Stuffed Pizza Bites

We love pizza and there is nothing better for a snacking on while having a movie night at home. We decided to give making pizza bites a try. These are were so easy to make and so delicious that we followed the same method and made pizza pockets just a couple days later.

Ingredients: 1 roll refrigerated pizza dough
marinara/pizza sauce
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. olive oil or melted butter
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
mozzarella or Italian blend cheese
pizza toppings of your choice (ham and pineapple, pepperoni, sausage, chopped green peppers or onions, etc.)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to temperature specified on pizza dough package.
2. Unroll your pizza dough onto a lightly-floured surface. Pat or roll the dough so it’s at least 12″ by 8″. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 24 squares. 3. Place cheese and desired toppings on each square. Don't place too much that you will not be able to roll the bites together. 4. When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings. Pinch to make sure each ball is sealed shut and then place seam-side-down in a lightly sprayed pan. 5. Brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil (or melted butter) and then sprinkle with the garlic and Italian seasoning. Top with Parmesan cheese. 6. Place pan in the oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes or the dough is slightly golden. Doughs vary, so keep an eye on them and begin checking them after 10 minutes. 7. Serve warm with warmed marinara sauce on the side for dipping.

These were so yummy. The seasonings on top really made them delicious. We enjoyed the pockets we made later even more because we could get extra toppings inside.

Cupcake in a Jar

Source: mycakies.blogspot.com via Sunny on Pinterest

I think trend of putting cupcakes in a jar is adorable. They look almost too pretty to eat. The lovely blog Cakies shares how to bake and put together these delicious Red Velvet Cupcakes in a Jar with easy step-by-step instructions. These would be perfect for picnics and for when you are throwing a party.

Apple Turnovers

These apple handpies were delicious and very adorable. This was our first attempt at making these and we were very impressed that they turned out perfectly. They were much easier to make than we had anticipated. The smell of the apples cooking was divine.

Ingredients: 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
3/4 cup butter (softened)
1 egg (separated)
3 tbsp cold water
2 cup all-purpose flour
7 cups of tart apples (like Granny Smith)
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
additional sugar to sprinkle on top

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheesse and butter until smooth. 2. Separate egg and refrigerate the egg white.
3. Beat the egg yolk and 2 tablespoons water into the cream cheese mixture. 4. Gradually beat in flour until well blended.
5. Shape pastry into a ball. 6. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
7. Peel, core, and slice the apple into thin small pieces. 8. In a large skillet, toss apples with sugar and cinnamon. 9. Bring to a boil. 10. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until apples are tender.
11. Remove from the heat. 12. Turn the pastry onto a lightly floured surface.
13. Roll to 1/8 inch thickness; cut into 6-inch circles.
14. Top each circle with apple mixture.
15. Brush edges of pastry with water; fold pastry over filling and seal edges well.
16. In a small bowl, whisk egg white and a tablespoon water; brush over pastry.
17. Sprinkle generously with sugar.
18. Place on greased baking sheets and bake at 275 degrees for 18-22 minutes, or until golden brown.
19. Remove to wire racks to cool. These make wonderful snacks and we think that they would be amazing served hot with vanilla ice cream.

Berry Crumb Bars

When we think about Summer one of the first foods that come to mind are berries. So to celebrate the official start of Summer we made Berry Crumb Bars. These bars make a wonderful breakfast pastry or snack. Besides being delicious they are totally worth making for the wonderful aroma that will be coming from your kitchen once the berries start cooking.

Filling Ingredients: 3 cups fresh or frozen berries (we used 2 cups strawberries and 1 cup blueberries but use any combination of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries you want)
1 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch

