Easy Kale Chips

I know I usually just post about desserts/sweet things, but this is a cool recipe, and it does involve baking.

Pretty good...healthy...and different. Very light and crispy. The Food Librarian was right--these are similar to nori (Japanese dried/toasted seaweed), although the taste is different. Sorry for the shadow.


This is only about a third to a half of the kale I baked:

Raw kale:


Here is the original recipe from The Food Librarian.

Here's the really easy recipe:
* 1 bunch of kale
* 1 T olive oil
* Salt

1) Heat oven to 350 degrees
2) Line baking sheets with parchment paper
3) Wash kale & strip out the center core/stalk
4) Tear kale into small pieces
5) Dry kale w/ towels or a salad spinner
6) Coat kale with olive oil & salt
7) Spread kale into SINGLE layer (might need to make several batches)
6) Bake for 10-15 min, turning once about halfway through. Chips should be dry and light.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pecan Scones

Baked 12/17/09.

Buttery and not too sweet.







Original recipe here from Allrecipes.com (Change I made: I used chocolate chips & pecans)

• 2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup cold butter
• 1 cup chocolate chips + however many/much chopped pecans you want
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• milk for brushing
• extra sugar & cinnamon to sprinkle

(1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) & lightly grease a baking sheet
(2) Sift together wheat and all-purpose flours, baking powder, salt, sugar & cinnamon into a large bowl
(3) Rub butter into dry ingredients until it resembles fine breadcrumbs
(4) Stir in pecans & chocolate chips. Mix in the milk, just until blended and form dough into a ball.
(5) Put dough onto a floured surface
(6) Roll out & cut into a circle about 1/2 inch thick (I used a cup)
(7) Place scones on a greased baking sheet & brush with milk
(8) Sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar mixture
(9) Bake in preheated oven until risen and golden brown (10 to 12 minutes).

Snow Balls/Russian Tea Cakes/Mexican Wedding Cookies

These are SOOO good. So simple but so good. The recipe doesn't make enough. I made these little bags for the teachers I help and my co-workers. It just so happens that the cookies match the design on the bag. I did notice the contradiction between the fall leaf background and the snowy bag/cookies. Oh well. Recipe below.







Russian Tea Cakes recipe (original HERE):

• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar for decoration

1. Combine all ingredients & mix well
2. Refrigerate dough until chilled
3. Roll dough into 1-inch balls
4. Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven
5. Once baked, roll while still hot in confectioners' sugar until coated
6. Let cool
   
7. Lightly dust with more confectioners' sugar
   

Apple Cake

Yes...I got stuck using the stupid metal pan again. I want to just throw this out. haha! I made these apple cake bar things for a work potluck/staff development day deal. Got the recipe from The Food Librarian (her pictures there are way better). Honestly...not my favorite, but it's easy, and my aunt, cousin, and mom said they liked it. Recipe below or at the link above. I'd recommend it to apple lovers who want a quick apple fix.


The Food Librarian's Mom's Apple Cake Recipe (original here):

2 eggs
3/4 c oil
1 c sugar
1 t vanilla

Sifted together:
2 c flour, 1/4 t salt, 2 t cinnamon, 1 t baking soda

4 large green apples
1 c walnuts (optional --> I didn't use any this time because I had a limited amount of time)

1) Peel & slice thin 4 apples
2) Beat eggs with oil until foamy
3) Add sugar, vanilla, and sifted dry ingredients
4) Fold in apples and walnuts (if you add them)
5) Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan
6) Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds!

I finally baked/toasted pumpkin seeds leftover from the pumpkin I carved at work (I work at a preschool). YUM! I hadn't had these in so long. My mom or dad (neither remembers this) used to make them with shoyu (Japanese for "soy sauce") and salt, so I tried that (a random amount on half of the seeds), and it worked. I lost the recipe, but it was pretty simple. All you have to do is search Google or some other search engine for toasted/baked/whatever pumpkin seeds. Because I didn't want to wait all night for them to dry out, I took the boiling route instead and then put them in a 375-or-400-degree oven. I don't remember the time. I'm a sucky food blogger now that I've gotten lazy. Dang. Sorry. I think I had the recipe bookmarked, and then my computer crashed. I usually email myself things so I can't lose them, but oh well.

Really Simple (albeit short & stubby) Popovers

Made these this past weekend (9/7/09) because it seemed too easy to be true, and others had rated it well on Recipezaar. They came out eggy and ... well, plain, but that's why you add butter and honey or jam or whatever you want. Also made 10 popovers in a regular muffin pan (the recipe poster made "big, tall" ones.

I don't know why I left the knives in this pic. ::sigh:: I plan on starting a baking blog with just clean, clear, wonderful pictures (like THIS BLOG--holy cow!), but we'll see if that ever happens.

They came out pretty good (and well). Too bad I don't have a popover pan. Muffin pans are good enough though. Don't forget to put water in the empty muffin cups if you don't have enough batter (prevents pan from warping).


The bottoms had big dents in them:


POPOVER RECIPE (original here -- pretty much the same as below except for baking time):

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Break eggs in bowl
2. Add milk, flour, & salt
3. Mix well with a spoon (original recipe says to disregard the lumps, but I ended up with little lumps of flour in my baked popovers!
4. Fill greased popover pans or muffin tins ¾ full
5. Put in oven
6. Set oven to 450 and turn on heat *YES--start with a cold oven!!*
7. Bake 30 minutes-ish. I used a regular-sized muffin pan, and so these were done in about 20 min. The person who posted this recipe made six jumbo ones.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes w/ Peanut Butter Frosting

Oh man...if you love peanut butter, you have to try these (I think my only complaint is that they're a little too sweet, but I think most people would be fine with this level of sweetness). Julie and Jenny came over because the three of us LOVE peanut butter. We didn't use Reese's Pieces because I was dumb and forgot, but I wouldn't have eaten them anyway (bleh!)...so sorry Julie & Jenny! :(

Baked on 7/31/09


Peanut butter-y frosting:


Peanut Butter Cupcakes w/ Peanut Butter Frosting recipe (original HERE):

Peanut butter cupcakes:

2/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1) Cream together shortening and sugar
2) Add eggs & beat well
3) Add peanut butter & beat well
4) Add milk and vanilla extract alternately with the baking powder and flour (this part was funny...we weren't even sure if we were doing it correctly because it took awhile and seemed weird, although we DID understand why we had to alternate the ingredients like that)
5) Fill the muffin liners ~3/4 full with batter
6) Bake for 20-25 min or until golden brown & a toothpick comes out clean
7) Cool cupcakes completely on a wire rack & frost with peanut butter frosting

Peanut Butter Frosting

1 - 16oz box (1lb) powdered sugar
1 - stick margarine, softened (1/2 cup) ** I used butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 - tsp vanilla extract
Milk (~3 - 4 tablespoons)

1) Cream powdered sugar and margarine together
2) Add peanut butter & mix well
3) Add vanilla extract & enough milk to make it easy enough to spread
4) Beat mixture together until you have the desired consistency
5) Frost cupcakes when completely cooled