journal

Mini Heart Pies

 

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and you know what that means - all the sweets, treats and goodies you could ever imagine! One of my all time favorite activities to do with my boys, Edward and Alistair, is to make home baked goods during all the various holidays. With that said, Valentine’s Day is definitely one of those holidays that never disappoints. I feel like the possibilities are endless! Some of our go to’s are chocolate covered strawberries and iced cookies, however this year I decided to try something new - Mini Heart Pies! And oh, just wait…it gets better…Mini *Nutella Filled* Heart Pies. Yep, you read that right! If you’re like me, Nutella is good on pretty much everything and pairing it with pie pastry is the cherry on top. 

 

These heart pies are the perfect treat to make with kids because it’s super fun to let them be involved. We found it to be a great opportunity for some sensory play! My oldest son, Edward, had so much fun cutting out the hearts with the cookie cutter, and my youngest son, Alistair, loved kneading the excess dough.

In order to make these pies all you need to do is grab a handful of ingredients:

 

Parchment Paper

Heart Cookie Cutter

Pie Dough (we used boxed - time saver!)

Nutella

1 Egg + a teaspoon of water

Cinnamon Sugar for dusting

 

1. To start, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 
2. While the oven is preheating, gather all of your ingredients. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. After that, line your table with parchment paper and unroll some pie dough. 
3. Take the cookie cutter and gently stamp out as many hearts that the dough allows and place them onto the baking sheet. We were able to get 8 hearts in all. (We could have gotten more, but we had too much fun playing with the dough!)
4. Spoon the Nutella onto each heart leaving enough room on the edges to top it with another heart. 
5. Whisk the egg and water together creating a mixture that will act as glue so that the two heart shapes will stick together. Taking a brush, carefully outline the edges of each heart with the egg mixture.
6. Unroll the other pie dough and cut out the same amount of hearts you did the first time.
7. One by one, place the hearts you just stamped on top of the hearts with the Nutella on them. Take a fork and gently push down the edges of the hearts.
8. Dust with cinnamon sugar.
9. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden and flaky.
10. Enjoy!

 

I hope you enjoy making these as much as we did! We have definitely found a new go to Valentine’s treat!

 

xoxo

Audrey Chaney

 

About the author:

My name is Audrey Chaney, and I am the happy wife to Ed of nearly 6 years and the smitten mama to Edward who just turned 4 and Alistair who is 1 1/2. I currently stay at home with my boys, and we are in the process of getting ready to homeschool. I am passionate about supporting unique, ethical and beautiful children's clothing shops like Fin and Vince. I myself own a micro handmade children's clothing shop called The Chaney Nest where I am presently taking a break to see what direction I'd like for my business to head. On my website you can access my shop as well as my blog where I enjoy posting recipes that we're trying, family happenings and things of the like.

 

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Hello! I have a really healthy and simple recipe to share with you today. It's one of my favorites to make with a little person around. It only takes about 40 minutes to make and is simple enough for little hands to help with. One of my favorite parts about having my son, Tad, help me is that I am consistently reminded of myself when I was young. I always helped my dad cook growing up, and helping him mix up ingredients in the mixer for chocolate chip cookies are some of my fondest memories. Now that the roles have reversed, I can see how letting my toddler dump in the flour and knead the bread with his tiny hands can spark a joy of cooking, teaching him that the best food is made right in your own kitchen! Even if that means we make a bit of a mess... (;

These buns are a great recipe for anyone who is looking to make a simple bread. I discovered these one night while making sweet potato burgers and was in need of something to hold them with! I decided to throw together a super quick bun recipe, which I found worked really well, and tweaked it to my liking! These are made with whole wheat flour, though you could use all purpose if you wished. I am currently on the path to cutting out refined flours and sugars from our home. These turned out just great with whole wheat!

Ingredients | 

• 2 tbsp active dry yeast
• 1 1/4 cup warm water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups whole wheat flour

Recipe | 

1. Preheat your oven to 425.
2. In an electric mixer with an attached dough hook, pour in the warm water (tap warm, not boiling) and mix in the sugar and yeast. Let sit for at least 10-15 minutes to allow the yeast to grow and activate. If your yeast does not change appearance, toss it out and start over. 
3. Add in the oil, egg, and salt. Mix thoroughly.
4. Begin to slowly incorporate the flour and turn the mixer on low. Allow each cup of flour to fully knead in before adding the next. Continue to add until the dough forms into a soft ball and no longer stick to the sides of the bowl while mixing. Turn up the speed and knead for about 5 minutes. You may need to add more flour if your dough is sticky!
5. Take the dough out and pull apart to shape into 8-9 small balls. You'll want to flatten them out a bit and place on a baking sheet fitted with parchment paper.
6. Cover with a tea towel and let sit for 10 minutes.
7. Brush with melted butter and bake for about 18-20 minutes. They are done when golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Slice open and enjoy with a burger or simply some butter and jam!

