Coconut shrimp always reminds me of Outback Steakhouse.

And bloomin’ onion appetizers.

And steaks that are super fatty that come with those weird wooden handle steak knives that are–for some reason–rounded? Can you tell I grew up in the 90s…and deep in the suburbs?! That stuff was awesome.

This recipe comes from two of my favorite food and real life friends, Jenny Park and Teri Lyn Fisher who both just launched (as in today!! hello!! visit!!) their new blog called, Spoon Fork Bacon.

Teri takes the pretty pictures and Jenny makes and food styles all the recipes. They’re both super talented and make everything pretty and delicious. So when I saw this coconut shrimp recipe on their blog (I got a sneak peak a few weeks ago!), I knew I needed to make it…stat.

Since I hate dealing with frying/hot oil, I decided to bake them…that just makes life easier, doesn’t it?

Get your assembly line situation in tact.

There will be a flour/cayenne/garlic powder plate. A beaten egg bowl. And lastly, the almond meal (which I left out because I’m bad at writing grocery lists), shredded coconut and panko bread crumbs.

When that’s all good to go…

Get yo shrimp!! Sprinkle with some salt and pepper and do a toss around action.

Next up…drop one of those dudes in the flour. He looks so lonely and swallowed by the flour, doesn’t he?! It’s sad…

Wait, no it’s not. I’m just being dramatic because I’ve too many glasses of wine.

I digress…

After it’s coated in the flour, move it to the egg…

Then to the coconut mixture. After it’s all coated, transfer it to a baking sheet. Line ‘em up!

They look so uniform and military-like, don’t they?!

Stick that baking sheet in a pre-heated oven and bake them for about 15-20 minutes.

While they’re doing their job, mix up that chili sauce, honey drizzle situation. It’s glorious. I don’t have a picture because I might’ve poured honey all over my kitchen floor. BUT it doesn’t matter ’cause it’s mad easy. Just chili sauce into some honey.

And when they come out of the oven…you’re gonna eat them. All. By yourself. And not share.

#becausewhynot?

Baked Coconut Shrimp with Spicy Honey Drizzle

Coconut Shrimp Recipe tweaked from Spoon Fork Bacon

Sauce recipe from Spoon Fork Bacon

Print this recipe!

Coconut Shrimp:
12 tiger shrimp, cleaned and peeled with tails intact
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup almond meal
2 tablespoons Panko breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste

Spicy Honey Drizzle:
2/3 cup honey
2 Tablespoons fresh chili sauce (such as Sambal)
sea salt to taste

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 450F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and spray with PAM (or grease with a little vegetable oil using a paper towel).
2. In a small bowl, season the shrimp with salt and pepper.
3. In a shallow dish combine flour, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. In another shallow dish, gently toss together the coconut, almond meal and breadcrumbs.
4. Dredge shrimp in the flour mixture and shake off any excess flour.
5. Then dip each shrimp into the beaten eggs, followed by the coconut mixture.
6. Shake off any excess coconut transfer your prepared baking sheet and transfer to pre-heated oven.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. If you want them to be more golden brown, transfer to top rack and broil for 2 minutes. (Keep an eye on it!)
10. For the honey drizzle: Place all ingredients into a small ramekin and mix.
11. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with warm shrimp.

So…I may have to apologize for this recipe. I understand that a lot of you have probably made New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, go on a diet, eat healthier, etc. And since it’s still the first week of January, you may still actually be sticking to these lofty ideals. You probably don’t want to be reading about gooey pies made from butter and honey. Yes, there’s also some oatmeal, but even I am not going to try and act like that in any way raises the nutritional value. This is a gooey pie, made from butter and honey, with a little oatmeal to bind it all together. I’ll understand if you have to leave the site now.

See…Adrianna and I were both sent this cookbook, The Green Market Baking Book, which I received as soon as I got home from the holidays. It’s super cute, it even has a ribbon bookmark attached. For future reference, if I ever write my own cookbook, I’m going to make sure it has a ribbon bookmark attached. Irresistible cuteness. As I was flipping through the fun recipes I stumbled upon oatmeal pie, and was consumed with the urge to make it.

Quick note – this pie was supposed to be made using a standard pie plate. However, mine seems to have evaporated while I was out of town . I was so determined to make oatmeal pie that I tore my kitchen apart looking for it. This is what my kitchen floor looks like when I pull everything out of the oven storage cabinet. And in case you’re wondering…yes that oven is being held up with wooden wedges. Please don’t ask.

Luckily this recipe is so simple that it’s pretty hard to mess up. I made this pie in a casserole dish and it turned out just perfect.  Again – we’re talking about butter and honey. Regardless of what you use, it’ll all work out fine.

