My M & M Cookies

My own creation!  We had M & M's from all the holidays that needed to be used up so I made these cookies, sans a recipe.  I guess all of this baking is really teaching me something!  

Cream 1 stick soft butter in a stand mixer with 1/2 C packed brown sugar and 1/4 C granulated sugar for 2 minutes.  Add 1 egg and 1 t vanilla.  Mix well, scraping down the sides when needed. Add 1/4 t baking soda, 1 t baking powder, 1/2 t salt and 1 1/2 C flour (can use whole wheat or all purpose).  Stir to combine.  Stir in 1/2 C-1C M & M's depending on your preference.  Save 2-3 M & M's per cookie to press into the tops before baking.  Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes on greased cookie sheets.  Cool in pans for 5 minutes then cool completely on cooling racks.  Makes about 2 dozen cookies.   

 Chewy, crunchy and slightly sweet these will be your new favorite cookies :)

Rosemary, Thyme & Cream Cheese Buttermilk Bread

This savory bread is wonderful served alongside tomato soup, as a turkey sandwich, or just warm with butter slathered on it.  I used 1 1/4 C whole wheat flour and 1 C all purpose flour to give it that nutty, earthy flavor.  I used extra virgin olive oil since I did not have rosemary olive oil but I imagine it would be off the charts with the rosemary olive oil.  I topped my bread with dried rosemary and thyme but next time I will surely brush the top with more oil and a sprinkle of salt to give it that extra oomph.  Mine also baked a little less than the 40 minutes suggested on the blog.  This bread would be perfect during the colder months with a big bowl of chili.  Yum :)

     

Beach Worthy Bars

These are amazing and perfect to satisfy the hungriest of  beach goers.  Just ask my family!  Here is the recipe.

FYI: My bars baked for 20 minutes.  I added 1 C white chips, not the the whole 2 C amount.  Do not jiggle the pan to set the ingredients (like the sweetened condensed milk) because they will slide out of place.  

Oatmeal Mondays

Technically, the muffins I made yesterday fall under this category so it's like you're getting 2 for 1!

For today's post, I'd like to share a super simple oatmeal recipe that reminds me of one of my favorites: baked peanut butter banana oatmeal.

Here's the lowdown:

1/2 C old fashioned oats
1 banana, broken up into chunks
1/2 T peanut butter
water to cover

Put all ingredients into microwave safe bowl and cook 2.5 minutes.  Stir to combine before devouring.  If you like warm bananas coated with peanut butter, you'll love this creamy, dreamy oatmeal breakfast treat.  I am always tempted to double the recipe!

Sunday Treat

Lower sugar maple and brown sugar muffins

That's a mouthful...

of these muffins that is!  Moist, soft, and slightly sweet, they have the same base as my apple cinnamon oatmeal bread.  The only difference is that I substituted lower sugar maple and brown sugar oatmeal for the 2 packets instant apple cinnamon oatmeal.  One packet is mixed into the batter and one packet is sprinkled on top of the muffins before baking at 350 degrees for 16 minutes. 

Today we enjoyed them hot out of the oven, slathered with butter.  That is what lazy Sundays are all about...pigging out on muffins right after lunch.  Now time for a nap, hopefully.     

Cake Fridays

When our oven was finally fixed, my daughter requested vanilla cupcakes with purple frosting.  I was overjoyed to make them for her, especially after my 2 week forced vacation from baking.  The cupcake base is my tried and true vanilla cupcake recipe that I always use but with a twist.  I had lemon creme Oreos in the pantry and knew I wanted to make blueberry flavored frosting to achieve that purple color.  I figured the combination of blueberry and lemon would be superb and it was!

I placed paper liners in 15 muffin cups and dropped a lemon creme Oreo in the bottom of each one.  Then I plopped the vanilla cupcake batter over top.  While those baked in the new oven, I made the frosting: 

1/2 C fresh blueberries
1 T water
1 stick soft butter
2 C powdered sugar

Cook blueberries and water in a saucepan over medium high heat until blueberries start to soften, about 2 minutes.  Use a potato masher to break them down.  Stirring often, simmer a few more minutes until it thickens.  Take it off the heat and let cool.  When cool, add the puree to a stand mixer with the butter and sugar.  Whip until thick and creamy.  Now you are ready to frost your cupcakes and garnish each one with lemon creme Oreo pieces.

FYI: This frosting tends to spread so after I dressed my cupcakes, I refrigerated them until service.  Enjoy :)

Frosting recipe slightly adapted from here.   

