Soft-Baked 4th of July M&M Cookies

Soft-Baked M&M Cookies - made May 31, 2020 from Together as a Family

I don't know what these taste like so, a rarity for me, I'm going to blog about them without being able to tell you one way or the other if they tasted good or not. I think they do. They looked good and they're a regular recipe for cookies so I think they turned out as well as any other M&M cookie recipe.

I baked these for military care packages and the reason I don't know what they tasted like is I packaged them all up for shipping. I normally hold back a taste test cookie or otherwise how do I know these are worthy of being sent??

But I was baking a bunch of cookies to fill multiple boxes and I ended up needing every cookie from this batch for the boxes. I've been baking long enough that I can usually tell if something turned out and these seemed to turn out so I decided I didn't need to taste test them. Multiple military service members can do that for me. And I always tell myself they've got to taste better than MREs, right?

If you want to make the M&Ms "pop" in your cookies, reserve some M&Ms and immediately push them into the tops of the baked cookies as soon as you take the baking sheets out of the oven. The M&Ms that are cracked on top are the ones who baked into the cookies. The non-cracked ones are the ones I pushed into the cookies as soon as I took them out of the oven.

12 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup M&Ms, plus more for additional garnish

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugars. Beat until combined, creamy and light in color, about 1 minute. 
2. Add egg, egg yolk and vanilla; beat until combined.
3. Add flour, baking soda, and salt, mixing on low speed until just combined. Stir in the M&Ms.
4. Portion dough into golf-ball-size balls. Cover and chill for several hours or freezer overnight.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space dough balls. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until edges are golden brown and middles no longer look raw. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Hawaiian Bread for the Bread Machine

Hawaiian Bread - made May 29, 2020, modified from More Than Thursdays

I've been getting my money's worth out of my mini bread machine lately. I may have used it more times in the past 2 months than in the last 5 years. Not that I've been testing out a bunch of new bread recipes. Since I stumbled on the Honey Oatmeal Bread, that's pretty much the only recipe I've been using.

But I finally branched out to try this recipe for Hawaiian bread. Since my bread machine is the mini version that only makes a 1-lb loaf and most recipes are for larger loaves, I always have to adjust the ingredient amounts to make sure the dough won't overflow the pan.

I've figured out my mini bread machine will accommodate up to 2 cups of flour so I adjust the proportions accordingly. For the original recipe, please click on the post title, especially if you want to make two loaves.

This loaf turned out to be more dense and sweeter than the Honey Oatmeal bread which isn't surprising. I didn't mind the sweetness as it's meant to mimic King's Hawaiian bread but I think I preferred the softer texture of the honey oatmeal bread. This wasn't bad at all but I admit I went back to the honey oatmeal bread for the next round.

1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 pineapple juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups bread flour
scant 1 teaspoon active dry yeast

1. Place egg, pineapple juice, vanilla, melted butter and sugar in bread maker pan. Cover with bread flour. Add yeast. 
2. Follow bread machine instructions to your preference. I used the soft crust setting for a 3-hour cycle. Remove when done and serve while warm.

Instant Pot Lazy Lasagna

Instant Pot Lazy Lasagna - made June 1, 2020, modified from Margin Making Mom

I'm not sure I would consider this "lasagna" versus "pasta in spaghetti sauce with ricotta cheese". I think the ricotta cheese was supposed to represent the lasagna part while the rotini (or any other non-lasagna) noodles gave the nod to "lazy" since you don't have to worry about layering lasagna noodles with ricotta cheese and sauce.

I made some modifications since I used the whole bag of rotini noodles (I have a thing about not having leftover dry pasta hanging out in my pantry) rather than the 8 ounces the original recipe called for. I compensated by increasing the amount of liquid in the recipe.

For the most part it worked. The sauce was creamy and cheesy and this was a quick, easy meal trademarked by Instant Pot usage.

1 pound ground turkey
16 ounces pasta (I used rotini)
24-ounce jar spaghetti sauce
4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Saute ground turkey in Instant Pot on Saute mode, until brown and cooked through. Drain excess grease.
2. Add noodles on top of ground turkey. Cover with spaghetti sauce and chicken broth, submerging noodles completely. Sprinkle garlic powder and Italian seasoning on top.
3. Close lid and place vent in sealing position. Manually put on 4 minutes at high pressure. 
4. When completed, allow 5 minutes of natural pressure release then do a quick release of remaining pressure. 
5. Remove lid and stir in ricotta cheese until melted and combined. Stir in mozzarella cheese until melted. Serve warm.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Snickerdoodle Blondies - made May 31, 2020 from Baked by Rachel

I've started baking for military care packages again so you're going to see more baking posts in the next few weeks.

With summer in full swing and most of the packages going to places with triple degree heat, chocolate isn't practical to send so I went with this non-chocolate option. Snickerdoodle bars are almost as good as snickerdoodles and are much easier to make.

I needed every bar the recipe made as I was sending multiple packages so I only ate a sliver for the taste test. It seemed pretty good, nice and moist with the requisite cinnamon-sugar topping. I'd make it again.

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Topping
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13 pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
3. Whisk together salt, baking powder, cinnamon and flour. Add to butter mixture in two additions and beat until just combined after each addition.
4. Press mixture in an even layer in prepared pan. Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl then sprinkle evenly over the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting and serving.

Teriyaki Ramen Chicken

Teriyaki Ramen Chicken - made May 26, 2020 from Good Cook

When I was a poor college student and even during my post-graduate student days when I had a car payment, housing payments and student loan repayments, I had the quintessential eating plan of ramen noodles to make my food budget stretch. Back in the olden days, you could even get them on sale for 20 packs for a dollar. Nowadays, technically the prices have quadrupled or more but that just means they went from a nickel to twenty cents, sometimes a quarter.

