Maple Bacon Cheddar Chocolate Chip Cups

Yes, the name is quite a mouthful and so are these!

Yes! You! Will! Love! These!

Trust me on this...most amazing thing you've ever eating! Ever!!! These little bite are the perfect size for a sweet treat, but size is the only small thing about them! They are bursting with an awesome combination of flavors!

Ya, I know there are a lot of exclamation points up there. But, these really are out of this world, especially warm and gooey, straight out of the oven.

 

Try them, you can thank me later.

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour                            

1 1/8 tsp baking soda                            

1 tsp salt                            

1 c unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar                            

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed                            

1 tsp pure vanilla extract                            

2 Tbsp pure maple syrup                            

2 large eggs                            

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips                            

1 lb maple bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled                            

4 oz medium cheddar cheese, cubed to about 1/2 inch                            

                               

SPECIAL ITEM NEEDED

mini muffin tin



 

 

Directions                                                    

1. Preheat oven to 375. If using a good non-stick mini muffin tin, great. Otherwise, you'll need to grease the mini muffin tin with oil or butter.            

2. COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and maple syrup in large mixer bowl until creamy.            

3. ADD eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and bacon.            

4. FOR each mini muffin well take 1 tablespoon of cookie dough and fold around 1 cube of cheese. Place 1 in each of the wells.            

5. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool for about 5 minutes, enjoy!

Beans Beans they're good for your heart!

The More You Eat the More You...You know the rest!

Anyway, I really love baked beans. And my son really loves baked beans. The thing is, I knew there must be a better way to make beans than busting out the can opener, dumping the beans into a pan and heating them up. I means, don't get me wrong, mom, your "baked beans" in a can were great...but, seriously, we deserved better!
So, in my quest for wonderful beans I scoured the nets and found several recipes I thought sounded great. What follows is my rendition of those many recipes and one I think you'll love!
It's easy, it's delicious and, did I mention, it's freaking easy! Oh right I did.
So here you go partners...Make these tomorrow. Do it!

First things first...Get some thick cut bacon, I do not care what kind you get, just make it thick cut and actual bacon...you know from pork! Now, throw it in a pan and cook it about halfway done. Remove the bacon and set aside on paper towels. Leave the grease in the pan.
Here's what bacon cooking looks like, in case you were unsure:

Get an onion, a bell pepper (what color you get is totally up to you. I like them all and they taste the same, in my opinion, no matter what color you use), 1 clove of elephant garlic (or 5 regular cloves) and a jalapeno (I only use half the jalapeno).

 

Wash 'em, de-seed 'em, and chop 'em up.

Now, go ahead and toss those beautiful vegies in the bacon grease and start to cook them down until they are soft-ish. Deglaze the pan while you're cooking down the onion mixture. Here's a batch that I made with green bell peppers. And another with the orange peppers. They were equally yumm!

Now, here's a secret that I learned from the Pioneer Woman's blog...Canned pork n beans. 3 cans, to be exact. There isn't anything to it, just open them up and dump them in the pan with the onion mixture

 

Stir the mixture and set it to medium heat while you measure out the next ingredients. You'll need BBQ sauce, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, mustard (yes, whatever kind you want. sometimes I like to mix it up and use a little of 2 types of mustard), & cumin. Stir it together well.

 

Now, add it to your beans, which should be nice and hot by now...

 

 

Blend this together well and lay the bacon pieces over the top. Here's another picture for the hell of it!

Now, pop those babies in the oven for a couple hours. Really cook down the beans and everything so they are so delicious you could eat the beans for a meal! I take the bacon off the top and rough chop it before stirring it back in.

 

 

 

Now, here's the recipe.




