Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

The idea for this dinner came to me while working at Target. Archer Farms has several noodle and rice ready-to-go products, and one of them was Buffalo Mac and Cheese. I love love love buffalo sauce, so I thought it would be interesting to make this from scratch. After searching online, I found a recipe on Recipe Zaar. I use Ken's Buffalo Marinade a lot when it comes to chicken (chicken patties, wings, hell I think even a hot dog once), and it's no surprise I used it when it calls for buffalo wing sauce. You can probably use another brand of wing sauce or make your own. Worst case scenario you can use plain hot sauce, but it won't be as thick. In a pinch, you can use canned chicken breast instead of frozen. Or leave it out altogether. This dish is as spicy as the wing sauce. If it's too much to handle, mix in a litle bit of ranch, sour cream, or cream cheese.

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese




1 lb elbow macaroni, uncooked
24 oz chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup flour
3 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
8 oz buffalo wing sauce
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup celery or bell pepper, chopped
Ranch, sour cream, or cream cheese (optional)

1. Cook the macaroni in a pot of boiling salted water.

2. While the pasta is cooking, whisk the milk and flour together in a bowl, then pour into a saucepan, bringing it to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium and stir in chicken, cheese, onion powder, garlic powder, wing sauce, and bell pepper. Cook until the cheese melts. Add some ranch, sour cream, or cream cheese if the sauce is too spicy.

4. When the pasta is done, drain and stir in the cheese mixture.

Makes 8 servings.

Source: Recipe Zaar

Tuesdays With Dorie: Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars

Phew I think my book was getting dusty after not being touched for a few months. I seriously was going to do last week's, but then I realized it was Wed. and I missed it haha So now I'm back with Dorie's Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars. I made these late last night, so I couldn't eat them until this morning. This is what I had for breakfast with my coffee.



It took me a long time to make this bc I had to shell the peanuts. Also, I didn't measure out the raisins, and I definitely didn't put enough. I love chocolate and raisins together, so I'll make sure to take care of that next time.



Thanks Lillian of Confectiona's Realm for choosing this week's recipe! You can find the recipe on p. 114-115 of Dorie's Baking: From My Home To Yours or on Lillian's blog.

Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes

Tada! I'm alive! Target stole my soul for the holiday season, but now that my hours are cut (and really no clue how I'm going to pay the bills), I have some more time in the kitchen. Slowly my cooking spirit is coming back, but eh we'll see.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday. Mine was pretty decent. I got a kitchen pantry to store all my junk, so now my counters are not cluttered with the bread maker, George Foreman grill, and random pans. I also got Julie Hasson's 125 Best Cupcake Recipes, which I have had on my wish list since forever. Can't believe my parents actually spent $20 on it though, but it's super duper hard to find it used.



I decided to make cupcakes the other night bc I have so many cupcake liners. Christmas may have passed, but I do have winter ones I got on clearance last year, AND they come with matching toppers. I chose Julie's Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes bc I love love LOVE marshmallows! As you can see, some of them peek out after you cut out the middle. You're supposed to let them melt a little and squish the top down, but I was too tired to stand and wait for that. I opted to just cover the tops with frosting lol

I had trouble frosting them. Since I ran out of pastry bags, I used sandwich bags. Normally this is fine, but I guess I filled the bags too much, and two bags ripped open. Fortunately, my bff bought me this cake decorating press thing (think cookie press but with icing tips) so after making a huge mess and wasting some of the icing, I managed to finally frost them. And let me tell you, this frosting is cupcakelicious!! So what if my sprinkles don't match? They taste pretty good to me!

Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes



1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp chocolate cream liquer OR chocolate syrup
12 large marshmallows OR handful of mini ones

Chocolate Fudge Frosting
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter or baking margarine, room temp
2 tbsp chocolate cream liquer OR milk
1 tbsp coffee OR milk

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin pan with 12 liners. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. In another bowl, beat together sugar and oil until well combined. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and chocolate. Alternately beat in dry mix and buttermilk. Beat in chocolate syrup.

3. Scoop into liners. Bake 20-25 minutes or until tops spring back and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove from pan. While cupcakes are still hot, cut out the middle of each. Insert a marshmallow. If they stick up, try squishing them down while they soften from the heat. If that doesn't work, you can cover it with frosting. Or just use a handful of mini marshmallows.

4. Frosting: Beat all frosting ingredients together until smooth. Frost cupcakes after they are completely cooled.

Makes 12 cupcakes

Source: 125 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julie Hasson, 2005 p.28