#Welcome2012

Homemade Eggnog & Peppermint Bark

Thanks to the hard work by Sanjeeta kk at Lite Bite we have another blog hop! This virtual party is all about celebrating the New Year & reminiscing about 2011.

2011 was a big year for BigFatBaker.

Looking back, I accomplished a lot more than I ever anticipated. I was able to reach a few personal goals, and I am ready for what 2012 has to offer.

Some of my biggest recipes of the year were things I wouldn’t have ever thought I would make. (for example…pink cheesecake)

But I’m glad I did. And I’m glad I was able to share them with you.

So looking at the year, these pages turned out to be my top 9 recipes.

top10 fondant 1  #Welcome2012 top10 rasp curd 2 #Welcome2012 top10 twix 3 #Welcome2012
top10 rvwhoopie pies 4 #Welcome2012 top10 vanilla 5 #Welcome2012 top10 poptart 6 #Welcome2012
top10 pvcheesecake 7 #Welcome2012 top10 3 berry pie 8 #Welcome2012 top 10 eggnogbark 9 #Welcome2012

 What was your favorite recipe of the year?

This year I also had the chance to meet and start connecting with people through Twitter.

There are so many people I would like to list.. I can think of 20 people off the top of my head that I would love to meet and have coffee with on any day.

But these are some of the most influential & impressive people that I met through Twitter that I feel deserve special attention (in no particular order):

@NutmegNanny@Gingerbreadbagels

@Chowandchatter@Nella22

@Thatskinnychick@Rvank

@Jaxies@Bakerstreet29

@CreateCooking@Thebravetart

Secret Recipe Club 6/13 – Homemade Pop Tarts

poptarts on sheet

This is my second entry for the Secret Recipe Club. Secret recipe club is a great idea, and I am so happy to be apart of it. If you want to learn more (or join!) check out this page for more information. This month my assigned blogger was Angie from Big Bears Wife.

I chose this recipe because poptarts are one of the most iconic foods from my childhood. I have so many memories of poptarts. I used to love these things.

Once I was in high school I realized they were not nutritional, and I couldn’t afford to eat them often. But these overly sweet toaster pastries have been around since 1967 and I knew they weren’t going anywhere fast.

I accepted the not so nutritional pastries for what they are. And I knew there had to be some way I could still eat poptarts with out ingesting strange chemicals.

I have seen recipes here and there for homemade poptarts, but still had not taken the time to make some for myself. Once I saw Angie’s recipe I was so excited. I knew this was finally the push I needed to make the little toaster pastries at home.

inside of poptart Secret Recipe Club 6/13   Homemade Pop Tarts

Making homemade poptarts is much easier then it first appears. It is basically just a flakey pie crust like dough filled with jam. And as soon as I realized the possibilities for fillings were endless, I was even more excited. I dragged the BF to the store with me and told him to pick out which ever flavor jam he wanted.

As he walked back, jar in hand, I didn’t even think to check what he had picked out. But as soon as we got home and I was putting the food away, I noticed he picked out a bottle of currant jelly instead of jam. But I used it anyways. I figured I could mix the jam and jelly I had together and make an interesting fruit filling for the poptarts.

jam and jelly Secret Recipe Club 6/13   Homemade Pop Tarts

Lucky for me they turned out delicious. The dough was perfectly flakey, not too sweet, and the jam was a refreshing alternative to the pasty stuff you normally find stuffed inside.

While I found the pastries delicious, they seemed much more like hand held pies than poptarts. But trust me, that didn’t keep us from eating them all.

I chose to not use any sort of frosting or glaze on my poptarts, but if you want yours a little extra sweet you can give it a try!
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