The first time I made these was about 6 years ago for a sledding party in our backyard. I made them again last night for dinner and we had them with fresh fruit. Yummy, Yummy!
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
3/4 cup cold butter (no substitutes)
1 egg, separated
1 1/2 cups refrigerated hazelnut nondairy creamer or half-and-half cream
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Additional sugar
Spiced Butter:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
In a bowl, combine the first five ingredients; cut in butter until crumbly. In a bowl, whisk egg yolk and creamer; add to dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir in the chocolate chips. Turn onto a floured surface; knead 10 times. Divide dough in half. Pat each portion into a 7" circle; cut into 8 wedges. Separate wedges and place on greased baking sheets.
Beat egg white; brush over dough. Sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, combine the spiced butter ingredients; beat until smooth. Serve with warm scones. Yield: 16 scones.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Hazlenut Chip Scones
Monday, January 25, 2010
Bacon Wrapped Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I would use 3 and cut them so they are very thin and you have 6 thin chicken breasts)
8 oz Chive and Onion Cream Cheese Spread
8 strips of bacon (raw)
Soften cream cheese. Pound and flatten chicken breasts and drop a heaping TBS of cream cheese in middle of each breast, pulling up the sides. Wrap with bacon strips and secure with toothpicks. Sprinkle with course black powder. Bake at 375 degrees uncovered for 30 minutes. Change the oven to broil and cook for 10 more minutes to brown the chicken and bacon. I actually did this and then rolled them over and did it again. I wanted the bacon crunchy and it worked well. Enjoy!
Banana Crumb Muffins
I SERIOUSLY MAKE THESE WHENEVER MY BANANAS GO BAD. I AM ALWAYS EXCITED!!!
I stole this recipe from a friend's blog and made them today. They are so good and addicting! The crumb top makes me think of Mimi's Cafe and their amazing muffins. This is definitely not a Weight Watchers recipe! I doubled the recipe since I had a lot of bananas I could use. I was able to make 24. I will share with some friends today!
1 1/2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 c sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 c melted butter
Topping:
1/3 c brown sugar
2 T flour
1/8 t cinnamon
1 T butter (cold is fine)
-Mix dry ingredients together; mix wet ingredients together; then mix dry into wet just until combined. Spoon into paper liners or greased muffin tin about 3/4 full.
-Mix topping ingredients until resembles cornmeal. Sprinkle generously on top of muffins. This makes plenty of topping for 12. You may even be able to get a few more muffins.
-Bake 375 for 18-20 minutes (I did 18) or until toothpick comes out clean.
-These get more moist the longer they sit. Recipe makes 12 but you may be able to get more than that.
Taco Ring
Ben gave me a weird look when I started this, but we both really liked it afterwards. Easy and delicious!!!
1-1 1/2 lb hamburger (I used ground turkey)
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 sm can tomato sauce (maybe 2 if you use more hamburger)
2-3 tubes crescent rolls
lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, olives, cilantro, or other taco toppings
salsa and sour cream
Cook and drain hamburger. Stir in taco seasoning and tomato sauce. On a large pizza pan, lay out crescent triangles all around the outside of the pan with the point of the crescent triangle out over the edge. (when you're done, it'll look like a sun with rays) If you use 1lb hamburger, use 2 tubes of rolls. If you have a bigger family use 3 tubes and 1 1/2 lb hamburger. And move your roll "sunshine" closer to the edge of the pan. This works great if you have a baking stone. Press down the rolls where they overlap, then put the meat on top. Fold the points over the hamburger and tuck under on the inside. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Put lettuce, cheese, etc in the middle of the ring and serve! It looks really cool like this. If you're lazy, just serve it from the stone and have the fixings on a separate plate!
Chicken Ole'
I LOVE slow cooker recipes and this one is definitely worth repeating. It is basically chicken enchiladas in a slow cooker. I would suggest a variation: Do less (we liked it with NO TORTILLAS) tortillas in the casserole. Instead: slice up tortillas into triangles and put them on a baking sheet. Salt them and broil (or bake at 350) them until crunchy. You can then use these crunchy tortillas to scoop up the casserole and it was so good!!!
10 3/4 oz can cream of mushroom soup
10 3/4 oz can cream of chicken soup (or use 2 chicken if you don't like mushroom)
1 cup sour cream
2 T grated onion (I just minced mine)
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
12 flour tortillas, each torn into 6-8 pieces
3-4 cups cubed, cooked chicken- I actually chopped mine with a chopper.
