Mother’s Day Recipe: Potato Candy

First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s out there! I feel like it’s graduation central in Raleigh right now, but we should all be taking the time to celebrate all the mother’s in the world. Patience Brewster sparked an idea to share a recipe that was passed down by the mother’s in my family, so be sure to check out their site. They have unique gifting options for any time of year!

In honor of Mother’s Day, I’m posting a recipe that was shared with me by my mom that was passed down in our partly Irish family. I remember always helping her make these around the holidays when I was younger, and it has been something that I’ve made on my own since then. I did alter the recipe a bit to make it easier and quicker to create, but I love making these and sharing them with people, because no one ever knows what they are, but they love them when they give them a try.

If you’ve checked out my recipe posts in the past, you’ll know I’m not a huge fan of going by exact measurements, and I’ll say that this is definitely one of those recipes where measurements may change each time you make it. You can make as little or as many of these as you would like, but the ingredient proportions may change each time just based on the temperature you’re making them during.

Because I made these on a whim, I just made a small portion.

Ingredients:

 ½ tablespoon instant mashed potato mix

2 ½ teaspoons tap water

Powdered sugar

Peanut butter

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, add your ½ tablespoon instant mashed potato mix along with ½ teaspoon tap water. Mix together until it forms a ball as opposed to flakes.
2. Begin adding in small amounts of powdered sugar along with water ¼ a teaspoon at a time and continue mixing. The mixture will most likely get more liquidy before it becomes dough-like.
3. Once your mixture is dough-like, you should be able to form a ball in your hand.
4. Using parchment paper, place your dough and sprinkle with powdered sugar so it doesn’t stick to your rolling pin when rolling out.
5. Roll out to a thin layer (adding powdered sugar when needed to prevent sticking) and spread a very thin layer of peanut butter on the entire surface. *This process needs to happen quickly to prevent your dough from drying out. It dries out fast.
6. Once your peanut butter is spread on your rolled out dough, begin rolling into a tight log.
7. Slice log into pieces, and store in fridge until ready to serve.

My small proportion created 10 pieces of candy. I usually make bigger batches, but with this recipe, it’s really a guessing game when it comes to the amount of ingredients you add.

Have you had potato candy before? If so, what did you think? If not, would you give it a try?

Thanks for stopping by and again, Happy Mother’s Day!

Lynda

 

Cupcake Cones

Yesterday was my boyfriend’s birthday, so I thought I’d share a great dessert idea for celebrating birthdays (or just for when you have a sweet tooth and want to bake something fun!). I occasionally make these, just because they are different, and an alternative to making basic cupcakes.

Ingredients:

Cake Mix + Eggs, Water, Oil that it requires

Cake Cones for ice cream

Chocolate chips

Icing + Sprinkles

Directions:

1. Make cake mix with directions on box.
2. Place cake cones in a cupcake pan and fill the bottom of the cones with chocolate chips.
3. Add cake mix to cones, to the line right before the cone opens up wider.
4. Bake in the oven based on directions on back of cake box. (You’re essentially making cupcakes the same way, just in a cake cone as opposed to a cupcake liner.)
5. Allow cupcakes to cool, and decorate.
6. Enjoy!

This recipe makes 24 cupcake cones! 

Have you made these before? Sometimes they are fun to make with white icing, piped on to look more like ice cream! It’s even fun to serve during the warmer months with ice cream cake.

Bows and Arrows,

Lynda

Abstract Flower Chocolate Pops

Since Valentine’s Day is two days away, I thought I’d share a quick and easy DIY treat that you can make for loved ones, your child’s classmates, co-workers, or anyone else that deserves a little something special on the day everyone shows love. This is so easy to do, and they look so special, that it looks like they took longer to make than they actually do!  And, if you have kids, this is something you could do with them too!

Supplies:

Lollipop sticks

Parchment paper

Microwavable glass bowl

Ziploc bag

Tall glass cup

Spoon

Ingredients:

Candy melts

Sprinkles, or anything else you wish to decorate with

Directions:

1. Lay your parchment paper on a flat surface.

2.  Add your opened Ziploc bag to your tall glass cup so it’s ready to have melted chocolate added to it.

3.  Add your candy melts to your glass bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.  Remove and stir.  Continue to microwave in 15 second increments until candy melts are fully melted.

4. Add your melted chocolate to your Ziploc bag and seal.  Snip a small piece of the corner of the bag off to squeeze from.

