10/30/15

{ Homemade Halloween Candy }



BOO!

It's almost Halloween!! I couldn't be more excited. Since it will be socially acceptable to eat candy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner tomorrow - here are three of my all-time favorite Halloween candies.

Hershey's Cookies 'n' Cream for breakfast,

100 Grand for lunch,

and Dark Chocolate Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for dinner.

Below, you'll find the recipes to make these ridiculously divine treats at home, and above you'll find a step-by-step video tutorial to show you just how easy it is to make homemade candy. 
If you need me, I'll be in a sugar coma.



Homemade Halloween Candy, three ways.


INGREDIENTS


For the Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme...
1 (11oz) bag of white chocolate chips
1 tsp. coconut oil
10-12 Oreos, crushed


For the 100 Grand...

24 Kraft caramels (about 2/3 of an 11 oz bag)
Rice Krisipies cereal (about 3 cups)
1 tbsp. butter
¼ tsp. vanilla
2 cups milk chocolate

For the Dark Chocolate Reese's Peanut Butter Cups...
½ cup natural salted PB
2 tbsp. butter
½ cup powdered sugar
1 (11oz) bag dark chocolate


DIRECTIONS

1. Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme: Melt white chocolate and coconut oil. Mix in crushed Oreos. Refrigerate in parchment lined pan until solid. Break apart and devour.

2. 100 Grand: Melt caramels and butter. Stir in vanilla extract. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and cover with Rice Krispies cereal. Shape cooled caramel in your hands, and roll in cereal. Coat with milk chocolate, cool, and share.

3. Dark Chocolate Reese's: Coat mini muffin tin liners with dark chocolate and chill. Stir together peanut butter, butter, and powdered sugar. Place a small dollop of peanut butter filling into each chocolate lined cup. Top with more chocolate. Cool until solid and pop 'em in your mouth!




enjoy*

9/23/15

{ Adult Caramel Apple Cider }



It's officially the first day of Fall!!! 

And even though Southern California has yet to get the memo (why is it so HOT?) - we're still breaking out the warm apple cider. In honor of the new season, Crystal (my classmate/baking soulmate) and I threw together an incredible Fall meal - Stuffed Acorn Squash, Whoopie Pumpkin Pies (hehe, she's also a food-naming genius,) and of course, these outrageous Adult Caramel Apple Cider drinks.

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty A+ Fall menu. (Hey, Food Network - hire us?!)


So about this Adult Caramel Apple Cider...

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a fan of alcoholic drinks...but this cider is a different story. It's like a hug in a mason jar. Warm and cinnamon-y with just a slight kick. Crystal knew that the key to making this drink incredibly smooth would be to use a great quality vodka.

And I knew that the key to making it a drink I'd actually enjoy would be topping it with pumpkin pie whipped cream and lots and lots of homemade caramel sauce.

We make a great team, don't we?!

Another reason why this drink is great is that it's SO simple to make. Just throw some apple cider and some vodka into a crockpot and let it heat up - it makes a ton of servings, so it's perfect for a holiday party. 

Line a table with toppings and allow your guests to decorate to their heart's content.

Adult Caramel Apple Cider

Serves 12.

INGREDIENTS


For the cider...
1 jug (89 FL OZ) of good quality apple cider
2 cups of Stoli Salted Karamel Vodka (or more, depending on taste)

For the homemade caramel drizzle...
2 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup warm milk or cream
A splash of vanilla (optional)

For the toppings...
Pumpkin pie whipped cream
Cinnamon, for topping drinks
Pumpkin biscotti (Trader Joe's)


DIRECTIONS

1. Pour the apple cider and vodka into a crockpot on high heat. Adjust the amount of vodka based on personal preference. Allow the drink to become hot, and then turn the crockpot to low.

2. While the cider heats, make the caramel drizzle. Melt butter and brown sugar in a saucepan on medium heat.

3. Once the mixture looks bubbly (about 3 minutes), whisk in the warm milk until the sauce becomes cohesive and smooth (add more or less milk depending on how thick/thin you'd like your caramel to be.) Add a splash of vanilla for flavor and pour into a serving dish.

4. When ready to serve the drinks, pour the hot adult caramel apple cider into mason jars. Top the cider with whipped cream, cinnamon, and caramel. Pair with a pumpkin biscotti for ultimate yumminess!

5. ENJOY, and Happy Fall!!




{Thanks to Crystal for her never-ending list of incredible ideas! Oh, and if you're into ridiculously delicious savory dishes - don't miss her Pinterest.}




enjoy*

9/18/15

{ Homemade Açaí Bowls }



Dropping in today to share a few photos from my latest post on Jen Robin! Packed with antioxidants and topped with fruit, nuts, coconut (you name it,) I can definitely understand why the açaí bowl trend has become so popular. And as a girl who eats with her eyes, it's obvious why I fell in love with making them. (Pssst...I've made this recipe *at least* 5 times since sharing it on Jen's site, so I can guarantee you - it's a good one.)

I hope you'll love these making these trendy treats at home as much as I do! For a link to the recipe on Jen's site, scroll to the bottom of this post.