7 oz jar salsa- I used a lot more (YUM!)
1/2 grated cheddar (for garnish)
In separate bowl, combine soups, sour cream, onion, and 1 1/2 cups cheese. Spray your crock pot with cooking spray to avoid the tortillas sticking!!! Place one third of each of the following in layers in slow cooker: torn tortillas, soup mixture, chicken, salsa. Repeat layers 2 more times. Cover. Cook on Low 4-5 hours. (This recipe does not respond well to cooking on High.) Gently stir. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover. Cook on Low another 15-30 minutes.
You can also serve with tortilla chips and lettuce. This is really good with corn as the side dish. Oh- I think this could actually be ready in about 3 hours. If you needed to eat it then.
BBQ Chicken
My husband and kids loved this one and I actually think it goes best with white rice or rice-a-roni.
Step 1- Flour and brown 6 chicken breasts in an oiled frying pan.
Step 2- Mix in a bowl:
1/2 cup ketchup
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup mustard
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped onion
Step 3- arrange chicken in a 9x13 pan
Step 4- pour mixture over the top.
Step 5- Cook covered for 2 1/2 hours at 325 degrees. Uncover for the last 15 minutes.
The Best Reuben Sandwiches
I saw these in my favorite cookbook "Cooks Country" and had to try them. Ben and I love Reuben's so I thought they would be good. They were very, very good!
1/4 mayonnaise
1/4 cup finely chopped sweet pickles plus 1 teaspoon sweet pickle juice
2 TBS cocktail sauce
1 cup sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
2 TBS cider vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar
8 slices rye bread
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
12 ounces thinly sliced deli corned beef (I made my own corn beef and wished I had gone to the deli and got the thin sliced. It would have been easier to eat!)
4 TBS unsalted butter
1. Whisk mayonnaise, pickles, pickle juice, and cocktail sauce in small bowl; set aside. Cook sauerkraut, vinegar, and sugar in large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Transfer sauerkraut to bowl and wipe out skillet.
2. Spread dressing evenly on 1 side of each slice of bread. Layer half of cheese on 4 slices of bread then top with half of corned beef. Divide sauerkraut evenly over meat, then top with remaining corned beef and remaining cheese. Arrange remaining bread, dressing-side down, over cheese. (Basically you want it layer from the bottom up BREAD, DRESSING, CHEESE, MEAT, SAUERKRAUT, MEAT, CHEESE, DRESSING, BREAD. You do not want the Sauerkraut to be against the bread. This makes a big difference.)
3. Melt 2 TBS butter in empty skillet over medium heat. Place 2 sandwiches in pan and cook until golden brown on first side, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip sandwiches and cook, covered, over medium-low heat until second side is golden brown and cheese is melted, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer to a wire rack and repeat with remaining butter and sandwiches. Serve.
Chocolate Molten Cake
This was so yummy. I LOVE the raspberry syrup. I will use that again and again and again with everything!
Here is what my friend Heather posted:
I lost my old recipe for chocolate molten cake and had to look up a new one. This is from Food Network-Emeril's. It is TO DIE FOR! You have got to make it SOON! It's even good the day after reheated in the micro for 20-30 seconds! Rich, bittersweet chocolaty goodness! AND EASY!!!!
1 1/2 t unsalted butter, plus 1 stick
4 t flour, plus 2 T
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips or semi sweet (good brand)
2 T heavy cream
2 T confectioners sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 C sugar
1 t vanilla
pinch salt
Preheat oven 450. Grease and flour 4 (6ou.) ramekins with butter and flour, tapping out excess flour. Set on baking sheet.
Melt chocolate, 1 stick of butter, cream, powdered sugar, until smooth. Remove from heat.
In bowl, whisk together eggs, yolks, sugar, vanilla, and salt-3 minutes. Sift flour into egg mixture and mix. Fold in chocolate mixture. Pour into ramekins. Bake until sides are set but middle is puffed but still soft-about 12 min. Remove from oven and cool a few minutes before unmolding onto plate and serving with raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream! I like to dust with powdered sugar before serving!
Raspberry Sauce:
1 small bag of frozen raspberries, thawed
1 t fresh lemon juice
1/4 C powdered sugar
Mix in blender. Push through fine mesh sieve. (I did it right from the blender and it was still yummy!)
