A couple of people have asked me for drink recipes recently, and I realized that I don't actually have any on my blog! To be honest, I never really though about creating drink recipes because I'm mostly just a Diet Coke girl. But really, there are a lot of fun and festive drinks you can make for the holidays that add an extra special element to parties and gatherings.
I wanted to make something spooky with Halloween coming up. I saw this idea to make shrunken heads out of apples, and I thought they would be perfect to add to a bloody-colored punch.
This recipe does not include alcohol, but if you want, you can certainly add a little booze for an adult version.
Bloody Shrunken Head Punch
Ingredients
3 to 4 apples
3 cups cherry cola
3 cups cherry juice
2 cups strawberry daiquiri mix
2 cups fruit punch
1 cup ginger ale
Directions
Peel apples and carve them into faces using a melon baller and a knife.
Bake apples on baking sheet lined with parchment paper at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for about 90 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool.
Combine cherry cola, cherry juice, strawberry daiquiri mix, fruit punch and ginger ale in punch bowl.
This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!
Sometimes I feel silly posting about things like cookies after leaving work where I just spent the day reporting on terrorism and gun violence and all the innocent people who have lost their lives because of these things.
I try to remind myself that there is still plenty of good and plenty of love in this world. And amongst the stories of devastation, there are stories of compassion and heroism. It's important to continue to find joy in the little things even if that joy is something as simple as sharing a recipe with your friends and family.
So that is why I'm sharing my recipe for Pumpkin Macarons.
I feel like I reached a big milestone in my baking career over the weekend when I made macarons for the first time. They became the new "it" cookie a few years ago, and I always wanted to try making them. But I never did because everyone told me how difficult they are to make. I don't know why I listened to everyone else. Baking, in my opinion, is 90% just following directions, and like with anything, if you follow all of the directions you'll achieve the desired results.
That being said, here are a few tips I learned to focus on while making macarons.
1. Make sure your ingredients are all room temperature. I've talked about this in other recipes, but it's very important when you're trying to make the meringue base for the macaron shells. Room-temperature ingredients mix a lot better together.
2. You absolutely must sift the almond flour and powdered sugar. I don't normally sift anything, but macaron shells are so delicate and any chunks of ingredients will weigh them down and prevent them from rising.
3. Don't forget to tap your baking pan hard on the kitchen counter before piping your shells. This will release air bubbles and prevent the tops from cracking.
4. If the tops of your shells crack, there's a good chance you undermixed the batter. Bake just a few macarons first if you're not sure, and if the shells crack, mix the rest of the batter a little more before piping more shells.
5. You must let your macarons sit out on the counter top for around 30 minutes to an hour before baking; this will prevent them from spreading once they get in the oven and will help them rise
I thought macarons would be the perfect cookie to decorate for fall because they have a solid-colored flat top on which you can add designs. I made the pumpkin macarons into jack-o-lanterns using a gel icing pen, but it would also be fun to write spooky messages or draw a cobweb.
Prepare baking sheets with either parchment paper or silicone mat; set aside
Sift together almond flour, powdered sugar and pumpkin pie spice; discard larger lumps that won’t go through sifter and set aside
Beat egg whites at medium speed until foamy; add cream of tartar and salt and continue beating. Slowly add sugar and beat at high speed until stiff peaks form.
Add orange food coloring.
Slowly fold flour mixture into egg white mixture; the consistency should be like lava — fluid but also thick enough to form mound. For some people this is between 50 to 70 turns with the spatula.
Transfer batter to piping bag and pipe 1-inch circles; bang baking sheet hard against counter about 3 times too release air bubbles
Let macarons sit out for about 30 minutes to an hour before baking to ensure they don’t spread in oven
Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit
Bake macarons for 18 minutes; let cool on baking sheet before carefully peeling off
For the buttercream
Beat butter on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until light and creamy
Add powdered sugar, heavy whipping cream, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt
Beat at medium speed until incorporated, then increase to high speed and bear until buttercream is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes
Match up macaron shells by size and shape; add buttercream mixture to piping bag and pipe a quarter-size amount of frosting on one shelf before sandwiching it with the other shell
This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!
Don't want to be that person stuck next to the griddle flipping pancakes all morning long while everyone else eats and asks for more? BINGO, here's your answer!
Dutch baby pancakes are essentially giant pancakes in a skillet. There's no standing around the griddle waiting to flip them because they're baked in the oven. They look like a pillow when they're first removed from the oven -- a testament to how light and fluffy they are -- and then they slowly sink.
