Pizza Bites

Mummy Pizza Bites

1. 
   
2. 
   
3. Ingredients 
4. Pizza crust 
5. 1/2 c. Marinara Sauce
6. 1/2 c. Mozzarella Cheese
7. 10 slices Genoa Salami
8. Sliced olives
9. 1 Tbs. butter, melted
10. 1 Garlic clove, minced

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Take Pizza Crust out of can and roll until it's about half the thickness it was out of the can.
3. Cut into 3"X5" rectangles.
4. Cut the sides like the picture above for the mummy "wraps."
5. Place onto a greased cookie sheet, then add sauce, cheese and salami.
6. Wrap the pizza with the cut pieces and tuck them into the side.
7. Place two sliced olives for the eyes.
8. Combine butter and garlic clove, then coat eat pizza bite with the mixture.
9. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until dough is lightly browned and serve with marinara sauce!

Salted Caramel Popcorn

Salted Caramel Popcorn

3/4 cup of popcorn kernels

Start by popping the kernels (either air popped, microwaved in a lunch sized paper bag or a pot on the stove top). We simply used the stovetop and pot. Once popcorn has popped, place the popcorn on a large jelly roll pan or cake pan. Spray with nonstick cooking spray if you are NOT using a Silpat.

Sprinkle popcorn with 1tsp of sea salt.

In a pot, melt:

1/2 cup of butter

Add: 

1 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup of light corn syrup

1/2 tsp salt 

Stirring all to combine, bring to a boil without stirring for about 4 minutes.

Remove from heat and add:

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp vanilla

Pour hot caramel over the popcorn stirring well to coat. Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove, cool and break into pieces. 

Cook Tip: We wanted extra coated caramel popcorn, so we doubled the caramel recipe; however it is not necessary. :) 

Lots of Happy Campers!!! Enjoy

Week #5 Baked Pumpkin Cinnamon Donuts

Baked Pumpkin Cinnamon Donuts

My favorite r cope is the Vegan version

Ingredients

• Traditional version:
• 1 cup + 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup *pumpkin pie puree 
• 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 
• 1/2 cup milk (I used whole, but any type will do)
• For the Cinnamon sugar coating:
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
• Vegan version:
• 1 cup + 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup *pumpkin pie puree 
• 2 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted 
• 1/2 cup almond milk 
• For the Cinnamon sugar coating:
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted 
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon

Week #4 Lesson

This week the kids learned how to make a healthy version of a taco as well as how to make it gluten free. We used gluten free corn tortillas for some of the bites. The kids were able to use a pastor brush and brush both sides of their tortilla with grapeseed oil. We had fun using a cookie cutter and cutting tortilla circles.

Week #3 Lesson

We truly enjoyed making crepes. The kids leaned what kind of texture the batter should be. They were taught the batter is almost like a pancake batter except that when you makes crepes, the batter is very thin. Some kids added bananas to their crepe. 

Pumpkin Nutella Crepes

INGREDIENTS

• Pumpkin Crepe Batter
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup pure pumpkin puree
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 
  Garnish/Filling Ideas
• Nutella
• powdered sugar
• syrup
• berries
• cream cheese

Directions:

1. Lightly beat eggs in a large bowl then whisk in pumpkin puree, milk, water and butter until combined. Whisk in remaining Pumpkin Crepe Batter ingredients and beat until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly greased griddle or nonstick skillet pan over medium high heat. Pour batter using 1/4 measuring cup on the griddle/skillet and tilt pan in a circular motion to spread batter. Cook crepes approximately 1 minute or until bottom is lightly golden, flip and cook another 30 seconds or until cooked through. Repeat until all the batter is gone.
3. To stuff with Nutella: Spread half of a cooked crepe with Nutella. Fold in half then cover the top half of the crepe with Nutella then fold in half one last time.