That's still affordable (thankfully!) but nowadays, you don't have to be satisfied with following the ramen noodle directions to boil water, add noodles and seasoning and serve. One trolling session through pinterest and you can get all sorts of ideas that basically just treats them as cheap noodles to serve as a base for many noodle dishes.

I ended up making this dish twice, partly because I like ramen noodles (I know, I know, they're not that healthy but noodles....) and partly because I made some mistakes that were easy to rectify the second time around so I did.

I rewrote the directions so I can save you the trouble of making the mistakes I did, namely to make a slurry with the cornstarch and some of the water before adding to the noodles so you don't add the cornstarch in one dry powdery lump that then congeals into multiple gelatinous lumps among your noodles. #yourewelcome

The original version was also a bit too salty for me so I cut back on the soy sauce and filled in with more water instead. The result was more sweet than salty but that suited my taste buds just fine.

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water, divided
1/3 to 1/2 cup soy sauce (if using 1/3 soy sauce, add enough water to fill 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 bricks of ramen noodles (without the seasoning packets)
sesame seeds for garnish

1. Heat large saucepan with a drizzle of olive oil. When hot, add diced chicken and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until cooked through. Add garlic and stir.
2. Whisk cornstarch with 1/4 cup of the 1 cup of water until a smooth slurry forms (no lumps).
3. Add soy sauce, cornstarch slurry, remaining water, brown sugar, rice vinegar and ramen noodles. Stir to combine and cover for several minutes until noodles have softened, 5-6 minutes. Stir mixture to coat the noodles with sauce. Serve warm, garnished with sesame seeds if desired.

Soft and Chewy M&M Cookies

Soft and Chewy M&M Cookies - made May 17, 2020 from Tastes Better From Scratch

At the time that I made these, I had planned to use red, white and blue M&Ms for the military care package they were going into. Unfortunately, Target didn't have those M&Ms when I went there and gone are the days when I went hunting around to different stores for ingredients.

So I made do with what I had and that was pastel M&Ms. Yeah, I know, a little out of season and probably looked odd when the package was opened but I always figure cookies are cookies and have to taste better than MREs, right?

This was a pretty good recipe. Like a regular chocolate chip cookie, it had crisp edges and the middle was chewy. I have to say, though, that I'm not a huge fan of M&M cookies. I like how they look and how, if you have the "right color" M&Ms, you can tailor them for particular holidays for a great festive look. But I don't eat M&Ms as a rule and they add more sweetness to a cookie than I normally go for. If you do like M&M cookies though, this is a good recipe to try.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup mini chocolate chips (I used regular-size)
1 cup M&Ms

1. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Combine butter, sugar and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl; beat until well combined.
3. Add egg and vanilla; mix until combined.
4. Gradually add dry ingredients and beat on low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and M&Ms.
5. Portion into golf-ball size balls, cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space dough balls on baking sheets and bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are set and middles are no longer raw. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff

Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff - made May 21, 2020, modified from Tastes Better From Scratch

Another easy Instant Pot recipe, no fuss, and only a few ingredients. I did have to go out and buy a new can of Cream of Mushroom soup though as it turns out the lone cane in my pantry expired in 2013. Oops.

I modified the recipe as the original one only called for 8 ounces of noodles and I had a 12-ounce package. I didn't want to bother with leftover noodles as you never know when I'll feel like cooking again (seriously, that can of soup expired 7 years and 2 moves ago). I compensated for the extra noodles by adding more chicken broth.

I will also confess I didn't read the original directions that closely and instead of adding the sour cream at the end after the instant pot turned off, I added it in the beginning along with all the other ingredients. Oops #2. Fortunately, it didn't seem to have affected the dish as this turned out pretty well.

It isn't fancy and food snobs might think it's barely a step above Hamburger Helper but it worked well enough for me. This is the kind of dish I like making as it requires little effort, tastes good to my not-that-discerning palate and is easy to portion into individual meals for later during my non-cooking periods.

1 pound ground turkey
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 10.5-ounce can cream of mushroom soup
3 cups chicken broth
12 ounces wide egg noodles
heaping 1/3 cup sour cream

1. Set instant pot to saute mode, spray bottom with nonstick cooking spray and when hot, saute ground turkey. Break up the meat, stirring, and season with salt and pepper. When cooked, add garlic and stir. Turn off saute mode.
2. Add cream of mushroom soup, chicken broth and sour cream, stirring to combine. Add egg noodles and submerge as much as possible in the liquid. Cover instant pot and set to sealing position. Turn on manual setting for 4 minutes. When cooking is complete, use quick release. Remove lid and stir mixture. Serve warm.

Hot Milk Cake

Hot Milk Cake - made May 19, 2020 from Mildly Meandering

I've gone back to sending homemade baked goods in care packages going to deployed military service members. It looks like the mail services are getting (somewhat) back to normal so I'm baking again.

Cakes can be a little risky to send as they dry out more easily than cookies or brownies but I vacuum sealed these to give them a fighting chance.

The "hot milk" part of the title refers to heating up the milk before adding it to the batter. This turned out to be a good vanilla butter cake, a bit dense in texture like a pound cake but with good flavor. Mine didn't come out looking as dense or moist as in the original blog but I don't think I overbaked it since it wasn't dry. I hope it survived in the mail.

12 tablespoons butter
1 cup whole milk
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Combine butter and milk in saucepan over medium heat and stir until butter is completely melted.
3. Beat eggs for 5 minutes on medium speed. Gradually add sugar and beat until combined. Add vanilla extract, flour, baking powder and salt; beat just until combined.
4. Add melted butter and milk mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Pour into prepared pan.
5. Bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.