Italian Style Chicken Rolls
I have been going through my past recipe exchange folders and am finally trying some of the recipes. This one is from my friend Cori and we LOVED it. Ben LOVES prosciutto so it knew it would be good. I love Chicken Cordon Bleu and this is a variation of that. Next time I make it, I am going to add a Moray sauce to go over it. I think it would be even better!
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I did 3 and I cut them in half so I have 2 really thin breasts. This is easier for the rolling part)
2 thin slices of Swiss cheese or provolone cheese (I used 6 pieces-I wanted more cheese)
2 thin slices of prosciutto or lean ham (I used 6)
1 tsp. paprika
6 T. bread crumbs (I used seasoned but you can do plain)
2 T. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp garlic salt (or powder)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried basil
3 T. of butter (melted)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pound each chicken breast to 1/4 inch thickness. (This is really easy after they are cut in half.)
Cut cheese and prosciutto slices into halves. (I did this so they were thinner but I still used 2 halves of each on each breast.)
Layer cheese and prosciutto on chicken; roll to enclose filling. Secure with toothpicks.
Mix paprika, bread crumbs, Parmesan, garlic salt (powder), oregano, and basil in a shallow dish. Dip chicken rolls in butter then roll in crumb mixture to coat.
Place rolls seam side down in a baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked thoroughly and golden brown.
Tip: I find that when I am doing things like this, I like to put my "cooling rack" on the cookie sheet and then put the chicken rolls on it. This keeps the chicken off the sheet and cooks the bottom really well. Otherwise, the bottom often gets soggy or to brown when the butter or cheese comes out a little bit.
OPTIONAL MORAY SAUCE (Serves 4):
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. flour
1 c. milk
1/3 c. Parmesan cheese
1/2 - 1 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper
Double Decker Fudge
I got this from a recipe exchange a long time ago and love it. It is so easy and turns out great every time! Enjoy.
1 Cup Reeses Peanut Butter Chips (I used peanut butter and it turned out great)
1 Cup Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
2 1/4 cups white sugar
1 (7oz) Jar Marshmallow Creme (I used marshmellows melted down)
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1. Line 8" pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Measure peanut butter chips into one medium bowl and chocolate chips into second medium bowl.
2. Combine sugar, marshmallow creme, evaporated milk and butter in heavy 3 qt. saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture boils. Boil and stir for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
3. Immediately stir 1/2 hot mixture into peanut butter chips until chips are completely melted. Pour into prepared pan. Stir remaining 1/2 hot mixture into chocolate chips until chips are competely melted. Quickly spread over top of peanut butter layer.
4. Cool completely. Remove from pan; place on cutting board. Peel off and discard foil; cut into 1 inch squares. Store tightly covered.
Popcorn Chex Mix
I LOVE this mix and everyone always asks for the recipe.
1 box Chex (rice or corn)
1 bag popped popcorn (Try to get all the kernels out!)
1 cup slivered almonds (optional but I recommend even more!)
1 cup whole pecans (optional but I recommend chopped up and more!)
Put in a Big bowl and mix around
In a sauce pan boil:
4 sticks of butter
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup corn syrup
Bring to a boil for 5 minutes
After being boiled, dump over mixture and place on large cookie sheet. Bake at 225 for one hour. I only do it for about 40 minutes becasue I like it softer.
After baking, put it back in the bowl and stir every 15 minutes so you don't get huge chunks.
Yummy Chicken Dip
I made this last night and LOVED it. It can go with any kind of chicken you make. It is like a little spicy sweet and sour sauce.
1/2 cup mustard
1/4 cup apricot jam/jelly
1/4 cup mayo
I know, it sounds strange but was really yummy. If you like mustard at all and if you like sweet and sour, you will like this combination.
Diane's Lemon Bundt Cake
I was at the park last week and a few of my friends were talking about this recipe they had the night before at a church event. I had to try it and I really liked it. Very, Very Yummy!
Cake Ingredients:
1 (18.25 oz) package lemon cake mix
1 (3.4 oz) package instant lemon pudding mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 TBS lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 eggs
1 cup Sierra Mist or 7-up
Glaze Ingredients: (I doubled the glaze! YUM)
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon peel (zest)
2/3 cup sifted powdered sugar
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 inch bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix & pudding mix, then stir in the oil, lemon zest and lemon juice. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the lemon-lime soda. (But do not beat it too much. Just mix it in.)
3. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes then invert onto plate.
4. Pour glaze over top of cooled cake. If you like glaze, double the glaze recipe. Yummy!!!
I served this with vanilla ice cream but I think it would be good with whipped cream or cool whip. It is also good by itself though. Enjoy!