Week#2 Lesson

We had so much fun learning Science and Math while we made homemade rolls into pesto bombs. The kids learned how to properly activate yeast and make it bubble by using a temperature thermometer and checking the temperature of the milk and butter. They learned how to knead the dough and when to add additional flour while they knead, were also taught how to use a pastry brush and how to shape the dough into rolls.

This is what some of the kids created...

Pesto Bombs-Homemade 30 minute Rolls

Pesto Bombs 

Ingredients

• 1 packet of dry yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons if you like to buy bulk yeast like I do; I've always just used regular active yeast, but rapid should make it rise faster)
• 1/4 cup warm water - not hot, should be around 105-115°F or comfortably warm to stick your finger in for several seconds
• 1 cup milk (I use whole because if I'm going to the trouble to make homemade bread, I want to be sure it tastes the best it possibly can)
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter (You can totally use 4 if you have a half stick to use up)
• 1 large egg, beaten 
• 2 Tablespoons honey 
• 3/4 teaspoon table salt 
• 1 cup + 2 cups all-purpose flour + more for kneading (you'll likely use 4 or more cups by the end)
• Oil or non-stick spray

Instructions

1. Set a stick of butter out to warm up so you have spreadable butter when your bread is done - nothing worse than forgetting and not having spreadable butter! 
2. Add yeast to the warm water - again make sure it's not too hot or your yeast will die.
3. Stir until yeast is mostly dissolved and allow to bloom (or sit) 5 minutes. The mixture should have bubbles on the surface - otherwise your water was too hot and killed the yeast or your yeast is dead and you need to start with a fresh batch, but at least you found out at the beginning! 
4. While the yeast mixture sits, place milk, butter, honey/sugar, and salt into a microwave-safe bowl/cup or saucepan. Microwave for around 1 minute according to how powerful your microwave is or heat over low heat on the stove. I like to cut the butter into small pieces before heating to make sure it all melts without the milk getting too hot. If the mixture is over 115°F or feels hot to the touch, you'll need to let it sit a few minutes to cool down.
5. While the milk mixture cools down, add 1 whole egg and 1 cup flour to the yeast mixture and stir/mix on level 2 with a dough hook to combine. It doesn't need to be mixed perfectly like a cake batter, it will look shaggy. Once the milk mixture has cooled enough, add it to the flour/egg/yeast mixture. Add another cup of flour and mix with a spatula or on level 2 with a dough hook.
6. Then add a third 1-cup of flour and mix in. This should make the dough wet and sticky and still shaggy, yet pliable enough to start kneading (by hand or in the mixer). See photo #2 below.
7. Flour your kneading surface lightly if kneading by hand - I like to use a silicone mat to help the dough stick less and have things be easier to clean.
8. Knead the dough 6-8 minutes (4-6 in the stand mixer), adding a small amount of flour to the surface and/or your hands when the dough starts to stick. The amount of flour this will take will depend on the humidity of the day and even the flour you are using. Around the 6-8 minute mark, the dough should be noticeably smoother and be elastic (springs back when pulled). The dough should be soft and still slightly sticky. For mixer kneading, the dough should be forming a ball that clears the sides of the bowl - once done it should be elastic when you pull on it. If the dough is overly sticky when you do this, you need to add a bit more flour, about 2 tablespoons at a time.
9. Take your clean rising bowl and coat with cooking spray or oil. Form the dough into a smooth ball by tucking the seam around a few times to the base. Place the bread "pretty" side down to coat with oil and then flip it so this side is now on top. This is so the dough doesn't dry out. When using the mixer, I just pat the dough down evenly and let it rise there - hooray for less dirty dishes! See photo #3 below.
10. Cover the dough with a clean towel (you may want to slightly dampen if it's a really dry day) or plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm area for around an hour until doubled. If your house is cold, turn your oven on the lowest setting a few minutes while kneading, then turn off and add your dough container to rise.
11. At this point, if you're not ready to use the dough once it has risen, you can either punch it down and let it rise again until you're ready, stick it in the fridge punching down as needed for up to 2 days, or freeze.
12. After the dough has doubled, it's time to punch it down. Just make a fist and "punch" the dough until all the air is out.
13. Shape the dough as desired - classic yeast rolls, cloverleaf rolls, a loaf, boules, etc. The classic roll is easiest. Flatten dough into a circle like a pancake and using a pastry brush, brush the pesto sauce on, add your cheese in the center and wrap it together. 😉
14. Take the piece of dough, grab an edge and fold it down to the bottom, repeating on all sides until you have a roundish shape with a smooth top. Place the roll in the pan with the unsmooth or "ugly" side down. Brush with pesto sauce.
15. A note on pans and crust - If you like a softer crust, I suggest placing them in a glass dish with high edges, like a 9x13. If you like a crisper crust, I suggest a metal sheet or pan, like a half-sheet so the edges are more exposed during baking. Either way, make sure you leave about 1/2 to 1 inch between the rolls so they have room to rise and expand, with just enough space so that they will touch when fully risen. This will help them rise nice and tall and create that flaky pull-apart yumminess we all love.

