Chewy Granola Bars á la Starbucks!

It is no secret that I am a big fan of Granola Bars, I cannot resist them! I have tried and made many different ones, using all kind of ingredients and even when I LOVE them all, this Starbucks Copycat recipe is my absolute favorite. 

Of course you can try to make the recipe a bit healthier by leaving a bit of sugar out or replacing the nuts with fresh fruit; the result will still be very tasty but you won't get that "this really taste like the ones at Starbucks" feeling! :)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats 
• 2 cups crispy rice cereal 
• 1 cup dried apricot, chopped 
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped 
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds 
• 1/2 cup pecan halves, chopped 
• 1/2 cup golden raisin 
• 1/4 cup sunflower seed 
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

SYRUP MIXTURE:

• 1/5 cup brown sugar 
• 1/2 cup corn syrup or 1/2 cup honey *
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 1/2 cup peanut butter 

Directions:

1. Prepare a square pan with non-stick spray (or line with parchment paper). 
2. In a large mixing bowl, toss all dry ingredients. Feel free to substitute your preferred nuts or dried fruit. 
3. In a saucepan, combine brown sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for a couple of minutes. This boiling of the sugars is what keeps the bars together once they have cooled off.
4. After boiling, turn off heat; add vanilla and peanut butter. Pour this hot mixture over the dry ingredients as soon as possible and toss to combine. 
5. Pour warm mixture into prepared pan. Wet your fingers and press the mixture down into the pan to compress the bars so they will slice evenly. 
6. Bake for 10 minutes at 170 C and allow it to cool.
7. When cool, use a sharp knife to cut into 18 bars (1 long lengthwise cut and 9 cuts across). 
8. Enjoy with a hot cup of Starbucks coffee for an authentic experience! 

* You can substitute the Corn Syrup for maple or pancake syrup, the taste will still be amazing but Corn Syrup is a bit better when it comes to holding the bars together, but if you don't mind the crumbliness then maple syrup adds a really nice smokey flavor to them! 

This recipe works pretty good as a no-bake bars too, so you can just skip the baking and allow them to settle and cool of before cutting them.

Easy Blackened Chicken with Cilantro Rice

This is a really great summer dish!! The flavors are amazing and if you use the avocado sauce the combination gets even better! I know that blackening meat can be a bit scary but this is a really easy way to do it without ending with leather stripes in your mouth, or a black kitchen. The trick it to keep an eye on the chicken while in the oven and take it out just in time, that way you'll have a really juicy piece of poultry with a really tasty and spicy crust.

Ingredients:

For the Chicken:

• 2 chicken breasts halved
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
• 1/4 teaspon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon olive or vegetable oil

For the rice:

• 1 Cup Rice 
• 2 Cups Chicken Stok
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Juice and Zest from Two Limes
• A Dash of Salt and Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons of Cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C.
2. Combine all dry ingredients and rub on both sides of the chicken, let it marinate for at least one hour.
3. Add the teaspoon of olive oil to a large pan or skillet. Heat the olive oil for a minute over high heat. Add the chicken breasts to the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side.
4. Place the chicken on a greased baking dish and bake for 5-10 minutes, check it from time to time to avoid drying it out.
5. In a medium sauce pan add the chicken stock, butter and rice. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat and cook for ten to fifteen minutes with the lid on, until all the stock has been absorbed.
6. Add the warm rice to a large bowl. Toss in the lime zest, lime juice, salt and pepper, and chopped cilantro. Mix to combine.
7. Serve the chicken sliced on a bed of rice.

Tip: The chicken can be a bit spicy for some people, you can add a very simple avocado sauce to take some of the heath off: place the flesh from an avocado along with two tablespoons of Greek yogurt (or sour cream) in a food processor and puree until smooth. Pour over the chicken. You can also use the chicken as filling for a nice sandwich.

One Ingredient Ice Cream

Stop the press!!!..............Seriously stop it!! I have just found the easiest and I am sure healthiest Ice cream in the (cyber)world!!! This is great for kids and people with allergies (unless you are allergic to bananas, in which case: SLOWLY STEP AWAY!) because it has no milk, no cream, no sugar, no artificial colors or sweeteners, all you need for this creamy  and tasty ice cream are lovely frozen bananas. Of course you can add a couple of other ingredients to add a bit of a kick, I used a little vanilla and some peanut butter but you can use other fruits, cocoa powder, honey, nuts............just about anything!

The trick here is to freeze the bananas until rock solid and then have some PATIENCE, you don't need an ice cream maker, a simple blender or food processor will do but as I said you need a bit of patience because the bananas need their time to turn into a lovely creamy ice cream!

