Tag: Dixie Classic Fair

Coconut Chicken Fingers

Coconut Chicken Fingers: You may have eaten coconut shrimp, but have you had coconut chicken fingers?! Channel your inner Betty Crocker. These are a must make!

Getting Started

To make this recipe, these are the main steps:

Cut chicken breasts into strips
Dip the strips into a batter of sweetened condensed milk spiced with mustard and coriander
Dredge them in a mixture of Bisquick, coconut and paprika
Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees F

They end up like mini chicken strips, or better yet, gourmet chicken nuggets. Yum!

They bake tender and juicy on the inside, slightly chewy and crispy on the outside.

This inspired recipe won 1st place and a blue ribbon at the Dixie Classic Fair, in a Bisquick “Family Favorites” recipe contest we managed. Caroline Webster won with this creation back in 2013. She likes fast and easy recipes she can get in the oven quickly. These fit the bill!

Take a tip from Caroline: for a tropical theme serve these with some fruit, like lime wedges and orange slices. We adapted her recipe and tweaked the title, but no matter what you call them, they are crazy good! Enjoy!

p.s. If you like these coconut chicken fingers, you may also enjoy these nuggets, which are also baked.

-Cyndi

Giant Peanutty Banana Cookie

Go big or go home and bake this Giant Peanutty Banana Cookie! Make an impression with this oversized double chocolate cookie and its delicious toppings: a peanut butter-meets cream cheese layer, peanuts, and chopped candy bar. You finish it with banana slices and a chocolate drizzle.

Not only is this a show-stopper in it’s appearance, the creative cookie is also mouth-wateringly delicious! Are there are dozens of ways you change it up and make it your own.

Step by Step

It starts simple with an easy dough you spread in a greased 15-inch pan. We used a large non-stick pizza pan, which worked great.

Once assembled, the base of this Giant Peanutty Banana Cookie bakes in 20 minutes. Then the only hard part is waiting for it to cool. After the toppings are on you have a giant size dessert that will wow anyone who sees and tastes it. You could even call it a “chocolate-peanut butter banana pizza.”

Blue Ribbon Winning Cookie at Carolina Classic Fair

Congratulations to Jennifer Smith who came up with this winner!

Jennifer won first place at the 2015 Carolina Classic Fair (formerly Dixie Classic) with this Giant Peanutty Banana Cookie. It’s another all-time favorite from our archives.

You are going to absolutely love this cookie! And if you’re looking for more recipes with the chocolate-banana flavor combination, don’t miss this blue ribbon winning – and super creative – banana bread recipe.

Enjoy!

-Cyndi

Homemade Samoa Girl Scout Cookies

These Homemade Samoa Girl Scout Cookies aka Caramel deLites are an obsession of mine. From my first taste back in 2016 to today, they stand as one of my all-time favorite cookies. With a shortbread-like base, they’re buttery yet firm enough to hold the caramel, coconut and chocolate layers on top. The chocolate bottom provides a ridiculously good richness to every bite. Its gooey chewy caramel-coconut “filling” is a delight to taste too. And the finished version is a sight to behold!

Layers of Lusciousness

From bottom to top, here’s how they stack up when finished:

Chocolate bottom
Cookie base
Melted caramel “layer”
Caramel/Coconut “filling”
Chocolate drizzle on top

Blue Ribbon Winner

Recipe credit goes to Annette Saylor who won at the Carolina Classic Fair in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with this recipe. She won first place in a Gold Medal Flour cookie contest back in 2016. I’ve made a few tweaks and versions over the years.

This time when I made these notorious cookies (yes notorious, at least around here), I happened to have some extra coconut chips. Since I am in love with coconut, I chopped up the candy (let’s call it what it is) for a second layer on the jumbo cookie version. It really stacked the deck with extra height and gooeyness.

Jumbo or Classic-Sized Cookies

You can make these Homemade Samoa Girl Scout Cookies two different ways. Jumbo size is my personal favorite, as the process is less involved. You press the dough into a pan versus rolling it out. That alone is a huge time saver.

I use a 9-inch round springform pan for easy removal. A tart pan with a removable bottom also works. Once the cookie is baked and cooled, you can easily flip it over to spread chocolate on the bottom, instead of dipping individual cookies.

The other way to make them is the smaller traditional size cookie version. If we’re talking pros and cons, the main pro is how elegant they end up tasting. This is because the dough/cookie itself is thinner, as are the other layers. Another pro is they are easier to share (if you’re willing =) i.e. If you are giving some to neighbors, they get individual cookies and not a wedge out of a jumbo one. The con of the smaller version is it requires a few more steps and more time. You chill the dough a bit and are cutting individual cookies, each 2-1/4 inch size. With the latter version, it took me about 2 1/2 hours. And that’s OK ‘cuz they are worth it!

Another variation I have done, is to substitute coconut oil for the butter. The dough looks a bit different, more “glossy.” The texture is also firmer than when you use butter.

That’s it for the tips. I say get your bake-on and whip up a batch of these.

Enjoy,

Cyndi

p.s. If you are a huge caramel fan, be sure to try our recipe for homemade sea salt caramels.

This post was updated to reflect the new name of the fair.