Pecan Chia Pudding

I wanted to try out some chia pudding, and we also had some cashew milk I wanted to use up, so I decided to make a chia pudding with cashew milk. We also had some pecans around, and I do like Pecan Pie, so why not make something similar? Sounds like a good idea to me! Just mix together most of the ingredients, place the mixture into your serving container, and spoon some of the sweet pecan mixture on top. We refrigerated and enjoyed these pecan pie chia puddings the next day to really let the chia seeds hydrate. Enjoy!

Do you prefer dairy milk or nut milks?

Pecan Chia Pudding

by CJ Huang

A lightly sweetened chia pudding with a sticky pecan topping - perfect as a dessert and healthy enough for breakfast!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: none
Total time: 10 minutes + hydrating time
Yield: 4 servings

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
220 grams	7.75 ounces	1 cup		cashew milk
47 grams	1.625 ounces	1/4 cup		chia seeds
		4 tablespoons		maple syrup
		1 teaspoon		cinnamon
		1 teaspoon		vanilla extract
52 grams	1.75 ounces	3/8 cup		pecans, chopped

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Stir together cashew milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons maple syrup.
	3. Stir in chia seeds.
	4. Coat chopped pecans with remaining maple syrup.
	5. Transfer chia mixture into serving containers and spoon (or fork if you're like me and don't want to wash another spoon) pecan mixture on top. Serve, or refrigerate to allow chia seeds to more fully hydrate.

Shared with: Full Plate Thursday, Artsy Fartsy Party, BFF Open House, Fiesta Friday, Meal Plan Monday, Traffic Jam, Saturday Sparks, Hearth and Soul, What's for Dinner?, Over the Moon, Farm Fresh Tuesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Wine'd Down Wednesday, Homestead Blog Hop, Party in Your PJs

Mini Vanilla Wafers

Ever since seeing this recipe on Baking Bites, I've wanted to make Vanilla Wafers. I know it's been a few months, but it's stayed in the back of my mind. Then, I recently got a piping kit. Yay for $5 thrift store finds! I figured now's a good a time as any, so I just went ahead and made some of these mini vanilla wafers. You could go for the original, using a plain tip (or a bag with the corner cut off). However, since I'd just gotten the piping kit, I wanted to try out ALL the tips. :) My favorite? The one with all the little spikes pointing slightly inward. After they baked, they look a bit fancier and without any extra effort. Win! Make mini vanilla wafers or make regular sized ones. Either way, make some! James said they taste kinda like the store-bought ones, but better. But isn't that how home made works?

What's your favorite DIY recipe?

Mini Vanilla Wafers

by CJ Huang

Basic mini vanilla wafers you can make at home.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Yield: lots

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
		1/2 cup		butter
75 grams		1/3 cup		sugar
		1/4 cup		brown sugar
			1	egg
		1 tablespoon		vanilla extract
160 grams		1.3 cups		flour
		1/2 teaspoon		baking powder

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Cream together sugar, brown sugar, and butter.
	3. Beat in remaining materials.
	4. Scoop dough into a bag, and squeeze onto a baking tray. I wanted to try a few different shapes, but you could easily go with lots of shapes or just one.
	5. Bake at 325F for 10 minutes.

Shared with: Full Plate Thursday, Artsy Fartsy Party, BFF Open House, Traffic Jam, Handmade and Otherwise, Fiesta Friday, Meal Plan Monday, Saturday Sparks, What's for Dinner?, Hearth and Soul, Over the Moon, Tuesdays at Our Home, Farm Fresh Tuesday, Inspire Me Monday, Wine'd Down Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Party in Your PJs

DIY Vanilla Extract

Make your own vanilla extract with two simple ingredients!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Easy pumpkin spice muffins - healthy enough for breakfast, tasty enough for dessert!

English Toffee Cookies

Soft cookies with buttery, nutty, English toffee chips.

Chai Cookies

Enjoy all the goodness and spice of chai tea in cookie form!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Crunch Cookies

Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with surprising bits of crispy crunch mixed in.

