Thanksgiving Exclusive: Pumpkin Scones

On Thanksgiving, the main focus is always the family meal at lunch or dinnertime. Breakfast seriously gets the short end of the stick! And rightfully so: you don't want to eat a huge breakfast and not have any room for turkey, cranberries and stuffing. But still... you need something!

This recipes is a classic in the Arkansas Test Kitchen and is asked for repeatedly. Also, you can make this a day ahead; and warm the scones slightly in the microwave. When paired with a cup of coffee, this is an ideal Thanksgiving breakfast. 

 

Pumpkin Scones

 2 cups all-purpose flour
7 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
6 Tablespoons cold butter
½ cup canned pumpkin
3 Tablespoons half-and-half
1 large egg

For the Powdered Sugar Glaze:
1 cup plus 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger in a large bowl. Use a fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious; set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, half-and-half and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and form the dough into a ball. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle about 3 times as long as wide. Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut each of the portions in an X pattern (four pieces) so you end up with 12 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

4. To make the powdered sugar glaze, mix the powdered sugar and milk together until smooth. When scones are cool, use a brush to spread plain glaze over the top of each scone.

Adapted from

Brown Eyed Baker

 

There you have it: five Thanksgiving recipes the Cool Dads love. We can't wait to hear all about your family celebrations next week.

 

Stay Cool,

The Cool Dads Crew

Holiday Exclusive: Sauteed Zucchini & Squash

Here's a veggie side dish from the Arkansas Test Kitchen that Doug is more than a little obsessed with. After making our delicious macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes and rolls, why not round out the side dishes with something really simple and delicious?

Sautéed Zucchini and Squash

2 Zucchini
2 Squash 
1 - 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Sea salt (you can use table salt, but I prefer cooking with sea salt)
Ground black pepper

1. Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet
2. Cut zucchini and squash into 1/4" thick medallions
3. Salt and pepper the zucchini and squash to taste
4. Place half of the zucchini and squash mixture into the skillet and sauté until soft
5. Place the second half of the zucchini and squash mixture into skillet and sauté until soft
There you have it: easy and delicious! If you are only feeding a few people, you may want to only cook one zucchini and squash. This dish is also extremely easy to prepare on the grill. Instead of using the skillet, you would use a vegetable basket for the grill which you can find here at amazon. Instead of placing the Olive Oil in the skillet, brush the olive oil on the zucchini and squash as you place them in the basket.

Now for the 2nd recipe:

 Parmesan - Roasted Zucchini

2 zucchinis
Sea Salt
Ground black pepper
Garlic powder
Olive oil
Grated Parmesan cheese
 

1. Wash and cut off the ends of the zucchinis
2. Cut zucchinis in half length-wise, and then cross-wise (so you end up with 4 pieces of zucchini from each whole zucchini).
3. Brush olive oil on the cut side
4. Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese to taste
5. Place in a pre-heated oven to 400 degrees, and bake for 15 minutes

There you have it- our fourth holiday exclusive recipe of the week! We can't wait to share our final one with you tomorrow, and look forward to hearing about your Thanksgiving meals next week!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Holiday Exclusive: No-Knead Honey Rolls

On Thanksgiving the turkey and cranberry sauce may get all of the attention, but one thing the Arkansas test kitchen loves most is the homemade bread and rolls. Doug found a great recipe for honey rolls; and decided to give it a trial run before the big day!

No Knead Honey Rolls

1 (21 oz) package active dry yest
1 1/4 cups warm water
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt

1. In a large bowl dissolve yeast in warm water (at approx. 110 degrees)
2. Add remaining ingredients

3. Mix for approx. 3 minutes (if using a mixer, mix on low speed)
4. Cover and let rise in a warm place until dough doubles in size approx. 30 minutes (I placed mine on the stove while cooking other recipes for supper)

5. Preheat oven to 375
6. Spray a muffin pan with non stick cooking spray
7. Fill each muffin tin half full with dough (make sure to flour your hands really well)
8. Cover and let rise for 15 - 20 minutes

9. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until golden brown

Makes 12 rolls

Adapted from Six Sisters Stuff

The big day is a little over a week away! We can't wait to provide you with a few more recipes before Thanksgiving.

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

The Great Sweet Potato Show Down

It's an epic holiday debate in the Wisconsin test kitchen. Sweet potatoes... sweet or savory- what variety to make for Thanksgiving? We have some members that are opposed to the marshmallow topping, and we have others that crave it almost as much as pumpkin pie. So in an attempt to please everyone, we've started serving two different kinds of sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potatoes

6-8 medium sweet potatoes
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
20oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 t nutmeg
1 t cinnamon
Cook sweet potatoes until soft (about 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven). Peel. Slice and place in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over sweet potatoes. Cover. Cook on high for 4 hours

Savory Potatoes

6-8 medium sweet potatoes
1/2 cup orange juice
2 T butter
1 T cinnamon
1 T cumin powder
1 T nutmeg
sea salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Wash sweet potatoes, and poke holes in them with a fork. Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for 30-45 minutes or until tender. Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, let them cool slightly before cutting into them, and removing the meat of the potatoes from the skin- place in a large bowl.

Mash sweet potatoes and butter with a potato masher, slowly adding orange juice until absorbed (you might need to add more orange juice, depending on the size of the sweet potatoes). Add seasonings and adjust as needed- add salt and pepper to flavor. Serve warm.

