white chocolate – Page 2 – The Pajama Chef

Mango Coconut Muffins

June 9, 2014June 7, 2014 Sarah

I love fruit. Love, love, love it. Crisp apples, slightly underripe bananas, juicy peaches, sweet blueberries… I could go on and on. I love them all. Nine times out of ten I’d choose fruit over chocolate–whether on its own or in a dessert. But when you add chocolate to fruit…? Oh man. I’m in heaven. Heaven! Like these muffins, a basic coconut batter filled with juicy chunks of tropical mango, coconut flakes, and white chocolate chips.

These muffins are my dream come true!

You can make these muffins with the regular variety you buy in the grocery store but my favorite kind of mango is the Ataulfo mango, also known as the honey or champagne mango. They are rich and sweet, and in my opinion… easier to cut. They have an intensely sweet flavor, with some peppery or minty notes.

They’re soft and fluffy, perfect for any occasion from book club [that’s what I made them for!] to lunchboxes. Ben’s been taking them in his lunch and people have been asking him what in the world is in that glorious muffin that smells SO SO good. I mean, who can resist these tropical treats, especially during a long day? I know I can’t! And you won’t be able to either! 🙂

Mango Coconut Muffins [adapted from Following in My Shoes]
click to print

Ingredients:

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted + cooled
1 egg
1 teaspoon coconut emulsion/extract [or vanilla extract]
1 cup fresh diced mango
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup dried coconut, divided

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners or grease well.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl stir together buttermilk, milk, coconut oil, egg, and coconut emulsion. Fold wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then gently fold in mango, white chocolate chips, and half [2 tablespoons] of the dried coconut.

Divide batter evenly between prepared muffin tins and then top with remaining coconut.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days and then freeze leftovers.

Time: 30 minutes.
Yield: 16 muffins.

Cookies, Desserts, Recipes

Tropical Cake Mix Cookies

May 21, 2014May 6, 2015 Sarah

So, I used to post once a month on a blog called Today’s Housewife. During fall 2012, the group decided together to stop posting due the busyness of life and families and such. Though sad, I enjoyed being part of the group. As of early January, the blog was officially taken down. But I don’t want to lose my recipes, so periodically I will be reposting them on here. Enjoy!

from August 23, 2012

I’m all in favor of cooking and baking from scratch, but sometimes using the dreaded processed product or two isn’t so bad. In fact, sometimes using a little something out of the ordinary is not only fun and tasty, but helpful too. Like when you’re baking for 80 for a church event… mhmm, helpful is always good in those circumstances. In those cases, I like to rely on a little thing called cake mix. Not for making a cake, mind you–cake for 80 isn’t really my thing–but for cookies. Normally, cake mix cookies are made out of Funfetti and are pretty much just sprinklicious sugar bombs. Not these cookies. Well, the Funfetti part at least. [No guarantees about the sugar bomb thing… can’t most cookies be described that way?]

Tropical Cake Mix Cookies are made with fluffy yellow cake mix, tropical trail mix, white chocolate chips, and loads of coconut for a taste of vacation even at the start of a busy school year. These two-bite cookies are incredibly addicting, so make sure you have a plan for them when you make them… Otherwise you might wind up eating them one after another without even realizing it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! The soft cookie combined with crunchy nuts and tantalizing tropical dried fruit like papaya and pineapple will get you every time! If you have nut allergies, just sub out the trail mix for a tropical dried fruit blend. Enjoy!

one year ago: Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese
two years ago: OTT: Pork Chops with Balsamic Blackberry Salad + Orzo

Tropical Cake Mix Cookies

Servings: about 4 dozen cookies
Time: 75 minutes
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from Averie Cooks

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract [or coconut or almond for a little extra goodness!]
1 – 15 ounce box of yellow cake mix
6-12 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups coconut flakes
1 cup tropical trail mix, finely diced [mine was from Walmart and had pineapple, papaya, raisins, cranberries, almonds, cashews, etc. in it]
3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, eggs, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until well combined–mixture does not have to be creamed.

With mixer running on low, slowly add in cake mix until cookie dough is smooth. Add flour tablespoon by tablespoon to solidify cookie dough. The more flour used, the more cake-like the cookies will be. I used about 3-4 tablespoons.

Next, fold in coconut flakes, trail mix, and white chocolate chips. Dough will be very sticky.

Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. At the end of that time, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper or a silpat, or spraying lightly with cooking spray.

After dough has chilled, it will still be sticky but much easier to work with and will not spread so much during baking. Scoop dough out in generous 1 tablespoon balls, rolling between greased hands before placing 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until bottoms are lightly browned and tops just barely look done. Let cool on the cookie sheet for at least 5 minutes, or until cookies are stable enough to be moved. This allows the cookies to firm up a bit as well as cook a little more on the cookie sheet. Repeat until all dough is used up, returning mixing bowl to refrigerator in between batches.

Store on the counter in a covered container for a week [if they last that long!] or in the freezer up to three months.

Desserts, Other, Recipes

Bunny Bait, or White Chocolate Snack Mix You Can Make All Year

April 18, 2014December 19, 2016 Sarah

I feel so lame calling this snack mix “Bunny Bait.” What I REALLY want to call it, despite those springtime Easter M&Ms, is Ho Ho Ho Cheerio Mix. Because that’s its real name [for Christmastime]. My mom was given this recipe back in the day with her friend Kim, and it’s been a family favorite ever since. The sweet and salty snack mix is super addictive, so I don’t suggest making a batch unless you have lots of friends and family to share with.

