Red, White, and Blue Desserts for the Fourth of July

Life is Good: our forefathers made sure of it!

I love Independence Day. Maybe it's because it was my due date when I was in the womb? (I arrived a week late and my mom says that I have been trying to make up for it ever since!) Or maybe I'm just naturally patriotic. Either way, I love the holiday---warm sun on my face, pool or lake time, and...dessert! 

Yesterday I shared my yummy-tasty-easy-I mean eeeeeeasy-recipe for eggless individual banana cream pies so today, as promised, I'm sharing how I made red, white, and blue Rice Krispies treats (with all due credit for the idea to our Big Kid--I'm glad he's learning something from me! Party, party!). 

Very important to remember: you will need the ingredients for THREE full recipes of the traditional Rice Krispies treats. 

The recipe for one quantity is:

3 T. butter

1 pkg (10 ounces or 4 cups) mini marshmallows

6 c. Rice Krispies cereal

(So you will need three times everything above to make the Star Spangled Rice Krispies Treats.)

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat.

2. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. 

3. Remove from heat. 

4. Add cereal and stir until well coated.

To make Susie's Star Spangled Rice Krispies treats:

1. Make one quantity of Rice Krispies treats.

2. Before you add the cereal, add five drops of blue food coloring to the melted marshmallows.

3. Add cereal and mix.

4. Spray a spatula with Pam spray and fold the blue treats mixture into a 9 x 13 Pyrex dish. Use the spatula to flatten the treats into the dish.

Here is a pic of the first layer. (I did mine backwards---red, white, blue instead of blue, white, red.) I know...it kind of looks like raw meat. I promise it tasted better than that!

5. Make a second quantity of Rice Krispies treats following the traditional recipe.

6. Using your sprayed spatula, add the treats recipe atop the blue layer. (This is your "white" layer.)

7. Make a third quantity of Rice Krispies treats. Before adding the cereal, add five drops of red food coloring to the mixture.

8. Mix in the cereal. 

9. Using the spatula, flatten the red mixture atop the plain (white) treats layer.

10. Allow to cool a few hours.

11. Cut into desired sized pieces. 

12. Marvel at how crafty you are!

13. Enjoy!

Happy Independence Day!

• 
  

SaveSaveSaveSave

Red, White, and Blue Desserts for Memorial Day or Fourth of July

Life is Good: dig in!

If you're starting to think about Fourth of July desserts, then my recipe from Memorial Day is just what you're looking for!

We had such a fun Memorial Day weekend this year--a little rest & a lot of fun. Part of that fun was spending a day with our Goddaughter (age 10) and her family. We had great weather that was perfect for dads vs. kids baseball and rolling around in the grass. 

We grilled out and had the uber holiday weekend menu--burgers, brats, corn on the cob...super traditional and low key. "Casual" was the name of the game, and that called for an easy but fun dessert.

Our Big Kid informed me that he had THE best idea for dessert: red, white, and blue Rice Krispies treats. I had to give it to him...that was simply brilliant! And I knew the kids would love it. But I wanted something a little more grown up, too, so I decided to make (eggless, of course) individual red, white, and blue banana cream pies, too. Turns out, everybody wanted one of each. Success!

Susie's Red, White, & Blue Individual (Eggless) Banana Cream Pies

Filling Ingredients:

2/3 c. sugar

1/4 t. salt (I use pink Himalayan)

1 2/3 c. milk

1 t. vanilla (I use Madagascar)

3 T. cornstarch

2 T. butter

Directions:

1. Cook the first four ingredients over low heat until smooth. 

2. Slowly, add three Tablespoons of cornstarch--one at a time-- to the mixture, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.

3. Increase your flame to medium and continue to whisk until the mixture thickens.

4. When thick, add butter and whisk as it melts. 

5. Turn off the flame and slice two bananas into the thickened mixture.

6. Gently fold the banana slices into the mixture and allow to cool, but not completely.

7. Transfer cooled mixture into individual serving dishes, layering blueberries then the banana pie mixture, then sliced strawberries for a "red, white & blue" effect.

8. Place in refrigerator to cool completely until ready to serve.

For my Memorial Day banana cream pies, I rolled out pre-made pie crust and used a cookie cutter to cut out stars. I baked them for about 15 minutes (every oven is different, so watch your stars closely) and added them to my cooled "pies" right before I served them.

Tomorrow....my red, white, & blue Rice Krispies treats recipe!

  

BEST Eggless, Egg free, Light and Fluffy Doughnut Donut Recipe

Life is Good: we finally have a good eggless doughnut recipe!