5.  In a circular motion, squeeze your melted chocolate in small circles creating a bigger circle.  At one spot, add extra chocolate so you can place your lollipop stick.  Once you place your lollipop stick, add a small amount of chocolate to the top of the stick, sealing it in between the candy.

6. While the chocolate is still soft, add your sprinkles and any decorations you want to use, so they will dry into the chocolate.

7.  Keep chocolate still for about 20 minutes to allow it to harden.  You can transfer it to the fridge once it seems stable if you wish, but it’s not necessary.

8.  Package for loved ones!  I like placing mine in a small cup of white sugar to create a “flower display.”  You can also wrap in cellophane, or store in an airtight container and just pass out to friends.

Have a great Valentine’s Day!

Lynda

No-Bake Oatmeal Bites

Last week at work, we had an event where we served these bite size “no bake energy bites,” which I had never heard of before. I tasted one, and was immediately hooked. I decided to come up with my own recipe with the items in my pantry, and they were so good, they were consumed before the night was over!

Here’s my recipe:

½ cup old fashion oats

¼ cup mini chocolate chips

¼ cup coconut flakes

¼ cup peanut butter

¼ cup almond meal

2 tbsp honey

¼ tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix together. (You may need to use your hands.) Place bowl in the fridge for 15 minutes to let mixture harden a bit, and then form into balls. Keep stored in the fridge until ready to eat.

This seems to be the recipe that I may have originally tasted, if you want to check that out.

Try them out, and let me know what you think!

Bows and Arrows,

Lynda

DIY: Chocolate Holiday Candies

When the holidays arrive, I’m instantly more excited to get creative and do lots of DIY projects. I’m already quite a creative person, but once the holidays are here, I want to make ALL THE THINGS! However, the holidays are also the busiest time of year for me at work, so it creates sort of a clash when it comes to time. (Partly why I’ve been MIA for almost a week now. Sorry guys!)

Like I’ve done for the past I-don’t-know-how-many-years, this year I decided to make candy to hand out to friends and co-workers for Christmas. This is my first time making these in particular, but I chose to make these holiday chocolates not only because they are quick and easy to make, but also because they look so Christmas-y! Plus, who doesn’t love getting homemade treats, especially when they’re cute?! 

Ingredients:

2 bags of Wilton Candy Melts (I used 1 bag of pure white, and one bag of candy cane)

Sprinkles of any kind you wish to decorate your candies with

Food coloring (optional-I didn’t use any)

Edible sparkle dust (I used white)

Materials:

Chocolate molds of your choice, cleaned and ready to use

Small glass mixing bowl

Spoon

Paintbrush (that you’ve dedicated to using on food only)

Squeeze bottle that can be heated (optional)

Spatula

Sealable glass storage container

Parchment paper

Instructions:

1. Before you warm your chocolate, add any sprinkles you want to be on the tops of your candies to the molds, so they will stick. (If using larger sprinkle options, place these on candies afterwards.)
2. Add candy melts to either your squeeze bottle or glass mixing bowl and microwave according to package. Be sure you aren’t microwaving on full power or your chocolate will burn!
3. Remove candy melts from microwave and stir until smooth. (If you want to use food coloring, add it at this time.) If you need to reheat, do so in 15-second increments. Now you can begin adding your chocolate to the molds.
4. Be sure to fill each mold slightly over the line. Once all spaces are filled with chocolate, gently tap mold on counter to release any air bubbles. The chocolate will drop slowly once bubbles are removed, but you will also have some over-running.

1. Using your spatula, remove any excess chocolate from the edges to prevent all chocolate molds from coming out in one large piece. Transfer to fridge and let stand for 20 minutes.
2. Once chocolates are hardened in their molds, gently flip mold over and tap chocolates into glass storage container.
3. Decorate chocolates with larger sprinkles by adding a dot of warm chocolate to the candy to act as a glue, and return to fridge to harden.
4. Using your paintbrush, brush any candies you wish with edible sparkle dust.
5. Store candies separated by parchment paper in fridge until ready to hand out. They can stay out of the fridge if they are kept in a cool, dry place.

My 2 bags of candy melts made 64 pieces of candy.  Thanks for reading!

Happy Thanksgiving + 1 Year Blogiversary + Pie Crust Cookies

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone is relaxing with family and friends, and enjoying the holiday. As it just so happens, today is the one-year anniversary of A Bow and Arrow. So here’s thanks to all of you awesome people out there that made this all worthwhile and have kept up with us throughout the last year, and also to all of you that have just recently discovered A Bow and Arrow.

