Lately I’ve been trying to learn more about Korean cooking. It’s been pretty fun and very delicious so far :)

Today I decided to make some cold spicy noodles, “bibim naengmyeon,” which are traditionally made of buckwheat noodles (although another kind of noodle can be used instead) and a spicy cold sauce. The dish is sometimes even served with ice cubes in the bowl! I didn’t have any buckwheat noodles, and I prefer the texture of somen anyway, so I used those.

Soba, or buckwheat noodles, are a little chewier than noodles made with wheat, like somen and other kinds of pasta. Because buckwheat is actually not technically wheat (it’s more closely related to plants like rubharb, actually!), it’s actually gluten-free, too.

To make my version of this dish, I cooked some noodles (I used a handful of them) in boiling water

These don’t take very long at all to cook. I only cooked these for about a minute, stirring them around while the water boiled.

When they were done, I rinsed them in a strainer under cold water, and then mixed in some ice cubes, coming back to give it a quick stir with my hand every couple of minutes while I was making the other parts of the recipe.

Most all of the ice will probably melt because it’s cooling down the hot noodles, but if there are little pieces you can leave them in if you want.

For the sauce, I cooked garlic and fresh grated ginger in some sesame oil. When it started to sizzle, I added chili powder and some sesame seeds.

Then I whisked in sriracha sauce (rooster sauce), honey, and soy sauce.

I let the mixture cool, and then added the cold noodles.

I mixed it together and served it into two bowls.

Then I made a little well in each mound of noodles so that I could add half a boiled egg and some other vegetables on top.

I hard-boil eggs by covering them with water in a saucepan, bringing it to a boil, and then covering and simmering them for seven minutes. After that, I cool them in an ice bath (just ice cubes and some cold water in a bowl), and peel them and slice them in half lengthwise.

I also sliced cucumbers into thin strips. For each bowl of noodles, I used a 2-inch-long piece of cucumber

Which I cut into flat pieces

Then laid each of those down and cut it into strips

I also shredded some carrots using a cool little julienne tool that I have ^_^

Then I put the vegetables with the egg on the noodles and sprinkled sesame seeds on top. YUMMY!!

Bibim Naengmeyon (Korean Cold Spicy Noodles)

Ingredients:

1 egg

somen (or soba) noodles

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

½ teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon sesame seeds

3 Tablespoons sriracha sauce

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1 Tablespoon honey

½ cucumber

1 carrot

Directions:

Place the egg in a small saucepan and cover with water. Add a little vinegar if you want, to prevent the egg spilling out if it cracks while cooking.

Heat over high heat until the water boils, then cover and cook over medium-low heat for seven minutes. Take the egg out of the water and place it in an ice bath until you are ready to use it.

Fill a pot with water and boil it. Then add the noodles and cook for about a minute (until they aren’t hard in the middle) stirring frequently. Drain them and rinse with cold water. Let them sit in the strainer with ice cubes until you are ready to use them.

Heat the sesame oil and sauté the garlic and ginger. When they start to sizzle, add the chili powder sesame seeds and cook for a few more seconds.

Whisk in the sriracha, soy sauce, and honey. Let the sauce cool for a few minutes and then stir in the chilled noodles.

Peel the egg and slice it in half. Cut the cucumber and carrot into matchsticks. Serve the noodles into two bowls and garnish each with an egg half, the sliced vegetables, and a sprinkle of extra sesame seeds if you want.

I love tiny food. Something about a baby-sized cupcake or a little mini hamburger is just adorable and fun!

Plus, I often have a craving for a taste of something sweet or indulgent, but I don’t want to eat an entire cinnamon bun, for example. I created this recipe just for a situation like that! Except this is not a cinnamon bun, it’s my twist on a cinnamon bun.

I use cocoa powder instead of cinnamon!

So it’s like a cocoa bun maybe.

I made four tiny chocolate buns out of one “junior size” Pillsbury Grands refrigerated biscuit dough piece. One (uncooked) roll was about the size of a quarter:

These are really quick to make, and, if you can eat them despite how adorable they are, very yummy :P

I just rolled out a piece of biscuit dough, and covered it with a mixture of cocoa powder and sugar.

Then I rolled it up

And sliced it into pieces, which I put on a baking sheet and into the oven.

And then, just six minutes later..

Ta-da!

I made a really simple icing from a Tablespoon of powdered sugar and a teaspoon of milk.

If I still had tea parties with little stuffed animals and dolls, I would totally serve these. The recipe below only makes four little buns, but you can easily double or triple or quadruple it to make a bunch.

Itty-Bitty Cocoa Rolls

Ingredients:

1 piece of Pillsbury “Junior Size” Grands refrigerated biscuit dough

¼ teaspoon cocoa powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1 teaspoon milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out the piece of biscuit dough into a rectangle.

Stir the cocoa powder and sugar together in a small bowl. Use a spoon to spread it over the rolled-out dough.

Roll the dough up tightly and slice into four miniature buns. Place them on a parchment paper-lined (or greased) baking sheet and bake for six minutes or until cooked through.

For the icing, use a fork to mix the powdered sugar together with the milk in a small bowl. Pour over the buns and serve warm.

This is probably one of the easiest recipes I have ever made in my life. It’s so simple, and it tastes pretty close to the way a fried doughnut tastes even though it’s baked and made from refrigerated biscuit dough out of a tube!! (shhh..)

