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    • Chocolate Mint Brownies

      Posted at 9:00 pm by Lisa Cavallari
      Mar 13th

      Dublin Marked on Map

      These chocolate mint brownies are nothing like drinking a dark, smooth Guinness in Ireland, but they are a festive and decadent option to serve around St. Patrick’s Day.

      Chocolate Mint Brownies

      Ingredients:

      Brownie base:

      1 box brownie mix (I used Betty Crocker)

      Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on brownie mix box

      Filling:

      3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

      1/4 cup butter, softened

      1/4 cup whipping cream

      3 ounces cream cheese, softened

      1/4 tsp mint extract

      4 drops green food color

      Topping:

      1/2 cup whipping cream

      1 bag (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

      1/2 cup butter

      Directions:

      Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease bottom of 13×9-inch pan with cooking spray.  Make brownies according to directions on the box.  Cool completely after baking, about an hour.

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      In large bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Spread over cooled brownies.  Refrigerate 1 hour.

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      I dolloped the frosting on first to allow for easier spreading.  I also used an offset spatula, but a butter knife works just as well.  In the end, it doesn’t matter how smooth you get the frosting because the third layer will cover any flaws.

      In a 2-quart saucepan, heat topping ingredients over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until melted and smooth.  Cool about ten minutes.

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      Pour topping over filling; lift pan and tilt from side to side to allow the topping to spread evenly.  It will look smooth and glossy.  Refrigerate uncovered about 2 hours or until set.  Before cutting into bars, let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.  For easier cutting, clean knife often to prevent crumbs.  Store covered in refrigerator.

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      Enjoy one…

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      …or two.  Slainte!

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      Posted in Baking | Tagged mint brownies, St. Patrick's Day
    • Cute As A Button

      Posted at 9:14 pm by Lisa Cavallari
      Feb 10th

      IMG_3332

      Here is a cute recipe for you to try for Valentine’s Day.  Heart shortbread buttons; they make great gifts  for grandparents, co-workers and friends.  Wrap the cookies up in a festive bag, deliver them and just see if it doesn’t elicit a positive response.

      Heart Shortbread Buttons

      Ingredients

      1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

      1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

      2 cups all-purpose flour

      3/4 tsp coarse salt

      Directions

      Place butter into a large bowl and beat with hand-held mixer until fluffy.  About two minutes.  Add sugar and beat again until combined.  Slowly add the flour and salt and beat for another 3 minutes or until mixture is more sticky than crumbly.*(see note at bottom)

      Form dough into a disc shape and cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for about an hour to overnight.

      Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Take out dough and allow it to rest on counter for about ten minutes.  Sprinkle a bit of flour on your work surface and along rolling-pin.  Roll dough to about a half-inch for thickness.  Cut out heart shapes.

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      Using a flexible drinking straw, poke two holes in the center of the heart to create the button look.

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      Bake on baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 15-20 minutes or until you see color deepen slightly in your cookies.  Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

      Cookies will stay fresh up to one week.

      *Note: I experimented with a different recipe calling for less butter and more flour and my mixture was entirely too crumbly to roll out the dough.  I ended up throwing out the first batch.  Keep in mind, that if the temperature of your kitchen is chilly like mine is currently, that can also impact your shortbread dough and keep it from getting it to the consistency you need which is like that of sugar cookie dough.

      Here is what the batch that I threw out looked like:

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      Have a happy Valentine’s Day!

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      Posted in Baking | Tagged heart button, shortbread, shortbread button
    • Caramel Cheesecake Bars

      Posted at 9:00 pm by Lisa Cavallari
      Feb 4th

      IMG_3296

      I am keeping my promise.  Here is the recipe for the caramel cheesecake bars.  Try them for Valentine’s Day or I’m Sick of Snow Day.  Either way, it will cheer you and your loved ones up.

      Caramel Cheesecake Bars

      Ingredients

      Crust

      2 and 1/4 cups crushed graham crackers (use a food processor) about the same as 1 and 1/2 sleeves of graham crackers

      2 tbs granulated sugar

      10 tbs melted unsalted butter

      Filling

      3  8-ounce pkg cream cheese at room temperature

      1 cup granulated sugar

      3 eggs

      1/2 cup dulce de leche (I used Nestle. Found in the international food section of your supermarket)

      2 tsp vanilla extract

      Topping

      2/3 cup dulce de leche

      3 tbs heavy whipping cream

      3 tbs jarred caramel sauce (I used Smuckers)

      Optional: flaked sea salt or fleur de sel

      Directions

      Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.

      Combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a medium bowl.  Pour melted butter over mixture and combine until all ingredients are incorporated.

      Evenly spread mixture into baking pan.  I used my stainless steel measuring cup sprayed with non-stick cooking spray to press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan.

      Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Allow to cool while you make the filling.

