Struffoli!!!

With Easter around the corner, no Italian household would dare be without some dyed eggs, "pizza gaina" and, of course, some struffoli!!!! Struffoli is a dessert often served at Easter or Christmas. Imagine little fried balls of dough tossed in sweet honey and sprinkles...how could every adult and child NOT love this tradition?!?! Sometimes pine nuts and cherries are used as decoration, but most often you'll find these dough balls tossed in diavulilli or literally, "little devils!" In my house, they are actually eaten by little devils...five of them!!!!

I promise that if you serve these up this Easter, you do not have to toss anything in little devils if you do not want to, nor will your children turn into little devils. The struffoli, however, may be just the devilish temptation you'll spend the next year avoiding - until Christmas, that is!

YOU WILL NEED:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 1/2 cups honey
• 3/4 cup pine nuts (optional in my house)
• 2 1/4 ounces colored candy sprinkles
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• What To Do:
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1. Melt the butter or margarine over low heat. Mix together in a large bowl 2-1/2 cups of the flour. Add sugar, baking powder, lemon rind and salt. Make a depression in the middle. Drop into it the eggs and the melted butter or margarine. Mix with a wooden spoon and then with the hands until dough leaves the sides of the bowl. Add remaining 1/2 cup of flour as needed. Knead dough on floured surface until it isn't sticky anymore.
2. Break off pieces of dough and roll into ropes about the size of a pencil. Cut into pieces 1/4 inch long. Roll these pieces into little balls and set aside.
3. In deep frying pan, heat oil about 2 inches deep. Fry balls until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
4. In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring 1-1/2 cups of pure honey to a boil. Let honey boil gently for about 3 minutes before adding little dough balls, stirring gently with wooden spoon until they are well-coated.
5. Remove balls from honey with a slotted spoon and place in a deep dish or mound them on a platter. Sprinkle surface evenly with nuts and multicolored sprinkles.

Recipe Courtesy of AllRecipes.com

Cool & Serve & ENJOY!!!!

Soft Glazed Molasses Cookies!!!

I tell you now I am definitely NO BAKER!!! I just can't wrap my hands around the scientific methods behind measurements and leavening and wet/dry ingredients.....it's just too much for my brain to handle. I cook (and I can't even do that very well) only because I am at liberty to add a little of this, and a little of that at my discretion!! This could have something to do with the fact that my 100% Italian blood dictates a rather stubborn personality that does not lend itself to following directions very well. But that's just a theory....

So when I had to come up with something for a cookie exchange, I went with a cookie that I knew I would LOVE since I would have to spend ample time rebelling against my tendency to experiment and actually follow a recipe! I love those off-brand iced oatmeal cookies you find on the bottom shelf in the cookie aisles at the grocery store. I generally go through half a package in one sitting. And I also LOVE gingerbread cookies but I hate the labor involved in rolling out dough and cutting out shapes (I told you I was lazy). So this recipe is a combo of both my favorites and really is fool proof! After all, I have made it three times and perfectly each time!! I also suggest the use of a cookie scoop as it is my new FAVORITE kitchen tool! Try it for yourself:

GLAZED SOFT MOLASSES COOKIES

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup molasses

1 large egg

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 TB cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES

Beat the sugar, sour cream, butter, shortening and egg together with a hand mixer. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop dough with a cookie scoop on to parchment paper or un-greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until no indentation remains when pressed. Drizzle with glaze and eat em up!

GLAZE:

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter (softened completely)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3 or more TBSP milk (more as needed to thin it out)

Mix until thin enough to either drizzle on in a cute pattern, or brush on with a brush while cookies are still warm. There is no way you could be disappointed with these cookies! ENJOY!!

FRIDAY FIVE! Homemade Chocolate Syrup

Introducing....the Friday Five!

....where we'll showcase recipes with five (or less!) ingredients to simplify your life & time in the kitchen!!! If you have a "Friday Five" recipe that you would like to contribute, then please link it to this post, or email me at unamamma1@gmail.com, and I will use it as part of our once a month guest posts!

HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE SYRUP!

1/2 cup Cocoa Powder

1 cup Sugar

1 cup Water

A dash of salt

1 tsp. Vanilla

*Combine cocoa, sugar, and salt in a saucepan on low heat.

*Add water and mix until smooth.

*Bring mix to a boil.

*Allow to boil for 1 minute, careful not to overboil.

*Remove from heat & when cooled, add vanilla.

This is not meant to be a thick fudge, but rather more of a syrup. Pour it over ice cream, or in a smoothie, or make chocolate milk with it!!! ENJOY!

FRIDAY FIVE! - Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing

This is a light and fluffy icing recipe that works great for something like my bananna cupcakes or zucchini bread:

1/2 cup whipping cream

3 oz. cream cheese

4 TB honey

1 tsp. vanilla

*Beat the cream cheese, vanilla, and honey until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

* Beat the heavy cream in a separate bowl until soft peaks form.

*Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.

*Spread on the cake & enjoy!

Whole Wheat Bananna Cupcakes - YUM!

This is a super easy, one bowl recipe that uses my beloved whole wheat flour!! There's a ton of reasons why I am coming to loathe white flour, mostly discovered after reading this book. But in my quest towards healthy flours, I've realized that whole wheat is not as yucky as everyone makes it out to be. It's good and good for you!

SO here's a fool proof, really good recipe for banana muffins/cupcakes (is it a muffin? is it a cupcake? who cares its good). You could also substitute white flour for the whole wheat, and white sugar for the Evaporated Cane Juice (organic unbleached sugar) I suppose...

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cups evaporated cane juice crystals (organic sugar)

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

2 very ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup milk

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Make a well in the center. Add wet ingredients and incorporate well. Pour into muffin cups and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Wouldn't these be twice as yummy topped with some vanilla cream cheese icing?!?!

MANGIA & ENJOY!!!!