To celebrate, I thought I would combine the fact that it’s the one-year blogiversary as well as Thanksgiving and make pie crust cookies! These cookies are great to make with those unused piecrusts currently sitting in your freezer. This recipe is also easy enough to let kids help with, so it’s a great way to entertain them after all the adults are passed out from eating so much for Thanksgiving, or are being occupied by football. And, it’s only 4 ingredients!

Pie Crust Cookies

Ingredients:

Unbaked classic pie crusts, thawed
1 egg
Cinnamon sugar
Honey

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Once piecrusts are thawed, place on a clean surface and flatten out. You can use your hands to flatten out the crust (the thickness should be the same already).

My pie crust was all cracked, so I had to mend it a bit.

3. Using cookie cutters, cut out shapes in the piecrust and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. You can re-roll out the extra dough to make more cookies, but be careful to not over knead the dough, or it will dry it out.
4. Whisk your egg in a small bowl, and spread on the top of each cookie.
5. While the egg wash is still wet, sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of each cookie (as much as you’d like).
6. Bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes, or until tops of cookies are golden brown.
7. Remove from oven and allow them to cool. Once cooled, add drops of honey to the tops of the cookies and store or serve right away.

• Cookies last for up to a week when stored in a sealed container at room temperature.
• Time to complete: 20-30 minutes
• Try them with different toppings, or sandwich them together with fun fillings like Nutella, Peanut Butter, Cookie Butter, or fruit jellies/preserves.

Thanks again to everyone, and have an amazing rest of your Thanksgiving. Also, if you’re braving the malls tomorrow, please be safe during the busiest retail day of the year!

Halloween Puppy Chow

By now, everyone should know what I’m talking about when I say puppy chow, puppy food, or muddy buddies. It’s really simple to make, and seems to come around more frequently during the holiday season. Today, I decided to make some, and put a Halloween spin on it!

Ingredients: 

4 cups Chex, Crispix, or any other similar cereal (I used Whole Foods Wheat Waffles)

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

¼ cup peanut butter

1 tbsp butter or margarine

½ tsp vanilla

Powdered sugar (approximately 1 cup)

2/3 cup candy corn

1 cup pumpkin spice chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a microwavable bowl, combine butter, chocolate chips, and peanut butter. Heat, uncovered, in microwave for 1 minute, remove, and stir until softened. Heat for an additional 15 seconds for any more time needed to soften.

2. Once chocolate/peanut butter mixture is melted, add in vanilla and stir.

3. In a large separate bowl, add 4 cups of cereal and pour in melted mixture and fold together with a spatula until cereal is evenly coated.

4. Once chocolate/peanut butter mixture is combined with cereal, slowly add in powdered sugar, and stir until there is a dusting coating all cereal squares. Place in refrigerator for 10 minutes so chocolate mixture can cool.

Remove from fridge and add in candy corn and pumpkin spice chocolate chips. Stir and serve.

Seal and store in airtight container for up to a week.

Hopefully this fast and easy snack mix will make it into your Halloween treats this year!

 

Have an awesome weekend,

Lynda

Ginger Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

Fall is officially here, and that makes me want to bake fall-themed treats, drink warm beverages out of cute mugs, and cuddle near the fireplace in my oversized sweaters with my fur baby. While I really wanted to embrace the pumpkin flavors, I decided to go a different fall route with ginger and cinnamon! (But really though, when I went to get my ingredients, there was absolutely no pumpkin pie spice left in the baking aisle. Shame on all of you that got to it before me!)

 Ingredients for cut-out cookies:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup butter or margarine (I used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Light)

¼ cup light brown sugar, packed

¼ cup white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350

Step 2: Mix together flour, baking powder, ginger, and cinnamon. Set aside.

Step 3: Blend together brown sugar, white sugar, and butter until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract and mix together.

Step 4: Slowly add in the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and beat together. It will slowly become thicker and more dough-like, so you may have to use your hands to blend everything completely together.

Step 5: Flour the surface you’re going to roll out your dough. Roll out your dough to about ¼ an inch thick.

Step 6: Cut out shapes in the dough and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.

Step 7: Bake for 10-12 minutes depending on how soft/crunchy you want your cookies to be.

Step 8: Remove from oven and let cookies cool completely before beginning to decorate. (This is important, because you don’t want your decorations to melt!)