Directions for Filling:
1. In a saucepan stir berries and lemon juice together and cook until tender. Strawberries take a little longer to cook so we put them in first and allowed them to cook about 3 minutes before adding the blueberries. Total time cooking is around 8-10 minutes. 2. In a small bowl combine sugar and cornstarch. Then stir into fruit mixture. Continue cooking until the mixture boils. Allow it to boil 1-2 minutes so that mixture thickens. 3. Scrap berry filling into a bowl and set aside. Ingredients for Crumb and Crust: 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats (quick-cooking or regular)
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened and cut into chunks
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions for Crust:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9×13″ baking pan.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, oats, brown sugar, butter, baking soda , salt and vanilla extract. 3. Using your hands mix until mixture is thoroughly blended and resembles coarse crumbs. 4. Set aside 1 and 1/4 cups of mixture.
5. Pour remaining mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish, spread evenly and pat down. 6. Spread berries over crust. 7. Sprinkle remaining crumbs over the fruit filling. Bake until golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes. 8. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. Happy Baking,
Sunny & Star

Oatmeal Carmelitas

Source: tasteandtellblog.com via Sunny on Pinterest

We have always been a huge fan for caramel, often times even opting for it over chocolate, so when we find a recipe that combines these two wonderful treats we get excited about getting in the kitchen and giving it a try. We just stumbled across this delicious recipe for Oatmeal Carmelitas over at Taste and Tell. We think these will be wonderful for to whip up the next time we invite friends over for a movie night.

Source: 4shared.com via Sunny on Pinterest

This Sunday is Father's Day, so if you haven't done so yet be sure to let your Dad know how important he is to you.

Happy Father's Day Dad. We love you.

Sunny & Star

Whatcha got Cooking?

Source: marthastewart.com via Sunny on Pinterest

We have been so busy the last few weeks that we haven't had any free time and as a result we have not been spending any time in the kitchen. That is changing this weekend we plan on trying a few different recipes. Maybe in a few weeks we will get ambitious enough to give High Hat Cupcakes a try.

Sunny & Star

Funfetti Cookies

Source: fortheloveofblogtherapy.com via Sunny on Pinterest

We found this recipe online a couple days ago and had to share it with you immediately. These are totally adorable and the recipe looks so simple. Although we haven't made these yet Funfetti cake with rainbow chip frosting has long been a favorite with our family. In fact it is the cake to which our Dad compares all others. These cookies would make the perfect treat and don't you love how festive they look? We can't wait to give these cookies a try.

Happy baking,
Sunny & Star

Butterscotch Cookies

These are one of our favorite cookies. The butterscotch is a nice change from the chocolate we usually eat.

We've been asked by our readers several times how we find so much time to bake but in actually many of our recipes take less than an hour to make.

Ingredients: 1 package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant butterscotch pudding mix
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the cake mix, instant pudding and flour. 3. Add oil and egg, mix until well blended. 4. Stir in the butterscotch chips. Batter will be somewhat crumbly. 5. Scoop cookies with a small ice cream scoop or compress 1 tablespoon of dough into a ball. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are just starting to brown. 6. Allow cookies to cool for 2 minutes before removing from baking sheet to cool on wire racks. Happy Baking,
Sunny & Star

Party Mix

This party mix is truly addictive and so simple to make. A coworker gave brought some of this to work and it tasted so good that it required rushing home to make a batch that night.

Ingredients:
1 cup Pretzel Sticks
3 cups Cheerios
3 cups Chex Mix
12 ounce package of white chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Melt the package of white chocolate chips. 2. While the chips are melting, mixing in a large bowl the pretzels, Cheerios, and Chex Mix. 3. Pour the melted chips over the the pretzel mixture and stir.
4. Spread the mixture over the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and wait for it to harden. 5. Break it apart and store it in an air tight container.

The great thing about party mix is that you can add in other delicious treats if you like such as a cup of miniature marshmallows or a cup of M&M's.

Sunny & Star

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

This was our first attempt at making homemade muffins and they turned out beautifully. The domed perfectly and tasted great. It would also be easy to substitute a cup of frozen berries or anything else you like in place of the apples and cinnamon.

Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 apples
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl beat egg with a fork. Stir in milk, vanilla, and oil. 3. In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar. Make a well in the center. Quickly mix in the liquid mixture with a fork. Do not over beat. 4. Peel, core, and grate 2 large apples. 5. Stir apples into mixture. 6. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake papers and fill each paper 3/4's of the way full. 7. Turn oven to 400 degrees F.
8. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden. 9. Cool on a cooling rack. Happy Baking,
Sunny & Star