Yum! Tad loves helping me make these because he can help shape the buns. I find its easiest to shape into a ball in your hand and then sort of flatten them out. If you leave in too round of a shape, they grow really tall rather than wide! That is just personal preference, though, when it comes to eating burgers. You can find my sweet potato burger recipe over on my blog at Under A Tin Roof today! They pair really well for an easy supper (:

xoxo Kayla

There's just three short days until Christmas, and I don't know about you guys, but we are soaking in every last minute of it. From ornament making, to cookie baking, to present wrapping, we've been doing it all. One thing that was on my holiday to-do list, that I finally got around to doing, was making homemade marshmallows for our hot cocoa. They are so much tastier than the traditional store bought marshmallows and surprisingly easy to make! Here's how to make these tasty little treats! 

What you will need:

3 packages of unflavored gelatin (you can find these over by the jello - baking aisle - in most grocery stores)

powdered sugar (for dusting)

1T. vanilla 

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 tsp. salt 

1 c. light corn syrup 

1 tsp. peppermint extract 

crushed peppermints (optional) 

parchment paper 

How to - 

- Combine gelatin and 1/2 c. COLD water in a bowl with an electric mixer. Let sit while you prepare your other ingredients. 

- While that sets you will want to combine your sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 c. water in sauce pan on medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Once it has dissolved turn the pan up to high and cook until it reaches 240 degrees fahrenheit. You can use a candy thermometer for this or a basic one. I used a basic thermometer I had on hand. 

- After that's done combine it with your gelatin mixture and mix with an electric mixer on high until it is a nice thick consistency.. it will take about 15 minutes so hang in there! 

- Lastly add your vanilla and peppermint extract and mix well. 

- After your marshmallow mixture is done, you will want to coat a 13x9 glass pan generously with powdered sugar. Be sure to get the sides as well! 

- Pour mixture into coated pan, smooth until it's evenly distributed, and dust the top generously with powdered sugar. 

- Let sit until dry - usually overnight

- After your marshmallows have dried, turn them over onto a sheet of parchment paper, dust with more sugar (if needed) and crushed peppermints (optional).

- Cut with a knife or pizza cutter and serve! I served mine with this super delicious hot cocoa recipe below. 

Hot Cocoa Recipe - 

2 T. unsweetend cocoa powder

1-2 T. sugar

1 c. milk or cream

1/4 t. vanilla.

combine first 3 ingredients on stove until hot. pour in vanilla and serve. 

Happy Holidays! 

xo - emily 

Hi everyone! I am so excited to be doing this guest blog post! just a little about me, my name is Madison Loosle. I have to sweet and wild boys, Henry who is 3 and Arthur who is 1. Im married to my high school sweetheart and we live in Utah. One of my favorite things to do in the summer time is make homemade ice cream but recently we found out Arthur (my one year old) is highly allergic to milk and some tree nuts. It broke my heart when we found this out because i just kept thinking about all the wonderful foods he won’t be able to enjoy. Milk is in everything!! At least everything thats good like cheese, chocolate, and ice cream. So i started searching for recipes for dairy free ice creams.  I found a recipe for watermelon sorbet, and its hard to even call it a recipe because it only has one ingredient, watermelon. I was so excited because both of my boys and my husband love watermelon, its their favorite summer food. 

For this “recipe” you don’t even need an ice cream maker. I cubed half a watermelon and placed it evenly on a cookie sheet. Then I placed  the cookie sheet into the freezer and froze it for 2 hours. Then working in batches, I put the watermelon into the blender and purred until smooth. Once I was finished blending all the watermelon I divided it into two loaf pans. I placed the pans into the freezer and froze for another hour or two. And thats it!! My kids go crazy for it and I love it because its a healthy alternative to ice cream. 

Ingredients: 

1 seedless watermelon, peeled and cubed (i only did half and it made plenty)

Directions:

1.  Arrange the watermelon cubes in an even layer on a baking sheet. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and freeze until the watermelon is solid, about two hours.

