Okay friends we have been eating this Honeycrisp Harvest Salad from Mommy Mouse Club House and we’re in love! Seriously such a delightful fall salad! You can find the ingredients and recipe on her website that I have linked here Honeycrisp Harvest Salad, most of the ingredients we had already on hand but we’re definitely stocking up on our weekend grocery store pickup order so we can make it for lunches next week! 

Also note it does not have to be Mickey shaped to be delicious but I mean it is pretty cute! 

Homemade Apple Pie Spice Granola

This Apple Pie Spice Granola is so tasty and now one of my families fall favorites. I wanted to spice up my cooking a bit after returning from our time with family and my husbands summer internship so I took to Pinterest and found a few recipes I liked and combined all the things and liked about them And what I had in my own pantry and made my my own! We have been eating this plain, with yogurt and as a topping on salads! It’s versatile and good! 

Ingredients 

1/2 cup sliced almonds

3 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 1/2 heaping teaspoons apple pie spice

1/3 cup honey

3 tablespoons coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sliced almonds, oats, salt, brown sugar, sunflower seeds, and apple pie spice into the bowl with the almonds and stir to combine.

In a small microwaveable bowl, combine honey and coconut oil, and heat for 40 seconds. Stir to dissolve the coconut oil, and add the vanilla extract.

Pour the honey mixture over the oats, and stir so that they are evenly coated.

Pour the oats evenly onto a cookie sheet lined with foil.

Bake the oats for 5 minutes, and then stir them around. Return to the oven for 4-6 more minutes ( I did 4). Watch closely so it won’t burn.

Pour the granola and onto a piece of wax paper to cool. Spread it out into a thin layer, about 1/4 inch thick.

After it cools completely, break the granola into clusters and store in an airtight container.

Orange Scones

Friends this is a recipe that is my favorite to share! These orange scones are so so good!

Scone:
1/3 C Sugar
Zest of 2 medium Oranges
2 C Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 Tbsp (1 cube) butter frozen
1/2 C Sour Cream
1 lg Egg

Glaze: 3 TBSP melted butter, 1 C powdered sugar sifted, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 2 TBSP freshly squeezed orange juice

Combine orange zest and sugar, mix with fingers tips until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add in flour, powder, soda and salt. Mix until combined. Grate butter into flour mixture using large hole of grater. Use fingers to mix in butter til it resembles a cornmeal. Whisk egg and sour cream together until smooth. Mix in sour cream 1/4 of the mixture til large clumps of dough form. Use hands to press clumps of dough against the sides to form ball continue to add in the rest of sour cream, it will be sticky but will come together. Spread out on lightly floured surface. Flatten out to be about 3/4 of inch. Cut into triangles.  Bake on 400 degrees for 8- 10 minutes. If put on lower rack they will brown.
You only want the bottoms to be barely browned!

Mickey Rice Krisipe Treats

Making homemade Rice Krispie Treats has been a staple since I was little! Now that I’ve got a little family of my own it’s still one of my favorite treats to whip up and transports me back to childhood even for just a moment! Plus making them Mickey shaped and like they do at Disneyland makes me feel a little closer to the magic at home, especially while the Parks are closed! 

We delivered a bunch of Rice Krispie treats to our friends door steps to try and lift some spirits during this time of social distancing and the response we got back from one of my prolific baking friends was that these were the BEST Rice Krispie treats her family has ever had! That was so sweet of her to say, but I thought if that was the case I might as well share them, the ingredients are not anything novel, but I think just some minor changes and tips kick them up a notch from other recipes! 

1 Cube Margarine

8 C small Marshmallows 

10 C Rice Krispie 

1-2 C additional small Marshmallows 

Heat cube of Margarine in pan, once it’s nearly completely melted begin adding your 8 Cups of marshmallows. Continually stir these until close to melted ( this is a game changer) do not melt them completely you still want to see some lumps as pictured here:

When you reach that point pull your pan off the heat and begin folding in the Rice Krispies you want to keep stirring them quickly, but gently until they are mixed and coated with marshmallows (you want to work quickly so it’s still warm enough to mix easily). Once they are almost or are all coated with the melted marshmallows you want to throw in handfuls of the additional 1-2 cups of marshmallows. Mix these in as well and try to distribute them throughout your Rice Krispies these will melt only slightly and that’s just how we like them.

If you are placing them in a pan or mold do not pack too tightly either, you want them to fit the pan or mold but not be overly compressed (a baking analogy would be thinkvof measuring a cup of sugar vs a cup of brown sugar you don’t want to pack these in but firm enough to hold together).

I then used a Mickey cookie cutter and placed the warm and still gooey Rice Krispies in the cookie cutter. In order to keep them from sticking to my hands I keep a small stream of water running from my faucet and keep my hands slightly damp. You want do not want to make the, soggy just have your hands damp enough that they don’t stick much.

Following these instructions will lead to a gooey Rice Krispie treat that is firm enough to mold but not to crunchy or hard! Plus they will stay softer for longer!

