Halloween Cobweb Cookies

Today I have a short post to squeeze in one more Halloween recipe before the big day tomorrow!  This is a really easy recipe for cobweb shaped cookies, which I saw on Betty Crocker (the same place I found the idea for my mummy potatoes with meatballs - lots of great ideas on that site!).  All you have to do is whip up a quick batter, transfer it into a squeeze bottle, then pour it onto a skillet in a cobweb shape.  After that you bake the cookies so that they crisp up, dust them with a little powdered sugar to make the cobwebs white, and top them with a chocolate spider!

I made these really quickly this morning and in my rush I forgot to choose the prettiest cobwebs for photos, but I think it's better this way so that you get a realistic idea of what they look like!  You might also notice that my chocolate spiders look pretty much nothing like spiders - clearly working with chocolate is not my forte!

Still, these cookies were easy to make and tasted great!  They're the type of cookie you keep snacking on because they taste so light and then suddenly realize you've eaten the whole batch (especially  if you're a certain boy who liked to stack multiple cobwebs together to eat as one)!  I think they would be a fun project for kids to help out with for Halloween too!

It feels weird to me that Halloween hasn't actually happened yet since I already dressed up on Saturday (my sister and I went as citizens of the Capitol from the Hunger Games - it was such a fun costume!), but I still have some Halloween events to look forward to at school tomorrow.  Hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween!

Cobweb Cookies

Slightly adapted from Betty Crocker

Makes 15-20 cookies

Ingredients:

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

Semisweet chocolate chips for the spiders (I used about 1/3 cup chocolate chips)

Powdered sugar for dusting on top of cobwebs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325ºF.  Prepare chocolate spiders by melting chocolate chips in the microwave, transferring to a ziplock bag and snipping off a tiny amount from the corner, then piping chocolate into spider shapes on a wax paper-lined baking sheet.  Transfer to fridge to harden.

Whisk flour, sugar, oil, milk, vanilla, and egg together in a medium bowl until smooth.  Pour into a plastic squeeze bottle with a narrow opening.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat and lightly grease or spray with cooking spray.  Working quickly, squeeze batter onto pan in a cobweb shape, like so:

Let cook 30 to 60 seconds until bubbles form at the top and the bottom is golden brown.  Carefully flip with a spatula and cook for an additional 30 to 60 seconds.  Remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack.  They will feel like pancake texture at this point.

Transfer cookies to a non-stick baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until almost crisp.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool; cookies will continue to crisp up as they cool.  Once cool, dust tops with powdered sugar and attached hardened spiders to the cookies with a dollop of melted chocolate.

Halloween Mummy Potatoes with Meatballs

Every time a holiday rolls around, I promise myself I'll create lots of themed recipes to celebrate and my head starts filling up with ideas, but then I either get too busy (holidays often come with lots to do!) or I realize that every possible holiday-themed recipe has already been done and give up trying to think of something original.

This almost happened for Halloween - there are already so many fantastic recipe ideas out there that I didn't think I could possibly contribute something creative of my own.  But I was still determined to share a Halloween recipe so I gave up trying to think of something original and started looking for ideas that just weren't as common.  As soon as I found these "terrifying twice-baked mummies" from Betty Crocker, I knew I'd found a winner!  Not only were they something I'd never seen before, they sounded like they would actually taste good too, unlike some recipes that are more for show (or are too creepy to eat)!

As an added bonus, they turned out to be super easy to make too!  All you have to do is bake then hollow out some potatoes, fill them with meatballs, bandage them up with cheese, add a couple olives for eyeballs, and voila!  The cutest little mummies you've ever seen!

The original recipe included pickles for feet, but I thought the mummy's feet should be wrapped up with the rest of it's body, plus I didn't really want pickles with my meatballs anyway!  I also used black olives for the eyes instead of green pimiento stuffed olives so they would look more like hidden mummy eyes than bulging monster eyes, and I used string cheese so it would be easier to slice and bend around to form the bandages.  If you want the mummy to be more enclosed in its coffin, you could only slice a bit off the top of a potato instead of halving it, as it looks like the original recipe did in its photo, but then you'd have to double the amount of potatoes you use, so it's up to you!

