a pie dilemma....

 I am making an Apple Pie and I have left over apples and pie crust.....what to do, what to do....

                                                        Why not make some apple minis!

Cut your pie crust to fit the bottom of your cupcake wrapper. (be sure to spray the paper wrapper before filling them so they dont stick to it. Top it with apple mixture, and cut another circle of pie crust for the top, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until apples are tender.

Arent they cute! A perfect little individual serving, and perfect for parties!

Rugelach

mmmmm.....Rugelach, once baked-the dough flakes us like a croissant or danish, and burst with flavor. The dough has butter, cream cheese, and sour cream cut in and a filling of cinnamon, raisins and nuts.

Make the dough and chill it overnight, roll it out, and sprinkle a layer of the filling mixture over the dough

                                            Cut diagonally into slices and roll each one up.

Bake them off on Parchment for an ohhhh...so delicious yummy treat!

PECANS

                                                                         PECANS!!!

So my mom brought me a bag of goodies tonight, and it was full of pecans!! I have a fond memory of going to a pecan orchard with my family and friends when I was younger and collecting so many bags of pecans. Learning the art of cracking them, so they didn't get crushed inside, and being so delighted when you actually could pull the nut out whole, it was like winning a prize!

DID YOU KNOW??

   ~Pecans contain more than 19 vitamins and minerals including:
                – vitamin A
                -  vitamin E
                -  folic acid
                -  calcium
                -  magnesium
                -  phosphorus
                -  potassium,
                -  several B vitamins and zinc.

One ounce of pecans provides 10 percent of the recommended Daily Value for fiber.

Just a few fun facts to think about when you indulge yourself with a slice of pecan pie this holiday season!

Pumpkin spice whoopie pies!!!

I absolutely love the holidays!
Pumpkin pie
Pumpkin muffins
Pumpkin scones
Pumpkin cupcakes.......
How about a Pumpkin Spice Whoopie pie?!!
I used my pumpkin spice cake recipe and my cream cheese frosting for the filling.....yummmmm.....

Absolutely Rediculous Cake!!!

Two blogs in one night...crazy,....no what is crazy is this absolutely rediculous huge cake I just had to share. 5 layers of cake (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry) with layers of chocolate mouse, vanilla buttercream, and strawberry puree in between cake layers. Vanilla buttercream and drizzled strawberry and chocolate ganache all over. So massive, it was named after its rediculousness!!!

LOW FAT Blueberry Flax muffins!!

So I said before I would try out the idea that you can substitute butter with ground Flax, and I did in my blueberry muffin recipe and it was really good!!

 

If you are going to give it a try- make sure to substitute 3 Tbsp of ground flax for every 1 Tbsp of butter, and up your moisture content/liquids by 75%.www.shmilytreebakery.com

CHALLAH

                                                        Tis the season for some Challah!!

Challah  is pronounced Há La. It is a  Jewish bread  that is served on Friday night for the Sabbath dinner, and for holidays. The Sabbath dinner is special and sacred so only the best ingredients are used , for example-white flour and eggs.
The bread is traditionally made with water rather than milk, because Jewish dietary laws wont let them eat meat and dairy products served together. Typically Friday night Challah is braided, and can be very fancily braided, and topped with sesame or poppy seeds.

Challah dough makes a delicious pastry that can be used for other things as well. I am about to make a very large batch tomorrow for the dough to wrap the Bierocks, as well as make small rolls for our Kulua Pork sliders we will be serving tomorrow!