Because the actual doughnut part only takes a couple of minutes, you can spend more time icing, sprinkling, and just having fun making these look pretty :)

I used Pillsbury “Junior Size” Grands biscuits. I separated them into their individual dough pieces, and then used my thumb to poke a hole in each one and sort of mold it into a circle shape with my hands.

Then I put them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet (to prevent them from sticking) and brushed them with A LOT of butter.

They only took about ten minutes to start getting golden brown.

To make a glaze, I melted butter and chocolate in a saucepan.

Then I added powdered sugar.

I poured it over the doughnuts (while they were still on the parchment paper, to avoid messiness and extra dishes)

And then poured on some pretty sprinkles!

MMMmmmmm… :)

Super-Easy Doughnuts

Ingredients:

1 tube Pillsbury Junior Size Grands Biscuit Dough

melted butter (about 4 Tablespoons)

2 Tablespoons butter

2 ounces chocolate

6 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.

Poke a hole in the middle of each biscuit and use your fingers to shape it into a ring. Place the dough rings on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until they begin to turn golden brown.

For the glaze, melt butter and chocolate in a saucepan, then whisk in powdered sugar. Pour over doughnuts, add sprinkles, and allow them to cool.

The flavors of coconut and lychee go very well together, and they’re perfect in this refreshing, summery kind of pudding that I made!

I found a can of lychees at my local Asian grocery market (I actually bought so I could use the juice in some Boba Tea).

I took a few of the whole lychees and put them in a blender.

Then I blended them with coconut milk

And poured the mixture into a saucepan.

I added sugar, some juice from the can of lychees, a little lime juice, and a little rosewater, and cooked it over medium heat for about five minutes.

Then I sprinkled gelatin powder over it and whisked it very well so that all of the powder was dissolved.

After it cooled down, I poured it into a container to refrigerate it in overnight. Although I used gelatin in it, this is more of a pudding than a set gelatin dessert. It’s soft and creamy and very delicious on a hot day served cold with fresh fruit on top!

Here’s my recipe:

Coconut Lychee Pudding

Ingredients:

8 whole lychees

2/3 cup coconut milk

¼ cup sugar

½ cup reserved lychee juice

1 teaspoon lime juice

¼ teaspoon rosewater

1 Tablespoon (or one packet) gelatin powder

Directions:

In a blender, combine the lychees and coconut milk and blend until smooth.

Pour the coconut-lychee mixture into a saucepan and stir in the sugar, reserved lychee juice, lime, and rose. Continue to cook while stirring for about five minutes.

Sprinkle in the gelatin powder and whisk well to combine. Pour into a large container and refrigerate until set (it won’t set completely like a molded gelatin dessert, but it will be a soft pudding). You can serve it with fresh sliced fruit.

I made these breadsticks with refrigerated biscuit dough (I used the “junior size” Pillsbury Grands biscuits). They were REALLY easy and super-delicious too!

First, I rolled each dough piece into a rectangle shape and put some grated pecorino Romano cheese on top.

Then, I sprinkled a little pepper and garlic salt.

I rolled each one up (long ways) and bushed it with butter, then drizzled a little olive oil on top.

I always line my baking sheets with parchment paper because it seems to help whatever I’m baking not to stick even better than cooking spray does. And it doesn’t get the baking sheet dirty! You just take it off and throw it away when you’re done.

When they started to turn golden brown, I took the breadsticks out of the oven and served them warm with homemade marinara sauce.

Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks

Ingredients:

1 can of Pillsbury Grands (Jr. Size) refrigerated biscuits

10 Tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese

pepper

garlic salt

melted butter and olive oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Roll each biscuit dough piece into a rectangle and sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of cheese, a little garlic salt, and some pepper on each one.

Starting from the long end, roll tightly and place seam-side down on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper. Brush with melted butter and olive oil.

Repeat with all of the biscuit dough pieces.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the breadsticks start to turn golden brown.

You can brush more melted butter and oil over the tops before serving if you want. Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.

Yesterday I made mini blueberry pies in muffin tins. They turned out really cute and they’re really easy too! The crusts are made from just some frozen pie crust dough. And the filling is homemade but very quick to make. I used frozen blueberries. And if you want a SUPER easy two-ingredient recipe, you can use canned blueberry pie filling and they still look fancy and adorable.

To make the crusts, I rolled out the pie crust and used a glass cup to cut out circle shapes.

Then I pressed them into a greased cupcake tin.

While they were baking, I made the filling by whisking together water and sugar in a saucepan

Then I whisked in some cornstarch

And heated it until it was all dissolved

I added the blueberries

and cooked them until the mixture boiled and the berries started to burst

And kept cooking until the mixture was thickened

The cornstarch should make the filling thick enough to coat the spoon like this:

I stirred in more blueberries

And stored the mixture in the refrigerator until it was completely cool.

I took the pie shells out of the oven and cooled them on a cooling rack

And then filled each with a little pie filling

I topped mine with some whipped cream :)

Mini Blueberry Pies

Ingredients:

1 box of pie crust dough (2 round pieces)

1 cup cold water

1 cup sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

5 cups frozen blueberries (thawed) or fresh blueberries

whipped cream for topping

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cupcake tin with cooking spray.

Roll out the pie crust dough and use a cup or round cookie cutter to cut out circle pieces of crust. Press them into the cupcake tins and bake for about 7 minutes until golden brown.

In a saucepan, whisk together the water, sugar, and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat and add one cup of the blueberries. Continue cooking until the blueberries burst and the mixture becomes thick.

Turn off the heat and add 3-4 more cups of blueberries. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Fill each mini pie cup with a large spoonful of the pie filling and then top with whipped cream.