Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Pizza

We love pizza around here. And when Amber Herself posted about pizza last week, it made me really want to make pizza. We debated between BBQ chicken pizza, red skin potato pizza (inspired by Mellow Mushroom!), or buffalo chicken pizza. Buffalo chicken pizza won (read: it was the only one that didn’t require me to go to the grocery store). We’ve made buffalo chicken pizza a few times, but I think we hit on the winning version today.

For the crust, we use the pizza dough recipe from Simply Recipes. I use AP flour and add gluten. Oh, and some garlic powder, because I love garlic. I also prebake the crust at 450 for a few minutes before I add the toppings.

For the toppings:

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 T buffalo wing sauce (it doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s enough!)
Olive oil to brush on the crust (I used a little over a tablespoon)
4 oz cooked chicken breast, diced or shredded
1 cup shredded mozzarella

In the past, we’ve used either blue cheese dressing or ranch dressing as a base. Today, I chose to brush the crust with olive oil and sprinkle crumbled blue cheese over it – and then I wondered why I haven’t always made it that way!

Then I tossed on the chicken, drizzled buffalo wing sauce, and put on the mozzarella cheese (yes, I put the cheese on top of all the toppings – keeps the chicken from drying out too much while the pizza cooks). Put it in the oven at 450 for about 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and then wait impatiently for it to cool so you can eat it without burning the roof of your mouth.

Or just go ahead and burn your mouth. It’s probably worth it.

Oh, and for those counting calories? If you cut it into 8 pieces, each piece only has about 170 calories (according to My Fitness Pal). Not bad.

Recipe: Dog Ice Cream

My dogs love ice cream, but sometimes I don’t feel like getting them in the car and going to Bruster’s for dog sundaes. Frosty Paws are expensive (like $3.99 for 4!) so I only buy then when I have a coupon and/or they’re on sale. But then I thought, how hard can it be to make some? So I googled around and found this recipe and decided to try it out (with just a few changes).

So here we go:

You need a 32 oz carton of plain yogurt, 2-3 T peanut butter (I use natural – it’s just peanuts and salt), bananas, and some Dixie cups. There’s only one banana in the picture, but I used two. I didn’t add the honey the recipe calls for, because that just seems like extra sugar that dogs don’t need.

Anyway. Throw that all in a food processor and mix it up.

Then ladle it into Dixie cups.

Now stick it in the freezer! Once they’re frozen, you can toss them all in a big ziploc bag for storage.

Now let’s do a cost analysis:

2 bananas: $.20
Plain yogurt: $2.09
2 T PB: $.14
14 Dixie Cups: $.23
Cost per cup? 19 cents!

Easy. Cheap. Loved by dogs everywhere (or by my dogs at least). What more could you ask for?

First Care Package!

I’ve never been able to send care packages while Chris is deployed before, so this is really exciting to me! Chris isn’t being helpful with suggestions of things he wants/needs, so he gets what he gets. I think it’s a pretty good box though.

The snacks:

Chris is addicted to hot fries. I send him a bunch with him when he leaves, but he’s out now. The lady at Big Lots (the only place I can buy individual serving bags) now knows me as the “Hot Fries lady.” I’m also going to add some zucchini bread I made and probably some Guinness brownies

The fun stuff:

If you can’t make it out, that’s season 7 of the West Wing (he just finished Season 6), a home-brewing magazine, a book called F**k You Penguin based on a blog that tells off cute animals, and a book by Bill Bryson about the informal history of American English. If I can find something Star Trek to throw in, that’s pretty much Chris in a box. I would send him the Star Trek coffee cup they’re selling at Second and Charles, but he finally bought himself a mug on the boat, so he doesn’t need one anymore.

By the way, I know I posted a picture of this cake on Twitter when we made it, but I never got around to putting it on here until now. A couple of friends and I made this cake before Chris’s deployment (we’re always looking for reasons to play with fondant and buttercream):

[Isn't it cute? If I don't make it as SECDEF, I'll open a cake business ]

Anyway. What’s your favorite thing to put in a care package? Any must sends that I’m missing?

