Starbucks Iced Coffee

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The secret to Starbucks iced coffee is that it's brewed very strong. It's important to start with a strong ground coffee, using your favorite brand. 

Once your coffee is brewed, allow to cool and store in the refrigerator. You can sweeten it with a homemade classic syrup or another DIY flavored syrup, such as white mocha or vanilla syrup. Add half-and-half or milk, and then top off with ice. 

Starbucks Lemon Loaf

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Here's how to make it!

Ingredients:

  • 1½ cups flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons softened butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • ⅓ cup lemon juice
  • ½ cup vegetable oil

Lemon icing:

  • 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • ½ teaspoon lemon extract

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, blend eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, lemon extract, lemon juice, and oil with an electric mixer.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour into a well-greased 9-inch-by-5-inch loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes. When loaf is cool, remove from pan and ice with icing. Slice into 1-inch slices. Serves 8.

Loaded Sweet Potato Skins

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Loaded Sweet Potato Skins

Here’s what you will need:
* 4 sweet potatoes
* 1 Tbsp. olive oil
* 1/4 cup whole milk
* Salt to taste
* Pepper to taste
* 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
* 1/2 cup shredded cheddar
* 4 strips bacon, cooked until crispy, and crumbled
* Sour cream and chopped chives for serving

Instructions:
1. Pierce each sweet potato a few times and bake at 400˚F/200˚C for 50 minutes or until soft. Let potatoes cool, then cut in half lengthwise.

2. Scoop out potato flesh, leaving a thin layer of sweet potato inside, and add flesh to a medium bowl. Place skins back on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and bake at 400˚F/200˚C for 10 minutes.

3. Mash sweet potato flesh with milk, salt, and pepper until smooth and creamy. Remove sweet potato skins from oven; fill each with an equal amount of potato mixture and top with cheese. Bake at 400˚F/200˚C for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted.

4. Remove skins from oven and top with crumbled bacon. Serve with sour cream and chives.

Watch the entire recipe video here.

Pizza Pretzel

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Pizza Pretzel

Yields: 3 pretzels

Here’s what you will need:
* 1 (13.8-ounce) tube store-bought pizza dough
* 4 cups shredded mozzarella (from two 8-ounce bags)
* nonstick vegetable oil spray
* 15 presliced pepperoni
* Store-bought marinara or pizza sauce for dipping

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C. Unroll the dough (it should form a 15×9-inch rectangle), then cut the rectangle horizontally into three equal strips. (These will be your three pretzels.) Carefully stretch each of the strips by width and length — stretch each to about a 3-inch width and about a 34-inch length. Sprinkle 1 cup of cheese down the center of each dough strip. (Reserve the last 1 cup of cheese for later.) Fold the dough over the cheese, pressing to seal and rolling slightly to create three dough logs filled with cheese. Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray with vegetable oil. To form the pretzels, take one dough log, move it to the foil-covered baking sheet, then form a circle with the ends of the log at the top of the circle. Twist the log ends around each other once and bring them down to meet the bottom of the circle. That’s your pretzel shape! Repeat with the other two dough logs on the baking sheet. (Watch the video if you need help with this step.) Wrap pepperonis on the pretzels — 5-ish per pretzel — then sprinkle the remaining cup of cheese among the three pretzels. Bake 14-18 minutes until deep golden brown. Serve immediately with pizza sauce for dipping.

Watch the entire recipe video here.

Pizza Birthday Cake

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This looks amazing!!! Kind of like a really super, deep dish Chicago pizza.
Here's the recipe!
For baking use
  1. 1 pot (6 1/3 diameter , 4 inch tall )
For dough
  1. 1 ½ pound all purpose flour
  2. 2 ½ cups warm water
  3. 4 tbsp olive oil
  4. 1 1/2 tsp salt
  5. 3 tsp sugar
  6. ½ oz dry yeast
For topping
  1. 1 ½ cup pizza sauce
  2. 14 oz cheese, grated or thinly sliced
  3. 14 oz pepperoni
  4. fresh mix of greens (optional)
Instructions
  1. Combine yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Stir in warm water.
  2. Sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Add yeast mixture and olive oil and stir until combined.
  3. Knead the dough on the lightly floured surface for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
  4. Return the dough into the bowl.
  5. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 ½ -2 hours, until doubled in size.
  6. After rising, punch the dough down and place it to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands.
  7. Divide the dough into 8 balls.
  8. Roll six balls out into a 1/5 inch thick layers and cut out 6 rounds 6 1/3 inches (16 cm) each in diameter.
  9. Let them rise in a baking tin for 10-15 minutes.
  10. Bake in the preheated oven (400F) for 15 minutes. Let them cool a little bit.
  11. Line bottom and sides of pot with baking paper.
  12. Roll the rest of dough out into a 1/5 inch thick layer and cover the sides of the pot but not the bottom.
  13. Place one layer of pre-baked dough on the bottom of the pot.
  14. Add tomato sauce, pepperoni and cheese.
  15. Place next layer of dough.
  16. If necessary fill cracks with dough.
  17. Repeat, until you have all the layers complete.
  18. Remove the excess dough and tuck in the edges.
  19. Bake in preheated oven at 400F for 25 minutes.
  20. Remove it from the oven.
  21. Let it cool in the pot for 5 minutes then carefully remove.
  22. Top with fresh mix of greens and enjoy!

