Yucca Bread

I visited Ecuador last year and while I was there, I discovered a few foods that I really wish were found everywhere here in the US. One of those foods is plantain chips...amazing (especially when stuck in a traffic jam in the Amazon). Another is yucca bread. Yucca bread is a cheesy bread served warm and usually with yogurt in Ecuador. Variations of yucca bread can be found in a lot of other countries, and under many different names. The base of yucca bread is yucca flour, which comes from yucca root. Yucca flour is also called Tapioca flour. What this all really means, is that it can be difficult to find yucca flour. I went to many different stores looking for it, and I ended up finding it at Whole Foods, and later at Fry's in the organic/healthy food section. As a bonus, it's gluten free.

This is pretty simple and quick to make. Here's what you need:

1 1/4 cups yucca flour

2 cups "Queso Fresco" cheese (or grated mozzarella cheese)

1/2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

4 tbsp butter, room temperature

1 egg

Start by crumbling the Queso Fresco into small, pea sized or smaller pieces. If you're using grated mozzarella, then skip this step.

Combine the cheese, yucca flour, baking powder, and salt until well blended. Add in the butter and egg, and continue mixing until a ball starts to form. Form the dough into a ball.

If you're not baking the bread right away, you can store the dough in the fridge for a day. I've accidently let it sit for 2 days, and although it was a bit hard to break up, it baked just fine. If baking right away, preheat the oven to 500°F, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll the dough into small balls, about 1 inch in diameter, and then place them on the cookie sheet about 1 inch apart from each other.

Bake for about 7-10 min, and keep an eye on them after 7 minutes. Take them out of the oven when the tops are golden brown, and enjoy them while they're warm! If you have a few left over, reheat them before eating them because they may be a bit hard.  

Text Only:

Yucca Bread

Adapted from: Laylita's Recipes 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups yucca flour

2 cups Queso Fresco cheese (or grated mozzarella cheese)

1/2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

4 tbsp butter, room temperature

1 egg

Directions:

1.) Crumble Queso Fresco into small pieces.

2.) Combine cheese, yucca flour, baking powder, and salt until well blended.

3.) Add in the butter and egg, and continue mixing until a ball starts to form.

4.) Form the dough into a ball.

5.) Preheat oven to 500°F, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

6.) Roll the dough into small balls and place on cookie sheet about 1 inch apart.

7.) Bake for about 7-10 min, rolls are done when the tops are golden brown.

Oreo Truffles

I’m not sure how I managed to live over two decades without ever hearing about Oreo Truffles. They are perhaps one of the most simple and decorative desserts that one can make. They don’t require a lot of ingredients, dishes, or prep time; however, the results are delicious. These make a great snack for parties!

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 – 16 oz package of Oreos (regular, not double stuffed)

8 oz Cream Cheese (I use reduced fat cream cheese and they still turn out great)

Almond Bark – chocolate or vanilla flavored

Chocolate Chips – chocolate and white chocolate

Directions:

First, you need to crush all of the Oreos. This is a great way to let stress out. I usually put all of the Oreos into a gallon sized Ziploc bag, and then use a rolling pin to crush the Oreos into crumbs. When you are done crushing the Oreos, put them in mixing bowl. Here’s what my finished Oreo crumbs looked like:

Next, add in the 8 oz of cream cheese and mix with a hand mixer until well blended like this:

Now the messy part...form the Oreo mixture into 1 inch diameter spheres and place them on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. After you are done forming them, pop them in the fridge for about an hour so that they can firm up.

Right before you take the truffles out of the fridge, start melting the chocolate for the coating. I like to use Almond Bark because it won't melt in your hands when you're eating the truffles. Melt about 3-4 squares of Almond Bark with a handful of matching chocolate chips at a time, you can always melt more as you go if you run out. I've discovered the hard way that if I just use Almond Bark, it doesn't glide over the truffles nearly as well as it does when I add in a few chocolate chips to the mixture. This is also why there isn't an exact amount of chocolate chips to add in, just toss about 1/4 of a cup in to help make the mixture smoother and more elastic.

Coat the truffle and then transfer it back to the cookie sheet. Once they're all coated, put them back in the fridge to assist in hardening the coating.

 Meanwhile, melt a contrasting color of chocolate to drizzle on the top. For this, just melt chocolate chips, no Almond Bark, because the chocolate chips are a softer chocolate that's easier to drizzle. Allow the chocolate to cool slightly and then put it in a decorating bag or if you don't have one handy, you can cut a very small corner off of a sandwich bag and use that.  Then, just drizzle the chocolate over the top of the truffles, let it cool/set, and you're all done!

I usually get about 50 truffles, more or less, depending on how many Oreos I sample for quality testing before I start. ;) Store these in an airtight container in the fridge.

The possibilities with these can be endless. You don't have to make spheres, you can make them whatever  shape you want! I made football truffles for the Super Bowl, and they were a big hit.

Text Only Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 – 16 oz package of Oreos (regular, not double stuffed)

8 oz Cream Cheese (I use reduced fat cream cheese and they still turn out great)

Almond Bark – chocolate or vanilla flavored (about 6-8 oz)

Chocolate Chips – chocolate and white chocolate (about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of each)

Directions:

1.) Crush Oreos into small crumbs; place in mixing bowl.

2.) Add 8 oz. cream cheese, mix until well blended.

3.) Roll into 1 in diameter spheres or other shape of choice.

4.) Refrigerate truffles for one hour.

5.) Melt 3-4 oz of Almond Bark with about 1/2 cup of matching color chocolate chips.

6.) Dip truffles in chocolate and place on a wax paper lined baking sheet.

7.) Refrigerate until set.

8.) Melt contrasting color chocolate chips (about 3/4 cup); fill decoating bag

9.) Drizzle chocolate over truffles; allow truffles to set in fridge.

10.) Store truffles covered in refrigerator.   

Enjoy!