One of the most requested dinners at our house is homemade meatballs. My kids love these, even my kids who aren’t big meat eaters.
I adapted this recipe from a meatloaf recipe my cousin Skye O. put in the family cook book 11 years ago. I think I was running short on time and decided to make meatballs instead of meatloaf to decrease the cooking time. It was a hit. I also increased the sauce to make sure the meatballs all get covered.
This is an easy recipe that takes a little time to prep, but is so delicious.
They aren’t Italian, or Spicy, or Vegan, but they are covered in Brown Sugar and tomato sauce and are sweet and mouthwatering. We love to eat them over rice, or our favorite, Quinoa Rice.
Most ingredients can be found in your pantry or fridge. I have also added extra veggies and fresh herbs, like shredded zucchini or basil at times. My kids still loved them.
I hope you enjoy this family favorite recipe. Play around with it by adding some of your favorite herbs and veggies. It is sure to please.
List of Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 C. milk
- 3 slices of bread, torn into pieces
- 1/2 C. chopped onion
- 1/2 C. grated carrot
- 1 C. shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese
- 1 T. chopped parsley
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1 1/2 lb. ground pepper
- 1 1/2 lb. ground beef
- 2 cans (8 oz each) tomato sauce
- 1 C. packed brown sugar
- 2 tsp. prepared mustard
To start, spray a pan with non-stick cooking spray and set the oven to 350 degrees.
Start by beating the eggs and milk together. Tear 3 pieces of bread into small pieces and add it to the egg mixture. Let this sit for a few minutes to allow the liquid to soak into the bread. I like to use the ends of the bread loafs when making this recipe.
Grate the carrots and chop the onions while waiting for the milk to soak into the mixture. Then stir in the veggies, cheese, herbs, and seasonings.
Add the meat and mix well.
I like to use a medium cookie baller to make the meatballs. It’s easy, and a lot less messy than rolling them by hand. You can also buy tools to make round meat balls and super fast meat balls on Amazon: check out these links below:
*Yes, I have an Amazon Influencer’s account and make a tiny commission off of your purchase. Honestly, it’s not much, last month (December 2020, I made about $20.00.) I greatly appreciate your add clicks and purchases, they help to offset the cost of running a private blog.
Once you have all the meatballs made, put them in the oven for 15 minutes.
While the meatballs are in the oven, make the sauce. It’s just two small cans of tomato sauce, one cup of brown sugar, and 2 teaspoons of mustard. Mix together in a medium mixing bowl.
Once the meatballs have been in the oven for 15 minutes, pour the sauce over the meatballs and return them to the oven for another 15 minutes. Double check to make sure you didn’t accidentally turn the oven off after the first 15 minutes.
Serve over rice or with potatoes. My kids love this recipe and will eat about 4-5 meatballs each. I hope you love these.
To make this recipe into Meatloaf instead of Meatballs:
- Form mixture into one large loaf.
- Cut the sauce recipe in half.
- Bake first for 45 minutes, add sauce, then bake for another 30 minutes.
- Occasionally spoon the sauce over the meatloaf.
Meatloaf Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 C milk
- 3 slices of bread torn into pieces
- 1/2 C chopped onion
- 1/2 C grated carrot
- 1 C cheddar or mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1 T chopped parsley
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1.5 lbs ground beef
- 1 C tomato sauce
- 1 C brown sugar
- 2 tsp prepared mustard
Instructions
- Spray shallow cooking pan with non-stick cooking spray and heat oven to 350°F.
Meatballs
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs and milk together.
- Add bread and let stand a few minutes to allow the liquid to absorb into the bread.
- Meanwhile, chop the onions and grate the carrots if needed.
- Stir in the onions, carrots, cheese, herbs, and seasonings.
- Add beef and mix well.
- Shape mixture into meatballs and place on pan.
- Bake in oven and set a timer for 15 minutes.
Sauce
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, and mustard.
- When the meatballs have cooked for 15 minutes, take them out of the oven, cover them in the sauce and return them to the oven for another 15 minutes or until cooked.
- Enjoy with rice or potatos.
If you liked this recipe, check out our favorite Blueberry Muffins, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, and Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup Recipes.