Recipe: Brownies

Adapted from Mmm-Mmm Better Brownies

Disclaimer: I like super fudgey chocolately brownies, not cakey sugary ones. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the wrong place. Although if you do want them to be a little crisper on top and not so sticky, sub in some oil for some of the sour cream.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream (or plain yogurt if you prefer)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease an 8 X 8 pan.

In a bowl, combine sugar, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Then add in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

Pour that in that pan, and stick it in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with some crumbs but no batter on it (Not completely clean! Who wants brownies like that!?).

Let them cool until you can’t wait anymore and then cut them.

If you cut them into 16 pieces, each one will have 1 gram of fat and 75 calories. Or make 8 bigger brownies with 2 grams of fat and 150 calories because we all know you won’t each just one.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Zucchini-Corn

This is seriously my favorite side dish ever. It’s super simple, and I could probably eat a pan of it myself. I have no idea where this recipe came from, but my dad used to make it. I associate it with mexican food – it goes great with enchiladas… and tacos, cajun sausages, grilled chicken, fish, etc. My dad has also been known to throw in tomatoes, but I do not like tomatoes (I’m working on it!).

Anyway.

You’ll need:

1/2-1 can of corn
1-2 zucchini
1 onion, diced
Olive oil
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Cheese (cotija or shredded mexican blend or pepperjack… whatever you want, really)

But you can mix and substitute as needed. For example, I used this today:

I had no fresh onion or garlic on hand, so I threw in creole seasoning – it gives it a kick – and dried onion instead. I’d also just discovered we were out of mexican shredded cheese (darn that mass production of breakfast burritos last weekend!) and was wondering what I could use in its place (sliced pepperjack, if you’re wondering). And I’d already tossed the zucchini in the pan with olive oil so they didn’t make the picture. Geez, why did I even bother with this picture?

Anyway, dice up your zucchini, garlic, and onion. Saute it in the olive oil until it gets soft and a little browned.

Then, dump in the corn. You can use whatever proportion you want – I usually go a little heavier on the zucchini, but in this case, I only had 1 zucchini and I don’t have any meals planned for the rest of the week that would use the rest of the corn.

Stir that around and heat up the corn. Add your salt and pepper (and creole seasoning or whatever seasoning you might be throwing in) to taste. Then, turn off the heat and throw some cheese on top. The steam will make it all melty.

Mmm tasty.

So has anyone else ever heard of this? Is it something my dad made up or an actual side that other people eat? In any case, it’s my favorite and you should go make some. And then give some to me.

30 Before 30: Making My Own Bread

I just hit 27 and I’m not making much progress on my 30 before 30 list. As of today, I have two completed and one in the works (we’re headed to Ireland next month!).

Today, I decided that I was not going to go to the store to buy bread for dinner. I was going to make it.

Someone ate a piece of one... I plead the fifth.

Um, amazing. Not quite as pretty as store bought, but hey, it was my first time and it tastes better than store bought!

(Yes, I know my pizza stone has seen better days. We make pizza a lot. Don’t judge me.)

It was so easy that I flipped through my bread book and found an equally cinchy recipe for whole wheat sandwich bread – aka Chris’s bread of choice. So, time to cross another goal off the 30 before 30 list: start making my own bread!

In case you’re wondering, this is the bread book:

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

I highly recommend it. Especially if you love bread as much as I do. Pretty much any bread you could want is in this book, and most of the recipes are based off one standard dough recipe that’s given at the beginning of the book. It’s awesome.

Recipe: Irish Car Bomb Cake

Chris’s mom was horrified that I was going to make my own birthday cake, and told Chris that if he wouldn’t buy one for me, she would order one for me. It was a nice thought, but I don’t think she understands that (1) I like to bake and (2) I can make a better cake than we can buy.

I always make Chris a special cake based on strawberry shortcake, so I wanted something unique for mine too. And thus, the Irish Car Bomb Cake was born.

Now, I know what you’re (probably) thinking: “Sespi, that is not a pretty cake.” It’s an Irish Car Bomb cake, not a pina colada cake! (For some reason, I associate pina coladas with umbrellas and lots of fruit garnish.) But it is a delicious cake and that’s what matters. See how much of it is gone? That was eaten by four people. Even Chris ate two slices.