I have tried so many times to convert doughnut recipes to be eggless for our kids. This egg allergy is always a challenge and doughnut recipes have been a pain. Every time I try to make doughnuts, they end up being really dense and cake-like. Now, nobody is crying or complaining about that. However, I have longed to give my family a true, light, melt-in-your-mouth EGG FREE doughnut.

This past week, our Big Kid and Little Kid went to Vacation Bible School (VBS) and so, as usual, I was charged with the task of recreating any of the week's snacks that my kids could not eat (because they contained eggs, nuts, or other of their food allergies). The theme was "Surf Shack" so, of course, there was a powdered doughnut decorated like life preservers. ACK!

I have determined that cake and cookie decorating (and now, doughnut decorating) are God's way of keeping me humble! ; ) Martha Stewart need not be afraid of me taking her job!

Like I said, I have struggled to find the right recipe that is not a dense cake shaped like a doughnut. This week, I finally found the right recipe from sweetestkitchen.com. Thank you!!!

I adjusted the recipe to be eggless as well as the nutmeg and vanilla amounts. I've made the recipe three times already and everyone of all ages were satisfied. Sift some powdered sugar on them or roll them in cinnamon & sugar--either way, yum! These honestly taste very similar to the mini doughnuts that you get at the MN State Fair or out of food trucks and at carnivals around here. On second thought, I may need to lose this recipe unless I want to buy all new pants in the next size up.

Ingredients:

In a separate bowl, combine & mix thoroughly:

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 quick dashes of ground nutmeg

1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In a separate bowl, mix together:

1/4 cup applesauce 

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Then, add:

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a separate bowl, cream together with a hand mixer:

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a mini doughnut pan with spray oil.

2. In a bowl, mix together the baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and flour with a spoon.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together applesauce & baking soda mixture with milk and vanilla.

4. In a separate bowl, cream together softened butter and sugar with a hand mixer until fluffy.

5. Add half of the wet ingredients to the creamed mixture, being sure not to use the hand mixture too much so that your doughnut batter doesn't become tough. Too much use of the hand mixture can make baked goods end up tough and not light & fluffy.

6. Add half of the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture.

7. Add the rest of the wet ingredients to the creamed mixture.

8. Add the rest of the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture.

9. Spoon the batter into a ziplock bag, zip it and then cut the very tiny corner out of the bag.

10. Push on the ziplock bag to pipe the batter into the doughnut pan. ONLY fill the circles halfway. TRUST ME. Do not fill the circles all the way full unless you are in the mood to clean oozed out, burnt doughnut batter off of the bottom of your oven. I'm speaking for a friend, of course.

11. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown and spring back when you lightly touch them.

12. Let the doughnuts cool in the pan completely. Then, tap the pan on the counter to release them from the pan. This is the tricky part. I tried several different ways including trying to gently pop them out using forks, knives, spoons, etc and often, they were breaking apart. Tapping the pan on the counter was the best way to keep the doughnuts intact. 

13. To coat the doughnuts with cinnamon & sugar (our favorite), I melted two teaspoons of butter in the microwave in a small bowl. Then, I mixed 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon and 2 Tablespoons of sugar together in another small bowl. 

12. Lightly tap each doughnut in the melted butter, just enough to make them "wet" but not soggy. Then, roll them in the cinnamon & sugar mixture. Another option is to put the cinnamon & sugar mixture in a big baggie and then put the buttered doughnuts in the bag, ziplock and then shake the mixture around the doughnuts.

13. Try not to eat all of them.

14. This recipe makes approximately 36 mini doughnuts, which appears to be enough for one small human at our house. 

15. I got my pan from Michael's with a coupon. This one from amazon.com is similar.

No Yeast Flatbread Recipe

Life is Good: and flavorful!

Last week, one of my friends and I met for pedicures to celebrate my birthday. My birthday was in mid-July, but it was the first time we could get together. It was so sweet of her to want to celebrate and treat me to one of my favorite things...pink toes!

We had so much to chat about that we ducked in to a little restaurant a few doors away from our nail spot for something to nibble and some good gabbing. We ordered a flatbread and a fizzy drink of seltzer, agave, and grapefruit. Both were divine. Our conversation hit on some really thought-provoking points. Important things like friendship as a grown up and faith and supportive relationships and expectations and children and family time and more. Important subject matter that I hope to revisit and ponder when my mind isn't so full of back to school. (Did I mention that the big kid starts kindergarten next week? KINDERGARTEN. KINDERGARTEN!)

Well, the next morning, I was still thinking about that flatbread! And at lunch. And so by dinner, well, you know what was on the menu!