This particular recipe is for a Caramel Apple Dutch Baby Pancake. The apples are first baked right in the bottom of the skillet with butter and a little sugar before adding the pancake batter on top. So easy and so delicious!
In order to make sure the pancake puffs up, it's important to start with all room temperature ingredients. Also, there should be zero lumps in the batter. I noticed a lot of other Dutch baby pancake recipes called for using a blender to mix the batter. That's a great idea! I tried it, and it worked really well. However, it's not necessary. If you whisk it, whisk it real good, then that's totally fine.
Because there are so few ingredients in this recipe, it's important to make sure each one is of very good quality. That's why I used Challenge butter. I choose Challenge over every other brand because I know there are no hormones, additives, or fillers in their products. The taste is also superior to other brands because they use real cream.
To finish it all off, I made the most simple caramel syrup ever to go on top! And of course, dusting with powder sugar is a must. Depending on your appetite, these pancakes can either be shared with a friend, or there's no shame in eating it all by yourself!
Caramel Apple Dutch Baby Pancake Ingredients For the pancake
This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!
It’s officially the first day of fall, and I'm ready for cozy sweaters, crunchy leaves, and most importantly everything pumpkin! Today I'm sharing a recipe for Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cake, and I think it’s the perfect way to kick off the season!
Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cake Yield: Serves between 6 – 8 people Ingredients
Combine pumpkin, milk, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and vanilla. Set aside
Combine butter, pecans, brown sugar, and flour. Set aside.
Open tubes of cinnamon rolls and cut each roll into quarters.
Prepare 9 x 9 square pan or 9-inch pie pan with nonstick spray. Spread cinnamon roll pieces so they cover the bottom of the pan. Dump pumpkin mixture over cinnamon rolls and spread so it’s even. Sprinkle pecan mixture on top
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until pumpkin mixture is set.
Cool for about 10-15 minutes and drizzle icing from cinnamon roll tubes on top before serving.
I'm a big proponent of getting kids in the kitchen at an early age. I think it cuts down on picky eating, and also, it gives them a better appreciation of food. I was thinking about when the last time I even cooked for a child was, and I don't think it's been since when I was in high school when I used to babysit a family of five kids that lived down the street from me.
The extent of the cooking I did for them wasn't even close to "gourmet." All they wanted to eat was hot dogs and sauerkraut (yes, they were German). I started cutting their hot dogs to look like octopus, and they thought it was the coolest thing ever.
But I feel like today's era of children would roll their eyes at my octopus hot dogs. They grew up with Pinterest moms, and they expect their food to be exciting. That's why I wanted to come up with a dish that was not only easy to make, but also colorful and pretty too.
I think I really nailed it with this granola fruit pizza.
The crust requires just a few ingredients, and you don't need to bake it. The ingredient measurements don't need to be extremely precise, so your kids can get practice measuring and patting the crust down into the cake pan.
As you can see, I made a rainbow design with fruit on the pizza, but you can use anything to decorate it. I suggest setting out a variety of ingredients in bowls (like chocolate chips, shredded coconut, sprinkles, nuts, fruit) and let the kids express their creativity by deciding what to put on top.
I served this Granola Fruit Pizza for my FOX59 segment on National Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day. I also shared two other kid-friendly treats: Banana Sushi and Apple Slice Doughnuts.
The Banana Sushi is just a banana wrapped in a tortilla that's covered with peanut butter. Slice it up so it looks like sushi. I drizzled melted peanut butter and sprinkled Fruity Pebbles on top for decoration.
Apple Slice Doughnuts start with apples sliced about 1-inch thick on their side. Just cut right through the core. Then use a melon baller to scoop out the center so it looks like a doughnut. Cover each apple slice with either cream cheese, nut butter, or chocolate then decorate with sprinkles or chocolate chips so they look like doughnuts!
Granola Fruit Pizza Yield: Makes about 8 servings Ingredients
3 cups granola
2/3 cups peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup fruit, other toppings
Directions
Combine granola, peanut butter, honey, cinnamon, and vanilla
Line 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper
Dump granola mixture into pan and spread until top is even
Refrigerate for 1 hour or freeze for 20 minutes
Remove granola pizza crust from cake pan and move to plate
Spread Greek yogurt evenly onto granola pizza
Top with fruit, chocolate, nuts, shredded coconut, or whatever you please
This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!
