Cinnamon Doughnut Muffins

My friend hosted a brunch this past Sunday and since we had not yet made our grocery run for the week, I needed to make something that I already had the ingredients for. Enter, cinnamon doughtnut muffins. These were so delicious! I don't like cinnamon that much so that is saying something.

Cinnamon Doughnut Muffins
Courtsey of Noble Pig 

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
Jam

Topping:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon; whisk to combine. In another bowl, combine sugar, oil, egg, and milk. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until moistened.  Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups half-full; place one teaspoon jam on top.  Cover jam with enough batter to fill muffin cups three-fourths full.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes (mine took 20) or until a toothpick comes out clean. Place melted butter in a small bowl; combine sugar and cinnamon in another bowl.  Immediately after removing muffins from the oven, dip tops in butter, then in cinnamon-sugar. Serve warm or room temperature.  Below is a shot of the inside of the muffin. Great with a glass of champagne or a glass of milk! 

 

Black Bean Burrito Bake

 I made these for dinner last night. I love love love black beans so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it out. I made these early, set them in the refrigerator, and Christian popped them in the oven once he got home. They also didn't take any time to prepare...15 minutes tops! The only thing I would change is I would add a bit of salt to the bean mixture. I must admit this is a picture of  some of the leftovers today...which were still delicious!

Black Bean Burrito Bake
Courtesy of Cooking Light

• 1  (7-ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
• 1/2  cup  reduced-fat sour cream
• 1  (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed, drained, and divided
• 1  cup  frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
• 4  (8-inch) flour tortillas
• Cooking spray
• 1  cup  bottled salsa
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Remove one chile from can. Chop chile. Reserve remaining adobo sauce and chiles for another use. Combine sour cream and chile in a medium bowl; let stand 10 minutes.
Place half of beans in a food processor; process until finely chopped. Add chopped beans, remaining beans, and corn to sour cream mixture.
Spoon 1/2 cup bean mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas; place, seam side down, in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spread salsa over tortillas; sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

**Half of the beans are finely chopped to give the filling a thick, creamy consistency. This dish can be made up to 8 hours in advance and chilled; just bring it back to room temperature before baking.

Baked BBQ Chicken with Peach Salsa

I have finally mastered a baked bbq chicken recipe! The key to this recipe is making little individual  boats for your chicken and of course...butter. If you do this, the chicken will be very moist and yummy.The peach salsa was the perfect contrast to the bbq chicken. I served this with a side of onion and garlic cous cous. Delicious!


Baked BBQ Chicken:

4 chicken breast
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Garlic Powder to taste
Butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. While your oven is heating, cut pieces of foil large enough to completely wrap each piece of chicken. Season chicken breast  in the foil with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Once seasoned, layer the chicken with bbq sauce and put a small piece of butter on top of the chicken. Press all sides of foil together so that the chicken is completely covered. (should look like a boat). Bake in a pyrex for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Top with peach salsa if desired (recipe below).


Peach Salsa:
2 medium firm peaches
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1 red onion, diced
1/4 cup of fresh lime juice
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Directions:

Dice peaches, jalapeno peppers and onion and toss. Toss in fresh lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Let the mix sit for at least 5 minutes before tasting for seasoning. Make at least 1 hour ahead or up to 2 days ahead so the flavors will blend

Grilled Vegetable Salad

This is a great side dish to any meal as it is very quick and full of flavor! I served this as a side to bbq grilled shrimp and it was a great summer weeknight meal. If you don't have a grill, I'm sure you could roast the vegetables and it would be just as tasty.

Grilled Vegetable Salad

Ingredients:

1/4 cup(s) parsley, fresh, finely minced
1 medium garlic clove(s), finely minced
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp olive oil
2 medium green pepper(s), cut into 8 chunks each
12 medium grape tomatoes
12 medium  baby bella, wiped clean, stems trimmed
Feta cheese 

Directions:

Preheat grill to high. In a medium bowl, combine parsley, garlic, salt and oil; add vegetables and toss to coat. Thread vegetables onto 4 long metal skewers. Grill, turning once, until tender and charred, about 6 to 10 minutes, depending on desired degree of doneness.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

Now, these may look like chocolate blobs (an oopsy on my part) but they are so delicious that you will forget what they look like once you taste them. These are incredibly easy to make and the best part is you can use any cake mix you want to make different flavors.  If you are looking to satisfy your sweet tooth....here you go!

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies
Courtesy of Paula Deen

Ingredients:

8 oz of cream cheese (room temperature)
1 stick of butter )room temperature)
1 egg
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 18 oz box of moist chocolate cake mix (I used devils food)
Confectioners sugar ( I omitted) 

Directions:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner's sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey." Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar, if desired.