Maple Oatmeal Pie

Print this recipe!

Adapted from the Green Market Baking Book

I tweaked this recipe quite a bit from the original by adding in the maple syrup and subtracting the nuts, although if you want to sprinkle some crushed nuts over the top of the pie before you bake it I think the crunch would be a nice texture to add in. The maple syrup is an absolute must though – please don’t leave it out.

1 unbaked pie shell
¼ cup butter
1 cup honey
¼ cup maple syrup
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup uncooked oatmeal

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream the butter in a large bowl. Continue beating and slowly add in the honey. Add the cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Beat in the eggs one at a time until everything is combined. Stir in the oatmeal and pour the mixture into the pie shell.

Bake for 50 minutes or until the pie is set.

Like most girls, I’ve thought about what my wedding will be like….err maybe only once or twice (or three times). I think a farm wedding in the summer would be straight up dreamy;  with a barn, and tall grass, mason jars and fireflies–it’d be magic. It got me sort of thinking about how awesome it would be to have a petting zoo, too. A freakin’ petting zoo! How amazing would that be?!  Now, I usually have huge issues with petting zoos, because while I LOVE petting farm animals, I don’t really dig petting goats–they kinda suck.  I don’t get them. We don’t get each other.  And that’s usually all petting zoos consist of…that and random chickens that want nothing to do with you. Kinda boring.

So at my future wedding’s petting zoo, there will be animals I do wanna pet like dogs, cats, pigs, and miniature horses.  And I will pet them in between dances and knocking down champagne, and so will my guests.  It’ll be lovely.

And you know how you you’re supposed to give guests, like, a little gift bag or something? Well, I’d want to give the animals gifts too.  I’d probably give the pigs the leftovers from the reception, the miniature horses would get some sweet apples, I’d give the cats some private time…and the dogs, well, I’d make them these homemade treats.  I bet they’d really like them because I gave them a try and they’re not half bad. Sooo if your dog is peering over your shoulder as you’re reading this blog post, you can tell them this: these treats have a predominate peanut buttery taste, the texture is hearty and nourishing due to the rolled oats, and the finish has a lovely hint of coconut and chicken.  Yum!

{Chuck and my little brother, Daniel.  Chuck will be getting a care package this week and these will be included–he’s pumped about them.}

Homemade Dog Treats

Recipe tweaked from Shared Sugar

Print this recipe!

I added virgin coconut oil to the batter because it’s awesome for dogs and humans alike.  If you don’t have coconut oil on hand, and don’t want to run to the store, simply replace it with olive oil.

1/2 cup of peanut butter (I used the creamy kind)

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon of virgin coconut oil (or olive oil)

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together peanut butter, honey, oil and chicken broth. In a separate bowl, combine flours and oatmeal. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Place dough on flour dusted surface. Roll or press dough out to about 1/4” inch thick. Use a small bone cookie cutter to cut out cookies. My cookie cutter was a 5-inch bone-shaped , but for small dogs you may want to use a small cookie cutter (around 2″). Roll out leftover scraps and cut out as many as possible. Put cut out cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.

For a long time I’ve had a love-hate relationship with granola bars. My idea of the perfect granola bar is something chewy, delicious, not too sweet, and that serves as a satisfying snack. I always want to like the store-bought ones, but time and again they disappoint me.

Every few months I’ll be in a grocery store and will wander past a large display of some new variety of granola bars and will then somehow convince myself that these are the bars I have been looking for all my life. Ten minutes later, I’m in the checkout line with a basket filled with granola bars, only to get home and discover that these are no different than any other bar I’ve ever had. They’re  either bland or too sweet and I still feel hungry after eating 5 of them.

So now, I’ve taken matters into my own hands. I found this recipe from the lovely Ina Garten (I love her SO MUCH) and after making a few of my own adjustments I am pleased to announce that these are, in fact, the granola bars that I’ve always dreamed of. They’re chewy, with just a hint of sweetness, and are a satisfying snack that neither I, nor you, have to feel guilty about.

Granola Bars

Adapted from Ina Garten

Print this recipe!

I changed the original recipe quite a bit. I was worried about it being too sweet and took out the brown sugar altogether, and am definitely glad that I did. I was also worried after reading some reviews that the butter would make the bars greasy, so I cut the amount down from 3 tablespoons to 1. I couldn’t find wheat germ in the store so I substituted flaxseed meal, but either option would work. My favorite dried fruits are apricots and cranberries, but you can use anything that you like or have on hand.

Also – not a fan of bars? Just break this up into pieces and you can eat it as your morning breakfast cereal.

