Sometimes I see a recipe, add it to my goggle notebook... and it sits there for months before I make it. Other times I see a recipe, add it, and then make it that same night. This was the case with TWO recipes this week. Monday night was a mad dash home from the gym to make whole wheat oatmeal bread (more on that later) and then Tuesday night was a dash to make these whole wheat biscotti that my mom sent me a link to.

Here's the funny thing. I'm not a huge biscotti fan, and I've never made them before... yet for some reason I was compelled to go and make these ASAP! Maybe it was because my mom sent me the link... maybe it was something in the air...

maybe I'm just a big weirdo...

yup probably the last one :)

I sent this picture to my sister and mom after making them declaring them YUM!


My sister promptly wrote back:

Ahh sisterly love! Thanks Jen :D Biscotti are supposed to be dry right?? I mean you bake them twice... and they are meant for dipping in coffee right???

I called John later that night and told him I made some without raisins for him (remember the muffin incident... yeah didn't want that happening again LOL). He then asked if they were dipped in chocolate...
nope no chocolate...
then why are you asking if I want to try them?
because I made half the batch without raisins for YOU so you sir will be trying them
oh, in that case, yes I'd love to try some

Here's the recipe! You can easily add in whatever you like (I'm going to toss some coconut in next time) and hey if you want to dip these in chocolate once they are done baking... go for it! John will certainly be your friend if you do :)


Whole Wheat Biscotti
recipe from Martha Stewart

* vegetable oil, for baking sheet (I used pam spray)
* 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, spooned and leveled
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for work surface
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup walnut halves ( I used sunflower seeds)
* 1/4 cup golden raisins (I used normal raisins)
* 2 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a baking sheet with oil; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; stir in walnuts and raisins. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. Add to flour mixture; stir just until combined.
3. On a lightly floured surface, with floured hands, pat dough into a loaf about 1 inch thick, 2 1/2 inches wide (and about 7 inches long); transfer to baking sheet. Bake until risen and firm, 20 to 25 minutes; cool completely on sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.
4. Place loaf on a cutting board, and using a serrated knife, cut diagonally into 1/4 inch-thick slices; place slices in a single layer on sheet. Bake, turning once, until dried and slightly golden, 25 to 30 minutes; cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 month.



What recipe have you made recently that you saw and made all in the same day? Or is it just me who does that :D

First off don't forget about the fabulous giveaway going on in my last post!!! Go enter now! You have until midnight on June 5th to enter :)

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Secondly, I know it's saturday and I never post on the weekends... but this recipe had a deadline!! And I was determined to meet it!


OK now onto the post! I've been a cookie carnival slacker as of late... but not this month!! I made it with 1 whole day to spare! Kate of The Clean Plate Club hosts it each month and for May she picked Hazelnut Macaroon sandwich cookies. You can download the PDF recipe on her blog here.

Want to know a shocker? I followed the cookie part of the directions!! I know I know... pretty crazy... since you know me and messing with recipes!


I did however change the filling... You see I had just made my homemade nutella... how could I NOT use it for the filling? Read about the seriously easy recipe here.


If you make these I HIGHLY recommend making the nutella like filling instead of the plain chocolate ganache... seriously fantastic... I am not lying... no really... go make them now :D

OH and don't try to make these by hand... a kitchen aid or other type of mixer is your best friend... because in order to get stiff peaks...


you need some kitchen aid love :D Unless you want to have some beastly huge muscle arms by the end of making these... in that case, hand beat away!!

Another important note... these are super light, which makes them easy to just pop in your mouth and chow a ton without realizing it... not that I did that or anything....

CHOW!

OK off to catch our plane to DC!! Looking forward to seeing the family, relaxing, chowing, and exploring DC!

Easter is on its way in two weekends. Easter makes me think of bunnies, which make me think of carrots... and carrot cake... it's one of those cakes that seems like it's going to be healthy... I mean it has vegetables in it right?? Oh and a STICK of butter? Really a whole stick? Is that really necessary??

No no it's not.

It's Cookie Carnival time again, and yes I'm a day late... the roundup happened yesterday... booo. Seriously when did April show up?? Oh right... yesterday. Well this is my contribution, better late than never! Because seriously if you like carrot cake... you need to make these. Totally guilt free, and they taste like heaven... no exaggeration! My roomie (who is a fan of her baked goods) ate one and said this was the best yet of all my alteration creations! NO WAY?? BEST EVER?? Yes it's true! These are super moist, delicious, spiked with raisins... and the cream cheese filling... marvalous my dear!

I mean look at this bad boy?


Yup not a drop of butter or oil... and d@mn tasty! So if you can have a cookie that TASTES just as good as the bad... minus the stick of butter (800 calories, 92 grams of fat) replace it with a little carrot baby food and a little unsweetened apple sauce (I KID YOU NOT!) wouldn't you rather have the healthy one? BAM you have a tasty tasty guilt free treat.

I must admit while I was spooning the carrot baby food out of its little container, I had my doubts... I was thinking, man this smells nasty... well the birds get a treat if these suck... Guess what little birdies! You aint getting any of these! Cause I'm going to eat them all! :)

I made mine with fresh homegrown carrots from the public market here. I think it totally added to the flavor of these. Now for the recipe, print it out and go make some! You wont be sorry :)


Inside out carrot cake
adapted by stephchows, original from Gourmet | April 2004

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (3.5 oz) container of Gerber baby food, pureed carrots
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 Tbs splenda baking blend plus 2 Tbs splenda granulated (or you can use 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coarsely grated carrots (2 medium)
1/2 cup raisins (2 1/2 ounces)
8 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1/4 cup honey (good local stuff tastes the best!)

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 2 baking sheets. (I used silicon baking mats)

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together carrot puree, apple sauce, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl until combined. Mix in carrots, and raisins, then add flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Drop 1 1/2 tablespoons batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake,
switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and
springy to the touch, 12 to 16 minutes total.

Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

While cookies are baking, blend cream cheese and honey in a food processor until smooth.

Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous tablespoon of cream cheese filling in between.


Chow!


Oh and check this out....
my nutritional stats for one sandwich cookie vrs making them by the original recipe...

I made these banana cookies this weekend and it was love at first bite. I'm already planning on making them again one night this week and shaping them into bars! SO FREAKIN GOOD! As per my usual, there is no oil or butter. These things are all about healthy, so moist, decadent, can't stop eating, I really wish I had some with me right now... ok you get the point! I can't believe how sweet these actually tasted considering the only sweet added is the bananas and the coconut, no added sugar here. Bring on the all natural baby!!

Did I mention there are flax seeds in these too? I'm currently having a love affair with flax seeds, I know it doesn't sound glamorous, but they are just so nutty and happy :) Neva can you eat flax seeds or are those an allergy too? Although I just realized these have both almonds and coconut in them :( I really am a bad friend constantly tormenting you with nuts galore! Sorry my dear :(

Go buy bananas now and stick them in a brown bag so they are super brown and happy by the weekend so you can make these!


Banana Oat Cookies or Bars
These are adapted from 101 cookbooks Nikki's cookies.

3 large, ripe bananas (the browner the better!), well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup almond meal (almond slices + food processor for a few pulses)
1/3 cup flax seeds
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & sweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup dried cherries or other dried fruit of your choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks in the top third.

In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and apple sauce. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, flax seeds, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks and dried fruit. Drop Tablespoon-fulls, onto a Silpat lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes.

Makes about 2.5 dozen bite-sized cookies. I'll let you know how many bars once I make these again.

you know you want to chow me ... go buy some bananas!

UPDATE: So I made these in bar form last night! I put them into a 9" stoneware pan and cooked them for about 30 minutes. I cut them into 12 bars and brought them to the office. The results: "delicious" "these are sooo goood" "mmmmm" I like those kind of reactions! Sounds good to me!

Ahh the infamous poose cookie. What's poose you ask? Well, it's me, a nickname that is. What started as Cookiepuss (the lovable carvel ice cream cake) morphed into Cookiepoose and was then shortened to just poose... among other iterations. The name was bestowed upon me by my good friend John, who we now all know as fiance John! I'd go into all the iterations of his nicknames that I've bestowed upon him... but something tells me that wouldn't make him to happy :D

Anyway, Poose cookies, like my nickname, have morphed over time, and now I bring to you the NEW and IMPROVED PROTEIN POOSE COOKIE!!!


let the drooling begin! It's a healthy cookie, packed with whole wheat flour, oats, protein powder... eat them as a snack, eat them as a meal, just eat them! I'm in love with these cookies and so is John... I have no clue how many I've made for him to date... but I make a batch every weekend. Yeah that's right, I know how to treat my man :) Onto the recipe!

Protein Poose Cookies!
recipe by me, stephchows AKA poose

ingredients
1 cup King Arthur whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whey based chocolate protein powder
1 cup Quaker oats (not the quick cook kind)
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbs Splenda sugar blend (or 1/4 cup white sugar)
1 package (7 ounces) Gerber Prunes with Apples baby food (NOT plums and apples) (contains 2 – 3.5oz containers)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 large eggs
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or dark chocolate chips!)
.25 cup walnuts (optional)
pam cooking spray

instructions
preheat oven to 350
In a small bowl whisk together flour, oats, protein powder and baking soda. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts. Set aside.
In a large bowl stir together splenda sugar blend, applesauce, and prunes with apples containers.
Beat in egg.
Stir in vanilla. (if you want add a little more, mom always said a little extra vanilla never hurt anyone!)
Gradually stir flour mixture into wet mixture. Adding 1/2 cup at a time and stirring until incorporated.
Drop tablespoon fulls onto a silicon baking pad on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes or until browned and cooked through. Will vary with oven used.

Serve warm or for a summer treat transfer into the freezer and eat frozen a few hours later!

(to make these even healthier, take out some of the chocolate chips and sub in dried fruit and nuts - delicious)

A crispy crunchy cocoon encasing a chewy delicious center.

PHEW! That was a mouthful! And man was my mouth full of cookies once these came out of the oven! You see Foodbuzz and Quaker and getting together for a little contest, come up with a recipe involving some of the flavors from the new Quaker True Delight granola bars... and possibly win a fantastic trip to Outstanding in the Field!! So here is my entry, and if you are anything like me... you are going to LOVE this recipe! It's full of good for you things, has no added butter or oil (you'd never know it), and totally satisfies a sweet tooth craving!

Chow!

Dark chocolate chunk cherry cashew cookies
recipe by stephchows
makes 2 dozen cookies

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3.5 oz Gerber Cherries and Apples baby food (it comes in a 2 pack, you just need 1 container)
1/2 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
3 Tbs splenda baking blend or (6 Tbs granulated sugar)
1 large egg
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup plump, moist, dried sour cherries
4 oz. dark chocolate broken into chunks about the size of the cherries (try using TCHO fruity!)
1/2 cup no salt added cashew pieces

Whisk together flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt. Set aside

In a large bowl beat baby food and sugars until well combined. Beat in egg and vanilla.

Slowly mix in dry ingredients. With last addition of flour mixture also add in cherries, chocolate and cashews.

Drop tablespoon-fulls of dough onto a silicon baking mat lined cookie sheet. Bake cookies for 15-18 minutes. Let cool a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

These are best the day you make them, crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle. They loose their crispness when left overnight in a plastic container, still tasty, but best right out of the oven :)

Hope you love these treats!

Have you ever heard of Better'n Peanut Butter? It's this crazy stuff made from defatted peanut flour and it has half the calories of regular PB and only 2 grams of fat per 2 Tbs serving! I know seriously, how do they do that!?

I have multiple friends who would happily confess their favorite cookies as being snickerdoodles. I have another friend who was once baked a batch and was VERY unhappy to realize they did not include Snickers bars in them. I mean talk about false advertising... they are called snickerdoodles why on earth WOULDN'T they have Snickers in them??? And thus this has lead us to "Snicker"doodles... yup, take a normal snickerdoodle, roll it in cinnamon and sugar like usual, then jab a hunk of Snickers bar into the middle... Oh and my version of these bad boys has no butter, and uses whole wheat flour... and they taste YUM!


"Snicker"doodles
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup splenda blend or 1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 Snickers bars
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar, stirring with a whisk.