 



Find the full recipe for my açaí bowls at: jenrobin.com


enjoy*

8/31/15

{ Grandma's Blueberry Pie }



The best part of summer vacation, since I can remember, is our annual trip up to Ludington, MI. This sweet little city on Lake Michigan is home to the two most loving, kind-hearted people I know - my Grandma and Grandpa. It's also home to the most stunning scenery, cutest chipmunks, and biggest blueberries I've ever laid eyes on. 

All in all, it's my happy place.

To give you a little taste of what summer in Ludington is like, here's my Grandma's famous blueberry pie recipe and a video tutorial to go with - starring the lovely lady herself. And below, a few snaps from this year's trip. Isn't Michigan just beautiful?


Grandma's Blueberry Pie

Yields 1 pie, with top & bottom crusts.

INGREDIENTS

for the filling...
1 cup sugar
a dash of salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. lemon juice
4 tbsp. instant tapioca
6 cups fresh blueberries
8 small pats of butter
sugar, for sprinkling

for the crust...
2 cups flour
2/3 cup butter
5-7 tbsp. cold water
1 tsp. salt


DIRECTIONS

1. Combine 6 cups of washed, fresh blueberries with sugar, salt, cinnamon, lemon juice, and instant tapioca. Mix together lightly and set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, add flour and butter. Cut the butter and flour together with two knives, or a pastry cutter. Continue until the mixture resembles small peas (watch the video above for guidance.)

3. Into the butter and flour, add in salt and cold water. Use your hands to pack the mixture together until it forms a dough. Divide the dough into two separate balls (one will be the top crust and one will be the bottom crust.)

4. Generously flour a clean surface, and roll out one of the dough balls to the size of your pie pan. Place the rolled out crust into the bottom of the pie pan and fill with the blueberry mixture. Top the filling with 8 small pats of butter, for a richer & more decadent filling.

5. Roll out the last dough ball and carefully lay it onto the top of the filling. Sprinkle the crust lightly with sugar, if desired. Then, crimp the edges and make a few slits in the top so steam can release while baking. Cover the crimped edges of the crust with tinfoil and place into a preheated oven.

6. Bake the pie, at 375 degrees, for 20 minutes and then remove the tinfoil. Continue baking for another 40 minutes or so, until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow the pie to cool completely.

7. Serve warm and top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.



enjoy*



7/22/15

{ Mango Pineapple Smoothies with Boba }



Boba is my latest obsession. Also known as bubble tea or black tapioca, boba is everywhere in LA. I mean, I can't even walk across campus without spotting a little makeshift boba tea stand. 

Sadly though, boba is a bit harder to come across in Miami (where I've been spending summer break.) In order to keep my obsession satisfied throughout the summer months, I decided to attempt making boba at home.

And guess what? I've learned it's about as easy to do as boiling water.

Together with Brenna (my BFF since high school,) we made a little video showing you how simple it is to make boba at home. We also whipped up an incredibly creamy, tropical mango pineapple smoothie to go with. The perfect compliment to those chewy lil' tapioca pearls.









For those of you who have never tried boba, you're probably wondering why anyone would ever eat a bunch of chewy, fish egg-looking blobs. But after you try them, trust me, you'll be hooked too.

And for those of you who don't necessarily love mango (covering all my bases here,) I've added an additional smoothie recipe below - one that's simple, that I've made countless times. A strawberry pineapple smoothie that's a refreshing combo of tart and sweet.





Mango Pineapple & Strawberry 
Pineapple smoothies, with boba.

Serves 2.

INGREDIENTS

for the boba pearls...
5 cups of boiling water
1/2 cup dried black tapioca pearls
(find them in nearly any Asian market)

for the simple syrup...
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup boiling water

for the smoothies...
~ Mango Pineapple ~
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen mango
1/2 cup frozen pineapple
around 3/4 cup orange juice 
nonfat greek yogurt (a couple spoonfuls)
drizzle of honey (optional)

~ Strawberry Pineapple ~
1/2 cup fresh strawberries
1/2 cup frozen pineapple
1/2 cup pineapple juice


DIRECTIONS

1. Boil 5 cups of water in a deep saucepan. Once boiling, add the dried tapioca pearls. When the pearls float to the top of the boiling water, cover the pan with a lid and continue boiling for 5 minutes. 

2. After 5 minutes of boiling, turn off the heat and let the tapioca pearls simmer covered for another 5 minutes. Then, strain and rinse the boba with cold water to stop the cooking process.

3. Next, make the simple syrup that will keep the boba from drying out. Boil 1/2 cup of water in the microwave (2 minutes). Add in 1/2 cup of brown sugar immediately, and stir until it is dissolved. Add the boba into the simple syrup. 

4. For the smoothies, combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth - adding more liquid if necessary. Be sure to use frozen fruit! That's the key to a creamy, cold smoothie.

5. Scoop a small amount of the boba and syrup into the bottom of a tall glass. Pour the smoothie on top, serve with a wide straw - and sip up!


