Turtles (Pretzels with Rolo Candy)

We had a St. Patrick's Day party to attend and were asked to bring something.  In addition to some other items, M wanted me to bring something salty / sweet.  These fit the bill and were gobbled up.  They are super easy and fun!  I drizzled a little white chocolate on about 1/3 of them just to change up the look but you can easily just do the basic recipe and have a quick winner!

Ingredients:
Small round pretzels
Rolo Chewy Caramels in Milk Chocolate
Pecan halves
White chocolate morsels (if desired)

Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Line pretzels on the cookie sheet and top with 1 Rolo candy (wrapper removed).
Place in preheated oven for 3-5 minutes until the chocolate is soft - but not melted.  Mine took about 4-1/2 minutes.
Remove from oven and immediately place 1 pecan half on each Rolo candy.  I removed the parchment paper / pretzel from the cookie sheet and placed on a cooling rack to prevent any further heating / cooking.
Allow to cool thoroughly.
If you want to drizzle white chocolate on top, place morsels in a microwave save bowl.  Heat for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after 30 seconds, until melted.  I did 1 full minutes of heating for a small amount of chocolate.  I used a chop stick (very fancy!) to drizzle the chocolate on the tops of the prezels / Rolo.

Enjoy!

Cranberry Nut Bread

I was trying to decide what to give the helpers at B's after school care for Christmas.  There are 6 of them so I needed something that wouldn't break the budget!  I decided to make them a gift this year and came upon this recipe.  I tripled the recipe to make the right amount.  This recipe will make 1 regular size loaf pan or 2 mini pans.  I ended up with 7 mini loaves.  The house smelled amazing while they were cooking!  We'll have to try some tomorrow for breakfast!

Here's the batter, cranberries and pecans

Here are my 7 loaves cooling

The loaves are packaged and ready to be delivered

Ingredients:
1/3 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons grated orange zest, from one orange
2/3 cup buttermilk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped coarse
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans (I used pecans)

Directions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray bottom of 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a small bowl, stir together orange juice, orange zest, buttermilk, butter and egg. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda. Stir liquid ingredients into dry with rubber spatula until just moistened. Gently stir in cranberries and nuts. Do not overmix.

Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan and spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees. Continue to bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean, about 45 minutes longer. Cool loaf in pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack and cool at least one hour before serving.

Pecan Crusted Chicken

This chicken has the taste of Fall in it!  It smells yummy while it's cooking and tastes amazing!  I love that it's a great dinner that can be completed in under 30 minutes too!  Easy for a weeknight but good enough to serve to guests!  The only change I made from the original recipe is to sub cinnamon for nutmeg.

A picture of the chicken ready to be cooked

The chicken getting crispy in the pan

Our final dish

Ingredients:
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup crushed up saltine crackers
1 egg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tbsp olive oil
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:
Season chicken with salt & pepper.
In a small shallow bowl, whip up the egg.
In a separate bowl, mix together the pecans, crackers & cinnamon
Dip the chicken in the egg, then into the pecan mixture.  Be sure to push down & coat both sides
Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat.
Place chicken in skillet and cook for 5-6 minutes per side, until crispy.

Enjoy!