2.  Working in batches, transfer the watermelon cubes to a blender or food processor and  puree until smooth.

3. Divide the puree among two loaf pans (of put it all in a deep baking dish), packing it down as you add more on top.

4. transfer the pans to the freezer. Freeze until the sorbet is scoopable, 1 to 2 hours more. 

5. To serve, scoop the sorbet into dishes or cones and serve immediately. 

Recipe from: PureWow https://www.purewow.com/recipes/One-Ingredient-Watermelon-Sorbet?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=partpin

Childrens clothes and hat: Fin and Vince

Leather mat: Gathre

Who else out there has a lactose intolerance issue? I've never been diagnosed, but whenever I drink milk or eat ice cream... well, I won't go into the details. Even though this is something that I live with everyday, and often cheat upon, I just cannot resist ice cream! You know, the hand scooped kind from the little shop down the street. Sooooo good! I cave and instantly regret it.

I am here with a solution! This yummy layered dessert was my mom's go to when I was growing up. It satisfied my cravings for ice cream, and there was even some tasty fruit and graham cracker crust to boot! I am ADDICTED to graham cracker crust. Yum! 

Let's eat! 

INGREDIENTS |

• 1 stick butter, melted
• 2 cups crushed graham crackers
• 3 bananas, sliced
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 cup strawberries, dived
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 8 oz package cream cheese
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• almonds for garnish 
• cherry to top

Melt one stick of the butter over the stove. Mix it in with the graham crackers. In 4 mason jars, press the crust into the bottom and stick in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.

With a stand mixer, cream together the 1/4 cup of butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar.

After the crust has solidified, layer it with the cream cheese filling, bananas, blueberries, strawberries, and then more filling.

Sprinkle the top with almonds and top with a cherry! SO fast and easy.

I hope you enjoy this perfect summer dessert. A go-to, for sure! (:

xoxo Kayla

Growing up, there was no other day I loved more than Sunday. It was our day of relaxation, of rest and rejuvenation, and also the day of our family’s big breakfast. My dad would wake up early and begin preparing the kitchen, pulling out all of our cast iron skillets, putting on a large pot of coffee. We would gather around the table, late in the morning, and eat scrambled eggs with feta cheese, fresh sausages, bacon, toast and pancakes. It was wonderful!

Now that I’m grown, I find that I’m usually the one in the kitchen preparing our big breakfast. Recently, we began eating whole foods. Our kitchen has become mostly free of processed items, like packaged sausages, pancake mixes, and commercial coffee creamer. We’ve had to make a few changes in our weekly routine.

I learned how to make other things. My family always loved white peppered gravy that came in a small tear-open packet, just add water. It was fast and easy and it got the job done. Then I made homemade béchamel gravy… it changed our lives. There was this beautiful, nutty aroma. It tasted so amazing, and we understood why making things from scratch mattered so much. Add in a little grass-fed sausage and homemade buttermilk biscuits. Mm-mmm! Absolutely delicious. Join me for a beautiful spring breakfast, friends. Cut up some fresh strawberries and lay out the plates. These two recipes are easy to make, I promise, and so incredibly filling.

For the Biscuits:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup heavy cream

Preheat your oven to 425. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper, a silicon baking mat, or aluminum foil brushed with cooking oil.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cut the butter into small cubes and blend into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or two knives held like scissors. I usually just use my fingers, to be honest! That way I know how well it has blended. Cut in the butter until pea-sized amounts form.

Measure the buttermilk and heavy cream together to create one cup of liquid. Make a well in the center of the flour/butter mixture and pour in the liquid.

Using a wooden spoon, gently stir the dry ingredients and wet ingredients together until a shaggy, wet dough forms.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and begin to press into a rectangle a little smaller than the size of a piece of printer paper. Add enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your hands or the counter but not more than that, as this can make the biscuits dry.

Cut the dough in half and stack them on top of each other. Repeat this again and then press the dough out again like a sheet of paper until it measure about 2 inches thick.

With a biscuit cutter or the top of a glass, cut out the biscuits. Place each biscuit on the baking sheet close enough together that they will touch sides while baking. When you have no more room to cut out biscuits, stack the dough again, and press out to make more.

Brush the tops of the biscuits with any remaining buttermilk.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

For the Gravy:

5 tbsp butter

4 tbsp all-purpose flour

2 cups whole milk (do not use anything less, or the gravy won’t form!)

salt

black pepper

Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan. Add the flour and whisk, quickly, while adding a large pinch of salt and black pepper.