Here's a step-by-step instructions on how to:

1. Peel your bananas first (duh! right? well I know a few people who would just chop the bananas and trow them in the freezer without this very important step!)
2. Cut them into small pieces (if you don't cut them them it will be almost impossible to blend the frozen monsters!)
3. Freeze for just 1-2 hours on a plate. 
4. Blend, blend, blend - scraping down the bowl when they stick. 
5. Enjoy the magic moment when they turn into ice cream! (at this point you can add pretty much anything you want, I recommend a tablespoon of peanut butter or a few drops of vanilla extract or even better yet: a couple of teaspoons of cocoa powder for a creamy banana-chocolate ice cream)
6. Once the ice cream is ready you can place it again the freezer to harden a bit or grab your spoon and enjoy as it is!

Note: Try to use ripe or overripe bananas to avoid that greenish aftertaste some young bananas have.

Original recipe:thekitchn.com

Baked Churros

As the good Mexican girl that I am, I LUV churros, there is something really comforting and homely about them, it just brings a lot of memories of happy Sundays to me. I have tried to re-live those memories many many times by making my own churros only to end up with soggy, greasy little sticks and a mess of a kitchen!!

But this time around I found out a way to make them in a wink and by baking them instead of deep frying them you save lots of time, mess and calories! 

Ingredients:


• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 
1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup water
• 
1 cup all purpose flour

• 3 eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar
• 
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees C.
2. In a medium saucepan combine the butter, salt and water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Remove from heat, add the flour and stir with a spoon to combine. Mixture will thicken and start to resemble the texture of mashed potatoes. 
3. Leave dough in the saucepan, but beat it on low with a hand mixer, adding one egg at a time, mixing well before adding another. After adding each egg, the mixture will become wet and glossy, but after mixing on high for a few seconds it will thicken again, again.
4. When all the eggs are are combined add the vanilla,  the dough will be thick and starchy, that's how you know it is ready.
5. Spoon the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. 
6. Lightly spray a cookie sheet and pipe rows of the dough with at least 2 cm between each churro (the size of the churro is up to you, you can make large ones or baby ones for the kids here).
7. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown, and when a toothpick comes out clean. 
8. Spray churros lightly with cooking spray, transfer them to a square tupperware, or shallow baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. 

Baked Potato with a Twist

I live in Potato Land (well actually it should be "Potato Continent"), everywhere you go you see potatoes, potatoes in every shape, form, color and sizes! 
Potatoes are one of the 3 or 4 basic main ingredients not only in Holland but in all of Europe. To me, that was a big change in eating habits, I never used to eat that much potatoes, French Fries and Baked Potatoes were a real treat for me and here they are just an everyday snack! Don't get me wrong, I love my tatters, they are very versatile and I really enjoy them but sometimes it is hard to come up with new ways to prepare them............lets face it: you CAN (and you will) get tired of mashed potatoes, believe me!!!

I love baked potatoes but I am in a constant fight when it comes to the baking time, my oven tends to take way much longer time than pretty much any other oven in the world and I either end up with a raw potato casserole or a bunch of blackened french fries! 

I came across this really cool looking potato recipe the other day and I just knew I had to give it a try: a really simple yet amazing take on a baked potato. The great part is that it doesn't take that much time to bake as a normal tin foil potato and it looks so much better!

  




Ingredients:

• 6 Medium Size Potatoes
• 2 - 3 Cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 30 g Butter
• Sea Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 220˚C 
2. Put the potato on a chopping board, flat side down. Start from one end of the potato, cut almost all the way through, at about 3 to 4 mm intervals.
3. Arrange the potatoes in a baking tray and insert the garlic in between the slits. Scatter some butter on top of each potato. Then drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Bake the potatoes for about 40 minutes or until the potatoes turn crispy and the flesh is soft.

Tip: You can add some grated parmesan or any other kind of cheese at the end or add a bit of sour cream.

BLT Pasta Salad

One of my absolute favorite sandwiches is the BLT (bacon, lettuce & tomato), there is something about that combo that just waters my mouth!  I once tried to use that combo in a normal salad, and while it was not a disaster, it didn't do that much for me, so I thought to myself salad+bacon+tomatoes.........something with a bit of more bite: what about...............PASTA? It is a really great and easy summer dish and the sautéed tomatoes give it a really nice taste. You can use any pasta shape you like but I found that fussily works the best, also you can use only mayo and sour cream or only greek yogurt and mayo, it is pretty much up to you! If you decide to make this salad ahead of time I suggest you don't add the lettuce until the last moment otherwise it will get soggy. 

