Margaux Sky Original Recipes

Apple Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-12-12T16:27:00.000-08:00

Hi!

I'd like to offer one of my cookie recipes to make that are very simple and packed with flavor and they're good for you, too. They go great with tea, coffee, wine, milk, or any beverage you prefer at any function. They'd be great for the holidays!

In case you're wondering what the heck "Weetabix" is, it's a cereal from England, I believe. It's fiber friendly - very. Very tasty, too. You can get a box at nearly any grocery store. If you can't find it, ask a store clerk.

Apple Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 eggs
2 cups oats
6 Weetabix (crumbled)
1 large apple (or 2 medium) (chopped)
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup honey
1/2 cup almond milk
6 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Butter to grease the baking sheet(s)

Preheat the oven to 375. Let it get hot.
In a large bowl, beat the 2 eggs.
Add the honey, almond milk, lemon juice, and mix well.
Add the baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and mix well.
Add the oats, Weetabix, apples, chocolate chips, and mix well.
Butter a baking sheet(s).
Form the dough (though it isn't a typical cookie dough) into the size cookies you prefer.
Don't pack the cookies. Just kind of form them.
You should have enough for 12-16 nice sized cookies. That's what I usually end up with.
You can make them any size you'd like, though.
Bake in a hot 375 oven for approximately 20-25 minutes.

These cookies are so good and very healthy!

Enjoy!

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Gourmandia

2010-12-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I just got my writing position at gourmandia.com up and running again. It's a cool site devoted to delicious, rich, luxurious foods from all over the world. Much of the fare is from France, but gourmandia is expanding worldwide and doing really well. The videos are lovely, colorful and make you so hungry just watching them. There are some fabulous recipes to indulge, so give the site a look. You can go to http://www.gourmandia.com. To register is free.

If you want to check out some of my recipes go to

Publish your own cookbook!

2010-12-01T16:39:00.000-08:00

Introduction to Smashwords - Ebook Publishing and Distribution Made Easy

View more presentations from Smashwords, Inc..

Hi,

I wanted to give you all a chance to check out this great video from smashwords.com.

I know many of you are writers and would love to publish your own cookbooks!

Do it! Smashwords.com makes it very easy to accomplish.

My next cookbook will be out soon and I'm publishing it at smashwords.com.

The BEST Doughnuts EVER!

2010-11-27T10:27:00.000-08:00

Good Saturday morning to all.

I'm going to share my doughnut recipe with you. It's coming on winter and fresh doughnuts on a winter weekend morning are completely memorable, especially when eaten warm with a cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar. With frosting, you obviously need to let them cool to coat with icing. So, whether you'll be making these for your children, your grandchildren, your self, friends, lovers, whoever, they will not be forgotten. You might be forgotten over time, but the doughnuts? Never.

Okay. You'll want to use a cooking oil for these doughnuts, not an olive oil or any heavy oil that will overpower the doughnut with its own strong flavor. Canola oil will be fine. A vegetable oil will do, or a cooking oil.

I'm giving you the increments in full order and half order. Whenever I've shared this recipe, it's typically been for people that are making large amounts of doughnuts for gatherings of some sort - family party, bazaar, holiday affair. The full recipe will make anywhere from 26-34 doughnuts depending on how large you make them. You can put this dough in the refrigerator for a few days, so if you want to prepare half and save the other half for a few days down the road, then do that. I've never tried freezing the dough but I would imagine it would hold up well as long as it's used within a month or so, just be sure to let it thaw completely. Form the doughnuts ahead of time and freeze them. In any event, I'm giving the half incremented recipe, too. Take your choice.

Please read through the entire recipe before preparing. That should be done with any recipe. It saves unwanted surprises or unexpected frustration.

INGREDIENTS
11 cups all purpose flour (5 1/2 cups all purpose flour)
2 cups sour cream (1 cup sour cream)
4 eggs (beaten) (2 eggs beaten)
1 cup heavy cream (1/2 cup heavy cream)
1 cup sugar (1/2 cup sugar)
1/2 cup melted butter (1/4 cup melted butter)
1/2 cup brown sugar (1/4 cup brown sugar)
1/2 cup powdered sugar (1/4 cup powdered sugar)
2 Tablespoons baking powder (1 Tablespoon baking powder)
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract)
2 teaspoons baking soda (1 teaspoon baking soda)
1 teaspoon salt (1/2 teaspoon salt)

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except for the baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour.
Mix very well with a whisk until the ingredients are smooth.
In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking power, and baking soda and mix well.
Cup by cup, add the flour mixture to the batter mixture.
Mix very well after each addition of the flour mixture.
The batter will become a dough once all the flour is added.
Turn it onto a lightly floured board or lightly floured counter top once it is a dough.

Spread the dough out with your hands or a rolling pin to about 1/2 inch thick.
If you have a doughnut shaper, use that to form your doughnuts. If not, use a very wide-mouth cup or the top of a peanut butter jar, or anything that will give you a wide volume for the doughnut.

Now, remove the center ball (you can use these to make doughnut balls) and you can use a doughnut ball shaper if you have one. If not, what works very well is the cap from a single water bottle - not a gallon water container - but a single serving water bottle.

Form all of your doughnuts and leave them on the counter to rest.

Go and get a very deep and very large sauce pan or pot. You can get a sauce pan that will allow you to prepare only one or two doughnuts at a time or a large pot that will enable you to prepare 4-6 doughnuts at a time. It depends on what cookware you have at your home. Maybe you have an in-house fryer. If that's the case, lucky you.

How hot should the oil be? If you have a thermometer, the oil can be at 350 or so. Regardless of what the oil is when you begin frying the doughnuts, unless you have an in-house fryer that maintains a set heat, you're going to have to be savvy and get to know your oil and how long it will last you. It's like any cooking venture - trust yourself. The more you do it, the better you get. Here's what I do: when the oil starts crackling and bubbling a bit, I throw the doughnuts in.

Fill the pot one-third the way up with oil and turn the fire on medium. Here's where to turn off the fear factor and just have fun and trust yourself.

When the oil is hot enough, PLACE (do not drop the doughnuts in - you'll burn yourself with splashes of oil) however many doughnuts will fill your pot, but leave room so you can turn them.

Set a timer for 3 minutes then turn the doughnuts (either with a fork or preferably a long handled flipper) and set the timer for another 3 minutes.

They should be done now. You can tell by testing one by breaking it open a bit to see that it's cakey in the middle. If it's still doughy, put back in the oil and give it another minute or so. If it's too cakey (almost dry) then you know to set the time for 2 1/2 minutes instead of 3, but 3 minutes per side is most popular.

Once you've removed them from the oil and all of your doughnuts are cooled, now is when you can frost them, sugar them, or serve them plain. If you're going to serve them plain or sugared, you can serve them warm. Frosted doughnuts, naturally, must be cooled in order to be frosted.

Dipping Sugars
Cinnamon and sugar combined
Powdered sugar

White Icing
Heavy cream and powdered sugar - Mix to desired thickness and spread on doughnuts or dip doughnuts into the frosting.

Creamy Chocolate Frosting
Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in a sauce pan with 2 tablespoons of butter over low heat. Careful not to burn.
Once melted, remove from the heat.
Add 1/4 cup heavy cream and mix well.
Add powdered sugar to desired thickness and mix well until smooth.
Dip top half of doughnuts into the chocolate and put aside to set.
If you prefer a thicker frosting, spread onto the doughnuts.

If you want to spice up your doughnuts, especially for the winter holidays, add a little cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger to the batter (to taste). Start with 1/4 teaspoons and add more as you desire. Adding these spices to the dough gives the doughnuts a wonderful holiday flavor and aroma.

Well, enjoy! Ill be back later and can give you more frosting ideas for the doughnuts. Let me know how they turn out and if anyone else cares to offer frosting tips or fun decorating ideas, please feel free!

Thanks, all!

PUMPKIN MUFFINS with CANDIED PECANS and WHITE ICING

2008-11-16T08:20:00.000-08:00

These muffins are great with a cup of coffee in the morning, as a snack in the afternoon, or as a dessert after dinner. They're wonderful holiday snacks and desserts but are well served all year long, too. Enjoy!

PUMPKIN MUFFINS with CANDIED PECANS and WHITE ICING

1- 29 oz. can of 100% pure pumpkin

2 cups candied pecans (optional - see below for recipe)

1-1/2 cups brown sugar (packed)

1-1/2 cups vanilla soy milk

1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)

4 eggs (mixed)

4 oz. vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup dark molasses

1/4 cup Kahlua

2 tablespoons baking powder

1-1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon ginger (ground)

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Generously butter large muffin pans.

Put the flour and shopped pecans off to the side.

In a large bowl, combine all the other ingredients with a wire whisk and mix well.

Add the flour to the mixed ingredients and mix well with a wire whisk.

Add the candied pecans (optional) to the batter and mix well.

Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup as your measure guidance, spoon the pumpkin batter into the greased muffin pans.

You should get about 15-16 muffins from this batch.

Bake in a hot 375 degree oven for approximately 25 minutes.

Insert a toothpick or knife into the center of the largest muffin. If it comes out clean, the muffins are done. If not, return the muffins to the oven for another minute or so until an inserted toothpick or knife comes out clean.

Let cool for 10 minutes before adding frosting for a thin icing. For a thick icing, let the muffins cool for 25 -30 minutes.

Of course, **frosting is optional as are the candied pecans.**

The muffins are fantastic on their own, unadorned.

CANDIED PECANS

2 cups of whole or chopped pecans

1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)

1/4 cup honey

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put butter off to the side.

In a 9" rectangular pan or a baking sheet, combine all the ingredients (except the butter) and mix well.

Break the butter into pieces and drop randomly over the pecan mixture.

Set in a hot 375 degree oven for 5 minutes.

Remove, mix well until the sugar and butter covers all the pecans, and return to the oven for another 4-5 minutes.

Remove from the oven and either put off to the side for 30-40 minutes or set in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes.

When cooled, spoon the pecans and sweet mixture onto a cutting board (if they're whole pecans)

and chop into pieces.

Add to the pumpkin batter and mix well.

Spoon into the muffin pans with a 1/2 cup measuring cup as your measuring guide.

WHITE ICING

1 box powdered sugar

Heavy cream (for desired consistency)

Pour the powdered sugar into a large bowl.

Slowly add the heavy cream to the powdered sugar and mix briskly with a wire whisk until you have the desired consistency (thick or thin) to your frosting. Mix long enough to rid the icing of the little lumps of powdered sugar.

Drizzle or spread over hot/warm pumpkins muffins for a thin icing.

Drizzle or spread over cooled pumpkin muffins for a thicker icing.

Serve warm or cool.

Blueberry Muffins and Banana Candied Pecan muffins

2008-06-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

These muffins are so moist! I think you'll love them.

Divide the batter in half and use one half for Blueberry Muffins and the other half for the Banana Candied Pecan Muffins. You should get twelve medium to large sized muffins from each batch. Please read through entire recipe before beginning!

Before you begin, generously grease and flour 2 twelve-cup large muffin pans.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

MUFFIN BATTER

5 cups flour

4 cups heavy cream

2 cups eggs

1/3 lb. butter (melted)

1 cup vanilla yogurt

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup brown sugar (packed)

3 tablespoons baking powder

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

You'll also need:

2 1/2 cups of blueberries

2 cups of candied pecans (see recipe below)

2 bananas

In a large bowl combine the baking powder, baking soda, and vanilla yogurt. Mix well and let sit for a few minutes.

Add the heavy cream, eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and powdered sugar to the yogurt mixture. Mix very well with a wire whisk.

Add the flour and salt to the mixture. Mix well until the batter is smooth.

Put half of the batter into another medium or large sized bowl.

In one bowl of batter, add 2 1/2 cups of blueberries and mix well but gently.

In the other bowl add 2 bananas and 2 cups of chopped candied pecans (see below for candied pecan recipe).

Spoon the batters into the muffin cups to reach the top.

Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until a knife or toothpick slid into the middle of the largest muffin comes out clean. Ovens vary, so it could take as little as 20 minutes or as much as 30 to bake. Keep an eye alert around 20-25 minutes.

Allow the muffins to cool before removing them from the cups.

(If you desire frosting, drizzle a simple frosting of heavy cream mixed with powdered sugar (to your desired consistency) for extra sweetness, though they are delicious without the added sweetness.

Great with morning coffee, an afternoon snack, or dessert in the evening.

CANDIED PECANS

2 cups of pecans

1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)

1/4 cup honey

4 tablespoons butter butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a deep but small baking dish or pan, combine all the ingredients and mix well.

Put in a hot 350 oven for approximately 5 minutes. Remove and stir. Put back in the oven for another 3-5 minutes. Remove, mix and let cool.

Chop and put into muffin batter along with the bananas.

Enjoy!

Peppermint Candy Cake with Peppermint Candy Frosting

2008-05-21T17:44:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

Here is my fabulous Peppermint Candy Cake recipe. It is so good! Enjoy!

Peppermint Candy Cake

2 cups sugar

1 cup whipping cream

1 (16-ounce) container cream cheese, softened

4 large eggs

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

1 tablespoon peppermint extract

45 peppermint candies (approximately 1-1/2 cups -use peppermint candy sticks, if you prefer)

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Peppermint Candy Frosting

1 (16 ounce) container cream cheese, cold

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cold

1 tablespoon peppermint extract (heated in microwave for 10 seconds)

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup whipping cream (for thicker frosting, use 1/8-1/4 cup)

90 peppermint candies (approximately 3 cups -use peppermint candy sticks, if you prefer)

For the cake:

>Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and generously butter and flour three 9-inch cake pans.

>In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar, whipping cream, softened cream cheese, eggs, butter, and peppermint extract. Mix well.

>In a food processor or osterizer, blend the peppermint candy on high until it's pulverized to powder. Don't be alarmed by the smoky effect. Stir the candy into the batter.

>In another bowl, combine the flour, baking power, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. Add the dry mixture to the wet and mix well.

