Pineapple Upside-down Muffins

Tonight I made Pineapple Upside-down Muffins. They are packed with fruits and vegetables, plus they make your entire house smell delicious. So once again, I am attempting to make something healthy, but still taste really good. They are super moist and if you want to just make carrot muffins, just omit the topping.

Tip: Unlike cooking, when you're baking you should stick the measurements exactly.

Pineapple Upside-down Muffins

 Ingredients:

Topping

• 2 Tbl packed light brown sugar
• 2 Tbl chopped walnuts, or pecans (optional)
• 1 10-ounce can pineapple slices

Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbl ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 Tbl pineapple juice, or orange juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, not drained
• 1 cup grated carrot (about 1 large)
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, or pecans (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.

Topping: Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar into each muffin cup. Sprinkle nuts, if using, over the sugar. Stack pineapple slices and cut into 6 wedges. Place 2 wedges in each muffin cup. (I didn't have pineapple slices, but I did have an extra can of crushed pineapples, so I took out the juice and placed a couple crushed pineapple in each muffin tin.)

Muffins: Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Whisk eggs and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in oil, juice and vanilla. Stir in crushed pineapple.

Make a well in the dry ingredients; add the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined.

Stir in carrot, oats, raisins and nuts, if using. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and firm to the touch, 15-20 minutes (or until golden). Immediately loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a baking sheet. Restore any stray pineapple pieces and nuts. Let cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve upside-down, either warm or at room temperature.

SAE: Sticky Buns and Ham-n-Cheese Spirals

I am sad to say my time as SAE sweetheart is coming to an end. I only have 45 days until I graduate... And less time than that as sweetheart :'(. So I thought I would try some new recipes, as I only have a couple more weeks to make them snacks!

I found both of these recipes when I was watching the food network while I got ready this morning. Sandra Lee made them for a bake sale... And I'm making them for meeting! All the originally recipes, posted below, yield about 12 each, which is usually perfect when cooking/ baking. But since I have a lot more boys to feed. I quadrupled each recipe!

Apple Walnut Sticky Buns

Growing up, my dad always made us cinnamon rolls on Sunday. They were always very delicious, so I immediately thought of him when I saw these sticky buns with walnuts (another one of his favorites). And since he was an SAE not too long ago at SMU, I thought I would try them out for meeting. I might make them again for my family this summer one Sunday morning!

Ingredients:

• 1 Granny Smith apple
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 5 Tbl unsalted butter, softened
• 2 (8-count) tubes refrigerated cinnamon rolls
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 to 2 tsp water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Generously butter a 12-count muffin tin.

Peel, core and dice the apples into 1/2-inch cubes. In a medium bowl stir together the diced apples with the walnuts and brown sugar.

Divide the apple mixture evenly into the muffin tin. Put 12 cinnamon buns, cinnamon side, on top of the apple mixture. Put the muffin tin on a baking sheet and bake until the tops are golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. 

Remove the muffin tin from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Put a clean baking sheet on top of the muffin tin and flip to remove the sticky buns.

In a small bowl, combine 1 container of the vanilla frosting with the pumpkin pie spice and 1 to 2 teaspoons of water. Mix until very thick and of pourable consistency. Drizzle over buns and serve.

They taste just like an apple strudel yum!

Ham-n-Cheese Spirals

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbl olive oil
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning
• Flour, for work surface
• 1 pound refrigerated pizza dough, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar
• 1/2 lb deli sliced ham
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbl water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, garlic, and Italian seasoning.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pizza dough into a 12-inch square. Brush the entire surface with the seasoned olive oil. Top with 1 cup of shredded cheese and an even layer of ham. 

Starting from the bottom edge, tightly roll up the dough to form a log (make sure its tight or it will come unraveled). Using a sharp serrated knife, slice the roll at a slight diagonal into 1-inch thick pieces (you should get 12 spirals out of each roll).

