Candied Bacon

What you need:

• 12 slices of bacon

• black pepper

• 1/3 cup light brown sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F

2. Put bacon slices in a bowl, season them with pepper and toss with the brown sugar.

3. Cover a baking sheet with parchment or foil and arrange the bacon in a single layer on top.

4. Sprinkle any sugar left in the bowl over the bacon.

5. Top with another layer of parchment or foil and top it, squarely, with another baking sheet. The baking sheet will flatten the bacon as it cooks.

6. Place the tray in the center of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

7. Check the bacon by lifting the top tray and parchment. If it is not golden brown and fairly crispy, resist the temptation to turn up the oven temperature, and cook it for 10 to 15 minutes longer.

8. Check it again. Keep in mind that when you remove the tray and transfer the bacon to a serving platter or individual plates, the bacon will "crisp" up a little more. Be patient!

Sugar cookie recipe

By Ariana Dervishi, 5th Grade

Ingredients

• 2 and 1/8 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon fine salt

• 1 cup (2 sticks/227 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

• 2/3 cup (130 g) granulated sugar

• 3/4 cup (85 g) powdered sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar, for rolling

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350F/180C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking soda. Then set it aside for later.

3. With a mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar on medium to low speed for four minutes. Then, beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined.

4. Place ¼ cup sugar in a small bowl. Then, shape the dough into spheres about a tablespoon and a half if possible.

5. Then roll them in sugar and press them onto cookie sheets with about two inches between them.

6. Bake the cookies for eleven to twelve minutes, or until they are brown at the edges, but the center is still soft, so you know you didn’t over bake them.

7. After baking, let the cookies cool for around ten minutes.

These cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days, or you can refrigerate them for up to two months.

Lemon Blueberry Scones

By: Naya Lerum, Jillian Makroulakis,Victoria Fattorouso (5th grade)

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp table salt

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter very cold, cut into small cubes

• 1 cup blueberries

• 3 tbsp lemon zest

• 3/4 cup heavy cream very cold

• 1 egg large

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 tbsp heavy cream very cold

• 2 tablespoon sanding sugar (optional)

Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 1-2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice

Whipped Cream

• 2 cups of heavy whipping cream

• ½ - 1 cup of powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)

• 1 tablespoon of lemon zest

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

4. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until only a handful of small, pea-sized pieces of butter remain.

5. Add blueberries and lemon zest and stir to combine, just until blueberries are coated with flour mixture.

6. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cream, egg, and vanilla extract.

7. Pour cream mixture into flour mixture and stir with a fork until just combined.

8. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a disc about 6 inches across.

9. Use a large knife or bench scraper to cut into 6 wedges.

10. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with heavy cream.

11. Sprinkle with sanding sugar if desired.

12. Bake for 16 to 19 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through, rotating baking sheet halfway through.

Serve warm or room temperature. Store leftovers in an airtight container. Best enjoyed the day they are baked. To make the glaze, mix the powdered sugar and lemon juice together until smooth. Add a little bit of water to thin out, if need be. To make the whipped cream, combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix on high until stiff peaks form. Drizzle glaze over the scones with a spoon. Serve with fresh sliced strawberries and homemade whipped cream.

Banana Bread

By: Naya Lerum, Jillian Makroulakis,Victoria Fattorouso (5th grade)

• 2 to 3 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long) very ripe bananas, peeled (about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups mashed)

• ⅓ cup (76g) butter, unsalted or salted, melted

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• 1 pinch salt

• ¾ cup (150g) sugar (½ cup if you would like less sweet, 1 cup if more sweet)

• 1 large egg, beaten

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 ½ cups (205g) all-purpose flour

• ( Optional ) Chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (175C) and butter a 4x8-inch loaf pan.

2. In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter into mashed bananas.

3. Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.

4. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. ( Optional ) You can put chocolate chips into batter.

5. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour at 350 degrees (175C), or until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. A few dry crumbs are ok; streaks of wet batter are not. If the outside of the loaf is browned but the center is still wet, loosely tent the loaf with foil and continue baking until the loaf is fully cooked. Then remove the banana bread from the pan and let it cool completely before serving. Slice and serve.

NOTE: A bread knife helps make slices that aren't crumbly

Wrapped well, the banana bread will keep at room temperature for 4 days. For long storage, refrigerate the loaf for up to 5 days, or freeze it.

Mochi

By: Naya Lerum, Jillian Makroulakis,Victoria Fattorouso (5th grade)

• Measuring cups

• Small tray

• Parchment paper and plastic wrap

• Ice cream spoon or scoop

• Microwave safe bowl

• Rubber spatula

• Food coloring (optional)

• Sweet rice flour

1. Using a small ice cream scoop or a spoon, scoop 12 scoops of ice cream, they should be about the size of 2 tablespoons, and place them on a parchment paper-lined tray.

2. Pop this tray into the freezer.

3. Combine the sweet rice flour, sugar, and water in a large microwave-safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for 1 minute.

4. Stir the rice flour mixture with a whisk to get rid of any lumps, then recover with plastic wrap and microwave again for 1 minute.

5. Dip a rubber spatula in water and stir the rice mixture again. Don’t use your whisk this time, as the dough will now be very sticky.

6. Cover the mixture one last time and microwave for another 30 seconds. (Stir in your food dye here, if you are using.)

7. Place a large piece of parchment paper on your counter and cover it with a generous dusting of cornstarch (or potato starch).

8. With a wet spatula, scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto the cornstarch. Dust the top of the dough with more cornstarch.

9. Roll the dough into a rectangle shape, no less than 1/4-inch thick. Make sure you keep dusting the top and bottom of the dough with cornstarch to prevent any sticking.

10. Once rolled out, place the parchment paper on a cookie sheet and into your refrigerator to set. This will take around 30 minutes.

11. After the dough has set, cut circles of the dough using a 3 ¾ inch (9½ cm) cutter. If you don’t have a cookie or biscuit cutter, use an empty tin can or drinking glass.

12. Pick up one circle of dough and brush off any excess cornstarch.

13. Now, working quickly, take one scoop of ice cream from the freezer and place it in the center of the circle. Press the dough’s edges around the scoop of ice cream, forming a ball, and squeeze to seal.

14. To help preserve its shape, wrap the mochi ice cream ball in cling wrap and place them seam side down back in the freezer to set.

15. Repeat with the remaining circles of dough and ice cream balls. Allow the mochi to freeze for a minimum of 2 hours.

16. When ready to eat, let the mochi ice cream sit for a few minutes to soften.