The Saddest Meringue Cookies You'll Ever See

Recently I looked up some South Beach Diet dessert recipes, just to check out some healthier sweets. I decided to make their Chocolate Meringue Kisses. What a huge disappointment! I followed the recipe to a T, and in the beginning stages they looked great and fluffy just like meringue should be. But once I added the vanilla and cocoa, it shrunk down to practically nothing and the cookies were small and heavy and bitter. So, so sad.

Nectarine Tart made with Spelt Flour

I was recently introduced to spelt. It is a type of wheat that is good for people with other wheat intolerance's and isn't altered the way other flours are. So I decided to make a tart with nectarines that I picked up at the farmer's market. It tasted great, although it would have been greatly enhanced with ice cream! However, the dough was really difficult to work with.


Spelt Crust
3 T oil
2 T water
1/4 tsp salt
1 C and 2 T spelt flour

Whist oil, water and salt. Stir in flour until evenly moist. Press into 9 inch pie plate. Top with fruit, sprinkle with sugar and bake at 375 for 12 minutes.

I ended up adding a little more water and 2 T butter for a workable consistency for the crust.

Out Of This World Rolls

I finally had a chance to make some soft bread after that whole crusty French bread disaster. These hit the spot! And I ended up doing half wheat/half white flour and used this recipe from my LionHouse book. Were they really out of this world? Well, probably not, but they were light, soft, warm rolls which were delicious!

Out of This World Rolls

2 T yeast
1/4 C warm water
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C shortening
3 eggs
1 C warm water
1 1/2 tsp salt
4-5 C flour

Combine yeast and the 1/4 C warm water in a small bowl and set aside to proof. In a large mixing bowl, cream together sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each. Add softened yeast, 1 C warm water, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Mix well. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour. Punch down and let rise for another 45 minutes. Shape as desired and place on greased baking sheets. Cover and rise additional 40 minutes. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Dough will keep in the fridge up to 5 days after second rise and shaping. Take out 3 hours before baking and allow to rise.

White Chocolate Chip Brownies

Brownies with ice cream is my most favorite dessert ever! So why has it been soooo long since I've had them? I'm very ashamed of myself for ignoring this wonderful dessert. I guess I've been busy trying so many new, fun recipes that I haven't gotten around to the good ol favorites.

The other night I realized we had left over ice cream from Dillon's birthday and it was the perfect opportunity to make a homemade brownie and I could make Travis extra happy by adding in the white chocolate! It was delicious!





Homemade Brownies
(from my Hershey Cookbook-you're supposed to add peppermint patties but I switched them for white chocolate chips)

3/4 C cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
2/3 C butter, melted and divided
1/2 C boiling water
2 C sugar
2 eggs (I just used 4 whites)
1 1/3 C flour (I used wheat)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 package of white chocolate (or mint patties or whatever candy pieces you fancy)

Heat over to 350 and grease a 13x9 pan.

Stir together cocoa and baking soda in a large bowl. Stir in 1/3 C butter. Add boiling water and stir until mixture thickens. Stir in sugar, eggs and remaining butter until smooth. Add flour, vanilla and salt. Blend completely. Add white chocolate. Spread in pan.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until brownies begin to pull from sides.

Slumber Party Cupcakes

I was visiting my parents earlier this week and my mom asked me to make a special treat for her Beehives at church. Of course I jumped on the opportunity to make something new! Since they were all getting together in pjs that night, I figured slumber party cupcakes were the way to go! And, I tried out a new fat free chocolate cupcake recipe I've been hoping to test out. They weren't too bad, I'll hang on to this one.

My fat free cupcakes, topped with vanilla canned frosting (not so fat free!).
The inspiration.
Dillon, hung out and helped eat the teddy grahams.


Marshmallow bodies and cookie heads.
I rolled out airheads to shape into blankets.
Jelly Belly feet.
And a few finishing touches like Starburst books and decorated blankets made the children all snug in their beds!




