Loaded Pretzels

Have you tried Bada Bing Chocolates from Chocoley? It is so far superior to other chocolates that I will never again be able to use those disks sold in craft stores. Chocoley’s disks melt so evenly and easily in the microwave. They are shiny and most important…….TASTE DELICIOUS!!!! So, today I used the chocoley disks and their caramel to make these loaded pretzels. These are insane. I dipped the pretzel rods first into melted caramel, then dark chocolate. I loaded them up with kettle corn, chopped pecans, crushed Oreos and a milk chocolate drizzle.

Loaded Pretzels

1 bag pretzel rods
1 bag Chocoley’s dark chocolate disks
1 tub Chocoley’s Caramel
1/2 bag Chocoley’s milk chocolate disks
a few Oreos, chopped
1/4 cups pecans, chopped
1 bag Kettle Corn

Directions:

Gently Melt the caramel in the microwave in a bowl. Dip each rod first into the caramel. Lay on a silpat sprayed with Pam or on parchment sprayed with pam. Pop in the fridge just a few mins. until set.

In another bowl, gently melt the dark chocolate in the microwave. In a third bowl, melt the milk chocolate in the microwave and transfer just the milk chocolate to a piping bag when cool.

Immediately dip into the chocolate and lay on the silpat/parchment. Top with popcorn and chill to set chocolate. Remove and drizzle with milk chocolate. Sprinkle on Oreos and pecans. Chill to set.

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BLACK AND WHITE COOKIES…THE BEST RECIPE!!!!

Black & White Cookies (recipe adapted from Baked Explorations)
Cookies
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 sticks of unsalted butter, soft
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 T pure vanilla extract

Frosting
3 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
4 to 5 T whole milk
3 T heavy cream
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup plus 2T. Nestle or Hershey unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients for the cookies (flour,
baking powder, baking soda and salt). In the bowl of a stand mixer
fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until
fluffy, about two minutes. Add the eggs and the yolk, one at a time and
mix. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the
buttermilk (begin and end with flour). Add the vanilla .

Using a 1/4 cup scoop, drop the dough on the prepared baking sheets or use a muffin top pan as I did.

Bake for 17 minutes, baking each sheet one at a time. Edges should be
lightly browned. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, in a large bowl, whisk together the confectioners’
sugar, milk, cream and vanilla. If the mixture is too thick, add milk
by the teaspoon. Divide in half and add the chocolate powder to half of
the mixture. Add a bit of milk by the teaspoon if you need to thin the
chocolate a little bit. I needed to thin it quite a bit. Using a spatula, frost one half vanilla and
allow to dry 20 mins. before frosting the other half with the chocolate glaze.
Let the frosted cookies set for one hour before serving.

Healthified Crock Pot Beef & Broccoli

Beef and broccoli is one of those things that is always a crowd pleaser. It’s certainly one of my favorite asian dishes!

That being said, it’s likely that a serving of it at your favorite local restaurant will cost you a good 600+ calories, a lot of sugar, and even more sodium. Yikes!

It’s take-out fake-out time.

I’ve lightened this classic dish up by reducing a lot of the sugar and soy sauce that most original recipes call for. So much sugar and sodium is just unneeded, in my opinion.

By the way, have you ever tried ‘Yum Yum Sauce’? It’s also called ‘Japanese White Sauce’ at a lot of those popular hibachi steak houses.

I’ll admit, when I started working on a lighter version of Yum Yum sauce, I wasn’t too impressed. But, after three attempts and a decent outcome, I stuck the final version into the fridge and called it a day.

I pulled the Yum Yum Sauce out a few hours later to serve on the side with this dish and BAM. There it was. The taste had completely changed after the flavors melded there for a few hours together.

I topped mine with some Sriracha and was in heaven.

Recipe to follow!

Healthified Crock Pot Beef & Broccoli
TheSkinnyFork.com

The Skinny:
Servings: 4 • Size: About 1 Cup • Calories: 289.7 • Fat: 9.2 g • Carb: 14.6 g • Fiber: 2.7 g • Protein: 37.5 g • Sugar: 6.4 g • Sodium: 483 mg

Ingredients:
1 Lb. Round-Roast, Sliced into very thin strips.
1 C. Reduced Sodium Beef Broth
2 Tbsp. Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar, Packed
1 Tbsp. Ginger Root, Minced or Grated
1/2 Red Bell Pepper, Sliced
2 Tsp. Sesame Oil
3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1-2 Tbsp. Corn Starch
2 C. Broccoli Florets (Fresh or Frozen)
2 Tbsp. Sesame Seeds

Directions:
Place beef, broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, red bell, sesame oil, and garlic into the slow cooker. Give everything a good stir, cover, and cook for 4-6 hours.

Once done, add corn starch and broccoli. Give another good stir and allow to cook for an additional 30 minutes.

When the sauce has thickened to your liking, divide and sprinkle 1/2 tbsp. sesame seeds over each serving.

Enjoy warm over rice or noodles of your choice!