Chocolate-Hazelnut Smooches

After watching the Halloween episode of Everyday Italian, I couldn't wait to make these cookies for my Halloween party! Not only do they look festive, but they taste great! The only change I made is that I left out the Hershey Kisses. I plan on making these again at Christmas with red and green sugar.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella)

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup orange sprinkles, or orange sugar

1 (9-ounce) package of chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped (recommended: Hershey's)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, place the chocolate hazelnut spread, butter, and both sugars. Using a hand mixer, cream the ingredients together, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and blend until incorporated. Stir in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated.

Shape the cookie dough into walnut-sized balls. Rolls the balls in the orange sprinkles or orange sugar, pressing to adhere. Place the cookies on a heavy cookie sheet about 4 inches apart. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven. Quickly place a chocolate kiss in the middle of each cookie. Return the cookies to the oven and bake for another 3 minutes. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.

Cinnamon Buns

OMG, these were so good! I took some elements from the Betty Crocker recipe and some from the allrecipes.com recipe to come up with this one. I will definitely be making this again! I made the rolls the night before and put them in the fridge before the second rise. When I got up I let them rise for 40 minutes then baked them.

Ingredients:

2 – 2 ¼ cup of bread flour
1 ¼ teaspoons of active dry yeast
½ cup of milk
3 tablespoons of sugar
2 ½ tablespoons of butter
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 egg

1/3 cup of packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 ½ tablespoon butter

½ cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla
½ - 1 tablespoon half-and-half

Directions:

In a mixing bowl stir together 1 cup of the bread flour and the yeast. In a saucepan heat up the milk, granulated sugar, salt and butter until it reaches 120-130 degrees (be sure it is not more than 130 because it will kill the yeast and the rolls will not rise. If it is under 120 the yeast will not activate and they rolls won't rise.) Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and add the egg. Beat with a mixer for about 3 minutes.

With a wooden spoon stir in as much of the remaining bread flour as you can. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead in the remaining flour until the dough is moderately soft (about 3-5 minutes.) Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl turning once. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise till doubled in size (about 1 -1 1/2 hours.)

Punch dough down and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile grease and flour a 9x9 baking pan. In a small mixing bowl add brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Using a pastry blender cut butter into brown sugar and cinnamon until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Roll the dough out into a 12x8 rectangle. Spread cinnamon mixture over the dough leaving an inch around the corners. Roll the dough starting from the 12" edge. Seal the seams by pinching them closed. Using a sharp knife, cut the roll into 12. Arrange the rolls in the baking pan. Let rise until doubled in size (about 30 minutes.) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Once rolls are done rising bake for 20-25 minutes.

In a bowl mix the powdered sugar, vanilla and enough of the half-and-half to make a drizzling consistency. When you take the rolls out of the oven transfer them to a plate and drizzle them with the frosting.

Fettuccine Alfredo

This recipe is from the Cooking Light website. I had some Parmigiano-Reggiano on hand so decided to give it a try. I have never made an Alfredo sauce before, but order fettuccine Alfredo often when we go out to eat. I am glad this came out so good! I will now be making this at home since it is a healthier and cheaper version of the Alfredo I order out. I made a few modifications to the recipe. I used skim milk instead of 1%. I didn't use low fat cream cheese. I used rotini instead of fettuccine. I also cooked less pasta and added some chopped broccoli to make the dish a bit healthier.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups 1% low-fat milk

1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided

2 tablespoons 1/3-less-fat cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups hot cooked fettuccine (8 ounces uncooked pasta)

2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Cracked black pepper

Preparation:

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in flour. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook 6 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Add 1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, cream cheese, and salt, stirring with a whisk until cheeses melt. Toss sauce with hot pasta. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and chopped parsley. Garnish with black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.

Yield 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Source: Cooking Light, JANUARY 2007

Risotto

I've never tried risotto before, let alone made it. I have been wanting to try it for a while now, and I finally made some tonight. I found a recipe in my Better Homes and Garden cookbook I decided to try. It came out great! I can't wait to try out other risotto recipes!

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of butter
1 cup uncooked arborio rice
2 14-ounce cans reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese (2 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan cook the onion and garlic in the oil and butter until onion is tender; add the rice. Cook and stir over medium heat until rice begins to brown.

2. In another saucepan bring broth to a boil, reduce heat and simmer. Slowly add 1 cup of broth to rice. Stir constantly. Continue to cook and stir until rice is absorbed. Add another 1/2 cup of broth to rice mixture, stirring constantly until liquid is absorbed. Add remaining broth and stir until broth is absorbed.

3. Stir in the remaining butter, cheese and pepper.