Italian Herb Crackers

In preparation for a visit from Little H this weekend, I decided to make some snacks. I used SnoWhite's base recipe for whole wheat crackers and added some spices to it. These are super easy and yummy with soup, cheese, or just on their own.

Italian Herb Crackers - adapted from SnoWhite
1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
1/2 C white wheat flour
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
2 T butter, melted/softened
2/3 C milk
Salt for sprinkling

1. Mix together flours, salt, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.

2. Add butter and milk.

3. Knead gently for 2-3 minutes until dough forms together like this...

4. Remove from bowl and incorporate any dough that did not mix in.

5. Break dough into two pieces and roll out as thin as possible.

6. Transfer to a baking stone and cut using a pizza cutter. Clearly, mine are not nearly as nicely shaped as SnoWhite's!

7. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes, until browned and crispy.

White Chocolate Raspberry Bark - updated with pictures

This was originally posted for a recipe swap but now I have pictures so I decided to repost.

If you know me at all, you know how much I love love love the Christmas season and all it brings with it. I decided to let the fabulous dude decide which recipe I would share. So I asked him the question and let him fill in the blank. When I said "It wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't eat..." he said Chocolate Coated Almond Toffee and White Chocolate Raspberry Bark. Since I've already posted the Chocolate Coated Almond Toffee I decided to go with the Raspberry Bark.

Every year, I join together with my mom to do our holiday baking. As you might remember, I have an excellent reason for doing so. I like to put together tins of baking to give away to friends and family members as well as have enough sweet treats kicking around to help me gain 50 pounds enjoy. The recipes tend to stay the same from year to year but occasionally we try something new. The following recipe is one of our tried and true ones. It is very quick, simple and delicious.

White Chocolate Raspberry Bark - from Lucy and her Mumma
1 bag white chocolate chips (or you can use baker's squares)
1 tbsp Shortening
4 tbsp raspberry jam
Mint flavouring

1. Melt chocolate and shortening in a double boiler over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once smooth, add a few drops of mint flavouring (you can omit if you are not a fan of chocolate mint). Pour chocolate onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

2. Meanwhile, melt jam in a 1 cup measure for 30-45 seconds, or until runny. Pour jam over chocolate. Using a toothpick, drag jam to blend in with chocolate. Get creative here and make fun designs!

3. Refrigerate and cool for 5-6 hours, until chocolate is hardened. Break into small pieces and enjoy!

This recipe is being linked at the Ultimate Recipe Swap: Christmas in July Edition

Seven Layer Nacho Dip

Some variation of this recipe has been found at almost every party or social event that I've ever been to. This is one of the simplest party recipes in the books. But, I always find that it is the biggest crowd pleaser. Everyone loves them some nachos! Sorry about the photo - someone had already decided to give the dip a try before I got a chance to snap a picture!

Nacho Dip
1-2 cups light sour cream
2 T guacamole seasoning (or any kind of tex-mex type of seasoning, if you've got it)
2 tomatoes, chopped
2-3 green onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/4 can black olives, sliced
1 cup salsa
1-2 cups shredded cheese (tex-mex blend is great!)

Layer all ingredients in an 8x8 baking dish, starting with sour cream, followed by the vegetables, salsa and then topped with cheese. Serve with Tostito's scoops!

I've also seen this dip made with a cream cheese and taco seasoning base and also refried beans.

What variation of the seven layer nacho dip do you prefer?

Ghosty Cake Balls

What happens when you try to make a cake that looks like this...

But it ends up looking like this...

You commission your mother's help and you make these, of course.

Ghost Cake Balls - all thanks to the amazing Bakerella
1/2 package white cake mix, baked
1/2 can creamy whipped white frosting
1-2 bags white chocolate chips
Semi-sweet, or dark, chocolate chips for eyes

(You can obviously double this, using a whole cake mix and whole can of frosting. I just halved it because the original cake that I baked only used half the batter).

1. Bake cake and wait until it is completely cooled. Crumble the cake into a large mixing bowl.

2. Spoon frosting into bowl and mix well.

3. Form into small balls. Using half a cake mix you should get about 25. Using a full cake, you should get about 50. I think I had exactly 25 ... and I may or may not have snacked a wee bit along the way.

4. Chill balls for several hours. I put mine in the freezer for about 2-3 hours and they were perfect.

5. Melt chocolate in a small bowl. Only melt a little bit at a time so it's easy to work with. Coat cake balls in chocolate and use a spoon to knock off the excess chocolate. Sorry, no pictures here, things got a little messy. Place two chocolate chips on each ghost for eyes. Chill for several hours more until chocolate is hardened.

Beware, they are frightfully delicious!

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dip

I found this recipe for a while and had been saving it for just the right occasion. Just the right occasion came this weekend when we had a party with a group of our friends from high school.


Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dip - adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
1/2 package of light cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/8 tsp ginger 1/8 tsp allspice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth. Chill for at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours.

Serve with graham crackers and apples for spreading. Be sure to inform your guests that it is not, in fact, roasted red pepper hummus, before they slop it on their plate and let it mix together with their salsa.


This recipe is being shared at Tempt my Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday.

Sesame and Flax Crackers

This recipe is quite similar to my sesame and flax flat bread recipe. In fact, I basically just cut it in half and cut it into the shape of crackers. However, I thought I'd share it so you can see how easy it is to make your own crackers. I made this last week because I knew we'd be making roasted tomatoes, salsa and red pepper relish. I needed something to put all of those good things on!

Sesame and Flax Crackers
3/4 (plus some) water
1/8 cup milk powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup all purpose or bread flour
3/4 (plus some) whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp yeast
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds

1. Place all ingredients in bread pan. Select dough cycle.

2. When cycle is complete, turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.

3. Split dough into to equal sections. One at a time, roll the sections as thinly as possible.

4. Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into desired shapes/sizes. Place on baking stone. (If your baking stone is the right size - you may want to move the entire sheet of dough onto and it cut it on there - it will make it easier for you).

5. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until brown and crispy.

They turned out really good. Some are crunchier than others. Some are kind of chewy, but still tasty! Next time I will try passing the dough through my pasta maker to get it even thinner.

Zucchini Brownies

I knew having a garden would pay off. And pay off, it did! These brownies are amazing and since they are full of zucchini, you would be doing your health a disservice NOT to eat them since they are so incredibly healthy. (This is what I tell myself so I can sleep at night). They are moist and very flavourful although a bit more cake-like than brownie-life. If you eat them by themselves, you can taste the zucchini a bit, but that didn't bother me at all.

Zucchini Brownies
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup cocoa
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Stir together flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and cocoa.

2. Add beaten egg, applesauce, milk, vanilla and zucchini. Mix until smooth.

3. Add chocolate chips. Stir to combine.

4. Pour batter into greased 9x13 pan.

5. Bake at 350 for , until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve warm topped with cherry sauce and ice cream.

This post is being shared at the Grocery Cart Challenge recipe swap and Friday Feasts.

Zucchini Bread

If you are one of those folks who doesn't care for zucchini, I apologize for yet another zucchini recipe. But, tis' the season. And as a forewarning: this isn't the end of them :D There are at least four more queued up and ready to go... including the much anticipated zucchini brownies (recipe will be up early Friday am).

Zucchini Bread - adapted from Food That Says Welcome Cookbook
3 cups flour (2 ww, 1 ap)
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of ginger
3/4 cup chopped pecans and/or chocolate chips (optional - do one, both, or none - whatever suits your preference. I used 3/4 c. of both)
2 heaping cups shredded zucchini
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs, beaten

1. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, nuts and chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl.

2. Combine remaining ingredients in a separate bowl until well mixed.

3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix until moistened.

4. Pour batter into greased loaf pans. I did one large and 2 mini. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Keep an eye on the mini loaves, they won't take as long.

Black Forest Bread

This loaf has an interesting flavour and texture. It is yummy toasted and topped with some butter, brown sugar and cinnamon for a sweet treat. Like I mention below, I would recommend adding more cherries and leaving them whole (as the original recipe suggested) so that there are cherry pieces throughout the bread. Also, the recipe suggested using jumbo chocolate chips or chocolate chunks rather than normal chocolate chips. They take longer to melt and so by using them, you will increase the chance of have chocolate pockets throughout the loaf rather than only having the chocolate flavour of the melted chips. Also, if using the dough cycle I don't think it would hurt to knead the chocolate chips in at the end of the cycle, before baking. If anyone else tries this recipe, please give me feedback about your results!

Black Forest Bread - modified from here
1 cup water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg (or 3 tbsp + 2 tsp egg substitute)
Just less than 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
3 cups bread flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat and 2 cups all purpose)
3 tablespoons milk powder
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1-1/4 teaspoons yeast
2/3 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup fresh sweet cherries, pitted (I cut mine very small but then the bread maker chopped them up so there are no cherry chunks in the bread, just cherry flavour. I would recommend tossing them in whole so there are pieces of cherry throughout the loaves. I would also suggest increasing the amount to 1/2 cup)

1. Add all ingredients except cherries and chocolate chips into bread pan in order suggested by your manufacturer.

2. Select sweet cycle OR dough cycle.

3. Add cherries and chocolate chips at add ingredient signal. Continue cycle.

4. If using dough cycle, turn out dough onto floured surface after cycle is complete. Let rest for 10 minutes. Place in greased loaf pan. I divided the dough into four portions and put it in mini loaf pans.

5. Let rise for 20ish minutes.

6. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Tent and continue baking for 20-30 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped.

Makes 1 large loaf or 4 mini loaves.