Earl Grey Latte

It's time for SRC again! What's SRC, you ask? SRC stands for Secret Recipe Club, where each month, we're assigned another blogger, and we get to select one of their yummy recipes to make. This month, I got Michaela from An Affair from the Heart, and she's definitely got lots of yummy eats to choose from! I thought about making her Pad Thai Wonder Pot (never made a wonder pot before), Loaded Baked Potato Soup, or Double Decker Baked Tacos until I saw an Earl Grey Latte with DIY Frothed Milk!

The first time I tried an Earl Grey Latte was at Starbucks. James and I usually accumulate stars, and then, when we can get a free drink, we like to go for something different. This time, we were deciding what to get - since we usually get a larger size and split the free drinks, and we kept on hitting dead ends. James likes his coffee as strong as possible, and me? I'm more of a tea person, especially Chai Tea - yum! However, the one tea James does like is Earl Grey. We didn't realize Starbucks even had Earl Grey Lattes until we saw it advertised on the wall or in the app. Thinking about it though, it makes sense they could make it since they have Earl Grey tea, and adding milk makes it a latte. :)

I also wanted to make some frothed milk on top - makes it extra special! I tried shaking the milk and then microwaving, and I ended up with lots of large bubbles that popped as soon as the milk cooled. After doing some research, it seems the shake and microwave method works best on skim or 2% milk, and I used whole milk. No worries though - I just switched to the French Press method. I was going to get some frothed milk, one way or another! For the French press method, simply pour at least enough milk to cover the plunger when it's lowest, and then start pumping the plunger until you've got foam! Give yourself an arm workout in the process. :)

What's your favorite way to top a drink?

Earl Grey Latte with DIY Frothed Milk

by CJ Huang

Make your own Earl Grey Latte with DIY frothed milk at home! No special equipment required.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: none
Total time: 5 minutes
Yield: 2 cups

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
				Earl Grey tea	I used a loose leaf tea, and bagged tea works too! You'll want to adjust the amount of tea depending on how strong you like your tea.
		1.5 cups		water
		1/2 cup		milk	Skim or 2% are easier to froth. I used whole.
		2 teaspoons		vanilla extract	I used my alcohol-free vanilla extract so no additional sweetener was required since the glycerin base is naturally sweet. You could also use the usual vanilla extract and then sweeten with something else.

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Brew tea to desired strength, and then stir in vanilla extract.
	3. Froth milk. You can pour the milk into a jar so that's it's mostly empty, shake vigorously, and then microwave it (lid off) for about 30-60 seconds if you're using skim or 2% milk. Since I'm using whole milk, I poured in just enough milk to completely cover the plunger screen on a French press, and then pumped the plunger until I got frothed milk. (If you use skim or 2%, you'll likely end up with better results.) Pour/spoon frothed milk into/on tea. Make some latte art if you're fancy. :)

Spiced Date Ice Cream

We were trying to use the cashew milk we bought since we didn't enjoy drinking it plain, and I didn't want it going to waste. With this weather and my love of chai, I thought about making a refreshing treat. I froze this spiced date mixture to ice cream, but I'm thinking it'd be even yummier as a smoothie. Yum! Or maybe even popsicles. :) Lots of possibilities! The recipe's not too sweet as written, so you might want to use more dates or add a bit of sweetener. I really liked all the spices mixed in, and I think this would taste even better with cream instead of cashew milk since the richness would serve as a perfect counter to the aromatic spices!

Do you prefer the lighter taste of cashew milk or the richer flavor of cream?

Spiced Date Ice Cream

by CJ Huang

Aromatic spices, frozen with cashew milk (or cream) and slightly sweetened with dates for one yummy spiced date ice cream!

