Homemade Potato Chips

These were a fun find from foodnetwork.com! I deep fried these in coconut oil, because I think it's a healthy frying oil. And I love the short ingredient list.

Ingredients:

• potatoes
• coconut oil
• salt
• optional additional seasoning

Directions:

1. Peel the potatoes.
2. Use a mandoline, if possible, to thinly slice the potatoes (2 mm or thinner). A knife or potato peeler may also work, but the slices might not be as uniform. 
3. Rinse the potato slices and pat dry with paper towels. This removes much of the starch.
4. Heat oil in a pan up to about 325 degrees F. Try to keep oil between 325 and 340 degrees F during frying. 
5. Drop a few potato slices in the oil at a time for a few minutes each time--until they brown. It may take a couple of times to get the hang of how long it takes to get them as brown as you want them. 
6. Pull potato slices out of oil and set on paper towels to drain.
7. Sprinkle salt and other seasonings on potatoes immediately. Sea salt by itself is amazing. I also added Penzey's Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Mix to make ranch-flavored potato chips. 
8. Let potato chips dry until cool and crisp. Yum!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

I love this cheesecake! We found a deal on cream cheese, and bought 30 pounds of it. After trying a number of cheesecake variations (the best way to use up cream cheese), this one was definitely my favorite.

Ingredients:

   1 cup cookie or graham cracker crumbs

   1/3 cup white sugar

   1/3 cup cocoa powder

   1/3 cup butter, melted

   24 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

   1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

   3 eggs

   2 tsp. vanilla extract

   1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

   1 tsp. flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. To make the crust, mix cookie crumbs (I usually use ladyfingers), white sugar, and cocoa powder with a fork until mixed well. Use fork to mix melted butter into cookie crumb mixture. Press mixture evenly into bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
3. To make the filling, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk, mixing well. Add vanilla extract and eggs and mix until smooth. 
4. To add chocolate chips, toss 1/3 of chocolate chips with flour in a separate bowl, and then mix the chocolate chip/flour mixture into the filling. This will keep the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom. 
5. Pour filling into pan, and sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top of the cheesecake. 
6. To keep cheesecake from splitting, set a pan of boiling water on the bottom rack of oven before putting cheesecake in oven. 
7. Bake cheesecake on a middle oven rack for about an hour, and then turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour. 
8. Refrigerate cheesecake at least four hours before removing sides of pan. 

Banana Bread and Breadlettes

This recipe is adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. One recipe makes one 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf or two 7.5 x 3.5 x 2- inch loaves. OR, this time I tried making little banana breadlettes in this random mini-square baking pan I have by Wilton. And one recipe makes 12 little breadlettes in this pan.

You will need:

• 2 cups + 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3-5 bananas)
• 1 cup + 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 2 Tbsp. unmelted butter
• 1/3 cup chopped almonds

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottoms and sides of pan(s). In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, banana, 1 cup brown sugar, and melted butter. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moist; batter will be lumpy. Pour batter into pans.

3. To make streusel-nut topping, combine 1/4 cup brown sugar and 3 Tbsp. flour. Cut 2 Tbsp. flour into the mixture with a pastry blender until it looks like course crumbs. Stir in almonds.

4. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes for 9x5x3-inch pan or 40 to 45 minutes for 7.5x3.5x2-inch pans or 20 minutes for breadlette pan, or until a toothpick put in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

This is my very favorite hummus. And it's really easy!