Do you have the sweet vs. savory debate in your house? Which one wins? We can't wait to share more holiday recipes with you this week!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Holiday Exclusive: Macaroni and Cheese

If you love food and the holidays as much as our families do, then there's a good chance you're thinking ahead to your menu for next week Thursday. The Cool Dads Crew thought we'd pick some time-tested and favorite recipes and share them with our loyal readers. Our first recipe is a homemade macaroni and cheese that receives rave reviews whenever it makes an appearance. It's as much a part of our Thanksgiving table as the turkey and cranberries.

Mama's Three Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

1 16oz box elbow macaroni
2 eggs
1 12oz can evaporated skim milk
1/4 cup melted butter
2 T mustard
1 t sea salt
1 t pepper
8oz melted Velveeta
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese


Cook macaroni according to package directions.
In a bowl, whisk eggs, evaporated milk, mustard, butter, salt and pepper until combined.
Stir in melted Velveeta and 1 1/2 cups of each of the shredded cheeses. Stir in the pasta.

Pour into a greased 3 quart baking dish and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

We look forward to sharing more recipes with you throughout the week- and make sure you let us know what menu items your families can't live without during the holidays.
Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Football Friday: Crab Rangoons

It's been one of those weeks in both the Cool Dads Kitchens. It's been a whirlwind of recovering from illness, taking care of sick kids and dealing with all kinds of family related chaos. Long story short: the test kitchens didn't have chance to develop a new recipe for Football Friday. But, we don't want to leave our loyal fans hanging... So we've included a link to a crab rangoon recipe that has been tried and true here in the Wisconsin test kitchen. We've made these a ton of times, and they are delicious. Pair these with some sweet and sour sauce, or spicy mustard- and you've got a great Sunday afternoon football snack.

http://www.hungry-girl.com/show/movie-night-the-crab-rangoonies-recipe

What we may lack in new food innovations, we make up for with football predictions!

Buffalo vs. NYJ
Dad #1: NYJ
Dad #2: Bills

Baltimore vs. Chicago
Dad #1: Bears
Dad #2: Bears

Cleveland vs. Cincinnati
Dad #1: Bengals
Dad #2: Browns

Washington vs. Philadelphia
Dad #1: Eagles
Dad #2: Eagles

Detroit vs. Pittsburgh
Dad #1: Steelers
Dad #2: Lions

Atlanta vs. Tampa Bay
Dad #1: Falcons
Dad #2: Buccaneers

Jacksonville vs. Arizona
Dad #1: Cardinals
Dad #2: Cardinals

Oakland vs. Houston
Dad #1: Raiders
Dad #2: Texans

San Diego vs. Miami
Dad #1: Chargers
Dad #2: Chargers

New Orleans vs. San Francisco
Dad #1: Saints
Dad #2: Saints

Green Bay vs. NYG
Dad #1: Packers
Dad #2: Packers

Seattle vs. Minnesota
Dad #1: Seahawks
Dad #2: Seahawks

Kansas City vs. Denver
Dad #1: Broncos
Dad #2: Chiefs

New England vs. Carolina
Dad #1: Patriots
Dad #2: Panthers

Hope your weekend is full of family, football and fun!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Kids in the Kitchen: Chicken Nuggets

True confession from the Wisconsin test kitchen. Sometimes we feed our daughter Sawyer Happy Meals from McDonalds. I know, it's shameful. We pride ourselves on cooking at home and eating an organic sustainable diet. But every once in a while, we give into the siren song of the golden arches. Go ahead- judge away.

But, the way she scarfs down those strange, disgusting little chicken nuggets got us wondering... could we make chicken nuggets at home that she'd like as much as McDonalds? In a word... yes. And bonus: they're healthier, lower in sodium and made from actual chicken.

Cool Dads Chicken Nuggets

1lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup bread crumbs*
2T parmesan cheese
2 egg whites

**A note on the bread crumbs. Here in the Wisconsin test kitchen, we're extremely thrifty. We make our own breadcrumbs and keep them in the freezer to use for meatloaf, breadings, etc. So, we used a cup of these plain bread crumbs and mixed them with a few dashes of seasoning salt, Penzy's Sunny Paris seasoning, and 2T Parmesan cheese. Store bought bread crumbs will work just as well- just combine them with the 2T of Parmesan cheese.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees and coat a 9"x13" pan with non-stick cook spray.

Cut chicken breasts into roughly 1" pieces.

Crack eggs, and put egg whites in a separate bowl

Pour bread crumbs  and cheese into a ziplock bag.

Recruit help from your tiny kitchen helper.

Initially, Sawyer was NOT into the cooking process. But once I showed her how to dunk the chicken pieces into the egg white and then place them in the bag of bread crumbs-  and shake to cover them in crumbs- she was all about it. In fact, she ended up making ALL of the chicken nuggets for dinner that night! She was so proud of the fact she made dinner, she couldn't wait to tell her Daddy all about it when he got home from work that night.

So, to review: dunk raw chicken pieces in egg white- and put them in the bag with the bread crumbs. Shake the bag in order to get the chicken pieces completely covered in bread crumbs (listening to Luke Bryan's Country Girl (Shake It For Me) is recommended, but completely optional for this step). Remove the chicken pieces from the bread crumb bag, and place them in the baking dish.

Bake them at 400 degrees for 14 minutes, turning them over halfway through the cooking process.

The final result?

Sawyer's feedback was, "These are even better than the ones at McDonalds!" And she promptly ate seven chicken nuggets. The fact she got to help make dinner all by herself was a huge factor in how successful the meal was. There you have it... chicken nuggets so easy a five year old can make them.

Recipe courtesy of Taste of Home

This is what Cool Dads Cook is all about- providing you with healthy recipes your kids will eat, and will love to help prepare. We can't wait to share some of our favorite holiday recipes with you next week!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew