Sugar and Salt and Everything Nice!

Salty and Sweet is such a great combination - think about some of the great treats with this combination... Peanut Butter Cups, Kettle Corn  and Chocolate Covered Pretzels!

At Easter time, I was trying to come up with a quick, packable treat that I could bring on the plane to Boston... I came up with chocolate covered pretzels, accented with egg and bunny shaped colored sprinkles. They were easy to make and made it to Boston without getting

 crushed and were gone in a flash!

Here's what you need: 

• Pretzels (small rods, twists, nuggets - you pick!)
• Chocolate Chips (dark and semi-sweet seem to "dry" best)
• Sprinkles (rainbow non-perils are my favorite)
• Waxed paper

Here's what to do:

1. In a microwavable bowl, melt the chocolate chips
2. Dip pretzels into chocolate (1/2 or full dip, depending on your sweet tooth)
3. Sprinkle with decorations (over a bowl, so you can recycle the spilled sprinkles)
4. Place on waxed paper to dry for a few hours.
5. Store in an air-tight container
   

A few notes: 

I Also tried making chocolate dipped marshmallows, which were very yummy and 

a big hit with my taste testers! 

Treats like this also make a great party favor (just place in a clear goodie bag and tie with ribbon. I just made some last week as a baby shower favor... let's just say there were no leftovers!

Quick and Pretty

I had never used slice and bake cookies before, but once again, I had to whip something up last minute for a baby shower... I found out at the last minute that sugar cookies were required by the pregnant mama and didn't have time to make, chill and roll out dough so I went old school and bought a roll of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough.  

A very simple way to make boring round sugar cookies sparkle is to add simple toppings either right before they go in the oven, or right after they come out and are still soft to the touch (almost puffy). 

My two designs were "stained glass" and "flower power"... I used a multicolor sugar crystal and pink and white M&Ms... from start to finish, the whole batch took less than 30 minutes and they were yummy and very festive!

Last Minute Desserts

Yesterday, we were invited to a last minute dinner party for a dear friend's birthday. I offered to bring dessert as I often do because I love to bake!  

As soon as I hung up the phone I realized that a birthday cake was in order and panicked because of the limited amount of time I had, so I decided to go old school... 

Devils Food cake with homemade buttercream frosting... and simple decorations of shredded dark chocolate and rainbow sprinkles... Let's just say there were no complaints! 

Then, as the cake was cooling, I decided to whip up some cookies because not everyone likes chocolate cake... so I went to one of my staples - chocolate chip meringues. 

Both of these desserts were plated and ready to go in less than 3 hours.

Meringue Recipe 

8 egg whites (room temp)

2 cups white sugar

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla extract

12 oz. chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Separate eggs (discard yolks, or use them for something else like key lime pie) and let stand to get to room temperature. Whip on high speed in mixer until frothy. Add cream of tartar to sugar. Gradually add sugar mixture to eggs while whipping on high until peaks hold (2-3 minutes). Add vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips and add a few drops of food coloring if desired.

Scoop mixture into a large zip lock bag and seal bag. Snip one corner of the bottom of the bag to create a disposable piping bag (easy clean up!). Pipe 1" meringues onto greased cookie sheets creating pointed tips if possible. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Makes about 4-5 dozen (depending on size). *To easily 1/2 or double the size of the recipe, use 1/4 cup of sugar for each egg white.