14 Day Expert Sweet Pickle Recipe – My Favorite Food
Ever since I was a kid, my Grandma’s sweet pickles have been my favorite food. I love these crunchy morsels of flavor! Every family party had a bowl of these served in one of my grandma’s glass jelly bowls. They remind me of family and parties and holidays. But most of all they remind me of my grandma. She is living at my parents house now and getting a little forgetful. I’m glad that I was able to learn how to make her pickles from her many years ago.
Expert Sweet Pickles are no easy task. It takes planning and dedication to pull these off. Since my grandma can’t make it around to everybody’s house to teach you how to make these, I will walk you through this step by step.
Click here to watch a video of how I make the sweet pickles.
First and most importantly, is the planting of the right kind of cucumbers. You can buy pickling cucumbers from my local fruit stands in the summer but it is so expensive!!! If you can grow your own garden, I highly recommend buying a little package of seeds and growing your own cucumbers.
My grandma would always plant Marketmore 76 Cucumbers and that is what I like to plant also. If you don’t have Marketmore 76 cucumbers, you want small pickling cucumbers. Not large slicing cucumbers. I have tried this recipe with other cucumbers but do prefer the Marketmore 76 for taste, texture, and crunch.
I like to plant a few hills of cucumbers. The more the merrier. You will want to pick the cucumbers when they are little about 3-4 inches long. Sometimes I have larger cucumbers that have been hidden “sneaky cucumbers”, I cut them in half and use them but not large fat cucumbers. Those are best to be sliced and eaten fresh on a salad or fed to the bunnies.
I pick the cucumbers in my garden every 3 to 4 days. Sometimes I don’t have enough cucumbers to make a batch of pickles. I’ll put the cucumbers in bag in the fridge to keep them fresh until I can pick more cucumbers and have a larger batch. It’s best to have 50-75 cucumbers in a batch of pickles.
Day 1: After you have picked enough cucumbers, wash them and place them in a pickling crock or a bucket. I use a 3 gallon stone crock that is made for preserving foods. However, these can be a little pricy so when I have two batches going at once, I use a 2 gallon bucket for whichever batch is smaller.
Next, I make a batch of salt water (salt brine). I typically use Morton Canning and Pickling Salt. Whatever you use, make sure it’s Canning and Pickling Salt because it is designed to make a salt brine with salt crystals that are flavorful and intended for pickling. Morton, Ball, and Mrs. Wages are all good canning and pickling brands.
To make the salt brine, combine 2 cups of pickling salt with 1 gallon of water in a large pot. Stir and heat to a boiling. Then pour over the cucumbers.
Now you will want to use weights or plates to weigh the pickles down so they don’t float. You can purchase weights that are intended specifically for weighing down pickles while in the brine, or you can use a few heavy plates that fit inside the crock or bucket. Honestly, I use a couple heavy plates, just like my grandma used to.
Now set it in a corner and forget it. Day 1 is done, easy right?
Day 2 – 7: Remove the weights or plates and stir the pickles with a long wooden spoon. Replace the weights and plates carefully trying to get all of the cucumbers submerged in the brine. Repeat this once a day. So EASY!
Stirring the pickles once a day discourages a film to form. You may not notice anything the first few days, but towards day 5 and 6 you will notice that the brine is a little cloudy and the pickles are starting to change color. This is normal.
Day 8: Pour the cucumbers into a large strainer in the sink. Rinse cucumbers and wash out the container. Next you are going to cut the cucumbers into bite size pieces about 1/2″ thick. Put the cucumbers back into the container.
Make a batch of alum water by combining 1 Tablespoon of alum with 1 gallon of hot water. Bring to a boil and make sure the alum is dissolved. Pour into the container over the pickles. Weigh down with a clean plate.
Alum is what makes the pickles nice and crispy. This recipe calls for alum. I have also used Mrs. Wages Xtra Crunch in my dill pickle recipes. I plan on trying a batch of sweet pickles next summer with Mrs. Wages Xtra Crunch instead of Alum.
Day 9 & 10: Each day, strain the pickles into a large strainer; pouring the alum water down the drain. Return the cucumbers to the container. Make a fresh batch of alum water each day with 1 gallon of water and 1 Tablespoon of alum. Bring to a boil and pour over the cucumbers. Weigh down with a plate.
Day 11: Drain the cucumbers and wash the container. Let cucumbers drain in the sink while you make the syrup.
To make the syrup, combine 10 Cups of Sugar, 5 Cups of White Vinegar, 18 drops of cinnamon oil, 18 drops of clove oil, and 2 Tablespoons of celery seeds. You can also add a few drops of green food coloring if you want to make the pickles a darker green, this is optional. One time my mom made a batch blue for fun.
