Watermelon Snickerdoodles

I made some Watermelon Lavender Lemonade yesterday and I had a bit of watermelon pulp left. I didn't want to just toss it out so I decided to see if it would act like applesauce in replacing some of the fat in a cookie recipe. These turned out fantastic!! A delicious cookie with just a hint of summer-y watermelon flavor!









1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup watermelon pulp
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs

3  cups all purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt




Rolling:
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350

Beat together shortening, watermelon pulp and sugar until smooth.











Add in eggs and beat until combined (but don't over beat)











In another bowl combine flour, tartar, soda and salt.












With the mixer on low slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture.

Beat until well combined








In a shallow dish combing the rolling sugar and cinnamon.

Roll about 1 TB of dough into a ball and roll in the sugar mixture. Place on an ungreased baking sheet










flatten slightly with your finger tips.













Bake for 12-15 minutes. Cool on the sheet for 2 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Salt and Vinegar Oven Fried Chicken

My family and I went out with my sister's family to Buffalo Wild Wings and I tasted some delicious Salt and Vinegar Wings. I decided to take the concept and put it into an oven fried chicken recipe!









Chicken Pieces as desired, I had 7 legs and 7 thighs for this batch


2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup white vinegar


1 1/2 cups flour (GF mix is fine if you like!)
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 TB white sugar
1 TB garlic powder
1 TB  paprika
1/2 TB black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne(optional)

4 TB butter
2 TB olive oil
(the little bit of olive oil combined with the butter will help the butter to not burn so dont skip it!)


2-4 TB malt vinegar
1 TB coarse sea salt

Place chicken pieces in a deep dish or ziplock bag. Combine milk and white vinegar and pour over the chicken. Cover (or zip it up) and allow it to marinate in the fridge for 4 plus hours (up to 24).









When you chicken is ready place all the dry ingredients and seasonings in a ziplock bag. (a fresh dry one, not the one you used for the milk if you used that!)








Toss in a few pieces of chicken at a time and shake to coat. Repeat until all chicken is coated.












Place a rimmed baking dish in your oven with the butter. Preheat oven to 425, watch the butter and when it is fully melted and just starting to bubble  remove from oven and gently stir in the  olive oil









When your oven is heated place the pan back in and when your butter mix is bubbling again carefully place chicken pieces on the pan.










Bake 35-45 minutes,  turning once half way into the cook time, until juices run clear and a meat thermometer reads 165,









Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to dry (not on paper towels, it makes the chicken soggy!!!) for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle the vinegar and salt evenly over the chicken while it is still on the rack and serve immediately!  (if you have a salad spritzer bottle it works FANTASTICALLY for the vinegar!)

Best Baked Potato Chips!

I had a baked potato chip recipe on here from a few years ago, but this method turned out WAY better so I took that one off in favor of this new and improved version.











4 medium sized idaho or russet potatoes, scrubbed (peeled if you like)

3 3/4 quarts water
1 cup white vinegar

2 TB canola oil
seasonings to taste





Scrub and slice your potatoes into 1/8 inch thick slices (you can go as much as 1/4 but they take longer to cook and are not quite as crunchy)

Soak slices in cold water for 10 minutes, drain and rinse well.

In a large pot bring the 3 3/4 quarts water and 1 cup vinegar to a boil

Add the potato slices, bring back to a boil and boil for 4 minutes.




While you are prepping the slices Preheat oven to 425 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

After they are boiled drain in a colander and immediately rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.












Pour slices onto a towel and spread into a single layer.  Blot with paper towels until the slices are very dry.











In a large bowl toss slices with oil and your seasonings (I used celtic sea salt, fresh ground black pepper and garlic powder)










Toss until all the slices are well coated.













Arrange slices in a single layer on prepared baking sheets, you can crowd them in a bit since they shrink up, but do not overlap.











Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes.....
at this point you can give them a gently stir and see how the edges are doing. You will want to watch them VERY carefully from this point on but they will need a bit more time.









Don't hesitate to remove the pan and take off chips that are browning faster and then put the rest of the batch back.
This is not an exact science and it all depends on your own ovens heat evenness and temps!
 You don't want them over browned( the vinegar bath will help them cook without browning as fast) so test them as you go remembering they will crisp up a little more as they cool.





Cool on a fresh piece of parchment paper in a single layer and serve as desired.