Peanut Butter & Nutella Pastry Puffs

Posted on February 14, 2015 by HintofNutmegg

Guys, I’m going to make this short and sweet.

Cause, really, there is only a few things I need to say. And, I’m pretty sure you have better, more romantic, things to do then listen to me on this Saturday. Don’t worry, I won’t hold that against you. How could I?

However, if you don’t have anything better to do then stay tuned, cause I have a very, VERY, important question to ask you. Seriously, it’s like one of the top 5 important questions in the world.

Pretty serious sounding, huh?

Oh. Crap. I almost forgot.

Happy Valentine’s Day you beautiful little person, you.

I feel like today’s the perfect day to tell you how I feel about you. Basically, I adore you to the moon and back. Too corny? Oh well, I’m a hopeless romantic after all, so you’re just going to have to deal with it.

Acceptable? Good, I’m glad we agree. But, really, I love you guys. This blog would be so boring without you. Not to mention, I’d have way less friends if you weren’t around.

So, about that question, I was wondering if maybe you would want to sort of kind of be…

WAIT.

I haven’t told you about the delicious love affair taking place in these pastry puffs.

And, it’s pretty delicious.

Peanut Butter meets Nutella who meets Pastry who meets White Chocolate, and the world was never the same.

Did I mention they are easy to make? Cause they totally are.

Did I mention that I only want to eat peanut butter and nutella now? Cause I totally do.

Oh, and did I ask you to be my Valentine? Cause I totally love you.

Well, you and the pastry puffs. If you’re cool with that then we should hang out. If you’re not there may be something wrong with you. Just saying.

Peanut Butter And Nutella Pastry Puffs
Yields: 18 pastry puffs

Ingredients:
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
1/4 to 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 to 1/3 cup nutella
about 2 tablespoons water
granulated sugar & heavy cream (or half and half) for brushing the tops of the pastry
1/4 cup white chocolate chips, melted

Directions:
Thaw puff pastry according to instructions on the box–either let it sit in the fridge over night or at room temperature the day of for about two hours. Once thawed, preheat oven to 400 degrees and gently roll out puff pastry, extending it about an inch on each side, on a well floured surface.
Using a pizza cutter (or, sharp knife) cut the pastry dough in half (vertically or long wise). Stack the two halves on top of each other and cut into 18 squares–I did six strips, cut horizontally, and then cut each strip twice to make three squares total. Remove the top squares from the bottom squares and set aside.
Using 1/4 teaspoon (or, baby spoon) dollop a small amount of peanut butter into the center of each square. Once each square has peanut butter, dollop an equal amount of nutella into the center of each square. Gently swirl the two dollops together. Alternatively, you could mix the nutella and peanut butter together from the start and then dollop a heaping 1/2 teaspoon of the combined mixture into the center of each squares (if I made these again I’d use this method).
Using your finger dampen the edges of each square with a little bit of water, this helps with the sealing. Top each filled square with another pastry square and using your fingers gently seal the square on each side, it’ll look like a ravioli. Use a fork to crimp the edges of the pastry puffs, making sure each one is completely sealed. Brush each square with a little heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned.
Allow pastry puffs to cool slightly before drizzling with white chocolate. Best served immediately while filling is still warm.

Caramel Blondie Bites

Posted on February 8, 2015 by HintofNutmegg

I’m embarrassed. Actually, maybe that’s not the right word to describe it.

I don’t know if you saw my Super Bowl Sunday post (it was a last-minute, 2 hours before kick off, mainly just pictures kind of post), but these delicious little bites were in the post. Well, not exactly these bites, cause I made more. Like the next day. The other ones were devoured.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m a recipe repeater.

Can we all agree that’s perfectly acceptable? If you say no, I’ll just have to force feed you these bites until it is. Yeah, I know, I’m just the nicest.

I also liked the toothpick idea so much that I had to copy that too. Sorry I’m not sorry for that one. There is one difference though, I didn’t make these toothpicks. I bought them.You know what that means right?

More time to pop these into my mouth.

Let me just tell you, these little bites are ADDICTING. And yes, all caps and bold letters are necessary. Seriously, though, they’re like Oreos or popcorn or chips, you can’t just eat one.

I dare you to try. No, really, I triple dog dare you.

Anddd, I’ve reverted back to my five year old self with that comment.

Yeah, that was a lie. Just last week I triple dog dared someone to sing Taylor Swift songs over the loud-speaker. She didn’t do it. I, for one, was disappointed.

