Mini Turkey Meatballs

We've been to Disney twice in the past 6 months, and apparently I'm Disney cursed, because both times I've come home sick. Immune system fail. The first trip was in the winter, in the midst of flu season, so I guess I wasn't terribly surprised but I thought for sure I'd be fine this time. I mean, who gets sick in 90-degree Florida weather? Turns out I do, because unfortunately I've had a nagging sore throat for the past few days that only seems to have gotten worse this morning.

It just gives me an excuse to let the suitcases sit unpacked for yet another day :) Do you guys unpack quickly after coming back from a trip? We're the worst! Even if I felt 100%, I guarantee those bags wouldn't be touched until next weekend.



Luckily I did get out to the store yesterday to grab some food so we won't be reduced to eating cookies all week (as fun as that might be)...

We're on a major meatball kick right now, I think we've tried two or three new recipes in the past month and they've all become regulars in our dinner rotation. These mini turkey meatballs are probably my second favorite of the bunch. Not only are they moist, flavorful and healthy, but they're seriously so super quick and easy to throw together. We're talking maybe 5 minutes of prep time and about 10 minutes in the oven, you really can't beat that. You'd never guess these were made with ground turkey rather than ground beef either. Because they're mini, you can enjoy quite a few too and still consider it a reasonable serving size. That might just be my favorite part of all!

Mini Turkey Meatballs
heavily adapted from Giada de Laurentiis (via Food Network)

{Note: if you prefer, you could brown the meatballs in a skillet and simmer them in marinara sauce to finish the cooking, but I think baking is so much easier and less messy so it's my preferred method.}

1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 lb ground turkey
marinara sauce, optional (for serving)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil then spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together the egg, garlic, bread crumbs, ketchup, parsley, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Add the ground turkey and gently mix until all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Use a small cookie scoop (mine measures about 1 1/2-inches) to shape the mixture into tiny meatballs. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the meatballs registers 165 F. Serve with toothpicks and marinara sauce for dipping, if desired.

Makes about 30 meatballs

Chewy Coconut Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies

Well, it's back to reality today.

After spending four days in the most magical place on earth, we jumped on a plane late last night and made our way back to Rhode Island. Our plane touched down just before 1 am and we walked through the front door about 30 minutes later. It was a very, very long day but totally worth it to spend a little more time at the parks. We could not have crammed more fun into this long weekend if we tried :)



Oh, and if you're wondering Food Blog Forum Orlando (the food blogging conference that was the primary reason for our trip to Disney) was absolutely amazing! Once I have a chance to get some sleep and organize my thoughts, I'll tell you all about it. Suffice it to say, Disney could not have been more gracious in hosting us, and Julie of The Little Kitchen and Linsday of Love & Olive Oil deserve enormous credit for organizing the weekend. They rock!



I usually do the grocery shopping on Saturday morning, but obviously didn't this week since we were away. In other words, there is almost no food in our house. The freezer is, however, packed with cookie dough so if all else fails breakfast, lunch and dinner will be sugary and delicious! Remember how I told you we were eating much healthier for the past few months? I think we undid all that good in just the past four days. Oh my word, did we ever indulge. I'm afraid to get on the scale and see the damage, eek. That should be enough motivation for me to get to the grocery store tomorrow and get some healthy eats...



Anyway, included among the stash of dough in the freezer are these chewy coconut oatmeal white chocolate cookies. I know, it's a mouthful, but I didn't want to leave anything out. They look simple and unassuming, but these cookies are one of my new favorites! They're made using coconut oil rather than butter, and I also added coconut extract so they are definitely not lacking in coconut flavor. It was a no-brainer to include white chocolate chips as well; coconut and white chocolate is a seriously underrated flavor combo in my book! The cookies are wonderfully chewy with a little bit of added texture from the oats, and since quite a few of you asked about this last time I posted a recipe using coconut oil, I'll also note that they're not at all greasy. I've only tried a few recipes, but I am a total convert to baking with coconut oil. These coconut oatmeal white chocolate cookies are bound to be in heavy rotation here for months to come!

Chewy Coconut Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies
adapted from Two Peas and their Pod

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1 cup quick oats
4 oz white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, combine both sugars, the eggs, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and coconut extract. Beat them together with a hand mixer until well combined. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, beating until just incorporated. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until evenly distributed.

Use a small cookie scoop (mine measures about 1 1/2 inches across) to portion the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1-2 inches between the cookies. Bake, one sheet at a time, until the edges of the cookies are set and golden brown, about 9 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies cool for a few minutes before removing them to the rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough (alternate baking sheets so you're using a cool one for each batch).