Ingredients:

• 350g pasta ( I used fussily)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 300g bacon
• 3 medium tomatoes, cut into chunks
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup mayonaise
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 4 tablespoons chopped chives
•  5 cups chopped romaine hearts (you can use any type of lettuce really)

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water as the label directs. Drain and toss with the milk in a large bowl; set aside.
2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels.  Add the tomatoes, thyme and garlic to the pan and toss until warmed through; season with salt and pepper. 
3. Crumble the bacon into bite-size pieces; set aside 1/4 cup for garnish. Toss the remaining bacon and the tomato mixture with the pasta.
4. Mix the mayonnaise, sour cream, yogurt and 3 tablespoons chives with the pasta until evenly combined. Season with salt and pepper. 
5. Add the lettuce; toss again to coat. Garnish with the reserved bacon and the remaining 1 tablespoon chives. 
6. Serve at room temperature.  

Zucchini Pasta

I am generally not a fan of foods pretending to be other foods for health or shock value. In general if you want to eat pasta….......then eat pasta; but this is kind of an exception to my rule. This way of preparing zucchini is called pasta because it looks like pasta and the texture can really fool anyone! It goes really good with pretty much any kind of pasta sauce but I have found out that it tastes better with a simple butter-cheese or tomato sauce, something that is not to heavy or chunky...... but my son loves it with a good old bolognese sauce too!! You could also use it as pasta replacement in a salad pasta for a summer BBQ, the texture and mild taste really works with anything! I didn't add any sauce recipe because I believe that if you are trying this for the first time it is best to make a sauce that you are used to, this way you'll get used to the idea of eating "fake" pasta easier!

I usually use one zucchini per person but you can use more or less depending on what you are making. Some people don't even bother boiling the "noodles", this tastes good too (it is a bit more crunchy and with a stronger taste), if you want to give it a try all you have to do is slice the zucchini, salt them for 20 minutes and rinse to soften them. 

Ingredients:

• Fresh Zucchinis 
• Water to boil
• Salt to taste
• Any pasta sauce you like

Directions:

1. Use one medium large zucchini per person. Wash it thoroughly and pat dry.
2. If you have a mandolin this will be perfect for the job, but if you're like most people, you probably don’t have a mandolin, so you can either use a vegetable peeler or a knife. The peeler method will give you long flat noodles, and with the knife you'll have to work a bit more: just cut the zucchini into thin slices, stack up, and cut again lengthwise into thin strips.
3. Boil some salted water, and add the zucchini noodles to the water to cook for about 1-2 minute. I have found that cooking them a bit longer works great for kids but for adults 1-2 minutes is more than ok.
4. Take out and immediately and blanch in cold water to prevent over cooking (The hot sauce will heat up the noodles sufficiently)
5. That's it, serve with your favorite pasta sauce and enjoy!

Kiddie Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls......just thinking about them turns my mouth into water! I think they are the ultimate comfort sweet snack, but most of the times I find them a little bit to big, not that there's anything wrong with big portions of really nice food, but sometimes I prefer a lighter snack. These little rolls are the right size for a kid and great as grown -ups dessert too! I love them nice and warm out of the oven but cooled they are also really good! I have added the "I have a lot of time and don't mind making MY OWN rolls" recipe too, but believe me, a pre-made can of rolls works just as good!

Ingredients:

• 1 can Crescent Rolls (yes, you could make your own dough but the pre-made ones are really good)

Cinnamon Filling:

• 1/2 cup  softened butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Vanilla Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons heavy cream (or 2 tablespoons milk + 1 tablespoon butter)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200 C. 
2. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in the bottom of a baking dish. Add the brown sugar to the butter and stir to combine. 
3. Unroll crescent dough together to create one big sheet. Spread with remaining softened butter. 
4. Combine white sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the buttered dough. Roll the dough back up into a log, and cut into 6-8 cinnamon rolls (you could even make them smaller for the little ones).
5. Place rolls in prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with any remaining cinnamon sugar. 
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes. 
7. With a fork, stir together sugar, cream, and vanilla until smooth and pourable. Add one tablespoon of milk if needed to thin. If using milk and butter instead of cream, heat the milk and butter in the microwave to melt the butter, then add to the sugar and stir in vanilla.
8. Top with vanilla glaze and serve warm.

