Italian Sauteed Mushrooms Recipe

Delicious & The BEST Italian Sauteed Mushrooms Recipe in the world – this is one of my favorite side dishes my mama makes.

I remember having huge family gatherings at my mom’s house on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas and these Italian Sauteed Mushrooms were always there.  My mom would cook a huge turkey and few side dishes, while everyone else would bring desserts and appetizers.

Reasons I Love This Recipe

Crowd Pleaser: Everyone loves my mom’s sautéed mushrooms! I don’t remember a single time that at least one person hasn’t wanted the recipe.

Easy: You wouldn’t believe how easy it is to make this mushroom recipe. All you will need is 5 ingredients and one SECRET SAUCE.

Quick: Cooking this easy holiday side dish will only take about 15 minutes.

Make Ahead: It tastes even better after 48 hours, because the mushrooms will marinate in the Secret Sauce and will make the mushrooms taste extra yummy. Such a win because that means you can prep ahead which is what I need when it comes to big holiday meals!

What are you waiting for? Scroll down to see how to make The Best Italian Sautéed Mushrooms Recipe.

Ingredients You Need to Make the Best Sauteed Mushrooms:

• Baby Bella Mushrooms: also called cremini mushrooms, they have a deep earthy flavor and beautiful color
• Italian Dressing: You can make your own homemade Italian dressing or buy your favorite brand from the store. This is the secret sauce combined with the flavor of the bell peppers and onions…so dreamy!
• Onion: just a yellow onion works great
• Red Bell Pepper: you could also use orange or yellow
• Salt and Pepper: adds flavor
• Parsley: used for garnish

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post. Keep scrolling for all the details!

Substitutions and Variations

If you can’t find baby bella mushrooms, white button mushrooms will work fine. They just will lack a little depth of flavor. Portobello mushrooms can also be used. You’ll just want to cut them into bite size pieces. Porcini, chanterelle or shiitake mushrooms are also options but they tend to be quite expensive. You can also do a combination of any of these.

Fresh parsley can be swapped for any variety of fresh herbs…thyme, oregano, or rosemary will all taste great.

If you want to add a little heat, add a pinch or two of red pepper flakes.

How to Clean Mushrooms

Mushrooms can sometimes have dirt on them when they are packaged. Be sure to wipe mushrooms with a dry paper towel to clean them. Don’t wash them in water or use a damp paper towel. Mushrooms are like sponges and will soak up water. You don’t want to add any extra moisture, and you want the mushrooms to soak up the Italian dressing flavors.

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Cranberry Orange Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This cranberry orange cake with cream cheese frosting is bursting with holiday flavors. Perfectly moist with the softest cake crumb – the combination of sweet oranges and tart cranberries makes it perfect for Christmas.

It’s not even Christmas until you’ve had some sort of orange cranberry baked good. Am I right? The flavors and scent of those two fruits together just sings! Have you tried our orange cranberry bliss bars?? Or our cranberry orange bubble bread (perfect for Christmas morning!)?? Now you can try this orange cranberry cake too!

Oh hi there! My name’s Fiona and I’m so excited to meet you! I blog over at Just So Tasty, and today’s my first guest post on Oh Sweet Basil.

I love baking, eating cake, and listening to country music. (Is that embarrassing? The country music part I mean???) And making tasty treats for the people I love is one of my absolute favorite things.

I was so excited when Carrian asked me to share recipes on Oh Sweet Basil, so today I’m starting off with this easy Cranberry Orange Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. It’s a perfectly moist vanilla sheet cake infused with fresh oranges and dotted with tart cranberries. Then it’s frosted with tangy cream cheese icing and decorated with sugared cranberries and orange zest.

What Do I Need to Make Cranberry Orange Cake?

Here is just a quick list of the ingredients so you can get an overview of what you will need. All the measurements and details can be found in the recipe card down below.

Sugared Cranberries

• Granulated Sugar
• Water
• Fresh Cranberries

Cranberry Orange Cake

• Dry Ingredients: Cake Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, and Salt
• Wet Ingredients: Unsalted Butter, Granulated Sugar, Egg Whites, Vanilla Extract, Milk, Sour Cream
• Cranberries tossed in Flour to keep them from sinking in the cake
• Orange Zest and Juice (fresh)

Cream Cheese Frosting

• Unsalted Butter
• Cream Cheese
• Powdered Sugar
• Whipping Cream or Milk
• Orange Zest

How to Make Cranberry Orange Cake

There are three different parts to this recipe – the sugared cranberries (used for aesthetic reason and are optional), the cake and the frosting. Here are the basic steps for making this cake:

Sugared Cranberries

1. Dissolve some of the sugar into the water in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat to create a simple syrup.
2. Stir in the fresh cranberries until they are well coated and then remove the berries with a slotted s

Peppermint Double Chocolate Cookies

Peppermint Double Chocolate Cookies have a rich chocolate taste and are infused with peppermint. They’re dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with crushed candy canes for the perfect holiday cookie!

Double chocolate cookies are my absolute favorite. I love the rich chocolate taste, fudgy texture, and double dose of chocolate. And with a glass of cold milk? Perfection.

My soft-batch double chocolate chip cookies are actually one of the most popular recipes on my blog. So I wanted to make a holiday version in time for Christmas to share on Oh Sweet Basil.

The combination of rich chocolate and cool peppermint flavor is the perfect pairing. Then the candy canes make them so pretty for your Christmas cookie exchange.