So, by popular request, my recipe:

Guinness Cake

1 Box chocolate cake mix (I used a Duncan Hines Chocolate Fudge cake.)
Egg and oil called for on box of cake mix
Guinness

This is the easy part. Make the cake as directed on the box, except replace the water called for with Guinness. Bake in two 9 inch round pans. Your house will smell like beer while it bakes. Don’t worry, the smell is much stronger than the taste of the cake will be.

Bailey’s Cream Cheese Filling

4 oz cream cheese
1/2 stick butter
1/2 box powdered sugar (box is 1 pound, about 4 cups)
Bailey’s, to taste

Mix the cream cheese and butter, then add in the powdered sugar a little at a time. When it’s all blended, add the Bailey’s. I started with a tablespoon, mixed, tasted, added, and so on until I was happy with the taste. I think I ended up using a little more than half of one of the mini bottles. If it gets too runny, you can add more powdered sugar to fix it.

Note: This is half of my normal cream cheese frosting recipe. Believe me, it’s more than enough since you’re only putting it between the two cakes.

Chocolate Whiskey Buttercream frosting:
Adapted from the Williams Sonoma chocolate buttercream recipe

¾ c dark cocoa powder
4 TBSP vegetable oil
3-4 cups powdered sugar (start with three, add as needed)
1 stick butter
2 tablespoons milk
2 tbsp whiskey, plus more to taste

Mix the cocoa powder with vegetable oil and set aside.

Beat powdered sugar, butter, milk, and whiskey together with electric mixer. Once fully combined (it will be pretty liquid-y), blend in the cocoa mixture until the frosting is the right consistency. If it’s still too runny, add more powdered sugar. If it’s not whiskey-tasting enough, add more whiskey.

Note: The Williams Sonoma recipe actually calls for 4 oz melted unsweetened chocolate, but I only had two, so I substituted cocoa powder and vegetable oil.

Voila. Assemble and enjoy.

Recipe: Super Easy Pumpkin Cookies

Wow, two posts in one day! I’m on a roll.

This recipe, sadly, cannot be claimed on my own. It belongs to my former roommate, Casey Jay, who has a sugar addiction nearing my own and loves simple recipes as much as I do.

Here’s your very extensive ingredient list:

One can pumpkin
One box cake mix

• CJ uses spice cake, and I would have too, but all I had in my cupboard was butter pecan (and who even knew that was a cake? I sure didn’t). I added my own spices to compensate – cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice. But that complicates the recipe, so if you’re for simplicity, look for spice cake.

Optional: chocolate chips

Stir the pumpkin into the cake mix. And the chocolate chips if you want them.

• Casey Jay likes to add chocolate chips. I can vouch that this is an amazing addition, even though at first the combination of chocolate and pumpkin seems weird. It’s not weird; it’s delicious. Today I had no chocolate chips on hand though. Possibly because I went on a crazy baking spree over the weekend when I was stressed.

Mix, and bake for 10-15 minutes at 350, depending on your preference and how big of scoops you used. 10 minutes is a very soft cakey cookie. This makes about 3-4 dozen cookies (but I make small cookies so I can eat a few and not feel bad).

The above picture was taken while the second dozen was cooking… I only ate two, not not two dozen and two. Really.

Now, if you want to go the extra mile (probably not if you used chocolate chips… that’s just too much), take out the tub of cream cheese frosting that you keep in the freezer. Ok, I realize that maybe not everyone keeps a tub of cream cheese frosting in the freezer, but you should. It freezes really well because of the high fat content, and homemade cream cheese frosting is SO much better than store bought.

Anyway, take a cookie, stick some cream cheese frosting on it, and then put another cookie on top of it. Yeah, I know, I’m excessive. But it really is delicious

Recipe: Cinnamon Rolls

By request, I present to you my cinnamon roll recipe. Well… Debbie Macomber’s Cinnamon Roll recipe from the Cedar Cove cookbook slightly tweaked. Buy the cookbook. I love it. Read the Cedar Cove series if you like romance novels — note, actual romance novels, not bodice rippers. There’s no explicit scenes, just stories about people in love. (‘m not opposed to bodice rippers, but these are not them.) Also, they take place in Washington, and I’m told the town is based on Port Orchard, WA. I want to live there.

