Instructables

I love the Instructables website. Lot's of how-to's on just about everything and lots of fun stuff in general. Plenty of things I wouldn't dare try but some, like the recipes I do. Here's a few shots of a few I tried, with the links to the relating Instructable. I don't want to detail these because the instructions are pretty good as is.

First thing was the Microwave-in-a-mug popcorn, for when you want just a little bit.

This worked great except I won't use a glass mug anymore because it gets screaming hot and stays that way for a long time. The photos are from the first try, as you can see I used too much popcorn so next time I know to use a little less.


Using the same mug (on a different day), I tried the Brownie for one, a "from scratch," single-serve brownie dessert that you can make as gooey as you like.

It wasn't pretty but it was very good. Definitely a quick fix for a chocolate urge.


I wanted to make thumbprint cookies for Christmas and searched for recipes. The one that looked the best to me were the Miniature Danish Cookies.


These were fun to make. I think I made them smaller than I should have but that just made more cookies, which isn't a bad thing at all. I also made chocolate thumbprints but that was another recipe (found here, minus the mint).


The latest Instructable I tried were the homemade Cadbury-like Creme Eggs.


Wow, these were awesome! Not an exact match to a Cadbury Creme Egg, but as close as you can get. I made a half batch of the linked recipe and that was about 12 mini eggs. I don't have egg molds so I made them into pops. I don't think it would be difficult at all to work our way through a whole batch, so next time I plan to make the full recipe. I froze a couple of them too, so I can see if they're good once defrosted. I stored the rest in the fridge. They didn't last long!

I have a bunch more Instructables saved as favorites to try sometime so I may have more experiments to post at some point. These were fun and easy, always a plus.

Fudgesicles

Super easy.

Three ingredients:

Soy milk
Glug of half & half (maybe 2 TBL worth)
Healthy squeeze of dark chocolate syrup

(amounts vary depending on how many pops, I used an 8.25oz single serve container of vanilla soy milk)

Mix well or pour into a bottle and shake well until syrup is dissolved.

Pour into your pop molds, freeze several hours or overnight.


Un-mold, usually have to dip the bottom part in hot water. For the molds I used I had to also dip the top part a second.


Enjoy!


I worried about the texture of frozen soy milk because even the Silk website says frozen then defrosted soy milks texture isn't good but supposedly it's fine for desserts/frozen items. And I've used soy milk for ice cream so this was a good experiment. A bit of an icy/watery texture but sufficiently creamy enough for a quick pop fix. Especially for those times when I can't fit my ice cream maker freezer bowl in the freezer, which is pretty often.

Pancakes

When I want pancakes I usually just open a mix but making them from scratch is so worth the effort. There are plenty of recipes out there and plenty of variations. For my first try at this I wanted something easy that didn't require buttermilk because I never buy that. I used a recipe from here but tweaked it by using some of the suggestions in the comments. Also used soy milk instead of milk. Results? A really light and delicate, very delicious pancake breakfast that was totally worth the minimal effort of measuring and melting.

My adapted version:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar (can really be reduced to 1 TBS)
1 and a 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup soy milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 Tsp. vanilla extract

For the soy milk, I used a whole single serve container of Silk Very Vanilla which is 8.25oz and sweetened so technically I didn't need the sugar at all. If I hadn't used the whole container, these might have been fluffier but they were fine as is.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a smaller bowl mix the egg, vanilla, and soy milk together. Add the melted butter and mix well. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and stir until smooth.




Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the heated pan, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. When bubbles form it's time to flip, cooking until lightly browned on both sides.








Serve hot with butter, syrup, jam, whipped cream and fruit, or any other way you love to eat pancakes. Plenty of options.