Easter treats + Pikachu bread?

I am so, so, soooo excited! For the past little while I have been feeling a little... suffocated. As to why I've been feeling this way is beyond me, seriously I feel like a rat in the cage... maybe not the nicest of examples but that's literally how I've been feeling. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I sit in a teeny, tiny, stuffy office four a minimum of twelve hours a day, then I head home, make my lunch, shower, then sleep in a basement... yeah, I'm sure that has something to do with it. Nevertheless, for the past four or so months, no, no, more than that, probably since October I have been wanting to go on vacation. I almost did a few times then decided to save my money. Yesterday though, I got the itch, the scratch, the want and the need to leave.

I thought about a couple places. First I looked around Europe, then Asia (but I'll be visiting Jordan in Korea in September so I thought if I was going to go to Asia I might as well just visit Jordan), then I thought... Canada. I live in such a beautiful country and I've never really visited. Sure, I went to Winnipeg and Prince-Edward-Island a couple of years when my mom was working out there, but it was the winter so I didn't really get to go outside, and I was younger too. Now that I'm older, enjoy to run, and can really appreciate my surroundings I figured why not. Where did I decide? Vancouver, British Columbia. What's nice is, I've always wanted to go there, and luckily I have family who are willing to take me in for a week ;). I'm really looking forward to it. It'll be nice to spend time with some of my dads family, especially in such a beautiful province such as British Columbia. I leave next Thursday! I know it's so soon which makes it so much better because I won't have get the jitter bug of excitement for too long! I am looking very forward to it, and I'm sure will be taking a million and one pictures while I'm out there!

Easter Nests

Recipe from my head - inspired by the cyber world

As for recipes. Well, my mom left this morning for Montreal, yes... that's another reason why I wanted to go on vacation. I had one week between when I finish this job and when I have to start work in Montreal. To be honest this really hasn't been the easiest of jobs which is why I really feel like I need a vacation so voila. Anyways, she left this morning, and seeing as she will be seeing my adorable twin cousins this weekend for Easter I figured I would make them a cute little snack.

I'm sure by now, all of us foodies have all come across "birds nest" at one point or another. I'm not sure where the recipe originates from, nor did I look at a recipe. I simply used the remaining ingredients that I had left and through some stuff together. I have to say, these are seriously the cutest things. It immediately made my heart melt, and made me feel like I was six again. These would be the cutest place settings for Easter dinner, or even brunch (don't want to start off the day on the wrong foot!) but honestly, how cute, and... seriously four ingredients, you can add, subtract more ingredients but these are so easy, and they'd be so fun to make with kids too!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butterscotch chipits
• 1 1/4 cups chow mein noodles
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• Chocolate eggs to put into your nests

Directions:
In a microwave safe bowl, microwave your butterscotch chipits for 3o seconds. Once melted, add your slivered almonds and chow mein noodles and mix thoroughly making sure the chocolate is well coated on your ingredients. Using a 1/4 cup scoop, add your mix into the cup, on parchment paper/silpat/wax paper anything really place the mixed scoop of ingredients, gently press three eggs on top and a nest will be formed. Sprinkle with coconut for "feathers", or add coconut extract to the chocolate, if you're not vegan top with Peeps, so much you can do!

As for added Easter-ness, how friggin amazingly cute are these bad boys? I mean, do they not just scream Bugs Bunny, Easter, deliciousness? I think so!

These were pan-fried for ten minutes with EVOO + 1 tsp garlic salt + pepper to taste + dried spiced tomato flakes ... scrumptious honestly, it was a wonderful afternoon snack.

Molasses Oatmeal Bread

Recipe taken from here

... in case my art skills aren't good enough, these are supposed to be rabbits... or Pikachu's ;)

Okay, okay, last night I wasn't planning on baking... but, well, you get inspired and then you feel like you just can't wait another day, or until the weekend to make that dish, or baked good, or bread that is on the brain. Well that was me last night, while driving home. All I could think about was bread. Sweet, tasty, oatmeal, molasses, bunnies (what?) bread. No, no don't worry no animals were harmed while making this bread, but some sure were laughed at!

I was re-arranging some of the meals that I had planned on making because some plans were changed so I wanted everything to flow nicely. Well, I have an oatmeal planned for Thursday (which will be posted sometime after hopefully) that I will be adding molasses too. I was trying to look for other flavour pairings with molasses when I came across a recipe for Molasses Oatmeal Bread. Well of course I had to make that. It's vegan, looked simple enough, and from the ingredient list it sure sounded marvelous. 45 minutes, 43 minutes, 30 minutes, 28 minutes... the countdown until I would be able to make my bread it was killing me.

You know when people tell you to read a recipe before making it? Yes, this is definitely the case with this bread. BEFORE you continue, this is NOT a difficult bread, so that's not what I'm saying it's just... it took a lot of time. 30 minutes to let the oatmeal and boiling water sit (which got reduced to 15 minutes), one hour for the first rise... oops, 45 minutes, then an additional 45-60 minutes for the final rise... 15 minutes playing with the dough + 10 or so while the oven baked good enough! ... let's just set the record straight, this is the first time I have never let the bread rise for it's directed time... did it get ruined? Heck no, sure the animals may of turned out a little well... odd, but that did not take away from their tastes.

Oh my goodness are these ever good. To be quite franc, the smell that these emanate... are definitely not something I'd ride home about... honestly to me they kind of stunk. However, while touching the dough they felt like soft, soft sponges. I gave one to Jenna to eat, she really liked them (it was too late for me to eat... seriously it was 11:30 pm by the time they were done)... yes on a work night too, I mean... REALLY, did I really need to have them that badly?! Crazy I am I tell ya! These are... definitely one of my favourite breads I've ever made, and actually they are my first rolls! I was really happy with the outcome, deformed animals and all. They are sweet but not overly sweet, they are insanely soft, crispy on the outside and just make you feel awesome. I brought two to work, and totally regretting not bringing in a third. These are definitely going to be made again, they were a breeze to make, and were delicious to eat!

... before making these, check your stove if anyone left any fries on the bottom of your stove... nobody likes a fire alarm before any food is even put into the oven...

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats (old fashioned)
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 3/4 cup molasses
• 3 tbsp canola oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 tbsp active dry yeast
• 4 cups whole wheat bread flour
• 4 cups whole wheat flour

Directions:

Combine the oats and the boiling water in a large mixing bowl and let sit for 30 minutes.

Add the molasses, canola oil, and salt to the oatmeal mixture and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add to the molasses and oatmeal mixture.

Gradually stir in the flour, one cup at a time. Once the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead in the remaining flour until the dough is smooth (about 6-8 minutes). The amount of flour needed will vary based on the weather and other factors.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning over to coat all sides. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled (about one hour). Punch down, and divide in half. Shape into two loaves or rolls, if desired. Transfer the loaves to lightly greased bread pans or the rolls to a lightly greased baking sheet. Cover with the damp cloth and let rise for an additional 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake for 5 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350°F. Bake for an additional 40 minutes for loaves, and an additional 25-30 minutes for rolls. The bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped lightly - mine were rolls and were only in there for the beginning five minutes + 35 minutes afterward.

"It’s a devilfish!! Looks like crab cake but also looks like bread of some kind." - my dad... really a crab cake?

What do you think this looks like?

Cranberry and Banana Loaf with Ginger and Walnuts (Eggless) + Ooey-Gooey-Banana Cinnamon Rolls + Samoas

Cranberry and Banana Loaf with Ginger and Walnuts (Eggless)

Recipe adapted from here

Up until this point in my life I don't think I could ever come across a loaf that tastes' as heavenly as this. I mean, I have posted numerous loaves on this blog and I can say they have all been extremely delicious but this blows all of those out of the water. I just loved EVERYTHING about this. Banana, cranberry, CRYSTALLIZED ginger and then walnuts (I may not be the biggest fan of walnuts, but when added with the other ingredients it just packs such a punch). Even though this recipe is eggless, it is still just as fluffy as it would be if it were made with eggs. All the pureed fruit plus the oil adds such an amazing moistness to the bread. The bread is seriously so moist you really have to be careful or it may crumble in your hands. I didn't eat this with butter because I seriously think it would have ruined it (but again I'm not the biggest fan of butter, I don't even put butter on my corn...). This was so divine and it was such a perfect wrap-up of the summer and a welcoming fall loaf. This will be made many more times I can tell you that right now. Also the colours! I know I'm going to post quite a few pictures of pretty much the same thing but I was so hypnotized by the colours and the way the bread looked I just couldn't help myself. DIIIIVINE!

Ingredients:

• 1 small banana, pureed
• 1 C of fresh cranberries, pureed
• 5 tbsp of grapeseed oil
• 1 cup of fortified soy milk
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 5 tbsp of chopped crystallized ginger
• 3 tbsp of chopped walnuts

Directions:

Pre heat the oven at 360 degrees F. Line a 7 and 1/2 inch by 3 and 1/2 inch loaf pan with foil.

In a bowl, add the banana and cranberry purees, brown sugar, oil and milk. Stir well and keep aside.

In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, soda, ginger and walnuts and mix well.
Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture. Stir the fruit mixture well. Fold in until everything is just moistened. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan.

Place the pan in the centre of the pre-heated oven and bake for about 50 minutes or until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted through the centre of the loaf comes out clean.

Cool the loaf in the pan for 10-15 minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool completely before slicing.

Store in air tight containers.

