Pizza Buns

I bought a pop can of Pillsbury pizza dough strictly as a backup. However, plan B became plan A when my weekend got away from me and I lost complete track of time. I intended on making whole wheat dough from scratch so the buns would have even a very small amount of nutrients. But that didn’t happen. I mean it’s a pizza bun, let’s not kid ourselves, this isn’t a healthy recipe. But they aren’t huge, so if you make a lunch out of one with some veggies on the side. All and all your diet isn’t completely blown.

Once cooled, I wrapped them up individually and froze them for the days I didn’t time to make my lunch ahead.

• 1 can of pizza dough OR a batch of your own recipe
• Pizza Sauce
• Cheese, grated
• Toppings

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Unroll, or roll out pizza dough into a rectangle. Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce, sprinkle cheese, and toppings.

3. Starting at one end, roll up the dough with the toppings inside. Once you have a large roll, cut into 1’’ pieces and place roll on it’s side on the baking sheet. Bake for approx. 20 minutes.

Banana Bread

I will pass this recipe onto my future offspring. No other banana bread recipe compares. It is the best. In fact, I often double it and always make 2 loafs as a general rule. I slice it up, wrap then individually and keep them in my freezer to grab as a snack on my way out the door.

• 2 cups of flour (you can use whole wheat or half and half)
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• ¼ tsp of salt
• ½ cup of butter, softened
• ¾ cup of brown sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 3 over ripe bananas, mashed

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease loaf pan and set aside.

2. In a large bowl or kitchen aid, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in eggs and vanilla, mix well.

3. Add flour, salt, baking soda and bananas. Mix until combined and batter is smooth.

4. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for approx. 60 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean.

The Butter Tart vs The Pecan Pie Tart

Welcome to the Tart Show Down!
Where both tarts are deemed winners. Like why choose? Make both!

This was my first time making both of these little seasonal treats, and it was much easier then I thought it would be.... Okay so I used stored bought, frozen tart shells. I work full time, please don't judge me, the guilt has been keeping me up at night as it is. ;)

These both freeze extremely well. In fact I always prefer mine frozen or cold. yum!

Butter Tarts

• 1/4 cup of butter, softened
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup of pure maple syrup
• raisins
• 1 package of frozen tart shells (approx 20)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and place the tart shells on it. Sprinkle raisins in each shell (as desired). Set aside.

2. In a large bowl or kitchen aid, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla, eggs, and maple syrup, mix well. (the filling may look chunky with small butter pieces, that's okay, it's freaked me out too, but it will melt in the oven when baked)

3. Spoon filling into each shell on top of raisins, taking care not to over fill. Bake for approx 15 - 20 minutes, pastry should be golden and filling is bubbling. Let cool.

Pecan Tarts

• 3 cups of pecans, chopped
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3/4 cup of corn syrup
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp of butter, melted
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp of salt
• 1 package of frozen tart shells (approx 20)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and place the tart shells on it. Set aside.

2. Stir together sugar and corn syrup in a medium bowl. Stir in pecans, eggs, and next 3 ingredients.

3. Spoon about 1/4 cup pecan mixture into each tart shell. Bake for approx 25 to 30 minutes or until set. Let cool.

Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

I always thought of Pineapple Upside down cake to be in the same category as Jello molds. Something your mother would have made for “special occasions” and for some reason that thought remains in my mind in black and white. It feels like it’s from a completely different generation then my own. But I’ve been seeing the recipe in the mini form, a TON on Pinterest, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and join in. Besides, what else was I going to do with canned pineapple?

So I think that if you like Pineapple Upside Down Cake this is a great recipe, I just don’t think I’m a huge fan of it. And when I say I’m not a huge fan, that means I ate 2 of the little cakes the same day I made them. If I really like something, I eat the whole thing and pretend it never happened. ;)

So put on an old movie, throw on flapper dress from the back of your closet and take a trip to the 20s with me as you bake these sweet little cakes.

• 4 eggs, separated
• ½ cup of butter
• 1 cup of brown sugar, packed
• 2 cans of pineapple chunks, drained and sliced in half
• 21 maraschino cherries
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• ¼ tsp of salt
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 tbsp of butter, melted
• 1 tsp of almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees, grease 21 muffin tins cavities.

2. Arrange 5 slices of the pineapple chunks at the bottom of each cavity so it forms a circle, place a cherry in the middle of each. Set aside.

3. In a small saucepan, melt ½ cup of butter over low heat, mix in the brown sugar then spoon over the cherry and pineapple pieces so it’s divided evenly.

4. In mixing bowl or kitchen aid, beat the eggs whites until soft peaks form. Add the white sugar and continue to beta until stiff peaks form.

5. Fold in the egg yolks, flour, baking powder, and salt, until just combined. Then mix the butter and almond extract.

6. Spoon batter evenly into each cavity, bake for approx. 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes, then loosen the edges of each cake with a table knife. Turn over onto wire rack and let rest for a minute or two.

Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots

Bacon? GOOD!
Tater Tots? GOOD!
Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots? AMAZING!

Who knew the best appetizer at the party would be so easy? It’s probably the best because it’s awful for you, but it’s “party” food so you should live a little and eat as many of these suckers as you can! Because I promise you they won’t last long and will be the first to go!

• Bag of Tater Tots, thawed
• 1 ½ packages of bacon
• Toothpicks

1. Cut the slices of bacon in half, wrap each piece around a Tater Tot, and secure with a toothpick.

2. Heat oven to 400 degrees, line a baking sheet with tin foil, and place a metal rack on top. Place the tots on the rack. Cook for about 20 minutes. Bacon should be fully cooked. Serve immediately. (But they're also pretty good cold)