Lesson #1

It was so nice getting to meet your kids this week. We had a lot of fun creating these amazing bars!

The kids were taught and learned to always read their recipe first before they are ready to cook or bake. They were taught to get all their ingredients out and ready and place them on their work station.  

They were taught the difference between teaspoons and tablespoons along with the abbreviations and the measurements for 1 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/4 cup etc. They learned how to properly crack an egg. As well as creaming butter no sugars together. They learned what it means to combine dry ingredients into wet ingredients. They all learned what baking powder does in our recipe. They learned what cups they need to make 3/4's of a cup. They were also taught that when you cook and bake, you also do Math and Science.

S'mores Cookie Bars Week #1

S'mores Cookie Bars

Soft, chewy, and slightly crunchy graham cracker cookie bars with a marshmallow swirl and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

yield: 9

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cups All-Purpose Flour

3/4 cup fine graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup marshmallow cream

1/2 cup chocolate semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper or foil.

Beat together the butter and sugar. Mix in the egg and vanilla.

Mix in the baking soda, salt, flour, and graham cracker crumbs until dough forms.

Press 3/4 of the dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Spread the marshmallow cream over top. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the cream.

Press the remaining cookie dough over top of the chocolate chips. Bake for 20 minutes.

Let cool before cutting and serving.

*** In class we used a bag of chocolate chips and mini marshmallows instead of marshmallow cream. Either way works. ***

Welcome to Cooking and Baking Summer/Fall 2016

Hello,

Welcome to Baking/Cooking Class for Kids! I hope you are excited and looking forward to a fun experience for your child. 

Students will learn the difference between a teaspoon, a tablespoon, and how to properly measure liquids, as well as many other cooking/baking techniques. The kids will be introduced to all the kitchen gadgets. This is a “hands” on class and the kids will get to participate in every class. 

For safety, I will be instructing and helping in the preparation of the recipes. Please let me know if your child has ANY food allergies or sensitivities as soon as possible. Please E-mail me at ilcscookingelective@gmail.com or at ewilliams@inlandleaders.com

***PLEASE NOTE*** The cost for this Elective is $75. All payments are due by next week, Sept.19th-23rd. Please make your check payable directly to: Esmeralda Williams, you may also pay by cash.

I don’t foresee having to cancel any classes but in the event that I do; I will notify you via email.

Recipes for this trimester are available on our Cooking/Baking Blog website. Please visit this site for ALL recipes and class lessons. www.ilcscookingelective.blogspot.com

Thank you, 

Esmeralda Williams

805 201 5865

ilcscookingelective@gmail.com or ewilliams@inlandleaders.com

Sea Salt Caramel Bars

Sea Salt Caramel Bars

***We made our own caramel sauce vs. using store bought caramels*** scroll down for the recipe.

For the Crust

1. 1 lb. (4 sticks) salted butter at room temp
2. 1 cup sugar
3. 1½ cups powdered sugar
4. 2 Tbs vanilla
5. 4 cups all purpose flour