Continue to whisk constantly until the flour is a golden brown color and smells fragrantly nutty. Increase the heat to medium and add 1 cup of milk.

Still stirring, allow the milk to come to a simmer. Be careful to avoid letting the flour stick to the bottom and burn.

Add the second cup of milk by quarter cups until the gravy has thickened. Continue to stir while adding more milk; the gravy should be coming together thickly. Once you have used all of the milk, continue to watch the mixture. It should start to form up within 5 minutes and is ready when you can drag your whisk through the mixture and leave tracks.

Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in about 1/2 pound of cooked breakfast sausage if you like a little meat!

This is such a wholesome family meal to enjoy together! I am always so excited when we decide that we’d all like some biscuits and gravy for breakfast, or even dinner sometimes! I like to top off my plate with an over easy egg, too. Oh my goodness - that little bit of runny egg yolk just ties the entire palette of flavors together. Yum!

I hope you enjoy! (:

xoxo Kayla

You can find more herbal home remedies, recipes, and gardening tips at Kayla’s blog on underatinroof.com

Hello! Do any of you mamas deal with a picky eater? My son, Tad, can be a stubborn little bug when it comes to eating the food that I put in front of him! We do a lot of experimenting in this house, and sometimes I think that pickiness stems from genetics but mostly from my incessant plea for him to please eat something!!!!! We have been on the hunt for something sweet, somewhat healthy, and filling in our diets. I came across the idea to make some banana bread mixed with blueberries, but knew that something small and easy to hold would probably be a little more fun + interesting for him to eat!

These blueberry muffin/bread/cakes were born! I incorporated some whole wheat flour, bananas, and blueberries into the mix. They are really tasty and almost seem a bit mature in palette, but that hasn’t stopped Tad from eating them one bit. The denseness of the muffin really helps in keeping your belly filled and the sweet sugar top + blueberry combo is perfect for the sweet tooth in your family. The other person that can’t stop eating them? My dad! He says they’re good enough to be in a cafe. I guess that’s good - ha!

Here’s the recipe for some tasty, wholesome blueberry + banana muffin cakes.

• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 egg, beaten beforehand
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup sour cream (optional)
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 tsp lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. In medium sized bowl, combine the mashed bananas, sugar, egg, butter, and sour cream. I personally think butter melted over the stove and browned slightly makes a baked good taste SO much better! The sour cream can be added for moistness. I opted to not use it this time!
3. In a large bowl, mix together the flours, soda, powder, salt, and cinnamon. Slowly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.
4. Coat your blueberries in a little flour and lemon juice. Slowly fold them into the batter.
5. Fill your greased muffin tin of choice. I used a few little heart shaped tins that I had on hand! Sprinkle the tops with sugar.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Eat!

These are a great morning treat to bake on the regular. Easy, yummy, and quick! Enjoy!!

xoxo Kayla

How are you today, friends? I hope you are all well! Lately we’ve been feeling a bit down, whether that’s from illness or just plain sick of being stuck in our house! If it’s not freezing cold, it’s raining ice or mud or whatever. It just feels wet and icky, and though sometimes nice, can get old very quickly. How about some nice, warm, chicken pot pie? When I made this pot pie last week after our family had just gotten over a nasty case of the flu, my mother was quick to say, “If anyone was looking for the perfect Midwestern comfort food… this is it!” I just made another set of pot pies today, which we scarfed down at lunch, and as I am writing this I feel so warm + fuzzy inside. I also want to hibernate, but alas, motherhood calls.

• Roll out your pie dough into a 12” round. Using a round cookie cutter or bowl 4” in diameter, cut out some circular shapes for your mini pies. Grease your muffin tin and place the little crusts in them. Fold the edges under so that they are not touching.
• Preheat the oven to 350.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk in the milk, sour cream, eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla. Whisk in the mashed butternut squash (make sure you strain it to get rid of any extra water that may be collecting space).
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir constantly, until the butter begins to brown + foam. It smells so wonderful! Immediately pour the butter into the potato mixture and stir until incorporated.
• Pour the potato filling into each of the little pie crusts about 3/4 of the way. The centers will rise a bit! Brush the crusts with milk.
• Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, or until the pie is set with a wobbly center and the crusts are golden brown. Let cool for about 10 minutes and remove the muffin tin. Let cool on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Top with whipped cream!

xoxo Kayla