Source:

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

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Cut low-moisture mozzarella cheese into 3/4 inch cubes. Store in refrigerator while preparing the meat.

In a large mixing bowl combine: 
* 1 pound ground beef
* 1 pound hot Italian sausage
* 1/2 tsp garlic powder
* 2 tsp salt
* 1 tsp black pepper
* 1 cup bread crumbs
* 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup whole milk
* 1/2 cup chopped parsley

Directions:
Roll golf-ball-sized balls with the meat mixture. Squish mozzarella cube into the center and pull the edges of the meatball around it until it’s a new ball again. Arrange meatballs in slow cooker and cover in tomato sauce. Cook on high for 2 to 2½ hours.

Chick fil A: Copycat Chicken Recipe

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Chick-fil-A made chicken sandwiches famous with this recipe!

 

3 cups Peanut oil
1 Egg
1 cup Milk
1 cup Flour
2 1/2 tb Powdered sugar
1/2 ts Pepper
2 tb Salt
2 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts, halved 
4 Plain hamburger buns
2 tb Melted butter
8 Dill pickle slices

Heat the peanut oil in a pressure cooker over med. heat to about 400F. In
a small bowl, beat the egg and stir in the milk. In a separate bowl,
combine the flour, sugar, pepper, and salt. dip each piece of chicken in
milk until it is fully moistened. Roll the moistened chicken in the flour
mixture until completely coated. Drop all four chicken pieces into the hot
oil and close the pressure cooker. When steam starts shooting through the
pressure release, set the timer for 3-1/2 minutes. IMPORTANT!!!! 
DO NOT CLOSE STEAM RELEASE. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS! While the chicken is cooking, spread a coating of melted butter on the face of each bun. When
the chicken is done, remove it from the oil and drain or blot on paper
towels. Place two pickles on each bottom bun; add a chicken breast, then
the top bun. To make a deluxe chicken sandwich, simply add two tomato
slices and a leaf of lettuce. Mayonnaise also goes well on this
sandwich--it is a side order at the restaurant.

Caramel Popcorn

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Caramel Corn

  • 12 cups popped popcorn (about 1/2 cup kernels or about two bags of microwave popcorn)
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (omit if using salted microwave popcorn)
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Place the popped popcorn into a big bowl, one that is at least twice the volume of the popcorn itself. Do not err on the side of a bowl that is too small, because you are going to do some serious stirring in a bit. Remove any un-popped kernels and set aside.

STOVETOP INSTRUCTIONS: Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt in saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring enough to blend.

Once the mixture begins to boil, boil for 5 minutes while stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. You’ll get a little show here as the vanilla will “sizzle” while the baking soda gets all foamy and gorgeous. Make sure the mixture is stirred very well, then immediately pour over the popcorn.

Stir well to coat all of the popcorn. Keep stirring. A little more … there, that ought to be about right.

MICROWAVE INSTRUCTIONS: Cut the butter into chunks and place in a microwave-safe bowl along with the brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir well to combine. Microwave on high for an additional 2 minutes.

Remove bowl from microwave and stir very well. Return to microwave and heat for 2 more minutes on high. Remove from microwave and stir in vanilla and baking soda. It will make popping sounds and get light and foamy. After stirring, immediately pour over the popcorn in the bowl. Stir well to coat all of the popcorn.

Whichever method you’ve followed, now spread the coated popcorn on one large or two smaller cookie sheets, breaking up any clumps. Bake at 200 F for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread out on waxed paper and allow to cool. 

Nana's Homemade Pumpkin Pie

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Ingredients
  • 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
  • 2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
  • 1 cup half-and-half
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
  • 1 piece pre-made pie dough
  • Whipped cream, for topping

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.

(Inspired by Paula Deen recipe)

Nana's Homemade Pecan Pie

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Ingredients
Dough:

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup cold butter (1 stick), diced
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • Flour, for rolling the dough

  • Filling:
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
  • 2 cups chopped toasted pecans
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons bourbon
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten



Directions
Make the dough by hand: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Using your fingers, work the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles yellow cornmeal mixed with bean-sized bits of butter. (If the flour/butter mixture gets warm, refrigerate it for 10 minutes before proceeding.) Add the egg and stir the dough together with a fork or by hand in the bowl. If the dough is dry, sprinkle up to a tablespoon more of cold water over the mixture.

Alternatively, make the dough in a food processor. With the machine fitted with the metal blade, pulse the flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Add the butter and pulse until it resembles yellow cornmeal mixed with bean-sized bits of butter, about 10 times. Add the egg and pulse 1 to 2 times; don't let the dough form into a ball in the machine. (If the dough is very dry add up to a tablespoon more of cold water.) Remove the bowl from the machine, remove the blade, and bring the dough together by hand.

Form the dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1 hour.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough with a rolling pin into a 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie pan and trim the edges, leaving about an extra inch hanging over the edge. Tuck the overhanging dough underneath itself to form a thick edge that is even with the rim. Flute the edge as desired. Freeze the pie shell for 30 minutes.

Set separate racks in the center and lower third of oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Put a piece of parchment paper or foil over the pie shell and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake on a baking sheet on the center rack until the dough is set, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and lift sides of the parchment paper to remove the beans. Continue baking until the pie shell is lightly golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

While the crust is baking make the filling: In medium saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and stirring constantly, continue to boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the nuts, bourbon, and the vanilla. Set the mixture aside to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. (If the crust has cooled, return it to the oven for 5 minutes to warm through.) Whisk the beaten eggs into the filling until smooth. Put the pie shell on a sheet pan and pour the filling into the hot crust.

Bake on the lower oven rack until the edges are set but the center is still slightly loose, about 40 to 45 minutes. (If the edges get very dark, cover them with aluminum foil half way during baking.) Cool on a rack. Serve slightly warm or room temperature.

Nana's Homemade Mashed Potatoes

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Ingredients

  • 4 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 2” pieces
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more
  • 1 1/2 whole milk
  • 3 sprigs thyme (optional)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 1/2 unsalted butter, plus more for serving
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

  • Place potatoes in a large pot and pour in cold water to cover by 1”. Add salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are very tender but not saturated or crumbly, 20–25 minutes (boiling will lead to waterlogged pieces).
  • Drain potatoes, reserving ½ cup cooking liquid if making potatoes ahead. Return potatoes to pot and set over low heat. Gently stir until dry, about 1 minute.
  • Meanwhile, heat milk, thyme sprigs, if desired, bay leaves, and ¾ cup butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat.
  • Pass hot potatoes through a ricer into a large bowl (if allowed to cool, the potatoes will become gummy).
  • Remove herbs from warm milk mixture; discard. Gradually add milk mixture to potatoes, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until combined and smooth; season with salt and pepper.
  • Serve mashed potatoes with a few pats of butter on top.
  • Do Ahead: Potatoes can be made 4 hours ahead. Pass through ricer into a large pot and cover. Just before serving, reheat over low, gently stirring in reserved potato cooking liquid as needed to loosen.

Nana's Cheesecake Recipe

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Nana's Cheesecake is famous, everyone loves it. She said I could share the recipe with all of you, so here it is!
Ingredients:
Crust:
1 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. lemon peel
1/2 cup oleo (margarine)
1 slightly beaten egg
1/4 tsp. vanilla
Filling:
(5) 8 oz. cream cheese bricks, softened (we like Philadelphia Cream Cheese)
1/4 tsp. vanilla
3/4 tsp lemon peel (grated)
1 3/4 c. sugar
3 tbs. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
4/5 eggs (1 cup)
2 egg yolks
1/4 c. whipping cream
Steps:
Combine flour, sugar, lemon peel. Add eggs and vanilla. Blend, pat 1/3 dough into 9" bottom springform pan, with the sides removed. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 min. Cool, attach sides of pan.
Beat cream cheese, add vanilla, lemon peel. Mix in sugar, flour, salt, add in cream cheese, add, one at a time, until blended. Stir in whipping cream. 
Bake for 12 min. at 450 degrees. Then 55 minutes at 300 degrees.
Cool 1/2 hour, then loosen sides of pan and place cheesecake on plate.
Top with cherries, strawberries, whatever you like!