Cinnamon Rolls
Makes 12

1/2 c whole milk
4 T unsalted butter
1 package dry active yeast
1/2 c warm water
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 t salt
3 1/4 cups flour

Filling:
1/3 cup sugar
4 t ground cinnamon
Milk for brushing

1. Microwave milk and butter until butter melts
2. Mix yeast and warm water in large bowl with mixer on low speed; let sit for 5 minutes. Beat in 1/2 c sugar and eggs until blended. Beat in salt, warm milk-butter mixture, and 2 cups of flour until blended. Switch to dough hook attachment. Add 1 1/4 cups flour and knead at medium-low speed, adding more flour if dough is too stick (I added quite a bit extra… I think around 1/2 a cup.) Mix until dough is smooth and pulls away from side of bowl, about 10 minutes.
3. Transfer dough to a large lightly oiled plastic bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let dough rise until double in size (approx 2.5 hours) then punch it down. (If you want, you can stick it in the fridge overnight now.)
4. Turn dough onto lightly floured countertop. Let rest for 10 minutes. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.
6. Roll dough into a 12×16 inch rectangle. Brush with milk (you can use a tablespoon or so of melted butter instead if you want some extra tastiness) and sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar. leaving a 1/2 border along one fo the long sides. Roll, beginning with the long side opposite the naked border. With your fingertips, press firmly along the the edge to create a seam. (Your dough might be really sticky and not want to roll easily… don’t worry, they’ll be fine.) Don’t seal the ends. Cut the log into 12 even rolls with a serrated knife and place in the prepared pan. (There will be some gaps between the rolls… that’s ok.)
7. Cover pan with plastic wrap and let dough rise until double in size, about an hour. Preheat oven to 350 and set oven rack to center position.
8. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

The cookbook says to invert them onto a wire rack at this point… I did no such thing. I also was a rebel and didn’t cool them for the suggested 20 minutes. I put the glaze on them when they were warm and ate one immediately. But I’m a rebel.

Now, the only thing that can make these better is if they had cream cheese frosting instead of the powdered sugar glaze included in the cookbook. So I’m giving you a cream cheese frosting recipe instead of the glaze. (Ok, the glaze is 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 T milk, and 1 t vanilla. Mix, pour, done.)

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick of butter
1 box of powdered sugar
1 cube (… stick?) of cream cheese
Vanilla, to taste (maybe 1 TSP or so)

Mix butter and cream cheese together with mixer. Slowly add powdered sugar. Blend until smooth. Put it on the rolls while they’re still warm so it gets all melty delicious.

If you have extra, eat it on graham crackers… or freeze it and eat it with a spoon like ice cream. Not that I do that. Ever.

Credit where credit is due: Recipe is from Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove Cookbook, with some minor tweaks and suggestions from me.

Simplest Ice Cream Cake Ever

I think there’s a trend in my recipes. My peanut butter cookies only have three ingredients and my enchiladas are layered instead of rolled because I’m lazy. Well, here’s another easy one.

What you need: 2 cartons of ice cream, a package of cookies (or homemade cookies — crunchy cookies work best), a tablespoon or two of melted butter, and a springform pan of whatever size you want.

Optional: Frosting, hot fudge, whipped cream, cherries, bananas, nuts, candy… whatever floats your boat.

Set the ice cream out to soften.

Use a blender to reduce the cookies to crumbs, then mix in the melted butter. Line the springform pan with a piece of parchment paper, then press the crumbs down firmly to cover the bottom. Bake at about 350 for around 10 minutes (don’t you love my precise measurements, cook times, and temperatures?).

Scoop the ice cream onto the crust, and press it down firmly. Smooth over the top, cover with plastic wrap and set it in the freezer to reset for a couple hours.

Done. If you want, you can frost it, but I like to eat it with hot fudge and whipped cream. You can also decorate the top with cookies, candy, fruit, or whatever you think would be tasty.

Some of my favorite cookie/ice cream combos:
Chocolate Chip Cookies/Edy’s (Dreyer’s if you’re West Coast) Slow Churned Mint Cookie Crunch
Oreos/Cookies and Cream
Peanut Butter Cookies/Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

The possibilities are endless. And delicious.