Dessert | Luv What You Do

All Done April 2, 2013

Filed under: Dessert,Dinner,Running,Swimming,Vegetarian — Luv What You Do @ 9:25 pm
Tags: Brownies, chickpeas, Chocolate, cookbook, passover, Vegan

The BOY and I are All Done with Passover!

As is his tradition, he had pizza for dinner. I’d show you a picture but the entire pie was gone by the time I walked in the door after work.

I wanted something a little healthier and because it’s a week night…easy!

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I found this delicious looking recipe in Mama Pea’s cookbook for Thai Veggie Burgers.

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I prepped my ingredients in the food processor last night and then refrigerated them. I have never tried this with veggie burgers before, but I figured it it worked, it would be a great way to make healthy weeknight meals.

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When I came home, I heated up a skillet and rolled out my burgers.

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I fried the burgers in cooking spray ~7 minutes each side until they were warm on the inside and crispy along the edges.

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The Thai flavor in these burgers is strong and the texture is spot-on. I ate my burger plain with a side of green beans. The premade burger mixture worked perfectly! I will definitely do it again!

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For dessert, I whipped up a batch of Mama Pea’s brownies (that I found a few pages later). The toughest part was making these yesterday and having to wait to eat them today.

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I was a little nervous because they are healthy and vegan (although I didn’t use vegan chocolate chips, so they are not fully vegan).

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I sprinkled the top with powdered sugar, and the BOY and I dug into them right after dinner.

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I was a little nervous that he would notice the texture difference in the brownies, but he grabbed them and ran.

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When I asked about the brownies, he answered with a nod, smile, and a mouth full of chocolate. That’s usually a good sign : ) These brownies are rich and cake-like…you’ll never know that they are healthy (whole wheat flour) and vegan (minus the chocolate chips)! I bet you have all the ingredients in your house right now, so go preheat your oven.

On the exercise front…

I got in my first double workout this morning. I was at the track early for a 30 minute run before changing into my bathing suit for a 15 minute swim. It was an awesome workout with some well-deserved hot tub time at the end. I am super sore from ‘Barbara Lite’ yesterday, and I am hoping to get registered for my triathlon this week!

Here are the recipes for Thai Veggie Burgers and Double Chocolate/Single Chin Brownies from Peas and Thank You.

Enjoy!!!

Comments (14)

How Paleo Helped Passover March 30, 2013

Filed under: Cookies,Dessert,Holidays,Running — Luv What You Do @ 5:21 pm
Tags: Baking, Chocolate, Paleo, passover, Recipes, Running

Typically Passover (a time where Jewish people do not eat bread, flour, yeast, or corn) is known for it’s blah food. As children, we would be so excited for that first bite of matzah every year, but as the days wore out we quickly got tired of matzah nachos, matzah pizza, and matzah PB&J. As an adult, I’ve tried to get a little more creative with my Passover food…often cooking up a quinoa stew or something similar on the weekends to eat throughout the week. In the past few years, the BOY and I have barely eaten any matzah during the 8 days. We can usually make it a a few days on leftovers from our family sedars and then it’s the weekend and the BOY gets excited to cook up his favorite red meats.

As I was a trying to figure out what to eat for a pre-run breakfast (oatmeal is out during Passover) this morning, I realized that I could totally make my new favorite pancakes.

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They didn’t turn out so pretty looking, but they are a nice balance of carbs and protein which is perfect before a workout!

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A quick pre-run selfie (complete with sunglasses)…Hooray for sunshine!

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Last weekend’s running group of four decreased to two, but it was great to catch up with my friend. We are both running the half marathon in 5 weeks and haven’t done many miles. This morning we ran about 8 miles (72 minutes). I felt better than expected considering last night’s weak dinner, but I did slow towards the end. It was a gorgeous morning for an outdoor run! We have big plans to run again in two weeks (next week is the Shamrock Shuffle) and increase our miles before the race. Post run, I snacked on pear with almond butter and chugged lots of water. We had a few errands to run and then were back home for lunch!