Apple Bread

 

This bread reminds me of my apple cinnamon oatmeal bread.  It contains less sugar though and is healthier overall.  I like how this recipe yields 2 loaves because if your family is anything like mine, we devour quick breads in a matter of seconds.      

I made a plain loaf and a topped loaf so we could compare the two.  I simply halved the topping recipe and came up with this:

1 T butter, melted
2 T sugar (I cut back on the sugar)
1/2 t cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg
2 T quick oats (I did not have toasted oat bran)

 And the winner is...

The oat topped loaf!  The buttery, crunchy crumble really elevated this nutritious bread.  It is a must!  Slather with butter and two slices of this bread will put an instant smile on your face :)

FYI: My loaves baked in 35 minutes, not 50-60 minutes like the blog states.  

Cinnamon Cottage Cheese Muffins

I found yet another blog that I am enamored with at the moment.  Enticing recipes and funny stories are what attracted me to this particular site.  My muffins don't look as pretty as the ones on her site, nonetheless they taste moist and delicious.  I did not have turbinado sugar (on my list of items to buy at the food store) but highly recommend sprinkling it on top if you've got it.  These muffins would be prefect with a little extra sweetness and the sugar would have done the trick.  My muffin tops got super dark but they did not have a burned flavor (thank goodness!).  These are light and airy; everything you would expect from baking with cottage cheese.  Make these today and you will be a happy camper for the rest of the week!    

FYI: My batter yielded 15 muffins, not 30 muffins like the blog states.       

Pancakes for dinner

Remember those pancakes from Friday?  Well I jazzed them up for dinner.  I smeared peanut butter on them and topped them with apple slices.  I thought about drizzling honey over the apple slices but sometimes the kids don't appreciate the messiness.  I served four pancakes total for my two kids with bacon and broccoli.  What a kid friendly brinner (breakfast for dinner)!  As you can see below, my son chose to cut his but it is easier to eat the pancakes with your hands and take bites out of them.  To each his own :)   

Oatmeal Mondays

In my efforts to jazz up my bowl of oatmeal, I've danced into the realm of fruit zest.  I've done spices, cottage cheese, extracts...they are all great but I had an orange sitting in the fridge so I thought why not add the zest to the oats and have the slices on the side.  Double orange almond oatmeal was born.  The almonds are optional of course.  

This bowl of goodness will leave your mouth feeling refreshed and your breath oh so citrusy.  You'll still have to brush your teeth before you leave the house but in the meantime, your breath will be delightful.  Feel free to try this with any citrus zest like lemons, limes, and grapefruit.  You could make a blueberry lemon oatmeal bowl with lemon zest and fresh blueberries, a lime pie oatmeal bowl with lime zest, juice and graham crackers, or even a creamy grapefruit oatmeal bowl with grapefuit zest and Greek yogurt.  The possibilities are endless.

Double orange almond oatmeal       

1 serving

1/2 C old fashioned oats
12 almonds
1 orange, zested first (be sure to not go too deep to the pith or your oatmeal will taste bitter) then peeled to expose segments

Sprinkle contents into your breakfast bowl and fill with enough water to cover.  Cook in the microwave for 2.5 minutes.  Stir.  Top with orange slices or have them on the side.  Enjoy :)   

Cake Fridays

I am stretching here but I am still without an oven!  Hopefully it will be up and running soon.  So I had to come up with a creative way to make Cake Fridays happen... 

and this is it: pancakes!  These pancakes only require 3 ingredients.  3 ingredients!  I had my suspicions but they turned out great.  All you need for this breakfast treat, I mean "cake" is 1 egg, 1 T peanut butter, and 1 banana.  Mash them all together and voila, you get the healthiest pancake batter yet.  Butter a warm skillet and ladle your batter into the pan.  I got 5 good sized cakes and 1 mini cake, which the kids loved.  When flipping these be ever so careful because they are delicate and will fall apart on you.       

Pour some syrup over these babies and you've got yourself a delicious treat.  This is perfect for one adult sized portion but I was able to stretch it to 2 kid sized portions. 

 

Look at that piece, just hanging out in the shadows of the early morning sun peeking through our kitchen window, dripping with sweet maple syrup.  Not the kind of cake you would expect from me but based on the name it is one, right?!  Enjoy your pan"cakes."  

Source: oh joy

Cereal Snack

I typically have oatmeal EVERY morning.  It gets old from time to time.  So I came up with this concoction.  I am so glad I made more than one because I can't wait to have the other serving tomorrow morning!  I ate this for breakfast but it would make the prefect snack too.  Fluffy, luscious, sweet and chewy, this treat has it all!   