Fat Free Chocolate Cupcakes
(makes 12)

1/2 C wheat flour
3/4 C sugar or sugar substitute (I used half and half)
1/4 C cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 C fat free plain yogurt
1/2 C skim milk
4 eggs whites
1 tsp vanilla

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then mix together. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I made some cookies for my family the other day. I decided on this recipe that I'd torn out of a magazine, it is a "healthy" option with whole wheat flour and oats. I enjoyed them, but to be honest they didn't just melt in your mouth. However, I do enjoy the texture that whole wheat provides.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/4 C wheat flour
1 C oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C brown sugar
1/3 C butter
1/3 C peanut butter
1/4 C buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a cookie sheet with non stick spray. Mix together flour, oats, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, beat sugar, butter, peanut butter and buttermilk. Stir in flour mixture to make a soft dough. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, place on sheet 2 inches apart. Flatten gently with the back of a fork. Bake 9 minutes.

Cookie Monster Birthday Treats

I had so much fun making Dillon's first birthday treats! I got the idea months ago and I'm really proud of myself that they turned out so well. Now I can't wait until next year!

The party favors were something I dreamed up awhile back. Cookies covered with blue melting chocolate, marshmallow and chocolate eyes and a melting chocolate for a mouth.






The cupcakes were not my idea, although I wish I could take the credit for this awesome cuteness! I have seen people do it all different ways (some better than others) and I was really pleased with the outcome. Homemade chocolate cake and butter cream frosting, rolled in coconut, white and regular melting chocolate eyes and Chips Ahoy cookies stuffed in their adorable little monster mouths.


And what kind of ice cream would Cookie Monster want? Cookies and cream of course!

At first cake attempt Dillon was over tired and a little worn out from the crowd. He cried while we sang and when I tried to give him a taste. But later, after the crowd died down, he chilled out, ate, and discovered the deliciousness of cake and ice cream!

White Chocolate and Raspberry Scones

I ripped this recipe out of a magazine a few weeks ago. The original calls for blueberries and it has a drizzle frosting, which I'm sure is wonderful, but we decided to jazz it up a bit.




Scones

1 1/4 C wheat flour
3/4 C white flour
1 T sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C milk
3 T applesauce
1 egg
1/2 C raspberries
1/2 C white chocolate chips

Heat over to 400 and spray baking sheet/pan. Mix flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Combine milk, applesauce and egg then pour into the dry mixture. Mix in berries and white chocolate. On a floured surface, pat into a circle. Bake 20 minutes.

Artichoke Dip and Bread Pudding

I found two great ways to enjoy my French bread! First, artichoke dip. I'd never dealt with cooking my own artichoke before, so this was a new one for me, thank goodness for the internet!


First I trimmed the top, tips of the leaves and stems.


Then I put them in boiling water and simmered them, covered, for about 30-40 minutes.


I peeled off the leaves and saved them for dipping them in a dip for another time.


I gutted the heart of it with a small measuring spoon to get all the prickly fuzzy stuff.


I chopped and mashed to soft inside.


Then I mixed it with a little sour cream, mayo, lemon juice, pepper, and topped it with cheddar. I heated it up for a minute in the microwave and had a wonderful dip for my bread!


I checked out some different bread pudding recipes online and found a great healthy one and an ooey, gooey, very unhealthy one. I wasn't familiar at all with bread pudding, I have just heard about it and people seem to like it. So, I decided to blend the two recipes and see what happened. I made the actual bread pudding part healthy and topped it with the unhealthy sugar/butter sauce.





It was really delicious hot and later cold. I will be keeping this recipe!



Bread Pudding

6 slices of day-old bread
2 T butter
1/2 C raisins or nut (optional)
4 eggs, beaten
2 C milk
3/4 C sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla

Turn oven on to 350. Cube bread and put in a greased 8x8 pan. Drizzle melted butter on top of bread. In a medium bowl mix eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Pour over bread, push down bread and let rest for 10 minutes. Bake for 45 minutes, or until top springs back.