I was a little hesitant of how meatballs and potatoes would taste together, but they were actually delicious!  Every bite had a bit of baked potato, meatball, tomato sauce, and cheese - so comforting and enough to fill your belly for a night of trick or treating or partying!

I'm hoping to find time to make one more Halloween recipe before the big day, but until then, you can also check out my Pinterest board for some inspiration!

Mummy Potatoes with Meatballs

Adapted from Betty Crocker

Serves 4 (makes 8 mummies)

Ingredients:

4 large russet potatoes
16-24 small cooked meatballs in sauce - I made a batch of Giada's mini turkey meatballs* but you could use your own favourite storebought or homemade meatballs or veggie balls.  The amount you need will depend on how many can fit in each potato (2-3)
6-8 part-skim mozzarella cheese strings (stringable cheese)
16 black olive slices
Extra sauce and parmesan for serving, if desired

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Wrap each potato in foil and bake for about an hour, or until fork-tender.  Let stand about 10 minutes until cool enough to handle.  

Meanwhile, heat meatballs in sauce over medium-low heat on the stove.  Slice each cheese string into as thin of slices as possible to use for the mummy "bandages".

When potatoes are done, cut each one in half lengthwise.  Cut a thin (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch) border around the potato and scoop out the insides.  I found it easiest to use my knife to cut out chunks of potato for better control because my ice cream scoop was too large.  Reserve the potato you scoop out for another use.

When meatballs are heated through, transfer 2-3 meatballs to each hollowed out potato half, depending on how many fit.  Wrap meatball "body" in cheese slices to resemble bandages, crossing cheese back and forth and tucking the ends into the potato.  Add 2 black olive slices for the eyes at one end (see pictures). 

Return potatoes and meatballs to the oven for 2-5 minutes so that cheese slightly melts.  Serve immediately, with extra pasta sauce and parmesan cheese if desired.

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*Note: I made a few changes to Giada's meatball recipe: I squeezed the moisture out of the onion after I grated it, I added an extra 1/4 cup of seasoned breadcrumbs, reduced the salt, left out the Pecorino Romano, added a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and used lean ground turkey instead of dark turkey.  They were quite good!  I made them a day ahead so the potatoes came together easily the next day, and I also had leftover meatballs.

Apple Turkey Burgers with Caramelized Onions & Brie

I love experimenting with different types of veggie burgers – from bean burgers to quinoa to even broccoli burgers! – but I also love a good meat burger once in a while.  While I can sometimes tolerate a beef burger, I MUCH prefer turkey burgers, which is a good thing as they’re also a much healthier choice!  I’ve tried a lot of awesome turkey burger recipes in the past, like Thai peanut turkey burgers (which I really must make again) and BBQ pineapple burgers, but these apple ones might just be my new favourite!

These burgers are extra juicy with the addition of grated apple in the patties, then get tons of flavour from the toppings: crunchy apples, melted brie, and caramelized onions.  Each component works so well together to create a sophisticated but super easy burger – don’t leave any of the toppings out!  The caramelized onions are the only time consuming part of this meal but they can easily be done in advance and reheated when it’s time to eat.  And if you’re vegetarian, I think these would work really well as a chickpea burger too!

What's your favourite type of burger?