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
1/2 cup flaxseed meal
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2/3 cup honey
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups chopped dried fruit

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 by 12-inch baking sheet and line it with greased parchment paper, or a Silpat.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer to a large bowl and add in flaxseed meal. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.
Combine the butter, honey, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dried fruit and stir the mixture together.

Pour the mixture onto the baking sheet. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Allow to cool for at least 2-3 hours and then cut into squares.

They don’t tell you this when you’re a kid, but life is kinda tough. Well, I guess I do remember hearing that, but when you’re a kid you think they mean it’s gonna be tough for everyone EXCEPT you.  So it’s a bit of a shock when you finally get out of school, move out on your own and then look around thinking, “Wait, you mean this isn’t gonna be easy??”

So, right now I’m looking for something that IS easy. Something uncomplicated. These cookies are just what I need. They’re made from simple ingredients, and not too many of them. I don’t have to run out and purchase cake flour or coconut oil, and it’s not going to take me an hour to clean up when I’m done.

I still use the first cookbook I ever owned,  the“Alpha-Bakery Children’s Cookbook,” which is where these cookies are from. These are sweet, chewy morsels of childhood, and that is something that everyone needs once in a while.

Honey Bee Cookies

Print this recipe!

Adapted from the Alpha-Bakery Children’s Cookbook

½ cup butter, softened
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup honey
1 egg
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Beat together the butter, brown sugar, honey and egg in a medium bowl until smooth, scraping the sides occasionally. Stir in all remaining ingredients.

Drop spoon fulls of dough onto a greased or lined baking sheet. Bake about 7 to 10 minutes, or until the cookies are set and the edges are beginning to brown. The cookies will still look shiny when they’re done. Allow them to cool and then enjoy slowly; the real world can wait.

Everyone has their own versions of heaven. Those rare occasions where if feels as though life cannot get any better and you hope that it will just float along endlessly in this moment. Here’s one of those moments for me:

Getting up on a weekend before anyone else is awake, making iced coffee, then drinking it  on the couch while watching TV AND also reading a magazine. This is heaven, pure and simple. If you go ahead and throw in some of these Honey Pistachio Biscotti for me nibble on, I may never leave my apartment again. Really.

I suggest you give my little slice of heaven a try. Make these tasty cookies, brew your favorite cup of coffee however you like it, and then enjoy it all with a good magazine and a TV show you normally wouldn’t admit to watching. (Real Housewives, anyone?) Also, eat slowly. Good things should not be rushed.

Honey Pistachio Biscotti

Print this recipe!

Adapted from Ellie Krieger

2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 large eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup unsalted, shelled pistachios

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl beat together the sugar, honey, eggs, oil, zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract until well combined. Slowly add in the dry ingredients until the mixture forms a dough. Stir in the pistachios.

Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead several times. Shape into a log about 10 inches long and 3 inches wide. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet (I used a Silpat) and bake for 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes. With a serrated knife, cut 1/2-inch diagonal slices. Arrange on the baking sheet and bake 10 minutes. Turn the cookies over and bake the biscotti until golden 5 to 10 minutes longer. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

When I was growing up, the traditional salad to accompany dinner was pretty predictable: lettuce, cucumber, carrot, tomato. You’ve all had this salad right? You’ve seen it a thousand times, at your dinner table, friends’ dinner tables, at restaurants, basically, everywhere. I have to admit it was never a favorite. I don’t like raw tomatoes and am not the biggest fan of cucumber either, and there’s nothing exciting about eating lettuce and carrots all by themselves.

Maybe it’s the California lifestyle that has gotten to me, or maybe I was always looking for a change, but I have now found my favorite simple salad. Spring mix with fresh avocado and crunchy homemade croutons. Simple, delicious, perfect in every way. I normally eat these salads with a honey mustard dressing I developed. Chase will happily eat any salad with this dressing on it, and believe me, for someone who hates to eat anything green, that is really saying a lot.

I recently tried it with a sprinkling of dried cranberries, and it added a nice flavor as well as color, and really no extra effort at all.  For those of you who truly love your cucumbers and tomatoes, try my avocado salad just once. I’ll even promise to try something new too, just not tonight…

Avocado Salad w/ Honey Mustard Dressing

Print this recipe!

For the Honey Mustard Dressing:

3 heaping tablespoons of course ground or whole grain mustard
1 ½ teaspoons honey
1 tsp red wine vinegar
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Mix all ingredients together well in a bowl.

For the croutons:

Chop up a piece of good, crusty bread. Lay the pieces flat on a small baking sheet (a toaster oven works well for this). Sprinkle with olive oil and toss with salt and pepper. Toast until golden brown.

For the salad:

Mixed greens
1 avocado, chopped
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
½ cup homemade croutons

Top greens with avocado, cranberries and croutons and toss with mustard dressing.