You know what hasn’t disappointed me? These Caramel Blondie Bites. Cause, seriously, they are little squares of utter heaven. I repeat, heaven.

This is the kind of dessert that literally melts away all will power. I’m not kidding here. You start off thinking, “I’ll just have one”, but after your sixth bite is done, the only thoughts in your head are: “How can I hoard these?”, “Why is that guy over there eating yet another bite?”, “I need another one, right now!”…those may or may not be direct thoughts of the people who ate these bites.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Why all the fuss over these little guys? Simple. They are gooey, fudgy, buttery, brown-sugary, caramel blondies. Each bite has a crisp exterior, ridiculously gooey moist center, and a sort of caramelized caramel bottom layer—the caramel bits decided to huddle at the bottom of the blondie while baking, but I didn’t mind in the slightest.

I highly doubt you’ll mind either.

Caramel Blondie Bites
Recipe adapted from these Almond Joy Blondies
Yields: 64 bites

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, melted (2 sticks)
2 cups dark brown sugar
2 eggs
3 to 3 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 heaping cup caramel bits

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and prepare a 9×13-inch pan by lining it with foil and spraying generously with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a medium-size bowl, whisk together melted butter and brown sugar, until no clumps of brown sugar remain.Add eggs, one at a time, and then whisk in vanilla. Whisk in flour and salt, until just combined—try not to over stir the batter or it will become tough to work with.Using a spatula, fold in the caramel bits.
Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top, if needed, lightly with a spatula. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick, stuck in the middle, comes out clean.Let cool completely before slicing into bites.

Baked Banana Donuts Dipped in Peanut Butter Ganache & Drizzled with Chocolate

Posted on August 29, 2014 by HintofNutmegg

Let me tell you about yesterday morning.

5am wake up time. Yes, it’s the worst. And no, that’s normally not when I wake up. Typically I’m up at 5:29am, that is, if I work morning shift at the hospital. I prefer setting my alarm to odd-numbered times. Psshh, don’t you?

My brother brought the puppies (remember Archer & Meeka?) over to stay the night. On a good day they’ll sleep in until a little after 6 before scratching the door to be let out to go to the bathroom. Yesterday, the scratching and adorable howling (even at 5 in the morning I think they’re cute) started at 5:15am. There was no going back to sleep for me.

I was ready to leave the house by 5:50. Played with the puppies for 5 more minutes, put my sweater on, grabbed my keys, and headed outside to start the car. Wait, I forgot something important. I was carrying a green sparkly—if we are being specific here—rectangular Tupperware container filled with these mini Baked Banana Donuts Dipped in Peanut Butter Ganache and Drizzled with Chocolate. I wanted to share them with my coworkers, who, by the way, are pretty awesome.

Can we just talk about that title for a second though? Could I have made it any longer? Probably. What can I say, I’m complicated like that.

And, so, with the donut filled container buckled into the front seat and Taylor Swift blasting on the radio, I left for work. At this point, you may be asking yourself, when is she going to drink her morning coffee? Or, more likely, why is she telling us this story? Don’t worry, I’m getting there. You’ll have all the answers very soon.

I stop at a Starbucks near my work. Normally, I make my coffee at home and take it with me, but Starbucks FINALLY has Pumpkin Spice Lattes again. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about that. And, I think I may hold off on telling you just so that I can write an entire post on my love for PSL’s. Seriously, please go to Starbucks and try it. And, if you already have and LOVE it like I do, this is me, standing next to you, as we both do a little happy dance. Back in the car, sipping on my PSL, singing to ‘22’ by T-Swift I think, “best idea ever to stop at Starbucks”.

I’ll regret this thought in a few minutes.

I find a parking spot right in front of the hospital and get out of the car. Standing outside, I lean over to get my purse from the front seat, secure it on my shoulder, and then lean over to get the Tupperware container. I throw my keys into my purse. Mistake one. Always keep them out until you lock the car. I grab my PSL from the cup holder, keep it in hand, and realize my phone is still on the driver’s seat. I place the PSL on the top of the car and balance the container under my left arm, using my side for support and my left hand to hold the bottom of it, as I reach for the phone with my right. I grab my coffee cup again. Mistake Two. Should have left it on the top of the car.

I now have my coffee and phone in my one hand and am still balancing the container with my other. I go to lock the car. Mistake Three. Not using the lock on the door to lock the car. I manage to fish out my keys pretty easily with my left hand while using my arm and side to keep the container from falling. But, of course, my keys are all jumbled up, so I have to untangle them. Stupid. Fussy. Key Chain. I decide to balance my coffee on top of the container, while I use my right hand to untangle the keys and hold my phone. My fourth, and final, mistake. Should have put something down.