(side note: the song playing in this video is called Cold and Bright by Oldboyy. Heard it in a LEAFtv video a while back and haven't been able to get it out of my head since.)


enjoy*

7/16/15

{ Veggie Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce }

Wanted to pop in today and share a look at my newest post on glitterinc.com. With the help of my friend Crystal (fellow cinematographer-in-training at UCLA), we created the step-by-step video tutorial below. In the video, we guide you through the process of whipping up a fresh, feel-good summer lunch - Veggie Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce.


Hope you love this recipe as much as we do!




{ Don't forget to check out Glitter, Inc. today for the full post & recipe. And stay tuned for some exciting new Sugar Coated Inspiration posts (and videos) - coming to the blog soon. }

Happy summer, friends!














{ Veggie Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce } recipe: here.



6/5/15

{ Fruity Pebbles Buttermilk Donuts }

Today is a joyous day.

It's the last day of my Junior year in college (woah, feeling old)...but more importantly - it's also
National Donut Day!!

In celebration of donuts and summer vacation, I whipped up these simple buttermilk donuts for the incredibly sweet Jen Robin (which are made from store-bought biscuit dough!) Within minutes, they fry up into tender, doughy pillows of heaven. Coat them in a sweet glaze and dip them into crushed Fruity Pebbles (everyone's favorite cereal) - and you have these adorable treats.

Find the recipe and additional photos at jenrobin.com!

{ Fruity Pebbles Buttermilk Donuts } recipe: here.




enjoy*

4/30/15

{ Oreo French Macarons }


I’m not the biggest fan of macarons – shocking, I know (considering I make them practically any chance I get.) But it’s never been the final product that drives me. 

It’s the process. It’s the challenge of knowing that you’re about to make something that’s notoriously tricky, and the excitement of somehow pulling it off (well, most of the time at least) that keeps me making macarons over and over again. But as far as taste goes, these delicate little cookies are way way too sweet for me (also shocking, considering that my blog is nothing but sweets.) 

BUT I HAVE GREAT NEWS! 

After making at least seven or eight different flavors of macarons since this obsession started, I think I’ve finally found a flavor/recipe that I love. And that flavor is Oreo. Oh yes, you heard right. You’re gonna want to try these…


To make these fancy little Oreo-infused cookies, sift together almond flour, powdered sugar, and ground up Oreo cookies (I'll call that Oreo “flour”). Make sure to use a fine sieve to sift – otherwise your macaron will not have a smooth outer shell.

Once these dry ingredients are all sifted together, beat 3 room temperature egg whites with the cream of tartar on high speed. Once the eggs begin to turn white and fluffy, you can slowly incorporate the granulated sugar, salt, vanilla, and black food coloring. Whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks on the end of the beaters (about 8-10 minutes total.)

(A shortcut to room temperature eggs: submerge them in warm water, in their shells – for 5 minutes.)


Slowly add the dry (almond flour, powdered sugar, oreo crumb mix) into the wet (whipped egg white mix). Do this by sprinkling on about 1/3 of the dry onto the wet at a time – until all of the dry has been incorporated. Be sure to fold the dry ingredients into the wet very gently, to keep the egg whites fluffy (watch the video links below if you’d like to see the proper technique!)


Load this batter into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip, and pipe out about 40 evenly spaced 1-inch circles onto two parchment (or silpat) lined baking sheets (20 cookies on each sheet)

Once they’re all piped, tap the pan hard on the counter, multiple times, to release any air bubbles. It will sound like someone is being murdered - but this is a CRUCIAL STEP! Your neighbors will forgive you.

 Lastly, leave the baking sheets in a cool, dry area to dry them out for at least one hour – until the tops are no longer sticky to the touch. If you skip this step, your macarons will not come out right!


Preheat your oven to 300 F and bake the macarons for 15-20 minutes. Bake each baking sheet separately to make sure that heat is distributed evenly and the macarons cook properly.


While the macarons bake & cool, make the Oreo buttercream filling. Whip the butter, Oreo crumbs, and Oreo fillings together until smooth. Then alternate adding powdered sugar and milk until you reach the desired consistency (not too thin – or it will just ooze out from the macaron shells.)


Finally, pair the macarons according to size, pipe a dollop of filling onto every other macaron, and sandwich them together. (If desired, you can roll the edges of the cookies in extra Oreo crumbs!)

Store your macarons in the fridge or freezer, and ENJOY!


{ OREO French Macarons }

For the cookies…

¾ cup almond flour
¼ cup Oreo “flour” 
(about 5 crushed Oreo cookies)
2 cups powdered sugar
~
3 room temperature egg whites
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
¼ cup granulated sugar
A pinch of salt
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
3 drops of black food coloring 
(optional)


For the Oreo buttercream filling…

4 tbsp. (1/4 cup) salted butter
Fillings of 5 Double Stuf Oreos
Crumb of 5 Oreos (about ¼ cup)
¼ cup powdered sugar (or more, depending on taste)
2 tsp. vanilla almond milk 
(plus more if needed to thin frosting)



{A helpful video if making macarons for the first time: here}
{A troubleshooting guide for all of your macaron concerns: here}


enjoy*