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Although I don’t follow the Paleo diet, the blog world is abuzz with the newest Paleo recipes. Many of which use almond meal in place of flour…which is PERFECT for Passover! This afternoon I made Chocolate Chip Cookies from Fast Paleo.

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Heads up, this recipe uses one egg and maple syrup at room temperature, so pull them out of the fridge early. After you make your dough, refrigerate it for 30 minutes.

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I had heard that the dough tastes fantastic, so I had to try it before making my cookies!

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Somehow it actually tastes like cookie dough! It’s amazing!!! And I’m not just saying that because it’s Passover and I’m slightly starving : )

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The cookies baked up soft and puffy.

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I had to try a bite while they were warm with the gooey chocolate.

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The recipe made one dozen cookies, which is the perfect amount to get the BOY and I through the last few days of Passover.

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These cookies are delish (and the BOY totally agrees). I can see why they are called the BEST!

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I would make these any time of year!

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You can guarantee they will be making an appearance at next year’s Passover dinner.

What holidays do you change your eating habits for?

What is your favorite Paleo recipe?

The Best Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

From Fast Paleo

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sifted blanched almond flour (I used almond meal from TJ’s)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted (melted, not softened)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 whole egg

1/2 cup chocolate chips (kosher for Passover if desired)

Directions

In a bowl, mix together your almond flour, baking soda, and sea salt. In a separate bowl mix together your melted coconut oil, vanilla extract, room temperature maple syrup, and room temperature egg. Incorporate your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients, then add your chocolate chips.

After everything is mixed, preheat your oven to 350F and refrigerate your batter for 30 minutes.

Once the 30 minutes are up and your oven is heated, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpats and roll your dough into even balls-to whichever size you desire.

Put them in the oven for about 5-7 minutes, then take them out and slightly flatten them with the back of a spatula. Put them back in the oven for about 5 more minutes, or until they look done. You will see just a hint of golden brown.

Remove from the oven and set on the counter to cool.

I found a few other recipes for Almond Meal Cookies worth checking out!

And you can always make my favorite Clean Almond Butter Cookies!

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Chocolate Fudge Cake {Revisited} March 27, 2013

Filed under: Dessert,Holidays — Luv What You Do @ 9:35 pm
Tags: Baking, Chocolate, passover, Recipes, yoga

I woke up Monday morning with plans for CrossFit, but my stomach wasn’t feeling 100% and it looked like a REALLY tough workout. I’m not one to usually shy away from a challenge, but an intense weekend of workouts combined with this IBS fare up didn’t sound like a good plan for CrossFit. Especially since there were like 90 burpees involved! Instead, I had a productive morning of Passover baking before going to a noon Hot Yoga class.

The yoga class was a wonderful idea. I love the physical and emotional benefits of sweating away in a hot room pushing my limits in strength, balance, and flexibility. That morning, my legs were shaking immediately after entering high lunge and chair pose. I blame Saturday and Sunday’s leg heavy workouts. The core work and stretching at the end of the class was a wonderful way to wind down the weekend. When I came home, I had another Passover dessert to make.

Don’t be scared away by the word Passover because this is the Best Flourless Chocolate Cake EVER!

I discovered this cake around Passover time a few years back, but this cake is good enough for year round consumption. The last time I made it, it came out in a few pieces. So I was determined to do it right this year.

The cake came out of the oven with a bit of a lump.

That soon turned into a crater. I decided to let it cool fully before taking it out of the pan. And then decided to just travel to my parents with the cake still in the pan.

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Where it stayed…so I decided to sprinkle it with powdered sugar and serve it from the pan. The cake tasted just as good, if not better, than I remember! This is one INCREDIBLE chocolate cake. Not too rich, but with a creamy chocolate flavor. We had a beautiful Passover evening at my parent’s house with delicious food and great company! I’m so exhausted from the last few nights of fun (and wine) that I am heading to bed early tonight.

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In honor of Passover, I made another one of my favorites…

Matzah Toffee!

