Daily Archives: January 19, 2014

desserts

Cherry Danish Cookies aka Little Bites of Heaven

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These are little bites of heaven I tell ya’ll.  When I saw this recipe come across my Pinterest feed the other day, I knew I would have to give them a try, even though I am baking impaired and have difficulty with any kind of dessert that requires me to make dough and then roll it out.  I love Six Sister’s Stuff recipes and have had lots of success with them.  If you don’t follow their blog, you should.  They are sisters who share a blog and stay connected through blogging recipes.   Having 3 sisters myself, I can definitely relate.  We all love to cook and when I make a recipe that one of them gave me in the past, or we enjoyed together, I feel a connection with them no matter where they are or how long it has been since I have seen them.  It is funny how a special recipe can do that.  How words written on a page can transcend space and time and bring you right back to a special time?  I love that about recipes.  So I really love Six Sisters’ Stuff and enjoy their recipes.  This is one that they posted and they were dead on about how these taste exactly like a cherry Danish, but in bite sized form.  They are so delicious and not hard at all to put together.  You need to make the dough ahead of time as it is best to let it chill in the fridge for a few hours at least.  It makes it much easier to work with.  After that though, there is not much to it.  And for me, the non Martha Stewart, to say this…you should know I mean that.  I am easily intimidated by dough and this is totally doable.  My two princesses and I were left to our own devices this weekend (heaven forbid) while the boys went hunting.  Somehow, we muddled through.  We made up a batch of these tasty treats and we enjoyed the results.  We did manage to save some for the boys though.  We are sweet like that.  But not nearly as sweet as these little gems.  So, if you love Danish, you definitely want to give these a try.  I think you will be happy with the results!!! ~AMB

Cherry Danish Cookies (adapted from Six Sisters’ Stuff http://www.sixsisterstuff.com) 

Stuff you Need:

Cookies:

1 cup butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 Tablespoon milk

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 egg yolk

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 can cherry pie filling

For Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons milk

What to Do with the Stuff:

For the Cookies:

In a large bowl or bowl of your standing mixer, cream together butter, cream cheese, milk and sugar.  Beat in egg yolk.  In a medium size bowl, combine flour and baking powder.  Gradually add flour mixture into the butter cream cheese mixture, beating after each addition to make a stiff dough.  Cover with saran wrap and allow the dough to chill  in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.  As I said, the dough is easier to work with when it is chilled.

Once dough has chilled, preheat oven to 400 degrees.  On a pasty mat, roll out dough to about 1/4 ” thickness.  Using a 2 ” round cutter, cut out the rounds of dough.  Make an indention in the center of each circle, and add about 1 tsp. of cherry pie filling (I am trying blueberry as well next time…mix it up a bit) to the center.  Place each one on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 10-12 minutes.  Cool completely before drizzling with glaze.

For Glaze:

Whisk together the powdered sugar and milk.  If it is too thin, add a little more powdered sugar.  If it is too thick, add a little milk.  You get the idea.  Now, in the original recipe, they say some nonsense about adding the glaze to a sandwich bag and snipping a little corner off to drizzle the glaze over the cookies.  Ummm…Cajun Mama ain’t got time for that.  Or maybe I am too lazy.  Either way, I got some glaze on my little whisk and then kind of tapped it on the edge of the bowl and then kind of waved my whisk over the cookies like it was a magic wand and the glaze was fairy dust.  I was the powerful Princess Glaze and those cookies were my royal subjects.  Ha ha!!!  Spending all weekend with just my girls has obviously given me a princess complex.  What’s a Mama to do?  Anyway, this method worked just fine for me.  Feel free to do your thing!!  As long as that glaze gets on those little bites of heaven, your work here is done.

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Heaven on Earth I tell you!!!  Little bites of Cherry Danish heaven.  

