Cangrejitos de Jamón - Ham Pastelitos

Hitting my hundredth recipe is quite a landmark. Coming across this one was a nice surprise. You really are making ham pastelitos in your kitchen with this. Really.

When I saw I had to make my own dough, I shuddered, but kept on. Good thing - this uses the easiest dough recipe I've made to date - Receta Basica No. 3. It has cream cheese in the dough. Deliciousness.

I had to grind up my super Cuban staple, ham cubes, and place it by the spoonful atop triangles of the deliciousness dough. Then you roll up the triangles and get cangrejitos (little crabbies).

I didn't realize you needed to brush with egg wash before I started (I always have ham cubes, I never have eggs) so the crabbies came out dull, but they were still wonderful.

You get a good number of Cangrejitos from the recipe so if you're daring and want to have a kiddie party, bake these up and you're a homemade Cuban bakery.

Mango Muffins

This recipe comes from a book entitled, Floribbean Flavors, by Tony Merola. I found it on a website that had many mango recipes, so feel free to take a look and see if any other mango recipes catch your fancy.

Mango Muffins

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature (divided)
1/4 cup cornflake crumbs (if needed; see below)
2 cups sifted flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
2 cups (about 2) ripe mangoes, peeled, pit removed and cut into 1/4-inch
cubes
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 teaspoon grated lime zest

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Lightly coat 24 muffin cups with total of 2 tablespoons butter, or
with vegetable oil spray, or line them with paper baking cups (which
will keep them fresh longer). If not using paper liners, sprinkle
with cornflake crumbs; tap out excess.
3. Stir and toss together flour, baking powder, allspice and salt until
completely mixed.
4. Place remaining 6 tablespoons butter in large mixing bowl and beat
either by hand or with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
5. Gradually beat in brown sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well
after each addition.

6. Add combined dry ingredients and beat just until
batter is blended; it should not be completely smooth. Over-beating
will result in tough texture.
7. Fold in mangoes, walnuts, rum and lime zest. Spoon batter into
prepared muffin cups, filling two-thirds full.
8. Bake in preheated oven about 20 to 25 minutes or until tops are
golden and toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.
9. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes before removing from pans.

Makes about 2 dozen.

Honey Mango Granola Energy Bars

This recipe was inspired by Barbara, and was posted on Ms. Latina's site. Barbara made hers with strawberry preserves, but I went with some mango marmalade I had in the fridge.

Honey Mango Granola Energy Bars
Serves 6

Ingredients
1/2 cup of honey
Cooking spray
1 egg white
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup of canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup coconut flakes
1 cup mango marmalade

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Spray a 7 by 10 ¾-inch nonstick baking pan with cooking spray. Lay a piece of parchment paper over the pan big enough to allow excess paper to hang over the sides. Spray parchment paper lightly with cooking spray.
3. In a medium bowl beat the egg white until frothy.
4. Stir in oats, honey, oil, vanilla extract and coconut flakes. Mix well.
5. Set aside ⅓ of the mixture.
6. With a rubber spatula spread the remaining mixture into the prepared baking pan, pressing lightly to form an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven.
7. Spread the marmalade over the crust of granola and sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the preserves.
8. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the preserve filling is bubbling on the edges.
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least one hour. Cut into squares and enjoy!