Cereal Snack

1 1/2 C Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal, big chunks broken up
1 C plain Greek yogurt

1 T natural peanut butter
1 T cookie butter
sprinkling cinnamon
1 mashed banana

Mix yogurt with peanut butter, cookie butter, and cinnamon.  Stir in cereal and mashed banana.  Divide evenly between 2 mason jars or any containers of choice.  Screw on the lids and refrigerate until ready to eat.  I would suggest refrigerating it for a few hours or overnight so the cereal gets soft. 

FYI: I added some strawberries to the top for visual effect.      

Cottage Cheese Snack

 

My kids love blueberries and they are super sweet right now.  Pick some up at the food store and see for yourself.  I prefer the mini ones but my kids like to pop the bigger ones into their mouths and chomp down.  They laugh, they squeal, while blueberries are launched into the air.  There is always a game in play at the kitchen table.  Why kids just don't eat when they sit down for a meal is beyond me.  Oh well, kids will be kids I guess :)   

This healthy, tasty snack comes together in a snap but I can't guarantee your kids will eat it.  Will they play with it like the above pictures and let the blueberries slide off the spoon and plop into the sea of cottage cheese thinned out by the honey and dirtied by the cinnamon?  Yes they will, but hopefully as they are playing, they will sneak some bites into their mouths and maybe, just maybe lick their bowls clean like my kids did.  I'd say this was a successful, albeit loud snacking experience.  Game on!     

Cottage Cheese Snack

1/2 C cottage cheese
1 t honey
1/2 C fresh blueberries, divided
1/4 t cinnamon, divided
1/4 C chopped nuts (optional), divided 

Mix the cottage cheese with the honey.  Divide between 2 bowls.  Add the blueberries, cinnamon, and nuts, if using to each bowl.  Enjoy with a spoon.  Makes 2 kid sized servings. 

Cookie Dough Bites

 

These cookie dough bites are one of the quickest, easiest desserts I've ever made and you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen right now!  I halved the recipe since it makes a ton but if you're making this for a party, you'll want to follow the original recipe.  Better yet, make these into cookie dough pops and the kids will go wild!  Add a stick after you've chilled the balls in the fridge and then dip them in chocolate.  Place them on wax paper and refrigerate for a few hours and voila, you've got chocolate cookie dough pops.  These taste just like cookie dough without the fear of eating raw eggs.  Creamy and rich from the butter, sweet and chewy from the brown sugar and vanilla extract, these nuggets are held together by flour and contain the perfect addition, mini chocolate chips!  They provide crunch and that extra chocolate kick everyone craves.  My family loved these no bake treats and you will too!   

Oatmeal Mondays

Table for 2 :)

Since these are so hearty and filling, they can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Carrot Cake Breakfast Bakes

1 carrot, grated
1 egg
1/4 t vanilla extract
1/2 t cinnamon
2 spoonfuls no sugar added applesauce

Mix ingredients and add:

1/3 C quick oats
1/3 C whole wheat flour
1/4 t baking powder

Mix until combined.  Grease 2 ramekins with nonstick spray.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes.  Top with cream cheese.  Enjoy warm with apple spears and milk, if preferred.

Slightly adapted from southerninlaw.com 

Cake Fridays

Blondie Cupcakes...what a brilliant idea!  Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.  The best of both worlds unite to create a delectable handheld treat.  I always get inspired by Bake or Break, the source of this recipe.  The pictures on her blog make my mouth water; displaying desserts that are both tempting and original.  Classic yet clever, these cupcakes are sure to knock your socks off!     

FYI: I added 2/3 C brown sugar and 1/2 C butterscotch chips instead of toffee chips.  Mine baked the full 22 minutes and I got a little more than 12 cupcakes.  

 

Butterscotch Smudgies

 My husband's creation...these are awesome as an alternative to ice-cream sandwiches: 

1 box cinnamon sugar graham crackers

1 box butterscotch pudding

1 tub Cool Whip Free

1 C Silk soy milk

Lay out your graham crackers.  Using a hand mixer, blend pudding and milk in bowl until smooth.  Fold in Cool Whip.  Mix until incorporated.  Using an ice cream scoop, plop mounds of delicious frosting onto every other graham cracker.  Top pudding cracker with plain cracker until you have about 2 dozen sandwiches.  Press lightly and use a knife to smooth out any filling that gushes out.  Place in gallon freezer bags and freeze for several hours or overnight.  Enjoy cold on a hot summer day :)

Inspirational sources: popsugar and notjustcute