Lower Fat Spaghetti Carbonara
Thanks Debra for the copy advice- It has to be on "Edit Html" for it to work. Weird! Here we go.
I have tried several recipes for Spaghetti Carbonara and have enjoyed all of them. I continually found, however, that they were oily and had a lot of onions. I saw this recipe and decided to try it and it is now my favorite one. Plus, it is lower in calories so why not make it instead! Ben even likes this one and he does not enjoy pasta stuff.
1 egg plus 1 egg white
2/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese (you can use Parmesan but the cheese flavor is less pronounced. I used the freshly grated Parmesan from Costco and it was very good)
1/4 cup fat-free evaporated milk
2 TBS mayonnaise
2 oz Canadian bacon, chopped
2 slices bacon, chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp pepper
1/3 cup white wine (I usually just get the cheap white cooking wine and it still tastes good.)
Salt
1 pound spaghetti (Any long, thin pasta such as linguine or fettuccine will also work)
1. Bring 4 qts water to a boil in large pot. Process egg, egg white, cheese, evaporated milk, and 1 1/2 TBS mayonnaise in food processor, or blender, until smooth; leave mixture in food processor.
2. Cook both bacons in large non-stick skillet over medium heat until fat has rendered and bacon is browned, about 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to bowl; set aside.
3. Add garlic and pepper to fat in pan and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in wine and simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat, cover and keep warm.
4. Meanwhile, add 1 TBS salt and pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water, drain pasta, and return to pot. Toss pasta with remaining 1/2 TBS mayonnaise until coated.
5. With motor running, slowly add wine mixture and 1/4 cup hot pasta cooking water to egg mixture and process until smooth and frothy, about 1 minute. Immediately pour egg mixture over hot pasta and toss to combine, adding reserved cooking water as necessary to adjust consistency. Stir in crisp bacon and season with salt. Serve.
Soup-In-A-Loaf
One of my favorite ways to eat a nice creamy soup is "soup-in-a-loaf". This soup recipe reminds me of Mrs. Powell's Chicken & Wild Rice Soup at the mall. The bread recipe is one that my sister posted on our family food blog. I have other recipes that I use when I'm in a hurry, but I'm sure this one is great because Valerie is an awesome cook. One way to make the servings not quite so big (for myself as well as my children) is to cut the loaf in half and then stand it up on its end and scoop out the middle.
Chicken Wild Rice Soup
I usually use a little more celery and carrots. This last time I used a 12.5 0z. can of chicken for speed. It was great.
5 2/3 cups water
1 package (4.3 oz) long grain and wild rice mix
1 envelope chicken noodle soup mix
1 celery rib, chopped
1 medium carrot chopped
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 cans (10 3/4 oz each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 cup cubed cooked chicken
In a large saucepan, combine water, rice with contents of seasoning packet, and soup mix. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in celery, carrot and onion. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in chicken soup and chicken. Cook 9 minutes longer or until the rice and vegetables are tender. Yield: 5 servings.
White Bread 101
Makes 1 large loaf or 3-4 small loaves
3 cups (12 ¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons (1 ¼ ounces) sugar
2 - 4 tablespoons (1-2 ounces) butter, softened
¼ cup (1 ½ ounces) nonfat dry milk
¼ cup (1 ½ ounces) potato flour OR 1/3 cup (3/4 ounce) potato flakes
1 1/8 cups (9 ounces) lukewarm water
Mix together half the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, dry milk, and potato flakes. Add butter and water. Mix well (for about 2 minutes). Gradually add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough. You should not need all the flour. At this point, the dough will have barely come together and be extremely rough-looking. You can give the dough a twenty minute rest (called the autolyse) to allow the flour to absorb the liquid fully, making it easier to knead and less likely that you’ll add too much flour during kneading. This step isn’t crucial, and can be skipped if you’re in a hurry. Sprinkle your work surface with flour and knead the dough until it’s smooth and supple. Be careful not to add too much flour during kneading—the more flour you add the heavier and drier your final loaf will be. The dough will become more and more elastic as you develop the gluten, until eventually it should feel soft but springy. Take a break at about the five-minute mark; giving the dough a five-minute rest at this point allows the gluten to relax, making the kneading a lot easier. Put the kneaded dough into a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise, at warm room temperature, until it’s puffy and almost doubled in bulk (about 1 hour).