For the Filling

1. 1 bag (14 oz.) caramel candies (about 50 individual caramels), unwrapped
2. ⅓ cup milk or cream
3. ½ teaspoon vanilla
4. *1 T. coarse sea salt (optiona

To make the crust

1. Preheat oven to 325°
2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugars. Using mixer on medium speed, beat together until creamy. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Sift the flour into the butter mixture and beat on low speed until a smooth soft dough forms.
3. Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Press one-third of the dough evenly into the pan to form a bottom crust. Wrap remaining dough in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator.
4. Bake crust until firm and the edges are a pale golden brown approx 20 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool about 15 minutes.
5. While the bottom crust is baking and the remaining dough is chilling, make the caramel filling. Place the unwrapped caramels in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the cream. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and stir until smooth. If caramels are not completely melted, microwave on high for 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until smooth.
6. Once the caramel is melted add in your ½ tsp vanilla and stir until combined.
7. Pour the caramel filling over the crust. If you are going to salt the caramel sprinkle it on caramel layer now.
8. Remove the remaining chilled dough from the refrigerator and crumble it evenly over the caramel.
9. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the filling is bubbly and the crumbled shortbread topping is firm and lightly golden, about 25 - 30 minutes.
10. Let cool before cutting into squares.

Homemade Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-low to medium heat, combine all the ingredients together. Cook until thickened, about 5 to 7 minutes. 
2. Remove from heat and allow to cool. The mixture will get thicker as it cools. Store in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-low to medium heat, combine all the ingredients together. Cook until thickened, about 5 to 7 minutes. 
2. Remove from heat and allow to cool. The mixture will get thicker as it cools. Store in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Week 7 Graham Cracker Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Graham Cracker Cookies

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

* 1 cup brown sugar

* 2 teaspoons vanilla

* 1 egg

* 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

* 3/4 cup all purpose flour

* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

* 1/4 teaspoon salt

* 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until creamy

3. Beat in the vanilla and egg until well combined.

4. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to the butter mixture until just combined.

5. Stir in the chocolate chips.

6. Using a medium cookie scoop, drop balls of dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 7 minutes. Cookies will look slightly underdone, but should set up nicely as they cool.

Week 6 Lesson-Making Strawberry Shortcake

This week the kids were introduced to a pastry cutter, as well as strawberry huller. They all had a chance to use the huller and slice the strawberries. We also made fresh whipped cream using heavy cream and confectioners sugar. We sifted the sugar to avoid lumps in our whipped cream. 

The kids were taught the importance of using a cold metal bowl to whisk the whipped cream (I placed a stainless steel metal bowl in the freezer for a few hours.).

One reason why people use metal containers to whip cream is that metal will stay cold when chilled, and it is important when making whipped cream that you beat the cream when it is cold and keep it cold while beating it. Since the beating process generates heat, whipping the cream in a cold metal bowl can help counteract this buildup of heat. What happens when you whip heavy cream with lots of fat in it is that the fat forms a matrix that traps air (tiny drops of fat disperse evenly and stick together). This fat matrix falls apart when warm. (Egg whites whip up the same way not because of fat but protein, so they remain somewhat solid at room temperature. Copper bowls help the process of beating egg whites, but this is a different story.) Cool Whip isn't real whipped cream, so it doesn't melt as easily.
You could probably mix whipped cream in a glass or plastic bowl if you did so in a cold room with cold beaters and cold cream. Adding a little gelatin to stabilize the whipped cream (making it firm) might also help.

Bottom line: I told the kids it's easier to get the results you're looking for when you use a cold metal bowl. Soft peaks form pretty quick. 😃

Week 5 Baked- Cauliflower Tater Tots

My kids loved these!!!!