Return the pickles to the cleaned container. Then bring syrup to a boil and pour over the pickles. Weigh down with a clean plate.
Day 12 & 13: Using the plate to keep the pickles in the container, pour the syrup into a large pan. Don’t drain the syrup down the sink! Reheat the syrup to a boil and pour back over the pickles. Make sure the pickles are weighed down and not floating. Repeat this process each day.
Day 14: Last day! You made it! Time to put the pickles in the jars.
First make sure you have clean jars. Pint jars or half pint jars work great. I have used quart jars before when I have run out of pint jars.
Just like you did on days 12 and 13, pour the syrup into a large pan. Pack the pickles into the jars. I use a canning funnel to help get the pickles in. ONLY pack the pickles to just under the neck of the bottle. You will fill the syrup up to the neck of the bottle and don’t want the pickles to be too high and not covered in syrup. You can find one in a canning kit like this from Amazon.
Once all the jars are packed, heat the syrup on the stove to a boil. Pour the syrup into the bottles just up to the neck. You need to cover the pickles and leave a headspace in the jar.
Heat water in a large sauce pan on the stove. Heat the lids in the water for just a little while. Using a paper towel dipped in the hot water, clean the tops of the jars off making sure everything is clean with no syrup or celery seeds that could cause the jars not to seal.
Once the jars are clean, put the lids on the jars and screw on a ring to the jar. Tighten the lids until just tight, don’t over tighten the rings. I use a magnetic lid tool to get the rings out of the hot water.
When the water in the large sauce pan has come to a boil, you are ready to seal your lids. You are going to flip each jar over and put them top side down into the boiling water. You want the water to come up about an inch or two on the jars. Not all the way to the top. Move quickly and get as many jars in to the pan as you can.
Set a timer for 5 minutes. Let the jars stay in the boiling water.
After 5 minutes in the water, you are going to want to use two hot pads to get the jars out of the boiling water. Quickly flip each jar over and place on a towel on the countertop.
Repeat this process until all the jars have been in the boiling water for 5 minutes.
Now let them sit on the countertop for one day. Do Not Touch the Tops! You don’t want to force a seal of the lids. You will know they are sealing when you hear a POP!
Check each lid the next day to see if they sealed. If they didn’t seal, take the lid off, clean the top, and repeat the sealing steps. Some problems may be chips in your jar tops or stuff on the inside of the lids. Try again.
You can always, make the pickles and keep in your fridge for a while if you don’t want to seal them. However, I always like the pickles more when they have had time to sit and soak up the syrup for a few months.
Enjoy with Crackers, Cheese, and Meat. I love to eat them with Roast Beef and on Roast Beef Sandwiches. I also love them diced up into small pieces in egg salad and a little of the syrup in deviled eggs. They are great with veggie trays and as a snack for parties. How else do you like to eat them?
Expert Sweet Pickles
Ingredients
- 50-75 pickling cucumbers (about 3" to 4" in length, not fat)
- 2 C coarse pickling salt
- water
- 3 Tbsp alum (use 1 TBSP at a time)
Pickling Syrup
- 10 C sugar
- 5 C vinegar
- 18 drops cinnamon oil
- 18 drops clove oil
- 2 Tbsp celery seeds
- green food coloring (optional)
Instructions
Day 1
- Wash pickling cucumbers and place in a stone crock or large container.
- Combine pickling salt and 1 gallon of water.
- Bring to a boil and pour over cucumbers.
- Weigh cucumbers down with preserving weights or heavy plates.
Day 2-7
- Remove weights or plates and stir pickles once a day.
- Replace the weights and plates making sure cucubmers are emursed in the salt brine.
Day 8
- Pour cucumbers into a large strainer. Rinse thoroughly with cold water.
- Wash container also.
- Cut off both tips of the cucumbers and toss, you don't want to use about 1/4" of each end. Cut cucumbers into bite size chunks or desired size and return to container.
- Make alum solution by combining 1 gallon of water and 1 Tbsp of Alum.
- Bring alum solution to a boil then pour over pickles in container.
- Weigh cucumbers down with preserving weights or heavy plates.
Day 9 & 10
- Drain cucumbers into a strainer.
- Make new alum solution each day with 1 gallon of water and 1 Tbsp of Alum.
- Bring alum solution to a boil then pour over pickles in container.
- Weigh cucumbers down with preserving weights or heavy plates.
Day 11
- Drain cucumbers into a strainer.
- Wash container.
- Return cucumbers to the container.
- Make syrup by combining sugar, vinegar, cinnamon oil, clove oil, celery seeds, and green food coloring.
- Stir and bring to a boil and pour over pickles in container. Careful not to let this boil over the pan! It bubbles quickly once it boils.
- Weigh cucumbers down with preserving weights or heavy plates.
Day 12 & 13
- Each day drain the syrup solution into a pan, leaving the cucumbers in containter.
- Bring syrup to a boil.
- Pour over cucumbers and weigh down.
Day 14
- Drain the syrup solution into a pan.
- Pack cucumbers into clean hot glass canning jars.
- Bring syrup to a boil.
- Fill jars with syrup just up to the neck of the jar making sure to cover the cucumbers.
- Clean the top of the jars.
- Heat lids in hot water then put one lid and a ring on each jar.
- Heat 2 inches of water to a boiling in a large pot.
- Flip jars upside down and place in boiling water.
- Process for 5 minutes.
- Flip jars over and place on a towel on the contertop.
- Let sit for a day. Don't touch.
Day 15
- Check to make sure each jar sealed.
- If they didn't seal, repeat sealing process from day 14.
- If they did seal, clean jars so they aren't sticky, dry, and put in pantry.
The Best Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake Ever
If you have ever planted one zucchini plant in your garden, you will know that one plant can feed a neighborhood for the entire summer. Why is it that this plant can produce 10-15 huge zucchinis in one week? Why can’t it be a more appealing fruit like a pineapple. I would love to have 10-15 fresh pineapples come off of my zucchini plant in one week. Why does it have to be zucchini that takes over the entire garden?
I feel like planting a zucchini plant should almost be a crime because people start sneaking around and leaving zucchini on porches and in cars and leaving them in baskets by the side of the road. “Free – Please take some… Please!” Even mothers start hiding zucchini in every dish they can get away with. It started with bread and now has moved to cakes, pancakes, meatballs… etc.
This year we planted one plant. It is now huge and producing many zucchinis a week. I try to pick them while they are young and little, but somehow, I still end up missing one and finding it later when it’s huge.
Small zucchinis are perfect for steaming and eating as a vegetable, making zoodles with and dicing into other vegetable side dishes. Large zucchinis are best for peeling, seeding, shredding, and adding into breads and other baked goods.
Once the zucchini gets too big, it’s best to just make a boat out of it and send it down the river.
This is our favorite chocolate zucchini cake. I have already made it twice this summer. It’s delicious! And if you think like my husband, it’s nutritious too because it has zucchini in it, so you can eat your cake and get your veggies too!
I added Flaxseed to the recipe and it was great! It’s completely optional, but if you are like me and bought a huge bag of flaxseed from Costco and are looking for recipes to through it into, give it a try!
First step make sure you have all the ingredients and grate the zucchini. If you have more than 2 cups, you can freeze it in freezer bags in 2 cup increments so you can make this recipe again in the winter. I use a kitchen aid mixer with a grater attachment to grate the zucchini. Works like a charm!!!
You don’t have to put this cake in a bundt cake pan. I did for fun. You can make it in a couple loaf pans, a 9X13 cake pan, or even as yummy muffins.
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 4 Tbsp cocoa
- 2 Tbsp ground flax seed (optional)
- 2 cups grated zucchini
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Cream together butter, oil, sugar and brown sugar.
- Add eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk.
- In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Then add to creamed mixture.
- Add grated zucchini and chocolate chips, stir well.
- Pour into a greased pan. (Bundt pan, 9×13 inch baking pan, 2 loaf pans…)
- (Option 2: save brown sugar and chocolate chips until the end. Mix together and sprinkle over cake batter.)
- Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.
Enjoy and serve on something pretty!
Here are some of my favorites:
Peanut Butter Cookies
This recipe is an old family favorite. A tried and true recipe from my Grandpa John.
Currently we are “sheltering at home” during the Coronavirus pandemic. I made a batch of these cookies because they are so good and we all were in need of a little comfort food.
It made 4 dozen cookies.
That same day, we found out our friend cut his finger almost off and had to have emergency surgery to put it all back together. I asked if he would like some cookies and dropped some off on his porch.
Is it weird that we have to ask our neighbors if they would like something we would normally give so freely? Nobody wants anybody else’s germs. Is social distancing going to turn us all into germaphobes? When will we be able to get back to a normal, social, life?
For now, enjoy this yummy Peanut Butter Cookie recipe and maybe you can find someone to share it with.
Much love from my family to yours.
Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 C white sugar
- 1 C brown sugar
- 1 C butter
- 1 C peanut butter
- 3 C flour
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 pkg. Peanut Butter Chips
Instructions
- Cream butter, sugars, and peanut butter together in a mixer.
- Add eggs and vanilla. Mix.
- Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Add peanut butter chips, use a large spoon to hand mix until dispersed throughout dough.
- Make into 1 inch balls, put on a cookie sheet.
- Press flat with a fork in 2 directions.
- Bake at 350° for 13 minutes or just until light golden.
If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you should get one! I love mine and use it for cookies and meatballs.
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
I came across this Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins 15 years ago. It quickly became one of our family favorite recipes and my go to way to use ripe bananas. My family always gets excited when they find out that I’m making these.
These don’t last long at my house. With 4 growing kids and a husband who works from home, these go very quickly. I usually end up doubling the recipe if I have more bananas.
Over the years I have tweaked the recipe until I finally feel like its perfect. Although, my husband did love when they would come out gooey but I was always worried about them being undercooked and going to get us sick.
If you want to try them a little gooeyer, use 1/2 cup less flour and only cook them for 12 minutes. That’s close to the original recipe.
Next time you have ripe bananas, give this recipe a try. Let me know how it goes for you! We love it!
I remember the big windstorm that of 2011. We were living in Farmington Utah and our city was hit with 110 mph winds. There was a lot of damage and trees down. Then we got word that another windstorm was on its way. Church was canceled and all able bodied hands were asked to go help clean up the debris so it wouldn’t cause more damage in the storm to come.
My husband headed out with the work crews, but I was pregnant and home with 2 young kids. I remember thinking, “What can we do to help?” By some divine design, my mother had left on a trip a couple days earlier and had left me 2 bunches of ripe bananas. Now I knew exactly what we were going to do with the bananas.
The kids and I made a bunch of banana chocolate chip muffins and drove around the neighborhood to all the crews we could find passing out these muffins.
The next time life gives you a bunch of ripe bananas, maybe you can make a bunch of muffins for your neighbors.
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter (softened)
- 1 ¼ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 2 very ripe bananas
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Line 2 muffin tins with 18 paper liners. Fill extra muffin cups 1/2 full of water if needed.
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time.
- Add the vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- Slowly add dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just blended.
- In the same bowl the dry ingredients were just in, mash the 2 bananas.
- Mix the bananas into the batter until just mixed.
- Add the choclate chips. Mix until just disperesed. Don't over mix.
- Spoon the batter evenly into the 18 muffins cups.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown.
Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup
Yesterday was the first day of the kids being out of school due to the Coronavirus. Making sure family and friends are well and taken care of has now become the most important thing in everyone’s lives. Nobody knows what tomorrow is going to bring and what new closures are going to happen and for how long.
Thankfully we are doing well. We have always had a good food storage supply. I didn’t even go shopping during the chaos of the weekend, although my husband did go get a couple bags of cat food. We will be okay.
My husband bought a cauliflower a little over a week ago, before all of the chaotic shopping began. I had most of the ingredients needed to make this recipe, which is one of our family favorites. I did swap out the half and half for a can of evaporated milk and I didn’t have pepper jack cheese, so I only used sharp cheddar.
It still tasted so good! My kids loved it and ate it up so fast. We barely had one bowl left over (which I ate for lunch today.)
Even after this crazy pandemic passes, this comfort food soup is the best! I know you will love it!
Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients
- 3 T butter
- 1 cup onion
- ¼ cup flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 cup milk
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 (14.5 oz.) can chicken broth
- 1 head cauliflower (about 2.5 lbs)
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 ½ cups sharp cheddar cheese
- ½ cup pepper jack cheese
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large sauce pan and add chopped onion. Saute for about 10 minutes until onions are translucent and golden.
- Slowly add flour and stir to make a roux.
- Heat while stirring for a couple minutes until roux is a golden brown.
- Mix the half and half and milk together. Slowly add to the roux in small increments keeping the roux hot.
