Salty Sweet French Breakfast Puffs

Craving something salty-sweet, but not too sweet?
Try making a batch of  Salty Sweet French Breakfast Puffs. They're an amazing blend of buttery, salty-sweet, cinnamon-nutmeg, cake doughnut meets muffin! AND it only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish to make these addictively delicious puffs.
According to the hubby, these breakfast puffs should be called anytime puffs!

Time: about 30 minutes                 Yield: 12 Puffs

Puff Ingredients

• 1/3 cup shortening, at room temp
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour, sifted
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 cup milk

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

• 6 Tbsp. salted butter, melted This is where the salty taste comes from.
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
• Grease the cups of a 12 cup cupcake pan, or muffin pan

• Combine the first three ingredients in a medium size bowl - shortening, sugar, and egg - until the mixture is light colored and fluffy.
• Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a separate bowl.

• Add dry ingredients and milk alternately with the shortening mixture until it is mixed well.

• Scoop a rounded tablespoon of the batter, or dough, into each greased cupcake/muffin cup. 

• Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until golden brown. 

While The Puffs Are Baking

• First, thoroughly combine the white sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. 
• In a separate bowl, melt the 6 Tbsp. of butter by microwaving for 30 to 45 seconds. 
• Cover a cooling rack with a sheet of waxed paper.

When the Puffs Are Done

1. Roll a hot puff in the melted butter
2. Next, cover it with the cinnamon/sugar mixture
3. Set the puff on the wax paper covered cooling rack (See title pic)
4. Repeat the above three steps with each puff.

Enjoy eating a piece of homemade happiness on a plate!

Southwest Cheesy Dogs with Sriracha Mayo

Did you grow up snacking on  pigs in a blanket? My mom fed us this kid fare regularly and we loved it. However, plain biscuit dough wrapped around a hot dog chunk no longer thrills me, but this updated version with chili powder and mozzarella cheese does!

Ingredients

• 2 - 7.5 oz.tubes of biscuit dough
• 1- 12 oz. package of hot dogs
• 3 Tbsp. of Sriracha chili sauce
• 1 Tbsp. of mayonnaise
• Small amount of shredded mozzarella
• Small amount of chili powder

Directions

• Heat your oven to the temperature called for on the tubes of biscuit dough
• Cut the hot dogs in half crosswise. You will end up with about 16 hot dog pieces.
• Open the tubes of biscuit dough.
• Press each piece of dough into a flat round and wrap it around a hot dog half. 
• Place the dough wrapped hot dogs into a small baking pan. Note: There will be about 4 extra biscuits. I cooked mine in the pan with the cheesy dogs and sprinkled cheese and chili powder on them. They will be done in about 12-15 minute. 
• When all of the hot dog pieces are wrapped in dough, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and then chili powder.
• Place in the oven and back until biscuits are golden brown, about 25 - 30 minutes. 
• While the hot dogs are baking, blend the Sriracha chili sauce and mayo in a serving container.

Let the cheesy dogs cool about 5-8 minutes before dividing them onto a plate. That melted cheese is hot! 

Salted Caramel Praline Grahams

At heart, Bill and I are still just kids who love graham crackers. 
When I saw this recipe on the back of a graham cracker box, I KNEW I would be making Salted Caramel Praline Grahams.

Sweet, salty, crunchy,and caramel richness topped with chopped pecans. A perfect snack for grownup kids.

Be aware that once you eat one of these, you cannot stop eating them!

Five ingredients and twenty minutes is all you need to make this great tasting crunchy snack.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of butter
• 1 cup of packed, brown sugar
• about 1/2 of a 14 oz. box of cinnamon graham crackers
• 1 cup of chopped pecans
• coarse or fine sea salt

Directions

• Heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
• Using a baking sheet with sides, line it with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

• Lay out a single layer of graham crackers in the prepared baking sheet. You may have to break, or cut some of them to fit. 

• Melt the butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat

• Stir in the pecans and brown sugar
• Bring the butter-sugar-pecan mixture to a boil, over medium high heat. 

• Boil for two minutes
• Pour the hot mixture over the cinnamon graham cracker and spread it evenly over the crackers.

• Sprinkle with the desired amount of coarse, or fine sea salt that you want over the crackers. I used fine sea salt and just sprinkled it across the top of the caramel. 
• Bake for ten minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Let cool completely before cutting and removing from the pan.
• Store in a container with a tight fitting lid if you have any left after cutting them and eating one, or two, or the whole pan!

Sallee's Six - Sweet September Snacks

1. Chocolate Chow Mein 

• Microwave 1/4 cup each of peanut butter, butter, and chocolate chips until melted. 
• Put 3 cups of chow mein noodles, 3 cups of Chex mix cereal, 1/2 cup peanuts, and 1/2 cup raisins into a large bowl. 
• Pour the melted chocolate mixture over the cereal and stir lightly until the cereal and noodles are evenly coated. 
• Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and toss lightly until the powdered sugar is evenly distributed. 
• Store in an airtight container.

2. Apple Moons

• Slice an apple into wedges. 
• Spread each wedge with peanut butter and then press granola on top. 

3. Ricotta Apple Pockets

• Roll out pizza dough 1/4 inch thick. 
• Cut the dough into three inch rounds. 
• Fill with ricotta cheese, diced apple, and a pinch of cinnamon sugar
• Brush the dough edges with beaten egg, fold the round in half, and press the edges to seal.
• Poke a hole in the top of each round, then bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. 

4. Chex Pumpkin Pie Crunch                            Click Here for the recipe
5. Chex Funfetti Cake Batter Buddies                  Click Here for the recipe
6. Chocolate Coconut Graham Crackers             Click Here for the recipe