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Ooey-Gooey-Banana Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe adapted from here

I have never made homemade cinnamon buns, excluding the Pillsbury's but those don't count. I had been looking for quite a while for a cinnamon roll recipe, and when I had lots of bananas left I wanted to somehow incorporate them into my cinnamon buns. After doing a little bit of perusing it seemed that others had the same idea as me. I found one recipe that really stuck out to me so I knew I was going to try it. When I woke up the next morning that is exactly what I did and boy was I grateful. These were exceptional. The banana added so much va-va-va-voom to the roll, and I also decided to mash some into the filling and that packed in even more va-va-va-voom. These were soo good, I probably would have eaten them all myself if I didn't give some away. I was so happy that my first attempt at cinnamon rolls were a success (not that I was afraid it wasn't going to be since they really are so simple to make, but I was excited nonetheless). If you like sweet cinnamon rolls and you also love the flavour of banana this is the recipe for you!

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup vanilla fortified soy milk, heated
  
• 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 2 cups bread or all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large overripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly

Filling:

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 mashed banana

Directions:

In a small bowl, stir 1 tablespoon of the sugar into the warm milk. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk and let rest for 10 minutes.

While the yeast is coming to life, in a separate bowl, stir together the flours, cinnamon, remaining tablespoon of sugar and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, place the mashed bananas, melted margarine and the yeast/milk mixture after it has bloomed. Using the paddle attachment, mix the ingredients on medium low until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add half of the flour mixture to the mixing bowl and stir to combine. Slowly mix in the rest of the flour and mix.

Switch the attachment to the dough hook. At this point, your dough may still feel quite wet and soft. Add some flour, a tablespoon at a time, while the machine is running on medium low until the dough starts to come away from the bowl. Knead for about 10 minutes. The dough will be ready when it has formed a nice ball, but is still very soft and slightly tacky to the touch, but comes away cleanly from the bowl. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until it has doubled in size.

Punch the dough down; cover and let rest for 5 minutes. While the dough is resting, melt the butter. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

Roll the dough into a 12 x 10-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Brush the dough with the melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture, spreading it around the whole surface of the dough with your hand. Drizzle the surface with the remaining melted butter. Roll up the rectangle tightly, from the long side, and pinch the seam to seal. Cut the roll into 12 even slices. (This will be a messy process, as the banana/sugar/butter mixture will start oozing out. Don’t be afraid of it. Just go at it.) Place the slices, cut sides down, in a greased 9-inch square baking pan. Give them a little bit of space in between as they will rise. Cover with plastic wrap and pop them in the fridge to rise overnight.

In the morning, pull the cinnamon buns from the fridge a half hour before baking and place them on top of the stove while the oven preheats to 375°F (if using a glass or dark-coloured pan like I was, reduce the temperature by 25°F). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until light golden brown.

Remove the cinnamon buns from the oven and set on top of the stove to let cool a bit. (I didn't put any glaze as I found they were rich enough).

Samoas

Recipe taken from here

First may I rant a little bit here for a second? Where are all the Girl Guide cookies in Canada? I see American's posting about all these wonderful looking cookies and I never get to experience the legit thing. I have to resort to making my own and I'll never know, no matter how good mine are if they compare to the legit Girl Guide cookies. ... really, I want to do a foodie-exchange with an American so I can get a chance to try all kinds of American goodies INCLUDING pumpkin pie poptarts and the candy corn kisses :( /sigh...

Over the summer I saw numerous post's about Samoas which are APPARENTLY (I wouldn't know) also known as Caramel de-Lites. Girl Guides describe Samoas as vanilla cookies, dipped in caramel, topped with coconut and drizzled with chocolate. In my books these are all good flavours, yes even the chocolate... chocolate, caramel and coconut are a match made in heaven. I think this cookie might even convince those "coconut-haters" out there that these are divine. Heck it convinced my caramel-hating (I know I didn't even know that was possible!) friend to love these cookies.

These cookies were soooo good. It had a shortbread/sugar cookie type base. Then rich toppings just made this one exquisite cookie. I still really want to try a REAL Girl Guide Samoa, but if that opportunity never arises for me I can gladly say that I have tried a Samoa i.e. Samoa a la Sam!

Note: these took a little bit of time to make but were very very fun. I found it to be relaxing and quite an enjoyable process but the results are definitely worth it!


Cookies:

• 1 cup butter, soft
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Up to 2 tbsp milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.

Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife, or the end of a wide straw, to cut a smaller center hole. Repeat with remaining dough. Alternatively, use scant tablespoons of dough and press into an even layer in a mini donut pan to form the rounds.

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. If using a mini donut pan, bake for only about 10 minutes, until edges are light gold.

Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Topping:

• 3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
• 12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp milk
• 8 oz dark or semisweet chocolate

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.

Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with.

While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.

Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes about 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.

ENJOY!