Sauce

1 C sugar
1/2 C butter
1 beaten egg
2 t vanilla

Mix over medium heat and stir until sugar melts. Pour over bread pudding. Serve warm or chilled.

Whole Wheat French Bread

It is been a while since I made homemade bread, and I was really craving that soft, delicious texture, but I wanted to use whole wheat to make it a tad healthier. I tried a new recipe for French bread out of my Lion House book, and I can't begin to tell you what a HUGE letdown this bread was!



Maybe it turned out in the sense of what French Bread should be, but the outside was way too hard and crusty for my taste. So, in the end, I have lots of bread and I'm still craving the good old stuff. I guess next time I'll go back to my go-to bread recipe and maybe skip the wheat flour.


I hope no one minds, but I decided not to bother posting the recipe since I was so disappointed in the outcome. At least they look attractive!


And now I'm thinking of ways to use my crusty French bread so I don't waste it. I'm thinking about dipping it in soup or making a bread pudding?

Walnut Truffles

I know, I know, you are probably saying "wait, aren't those the exact same recipe she called "wedding cookies" a few days ago?

Well, yes and no. I found this recipe online a while ago and they sounded really good, so I tucked it away for another day. Well I decided since we like the other ones so much that I would give this recipe a shot to compare them. They really are almost the same, maybe a slight difference here or there (this one called for salt while the other didn't). The verdict? They tasted the same to me, but since they are yummy, I didn't mind!

Walnut Truffles

1 C butter
6 T sugar
1/2 t vanilla
2 C flour
pinch of salt
8 oz chopped walnuts
1 1/4 C powdered sugar

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy.
Gradually beat in flour and salt.
Stir in nuts.
Shape into one inch balls, place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake at 325 for 14 minutes or until bottoms are light brown.
While hot, turn in powdered sugar.

Congo Bars

This recipe is one that I found on one of the blogs I like to follow, Bakerella. I made dinner for the missionaries earlier this week and needed something that could be wrapped up and taken home, this was a great recipe! I just switched out the chocolate chips for white chocolate and the pecans for walnuts, since that is what I had on hand.



Congo Bars
2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 lb. light brown sugar (Oh my and thank you!)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
11.5 ounce package milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
By hand:
Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
Stir brown sugar into softened (not melted) butter in another large bowl until butter disappears. You can use the back of your spoon to help incorporate the two together.
Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture and stir well after each egg.
Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts. Mix well.
Add dry flour mixture and stir until well combined.
Coat a 13 X 9 pan with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Make sure you don’t over bake.

Wedding Cookies

First off, lets all admire my picture editing skills. Ohhh! Ahhh! Wow!


Okay, that's enough everyone, don't embarrass me!
I whipped up these bad boys the other day for Travis to take on his road trip (he was off to an interview). They are from my Lion House Bakery book and have been on my mind for a while now and I'm glad I finally got to them, because...yum!

Wedding Cookies

1/2 C sugar
1 C soft butter
1 t vanilla
2 C flour
1 C chopped walnuts of pecans
powdered sugar

Preheat over to 350. In a large bowl, cream sugar, butter and vanilla. Add flour and mix well. Add nuts and mix. Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes, until the tops are slightly cracked and bottoms are light brown. Roll cookies in powdered sugar while they are still very warm.

By the way, does anyone happen to know why these would be called wedding cookies?

the ants go marching one by one

I recently recieved a new cupcake book that I just might be a little obsessed over! It has the cutest ideas ever and I've been flipping through it daily waiting for an opportunity to try some.

Finally, this weekend, I tried some out. I was wanting to use ingredients that I already had and we've had the stuff to make rice krispy treats. I have heard of people making rice krispy cupcakes before and I figured I would do that and still be able to fit in my cutesy wootsy decorating.

It was difficult to decide, but I finally decided on the ants. Besides, don't rice krispy treats, picnics, holiday weekends and ants kind of all go together?

The inspiration...


My little ants...


Hey, leave my apple alone!


Hooray for another yummy dessert!