This might be my best batch yet!

I love the dark chocolate flavor from the Trader Joe’s Pound Plus bar!

I’ve been collecting some new Passover recipes, so we’ll see have time to get to this weekend!

Anyone else celebrating Passover?

How’s it going?

Chocolate Fudge Cake

From Southern Living

Ingredients

Vegetable cooking spray

Unsweetened cocoa

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup margarine

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly coat a 9-inch pieplate with cooking spray, and dust with cocoa.

2. Melt chopped chocolate and margarine in a heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, 3 to 5 minutes or until smooth; whisk in 3/4 cup sugar, whisking until blended.

3. Whisk together eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Gradually whisk in chocolate mixture, whisking until blended. Pour into prepared pieplate.

4. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until edges are dry and center is set. (Do not overbake.) Cool in pieplate on a wire rack 30 minutes or until completely cool. (Cake will fall slightly when removed from oven.) Dust with 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar just before serving.

Matzah Toffee

Ingredients

2-3 sheets of matzah (broke up as needed)

2 sticks of butter

1 cup brown sugar (I used light)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 Trader Joe’s Pound Plus dark chocolate bar (or 1 package of semi sweet or dark chocolate chips)

Directions

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a 9×13 pan with foil or parchment paper. Spray well with Pam to cover.

-Break up matzah as needed to cover the entire bottom of the pan.

-In a saucepan on the stovetop, combine butter and brown sugar, stirring constantly until boiling. Continue to stir for 3 minutes until thickened. Cool slightly and then stir in vanilla.

-Bake in preheated oven for 5-7 minutes until mixture starts to bubble.

-Remove from oven and cover toffee with chocolate chunks. Return to oven for 2-3 minutes until chocolate starts to soften. Spread chocolate with a spatula to cover toffee.

-Optional: cover with almonds, walnuts, sprinkles, or anything else you want!

-Let cook completely or place in fridge/freezer before breaking apart.

-Store in airtight container in freezer.

Comments (23)

Passover Fruit Compote {Revisited} March 25, 2013

Filed under: Dessert,Fruit,Holidays — Luv What You Do @ 11:14 am
Tags: Baking, Fruit, passover, Recipes

Passover is here again!

Bring on the flourless food!

Monday night we are going to the home of our close family friends, and Tuesday my mom is hosting. I volunteered to make one of my favorite Passover friendly recipes that appeared on the blog 2 years ago.

I’ve never met a fruit compote that I don’t like, and this is a great recipe any day of the year!

It takes a little bit of prep because the fruit needs to soak in cold water overnight. The next morning when everything is soaked and plump, heat your fruit in a large saucepan with orange juice (I used fresh squeezed), water, cinnamon, and cloves.

Warning: your house will smell amazing with the combination of cloves and fruit. After about 45 minutes, pour your fruit mixture into a baking pan and cover with macaroons.

Bake for 20 minutes until warm and delicious!

This recipe can be served for brunch, as a dinner side, or for dessert! It is the perfect combination of sweet fruit topped with soft, toasted coconut goodness!

It is easy to prepare ahead of time which makes it perfect for mid week meals.

Getting ready for Passover…here is a list of more tasty Passover dishes!

Passover Fruit Compote

From Baltimore Jewish Times

Ingredients

2 pounds mixed dried fruits (prunes, apricots, apples, pineapple, pears and figs)

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup water

6 whole cloves or one-half teaspoon ground cloves

1 stick cinnamon or one-half teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon lemon juice

8-10 crumbled macaroons (I used one entire package)

Directions

Soak dried fruits in cold water to cover overnight. Drain the fruit and place in a saucepan together with the orange juice, water, cloves and cinnamon. Simmer gently for 45 minutes, then add lemon juice and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes longer.

Drain the fruit, reserving liquid, and place fruit in a shallow ovenproof casserole or pie plate. Add just enough liquid to barely cover the fruit. Sprinkle with the crumbled macaroons. Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 20 minutes.