- Once all the milk is added, add the water and chicken broth, stir constantly.
- Add the chopped cauliflower.
- Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the cauliflower is tender. About 15 minutes. Stir occastionally.
- Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. (You can pour soup into a regular blender if you don't have an immersion blender. Be careful and vent the top and cover it with a paper towel to allow steam to release while reducing splatters.)
- Once everything is thoroughly blended, return it to the sauce pan.
- Heat over medium heat until hot, stirring occastionally.
- Remove saucepan from heat and add mustart and cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and smooth.
- Serve topped with a little cheese and oyster crackers.
What else do you do with all of the leftover cauliflower from veggie trays?
Blueberry Muffins That I Can’t Stop Eating
I love fresh blueberry muffins. And these muffins are so incredible, I just can’t stop eating them. They have a perfect crumble top and are so yummy! I found this recipe in our family cookbook, but have tweaked a couple things. I hope you enjoy this super yummy recipe
Fresh Blueberry Crumble Muffins
Ingredients
Muffin Batter
- 1 1/2 C flour
- 3/4 C sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1/3 C oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 C milk
- 1 C blueberries
Crumble Top
- 1/4 C softened butter
- 3/4 C flour
- 2/3 C sugar
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400°. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick spray. Set aside.
Muffin Batter
- Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl.
- In a 1 cup measuring cup, combine oil, vanilla, egg, and milk. Add enough milk to fill up the cup to the 1 cup line. Mix well.
- Wash the blueberries then gently add them to a small bowl. Take 1 TBSP of the dry ingredient mixture and toss with the blueberries to gently coat them.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until it's barely combined.
- Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Fill muffin tin evenly.
Crumble top
- Combine butter, flour, and sugar for cumble top.
- Stir until you get a nice crumble.
- Sprinkle genersously over the uncooked muffins. Fill the muffin tins to the top and then some.
Bake
- Bake fro 20-25 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean… unless you hit a blueberry, then it's going to come out blue/purple.)
I also want to shout out my favorite muffin pans: Rachael Ray nonstick muffin pans are the best!!! I have had my Rachael Ray pans for a few years now and I always prefer cooking with them. Clean up is so easy. I rarely have to scrub to get anything off of these. If you are looking for new cookware, seriously consider getting some Rachael Ray pans! (Not a paid endorsement.)
Tips to Making Fabulous Danish Aebleskivers
One of my favorite family traditions are Aebleskivers also known as Æbleskivers, Ebleskivers or Pancake Puffs or Pancake Balls. We love these tasty round pancake/doughnuts. We always eat Aebleskivers at my parent’s house on Christmas Day. My mom would also make tons of these for the youth in my church after they had been to the temple for an activity.
This family recipe was passed down from my Danish Mormon Pioneer Ancestors. It truly is a family tradition for many generations. My grandmother always gave her grandkids an aebleskiver pan as a wedding gift so they could continue the tradition in their family.
Over the years, our family has come up with some great tips to help the process of making so many aebleskivers easier. Read on for some great tips.
First, there are a few different types of Aebleskiver Pans you can buy and not all pans are created equal. We have collected a few different types over the years and can tell you exactly which one is better than the rest.
First, you want to buy a cast iron pan. Not an aluminum pan! Cast iron pans will cook more evenly, and the aebleskivers don’t stick to it as much.
Next, look for an aebleskiver pan with a lip around the edge (see the pictures below). The first picture is of a cast iron pan with a lip. The middle two pictures are of the same cast iron pan with no lip. The last picture is an aluminum pan with no lip. The lip helps control the heat so much better and will help with uniform heat throughout the pan.
This Camp Chef Aebleskiver Pan from Amazon is exactly what I would recommend.
Once you have a great pan, there are a couple other tools that we like that you may want to get but aren’t necessary.
The Pancake Batter Dispenser has made making aebleskivers so much easier! Just put the batter into the dispenser and squeeze a little out over each hole in the pan. No more messes! We also use ours for pancakes, crepes, and cupcakes!
The next useful tool we use are little water bottles with handles. We fill them with oil so we can easily pour the right amount of oil into each hole. These are useful but not necessary.
Here’s a similar water bottle I found on Amazon that you could try.
Another useful tool is a no contact thermometer gun. My brother usually brings his. But didn’t this year. It’s great to check to make sure the oil it hot enough and not too hot. If you want to go high tech, give it a try.