Just as I’m about to hit the lock bottom, my coffee spills all over the container and down my shirt. Keep in mind, Pumpkin Spice Lattes are orangey in color, and I’m wearing a light pink blouse. Needless to say, some ugly words were yelled as I placed the cup on the ground and tried to clean myself off.

Bright side. I managed to still clock in on time. I was able to remove most of the stain on my shirt—I even got complimented on how cute it was. And, most importantly, the donuts weren’t ruined. In fact, my coworkers couldn’t stop telling my how good they were.
Cause, guys, these mini donuts are pretty bomb. It’s banana, peanut butter, and chocolate. The ultimate trifecta if you ask me. The donut itself is super moist (thanks to the sour cream) and has the perfect amount of banana flavoring. It’s then topped off with a creamy peanut butter ganache and a light drizzle of chocolate to complete the perfect bite-size morning (really, any time of day) treat. Honestly, there wasn’t a single negative review about these donuts. Trust me. Make these. They can turn even the worst of mornings, cough cough, much better.

Baked Banana Donuts Dipped in Peanut Butter Ganache & Drizzled with Chocolate
Yields: 36 mini donuts

Ingredients:
Baked Banana Donuts
¾ cup (12 tablespoons) of unsalted butter, melted, browned, and cooled
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup dark brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup sour cream
1 ½ cup mashed banana (about 3 large bananas)

Peanut Butter Ganache
½ cup peanut butter chips
6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Chocolate Drizzle
½ cup light cocoa candy melts, melted

Directions:
Baked Banana Donuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease mini donut pan. Set aside.
Melt butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. As it melts, the butter will foam and crackle. Stir (or swirl the pan) as the butter cooks. When the butter begins to brown (mine was a very light brown color) and you smell a nutty aroma, take the saucepan off the heat. Pour the butter in bowl, whisk for about 30 seconds, and set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Whisk until lumps are gone.
In another bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla, and sour cream until well combined. Mix in the mashed bananas.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and using a spatula, mix thoroughly until just combined.
Transfer batter to a piping bag with a large round tip or a Ziploc baggie with the tip cut off. Pipe into prepared donut pan, about 1/2 way full.
Bake for 6-8 minutes or until the top of the donut springs back when touched. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely, about 5 minutes.

Peanut Butter Ganache & Chocolate Drizzle
Once the donuts are cooled, begin making the ganache. In a small saucepan combine peanut butter chips and heavy cream over medium heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Once the mixture is of drizzling consistency, remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature (about 10 minutes).
Dip the top of each donut in the peanut butter ganache–make sure to hold it upside down for a bit to allow extra ganache to drip off. Let ganache set before drizzling the tops with chocolate.

Toasted Coconut Donut Holes with Coconut Cream Filling

Posted on February 27, 2014 by HintofNutmegg

GUYS.

I made donuts.

The mini kind. The kind you can eat in two bites.

The deep-fried, not baked, kind.

The leave your fingers chocolately, tummy happy, kind. The can’t stop popping them in your mouth kind.

I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let’s back this up.

Donuts.
Who doesn’t love donuts? No one. That’s who.

I mean, come on, if you didn’t have to worry about weight, sugar intake, and all that other health related business wouldn’t you just eat donuts on the regular? I’m pretty sure I would. It would be my morning staple. Sometimes even my snack. I would definitely have a ‘usual’ at the donut shop, and never have to wait in line. Sounds pretty awesome, right? In my perfect world that would happen. But, in the real world, I can’t even tell you the last time I had a donut. And, I’m talking a real donut here. Not the baked kind. Not like the Baked Cinnamon Brown Sugar Donut Bites I made a while ago.

It may actually have been a year ago that I ate a real donut. Maybe even longer. It’s not like I’m purposely avoiding donut shops either. It’s just…I’m not a huge breakfast person. And by that I mean I drink a cup of coffee, sometimes two, and call it a day. And, my snacks typically consist of goldfish or pita chips with a little hummus. As you can see, that doesn’t leave a lot of room for donut eating.

The idea of making my own fried donuts never really was a thought. I mean, there are a million other decadent desserts I want to make, and I don’t even have a deep fryer. Yes, I could just use oil and a huge pot, but I never had a good enough reason to go through all that trouble. Plus, I’ll admit it, I was slightly nervous about getting oil burns. I hear they hurt. A lot.

