Happy Hanukkah! Hands down my favorite holiday is Hanukkah. I love everything about the festive 8 days, from powdered jelly donuts to fried latkes. The menorah candles shining bright are the perfect background to sharing wonderful moments with loved ones. I want to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah with a special sweet giveaway. If you follow my blog then you are well aware I have a sweet tooth. If you have ever emailed me, you would know that my status for the last several months (year?) has been “craving a cupcake” and it’s not likely to change anytime soon since yes, I pretty much always want a cupcake. I moved to L.A. about a year ago and discovered the cutest little bakeshop only 2 blocks from my house (yes, I was giddy with excitement upon the discovery!) Sweet E’s Bake Shop features bite sized delicious cupcakes with flavors like banana split, chocolate chip cookie dough (my fav! it inspired my recipe for chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes here) and mexican chocolate churro, strawberries and cream, mint chocolate chip and more. Yes, there are more and all of them are mini cupcakes making them the best choice of dessert since you can easily eat one or two and not feel guilty about the sinfully delicious treats since come on, they are bite sized! As if you needed another reason to check this place out, they also sell cake pops, push pops, brownies, stuffed cookies, whoopie pies and krispie treats. All of Sweet E’s products are certified Kosher under U.S. Kosher Supervision in California. (please note they are not cholov yisorel however they do offer non dairy/vegan products) At this point you probably get why I fell in love with the place. I knew any of their great desserts would make for a great holiday giveaway so I asked them if they would share the sweet love with my fans and they agreed, in fact they said, “We would be happy to give away a dozen of our Holiday Snowflake Cake pops!” so I give to you the “cake pop holiday giveaway”. To enter the giveaway all you need to do is leave a comment below (yup it’s that easy) letting me know which cupcake flavor is your fav! Mine is chocolate chip cookie dough. (although the mexican chocolate churro sounds yummy!) What’s yours?
Since they are located in Los Angeles I am sorry to announce this giveaway is open to L.A. residents only. If you live out of Los Angeles, feel free to enter and give it to a friend of yours in sunny California. Contest open until December 1st, 2013 10pm ET Winner will be announced on our facebook fanpage December 2nd 2013 facebook.com/thekosherkitch
** I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for RadioShack. I received a gift card to facilitate a shopping trip and promotional item as a thank you for participating.
I love a good deal. A good holiday deal is like a present with extra shiny wrapping paper. I consider Black Friday to be a holiday all on it’s own. I keep a wish list of gifts that I would like to receive and give and put out google alerts so I am notified when any of them go on sale. This year I was contacted by RadioShack to do some holiday shopping and once I found out about their ‘Name Your Deal’ promotion I was super excited to get started on a NEW wish list!
This Black Friday RadioShack is giving customers the chance to select their own deals! With Name Your Deal, customers had the opportunity to vote on which deals they wanted most. (I really want to see a holiday deal on the fitbit and the samsung galaxy!)
If you want to see the deals that have selected and get a coupon code to use for your holiday shopping, go to RadioShack (deals listed as of November 27 9am ET) to see the winning deals and have a chance to grab a coupon code for yourself! Check the site HERE for holiday deals!
I’m no baker. While I love experimenting with dinner, when it comes to sweet desserts I usually stick to my comfy classics. Like my no fail fruit crumble (get the recipe HERE) and my moms best yellow cake (get the recipe HERE) and her easy chocolate cake (recipe found HERE) While I will hesitantly alter those recipes to come up with new treats (like this recipe for Smores Cupcakes and this one for Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cookie Dough Frosting) I don’t really venture into territories unknown when it comes to baking. (my mind draws a blank when numbers are involved!) Since it’s Hanukkah and everyone wants to celebrate by biting into a freshly powdered jelly donut (what, that’s not on your to do list this holiday? Because it’s totally #2 on mine. Right after eat latkes!) I have decided to search the web for you and select my fav donut recipes! (and by favorite I don’t mean I have tested them out. They just all made my mouth water and I almost licked my screen) Enjoy this collection of best donut recipes and if you try any, leave a comment below letting me know if they taste as good as they look!
Best Donut Recipes:
Peanut Butter and Jelly Donuts
These peanut butter jelly donuts by Heather Christo look decadent and easy enough to make at home. Her step by step photos show you exactly what to do and the final product looks incredibly delicious.
