honey.roasted.peanut.butter.oatmeal.scotchies

Finals are done! One semester left and then I'm a REAL nurse. Pure craziness! I'm so excited to get home and start celebrating Christmas. It is so hard to find the Christmas spirit in the busyness of a college campus, even a Christian one. Lucky for me, I had three packages delivered full of Christmas cheer...and some good cookies!! This was my second year participating in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap (www.fbcookieswap.com)! What a cool idea to unite baking lovers around the world. I love that I get to share my gift with other people and gain a few new blogs to read. 

This year I decided to send honey roasted peanut butter oatmeal scotchies (whew that's a mouthful)! They were so good that I had to make another batch just for the family. I loved the butterscotch chips in with the peanut butter, but I also think that milk chocolate chips would be yummy as well! 

This recipe called for homemade peanut butter, which I had never made before, but let me tell you, I will never buy store bought again. I loved the flavor and it is also probably better for you without all the preservatives. 

I hope that my fellow bloggers who received my cookies liked them as much as I enjoyed making them! Merry Christmas!! 

Also-Because the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap partnered with Cookies for Kids Cancer (cookiesforkidscancer), I got this cool spatula for my donation! Cute!

HONEY ROASTED PEANUT BUTTER OATMEAL SCOTCHIES

adapted from: sallysbakingaddiction.com

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temp

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup honey roasted peanut butter (see recipe below) or use store bought

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup honey roasted peanuts (I chopped them up)

2/3 cup butterscotch chips

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.

2. In large bowl, cream butter and sugars together.

3. Add the peanut butter and beat to combine.

4. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine.

5. Scrape down the sides to ensure everything is mixed together.

6. In separate large bowl, mix the whole wheat flour, oats, baking powder, and baking soda.

7. Slowly add the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.

8. Fold the extras: peanuts and butterscotch chips.

9. Drop 1-2 Tbsp balls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Flatten very slightly.

10. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

11. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes--will be VERY soft.

12. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

13. ENJOY! :)

HONEY ROASTED PEANUT BUTTER

1 1/2 cups honey roasted peanuts (you may use plain roasted, salted, or unsalted)

1. Add peanuts in the bowl of a food processor with a blade. 

2. Process until nuts go from coarsely chopped to finely ground.

3. Stop and scrape down the sides as needed.

4. Process again until the peanuts resemble thick and relatively smooth peanut butter.

snickerdoodle.blondies

This post is a result of a little baking therapy. The past week I started my new job as a nurse fellow. Monday through Wednesday were pure orientation and Thursday and Friday I was orienting at my assigned clinic. It was a lot of information and with any new job comes questioning of your competence. Today was all about recovering and doing things I know I'm good at: baking and crafting...while having a Harry Potter marathon!! I couldn't be completely unnerdy and since I've fallen asleep at practically every midnight showing I needed to catch up! ;)

I've noticed these snickerdoodle blondies being posted on many other blogs, so I thought I would give them a try myself. They were so easy to make compared to regular snickerdoodle cookies AND they were just as tasty! 

SNICKERDOODLE BLONDIES

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup butter, at room temperature

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons grated sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

a pinch nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and/or line a 9x13 inch pan.

2. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and set aside.

3. In large bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar for 3-5 minutes.

4. Add eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, and beat until smooth.

5. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. 

6. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be somewhat cookiebatter-ish, so it's best to spread out with a greased spatula or hands).

7. Combine the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a little bowl. 

8. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.

9. Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool before cutting.

10. ENJOY!! :)

strawberry.yogurt.cake

(I forgot to snap a picture of the final product, so here is the picture from the 

blog I adapted the recipe from: aspicyperspective.com)

Whoa...Long time, no post! My baking significantly decreased over this past semester because of two reasons: 1) My roommates and I gave up all sweets for lent. 2) I have no life other than nursing school. I am now home for the summer and ready to post all sorts of yummy stuff starting with this strawberry yogurt cake. My last bundt cake was a total fail, but I braved it with this cake because I just love how bunt cakes look! Weird?...maybe...:) One of my very good friends had been in Jamaica on a medical missions trip and I got to pick her up from the airport. It was wonderful hearing about her experience! This is the cake I made for dessert during her stay. It was super good. The yogurt gave not only a nice vanilla-y taste, but really good consistency! YUM-O! 


I wanted to try a step-by-step picture post, so here goes! Enjoy!!

STRAWBERRY YOGURT CAKE

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (divided)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 ounces yogurt (I used vanilla.)

1 1/2-2 cups fresh strawberries, diced

1 cup powdered sugar

1-3 tablespoon(s) milk

1. Preheat oven to 325.

2. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt cake pan.

3. Sift or mix 2 1/4 cups flour, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside. 

4. With an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy.

5. Beat in eggs. 

6. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and yogurt. Mix until just incorporated. 

7. Toss the strawberries with remaining 1/4 cup flour. 

8. Gently mix floured strawberries into the batter.

9. Pour batter into greased and floured bundt pan. 

10. Bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

11. Let cool at least 20 minutes before flipping over on a wire rack. Let cool completely. 

12. Once cooled, mix milk and powder sugar together. Drizzle over top of cake.

12. ENJOY! :)

pumpkin.banana.muffins

I don't really like banana bread or pumpkin bread, so I don't really know what sparked my interest in making these muffins other than I had extra pumpkin left over from the pumpkin baked oatmeal and bananas that were quickly rotting, that I needed to use up. I have to tell you though, that they were surprisingly good! The recipe didn't call for chocolate chips, but I added them to half the batch and I have to say I liked those better (no surprise there). Anyways, I hope you enjoy this unique mixing of flavors! Happy Baking! :)

PUMPKIN BANANA MUFFINS

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/3 cup white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup rotten bananas (about 2 large bananas or 3 smaller ones)

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon 

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp salt

Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine butter, oil, white and brown sugars, eggs, banana, and vanilla. Mix well.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.

