The most simple baked brie en croute ever!

My 4 year old is currently throwing a tantrum and my 2 year old is looking at her wondering what is up. I figured now is a good time as any to finish sharing a delicious and simple appetizer with you all. I need to mentally detach myself for a minute. 

Two weekends ago I made a simple baked brie with raspberry preserves for a gathering and it was delicious. All you need is a few ingredients and it rates low on the difficulty scale and high on the delivery scale. I fell in love with baked brie when my neighbor made it for one of our gatherings last year.

Ingredients

* Wheel of brie cheese (7-8 ounce size)
* 1 sheet of thawed puff pastry
* Whatever you might want to add such as orange marmalade, raspberry preserves, honey, jelly, or nuts
* 1 egg for brushing the pastry before baking.
* A little bit of flour (about 2 tbs)

Instructions

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lay out a piece of parchment paper on your work surface and dust it a little with flour.

Step 2: Lay your thawed puff pastry sheet on the parchment paper and just stretch it out a little bit with your rolling pin. The idea here is to just make it a little thinner and wider.

Step 3: Place brie right in the center and slather your jelly, marmalde, or what have you all over the cheese wheel. I used smuckers raspberry preserve. 

Step 4: Wrap your brie with the puff pastry. All I did was fold each corner over the cheese. It's hard to make it perfect so at the end just close it as best as you can. It will come out looking great however you do it. 

Step 4: Brush the pastry all over with egg, transfer brie on parchment paper over to baking sheet  and pop it in the oven for 35-40 minutes. You want it to be golden brown. 

Step 5: Let the baked brie cool for about 5 minutes and transfer to serving platter. 

There you have it. Easy peasy. I find baked brie is best served with water crackers. You can also add grapes and nuts. Some people even drizzle honey over the puff pastry. With thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner it's a fantastic appetizer to bring to your gatherings.

Have a great Thursday!

Scrumptious raspberry muffins!

I haven't posted a recipe in awhile so here's one the girls and I tried on Monday. I cook 5-6 days a week so I really should be sharing more but I don't always try something new. Some weeks it will be several new dishes and some weeks it's just a rotation of my usual things. I love baking, but I consider cooking to be a chore sometimes mainly because the girls make it really hard to focus. They constantly trapeze through the kitchen opening drawers, taking out things, or asking for snacks. It really puts a damper on trying to be Alton Brown and most of the time I'm rushing through it so I can get them fed and out of the kitchen.

These are great for an afternoon snack or for a quick to-go breakfast if you're running out the door. We really enjoyed these and will be making them again!

Ingredients

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup whole milk

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 rounded cups raspberries

Course sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400F. Put liners in muffin cups or lightly spray with non-stick baking spray.
2. On medium-low, mix together butter, brown sugar, milk, and egg in a bowl until combined well. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add to milk mixture and mix until just combined. Fold in raspberries.
3. Divide batter among muffin cups - it's two scoops of a #20 scoop per muffin cup, if you're a scooper like me. Sprinkle tops with course sugar (if using) and bake until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Source: Confections of a foodie bride