Baked Pumpkin Donut Holes
These pumpkin donut holes by Georgia Johnson of, “The Comfort of Cooking” are baked not fried which means you can indulge with no (ok less!) guilt. Also, there is pumpkin in there which means A. it’s healthy(ish) and B. nothing screams it’s holiday season let’s celebrate like pumpkin.
Chocolate Donut Holes
These chocolate donut holes by “Teenage Taste” are the perfect party treat! The recipe is quick and easy and claim to taste like good ol munchkin donuts from Dunkin Donuts. These would be ridiculously cute served up with some shots of milk.
Smores Donuts
These smores donuts found on “More Stomach” are what chocolate dreams are made of. They are dairy free and beg to be devoured, one smore bite at a time!
Strawberry Shortcake Donuts
These strawberry shortcake donuts by “Food for the Soul” use fresh fruit and whipped cream to create a sweet and tasty new donut!
Baked Carrot Cake Donuts
These baked carrot cake donuts by “Krissy’s Creations” are right up on my list of must try recipes. I am a huge fan of carrot cake and since these are baked, there is no fuss frying them!
If you are collecting recipes for your Thanksgiving / Hanukah / Thanksgivukah menu then this is the perfect dish to serve up! Everyones favorite latke just got the holiday remix with some homestyle stuffing placed in the center, making it a savory mashup special for the big day!
*Manischewitz is hosting a holiday recipe contest featuring the BEST mashup recipes submitted by YOU! This contest is open to EVERYONE. Submit your fusion of holiday recipes and enter the chance to win $1,000.
Enter your best recipes HERE for the chance to win $1,000 just in time for the holidays!
Potato Pancake Mixture Ingredients:
6oz. Manischewitz potato pancake mix
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons flour
In a large bowl beat together eggs. Add water and mix well. Add pancake mixture to the bowl and mix well. Allow mixture to thicken before stirring. Add flour and combine well. (about 5 minutes) Set aside.
Stuffing Mixture Ingredients:
6 oz. Manischewitz Homestyle Stuffing Stove Top Mix
1 cup boiling water
3 tablespoons earth balance
2 large eggs
Combine seasoning packet and boiling water. Add margarine. Add stuffing packet. Mix well. Allow to cool off before adding eggs to mixture and mix well.
Directions:
Scoop out 1/2 tablespoon to 1 tablespoon stuffing mixture forming into a ball. Then dip it in the potato mixture rolling it around so it’s covered with potatoes. (if you need help getting it to stick, dip the stuffing ball into 2 eggs beaten) then place them in a large frying pan that has been heated up with oil. Once golden flip over. After you flip the latke over so the other side can cook gently press down on the cooked side with a spatula to flatten it out. Now it will be a pancake shape and not a ball which will be easier to cook with. (assuming you are using a small amount of oil. If you choose to deep fry it then you can use the ball shape) Serve with Manischewitz Roasted Turkey Gravy on the side.
Chocolate and puff pastry combined with creamy baked banana and crispy coconut flakes makes this a decadent dessert. (one that also happens to be easy to whip up!)
Ingredients:
1 sheet of puff pastry
1 banana, sliced into thin rounds
1/2 chocolate spread
1/2 coconut flakes
Directions:
Cut mini squares out of the puff pastry. Spray a mini cupcake pan with oil then gently press each square of dough into a cupcake mold. Place 1 tsp. of chocolate spread in the center of each dough. Place 1 banana round on top of chocolate then top with coconut flakes. Bake in oven on 375′ for 15 to 20 minutes until golden and slightly crispy.
Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless pieces of chicken breasts
1 cup of bbq sauce
1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced into half moons
1 tablespoon thinly chopped cilantro
1 prepared pizza crust (I LOVE Tradition’s 12 inch gourmet pizza crust. It’s ready made and comes with two crusts in one package and all you need to do is add toppings and heat it up in the oven)
Directions:
Place chicken in a baking dish. Coat chicken with 1/2 cup of bbq sauce. (make sure all sides are covered in sauce) Cook in oven on 375′ for 20 to 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Shred chicken into pieces with a fork or dice into small chunks. Brush 2 tablespoons bbq sauce over pizza crust. Place cubed chicken on top. Add red onion slices. Place in oven on 450′ for 8 to 10 minutes. Once removed from oven, top with cilantro.
*Tips&Tricks: You can use frozen pizza dough, a ready made pizza crust or even tortillas or pita bread! If using frozen dough, form the crust and cook dough before adding toppings to it and heating it in the oven.