Apple Turkey Burgers with Caramelized Onions and Brie

Recipe adapted from Carolina Girl Cooks and Iowa Girl Eats

Makes 4 burgers

Ingredients:

4 small yellow onions, peeled and sliced into half-moons (or 2 larger yellow onions)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 lb lean ground turkey

2 granny smith apples, divided

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

Salt and pepper

8 slices Brie cheese

4 hamburger buns

Directions:

Start by caramelizing the onions, as this step can take up to half an hour.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onions, stir to coat with oil, and season with salt and pepper.  Spread onions out evenly across the pan and let cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and caramelized, about 25-30 minutes.  Don’t stir the onions too often so they can brown, but don’t leave them alone long enough to burn or stick to the pan.  You may need to reduce the heat or add a splash of water to deglaze the pan a few times to prevent onions from burning.  Once they’re done, set aside in a small bowl.  This step can be done ahead of time and onions can be warmed up in the microwave before topping burger.

Grate one apple for using in the turkey burger and keep the second apple aside for topping the burger later.  Prepare turkey burgers by gently mixing ground turkey, grated apple, Dijon mustard, thyme, sage, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper in a bowl.  Form into four patties, being careful not to overwork the mixture. 

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray or drizzle with oil.  Cook turkey burgers until cooked through (center no longer pink, juices run clear, internal temperature of 165°F), about 5 minutes per side.  Add 2 slices of brie cheese to each burger about 2-3 minutes before it’s done cooking so the brie can melt slightly.

Thinly slice the second apple.  Top each bun with a turkey burger (with brie), sliced apples, and caramelized onions.

Sweet Potato Peanut Bisque

My twin sister recently returned from a trip to Kenya, and of all the delicious food she tried and described to me, some familiar and some completely new, the one that stuck with me the most was peanut soup.  Maybe it's just because it's been getting colder here, but ever since she mentioned peanut soup I haven't stopped craving it!

One of the first recipes I came across in my search for peanut soup was this sweet potato peanut bisque from Eating Well.  Not only is it inspired by (West) African cuisine, but I also loved that it included sweet potatoes, which Gen had talked about during her trip, as apparently the sweet potatoes in Africa are much better than here!

I knew I'd love the recipe because I've already paired sweet potatoes and peanut butter together in two other African inspired recipes that I love: sweet potato and peanut stew and sweet potatoes with West African style peanut sauce.  If you're hesitant about the combination of sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and peanut butter, don't be!  It works!

I absolutely loved this soup and it satisfied my craving for something warm and comforting perfectly!  The flavours all worked so well together and the bisque was so thick and creamy while still being healthy.  The addition of the green chile made this really spicy, which I liked, but you can definitely cut down the amount of chiles for less spice, or use a dash of cayenne at the end to more easily control the amount of spice you add.

While this soup is (supposed to be) more reflective of West African cuisine, if you'd like to read about the food my sister enjoyed in Kenya (in East Africa), along with some cute safari animal pictures, you should check out her blog post about it!

Sweet Potato Peanut Bisque

Adapted from Eating Well

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato (around 12 ounces), peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil

Pinch of cinnamon

Salt and pepper

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1/2 to 1 small green chile, minced (use half a chile for less spice, I used a whole green chile and the soup was quite spicy)

1/2 teaspoon allspice (I used 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon + 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg + 1/8 teaspoon cloves)

1-1/2 cups strained crushed tomatoes (or just crushed tomatoes if you can’t find strained)

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

Chopped cilantro and peanuts for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°F.  Toss chopped sweet potato with 1 tablespoon olive oil, cinnamon, and season with salt and pepper.  Spread on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes, until tender.

Meanwhile, heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add onions and sauté until softened and beginning to brown, stirring often, about 4-5 minutes.  Add garlic, ginger, chiles, and allspice, and cook, stirring, for another 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Stir in crushed tomatoes, reduce heat to simmer, and let simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Add vegetable stock and peanut butter to the tomato sauce.  Transfer half the sauce along with half of the roasted sweet potatoes to a blender and puree until smooth (you don't want to fill the blender too high with hot liquid so blend it in two batches).  Puree the remaining half the sauce, then pour all the puree back into the saucepan to heat.  Add the remaining half of the sweet potatoes to the soup and cook over low heat until heated through.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve and garnish with chopped cilantro and peanuts.