4. Gradually add some of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix well.

5. Add in 1/2 of buttermilk. Mix well.

6. Continuing adding the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk until everything is combined, ending with the dry ingredients.

7. Stir in chocolate chips if desired.

8. Pour batter into muffin pans.

9. Bake 15-25 minutes or until done.

10. ENJOY! :)

Note: Since this was adapted from a bread loaf recipe, the baking time may be way off. I didn't time how long it took for the muffins to bake. 

pumpkin.baked.oatmeal

I want to confess...I'm a pinterest addict. My roommate introduced it to me and I'm hooked!! Now that I'm on break and have some free time and no constraints to a meal plan, I have been trying out some of the recipes I have pinned. I have been drooling over this baked oatmeal for awhile now and I finally got the chance to make it today! I have to say, it definitely lived up to my expectations. It was like a healthy pumpkin cinnamon roll...well before I smothered it with cream cheese icing! ;)

PUMPKIN BAKED OATMEAL

adapted from: chocolatecoveredkatie.com

1/2 cup oats

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spices

3 packets sweet'n'low

1/4 cup canned pumpkin 

1/4 cup milk, creamer, or water (I used skim milk.)

1/8 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 380 degrees.

2. Combine raw oats, spices, pumpkin, and milk. 

3. Pour into two ramekins (make sure you spray them so they pop out nicely)

4. Cook for 13-15 minutes or until it gets firm.

5. Set oven to "high broil" for 2-3 minutes, or until it reaches desired crispy-ness.

6. Take out of oven.

7. Loosen the sides with a knife and flip onto plate.

8. Top with streusel, frosting, or desired garnish.

9. Enjoy! :)

 <--Just out of the oven.                   

sugar.cookies

You know those really good sugar cookies at WalMart that you never buy because you know you would eat all twelve in one sitting? No? Well...they are the really fluffy cookies with the ungodly amount of icing on the top? Still no?...your loss! 

Seriously though, these cookies are SOOO good! They are fluffy, soft, and have so much flavor. If you are like me and avoid buying the Lofthouse sugar cookies at WalMart because you will eat all of them, then I would suggest only making half a batch of these cookies. I've made them twice and I didn't count how many they made the first time, but the second time around 66 of these babies were baked! I'm really good at sharing, but a week later there are still two dozen sitting in my kitchen. 

Here they are in Christmas form:

SUGAR COOKIES

Recipe from: sweetpeaskitchen.com

Cookies: 

6 cups flour, divided

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup butter at room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups light sour cream

Frosting: (this is a double recipe because I always use WAY too much frosting) :)

2 cups butter, at room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

8 cups powder sugar

12 Tbs heavy cream

Food coloring

Sprinkles

1. In a medium bowl, whisk 5 cups of flour, baking soda, and baking powder; set aside. 

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the flat beater attached, cream the butter and granulated sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time beating until each is incorporated. Add the vanilla and sour cream and beat at low speed until combined.

3. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed. Dough needs to obtain the right consistency for rolling, so add additional flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until this is achieved (up to 1 cup more flour).  Divide dough into sections. Flatten into rectangles about 1 1/2 inches thick, then wrap with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator overnight. (I added more flour because my dough was still sticky)

4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheet with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray, set aside. 

5. Generously flour a work area and rolling pin. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Using a 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles and transfer to a baking sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes, until pale golden. Immediately transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

6. To make the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and vanilla. Slowly beat in the powder sugar. Once smooth and creamy, add in heavy cream, 1 Tbs at a time until the desired spreading consistency is achieved. If desired, add food coloring and beat until combined.

7. Once cookies have cooled completely, frost and add sprinkles. Allow frosting to set, the store in an air-tight container. Let cookies sit for several hours before serving to add the flavors to develop.

cinnamon.streusel.muffins

A lot of the Christmas gifts I received this year were baking related. I got the ever-so-popular cake pop book, spatulas, a cake stand, measuring cups, a recipe book, and these adorable muffin liners! I had to use them at once, so I made cinnamon streusel muffins for Christmas morning. They were a huge hit! 

My mom has an old cookbook from the Methodist church we grew up in, before we moved. It is filled with DELICIOUS recipes. This recipe was actually a coffee cake, but I converted it to muffins, just so I could use these liners! It is super easy and even easier if you convert it back into a cake! Merry Christmas!! :)

CINNAMON STREUSEL MUFFINS

Cake:

1 yellow cake mix

1 box instant vanilla pudding mix

2 Tbs vegetable oil

1 1/3 cups water

2 eggs

Streusel:

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

3-5 tsp cinnamon

4 Tbs melted butter

Icing:

3/4 cup powder sugar

1 1/2 T milk (or to desired consistency)

1. Beat all ingredients for the cake for 2 minutes at medium speed

2. Spoon batter into muffin pan. (1/4 full)

3. Fill 24 muffin wells. Set remaining batter aside.

4. Combine all ingredients for the streusel.

5. Sprinkle half the streusel mix over batter in muffin wells. Set remaining streusel aside.

6. Spread remaining batter over streusel in muffin wells. (wells should be 2/3 full now)

7. Top with remaining streusel.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. (I didn't time the exact amount, so watch carefully!!)

9. When cool, drizzle icing over top!

10. ENJOY!! :)