Now that you have all the right tools, let’s get to making some aebleskivers.
This is our family set up for Christmas Day. My mom makes 6 times this recipe for about 30 people. We always have a few leftovers. My oldest brother is the Aebleskiver maker extraordinaire every year. We all bring our own pans and have 5 pans cooking at once. (We did not use the aluminum pan.)
Start to heat the pans on medium high heat. Add a little oil to each hole. You don’t want the heat to be too hot or too low. It may take a little bit to find just the right temperature so you don’t burn them and so they cook nicely. We find that cooking on a gas stove works better than an electric. But use what you have.
For an expert turn, you only should turn the aebleskivers 1/4th of the way then a little more and then all the way over. When we are making so many, we don’t take the time to make them perfectly round. So some have a little ring around them. But that’s all okay, they still taste delicious.
Adding fresh fruit or fruit puree/jam is optional. We like our with raspberries and blueberries.
Aebleskivers
Equipment
- Aebleskiver Pan
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 C flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 2 C buttermilk
- 2 eggs, separated
- 3 T melted butter
- fresh raspberries or blueberries, optional
- vegetable oil
Topping Idea
- powdered sugar
- maple syrup
- fresh fruit
- buttermilk syrup
- fruit syrup
- whipped cream
Instructions
Aebleskiver Batter
- Sift dry ingredients.
- Beat egg yolks, add to milk.
- Combine with dry ingredients.
- Add melted butter.
- Beat egg whites until peaks form.
- Fold egg whites into mixture.
Bake in Aebleskiver pan
- Add about 1 Tbsp oil into each hole of the aebleskiver pan.
- Heat pan until oil is hot.
- Fill each hole with the batter.
- Optional: you can add one or two raspberries or blueberries to each hole. Gently push into the batter.
- Cook until batter starts to cook around the edges.
- Flip aebleskivers over using a wooden skewer or fork.
- For an expert turn, just turn it a quarter of the way, then a little more, then flip all the way over. (Or just flip it once. They still taste delicious.)
- Cook for a couple minutes more until lightly browned.
Eat and Enjoy
- Top with your favorite topping and enjoy.
- Tip: these may look small, but they are filling. Don't eat too many. Serving size about 5-6 is perfect.
I hope you give these tasty aebleskivers a try. They are so delicious and a family favorite. I’d love to see your post or pictures if you try them. Tag me @thejellohome or leave a comment below.
Thanksgiving Jello Turkeys
The best creative minds seek to reuse and create art form unexpected places.
This past November, as we were getting ready for a family dinner one Sunday, my mom was about to throw out the packages from the fun Turkey Butter Sculptures she had bought when I said, “WAIT! Don’t throw those out. Can I have them and make some jello turkeys out of them for Thanksgiving?”
Of course my mom didn’t mind, she was going to toss the packages. But one man’s junk is another man’s treasure and I knew that I had just scored 4 amazing turkey molds.
I used Keller’s Turkey Shaped Butter Sculpture packages to make the turkeys. My mom found them at the grocery store, but knowing that these are seasonal products, I found a few options on Amazon that you can try if you can’t find these exact packages. Also, I know Keller’s has Christmas Tree Shaped Butter Sculptures around Christmas time.
I washed the plastic molds in soapy water to get the leftover butter out and then dried them. What I like about the Butter Sculpture packaging is that you can snap the packaging together, turn it upside down and open the flap on the bottom. That way you can pour the jello straight into the molds.
It only takes four simple ingredients to make the jello turkeys. It’s super easy! But you will want to follow a few tips to make everything go easier.
Expert Jello Tips
- First off, don’t use the regular Jello recipe on the box! Use the jello jiggle recipe or the recipe from this post.
- Second, don’t pour hot jello into the molds. Let it cool down for a few minutes or you may melt the plastic molds. You need to let it start to set up just a little.
- Third, Put the butter sculptures on a plate or tray before pouring in the jello. A little bit of jello may get out through the cracks and make. a mess.
- Fourth, make sure to give the jello enough time to set up in the refrigerator.
- Fifth, heat some water on the stove and pour into a large bowl. After the water has cooled down for a few minutes, dip the turkey molds into the water for about 4 seconds to help them release from the molds.
