Appetizers and Snacks – Page 2

Smashed Red Potatoes

This is one that I made some time back, but never shared. I actually made it as part of my daughter’s birthday meal. And, it is ridiculously easy to make – and so delicious.

I started with red potatoes – you’ll want enough for each person to have 2-3 potatoes. After washing the potatoes, I parboiled them to the point that they were soft enough to ‘smash’. I used the bottom of a glass to smash each potato (learn from my mistake – don’t use a potato masher, you’ll lose half of your potato, stuck to the potato masher) on a sheet pan.

After smashing the potatoes, I drizzled olive oil over top and then sprinkled with a little grated parmesan cheese. I topped with a little salt and fresh basil (feel free to use dried basil or Italian seasoning).

I finished the cooking in the oven, at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. You can even broil them for a minute or two to get them a little browned, if needed.

These potatoes make an easy and delicious side dish!

November 19, 2019 by Michelle

Easy Baked Hand Pies

Refrigerated pie dough is so useful – chicken pot pies (my family loves them – you can check out my recipe here), regular pies and even small hand pies. It seems like I always have some in my refrigerator.

This is the pie crust that I used. Honestly, I really prefer the Great Value (Wal-Mart brand) pie crust, but this one was expiring before the Great Value one I had – so I used this one. You need to let it sit out a while, so that it is easier to work with.

Once the dough was a little less cold, I was able to unroll it and it was ready to use. I just used a cup to cut circles of dough (they were about 3 inch rounds). Using a pastry roller, I rolled them out a little bit.

I decided to make a fruit pie (using the Peach Jam that I’ve used before – you can see where I used it to make a Peach and Apple Tart, here). In addition to that, I decided to do a peanut butter and chocolate one (one of my daughters doesn’t care for fruit pies).

For the peach, I used maybe 1 tsp of the jam. And, for the peanut butter and chocolate – I just used a little (maybe 1 tsp, as well) creamy peanut butter and a few chocolate chips.

I just folded over the dough and crimped them edges with a fork. I sprayed a little bit of avocado oil over the top of each pie.

I baked them in a 450 degree oven, for about 15 minutes. For the second batch, I reduced it to 10 minutes as I think that 15 minutes was a little too long and they pie crust got a little too crisp for my tastes.

After they came out of the oven, I just sifted some powdered sugar over them. An easy little dessert or snack!

November 17, 2019 by Michelle

Chocolate Puff Pastry

I was looking for something sweet, but not too sweet – chocolate was preferable. I had some chocolate chips in the pantry and some puff pastry in the freezer – it was a perfect marriage!

I used some of the flour to roll out the pastry

After letting the puff pastry thaw (it takes about 30-40 minutes at room temperature), I rolled it out a bit and cut it into rectangles.

For each rectangle, I added a few chocolate chips and rolled the pastry up.

I placed the rolled pastries on parchment paper on a sheet pan. I put a simple egg wash on the pastries and baked them in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes.

After taking them out of oven, I sifted some powdered sugar over top. They were very similar to a chocolate croissant.

This couldn’t be an easier, or more tasty, quick dessert or snack!

November 12, 2019November 12, 2019 by Michelle

Caramel Apple Pinwheels

I’ve mentioned the delicious seasonal spreadable cheeses from Alouette that I’ve found at Aldi. One of them, and perhaps my favorite, is the caramel apple flavor.

I decided to make a quick breakfast for my daughter this morning, using the spreadable cheese, apple and puff pastry – enter Caramel Apple Pinwheels.

No real recipe here – but, just take your thawed puff pastry and lay it out flat.

Spread some of the caramel apple spreadable cheese on top of the pastry.

I wanted to add some very thinly sliced apples to the pastry, so I used my mandolin to ensure that I got thin slices.

I added the apples on top of the caramel apple cheese spread and sprinkled with a little cinnamon.

Then rolled the pastry. This is why you want thinly sliced apples, so that it isn’t too difficult to roll up.

Then slice it into 9 rolls.

Bake in a 425 degree oven (my oven runs a little cooler, so you may want to do 400 degrees) for 23 minutes.

Once the pinwheels were done, I drizzled on some melted Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Bun Spread over top.

Delicious!!

November 3, 2019 by Michelle

Fried Apple Hand Pies

I made an apple and pumpkin spice strudel the other day and I had some apple mixture left over. So I decided to make some fried apple hand pies.

I started with some canned biscuits and the leftover apple mixture. I also used a little bit of oil to fry the pies.

I just rolled the biscuits out until they were large enough to put the mixture in and fold over. I did kind of an oval shape.

I then put a little bit of the apple mixture in the middle (don’t overfill it, or the edges won’t stay closed – I know this from experience – you can tell from the pictures). I, then, crimped the edges with a fork.