Serve warm or cold. Makes 8-10 servings.

This is a great dessert for leftover macaroons!

Note: If you want to make this in advance. Soak and cook fruit per instructions. Place in baking dish and refrigerate. Before baking, cover with macaroons and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Comments (15)

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars {+ Bonus Recipe} March 24, 2013

Filed under: Dessert — Luv What You Do @ 7:30 pm
Tags: Baking, Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Recipes

March Madness provides plenty of time for afternoon blogging!

And Baking!

Do you have recipes that you make once and then forget all about? And then a few years later you recognize that you have all of the ingredients and can’t figure out why you’ve waited so long to make said recipe again?

Somehow I ended up with two unopened bags of Reese’s peanut butter chips and immediately Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars came to mind. I hunted down the recipe which was saved on my computer. Although I haven’t made these in years, I knew exactly where it was.

These bars are really easy but taste WAY more elegant. The dough requires that you blend cold butter into the flour mixture. I recently saw on a blog that this can be done in the food processor. So I gave it a try and it worked magically! Within a few seconds, my butter was blended perfectly. Transfer the flour mixture into a bowl and stir in one egg to form your dough.

Place half of the dough on the bottom of a greased pan. Then layer with jelly, peanut butter chips, and more dough.

The dough bakes up puffy and soft with warm oozing jelly!

You definitely need to let these cool before digging in. But not completely if you are looking forward to the warm peanut butter chips and dripping jelly.

These bars are a true crowd pleaser! Who doesn’t love the combination of peanut butter and jelly?

I’ll tell you this…the BOY can’t keep his hands off them!!!

My favorite way to store AND eat these bars is straight from the freezer. When they are chilled, the peanut butter chips are crisp and the jelly still juicy! My mouth is watering just thinking about these bars waiting for me in the freezer!

I warned you that I had another recipe to share! When I was reading through blogs this week, I found this cookie bar recipe on Fearless Homemaker.

Since I had a fraction of a bag of mini M&M’s hanging in the pantry, I knew I had to make these too!

Since I didn’t have a full bag of candies, I used some chocolate chips as well. One can never have too much chocolate in cookie bars!

Typically M&M’s are safe in our house because I’m just not a huge fan, but these M&M Cookie Bars are so soft, chewy, and delightful, they were not safe at all!

If you’re looking for something fun to make for an upcoming holiday, use the bright Easter colored candies! The pastels will brighten up these cool spring days!

More Bars for Your Sweet Tooth

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Peanut Butter M&M Blondies

Oat N’ Toffee Grahams

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Makes 16 bars

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter or margarine
1 egg, beaten
1 cup grape jelly
1 2/3 cup (or 1 bag) peanut butter chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan. Set aside.
Stir together flour, sugar, and baking powder. Cut in butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in beaten egg until blended. Reserve half of the mixture and press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Stir jelly slightly; spread evenly over the crust. Sprinkle 1 cup of peanut butter chips over the jelly. Stir the remaining peanut butter chips (around 2/3 cup) into the reserved crumb mixture. Sprinkle it evenly over the top of the peanut butter chips.
Bake for 25-30 min or until lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Note: These taste incredible frozen straight from the freezer!

Bonus Recipe!!!

M&M Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Adapted from Fearless Homemaker

Note: The recipe as written below is half of the original recipe

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

16 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1/4 cup white sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 12oz bag M&M’s, divided or 1 cup M&M’s and 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position.Grease an 8×8 inch pan and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter + sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix.

Fold in 1/4 cup of mini M&M’s and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips (or 1/2 cup of M&M’s). Turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. Sprinkle the remaining M&M’s on top and press in slightly.

Bake 25-30 minutes, until the top of the bars is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan. Cool completely before cutting.

Comments (7)

White Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Raisin Cookies March 16, 2013

Filed under: Cookies,Dessert,Oatmeal — Luv What You Do @ 8:09 am
Tags: Baking, oatmeal, Recipes, white chocolate

As you read this, the BOY and I are most likely sitting at Pints and Pancakes drinking some GREEN beer and celebrating St. Patty’s Day in St. Louis! Woo Hoo!

