Apple Brie Pastries

What's better than a quick-and-simple recipe that looks and tastes fancy? Pretty much nothing. Especially when there's cinnamon and puff pastry involved. YUM. 

Recipe adapted from here.
Ingredients: 1 sheet of thawed puff pastry 1 granny smith apple, thinly sliced 1/2 tbsp brown sugar 1 tbsp butter, cut into 8 pieces 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 small wedge of brie cheese 1 egg white powdered sugar for dusting
Directions: 1. Unfold the puff pasty and roll it out with a floured rolling pin until it's about the size of a 10-inch square. Using a pizza cutter, cut the square into four smaller squares. 2. In the middle of each puff pastry square, place a few slices of brie cheese, then a few apple slices. 3. Sprinkle the apples with the cinnamon and brown sugar, and top with two of the butter pieces. 4. Brush the edges of each pastry with the egg white. Fold the corners to the center, overlapping the corners and brushing with egg white so they stick together. 5. Place the pastries on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 400 for 20 minutes (until puffed and lightly browned). Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm!

(puff pastry sheet)

(1/4 of the rolled out sheet)

(apple slices!)

(a few slices of brie)

(a few apple slices)

(cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter)

(all folded up)

(ready for the oven)

(all done!)

(dusted with powdered sugar)

(yum!)

Ta-da!

Enjoy!

Easter Bunny Bait

Here's a fun Easter snack, perfect for sitting in a pretty bowl on the counter for friends and family to snack on (also perfect for mailing to friends/family who need Easter goodies, or for eating all by yourself...).

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
1 bag popcorn (non-buttered), popped
1/2 bag pretzel sticks, broken into pieces
6 oz vanilla almond bark coating
1 bag Easter M&Ms

Directions:
1. Mix the popcorn, pretzels, and M&Ms in a large bowl.
2. Melt the almond bark coating according to the package directions. Drizzle it into the large bowl, and mix until the vanilla coating is evenly distributed (make sure the M&Ms and pretzels don't sink to the bottom!).
3. Spread the coated mixture onto a baking sheet covered with wax paper, and put it in the refrigerator to cool.
4. Once cooled, break larger pieces into bite-sized pieces.

(this is the popcorn I used)

(this is the almond bark coating - it's important that you get almond bark coating and not just regular chocolate!)

(broken-up pretzels)

(all the ingredients)

(vanilla coating)

(mixing it all up)

(spread onto wax paper)

(in the fridge to cool)

Ta-da!

Enjoy!

Green Velvet Cupcakes

With St. Patrick's Day around the corner, it's time for a little green fun in the kitchen! These green velvet cupcakes are just delicious, and they're so festive!

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 large eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
1 oz (yep, the whole little bottle!) green food coloring

Directions:
1. Stir eggs in a medium bowl to separate the yolks. Add oil, buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and food coloring. Whisk until combined and set aside.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, and baking soda. Make sure it all gets mixed very well (so the baking soda is evenly distributed).
3. Gradually add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until well-combined. Watch out for green splatters (don't run your mixer too fast)!
4. Pour the batter into cupcake liners.
5. Bake at 350 for about 16 minutes (for regular cupcakes) or 13 minutes (for mini cupcakes).
6. Cool on a wire rack, then add your favorite cream cheese frosting (and some St. Patty's Day sprinkles)!

(eggs)

(wet ingredients before food coloring)

(dry ingredients)

(adding food coloring)

(ready to add the green liquid!)

(wet ingredients after food coloring)

(adding wet ingredients to dry ingredients)

(finished batter)

(ready for the oven!)

(cupcakes!)

(I love doing cupcakes with my Wilton 1M tip)

(mini cupcakes!)

(regular-sized cupcake)

(Mmm, green cake!)

Delicious!

Ta-da!

Enjoy!

Easy Apple Danish

Here's a quick-and-easy recipe that makes tasty little danishes. By using crescent roll dough, you can make these delicious pastries so easily!

Recipe adapted from here.
Ingredients: 1 can refrigerated crescent rolls 1/2 can apple pie filling (or any other kind of pie filling will work to make different flavors of danishes) 1 tbsp butter, melted 1 tbsp white sugar 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 cup powdered sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla 1-2 tsp milk
Directions: 1. Separate dough into triangles and combine two triangles at a time to make rectangles. You'll end up with four rectangles. 2. Mix cinnamon and white sugar in a small bowl. 3. Brush melted butter on the rectangles. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture (leaving a little extra to sprinkle on the danish tops later). 4. Roll each rectangle up (starting with the long side) into a long cylinder. Pinch the edges to close. 5. Coil each cylinder into a spiral (like a snail), then squish the spiral into a shallow bowl shape to make room for the filling. 6. Slice the apple pieces in the pie filling into smaller chunks (just stick a knife into the can and poke and slice).  7. Place the crescent roll pieces onto a lightly-greased cookie sheet and top each one with a few tablespoons of the pie filling. 8. Sprinkle a little extra cinnamon sugar on the tops, and bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes. 9. While the danishes are baking, mix powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk in a small bowl. Stir until smooth to make a glaze. When the danishes come out of the oven, drizzle them with the glaze.

(pairing triangles to make rectangles)

(rectangles ready for cinnamon sugar!)

(long cylinders)

(turned into spirals)

(spirals smushed into shallow bowls)

(chopping apple pie filling)

(ready for the oven!)

(mixing the glaze)

(out of the oven, golden brown, and drizzled with glaze!)

Ta-da!

Enjoy!