pulse until it just starts to go into a ball.
Chill dough until it’s firm enough to handle—about 30 minutes.
Divide dough into 3 equal parts and shape into logs about 1 1/2-inches in diameter; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate about 2-3 hours until very firm.
To bake: Preheat oven to 400 F/200 C. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Cut dough into 1/8-inch slices and place on prepared sheets about 2-inches apart. Bake about 10 minutes or until light golden around the edges. Cool on sheet for about 1 minute, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Unbaked logs may be frozen for future use. Makes about 100 cookies.

Nutrition

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Ranch Oyster Crackers

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 00:00:30 +0000

Ranch oyster crackers are so easy to make and even easier to eat!

Addictive!

I can’t think of a better way to describe these yummy ranch oyster crackers.

You take one handful promising yourself that is all you will eat. Then you take another. And another. And another…

That’s how it goes with these. Again I am always amazed at something so easy and made with things you probably have on the shelf already, is just so darned GOOD.

Oyster crackers are perfectly sized for this recipe. However, any “mini” crackers would probably work well. Maybe even regular (unsalted tops due to the seasoning) saltines would suffice. They’d probably break apart, but with this it would hardly matter.

Easy To Make

You only need 5 minutes or less to prep this awesome snack.

It has ingredients most of us already have in our pantries. The only thing you may not have is lemon pepper seasoning–and that’s an optional ingredient anyway. I do encourage you to use it because it imparts a very pleasant “bite” to the flavor. I also recommend an unsalted variety if you plan to buy some because the commercial ranch seasoning is pretty salty. If you’re watching your salt intake or prefer to control the seasoning in your foods, you might like my recipe for low-sodium ranch seasoning because you can completely control the salt.

All you do is mix all the coating ingredients in a bowl then toss the crackers. Now that’s pretty easy!

Little Cleanup

One of the best things about these ranch oyster crackers is there’s not much to clean up after you’ve made them.

If you use my tip about using parchment on the baking sheet, you won’t have to clean it. All you’ll have is a bowl and a couple of measuring utensils!

The Recipe

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Ranch Oyster Crackers

Ranch oyster crackers are so easy to make and even easier to eat!

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Total Time25

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: homemade crackers, oyster crackers

Servings: 4

Calories: 380kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

5 cups oyster crackers

Coating

1 oz dry ranch dressing/seasoning mix (1 envelope)
1 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning optional but very nice
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
Mix all coating ingredients in a large bowl. Add the oyster crackers and toss until all of them are coated.
Spread crackers on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake 10 minutes; gently stir the crackers. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Nutrition

The post Ranch Oyster Crackers appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Air Fryer Apple Fritters

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 10 Feb 2019 00:00:29 +0000

Apple fritters with less fat! And it gets better–just 4 ingredients!

The Versatile Air Fryer

Do you have an air fryer? If not, you definitely should!

These appliances are so versatile because they can cook anything you can cook in a conventional oven–as long as it can fit and it cooks about 30% quicker than a conventional oven. The reason for this is an air fryer is really only a small but super-powerful convection oven.

I believe it was named “air fryer” because that name is a lot more catchy than “super convection oven.” It leads you to believe that it can replace a deep fryer. In my opinion, that answer is no. However, you can get credible crispiness cooking in it and make things that mimic deep fried food just like these fritters.

Based On Two-Ingredient Dough

Remember last-year’s fad with the 2-ingredient dough creations? This is based on that, although you have to add a couple of ingredients to it. One ingredient is optional although I highly recommend using it since it will help browning in these fritters.

The idea for this recipe came from a very inventive cook in one of my air fryer groups. Her recipe had several more ingredients than mine does; I merely streamlined hers and added a touch of sugar to the dough (that’s my optional ingredient).

As with most air frying, you have to spray these with some vegetable oil. This aids browning too and the little oil will make the fritters crunchier and give it that almost-fried flavor. However, it’s much less oil than you’d use with deep frying. Again, I highly recommend you spray them with oil. Otherwise they may be overly sweet from the glaze and the flavors won’t meld. This is the oil sprayer I use. Don’t be tempted to use non-stick spray. It won’t work and it will louse up the basket of your fryer.

Parchment?

I generally don’t use those parchment rounds that many use in air fryer baskets. For cooking meat and poultry, I find them useless to be honest. However, when it comes to baking right in the basket like you do with this recipe, they are a godsend. Mine stuck a little bit even to the parchment, but I was able to turn them without destroying the fritter because I used the parchment. The lady who originally made this said to use them and I totally see why she did. I get my parchment rounds from Amazon. They’re cheap so they won’t break the bank.

Watch The Video

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Air Fryer Apple Fritters

Apple fritters with less fat! And it gets better–just 4 ingredients!

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: air fryer, apple fritters, apples

Servings: 4

Calories: 305kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

Fritters

1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tsp sugar optional
1 tbs cinnamon
1 large apple peeled and chopped

Glaze

1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tbs milk or more, if needed

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Mix all fritter ingredients together in a medium bowl. Knead the mixture in the bowl about 3-4 times.
Mix glaze ingredients together—this mixture should be on the thin side. Set aside.
Line the bottom of the air fryer with a parchment round. Spray the parchment liberally with oil (NOT non-stick spray).
Divide the fritter batter into 4 balls about the size of a handball. Flatten slightly and place in the fryer basket. Spray with vegetable oil.
Air fry at 370 degrees F for 13-15 minutes, turning half way through the cooking. Spray with oil again after turning. Check for doneness with a toothpick.
Drizzle or dip in the glaze then place fritters on a wire rack to cool and dry the glaze.
Recipe can be doubled if you want more than 4-5 fritters.

Video

Nutrition

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