Arrange the rolls on their side on a nonstick or lightly oiled baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to proof.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg with 2 tablespoons of water. Brush the tops and sides of the rolls with the egg wash. Bake until golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Remove from the oven, transfer to a serving platter and serve.

I found that if you put the rolls in the freezer 30 minutes- 1 hour before you start making them, they set a lot easier, otherwise they might fall apart. Enjoy!

Sausage Balls

This week for SAE meeting I decided to make sausage balls and orange slices. Something healthy with something not so healthy. The combination of the two smells, oddly, compliment each other. I had some requests for the recipe for my sausage balls (David), so I decided to post it!

They are really easy to make, and all the ingredients only cost me $20 and one batch makes 6 dozen sausage balls.

Sausage Balls

Ingredients:

• 2 packages (2 lbs) hot flavored Jimmy Dean pork sausage
• 1 1/2 cups baking mix (I use pancake mix)
• 16 oz. (4 cups) Sharp Cheddar or Jalapeno Jack Cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped jalapeno (about 3)
• 1/2 cup onion (about 1/2 of one onion)
• 2 tsp minced garlic (1 clove)
• 1 tsp chili powder

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine all the ingredients and roll into 1' inch balls. Line a baking sheet with foil (easier for clean up) and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and eat up! The boys demolished them in about 10 seconds.

I've had a lot of people ask how you follow my blog. On the right column of my blog you'll see "Followers". Just click on the "Follow," sign in and there you go! (Side note: you don't have to have a blog to become a follower). You can be like one of my 7 followers (yes I know, I'm a follower of my own blog, I don't know how that happened, but I am)... And so should you!!!!

Jalapeno Poppers and Annie's Baked Brie

Yea it's the Golden Globes tonight! Deboard, Annie, and I are watching it at our house right now. Cameron is in town, but he sprinted to his friends house to watch the playoffs when he heard we were having a Golden Globes watch party... Hopefully he'll come back later when he hears all about the great snacks we're making!

Penelope Cruz looks absolutely beautiful, she probably doesn't eat baked brie or jalapeno poppers... But I'd rather just envy her and eat our snacks.

I made these jalapeno poppers for SAE this week, and some for Cameron when he got in town on Friday. We eat them ALL the time at the Ongena's lake house. I can't say the amount of ingredients for each one, because whenever I make it, I usually am making 140 for the SAEs... So just guesstimate!

Jalapeno Poppers:

Ingredients:

• Jalapenos (cut in half and devained)
• Cream Cheese
• Bacon! (If the bacon is really thick, it may take longer to cook, you can cut it in half and hold it with a toothpick)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the jalapenos in half and cut out the seeds and vains... This is a picture of most of the 70 jalapenos that I cut in half.

Ahh so many jalapenos! Ryan helped me cut them and at the end of all of it our hands were burning from the heat!

The next step could not have been completed without Lis, she helped me fill in all of the hollow jalapenos with cream cheese and wrap them in bacon. Stick them in the oven for 40 minutes and and make sure you line all of the cookie sheets with foil, because the bacon is super greasy and it makes clean up a breeze!

Side story: Since I was making 140 for SAE and I put so many in the oven that I set off the fire alarm about six times.

Baked Brie:

Annie makes this baked brie all the time, it is so delicious, and so I thought this night would be the perfect time to make it!

Ingredients:

• 2 Pillsbury Pie Crusts (I had some left over from SAE meetings)
• 1 circle package of Bree
• Apricot Jelly
• 6 Tbl Butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil (again easy clean up and you can transfer the brie after its done without it breaking apart).

Lay one pie crust down and put the brie ontop.

Heavily coat the top of the brie with apricot jelly, you can never have enough!

Put the second pie crust on top and fold over second pie crust and pour the brie. Poke small holes into the sides of the brie.

Put in the oven for 30 minutes and serve with crackers.

Annie with the brie right after we took it out of the oven.

ENJOY and happy MLK Day!!