- DO NOT place the molds into boiling hot water! I did this with the first turkey mold and quickly melted the mold and the jello turkey in just a couple seconds. (See how the orange turkey on the back row in the first picture leans to the side.) Ooops!
I so enjoyed bringing these turkeys to Thanksgiving dinner. All the kids loved them and either ate a whole or a half turkey. It’s fun to hear the kids talk about eating the turkey head etc.
I’d love to see your jello turkey creations or other jello mold creations. Please comment and leave a link below.
Jello Jiggler Turkeys
Equipment
- turkey molds or other desired shapes
Ingredients
- 1 pkg Jello/ flavored Gelatin (6 oz.)
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/2 C ice
Instructions
- Pour gelatin into a medium mixing bowl. Add boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved and not grainy anymore.
- Add whipping cream and ice to mixing bowl. Stir until the mixture is chilled, but before it starts to set up. Remove any leftover ice cubes.
- Let the gelatin sit in the refriderator for 3 minutes.
- Pour chilled gelatin into the turkey molds.
- Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or until gelatin seem to be set up.
- When you are ready to get the gelatin out of the molds, boil a few cups of water. Pour into a clean mixing bowl. Let the boiling water cool down just a little bit.
- Gently dip the plastic turkey mold into the hot water for just a couple seconds. This will help the gelatin release from the edge and not stick. I only needed to dip the mold into the hot water for about 4 seconds. Time needed to dip the mold in hot water depends on the thickness of the mold and if it is made of plastic, glass, or metal.
- Carefully remove the gelatin from the mold and place on serving dish.
- Enjoy.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Colored Base for Gelatin Flowers
You will want this recipe for eye-catching, beautiful flowers that stand out from within the clear gelatin base.
When I first started making gelatin flowers, I started with ingredients that I already had in my pantry. However, the colors were translucent and not very vibrant. A few of the must have ingredients that I use to create beautiful colors for the gelatin base are whipping cream and white food coloring.
At first I used milk instead of cream, however, once seeing the difference in the flowers and especially tasting the difference, I use whipping cream instead. It makes so much of a difference.
Next, I started adding white food coloring. It just made the colors pop and so beautiful. Here are a couple links to some on Amazon. The Americolor is a better deal for 6 oz. But the Wilton 2 oz. bottle is enough to get you started.
You will also need some syringes and needles before you get started. I have seen posts where people use cut straws to do this, but it is so much easier with the right tools. There are tons on Amazon to choose from, but here are some of my favorites. Also, if you want a starter kit will all of the things you need to get going, Check out the Gelatin Art Starter Kit.
Colored Base for Gelatin Flowers
Equipment
- Syringes
- Needles or Flower Tips
- Pan on the stove with a warm water bath to keep gelatin from setting up
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp gelatin powder
- 3 Tbsp cold water
- 1 Cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 Cup sugar
- 1 drop food flavoring
- 3/4 Tbsp white food coloring
Instructions
- First, make the clear gelatin recipe and make sure it is set before you begin creating the colored gelatin for the flowers.
- Mix gelatin with cold water and let stand for 5 minutes.
- Heat sugar with 1/2 Cup of cream in a sauce pan, stirring constantly. Remove from heat when vapor appears above the surface, do not let it boil.
- Add gelatin and stir until completely dissolved, then add the remaining 1/2 Cup of cream.
- Stir in one drop of food flavoring.
- Mix in the white food coloring using an emulsion blender, or a regular blender if you don't have an emulsion blender.
- Put back onto the stove on a very low heat to keep the gelatin warm. Stir occasionally.
- Get the clear gelatin out of the refridgerator. Cut a small circular hole in the middle of the top of the set clear gelatin.
- Pour some of the colored gelatin base into a small bowl or glass. Color it with food coloring.
- Using a syringe and a needle, inject the colored gelatin into the clear gelatin base. Play around with different techniques and designs and colors. It is easier than it looks and fun to create.
- Keep the colored gelatin woarm in the water bath while you are creating with other colors. You don't want the gelatin too hot or too cold. Also having boiling water in a couple other cups in the water bath is good to clean the needles and syringes when needed so they don't get clogged.
- Have fun!
Creating a mess is just part of the fun! Here’s a behind the scenes picture of the mess I create while making a flower.
Can you tell which flowers were made without white food coloring and used milk instead of heavy whipping cream? I can. The first two flowers are so much more translucent than the last two flowers. Trust me. There’s is a huge difference in real life.