I did a quick google search for a flatbread recipe and decided on this one, primarily because I didn't want to take the time to experiment with yeast. The ingredients are simple and all staples, so away I went! I told my hubs to get ready for a "Flatbread Extravaganza" as I pulled out olives and artichokes, cooked chicken, caramelized onions, and sliced fresh mozzarella. With all of my flavor combo ideas, I needed to double the recipe. This is a super big no-no in my book. Make two batches at once, sure. But never double the recipe because baking is a science and no, flatbread is not baking, but it does involved flour, right? And never double or change a recipe the first time you try it. C'mon. These are rudimentary principals that you created yourself. Stick to the rules. Follow the plan. Except, this recipe is so simple. So easy. So, go ahead. Double away. So I did. I doubled the olive oil and the water and the salt and then I started dumping the flour in just as I realized that I only had 3 cups of flour and I would need four. Wait a minute! Put on the brakes! Remember that whole stick to the rules thing you just read a few lines up? Now you know why you should not double the recipe! (And why you should gather all of the ingredients first before combining. And we all say a collective, "DUH!"

If I was going to salvage the ingredients and if we were going to have flatbread for dinner--flatbread I had been thinking about all. day. long. --then I was going to have to improvise. Aha. Another kitchen rule to be broken. Never improvise the first time you try a recipe!

I decided to add a cup of cornmeal to my 3 cups of flour and other doubled ingredients. At worst, the flatbread would be crunchier, right? Well, the cornmeal required more water, which made the dough a little wetter than it is supposed to be and it did have a "corn-like" flavor, but it worked. The kiddos loved it and the hubs and I gave it a B+.

My second dalliance with flatbread came with more success. I made one batch (foregoing the "doubling" idea) and added some herbs. Here is my version of the recipe with notes. Below it, you'll find some of our favorite topping combinations.

No Yeast Flatbread Recipe
Ingredients
2 cups flour (I have used all-purpose and whole wheat)
3/4 cups water (you might need to add a little more depending on your climate, etc)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or regular salt)
1 T. olive oil or cooking spray
1 T. minced garlic
dried herbs (such as basil, oregano,  cilantro, thyme, etc)
garlic salt (onion salt will work, too)
toppings

Directions
1. In a mixing bowl, add the flour, water, minced garlic and salt. Mix until the dough is flaky and pretty dry to the touch. You do want it to stick together, just not too wet. If you want an herbed crust, add your favorite herb or herb combination to the dough and mix gingerly.

2. Flour a flat surface and knead the dough for a minute or so. Divide the dough into four pieces (lumps). Divide into more pieces for smaller or individual-sized flatbread crusts.

3.  Flour a rolling pin and roll out the dough until it's as thick or thin as you like it. The thinner you roll it, the crunchier your flatbread will be. I prefer to make the flatbread rustic looking, so I did not try to make mine a symmetrical shape. Carefully shake a small amount of garlic salt around the edges of the crust. This is really the key to making this flatbread delicious. Either use the garlic salt or add herbs to the crust. Otherwise, it is pretty bland, in my opinion.

4. Coat the bottom of a pan with olive oil or cooking spray and heat on medium. I used a stovetop grill pan. I also think these would be fun to cook on the grill outside. You can also use a skillet. The flatbread cooks very quickly. Leave it on long enough to get some char, but not long enough to burn it. Cooking times vary with stoves. I made my flatbread a little thicker than thin. That sounds scientific, huh? And mine took about 4 minutes on each side to cook with char marks.

5. You will know that it is time to flip your flatbread to the other side when you see the edges crisp up and the inside looks less doughy. The original recipe says that the dough will get bubbly but mine has not so far.

6. Top your flatbread and put under the broiler to melt cheese, warm ingredients, etc. Again, how long depends on your oven and your ingredients. I would check every 1-2 minutes to avoid a catastrophe. Catastrophe = no flatbread.

Some of my favorite topping combinations are:
Margherita: tomato, basil, fresh mozzarella (or regular mozzarella is fine)
Artichoke, tomato, spinach, green olive, fresh mozzarella (similar to a pizza from our favorite neighborhood place)
Caramelized onion, goat cheese, red peppers (roasted or raw), mozzarella
Sausage, red peppers, tomato sauce, mozzarella (tastes like lasagna)
Caramelized onion, mushroom, red pepper, mozzarella
Truffled artichoke, shitake mushroom, ricotta (from the restaurant that inspired this all!)

I also think this flatbread would be divine with green or kalamata olive tapenade, which is super easy to make.

"Cooking is at once child's play and adult joy. And cooking done with care is an act of love." (Craig Claiborne)

1.