Are you wondering why I decided to finally make fried donuts? No. Okay, well, I’m still going to tell you anyways. My good friend, Lauren, visited this past week. Unlike myself, Lauren has no fears of oil burns. She is a lover of donuts, is always willing to have adventures in the kitchen, and can handle my craziness during the baking process rather well.

Let the fried donut making ensue.

As a first timer making donuts, I just want to start by saying, it’s actually kind of fun. Sure, it’s a process—making the dough, refrigerating the dough, letting the cut donuts rise, frying, cooling, stuffing with coconut cream, dipping in chocolate, and sprinkling with toasted coconut—but, the end result is totallllyyyy worth it. And, when you have a partner in crime in the kitchen with you, the time literally flies by.

The dough for these donuts was super easy to work with, and fried up rather nicely (and pretty quickly) into little golden donut holes. Neither Lauren nor I was burned by the oil, but we did burn the roofs of our mouths trying to taste test the donuts before they had cooled. Yup, we both are that inpatient. One of the reasons we’re friends. The donuts themselves are light, fluffy, and not overly sweet. Each donut hole is filled with coconut cream pudding, dipped in chocolate, and then sprinkled with toasted coconut shreds. If you like donuts, and you like coconut, you’ll want to make these!

Toasted Coconut Donut Holes with Coconut Cream Filling
Yields: about 40 donut holes

Ingredients:
Donut Holes
1 package (2 ½ teaspoons) active dry yeast
2/3 cups milk, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 7 tablespoons
Canola oil, for frying

Coconut Cream Filling
1 (3.4 oz.) package of Jell-O instant Coconut Cream Pudding
2 cups milk

Toppings
¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
vegetable shortening, as needed
¾ cup sweetened coconut shreds, toasted

Directions:
Donut Holes
In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine yeast and milk. Allow yeast to dissolve completely, about a minute.
Mix in sugar, salt, flour, and eggs on low for about 4 minutes to develop the dough.
With the mixer still on low, add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, until incorporated, about 5 to 6 minutes.
Remove dough from bowl—it will be sticky, so do your best—and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Let dough sit in fridge for 6-15 hours (I let mine sit overnight and then made the donuts in the morning).
Once chilled, remove dough from plastic wrap and place on a piece of large parchment paper. Cover the top of the dough with another piece of large parchment paper and roll dough until about ½-inch thick. Using a 2-inch circle cookie cutter, cut out the donuts and place on a prepared (lined with parchment paper) cookie sheet. Allow donuts to rise in a warm spot for 1 ½-2 hours or until puffy and doubled in size.
When ready to fry, heat a pot filled with 3 inches of oil to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with papers towels (to soak up the extra oil) and set aside. Add donut holes to oil—be careful not to overcrowd the pot—and fry each side of the donut for about 1 ½ to 2 minutes, until golden brown. Make sure to watch your temperature as you continue to fry each batch of donut holes.
Remove donuts with slotted spoon and transfer to the paper-towel lined baking sheet. When cool enough to handle, transfer donut holes to a tray to cool completely.

Coconut Cream Filling
In a medium-sized bowl, mix together coconut cream mix and milk until combined. Let sit in the fridge for about 5 minutes.
Fill a pastry bag with a medium sized tip with coconut cream pudding. Poke a hole on each side of the donut (equidistant between the top and bottom of the donut) and squirt about 1/8 cup in each side of the donut.

Toppings
In a microwave safe bowl, melt semi-sweet chocolate chips and a little vegetable shortening, until of drizzling consistency (microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until smooth).
Dip the tops of each donut hole into the chocolate, holding the donut upside down to let excess chocolate drip off. Sprinkle the top of the chocolate-coated donut with toasted coconut shreds.

*donut recipe adapted from Buns In My Oven

Peanut Butter And Nutella Pastry Puffs Yields: 18 pastry puffs

Caramel Blondie Bites Recipe adapted from these Almond Joy Blondies Yields: 64 bites

Baked Banana Donuts Dipped in Peanut Butter Ganache & Drizzled with Chocolate Yields: 36 mini donuts

Toasted Coconut Donut Holes with Coconut Cream Filling Yields: about 40 donut holes

Peanut Butter And Nutella Pastry Puffs
Yields: 18 pastry puffs

Caramel Blondie Bites
Recipe adapted from these Almond Joy Blondies
Yields: 64 bites

Baked Banana Donuts Dipped in Peanut Butter Ganache & Drizzled with Chocolate
Yields: 36 mini donuts

Toasted Coconut Donut Holes with Coconut Cream Filling
Yields: about 40 donut holes