Though I want to tell you that the ingredients in this snack mix–Crispix, Cheerios, pretzels, peanuts, and M&Ms are sacred, they really aren’t. Case in point: when I was shopping for ingredients to make this batch, I accidentally grabbed Chex cereal instead of Crispix. I don’t know what I was thinking! But it worked just fine. So feel free to substitute ingredients with what ya got or what you want to use. Cause really, when you pair M&Ms with crunchy cereal and salty pretzels and peanuts [that I left out this time because this batch was a gift for student workers in the library, and I wanted to be sensitive to possible peanut allergies], and top everything with white chocolate, you can’t go wrong. This Bunny Bait or Ho Ho Ho Cheerio Mix or White Chocolate Snack Mix is just divine. It’s perfect for Easter or any holiday, just use the seasonal M&Ms to make it extra festive. Enjoy! 🙂 Happy Easter!

one year ago: Pork Chops with Quinoa, Kale, and Blood Orange
two years ago: Best Burrito Bowls Ever
three years ago: Sausage Egg Apple Strata

Bunny Bait, Ho Ho Ho Cheerio Mix, or White Chocolate Snack Mix You Can Make All Year

Servings: 12 cups
Time: 10 minutes
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from my mom’s friend Kim
Ingredients:

6 cups Crispix or Chex Cereal
6 cups Cheerios
2 cups pretzels
2 cups peanuts, optional
2 cups M&Ms [I usually use the smallest “large” bag they sell, about 12 or 13 ounces]
12 ounces white chocolate chips, or 1 package vanilla/almond/white chocolate candy coating –> this works wayyy better than the white chocolate chips and I think it comes in 18 ounce packages
1 tablespoon canola oil, optional

Directions:

In the largest bowl or roaster you own, stir together cereals, pretzels, peanuts, and M&Ms. Then melt white chocolate chips or candy coating in the microwave, heating in 30 second bursts and stirring well in between until melted. This usually takes me about 90 seconds.

Stir oil into white chocolate to help with pouring if you like, then pour white chocolate over cereal mix. Stir together to coat, then spread on wax paper to set.

Linked up with Weekend Potluck.

Breakfast, Muffins, Recipes

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

August 2, 2013August 2, 2013 Sarah

Well, I wish I had a fun story to tell about these muffins, but I don’t. These Double Chocolate Banana Muffins are pretty much out of this world, so that’s the story itself, I suppose. They are utterly chocolately, perfectly fluffy, and even a smidge on the healthy side. You should totally make them, stat. Need I say more?

Like any banana bread or baked treat, these are best made with ultra ripe, almost too disgusting to look at, much less touch bananas. These are nowhere near ready… they should be almost completely black. The darker the banana, the sweeter the flavor, I say. [Even though I basically have to have Ben deal with the grossness.]

These muffins get their amazing, rich flavor from not one, not two, but THREE kinds of chocolate. I know I called them Double Chocolate, but I may have lied a bit. Cocoa powder, white chocolate chips, and mini chocolate chips are ALL necessary for success here, folks. In a cupcake, I’d pretty much never use all three things at once. But in these muffins? Totally works. Especially because these muffins are a bit on the healthy side thanks to the use of applesauce, flax seed, and whole wheat flour. What more could you ask for?

a year ago… Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
two years ago… Recipe Repeat: Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken
three years ago… Potato Soup

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins [from Amy’s Cooking Adventures]
click to print

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flax seed
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners or grease well with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine bananas, oil, applesauce, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together flours, flax seed, cocoa powder, and baking soda.

Fold dry ingredients into the wet, then add chocolate chips and gently mix until just combined. Batter will be lumpy.

Spoon into muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full, then bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Time: 30 minutes.

Yield: 14-16 muffins.

Notes: Use or freeze within 3 days. These muffins freeze well!

LInked up with: Foodie Friday, Weekend Potluck.

Desserts, Other, Recipes

Oreo Popcorn

June 24, 2013June 24, 2013 Sarah

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you probably know that I coordinate the food for a monthly meeting at church. Sometimes this means just shopping for the food and delegating preparation to others, but sometimes it means being responsible for cooking and baking several appetizers and desserts for a crowd of 60-70. Usually I have help so it’s not so bad–and pretty fun to try new recipes for a group. My friend Rachel always has the most creative ideas, and though this Oreo Popcorn has made the rounds on Pinterest before–I just had to share it here because it is unbelievably good!

I must admit I was a little skeptical of this snack. For one, I despise melting chocolate. It’s just annoying, even though the results are delicious. But more than that, I’m mostly a popcorn purist. I love caramel corn and kettle corn, but anything more is just a bit weird to me. Maybe it’s having extra texture in there? I don’t know, but what I do know is that Oreo Popcorn might be the dawn of a new era for me. It’s salty, sweet, creamy and crunchy… pretty much perfect. Next time you have a get together, definitely make a batch. It’d be great in a big bowl at a pool party or a fun addition to your Friday movie night. Or, you know, ahem, for watching endless reruns of Bones on Netflix. Not that I’ve been doing that lately… enjoy! It is GREATTT. Next time I’m going to try it with a different flavor of Oreos, or maybe with a drizzle of peanut butter. Mmmm 🙂

Oreo Popcorn [from my friend Rachel]

click to print

Ingredients:

3 bags plain popcorn, popped with unpopped kernels removed
24 ounces white almond bark, melted
1 package Oreos [14.3 ounces], chopped

Directions:

Line countertop with wax paper, then spread popcorn out on top of it. Drizzle melted chocolate over, then top with chopped Oreos. You don’t necessarily need to use the whole package–just use your discretion. Toss everything together with your hands and spread flat to cool. Store in an airtight container for 3-5 days.

Time: 15 minutes.

Yield: a lot of popcorn.