**Here is the recipe to make the rolls from scratch, it takes some time but it is not hard to do. Once the dough is ready you can use the cinnamon-sugar filling and the Vanilla Glaze to prepare them (although you might have to double the amounts), have fun!!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk (heated approximately 1 minute in microwave)
• 1/4 cup warm water 
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs, room temperature and beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 5 cups bread flour
• 3 teaspoons instant active dry yeast
• Cinnamon Filling (see recipe above)
• Vanilla Frosting (see recipe above)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine all the ingredients in the order given except the Cinnamon Filling and the Butter Frosting. Mix everything together until a soft dough forms.
2. Check the dough. It should form a nice elastic ball. If you think the dough is too moist, add additional flour (a tablespoon at a time). The same is true if the dough is looking dry and gnarly. Add warm water (a tablespoon at a time). If you can't judge your dough by looking, stick your finger in and feel the dough. It should be slightly tacky to the touch.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly-oiled surface and knead until elastic, approximately 10 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise until double in size. 
4. Butter a baking pan; set aside.
5. After dough has risen, roll and stretch the dough into a rectangle.
6. Brush the 1/2 cup softened butter (listed in Cinnamon Filling) over the top of the dough. Sprinkle Cinnamon Filling over the butter on the prepared dough. 
7. Starting with long edge, roll up dough; pinch seams to seal.
8. With a knife, cut the roll roll into small sections.
9. Place cut side up in prepared baking pan, flattening them only slightly. 
10. Allow them to warm and rise for up to 1 hour. The unbaked cinnamon rolls should not touch each other before rising and baking. Do not pack the unbaked cinnamon rolls together.
11. Bake for 20-25 minuttes at 200 C

Tip: Before cutting the roll you can cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight to make it easier to cut it into sections(I've actually made them two days in advance) or frozen for 1 month. If frozen, before baking, allow rolls to thaw completely and rise in a warm place. 

Baked French Toast

Sunday Breakfast renewd: old fashioned French Toast that can be prepared in advanced and then popped in the oven at the last minute; lazy weekend food doesn't get any easier!

This is one of the "I'm to tired to spend a lot of time in the kitchen" kind of recipes, you can mix all the ingredients and leave it in the fridge overnight, then put it in the oven and voila: tasty warm breakfast for everyone. You can leave the fruit out or use pretty much any other kind of fruit with it, you could also leave it a little but longer in the oven for some extra crunchiness. This recipe is for a rather large amount of French bread but BELIEVE me, there won't be much over!

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf Crusty bread, cubed (you can use any crusty bread, it will work better than normal bread slices)
• 8 eggs
• 2 cup milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup sugar (you could also use light brown  sugar)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Topping:

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 stick cold butter in chunks
• 1 cup chopped apples, peaches, apricots or berries

Directions:

1. Grease a medium baking dish with butter. Distribute the cubed bread in it.
2. Mix eggs, milk, cream, sugar and vanilla, whisk good and pour over the bread. Cover and store in the fridge (abything from 2 hours to overnight).
3. In a large blowl mix the flour, brown sugar, cinammon and salt. Add the chuks of butter and mix good without creating a dough, you are aiming for little crumbles of buttery heaven. Store in the fridge (you could use a resealable bag for this).
4. When you are ready to bake the bread preheat the ove to 220 C.
5. Sprinkle the fresh fruit if you are using any and then add the crumble mixture on top.
6. Bake for 45 minutes or a but longer if you want it to be more crunchy.
7. Scoop out and serve with maple syrup (optional).
8. Enjoy!!

Tip: You can add 1/2 cup of Pecans or any other kind of nut to the crumble mixture, I have used rolled Oats also and the result is quite tasty too!

"Drunken" Beans

Frijoles Borrachos or Drunken Beans is another of those typical Mexican Sunday Family recipes. There are a lot of variations of this recipe within Mexico: some people add a few more ingredients and call them Frijol en Chipilin, some don't use beer at all, add more meat to them and call them  Frijoles Charros, these last ones being the most common ones. However the use of beer gives this dish a really good flavor and lets face it: makes it a bit more exotic! The original recipe asks for some chorizo or pork chops but I have left them out to make it a bit lighter. As for the beer, Negra Modelo (a rich dark Mexican beer) is hands down the best beer to use in this recipe, but any other beer will do, preferably a dark one. 

Ingredients:

• 250 gr dry pinto or black beans
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tomatoes finely chopped
• 2 serrano peppers finely chopped (you can also use jalapeños)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• salt to taste
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 can of your favorite beer (negra modelo works best if you can get it)
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 150g bacon, chopped
• Enough water to cook the beans (this will depend on how watery you want your beans to get)

Directions:

1. Rinse and clean the beans, making sure to remove any stones they might have.
2. Soak the beans overnight in water.
3. Cook the beans in a low pressure pan for 25 minutes or 2 hours in a normal pan; drain the beans and save most of the water (again it's up to you how much water you use).
4. Heath a skillet or a pan on medium heath and bake the onion till transparent, add the tomatoes, peppers and cilantro.
5. Allow it to cook for a few minutes and add the beer; let it cook for a little while and add the water, season with salt and lower the heath. 
6. Cook for 20-25 minutes.
7. Serve with extra cilantro, onions, chopped peppers or avocado and a wedge of lime.