As much as I love to cook, I don’t necessarily like to spend every night in the kitchen preparing dinner. When I’m hungry, I want to eat now. If you feel the same way, one of the best ways to make sure you have food available is by meal prepping. There are different forms of meal-prepping, but one of my favorite ways is making “double-duty dinners.”
The idea behind double-duty dinners is to prepare one big meal with plenty of food so you can transform the leftovers into an entirely new meal the following night. This is great for picky eaters who don’t like to eat the same thing for dinner every single night.
The Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese featured on this blog post is a great recipe to transform into a double-duty meal. Normally, if I was preparing this meal for just one night, I would only use about one pound of chicken. But since I plan to use the leftovers for another day, I should double the protein and add about two pounds of chicken (or more) to the slow cooker. When the chicken is done, I remove all of it, shred it, and return just half of it to the slow cooker.
I store the other half in the refrigerator for my dinner the following day, which I can use to make salad, pasta, or pizza (as you’ll see below)!
I chose to make pizza as the other half of this double-duty meal because it used a lot of the same ingredients as the Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese. The only new additions were pizza dough, tomato sauce, and butter. So not only did I save time, but I also saved money. Now I don't need to go out and buy ingredients for an entirely new meal!
Some other ideas for double-duty dinners that I featured in the segment on FOX59 are: Pulled pork used to make sandwiches the first night and pork quesadillas on the second night. Fish, specifically tilapia, use to make a rice dinner on night one and fish tacos on night two.
One thing I need to point out — it’s important to always use the best ingredients available. That’s why I used Challenge cream cheese in the macaroni and cheese and Challenge butter in the pizza. I choose Challenge over every other brand because I know there are no hormones, additives, or fillers in their products.The taste is also superior to other brands because they use real cream.
NOTE: In the recipes below, I’m posting the regular version, not the double-duty version, in case some people saw the picture of the pasta and scrolled straight to the recipe. But if you want to make the double-duty version, just double the amount of chicken as discussed earlier.
Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese Yield: Makes about 8, 1-cup servings Ingredients
Green onions and blue cheese for garnish, if desired
Directions
Add chicken, chicken broth, buffalo sauce, garlic powder, paprika, pepper, and salt to slow cooker. Stir until combined and cook on high for 2 to 3 hours. (Could be more or less time depending on your slow cooker. My chicken was done right at 2 hours)
Remove cooked chicken from slow cooker, shred, and return to slow cooker.
Add pasta, cheddar cheese, evaporated milk, milk, and cream cheese to slow cooker.
Mix and cook on high for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until pasta is cooked
Garnish with blue cheese crumbles and green onions if desired and serve
Buffalo Chicken Pizza Yield: Makes 1 pizza Ingredients
Pizza dough
1/4 to 1/2 cup tomato sauce (depending on whether you like a lot of sauce or not)
This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!
I think we can all agree, one of the best things about fall is the start of football season. Even if you don’t like the sport, everyone can appreciate the camaraderie among fans and delicious food at tailgates.
I’ve certainly made a lot of dips for game days, but surprisingly, I’ve never made one that was actually football-themed! I needed to change that.
I've seen a lot of cheeseballs in the shape of footballs, but I wanted to do more of a dessert dip. As I was thinking about it, for some reason my mind went straight to cookie dough. I NEEDED to make a cookie dough dip.
I came up with a concoction that I thought would taste like cookie dough, and indeed it did! I only used Challenge butter and cream cheese of course. I prefer Challenge over every other brand because I know there are no hormones, additives, or fillers in their products.The taste is also superior to other brands because they use real cream.
The next stage of my plan was to mold the dip into a football. However, the dip was not firm enough to make any type of semi-spherical shape. So I refrigerated it for an hour and tried again. Nope. So I refrigerated it for 3 hours. Still nope.
I was pretty frustrated. It tasted delicious, and I definitely didn’t want to scrap the recipe. So I improvised. I spread it on a piece of plastic wrap and shaped it into something that resembled a football. But it needed a little something more, so I improvised once again and dyed shredded coconut green with food coloringby shaking it up in a plastic bag. I spread spread the coconut along the sides of the dip, and after adding a little melted white chocolate for the laces, it definitely looked like a football!
I wanted to tell you that long story about my dip struggles because it just goes to show that the internet can be deceiving. We only ever see everyone’s best pictures, and never the struggles and the mistakes that occurred before the picture was posted. So even though this dip didn’t turn out the way I originally imagined, it was still delicious and cute.
