pecans

Not-Too-Sweet Granola

Leah Short — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 14:22:03 +0000

My reign of stinginess is over. I got this recipe for granola from my boss and it has ruled my breakfast for months. I teased about it back in April on instagram…twice. Shame on me for just now sharing it. It’s the first time I’ve ever made my own granola and what a hit! I’ve actually never even purchased granola, as it never appealed to me, but my boss was eating it in a meeting one morning with blueberries and Greek yogurt and I was all about it!

I’ve tweaked her recipe a bit to my liking and you can play around with the ingredients as well. In the Fall it would be great with pumpkin pie spice. Not a fan of cashews? Swap in walnuts or add more pecans. It’s really easy to change it up to your liking or what’s in your pantry.

I also halved the original recipe. A half recipe lasts me almost two weeks, but if you’re making this for more people, it’s easily doubled. What’s great about this recipe is that it’s real ingredients and not very sweet. Hence me renaming it Not-Too-Sweet Granola. It’s tasty on its own, but it’s the bee’s knees with yogurt and fruit.

The yogurt adds creaminess and tang, while the fruit adds natural sweetness. Sweet, tangy, crunchy, creamy…it hits on all the feels and that’s just what you need to start any morning right!

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Pumpkin Pecan Spice Cookies

Leah Short — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 20:39:26 +0000

Is it just me or is 2015 flying by? I swear it was just the other day when we wrapped up Cooking Baking Day 2014 and here I am reporting on what we made this year already! Our 2015 Cooking Baking Day was a few weekends ago and we sure had a blast! It’s getting harder for me to pick out which cookies we make because after five years, we’ve gone through a lot of varieties! I try to have something chocolate, something not chocolate, and something colorful. We always make Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies and this year I promoted these Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies to the annual list. They are so freakin’ good! They deserved it!

On my “something not chocolate” list were these Pumpkin Pecan Spice Cookies. I kind of hesitated on them because I feel like by this time of year, everyone is sick of pumpkin spice. I couldn’t resist though. Pecans!

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Rustic Squash Tarts

Leah Short — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 18:19:23 +0000

This Rustic Squash Tart is one of those recipes I love because it’s so unique and the presentation is really pretty. It looks like you put a lot of effort into it, but it’s really quite easy. Well, other than peeling butternut and acorn squash. It’s unique because the top is savory with the two squashes covered in herbs, but hidden underneath is a layer of spiced, sweet pecans. It sounds really odd, I know, but it just works. Baked in a flaky puff pastry, this tasty side will steal the show.

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Fall Harvest Popcorn

Leah Short — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 17:30:10 +0000

I’ve said many times before on this blog how I love “weird” combinations of food. If there’s an odd ingredient in a dish, I want to make it. I’m fascinated by ingredients I would never think to put together and how they usually end up working in a dish. Luckily my friend Carol is this way too and when she flipped through my Food Network magazine, she was drawn to their Name This Dish recipe. It’s popcorn with a savory twist mixed with pecans, cranberries, and apple chips. I’ve taken the liberty to name it Fall Harvest Popcorn, since I’m never as creative as the folks that win those naming contests. I’ll keep you posted on the winning name. This snack combination is perfect since it’s savory and sweet. No more vicious circles of snacking, just pure gluttony!

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Cinnamon Roll Quick Bread

Leah Short — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 19:43:18 +0000

Remember that Pumpkin Quick Bread a few posts back? This incredible Cinnamon Roll Quick Bread was the second flavor I made that same day. I mean when they say quick, they mean quick! This bread was easy, but required a bit more work than the pumpkin version. I had to get out the mixer and it was a bit more involved with the pecan-cinnamon swirl middle, but still a quick bread and very much worth it! Certainly faster than making homemade cinnamon rolls. I brought both breads to work and this one was by far the favorite. Which is funny because I liked the pumpkin best out of the oven, but this one proved to hold up and get better the next day. You can’t go wrong with a cinnamon roll bread complete with glaze!

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Dark Chocolate Blueberry Clusters

Leah Short — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 14:11:53 +0000

Occasionally a recipe comes along and you lose your mind. Three ingredients mixed together in these Dark Chocolate Blueberry Clusters and I went bonkers. I could not keep my hand out of the bowl and devoured this entire recipe in a matter of hours. I say hours instead of minutes because I did muster up just a teeny, tiny bit of self-control. Mostly due to having to save some to photograph. Thank goodness they’re somewhat healthy or I’d be in bad shape, literally. If you’ve got a mean sweet tooth like I do, you’re going to enjoy this treat and not feel a damn bit of guilt about it!

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Ultimate Coffee Cake

Leah Short — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 14:01:29 +0000

Y’all. This Ultimate Coffee Cake has me swooning like the first time I ever laid eyes on Bradley Cooper. (Any Alias fans out there?) A couple of weeks ago, I was playing “let’s see what’s in the freezer” and found the remaining dinner roll balls from this Savory Monkey Bread. I wanted to use them up and vaguely remembered a coffee cake from Paula Deen. Turns out I had everything I needed except for one ingredient. Easy enough. Let’s use up those rolls!

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German Chocolate Cake Cookies

Leah Short — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 14:59:52 +0000

Another successful cookie baking day is in the books! Last Saturday mom and I did our annual cookie baking. Six different recipes of all kinds of cookies! First up were these German Chocolate Cake Cookies. You’ll notice there’s no actual German chocolate in the recipe, but it’s still got that fabulous combination of chocolate, pecans, and coconut. If you’re a chocoholic like me, you’re going to love these! We scooped our dough a little smaller than the recipe called for, so it made a lot of cookies. The more the merrier, right?!

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Pumpkin Spice Cake with Chocolate Pecan Filling

Leah Short — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 16:11:58 +0000

Now is this a ginormous chocolate monstrosity or what? I took these pics with my phone, so excuse the quality, although I’m not sure my fancy camera would have done any better with this chocolate blob. I was super excited about this Pumpkin Spice Cake with Chocolate Pecan Filling. It combines the best of three worlds in holiday baking: pumpkin, pecans, and chocolate. Getting it to look as good as the Food Network’s version proved to be quite the unachievable feat.

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Sweet Potatoes and Roasted Bananas with Honey

Leah Short — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 16:00:44 +0000

This is the last of the sides from our Thanksgiving. I really do enjoy a good sweet potato casserole. It’s almost as much of a staple as dressing. I wanted something a little different this year, so I instantly picked this Sweet Potatoes and Roasted Bananas with Honey version. It’s a pretty simple dish with sweet potatoes, bananas, and honey topped with classic brown sugar and pecans. I had never roasted bananas before, so I was excited to try a new baking skill!

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