>Distribute the batter evenly among the prepared cake pans and bake in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes. The cakes will be done when a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean.

>Let the cakes cool in the pans for several minutes. Then transfer them to the wire rack to completely cool.

For the frosting:

>In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, butter, peppermint extract, and sugar with an electric mixer until very well blended.

>In another small bowl, beat the whipping cream with an electric mixer until stiff. Add the whipped cream to the frosting mixture. With the electric mixer mix the two only until smooth. do not overblend. Put the frosting in the refrigerator to chill.

>In a food processor or osterizer, blend the peppermint candy until it's pulverized to powder.

>Remove the frosting form the refrigerator and add the powdered peppermint candy. Mix well.

>Spread the frosting over the cake and top the cake with three whole peppermint candies per slice. Store any extra frosting in the refrigerator.

>Refrigerate cake when not being eaten.

Yields 16 servings.

Pineapple Cream Cheese Scones and Blueberry Scones

2008-05-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I've created great Pineapple Cream Cheese Scone and Blueberry Scone recipes I know you're going to love.

Don't eat too many, no more than 2 a week; otherwise, you'll feel too loaded down and begin to put the pounds on. Typically, I save treats like this for Saturday and/or Sunday morning with a great cup of coffee. (ONE scone Saturday and/or Sunday.)

READ THROUGH RECIPE BEFORE BEGINNING: ALWAYS!

INGREDIENTS

2 cups vanilla yogurt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

3 eggs

1-1/2 lbs. of butter

7 cups all-purpose flour

1 fresh pineapple (peeled and cored)

1 lb. cream cheese

2-1/2 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 350.

Latex Gloves are a good idea.

Generously butter 2 large baking sheets.

Take a fresh pineapple; peel and core it. Chop approximately 1/2 - 3/4 of the pineapple into bite size chunks and put into a large bowl.

Take 1 pound of cream cheese and break it into bite-sized chunks and add it to the pineapple. Put the bowl aside.

In another large bowl, put 2-1/2 cups of blueberries. Put aside.

In a medium bowl mix well:

2 cups vanilla yogurt

2 teaspoons baking soda

In a large bowl mix well:

1-1/2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup brown sugar (packed)

1 cup powdered sugar

7 cups all-purpose flour

Once the flour mixture is well mixed add:

1-1/2 pounds of butter (cold or room temperature-but not melted)

Cut the butter into the flour mixture (with your hands is best-use gloves) until it's well kneaded into the size of peas or smaller

Now add:

3 eggs (beaten)

Mix well.

If you haven't already, you might want to put on a pair of latex gloves for this next part.

Now add the:

yogurt/baking soda mixture to the flour mixture.

With a spatula or spoon, mix very well.

Yes, it's a very sloppy, wet dough, isn't it, enough that you're probably saying "Yeuck!"

That's how you want it. Mix it all very well.

Section the dough into two portions:

Add one portion of the dough to the pineapple/cream cheese and the other portion of dough to the blueberries. Mix the dough into the fruits very well and distribute the fruits evenly throughout the dough.

Let's begin with the pineapple/cream cheese scones.

On your board or counter, put a 1/2 to 3/4 cup of flour. Spread it out, but not too thin, just enough that you can plop the pineapple/cream cheese dough onto it and know the wet dough won't settle into the counter. Plop the dough onto the floured counter (or board).

Now, add more flour (a few tablespoons)to the top; just enough that your hands don't stick to the dough as you GENTLY press it down. Press gently into a circle that stands about 1-1/2 inches high.

Yes, it's sticky, just add a light bit of flour to your hands to keep from sticking.

(Put a pile of flour on the side; you'll need it for dipping the knife into it because the center of the dough will still be wet.)

Now, slice as though you're slicing a pie - into pie slices - triangular shape. If the knife gets sticky and wet, slide it through the excess flour you have on the side-each time. You ought to get ten to twelve scones from this batch.

Slide a knife under each piece to transport it to the pan.

Place the scones on one of the buttered baking sheets( lying them opposite directions next to each other-about an inch apart-can offer more space).

Repeat this entire process with the Blueberry Scones.

Bake in a hot 350 oven for approximately 18-20 minutes.

Ovens REALLY do vary, so consider them finished when you put a toothpick in to test for doneness and it comes out clean.

FROSTING

For both batches of Scones (unless you like heavy frosting)

1 box of Powdered Sugar

Heavy Manufacturing Cream

Vanilla (optional)

In a bowl, combine the powdered sugar and slowly add the heavy cream and mix to the desired thickness of frosting. Add the vanilla for extra flavor, if you so desire.

Spread on hot scones and it will seep into the scone.

Delicious!

Let me know how they turned out! I hope very tasty, and I hope you enjoy them!