You will need:

• 1 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• about 3/4 cup roasted red peppers

Put everything in the blender and blend! To make pita chips, cut each piece of pita bread into six triangle-shaped pieces and toast in the toaster oven for about five minutes.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

This recipe comes from Better Homes and Gardens. Instead of 'cooking oil,' though, I use a mixture of butter and coconut oil, or just butter. These cookies are really fun and really chocolatey.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
• 1/2 cup butter (or 3/8 cup butter & 1/8 cup coconut oil)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine eggs, granulated sugar, melted chocolate, butter/oil, baking powder, and vanilla extract. I have never actually used melted chocolate in this recipe. I have always substituted cocoa powder and butter for it. But next time, I will try it. :) Beat these ingredients on medium speed until combined. Gradually beat in the flour. If you can't use the mixer to beat in all of the flour, use a wooden spoon to combine the rest in. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours or until the dough is easy to handle.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a large cookie sheet. Put the powdered sugar in a small bowl. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in powdered sugar to coat them generously. Place the balls 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet.
3. Bake the cookies about 10 minutes or until the edges are set and the tops are dry. Do not overbake. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let them cool. Should make about 36 cookies. If you want more cookies, you can shape the dough into 1/2-inch balls and bake them for about 8 minutes. This will give you about 72 cookies.

Chocolate Roll Cake

Also known as "The Birthday Cake" to a friend and myself, this is a really fun chocolate cake that looks festive. The recipe for it came from a KitchenAid cookbook: KitchenAid: Great Baking and More, and my friend's mom used to make it for her every birthday while she was living at home. The KitchenAid stand mixer comes in really handy for this one.

Cake Ingredients:

• 4 eggs, separated
• 3/4 cup sugar, divided
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder

Whipped Cream Filling Ingredients:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp sugar

1. Whip egg yolks on speed 8 (that's high) until they are light and lemon-colored, about 2 minutes. Continuing on speed 8, gradually sprinkle in 1/4 cup sugar and vanilla extract and beat for 2 more minutes. Remove the mixture from the bowl and set aside.
2. Whip egg whites in clean mixer bowl on speed 8 until the whites begin to hold shape. Continuing on speed 8, gradually sprinkle in remaining sugar, whipping until stiff but not dry.
3. Fold egg yolk mixture into egg whites. I still don't totally have that folding thing down. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder together. Fold into egg mixture.
4. Line a 10-1/2 x 15-1/2 x 1 inch jelly roll pan with wax paper and grease. Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately turn onto a towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Remove wax paper, and roll cake and towel together. Cool completely.
5. To make whipped cream filling, whip cream and vanilla extract on speed 8 until it begins to thicken. Gradually sprinkle in sugar, and whip until it's stiff.
6. When the cake has cooled, unroll it and spread it with whipped cream filling. Reroll the cake and sprinkle the top with powdered sugar (or more whipped cream filling :)).

Truffles!

Easy to make, and very rewarding!

Basic Ingredients:

• 8 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (high quality, 62% cacao or higher)
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Optional Alternative Flavorings (substitue for vanilla extract):

• 1-2 Tbsp amaretto
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 bunch mint leaves, stems removed, chopped, about 1 cup
• 1 cinnamon stick & 2 cardamom pods
• 2-3 drops essential oil (such as lavender or mandarin orange)

Truffle Coating Ideas:

• dark cocoa powder
• finely chopped nuts
• large-grain salt & sugar
• dipping chocolate

Heat whipping cream in double-boiler. Alternatively, if you don't have a double-boiler, bring whipping cream to a very low simmer in a saucepan. If you are using a flavoring other than vanilla extract, add it to the cream. If you are using a solid flavoring, such as the mint leaves or cinnamon & cardamom, remove the cream from the heat after it simmers, and let it steep for an hour. Strain the solid ingredients out, and return the cream to a low simmer.

Add the chocolate and vanilla extract to the double-boiler, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Allow the mixture to cool, and refrigerate the mixture for two hours.

After refrigerating, roll out teaspoon-sized balls from the mixture. I did this by using a small melon-baller and then rolling the balls in my hand to make them round. If you do this, try to hold them for as little time as possible, because they will begin to melt. Put all of the truffle balls on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and chill overnight (overnight is ideal, but I was only able to chill them for a couple of hours, because I was pressed for time, and it worked okay).

Take them out and roll them in your cocoa powder, nuts, or salt/sugar, or dip them in your melted dipping chocolate. My favorite combination was dark chocolate (vanilla extract only) truffles coated in salt and sugar. Sooo good! This recipe should make between 30 and 40 truffles.