      In a medium bowl beat together the cream cheese and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time until thoroughly mixed.  Add vanilla and dulce de leche.

      Very carefully spread your filling mixture over the crust.  This part can be a little tricky because the crumbs can shift a bit, but use a large spoon to slowly even out the filling all the way to the edges of your pan.  If some of the crumbs move around that’s okay because the filling will get puffy as it bakes so no one will be the wiser.

      Bake the cheesecake for 35 minutes or until the edges begin to brown and crack a little.  Allow cheesecake to cool completely before adding the topping.

      For the topping, combine dulce de leche, heavy cream and caramel sauce into a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave in 10 second increments stirring in between cooking times to combine ingredients together.  Altogether, I did this process 3 times for a total of 30 seconds.

      Pour the topping over cooled cheesecake using a spoon to spread sauce all around the top and to the edges.   Cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours to overnight to allow caramel to set.

      When you are ready to serve, cut into squares and sprinkle with flaked salt.

      Good luck!

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      Posted in Baking | Tagged caramel, cheesecake bar, dulce de leche
    • Super Bowl 2014

      Posted at 7:27 pm by Lisa Cavallari
      Feb 3rd

      Happy Monday! Here is a recap of our Superbowl gathering from yesterday.  The menu consisted of: chili (thank you G), pasta salad (thank you Sylv) Polish sausage, baked ham and cheese sandwiches, meatballs, a bloomin’ onion loaf, hot swiss cheese dip with crumbled bacon, chocolate chip cookies, salted caramel cheesecake bars, Rice Krispie treats and adorable football and turf cupcakes (thanks Sylv).  All-in-all, entirely waaaay too much food, but still fun to try a little of everything. Too bad the game wasn’t exciting, but Bruno Mars had a spot-on performance and this is coming from a girl who changes the station every time his overplayed songs come on the radio (entirely not his fault).  Sorry Bruno.  I would love to see you in concert.

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      The Superbowl XLVIII Commemorative ball.  This is my husband’s idea of accessorizing our entertainment center.  I admit that it looked sharp for the game.

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      Here are the girls getting ready for the arrival of their friends. Sydney is sporting a 2 bar Jets helmet from the 1960s (left)and Olivia is wearing a throwback helmet from the 1950s (right). Unfortunately, I was not able to take as many photos of the food as I would have liked, but hey, catching up with friends is definitely more important.

      IMG_3286Bloomin’ Onion Loaf.  The recipe can be found at the bottom of this post.

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      Baked ham and cheese sandwiches.  They were good, but maybe a bit too sweet so I would cut back on the brown sugar next time.  The recipe is below.

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      Caramel Cheesecake bars.  These were awesome!  Recipe in tomorrow’s post. Promise!  Another great thing about game day-using low maintenance plastic utensils and paper plates and napkins.

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      Turf cupcakes brought by my friend, Sylvia and mini Rice Krispie Treats.  Love the football cupcake wrapper.

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      An easy game to whip up for the kids was Pin the Football On the Goal Post. Do I even need to mention that I got this idea from Pinterest?   Cut out the goal post using yellow construction paper, then just have the kids design and cut out their own footballs, attach some tape to the back, grab a blindfold and voilà! You’ve got yourself a fun highlight for their night.

      Now that football season is over let’s gear up for baseball…and warmer weather. Go Cubs!

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      Bloomin’ Onion Bread

      Ingredients

      One round loaf sourdough bread

      1/2 cup melted butter

      1 tsp poppy seeds

      1/2 cup chopped green onions

      6 ounces sliced Monterey jack cheese

      2 tsp garlic salt

      Directions

      Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice sourdough loaf without cutting all the way to the bottom.  Turn loaf and cut crosswise creating little squares.  This part is a little tougher, but the sourdough is strong enough to take it. Place sliced cheese in between the bread squares that you just created. Combine melted butter with garlic salt, green onions, poppy seeds.  Pour mixture over sourdough bread.  Cover with aluminum foil. Bake covered for 15 minutes.  Take off foil and bake for another 10 minutes.

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      Baked Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

      Ingredients

      16 white sandwich buns

      Honey baked deli ham

      Sliced Provolone cheese

      Topping

      3/4 cup melted butter

      3 tbs brown sugar 2 tsp yellow mustard or 1 tsp dried mustard

      2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

      1 tbs poppy seeds

      Directions

      Assemble ham and cheese sandwiches in a 9×13 pan. Combine melted butter, brown sugar, mustard, poppy seeds and Worcestershire sauce.  Pour mixture over sandwiches. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 2 hours if not overnight.  Do not allow to sit for longer than 12 hours or bread may be soggy. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake covered for 25 minutes.  Uncover and bake for another 5 minutes.  Serve warm.

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      Posted in Baking, Cooking | Tagged bloomin' onion, football cupcakes, Superbowl, Wilson
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