Margarita Cookies

Yields: 24 whole cookies, 48 half cookies
Mochi Thoughts

2¼ cups flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

½  teaspoon salt

1½  cups sugar

2 oz cream cheese, cut into 8 pieces

1 teaspoon lime zest

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and still warm

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 large egg

1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon lime juice

1½ tablespoons tequila

Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Combine sugar, the lime zest, and cream cheese in a large bowl (no need to stir them together yet). Pour the warm butter over the cream cheese mixture and whisk to combine – the mixture won’t be completely smooth yet, that’s fine. Whisk in the oil then the egg, milk, tequila and lime juice. Mix until smooth. Use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet, until a soft dough comes together.

Portion the dough onto the prepared baking sheets with a cookie scoop, using about 2 tablespoons for each cookie. Roll the dough into a ball with your hands. Repeat until you’ve used all of the dough, placing 12 cookies on each baking sheet. Use the bottom of a glass to flatten the dough balls into discs that are about 2 inches in diameter.

Bake the cookies, 1 tray at a time, for about 11-13 minutes, or until the edges are set and beginning to brown. The tops will be puffy and slightly cracked. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes then transfer them to the rack to cool completely.

Frosting
I adapted the Mojito Cupcake frosting from The Cheesecakeerian and altered it to make it into a margarita flavor by using tequila instead of rum

½ cup unsalted butter
8 ounces cream cheese (1 package)
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons tequila
1 Tablespoon lime juice (about 1 lime)
1½ to 3 cups powdered sugar (I used about 2)
Green food coloring

Cream the butter, sugar and salt together until fully combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

Add the cold cream cheese a chunk at a time, waiting until each is incorporated before adding the next.

Add the tequila and lime juice and mix until just incorporated. Taste the frosting and add more sugar if needed.
Separate about a quarter before adding the food coloring for the lines on the frosting.

Add the food coloring one drop at a time and combine thoroughly after each, until you have the color you want. Spread onto the cookies.

Whatever is left, mix in a bit more food coloring to get a darker color to make the lime peel and outline the arch of the cookie. Add the three white lines to finish.

Chocolate Chip Coconut Banana Bread

Yields: 2 loaves
This Week for Dinner
(My substitutions in parenthesis)

1¼ cup sugar (I used Splenda)
½ cup (1 stick) margarine, softened (I used applesauce)
2 eggs (I used 4 egg whites)
1½  cup mashed ripe bananas
½ cup buttermilk (I used a teaspoon of lemon juice and ½ cup skim milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2½  cup flour (I used whole wheat flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 cup mini chocolate chips
¾ cup shredded coconut
(original recipe calls for 1 C chopped pecans or walnuts instead of the coconut)

Heat oven to 350, grease bottom only of 2 loaf pans.

Mix sugar with margarine/butter. Stir in eggs. Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, soda until just moistened – do not over stir! Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips.

Bake 1 hour 15 minutes, until top and edges are browned and the center looks cooked. Cool 5 minutes in pan and then on wire rack.

"Watermelon" Jello Shots

Erica's Sweet Tooth
Yields: 40

10 limes, pulp removed

1 box red Jello

1 cup boiling water

1 cup cold vodka (Again, if you have melon flavored, go for it)

Mini chocolate chips

Halve limes and use a paring knife around the edges of the halves to loosen the pulp from the rind. My technique was to do this, and then juice them with my KitchenAid attachment, which helped remove the loosened pulp. Plus, then I got a cup of freshly squeezed lime juice! I also used my (clean) fingers to finally help scrape out the resilient pulp under a running faucet. Set lime halves aside, empty side up.

 

Add 1 cup of boiling water to the Jello powder, and stir for 2 minutes until fully dissolved. Stir in cup of cold vodka.

 

Pour mixture into lime halves, filling all the way to the top. Chill Jello-limes in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

 

Using a sharp knife, carefully cut each lime half in half again, making wedges.

 

Stick in chocolate chips, if desired.

Coconut-Mango Popsicles

Simple Bites
Yields: 24

1  cup coconut milk
¾ cup coconut water
½ cup coconut cream
Juice of half a lime
2 medium mangoes

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process or blend until pureed, about 1-2 minutes.

Pour strained mixture intopopsicle forms of choice.

Place aluminum foil on top of the popsicle mold, and insert popsicle sticks in the center of each compartment.

Freeze for at least 5 hours or overnight.