I then tried to put some Disneyland magic into the, by dipping them in melted chocolate chips and then covering them with sprinkles and m&m’s! 

Fluffer Nutter Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe

Friends this recipe I am about to share is a keeper! Whether you just need a great go to Snickerdoodle cookie or if you're looking to spice up the classic Snickerdoodle or you need a new cookie during this time of social distancing... or if you're like me and are trying to make some Disney Magic at home while the Parks are closed then this recipe is for you!

We were currently on a vacation to Disneyland when they announced the closures and though our trip was cut a little short we were able to still try one of the amazing Fluffer Nutter Churros at California Adventure, it was for sure the best churro I've ever had and... dare I say it gave my favorite Disneyland Resort treat (the Churro Funnel Cake) a run for it's money, when the Parks open back up hopefully we can make it down to do a formal family taste test of which we like better.

However, til then we need to bring some magic home so....

Let me introduce you to the Fluffer Nutter Churro inspired --- Fluffer Nutter Snickerdoodle!

However, as most things on my blog are Disney inspired and Mickey shaped, I'm thinking we should collectively come up with a name. My top ones are the Smickeydoodle, the Mickerdoodle, and the Smickerydoodle... what are your thoughts?! I am also open for other suggestions! Either way these are delightful! 

Snickerdoodle Recipe: 

1 C. Butter

1 1/2 C. Sugar

2 lg Eggs

2 3/4 C. Flour

2 tsp. Cream of Tartar

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp. Salt

3 TBSP Sugar

3 tsp. Cinnamon

Have on hand peanut butter, chocolate chips and marshmallows if you're turning these into Fluffer Nutter Snickerdoodles. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream together butter, 1 1/2 C. sugar, and eggs. Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients into butter mixture. Then separately mix the 3 Tbsp sugar and 3 tsp. cinnamon in a small bowl.  Use cookie scoop and roll scooped dough into the cinnamon/sugar mixture and coat balls by gently rolling in the mixture.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet and cook for 10 minutes.-- Watch cookies closely to find the appropriate baking time for your oven.

Then after they have cooled, melt some peanut butter ( I love Jiff specifically reduced fat) and I put just a small amount in the microwave and heated it til it was a drizzling consistency (about a total of 30 seconds in 10-15 second increments). Then drizzled the cookies and sprinkled mini chocolate chips and marshmallow pieces.  

Notes: The peanut butter, chocolate chips and marshmallow can be a little overpowering to the cinnamon taste and you want all the flavors to mix together, my goal was to not have one flavor overpower the others so I would just drizzle lightly the peanut butter over your cookie (remember you can always add more later if you desire). 

Sidenote: I live at a lower elevation and have a oven that runs a little hotter than most so I had mine set to about 335 degrees and cooked for 11 minutes.

Happy Baking!

Banana Muffins You Will Love

With it being the week of Valentines I wanted to share a few of my favorite recipes that I LOVE and know that you will LOVE too! These Banana Muffins are sure to be a hit. My mom and I went through our favorite family recipes and played around with them to make them even better and this is the one we've come up with. 

If you are more of a Splenda person we have a lower sugar version for you too, just follow the substitution instructions! 

As far as picture details go, a few years ago my mother in law gave me these cute heart shaped muffin tins which make anything that goes in a tin that much more festive! However, if you don't have those you can actually use marbles in regular muffin tins and shape it into a heart! Just give that a google for instructions! But what I love even more than this muffin recipe is that Mickey Mouse cake stand, seriously all the heart eyes for that little guy! My best friend just sent that to me for my birthday and I cannot get enough of it, beyond me already making it part of my kitchen decor I may just display everything from microwavable meals (grad school wife life) to fancy cakes on it! 

1/2 C Butter (1 Cube)

1/2 C Yogurt plain or vanilla-awesome or Butter Milk

1 1/2 C sugar*

3 eggs 

3 C Flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp soda

4-5 medium Bananas- very ripe mashed 

Optional Walnuts or slivered almonds on top 

Cream together: Butter, yogurt, sugar, add eggs

Stir together: Flour, Salt & Soda

Mash Fine- Bananas ( do not use more than 5 it gets to mushy)

Add Bananas to creamed mixture, blend well.  Slowly add flour mixture and optional nuts.  Don't over mix

Pour into lightly greased loaf pans 

Use ice cream scoop 1 per muffin and 4 scoops per small loaf pan 

(My oven runs a little hotter than most so I do it at about 360 for 15. So adjust the following accordingly)

For muffins cook at 375 for 18 minutes

For small loaf pan cook 325 37-40 minutes place 4 small loaf pans on cookie sheet.

For large loaf pan cook 325 for 50 minutes 

* or you can do 1/2 C sugar and 3/4 C Splenda

Another option would be using half the amount of white flour and adding half the amount of whole wheat flour. Remember for buttermilk you can sour milk using 1 TBSP lemon juice or vinegar for to equal 1 Cup milk.