Barbeque Chicken Calzones

Posted by: Maggie

My boyfriend loves anything with barbeque sauce, and when we order takeout he typically gets a calzone, so I probably should have made this recipe a long time ago. As I expected, he loved it, and it was so easy to make that I'll definitely be preparing it again, and possibly experimenting with different fillings.


Here's what you'll need:

4 slices bacon
1/2 small red onion, chopped
3 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast meat (I used about 4 1/2 chicken breasts to get this amount)
2/3 c barbeque sauce
1 can refrigerated pizza dough (between a 10-13 oz size)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
2 T chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Fry bacon in a large skillet over medium high heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels, crumble, and set aside. Add the onion and shredded chicken to the hot bacon grease in the pan. Fry over medium heat until the onion is tender. Stir in 1/3 c of the barbeque sauce and remove from heat. Stir in the cooked bacon.

Roll the pizza crust dough out onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Press out to an even thickness, and cut in half. Divide the chicken mixture between the two pieces of dough, spreading on only half of each piece to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Drizzle the remaining sauce over the filling.

Sprinkle the cheese and cilantro over the top. Fold over uncovered portion of dough, and pinch edges to seal. Bake for 20 minutes, or until browned to your liking.

I served these with extra barbeque sauce and ranch dressing for dipping.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Posted by: Maggie

I love all of Starbuck's pumpkin items in the fall - particularly their pumpkin cream cheese muffin. Sadly, the Starbuck's decision makers seem to think that being seasonally appropriate is important, and fail to sell their delicious treat all year round. When I saw the recipe for these on Annie's Eats, I knew I needed to make them for breakfast this past Saturday.

What you'll need:

For the muffins -

3 c flour
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1 t ground cloves
1 T and 1 t pumpkin pie spice
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
4 eggs
1 1/4 c vegetable oil
2 c sugar
2 c pumpkin puree

For the filling -

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c powdered sugar

For the streusel topping -

1/2 c sugar
1/4 c and 1 t flour
4 T butter, cubed
1 1/2 t cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To prepare the filling, whip cream cheese and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Form into a log on plastic wrap or foil, and make sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan. Wrap the log up tightly and freeze until slightly hardened, 1-2 hours. (Note: I'm super hungry in the morning, and there was no stinkin' way that I was waiting for this concoction to harden. I ended up freezing it for about 20 minutes while mixing up the other ingredients, and it was still a mushy consistency when I used it. Instead of slicing the log, I ended up having to scoop the mixture, and it still worked out fine.)

To make the muffins, combine the flour, spices, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Mix well and put aside. Using an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, sugar, and pumpkin puree. Mix until well combined. Add in the dry ingredients gradually and mix on low until just combined.

To make the streusel topping, combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix together with a pastry blender or two forks until crumbly.

Line two muffin pans with liners. To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well halfway with batter, Remove the cream cheese log from the freezer and slice into 24 equal slices (or if you're impatient like me and you have a soft mixture, just use a spoon). Place a slice (or blob) into each well. Divide the remaining batter evenly among the muffin cups, on top of the cream cheese. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top of the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes and let cool before serving.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted by: Maggie

I decided to make Alton Brown's "The Chewy" chocolate chip cookie to take to coworkers tomorrow. I've always used my heavily doctored version of the Tollhouse recipe when making chocolate chip cookies in the past, which like Alton's recipe involves melting the butter instead of softening it. I definitely think it's the key to a chewy cookie. I've had this particular recipe bookmarked for quite some time now, and kept seeing it on various blogs. I figured it was time to give it a test run and I was not disappointed!

Thourougly chilling the dough (at least two hours) and letting the baking sheet cool between batches is key to these cookies coming out correctly.


What you'll need:

2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 c bread flour
1 t kosher salt (I used regular)
1 t baking powder
1/4 c sugar
1 1/4 c brown sugar (I used light brown, I think it makes a prettier cookie)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 T milk
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
2 c chocolate chips (I used chunks, and probably put in about 3 cups)

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter until completely liquefied (about a minute in the microwave). Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in large bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough at least two hours, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 9 minutes or until golden brown. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.