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Chewy Chocolate Sugar Cookies

I was feeling seriously conflicted about what to share today, so I let you guys decide via my Facebook page. The choices were chocolate, cookies or cheesy carbs, and it was super close. Lots of people requested a combination of chocolate and cookies, and I had this recipe ready to go so I was happy to oblige :) And for those of you who wanted cheesy carbs, rest assured I've got that post set up for next week so you won't have to wait long!

Although I rarely make them, I absolutely love sugar cookies. If I put together a list of my three favorite cookies, they'd make the cut, especially if we're talking about this coconut-lime version. I'd honestly never even considered the possibility of chocolate sugar cookies, but when I saw this recipe in a recent issue of Cook's Country I immediately put it on my to-do list.



These cookies come together easily - you don't even need a mixer, just a few bowls and a whisk. Also, there's no need to chill the dough so you'll be digging into these in no time! It took me a few tries to get the baking time just right for these guys, and consequently I did a lot of taste-testing. Tough job, but someone had to do it :) The cookies were perfectly chewy in the center with slightly crisp edges. They were delicious on their own, but I also think they'd be a great summer treat with some ice cream sandwiched in the middle.

We are headed to Disney today for Food Blog Forum Orlando! In fact, we're probably on a plane as most of you are reading this. I am so excited to meet my blogging buddies, indulge in some delicious food, and visit the parks! I'm sure I'll be sharing lots of pics over the course of the weekend; feel free to follow on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook if you'd like.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend :)

Chewy Chocolate Sugar Cookies
slightly adapted from Cook's Country, April/May 2013

1/3 cup (2 1/3 oz) granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (8 1/8 oz) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (2 1/4 oz) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 3/4 cups packed (12 1/4 oz) dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg plus 1 large yolk

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Add the granulated sugar to a wide, shallow dish (a pie plate works well). In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder.

Add 10 tablespoons of the butter to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 20 or 30-second bursts until melted. Stir in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter until it is completely melted. Set the butter aside for 5-10 minutes to cool until lukewarm, about 90-95 F on an instant-read thermometer. (Don't skip this step - if the butter is too warm the cookie won't bake properly.) Add the brown sugar, vanilla, and salt and whisk until incorporated (it's important to make sure you break up all the lumps of brown sugar). Mix in the egg and egg yolk until well combined. Switch to a rubber spatula, and stir in the dry ingredients just until combined.

Shape the dough into balls, each ball should be about 2 tablespoons of dough. Roll the balls in the sugar you put in the shallow dish earlier, coating them on all sides. Place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving several inches of space in between them. Use the bottom of a glass to press the balls down so each of the cookies has a diameter of about 2 inches. Sprinkle the tops of each cookie with a few pinches of the remaining granulated sugar.

Bake, one sheet at a time, until the cookies are slightly puffy and the edges are just barely set, about 12-13 minutes (the cookies may look slightly undercooked in the center, that's ok). Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies cool for a few minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Continue baking with the remaining dough.

Makes about 24 cookies

Banana-Oat Smoothie

If you follow along on Facebook, you might have seen me mention that I was working on a meal planning post for you guys. I had really hoped to have it up today, but it's just not quite ready yet. If I'm going to share it I want it to be an useful as possible for you, so I'm going to put it on hold until next week - that should give me the time I need to put the finishing touches on it. This one is so long overdue it's almost embarrassing, but hopefully you guys will find it worth the wait!



The time I'd planned to spend on wrapping that post up yesterday was instead spent at the mall shopping for clothes and shoes for our trip to Florida this weekend. If that sounds like fun, let me assure you it wasn't :) I really don't enjoy shopping at all which is probably part of the reason I waited until the very last minute to do it. But, the shopping gods were on my side for once and I actually left with some cute new things. It's been chilly here this week (30-degree mornings in May - what?!) so it's going to be fun to actually get to wear summery clothes in Florida!



Remember when I told you about the glut of bananas around here lately? Well I finally got sick of trying to find ways to bake with them. So instead I made a few smoothies, and this banana-oat version is my favorite of the bunch. I've never made a smoothie with oats before and they did add a little bit of texture, but in a good way - I enjoyed it! The smoothie has a ton of protein so it keeps me full until lunch, which is among my most important considerations when it comes to any breakfast option. Plus, it's super thick and creamy, so I can almost pretend I'm having a milkshake for breakfast. Almost :)

That reminds me, we had the best peanut butter and jelly milkshakes when we were at Disney in December - definitely adding one of those to my must-have list for this weekend!

