Basic Meatballs, any meat

Hot Mama Grade: A

Hot Mama Notes: These meatballs are simple, easy, and delicious! I used ground beef, panko, pepper, and a little bit of cumin. I think I also used onion and garlic powder, as well. They turned out surprisingly tasty! I had to cook them about 30 minutes on 375F. I used my oven thermometer to 160F for testing doneness. 

Cider Donuts

Hot Mama Grade: A-

Hot Mama Notes: Thesw donuts were super delicious but they fell apart. I will try to below recommendation to try to make them less soft next time. It was no issue, though. We just ate them with a fork. I wasn't able to pick them up to put in butter and sugar, so instead, Ai brushed the donuts with melted butter and sprinkled the cinnamon sugar over the top. 6T of butter is too much. 3T would be enough. And half the cinnamon sugar is enough. I don't think the butter is needed at all because the donuts are so moist.

In reading comments about this recipe, a lot of people used reduced apple cider for stronger cider flavor. I actually like them as is with a subtle cider flavor. There was also mention of cutting the sugar in the donuts down. I think that would be okay as they are very sweet. 

This is a tasty recipe but more work using the donut pan. I overfilled my donut pans because I wanted them all done in one oven run. As a result, the donuts have a bottom lip. Next time I will be more patient! 

I baked these for 20 minutes, not 13 to 15.

use 2 eggs still to bind the batter.

Oven Flank Steak

Ingredients:

Instructions:

Hot Mama Grade: A

Hot Mama Notes: This recipe was pretty fantastic! I liked it. The kids loved it. Win win! Will definitely make it again! I used my cast iron skillet in the oven. I preheated it for 30 minutes as specified. Next time I will roast veggies in it while it preheats! I didn't think about it this time. I roasted potatoes afterwards. I like the meat more well done so I did 5 minutes on one side and 5 minutes on the other. I took it out and let it rest for 10 minutes. The meat was 2.3ish lbs. I cut it against the grain. There were a few pieces pretty rare on the thick end, so I put them back in the skillet in the cooling oven for 5 minutes to cook them more.

I really liked the garlic and rosemary flavor! I let it sit for 30 minutes at room temp with the rub. Next time I will do full hour, but the timing didn't work out today.

Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies

From: https://buuckfarmsbakery.com/pistachio-toffee-chocolate-chip-cookies-gideons-copycat/

Ingredients 

1 C (226 g) Salted Kerry Gold Butter

3/4 C (165 g) Dark Brown Sugar

1/4 C (55 g) Granulated Sugar

1 Lg Egg + 1 Egg Yolk, at room temperature

2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

1 C (125 g) All Purpose Flour

1 1/4 C (165 g) Bread Flour

2 tsp Cornstarch

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

1 C (180 g) Chopped Pistachios

1 C (180 g) Mini Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

1 C (180 g) Chopped Toffee

Flaky Salt

Instructions 

Brown the butter and then let it cool for about 10 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the sugars and cooled brown butter for 3-4 minutes.

Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Mix for another 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, whisk the flours, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients 1/2 at a time and mix until just combined.

Add 90 g each (1/2 C) of the chocolate chips, pistachios, and toffee and fold into the dough with a rubber spatula.

Portion the dough into 6 giant 6.5 oz cookie dough balls. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes or until just firm enough to handle.

Mix the remaining chocolate chips, pistachios, and toffee in a bowl.

Remove the dough from the fridge and roll into balls in your hands then into the bowl of chocolate toffee and pistachios. Press the mixture into the dough so that it sticks and covers the entire ball except for the bottoms.

Chill at least 12 hours overnight, or up to 24 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Place 3 cookies on each sheet leaving room for them to spread.

Bake for 15-16 minutes, then bang the cookie sheet on the counter 5-6 times to help the cookies spread.

Use a spoon or mini rubber spatula to scoot in any runaway edges while the cookies are still hot.

Fill in any empty spaces with extra chocolate toffee or pistachios and top with flaky salt.

Let cool on the hot cookie sheets for 4-5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Hot Mama Grade: A

Hot Mama Notes: My coworker made these, and they were fabulous! I can't wait to bake some!