Mel's Sweet and Savory Baked Beans

Ingredients:
6 slices Thick Cut Bacon
1 medium white onion, coarse chopped
5 cloves garlic or 1 clove elephant garlic, coarse chopped
1 medium bell pepper, any color, coarse chopped
1/2 jalapeno, coarse chopped
3 cans pork n beans
3/4 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons mustard, any type
1 teaspoon cumin

Preheat oven to 325.
Fry bacon in 12 inch skillet until cooked about halfway. Set aside to drain on paper towels.
Add onion, garlic, bell pepper, and jalapeno to bacon grease and cook until tender.
Add pork n beans and stir. Let simmer on medium heat.
While simmering, stir together BBQ sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, mustard and cumin. Pour into beans and stir.
If your pan is oven safe, top with bacon and bake in center of over for 2 hours. The sauce will thicken.
If your skillet is not oven proof, transfer the mixture to a 9x11 glass dish. Top with bacon and bake for 2 hours.
Once beans are finished baking, remove the bacon from the top and coarse chop. Add back into the mixture and stir just before serving.

Enjoy!

Tags:
beans, baked beans, BBQ, summer, cooking, vegetables, legumes, bell pepper, onion, garlic, jalapeno, pork

Did someone say Burger?

Hamburger.
Cheeseburger.
Bacon Burger.
Double BBQ Burger.
Burger. Burger. Burger.

Ok I got that out of my system! I don't know about you but I am always up for a stellar burger. I like them made with beef, turkey, chicken, pork and any combination of those listed meats. There is this place in San Diego, and they grind up the bacon, too...Oh.Em.Gee. they are so stinking good! I have to figure out how. In the meantime, I want to share an oldie recipe of mine I think you'll enjoy!

 

Blue Cheese and Bacon Burger Belt

Ingredients

2 pkg refrigerated crescent roll                            

1 lb ground beef                            

1/4 lb bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

1-1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles                            

1 medium sliced onion, caramelized                            

Directions                       

Cook beef until crumbled and no longer pink. Drain and mix with bacon, set aside.

 

(NOTE: when following this step, do it on the cooking surface - I use my pizza stone, but make sure you do this part ON the surface that is going in the oven!)
Arrange crescent rolls in a circle with the wide ends overlapping leaving a 5 inch diameter opening in the center.
(the wide ends will overlap on the outer corners and the pointy side will point outwards)

 

Scoop beef & bacon into the widest end of each triangle being sure each triangle has equal amounts of mixture. Place onion over beef mixture and sprinkle blue cheese over that.

 

Bring the points up and over the mixture and tuck under the center of the ring. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until deep golden brown.            

Cut into 8 servings.

 

If you are having trouble following the folding, you can see pictures here: http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/main-course/other-main-course/blue-cheese-bacon-burger-belt.html?p=2

 

 

 

Turkey Bacon, Leek and Asparagus Frittata

Losing weight, for some, often includes eating the same thing... day after day. Not because these folks aren't craving yumminess and something different. But, because sometimes people just stick with what they know. It's like, "I know Grilled Chicken Salad with Low Fat Ranch is X calories so I'll just eat that all the time."
Well, I'm here to help! Take my snack today, for example. It was so delish and full of flavor. Low Calories, High Protein...you're going to love this!

By the way, I am down 15 pounds in 26 days.

Turkey Bacon, Leek and Asparagus Frittata

Ingredients:

2 tsp Olive Oil
1/4 cup Chopped Leek
2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/4 tsp No Salt Seasoning, original
4 slices Turkey Bacon, cooked and chopped
1/4 cup blanched Asparagus Tips
1/2 cup Egg Whites

Directions:

Heat oil to medium high in a small, non stick skillet. Add leeks and cook for about 4 minutes. Sprinkle on Italian seasoning and no salt seasoning. Stir and spread out evenly. Spread turkey bacon evenly over leeks. Pour egg whites over leeks and meat. Do not stir. Loosely cover and cook for about 3 minutes. Add asparagus over egg mixture, and allow to cook for 1 minute. Flip frittata over and allow to cook an additional 2 minutes.

Enjoy!