Banana-Oat Smoothie
adapted from Martha Stewart

1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt
1 banana, cut into thirds
1/2 cup skim milk
1-2 teaspoons honey
pinch ground cinnamon

In a blender, combine the oats, yogurt, banana, milk, 1 teaspoon of the honey, and the cinnamon. Blend until smooth. Taste and decide whether you'd like more sweetness - if so, add some or all of the remaining teaspoon of honey and blend again. Serve immediately.

Serves 1-2

Malted Milk Chocolate Cupcakes

I should probably fess up, I have a serious obsession with malted milk powder. It's been an ongoing thing for the past two years. Maybe you've noticed - I've made ice cream, chocolate sauce, blondies, and a bundt cake. Have you ever baked with malted milk powder? If you haven't and are curious about why it's such a great addition, it imparts a rich, mildy sweet, slightly nutty flavor to desserts. So, so good!



I'm compelled to try almost every recipe I come across that includes malted milk powder. It doesn't even matter if it's similar to something else I've already made. Take these malted milk chocolate cupcakes, for example. There are already two malted chocolate cupcake recipes on my site, but still, I had to make these. The first recipe is quite different from this one - the chocolate flavor in those cupcakes comes only from cocoa powder whereas this recipe uses unsweetened chocolate. And those were topped with a vanilla buttercream rather than the malted milk chocolate frosting here. The second recipe was more similar - the cupcakes also got their chocolate flavor from unsweetened chocolate and featured a milk chocolate frosting - but there were other differences (the fat used being one) that still made it worth trying a third version.



I'm so glad I did because they were fantastic! Besides, you can never have too many chocolate cupcake recipes, right? These cupcakes are rich and chocolatey and though they bake up with a fairly tight crumb that's not a bad thing because they're still very moist. The frosting might have been my favorite part though. It's made with milk chocolate, so it's sweet with a mild chocolate flavor. It also includes malted milk powder so you're getting that malty flavor not only in the cupcakes but also the frosting. The consistency was great for piping too, always an important consideration in my book. These cupcakes went to work with Shane and from what I hear were devoured in record time so I wasn't the only one who loved them :)

Just a note: the frosting includes a 2-hour refrigeration period so you'll want to factor that into your plans if you're going to make these!

Malted Milk Chocolate Cupcakes
barely adapted from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson

Cupcakes
2 cups (10 oz) all-purpose flour
2 cups (14 oz) sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (5 oz) malted milk powder
6 oz unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup (4 oz) unsalted butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1 3/4 cups whole milk, at room temperature
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting
12 oz milk chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup (5 oz) malted milk powder
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

malted milk balls, optional garnish

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and malted milk powder. Whisk until well combined. Add the chocolate and butter to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second bursts on 50% power, stirring in between each, until the mixture is melted and smooth. Stir in the oil until combined. Add the chocolate mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients, along with 1 cup of the milk and beat on low speed until combined, stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl once or twice. In a measuring cup, whisk together the remaining 3/4 cup milk, eggs, and vanilla. Pour half of this mixture to the mixer bowl and beat on low speed until incorporated then add the second half and beat again on low speed until everything is combined (scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary).

Divide the batter evenly among the liners, filling each about 3/4-full. Bake for about 20-24 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the pan to a wire rack and let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes, then remove them to the rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting: Add the chocolate to the bowl of your stand mixer. In a small saucepan whisk together the malted milk powder and heavy cream. Set the pan over medium heat, and stirring almost constantly, bring the mixture to a simmer. Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate (do not stir yet) and then cover the mixer bowl with plastic wrap. Set aside for 5 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and gently whisk the mixture until the chocolate is melted and smooth (it's important that all of the chocolate is completely melted - if not, you're going to wind up with chunks of chocolate in your frosting). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours, or until well chilled.

Place the bowl on your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Cut the butter into 1/4-inch cubes. Start mixing on low, and gradually add the pieces of butter to the chocolate mixture in the bowl - let one incorporate before adding the next. After you've incorporated all the butter, increase the mixer to medium-high speed and beat until the frosting is smooth and thick. (You can chill the frosting again if it is too soft, but I didn't have to.) Transfer the frosting to a large pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip. Pipe frosting into a swirl on each cupcake. Garnish each cupcake with a malted milk ball, if desired.

Makes 24 cupcakes