Pecan Pie Muffins

I have a tendency to keep dark brown sugar in my pantry just from buying for a new recipe I want to try. I forget about it & I end up with multiple bags of it! I was thinking of what can I do with all these Dark Brown Sugar, so I found a bag of Whole Pecans & figured I'd make these wonderful Pecan Pie Muffins! I adapted this from Trisha Yearwood's recipe but made some slight adjustments. 

These are good with Tea or Coffee in the mornings or an afternoon snack. The consistency should resemble a toffee pudding but golden on top. 

Here's this SIMPLE recipe and hope you give it a try. 

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

1 stick butter, melted

Dash of Vanilla

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper liners in 9 muffin cups and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the pecans, sugar and flour. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. Add the melted butter and stir to combine. Pour the egg mixture into the well in the dry ingredients, stirring until moistened.

Spoon the batter into the cups, filling each almost full. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in a muffin, about 20 minutes..

And Viola! The house smells so good by the way! 

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Hi Everyone! Yes, my first post for 2015! I have to be better this year. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Speaking of the holidays, it's really hard to start the new year right knowing you've probably went a little overboard with the food, I mean how can you not try your Aunt's favorite dish, or your relatives Pecan Pie on the table right?

All this came down too starting to introduce your family to "Meatless" dishes as much as you can. I'm not one too to promote it, but giving a go would not be bad at all!

I had to think of a favorite dish that does not involve any meat but yet satisfying at the end, so here's my first Meatless dish.

Give this a try, I can tell you, your picky eater at home will not even notice the "dough" which is the Cauliflower!

Ingredients:

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 1/2 cups cauliflower, grated (about 1/2 large head), I doubled mine.

1 1/4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

2 Tablespoons Grated Parmesan Cheese

Kosher Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1/4 cup Pizza Sauce (you can use any favorite brand of yours)

3 cloves garlic, crushed ( I added more than 2 cloves as I love garlic, you can lessen the amount if you want too)

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (you can add more depending on the amount of heat you like)

Fresh basil leaves, this is optional (I added them anyways, as it just completes the Pizza flavor)



Directions:

1. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, and then preheat oven to 425 F.



2. Grate the cauliflower using a box grater until you have 2 cups of cauliflower crumbles. *Use the big side of the grater* . Next, place in a large bowl and microwave for about 7-8 minutes, or until soft. Remove from the microwave and let it cool.



3. Mix the one cup of mozzarella, egg, parmesan cheese and salt & pepper. Once combined, pat into a baking pan that's 13 x 9 (this is what I used) OR if you and to actually make it look like a Pizza shape, pat it into a 10-inch round on the prepared pizza pan.

Spray very lightly with nonstick spray and then bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.



4. Remove from oven, then top with Pizza sauce, 1/4 cup mozzarella, garlic, grape tomatoes & red pepper flakes. Return the whole pan in the oven until the cheese is melted & bubbly, like for another 10 minutes.

Top with basil before serving.



Notes: 

I actually added the basil on the pizza and baked it, it turned out just fine and little welted

I wish I kept the "crust" in the oven just a tad longer so it will be a little crispier.

See how pretty it looks! Loving the beautiful colors. Hey, color is appealing to the eyes which makes the dish even tastier lol ;)  Hope you try it one day.