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Buffalo chicken bites

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I am a sucker for anything buffalo chicken flavored.   I could drink Frank’s Hot Wing Sauce, I do believe.  I love that buffalo chicken dip.  So, the other day when I came across a recipe for mini buffalo chicken pies, I knew I had to try them.  Until I read the recipe and something clicked in my brain.  I realized I could probably do my own thing and create a version I would rather.  Maybe some of you too.  Mission accomplished, my friends.  That’s right…just like Tom Cruise in those movies I have never seen because I am a chick flick kind of gal, I have done it.  Pretty sure I accomplished something way more fantastic than Mr. Cruise ever did.  No offense Tom, but if you want to come over here and try some of these little darlins, feel free.  I bet they will make you jump on my couch!!!  Hee hee hee!  Ya’ll know I am silly.  Anyway, ya’ll…these are some kind of delicious.  What I managed to make are poppable little buffalo bites that melt in your mouth after doing a little dance in there.  And I thought they were pretty too when it was all said and done.  So thank you to my friends as Bisquick for giving me a little jumping off point, but I do believe I took it a little further, went the distance and came out in a blaze of culinary greatness.  They shall crown me Queen of the Buffalo…wait…do I want to be the Queen of the Buffalo?  Sounds about right.  Anywho, I digress.  Without further ado, I give you a recipe straight out of Cajun Mama’s kitchen!!  Now, please know I have only made these once and while caught up in the culinary creative process, I may have left something out…so please let me know how these work for you.  And when I make them again, I will make sure about measurements and such.  Next up, I am making some Thai Chicken bites.  Yes, you heard me.  Thai is my other favorite flavor and it has to be done.  So stay tuned.  I hope you will give these a go.  They would be perfect for your Super Bowl Sunday spread.~AMB

Buffalo Chicken Bites

Stuff you need:

1 8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened

1 box of phyllo dough, separated and defrosted

1/3 cup of Frank’s buffalo wing sauce, plus more for drizzling

1/4 cup bleu cheese dressing (I used Marzetti’s…the kind that is found in the produce section in the short squatty bottle…it is so creamy and good)

1-2 Tablespoon of ranch dressing (I use Hidden Valley)

a little less than 1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

3 Tablespoons  bleu cheese crumbles, plus more for topping the bites after they come out of the oven

1/2 cup shredded cooked chicken

2 green onions, green parts only, chopped

What to do with the Stuff:

Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.  Preheat oven to 350.   Lay out the defrosted phyllo dough, separated into sheets on a cutting board.  Using a pizza cutter, cut  the phyllo dough into about 2-3 ” squares.  Now, I learned I needed to kind of stretch out the dough before placing it into the muffin cups.  It helps the dough to not puff up so much.  Since it is puff pastry dough, it is only doing its job but this way you get the yummy dough, without so much puffiness.   Place a square over each muffin cup.  I used a pastry tamper thingy (not the technical name) to press the dough into the muffin cup, but you can use your clean hands.   Place them into your preheated oven for about 5 minutes.  You don’t want to cook them completely, but you want them to pre cook I guess.  They will finish cooking once that luscious filling is in there.

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Get the idea?  I thought a nice visual may help.

In a medium sized bowl, combine cream cheese and Frank’s hot sauce until creamy.  Next add the other ingredients and stir well until combined.  Now, using a  small cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop some of the filling into your pre baked phyllo dough cups.  You may have some filling leftover.  I used that to make my buffalo chicken stuffed mushrooms (recipe coming soon) but you can always make more of these if you want and have phyllo dough leftover.  You want the filling to come just about even to the tops of the cups or maybe a little bit over.  Not piled too high though.  Now, slip these babies back into the oven and let them cook until the cups are golden brown and the filling is all bubbly.  About 5 more minutes.   When they come out of the oven,  sprinkle about 1/2 tsp. of bleu cheese crumbles over each cup and then drizzle a little Frank’s buffalo sauce over each one.  Let them cool for about 10 minutes and then transfer to a serving plate.  If they last that long.  (Cue evil laughter…muahhahahahahaha!)  Enjoy my little buffalo chicken lovers!!!

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Oh poppable, savory little bites inside a tasty pastry dough cup…I love you.  Get in my belly!!