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: none
Total time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
		1 tablespoon		ginger, grated
		1/4 teaspoon		cardamom, ground
		1/4 teaspoon		cinnamon
		1/8 teaspoon		cloves, ground
42 grams	1.5 ounces	1/2 cup		coconut shreds
		1/2 teaspoon		pepper, ground
484 grams	17.125 ounces	2 cups		cashew milk	Substitute cream or half and half for a richer ice cream.
85 grams	3 ounces	1/2 cup	12	dates
		2 teaspoons		vanilla extract	or alcohol free vanilla extract

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Chop the dates. I've found chopping the dates on the coconut shreds solves the issue of the dates sticking to each other or the the knife.
	3. Combine cashew milk (or cream or half and half) with all materials except chopped dates and coconut shreds.
	4. Pour milk mixture into ice cream maker, following instructions. Add in chopped dates and coconut shreds towards the end of freezing time.

Shared with: Delicious Dishes, Wonderful Wednesday, Waste Less Wednesday, What's Cookin' Wednesday, Wednesday Showcase, Creative Ways, Pinworthy Projects, What's For Dinner? Sunday, Happiness is Homemade, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, Sustainable Sunday, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, What'd You Do This Weekend?, Turn It Up Tuesday

Alcohol Free Vanilla Extract

Previously, I'd made some DIY Vanilla Extract by extracting vanilla beans with ethanol, or drinking alcohol. But some folks prefer to stay alcohol free (or rather, ethanol free since glycerol is technically an alcohol too). Although the ethanol will cook or bake out of foods, sometimes you want to use vanilla flavoring in foods you aren't going to cook or you want to add vanilla flavoring after cooking without the ethanolic taste. And since glycerin's naturally sweet, you get to decrease the sugar content as well. Glycerin's hygroscopic (making it a great moisturizer too!), so it tends to make things like cake moister as well. This alcohol free vanilla extract will have a sweeter, more pleasant flavor straight out of the bottle than your usual ethanol-based vanilla extract. They're both useful, but one may be better suited to your application than the other. :)

Which version of vanilla do you prefer? How do you usually use vanilla flavoring?

Alcohol Free Vanilla Extract

by CJ Huang

Ever wanted to try a sweeter, authentic vanilla flavor without alcohol (ethanol)? Now you can with this alcohol free vanilla extract!

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: none
Total time: 5 minutes + extraction time
Yield: 16 ounces

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
		16 ounces		glycerin, food grade
			8	vanilla beans

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Cut the beans in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. You may also want to cut the vanilla beans into shorter segments so they fit into the container more easily.
	3. Place all vanilla beans and scrapings into container with glycerin and shake well to mix.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

After making some Spiced Pumpkin Bread, we decided we didn't really want another loaf of bread. What to do? I thought of just putting the loaf in the freezer for later, but as usual, we had no more freezer space. Then we thought about Bread Pudding. I'd never made Bread Pudding before, so I had even more motivation to try it out! In fact, we liked the Pumpkin Bread Pudding better than the spiced pumpkin bread by itself. I didn't put a whole lot of spices into the bread pudding since I'd already used quite a bit in the bread. Next time, I might drizzle some sweetened condensed milk on top to give this bread a bit of extra sweetness since I didn't add any sugar. You could easily use one, the other, or both depending on your preferences. (We also had this Pumpkin Bread Pudding as breakfast, so I wanted to maintain at least some semblance of healthiness!)

How do you adjust recipes to make them more "breakfast appropriate?"

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

by CJ Huang

Make your Spiced Pumpkin Bread into some Pumpkin Bread Pudding almost healthy enough for breakfast.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Yield: 12 servings

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
		2 cups		milk
			3	eggs
		1 teaspoon		cinnamon
		5 cups		pumpkin bread, cubed	I used Spiced Pumpkin Bread.
		2 tablespoons		vanilla extract

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Combine milk, eggs, and vanilla.
	3. Place pumpkin bread cubes into a baking dish, and pour milk, egg, and vanilla mixture over bread. Sprinkle cinnamon on top. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

Spiced Pumpkin Bread

A moist and flavorful spiced pumpkin bread.

Vanilla Carrot Soup

A sweet vanilla carrot soup so tasty you'll think it's dessert (with no added sugar). Serve hot or cold.

Pecan Pralines

Pecans enrobed in a sweet and velvety caramelized sugar.

Nana's Banana Bread

A fluffy banana bread with molasses that's sure to please.