I’ve been on Super Bowl menu mode for the last two weeks or so. Yup lots of snackas for the big game going on right here. I’m a finger food type of gal and like things you can snack on easily. Here is my SB game day food….. May the best team win! Click below for the recipes!
Snackas of the day: I am such a huge fan of all candy Kinder. Being a lover of toys and chocolate, I fell head over heels with the Kinder Egg many many moons ago. So it came as no surprise when I stumbled on it’s cute cousin called Kinder Happy Hippo. This cookie candy hybrid in it’s playful hippo shape entices the kid in me but satisfies my adult palate. It’s crunchy crisp wafer like shell is filled with a creamy hazelnut and milk filling, then dipped in white chocolate and meringue crumbs. So yummy. They make a chocolate cream version too….. I heart them both. They are hard to find here in the United States but when you run across them, grab with both hands. Or if you find yourself in Europe, load your suitcase up and bring them home to your friends and loved ones.
Side note: Kinder Happy Hippo is made by Ferrero SpA, they also make Nutella…. That’s what I’m talking about.
Photos taken by: Mando Lopez
Here’s what the packaging looks like:
Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post…. Just a candy/cookie I love wholeheartedly and purchased with my own dough. 🙂
I woke up today and realized the month of September was coming to an end…. I smiled at the thought of fall and all my jacket wearing days that lay ahead. Then for a brief moment I started to panick thinking with the warm weather sneaking out the back door my beloved strawberries would be taking a leave of absence as well. Oh the horror! As soon as the thought entered my mind it was rescued with the realization that California strawberries are grown all year long , and could be picked up fresh or frozen. Either way I’m going to celebrate my california strawberries this fall/winter wearing a jacket!
All photos taken by: Nicole Presley
Ingredients for strawberry cream hand pies:
2 1/4 – cups flour
1/2 – teaspoon baking powder
2/3 – cup sugar
6 – tablespoons cream cheese (room temperature)
1 – stick butter (room temperature)
1 – teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 – large egg
Mix flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl and set to the side. Then put cream cheese and butter in an electric mixer and mix for 3 minutes or until fluffy. Add vanilla and egg in and mix well. Then slowly add in flour mixture until combined. Divide dough in half and pat into two disks. Wrap with plastic wrap and place in fridge for an hour or over night.
Preheat oven 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line cookie sheets with wax paper or a non – stick baking mat.
Take one disk of dough of of the fridge. On a lightly floured surface roll dough about 1/4 inch thick. With a round 2 1/2- inch circle cookie cutter cut as many circles as possible. With the scraps re-roll and continue cutting until you’ve cut all the dough. Then place your circles on prepared cookie sheets and place back in the fridge for 15 minutes. Grab your second disk and repeat process.
While you are waiting for your dough to chill, let’s make the filling.
Ingredients for the filling:
6 – tablespoons cream cheese (room temperature)
3 – tablespoons confectioners sugar
1/3 – cup strawberry preserves
3 – strawberries chopped
Mix cream cheese and confectioners sugar with an electric mixer till combined, then set to the side in a small bowl. Chop strawberries into tiny pieces and mix into perserves in another bowl.
On half of the pie circles place 1/2 teaspoon of cream cheese mixture in center of circle, then place 1/2 teaspoon of strawberry mixture on top.
Now on the other half circles take a small cookie cutter and barely imprint the center with the cutter (I used a strawberry cutter, this step is optional) make sure not to push all the way down. This is purely for decoration. Then place pie circle on top of circle with cream cheese and strawberry mixture to make your pie. Press around the edges with your finger to seal, then take a fork and indent all around.
Place in the oven and bake for 7 minutes then rotate cookie sheet and bake for another 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are golden. Remove from oven.
Ingredients for topping:
1/2 – cup sugar
1 – teaspoon cinnamon
Mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Then dip each hand pie in sugar mixture while still warm set on wire rack to cool completely! Enjoy. Should make 15 pies total.
Strawberries wrapped in warmth!
Snackas of the day: Raspberry Macaroons from Canter’s Delicatessen on Fairfax. Their macaroon is unlike any other in the city. The base is made of a soft sugar cookie then an almond paste is piped on top and a jewel of raspberry preserves sits dazzling in the middle. When you bite the cookie it is soft on the bottom but has a crunch up top and a spread of raspberry that will please your tastebuds. So delicious. I don’t drive down Fairfax unless I am prepared to stop and buy my treasured raspberry macaroons, otherwise it’s too tempting. Lucky for me, I bought a box full yesterday.
Photos taken by: Nicole Presley
Canter’s Raspberry Macaroon is one of my top 5 absolute favorite cookies in Los Angeles.