 

Ingredients for Cinnamon Icing:

Border Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

¼ tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

2 ½ tbsp water (you may need more or less)

An easy way to pipe the border icing around the edges of the cookie is by placing it in a plastic sandwich bag and snipping of a tiny piece of the corner of the bag.

Be sure to decorate on top of parchment paper, just in case any icing causes your cookie to stick to the surface you’re working on.

 

Flood Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

¼ tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

3 tbsp water (you may need more or less)

Food coloring, optional

Because this icing has cinnamon in it, it is naturally a brown color, which I kept for my border icing. The left icing has 1 drop of yellow in it, and the right icing has 2 drops of yellow and 3 drops of red.

An easy way to quickly spread out flood icing, is to use a small spreader to smooth out the icing around the entire cookie.

Directions:

Step 1: Combine powdered sugar, vanilla extract and ground cinnamon in a mixing bowl.

Step 2: Slowly add water until you get to your desired consistency. If you’re adding food coloring, take note that it is a liquid that will water down your mixture…if you need to add more powdered sugar to thicken it back up, that’s completely fine.

If you don’t know, the difference between “border” icing and “flood” icing is the thickness. Border icing is slightly thicker than flood icing, and essentially creates a barrier, so the flood icing doesn’t spill over the sides of the cookie. It may take you more or less water to achieve both icing thicknesses than it took me, but if you need some help figuring it out, this blog I stumbled upon will really help you understand icing for cookies in general!

Here are my cookies!

In order to create this look, add your second color on top of the first icing color using a toothpick, and pull the icing whichever direction you want it to go.

Allow cookies to completely dry for about an hour, before storing them.

When storing cookies, be sure to separate any layers with parchment paper to prevent sticking together.

 

Try these cookies out and let me know what you think!

Bows and Arrows,

Lynda

Edible Cookie Dough (it’s eggless!)

So if you can remember, alllllll the way back in March, I made some eggless cookie dough that I ate and shared in my WIAW post [see here]. And then I so boldly stated that I would share the recipe later. Well, now is later. Much much later, but at least it’s not never, right?!

And remember, this is in no way healthy!! But it is better than stuffing your face with the uncooked real egg-filled cookie dough.  Also, ya can’t bake this, k? 🙂

Ingredients:

½ cup all-purpose flour

2 tbsp butter or margarine

¼ cup sugar

A dash of vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cocoa

2 tbsp mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl until dough is capable of being rolled into a ball. Hint: you may have to use your phalanges aka your fingers!!  Just play with your food before you eat it! Once it’s in ball rolling consistency, you’re good to go! Nom away. 

This recipe takes less than 10 minutes to make and is great for kids to do themselves!

It yields about 2 servings, depending on how much you need to satisfy your raw cookie dough tooth. (Because there is a sweet tooth, and then there is a tooth reserved specifically for cookie dough cravings!)

Enjoy!

Bows and Arrows,

Lynda

Baklava Cups

The first time I ever had Baklava it was love at first bite. Almost every trip I make to Neomonde in Raleigh results in me leaving with 1 or 2 variations of their bite size baklava treats. This weekend, I decided to try to make a comparable bite size dessert on my own, inspired by traditional Baklava. Because it turned out to be quite delicious, I’ve decided to share it with you!

Ingredients:

½ cup walnuts

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp sugar

12 mini fillo dough cups

1 tsp cinnamon

Bee Blessed honey from the local State Farmer’s Market in Raleigh and mini fillo shells by Athen’s (found at Harris Teeter).

Makes 1 dozen

Time to make: 30 minutes

Walnuts baking on a cookie sheet in the oven.

Crushed walnuts in mixing bowl with cinnamon.

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place your walnuts on a cookie sheet and place in oven for 7-10 minutes, or until fragrant. Remove from oven and place in a mixing bowl.
3. Add cinnamon to walnuts in mixing bowl and crush walnuts. Set aside.
4. In a small saucepan, combine water, honey, and sugar. Place on stove over medium low heat for 3 minutes stirring often. Remove from heat and set aside.
5. Place fillo dough shells on a plate and spoon walnut mixture into cups.
6. Pour ½ tsp of syrup into cups on top of walnuts. Syrup should drain into the shell. Place cups into fridge for 10 minutes.
7. Remove cups from fridge and add remainder of syrup into cups.
8. Store Baklava cups in fridge.

If you like Baklava, then you’ll like these! And they are much easier to prepare and take a fraction of the time. You can also try them with pistachios and cashews. Or mix all three types of nuts into one cup! Try them out and let me know what you think!

Bows and arrows,

Lynda