We have close friends who live on the Illinois side of the city (the same friends we partied in Las Vegas with last year), and it has been WAY TOO long since the four of us have gotten together!

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We always have a ton of fun when we are together, and I’m sure St. Patty’s Day will be no different.

I knew that there was no way that I would show up in St. Louis empty handed.

So on Monday, I pulled out butter in the morning with intentions of making cookies. A quick view of the pantry confirmed that I have an overwhelming amount of peanut butter chips, white chocolate chunks, and dried fruit, including raisins.

The only thing missing was the oats, which I was able to pick up at the grocery store, and I was all set to make oatmeal raisin cookies. There are plenty of oatmeal raisin cookies out there, and I’ve made my fair share of cookies on this blog.

I went with a new to me recipe from a close friend’s blog. She has tons of incredible desserts and makes some of the prettiest cookies that I’ve seen!

Oatmeal raisin cookies are the BOY’s favorite, and I’ve met few people who can say no to a soft and sweet gooey dessert.

In honor of St. Patty’s Day, I added a little green ‘flair’ to a few of the cookies.

This recipe made more than enough cookies for me to bring into work and still have plenty to freeze for this weekend.

The warm white chocolate melts in your mouth and compliments the plump golden raisins perfectly!

This is a delicious combination!

You won’t be able to eat just one!

The BOY was excited to dive into these cookies, but I know he will be even more excited when our friends offer him homemade deer jerky this weekend!

Happy St. Patty’s Day

White Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Adapted from The Sugar Coated Chef

Makes 4 1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

3 cups rolled oats

1 1/2 cups raisins

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla.

Combine dry ingredients. Stir them into the butter mixture until well blended.

Add raisins and white chocolate chips. Drop by spoonful onto a lined baking sheet.

Bake about 11 minutes, or until lightly golden on the edges. Cool on a wire rack before storing in an air tight container.

Freeze leftovers.

Comments (22)

Crunchy Cookies V February 27, 2013

Filed under: Cookies,Dessert — Luv What You Do @ 8:51 pm
Tags: Baking, Recipes

This KIND giveaway is the gift that keeps on giving! Not only have the BOY and I been living on (and loving) both flavors of granola bars, this fresh granola is addicting!

Keeping granola in the house is always dangerous for me…I just love the stuff! While I was digging into a bag by the handful, I remembered a granola cookie that my Mom and I made many years back.

I found the recipe buried away in my recipe scrapbook (it was copied from the Daily Herald, I think).

It’s a simple cookie recipe combing oats, granola, and walnuts. I remember the first time we made this was with apple cinnamon granola. Great idea! I was excited to try it again with this dark chocolate cranberry granola. As I was about to start scooping out dough, I reread the directions to discover that I needed to refrigerate it for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, I was able to get to work on making one of my favorite soups.

The time flew by because I had television to keep me company, but I was more than ready to get baking after dinner. These cookies are lacey and they will spread, so give them room on your cookie sheet.

And then let them cool for 10 minutes before transferring.

The BOY commented that he thought these cookies were ‘dry’, so I feel I should warn you that these are supposed to be a crispy and crunchy lace cookie and not as soft as your typical chocolate chips cookies.

But when I brought them to work, they disappeared REAL quick! I guess the are a crunchy cookie bunch : )

Need Some More Crunch?

Crunchy Cookies

Crunchy Cookies Part II

Crunchy Cookies Part III

Crunchy Cookies IV

Chewy Granola Cookies

From the Daily Herald (10/05/05)

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup butter flavored Crisco shortening (I used 3/4 cups butter instead)

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup plain rolled oats, uncooked

2 cups granola

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, soda, salt and spices. Set aside.

In large mixing bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugar on low speed for 30 seconds. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat on high speed 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape bowl well. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just until combined. Scrape bowl well. Add oats, granola and walnuts. Mix on low speed 30 seconds. Scrape bowl well. Chill dough at least 2 hours.