Baked Tater Tots

Ingredients:

* 1 small head of cauliflower

* 2 tbsp minced onion

* 1 egg

* 1/4 panko bread crumbs

* 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

* 1/2 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese

* 1 tbsp parsley (dried or fresh)

Directions:

To bake: Preheat oven to 375
To fry: Preheat 2 inches of oil to 360

1. Cut cauliflower into large chunks and cook in boiling salted water just until soft, not mushy. Remove, being careful to let the water drain off.

2. Run the cauliflower and onion through a grater of a food processor, or finally chop by hand. Let cool for a few minutes then stir in the rest of the ingredients and salt to taste.

3. Let it set up for 5 – 10 minutes in the freezer, or as long as you want in the fridge. This step is CRUCIAL to them staying perfectly intact. Keep the mix in the fridge while 1 batch is cooking so that it stays cool.

4. Shape into little tater tops using a tablespoon full or so, and either place in oil or on a baking sheet.

5. Fry until golden brown, or bake for 20 – 25 minutes flipping half way through.

*Baking is a healthier way to go, with less hands on time, however they do not get quite as crispy as they do when fried. That being said, my personal preference is the baked. My kids? They loved both.
*Feel free to mix up the Cheddar with your favorite cheese! I would love to do these with pepper jack next.
*After shaping, these can be frozen, pop them into the freezer on a baking sheet not touching and once they are frozen throw them into a ziploc bag and just take out what you need! Making a double batch means you always have these bite size pieces of joy on hand :)

Week 4 Lesson

This week the kids learned how to make scones from scratch. We used plain Greek yogurt to make these gems. 

The kids were introduced to a microplane grater, citrus juicer, a regular cheese grater (which we used to grate the frozen butter). 

I taught the kids how to probably zest an orange. You should never grate the same part of the orange. 

The kids learned about the natural oils found in the zest of citrus. We combined the zest with the sugar and infused the sugar by releasing the natural oils of our orange zest. The kids were fascinated by the aroma.

Week 3 Pizza Puffs

Cheesy Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

serves 48 mini bites

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (Optional)
1 cup fresh shredded Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (plus more to grease pans)
1½ cups whole milk
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups shredded 4-cheese pizza blend (We used mozzarella cheese)
1 (5 ounce) package mini pepperoni rounds

Preheat oven to 350°F.  

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, seasoning, red pepper flakes, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, sugar, milk and egg. Stir together with a fork.  Mix in the pizza blend cheese and pepperoni.  Set aside.

Prepare (2) 24 cup mini-muffin pans by greasing with olive oil (or spray with cooking spray).

Mix batter and add 1 heaping tablespoon scoop to each muffin cup.  Bake until golden brown, approximately 20 minutes.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes, remove from muffin tin and serve with favorite marinara sauce.  

Week 2 Lesson Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

MThis week the kids had so much fun creating and making donuts that are not fried, but baked! I told the kids these donuts could be made gluten free by simply using gluten free all purpose flour or by using oat flour. The kids were introduced to tablespoons vs teaspoons as well as measuring liquid ingredients in a liquid measuring cup and dry ingredients in regular cups. For this recipe we used two separate bowls. One for dry ingredients and one for our wet ingredients. The kids were taught how to fold in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. They learned not to over mix the dough. The kids were also introduced to pastry brushes, they had fun using them. I explained to the kids that coconut oil can be used vs. butter. I also told the kids they can use cupcake tins or use the pastry bag and make round circles directly onto parchment paper. Hope you enjoy making them as much as we did. 

Week 2- Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup flour or oat flour
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp melted butter or coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• For topping:
• 3 Tbsp melted butter or coconut oil
• 1/2 cup sugar + 1 tsp cinnamon (mixed together)

Instructions

1. Whisk together flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla. Add to the dry mixture and stir till just combined.
3. Spoon batter into a ziplock bag and snip off the corner. Squeeze the batter into a well greased donut pan. We used coconut oil spray.
4. Bake at 375° for 11-12 minutes. Let cool for a couple minutes, then remove to cooling racks. While still warm, brush all sides of each donut with melted coconut oil or butter, then dip in the cinnamon sugar mixture till well coated.