White Chocolate Cherry Almond Pastry

Hello all you lovelies! Here is a super simple and quick dessert you can throw together in less than an hour, and everyone will go crazy for it.

I am a pintrest nut, and could spend hours and hours just drooling, Oops I mean looking at the delicious images. And when I saw this little baby I knew I had to make it, so I pinned it! Time past and I never made it…happens all the time, right? Right!

I was in a pinch for time, and  was to go visit my sister in law, and her large lovely family. I never like going anywhere empty-handed, and I love to bring sweets for the kids but no time for cupcakes or cookies or my mixer for that matter. This recipe called to me, the chocolate almond pastry from nutmegnanny.com that I pinned! Popped open my pintrest and got busy. I had puff pastry in my freezer but I didn’t have dark chocolate, whomp whomp. My pantry had a different plan for this pastry, and that’s how the White Chocolate Cherry Almond Pastry was born!

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OHH so simple and delicious!  Remember when I just told you my puff pastry was in the freezer still, yup it was. So what’s a girl to do…follow the directions wait till it comes to room temperature,  or had I known what I was making the day before I could have pulled out the pastry and put it in the fridge to defrost  overnight. Nope, not me, into the microwave on defrost setting and watched carefully till it was useable(hehehe). It came out perfectly. Now on to the recipe!

Ingredients

  • Frozen puff pastry, thawed
  • 1 large egg, lightly beated
  • 4-8 oz of white chocolate chips, depends on how much you would like
  • 3 Tbsp of toasted chopped almonds, use any nut for substitute
  • 2 Tbsp of sugar
  • 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
  • 4 oz of chopped dryed sour cherries,  could use any dried fruit
  • honey (optional)
  • vanilla and almond extract

Baking

  1. Preheat your oven to 450°F.
  2. Line your baking pan with parchment paper or silmat.
  3. Add a dash of vanilla and almond extract to your beaten egg set aside.
  4. Mix together cinnamon and sugar set aside.
  5. Place thawed puff pastry on sheet stretching slightly and fold edges  over to form 1 inch crust.
  6. Prick the dough with a fork all over the middle.
  7. Brush the pastry with the flavored egg wash and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the pastry paying special attention to the edges.
  8. Bake pastry  15-20 mins. Till golden brown.
  9. Remove from oven and cover the center with white chocolate chips, nuts, and dried cherries.
  10. return to the oven till chocolate melts slightly 2-3 mins.
  11. Drizzle with honey optional for that shiny food look YUM! Serve and enjoy!

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This simple elegant looking dessert took no time to make, and was delicious.  I was iffy that the kids where going to like it, thinking it was more of an adult dessert,  of course they did! We told them it was dessert pizza! And used a pizza cutter to serve, but this could easily be cut into squares or long rectangles for a more posh serving. One question for ya…

You gonna eat that!?!

Simple Chicken

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Let’s face it.  For most people, time is a luxury.  With three children to constantly feed, making something fast and good are the only two requirements.  Luckily, I only had to feed myself and my son for lunch today.  He requested the “chicken from yesterday”..meaning Wednesday, which was fried.  I convinced him that this chicken will be just as good.  This is a very simple dish with little prep and cook time.

Ingredients

  • 2 Chicken Breasts – Pounded out
  • 1 Avocado
  • Italian Seasoning
  • Granulated Garlic
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Coconut Oil

Cooking

  1. Liberally season chicken with Italian Seasoning, salt, pepper and granulated garlic.
  2. Get your pan nice and hot with Medium-High heat.
  3. Add one tablespoon of Coconut Oil to the pan and wait for it melt and get hot.
  4. Add seasoned chicken to the pan turning each after 8 minutes.
  5. Cut avocado in half, remove pit and slice log ways.  Season with Salt.
  6. Serve and enjoy.

 The Results

The chicken was moist and juicy.  Immediately, I was hit with the savory, salty crust.  That was followed up with the taste of the Italian Seasoning.  After the third bite, the mellow coconut oil shined through and added a delightful, twist to the dish.  The best bites were the combination of the silky avocado and chicken together.   And my son, Oliver?   Loved it!

I know, I know…you want to see the pictures.  Well, here you go.

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This dish is awfully simple and gets the job done in a pinch.  If I had the ingredients, this would be great with some homemade tomato sauce and some stinky, sharp provolone melted on top of the chicken in the over or broiler.

Are you gonna eat that?!?

You gonna eat that?!?