Ingredients for Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

For the Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

• Flour: just regular all-purpose flour
• Cocoa Powder: dutch processed cocoa is preferred
• Cornstarch: adds a chewiness to the cookies
• Baking Soda: gives the cookies some rise and fluffiness
• Salt: enhances all the flavors
• Unsalted Butter: softened to room temperature
• Brown Sugar: adds sweetness and rich flavor
• Granulated Sugar: adds sweetness
• Egg: gives the cookies structure
• Peppermint Extract: can be reduced for a milder mint flavor
• Vanilla Extract: adds flavors
• Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: dark chocolate chips could also be used or a mix of the two

For the Chocolate Peppermint Topping

• Semi-Sweet Chocolate: gets melted for the chocolate dip
• Vegetable Oil: helps smooth out the chocolate and gives it a nice shine
• Candy Canes: crushed up for a decorative topping

The measurements for all the ingredients are detailed in the recipe card at the end of the post. You can also print and/or save the recipe there.

How to Make Peppermint Chocolate Cookies

To get started, first we make our cookie dough. We whisk together our dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, corn starch, baking soda and salt), so they’re ready to be added to the batter later.

Then we cream together the butter and sugars in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment (I like to use a combo of brown sugar and white sugar) – and add in the egg, vanilla and peppermint extract. The dry ingredients are then carefully added to the wet ingredients, and finally we add in the chocolate chips.

Then it’s time to chill the dough. Chilling is recommended because the double chocolate cookie dough is thick and sticky. If you don’t chill the dou

Old Fashioned Molasses Cookie Recipe

Old fashioned molasses cookies are one of the chewiest, yummiest cookies to make for the holidays, you will absolutely love them!

These old fashioned molasses crinkles are fantastic and totally similar to our white chocolate molasses cookies. These are meant to get those beautiful cracks all over the top and be a little more chewy to bite into. I have a secret to making those cracks as cracky as possible too!

Note, these cookies are not crunchy as we aren’t making gingerbread cookies, but chewy as is in sink your teeth into delicious. It seems like molasses crinkles are becoming forgotten but I refuse to let that happen.

What Do I Need to Make Molasses Cookies?

I’ve had quite a few molasses crinkle cookies in my day and I’m sorry to say that I have the same complaint with all of them, too much molasses and ginger. I don’t want to be breathing fire when I bite into a cookie.

Now I do like molasses cookies to have warmth to them as that’s how they should be but that all comes from the right ingredient ratios. We only need 1/2 cup of molasses and that’s plenty to bring on the flavor. Here is everything you need:

• Butter: unsalted, softened
• Brown Sugar: adds sweetness and rich molasses flavor
• Sugar: Just regular granulated sugar is used to both sweeten the dough and to roll the dough in before baking.
• Molasses: adds flavor, sweetness and richness of flavor
  • PRO TIP: We prefer Grandma’s brand dark molasses.
• Vanilla: adds flavor
• Eggs: gives the cookies structure
• Flour: just simple all purpose flour is all you need
• Ground Cinnamon: adds warmth and flavor
• Ground Cloves: adds festive holiday flavor
• Baking Soda: gives the cookies rise and fluffiness
• Ground Ginger: adds flavor and warmth
• Salt: enhances all the flavors

The measurements for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

How to Make Molasses Cookies

These old fashioned soft molasses cookies come together quickly and easily. Here are the basic steps:

1. Wet Ingredients: Mix the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and cream until light and fluffy using the paddle attachment. Add the molasses and beat until smooth and then the egg and mix again.
2. Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together.
3. Combine: Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
4. Chill: Scrape the sides of the bowl down and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
5. Prep: Preheat the oven and prep baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper.
6. Form: Scoop the cookie dough into balls and using your hands, roll the dough into balls. Roll the dough in

White Chocolate Molasses Cookies [+ Video]

A perfectly soft molasses cookie recipe is essential for the holidays, but these white chocolate molasses cookies take things to a whole new level.

That’s right folks, these are not your typical holiday molasses cookie. I know that this is a pretty popular cookie, molasses or ginger snap, for this time of year, but that does not mean that it has to be completely traditional. These white chocolate chewy molasses cookies are actually an adapted recipe from my dad’s side of the family and is over 150 years old! I’ve been holding onto this recipe since I got it from my aunt last year just so that I could share it at the right time of year with all of you.

Family Holiday Traditions

My mom would spend hours in the kitchen baking the holiday recipes that had been passed down through the generations like this one just so we could deliver them to neighbors and families that my parents would find who were in need. Often the treats to those families included a little extra cash, gifts or toys for the kids.

In fact, sometimes my dad would even dress up as Santa so that the families wouldn’t know who he was when he dropped off the goodies. This white chocolate molasses cookies recipe is one we can use to pass on the same tradition which means that I feel like I should do as my mom did and teach my children. It’s hard sometimes. Some of the cookie dough got so squished and squashed that the white chocolate was sticking out everywhere and it looked like quite the mess but I’m so grateful for the memory of helping a 7 year old discover the magic of making cookies for the holidays to give to neighbors and friends and spread Christmas cheer.

Ingredients for White Chocolate Molasses Cookies

I am an avid cookie lover! I’ll choose a cookie over almost any other dessert (except pie, good golly I love pie!), but not all cookies are created equal. I love a thick and chewy cookie that is perfectly baked. I love them a little crispy around the edges and nice and chewy in the middle. These molasses cookies check all the important cookie boxes and the melty white chocolate in the middle is the best surprise. Here are the ingredients you will need:

• Butter, Shortening, or Lard – we usually do half and half
• Light Brown Sugar – adds sweetness and even more molasses flavor
• Egg – adds structure to the cookies
• Molasses – adds sweetness and perfect molasses flavor, Grandma’s brand is our favorite
• Flour – just regular all pur