To release popsicles, run hot water on the outside of popsicle forms for  a few seconds and pull firmly on the sticks.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yields: 12
Dishing the Divine
(My changes are in parenthesis)

Crumble
scant 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
½   cup rolled oats
½   cup brown sugar (I left this part out accidentally, that's probably why the crumble wasn't that great)
½   teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted (I used 2 Tablespoons Smart Balance buttery melt, 4 tablespoons applesauce)

Muffins
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup all purpose flour (I used 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, so I had 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour)
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
½  tsp baking soda
scant ½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan (I used canola oil to grease the pan instead)
½ cup brown sugar (I used ¼  cup Splenda brown sugar blend)
1½ cups plain yogurt (I used applesauce)
¼ cup agave syrup or honey 
2 large eggs, whisked (I used 4 egg whites)
2 large handfuls chocolate chips (I probably used 1 large handful, I have tiny hands)

Preheat oven to 350 with rack set in the middle of the oven. Butter muffin pan generously. Do not use cupcake liners.

Use a fork to combine the flour, oats, sugar, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Stir in the melted butter. Divide the mixture into three portions and use your hands to form the portions into three patties. Place the patties on a plate in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine the oats, flours, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium, microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. Add the sugar and whisk in the yogurt and agave, followed by the eggs. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until it’s almost completely mixed. Add in chocolate chips and stir just until combined. Do not over mix.

Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full. Sprinkle with a few additional chocolate chips if desired. Break off pieces of crumble and add about one tablespoon to each muffin. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs attached. Let cool for 5 minutes and then carefully transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool almost completely before serving. If you have leftovers, heat them for about 10 seconds in the microwave so that the chocolate chips soften slightly.

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

Yields: 12- 7 inch pitas
The Galley Gourmet

2 Tablespoons honey
2-2½ warm water, divided
4½  teaspoons active dry yeast (two ¼-ounce packages)
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus 2 Tablespoons for coating
cornmeal for dusting

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, stir together the honey and 1 cup of the warm water. Stir in the yeast and set aside until the yeast has bloomed, about 5-10 minutes.

Add to the same bowl both flours, salt, ¼ cup oil and 1 cup of the warm water. Mix on low speed until the mixture is smooth and elastic, adding up to ½ cup more of water a tablespoon at a time as needed.

Increase the speed to medium and knead for 4-5 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Drizzle one tablespoon of the oil in the same mixing bowl. Return the dough to the oiled bowl, drizzle the top of the dough with the remaining oil, turning to coat the dough with oil. Cover the bowl with a cloth or piece of plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Gently deflate the dough and let rest for 20 minutes. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into 12 even pieces. Shape each piece into a ball on an unfloured area of the counter, cup your hand over it and quickly rotate your hand over the dough, forming a tight, evenly round ball.

On the lightly floured surface of your counter, roll each piece of dough into a 1/8- inch circle, about 7-inches in diameter; keeping the remaining dough balls covered with a sheet of plastic wrap. Set each round on a large baking sheet without overlapping.

Lightly dust the rounds with cornmeal to prevent them from sticking. Cover the dough with a lightly damp towel and let them rise for 1 hour until puffy, but not necessarily doubled in size.

Meanwhile, position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Bake the dough rounds one baking sheet at a time until the pitas are puffed and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. As each batch comes out of the oven, stack the pitas 3 or 4 high and wrap in clean kitchen towels. Serve immediately or let cool to room temperature. Well wrapped pitas can be kept for up to 3 days or in the freezer up to 6 months.

Cheesecake Pops

Yields: 30-40 Pops
Recipe Girl

5 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy whipping cream
boiling water, as needed
30 to 40 (8-inch) lollipop sticks
1 pound semisweet flavored, milk chocolate flavored, or brightly colored confectionery coating (also known as summer coating or wafer chocolate)

Directions:

Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325°F. Lightly grease a 10-inch cake pan or a 9 or 10-inch square pan (don't use a spring form pan.)

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer set at low speed, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour and salt until smooth. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Pour the cheesecake batter into the cake pan and place in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 40 minutes.

Remove cheesecake from water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 to 2 hours (overnight is best.)

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate coating. Place half of the chocolate wafers in a microwave- safe bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Remove from the microwave and stir. If the chocolate is not completely melted, microwave for 30-second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Hold the pop over the melted chocolate and shake off any excess. Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate wafers as needed.

Refrigerate (or freeze) pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

Pineapple Coconut Muffins

Yields: 12
Completely Delicious

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon coarse salt
½  cup brown sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut
3 egg whites
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup pineapple, diced into small pieces
2 teaspoons dark rum*

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter and flour a muffin pan, or line with muffin paper liners.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, 6 tablespoons of the sugar, and ¼ cup of the coconut. In another bowl, whisk the sour cream, butter, egg whites, and rum (or vanilla) together until smooth. Stir in the diced pineapple. Stir the dry ingredients into the sour cream mixture and stir with a spoon until just combined, do not over mix.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup to about 3/4 of the way full. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of the coconut and 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar. Sprinkle over the muffin batter.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

*May substitute vanilla