Scoop dough into small 1-inch balls and place 2 1/2 inches apart on lined cookie sheets. Bake 15 minutes or until deep golden brown. Dough will spread while baking. Finished cookies are thin, textured and lacey. Cool on pans 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks. Store tightly covered.

Makes five dozen.

Nutrition values per serving:

81 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 10 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 1 g fiber, 11 mg cholesterol, 40 mg sodium.

Comments (14)

February 14th February 14, 2013

Filed under: Dessert,Holidays — Luv What You Do @ 10:44 pm
Tags: cake mix, Chocolate

You know what that means, right?

Yup…it means that I get to bust out this absolutely ridiculous shirt again! On what other day can an adult wear a fringe heart tshirt in public? I’d say that it also means that I will be wearing brightly colored socks with hearts, but since I have at least 10 pairs, I’ve been wearing them since the start of the month.

I guess that February 14th also means SWEET TREATS!

I’ve already shared with you two of the cookies that I baked for today’s Valentine’s Day celebration…

Hint…click on the cookie to find the full recipe! But I must admit that I also made heart shaped Cake Batter Fudge.

I’m sure you remember Cake Batter Fudge from last summer because let’s be honest, how could anyone forget it?! And in the shape of a heart, doused in purple and pink sprinkles, does that not just SCREAM Valentine’s Day?!

This recipe is a crowd pleaser EVERYWHERE I take it! And I love how easily it fit into this heart shaped pan. To top off today’s festivities, I made a big batch of Chocolate Pretzel Rings.

Using dark chocolate, mint truffle, and peppermint kisses, this might be my best tasting group yet!

For our party today, I surrounded my fudge with pretzels creating one colorful tray of sweets.

Looks wonderful, I know! And you can hate me all you want for tempting you with sugary goodness. I, for one, know that I ate WAY too many sweets today and will be back to my usually sugarless ways bright and early tomorrow morning : )

With our without the treats, I hope you had a sweet and happy day!

Looking for more temptation?

Check out last year’s list of Valentine favorites!

Looking to recharge after a sugary day?

I recommend a Green Smoothie for breakfast!

(and even shared this recipe with a coworker today)

Comments (6)

Combination Cookies February 13, 2013

Filed under: Cookies,Dessert — Luv What You Do @ 9:11 pm
Tags: Baking, butterscotch, Peanut Butter, Recipes, Toffee

When I told you that I had extra baking goodies from the holidays, did I mention all of these half used bags of chips???

The thought of throwing all of these into one kitchen sink cookie DID cross my mind. However, I just wasn’t sure how that would go. Instead, I used the M&M’s to make these incredible cookies last week. Check them out because the BOY is STILL talking about them.

And then searched the backs of all my bags in search of a recipe, eventually deciding on a peanut butter recipe with Heath bits.

This peanut butter dough is rich and creamy! However, since I had limited amounts of Heath bits left, I threw in some extra butterscotch chips too.

Great combination!!!

Even the dough is delicious!

Don’t trust me…try a bite when you make these cookies yourself : )

And then make sure to bake them up because these cookies are soft, chewy, and addicting!

The butterscotch chips add the perfect texture combined with toffee in a sweet peanut butter cookie.

Ok, truth is that I am way too tired to type another line, so I will finish this post with the last few mouth watering pictures hoping they give you sweet eve-of-Valentine’s dreams!

Did it work? Are you craving peanut butter, butterscotch, and toffee yet?

Peanut Butter Butterscotch Toffee Cookies

Adapted From HEATH

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup creamy Peanut Butter

1-1/4 cups packed light brown sugar

3 tablespoons milk (I used almond milk)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup HEATH BITS ‘O BRICKLE Toffee Bits

1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions

Heat oven to 375°F.

Beat butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Add egg; beat just until blended. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture. Stir in toffee bits and butterscotch chips.

Drop by heaping teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet; top each with reserved bits.

Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until set. Do not overbake. Cool 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

Comments (17)

Mini M&M and Chocolate Chip Cookies {And More} February 4, 2013

Filed under: Cookies,Dessert — Luv What You Do @ 7:25 pm
Tags: Baking, Chocolate, Recipes, yogurt

I know what you’re thinking…

Jen, you just said that your February goal is to cut down on added sugars and now you’re about to dedicate an entire post to sweets and treats. What’s up with that???

Great question! That warrants some explanation for sure.

Explanation Number One…

Free Yogurt!!!

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I just couldn’t pass up free Yogurtland FroYo and toppings this afternoon. The BOY and I were there shortly after 4:00pm with all of the high school students which totally made me laugh.

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Luckily, we both went to the gym this morning because I filled my cup to the brim with chocolate, red velvet, and frappe FroYo.

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I barely had any room to add toppings, but went for it anyways because I just couldn’t walk past the cookie dough bites without adding them to the mix. They ended up spilling over the edge, but a few actually stuck to the top.

Along with our free yogurt, we got a coupon for our next visit, so I am sure the BOY and I will be heading back again soon. Let’s be honest, we’ve been three times since they opened this year. Since I knew we were having yogurt for dinner (its been on our calendar for weeks), we are having a light Monday night dinner of Taco Soup.

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Which leads me to

Explanation Number Two…

Leftovers!!!

I’ve had this bag of mini M&M’s hanging around the house since the holidays (along with a lot of other leftover goodies). Recently the BOY has had his eyes on them, so I knew that I needed a reason to bake.

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Which is why I volunteered to make dessert for an upcoming Valentine’s celebration at work. Since we will be out of town next weekend, I wanted to start baking today. Just to be clear, the plan is to bake these cookies, share a few, and then store the rest in the freezer until next week.

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I knew that these M&M’s would be perfect for cookies, and so I went to my blogger friend Sally’s website and used her Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe as the base of these cookies.

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Sally’s White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies were such a huge hit in this house that the BOY is still talking about them, and they use a similar recipe. Since I also had a few mini chocolate chips leftover, I added those to the dough along with my M&M’s.

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It is important to chill the dough before baking, during which time I feel it is also important to sample a taste of this incredible dough!

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These cookies bake up beautifully! And I love the mini chocolate chips combined with the colorful M&M’s! But there is nothing MINI about the taste of these cookies.

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Sally REALLY knows her cookies, and these soft and chewy ones do NOT disappoint!

I can’t wait to serve these at our party!

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I just hope that the BOY doesn’t find them hiding in the freezer because then there won’t be any left : )

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I have a few more leftover chips and candies that I’d love to clean out of the pantry, so consider yourself warned that there will be more sweets to come. But because I am continuing to focus on a clean diet this month with sweets in moderation, the plan is for these cookies to be shared not inhaled, and so far that is exactly what has happened. But let’s be real, they really are WAY TOO GOOD not get some face time on the blog.

Mini M&M and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

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Ingredients

3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup mini M&M’s

Directions

Line an ungreased cookie sheet with parchment paper or silpat. Set aside.

In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed until fluffy and light in color. Mix in egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides as needed. On low speed, mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips and M&M’s. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Drop 1 Tbsp balls of dough onto cookie sheet OR used a standard-sized cookie scoop. Bake for 8-9 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. Do NOT cook them longer than 10 minutes. Remove and let cool for 3 minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer to cooling rack.

Store in airtight container or freeze.

Did anyone else go to Yogurtland today?

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Luv What You Do

Balancing a Busy Life with a Healthy Lifestyle

All Done April 2, 2013

How Paleo Helped Passover March 30, 2013

Chocolate Fudge Cake {Revisited} March 27, 2013

Passover Fruit Compote {Revisited} March 25, 2013

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars {+ Bonus Recipe} March 24, 2013

White Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Raisin Cookies March 16, 2013

Crunchy Cookies V February 27, 2013

February 14th February 14, 2013

Combination Cookies February 13, 2013

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Being Me

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