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and squeeze it gently to deflate it. Remember to treat your dough gently—rough treatment toughens the gluten and makes it harder to shape. Shape the dough into an 8-inch log or divide into smaller pieces if making smaller loaves. I used 8-ounces of dough for most of my small pans. My pans that are slightly smaller only required 6-ounces of dough. Shape each portion of dough into a log (roll out and shape as for a full-size loaf). Transfer the log to a lightly greased 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch loaf pan, cover the pan loosely with greased plastic wrap and allow the bread to rise till the outer edge has just barely risen over the rim of the pan, about 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Uncover the pan and bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil for the final 10 to 15 minutes if it appears to be browning too quickly (my small loaves only bake about 20 minutes). Remove the bread from the oven, take it out of the pan, and place it on a wire rack to cool completely. After 15 minutes brush it with melted butter if desired; this will give it a soft crust (I don't do this step).
Old Fashioned Tapioca Pudding
I found this recipe in the bulk section of WinCo. I soaked my tapioca for more like 4 hours and it still turned out OK. I didn't cool it, I just mixed in the vanilla and served it and it was fine.
1/3 c tapioca pearls
3/4 c water
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
Soak tapioca in water for at least 3 hours in a 1 1/2 quart pan. Add milk and salt to tapioca; beat egg YOLKS and mix in. Stir until boiling. Simmer uncovered over very low heat for 50 min. Stir now and then. Beat Egg WHITES and sugar together( I accidentally beat the egg whites alone and then added the sugar. It was more like a cream) Also I just mixed in the egg white/sugar mix all at one but the recipe says to put a little tapioca mixture into the egg mixture and then put the egg mixture in. Stir 3 minutes over low heat. Cool 15 minutes and serve warmed of chilled, plain or with fruit, nutmeg or coconut mixed in. I used a couple shakes of pumpkin pie spice
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Chicken Enchiladas
Oh my heck! These were so good! I tried these at a Choir Party we had in December. They had too much green sauce for me, but were still really good. So I got the recipe and tried them tonight, hoping they'd be as good as the ones at the party. They were.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Key Lime White Chocolate Pie
Our dessert for last night's dinner was this recipe that has an interesting history. Quite a few years ago I was looking through an old Taste of Home magazine when I noticed someone had written in asking for a recipe with this title. I thought it sounded great, so I mustered the courage to write a letter and ask if she had gotten any good recipes from her request. This is what she sent back. So, courtesy of a lady in Camilla, Georgia via another of Glastonbury, Connecticut I now share the recipe with you. The first time I made it I didn’t get the chocolate mixed in well enough before it started to harden in the cold ingredients. So we came across a few chunks of chocolate, which weren’t terrible, but ideally I think it is supposed to be totally smooth. This time I made sure the ingredients were close to the same temperature (room temperature). Bryce poured in the chocolate while I manned the beaters. It turned out very smooth, with no chocolate chunks.
1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 (6 oz) pkg. white baking chocolate or white chocolate morsels, melted
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup Key Lime Juice
2 cups whipped topping, thawed
1 (8 oz) graham cracker pie crust (I made one from scratch and actually used my 9.5" pie pan.)
Beat cream cheese and sugar in a bowl until blended. Pour in chocolate while beating the cream cheese mixture. Beat in the sour cream and lime juice, blending well. Fold in whipped topping. Spoon mixture into pie crust and spread evenly. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.
Cheese Ball/Spread
Happy New Year, everyone!!! I thought I'd try to be the first post of the new year. We had a finger food, appetizer meal last night. Paige requested this cheese ball recipe because I usually serve it as more of a cheese spread without the nuts. This year I couldn't find the Roka Bleu Cheese, so I had to do a substitution. I also realized in the middle of the night that I had forgotten the Worcestershire Sauce. The cheese ball still tasted yummy.
12 oz. cream cheese
1 5-oz. jar Kraft Roka Bleu Cheese (I used a scant 1/2 cup bleu cheese crumbled and smashed with fork to make it as fine as possible)
2 5-oz. jars Kraft Old English Cheese
2 Tbsp. dry minced onion
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. dry parsley
chopped walnuts (optional)
Mix together the first three ingredients with beaters until they are well blended. Add the next three ingredients. Cover and chill overnight. Shape into balls and roll into chopped nuts. (This isn't always the easiest thing to do, so one possibility, if you are giving this as a gift for the holiday season, is to spoon it into a cute little bowl and sprinkle nuts on top and place it on a plate with crackers surrounding the bowl. We did this a few years ago and everyone was so happy to get something that wasn't sweet.)