Combine 1/2 cup splenda blend or 1 cup of sugar and apple sauce in a large bowl, and beat until well blended. Add the corn syrup, vanilla, and egg; beat well. Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, beating just until combined.

Combine 3 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon, stirring with a whisk.

With moist hands, shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in sugar mixture. Place balls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Flatten balls by jabbing a hunk of snickers into the center of each cookie. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft). Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Most people know Amaretti cookies by their very distinguishable tin.

Growing up, we always saved the tins and used them for storage of all types of things. My sister has a ton of them as accents in her kitchen and they look fantastic! For those who don't know about Amaretti cookies, they are a crunchy almond paste based cookie... very sugary sweet, and delicious. Check out the site where the picture came from for the story behind the cookies.

Anyway, I love these tins, however the grocery store here in Rochester doesn't sell them in the cool (16 oz) tins, they only sell them in small (2.3 oz.) little boxes... This became a problem when I decided to make an Amaretti-Amaretto Chocolate Cheesecake... yeah you heard me right *drool* The cheesecake calls for 14 oz of the cookies.... yeahhh I wasn't about to spend a good $50 on small cookie boxes so I could smash them all to pieces and put in a cake... so what's a girl to do? To the internet to find an Amaretti cookie recipe!!!


I found the recipe over at Joy of Baking. It's incredibly simple... just one thing... USE THE PARCHMENT PAPER! I didn't have any on hand and my silicon mats were over at Johns so I said whatever they can't stick too bad... wrong... they stuck bad... well most of them. But it really didn't matter since I was just baking these to smash them up anyway :) So if you are making these to eat and serve... use the parchment paper!

Amaretti Cookies
process adapted from Joy of Baking
8 ounces (225 grams) canned almond paste (NOT marzipan)
1 cup (200 grams) superfine or castor sugar
2 large (60 grams) egg whites

Extra granulated white sugar for dusting cookies

Using KitchenAid Mixer: Break the almond paste into small pieces and place in bowl of electric mixer along with the sugar. Mix on low speed until very fine. Lightly beat egg whites until foamy in separate bowl. Add the egg whites in three additions, mixing well after each addition. Continue mixing the dough until very smooth, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Drop teaspoon-fulls of dough onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper (seriously do it!! otherwise you'll have a big mess). Bake at 375 for 10 minutes, then lower tempurature to 325 and continue baking for 10 more minutes, or until the cookies have risen, are a deep golden color and have tiny cracks. Remove from the oven and place baking pan on a rack to cool. When cool gently peel cookies from parchment. If they stick to parchment, turn the paper over, take a damp paper towel and gently wipe the bottom of the parchment paper to loosen the cookie.

These cookies are a little chewy when still warm, and become nice and crunchy after they cool.


Come back tomorrow to see and drool over the cheesecake that... quote from a coworker "that cheesecake has ruined me to any other cheesecake, it was amazing!"

Chow!

Mmmmmmm peanut butter... mmmmmmm I love me some peanut butter, so PB cookies make my knees bend... oh so tasty! I made these last weekend for one of John's neighbors who loves to snowblow the entire neighborhood every time there is a big storm. How awesome is that?? Once these came out of the oven I couldn't help myself, I scarfed down two before franticly packing them up and tossing on a coat to run them across the street (I had to get them out of the house otherwise I would have eaten them all!)

I made the recipe straight from Cooking Light, (except I used crunchy PB yum) I'll totally make them again and as long as I'm making them just for John and I, I'll try to eliminate the oil and replacing it with something else... I'll let you know how it goes! Until then, here's something to droll over.


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes 3 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)

Ingredients
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used crunchy!)
* 1/4 cup water
* 1/4 cup canola oil
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 large egg whites
* 1 large egg
* 12 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 2/3 cups)
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate minichips (I used regular chocolate chips)

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Add flour mixture to peanut butter mixture, stirring just until combined. Stir in minichips. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on 2 baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack.


Nutritional Information
Calories: 128 (32% from fat)
Fat: 4.5g (sat 1.1g,mono 2.2g,poly 1g)
Protein: 2.3g
Carbohydrate: 20.5g
Fiber: 0.6g
Cholesterol: 6mg
Iron: 0.8mg
Sodium: 106mg
Calcium: 16mg

We... (and by we I mean me) were too impatiet to wait to put the layers of chocolate on so we sampled some sans chocolate before dinner. After dinner though we added the chocolate, delicious!!!

yeah you may notice we only did chocolate on the top... the need to eat these things overruled the need to add the bottom chocolate layer.




For the recipe and full directions on how to make this check out Smitten Kitchen. I found the recipe on her site and knew I had to make them :)

My one coworker described them "like a very thin crisp oreo cookie" ... sounds good to me right!?

Again, like I said in my original recipe pizzelle post, the only special thing you need is a pizzelle iron, otherwise these are as simple as you get!


Pizzelle Cookies
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick butter (melted)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup bread flour
1/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
zest from one orange (optional)

BEAT eggs, add sugar gradually, add melted butter

MIX flour, cocoa, & baking powder

ADD dry mixture to wet gradually, stir in orange zest (if using)

DROP spoonfuls on a hot pizzelle iron and cook according to iron instructions (mine has a light that goes on and off when they are done) remove and cool on a wire rack, or roll into ice cream cone shape and set aside to cool.

You can take two of these and make nutella sandwiches, or sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with ice cream... or just eat them all up plain!

Chow!

Friday was one of those days where everyone was either snowed in, or attempting to get home in the BAD BAD weather. The snow started around 9am and never stopped. Half way through the day our boss said, everyone go home! My boss rocks. Some of the many awesome things about working here are a) my boss is a total human and is always thinking about our well being, b) he gives us almost 2 full weeks off for christmas (WOOHOO!) c) he has a heated driveway and walkways here. I know a heated driveway?? It's seriously awesome, you never have to walk in the snow... except when it's snowing so hard and for so long (friday) that the driveway can't keep up!! You know it's bad when the driveway can't keep up.

Anyway, the drive home friday was an adventure, very thankfully my car (her name is iceskate) she has all wheel drive AND snow tires, both which I was so thankful for this weekend/ this morning. Yeah the roads STILL suck this morning. Since the gym closed friday due to snow I was left with no other option than to be a hermit friday night, and bake and crochet all night!!! WOOOHOOO (ok am I seriously an old woman... it's ok you can tell me :) )

One of the things I baked this weekend were some very thin crisp butter laden chocolate chip cookies.
(wait what??? butter??)
Yes, they were for John's neighbor, the big dude who I really don't like
(then why bake him cookies)
good question, because he has a snow blower and cleared off john's walkways and driveway all weekend long... for this, he gets cookies. Plus it's always good to bribe the guy with the snowblower, so hopefully he'll keep doing it all winter long... no shoveling for us! woohoo!

The cookies spread like mad so make sure to space these bad boys out. They can out totally flat and crisp/chewy, YUM. Eat with caution, these things are NOT good for you.


Crispy chewy chocolate chip cookies
1 3/4 cup white flour (seriously i used white flour NO WAY!)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 pound chocolate chips

WHISK flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

CREAM butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add egg. Stir in the vanilla.

MIX in dry ingredients (my dough was a little too dry so I added a little milk in)

preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake about 15 minutes (more for really crispy)

CHOW! and be prepared to get fat :)

Some cookies are so fussy and require so many ingredients and time... others are as simple as can be, four ingredients, tops. I try to make recipes healthier and normally I do a pretty good job... when it comes to pizzelles... there isn't much you can do except use whole wheat flour... I mean look at the ingredient list, butter, sugar, eggs, flour.... go ahead just try to take the butter out... yeah it aint going to taste good at all... and you are going to have a serious mess stuck to the iron :)


Pizzelles are one of those cookies I really don't want to mess with, so simple, so beautiful, so delicate and crisp. I remember making these as a kid with my dad, covered in flour, pressing out those beautiful snowflakes, rolling them into ice cream cones, or just eating them whole. *love you mom and dad!* The only bad part about these cookies is you NEED a pizzelle iron, if you don't have one... you aren't going to get too far. Thankfully a few christmas's ago I received not one... but two!! haha great minds think alike :)

As I mentioned in a previous post, I took part in a cookies exchange! I decided I wanted to send pizzeles and knew I would have to seriously bubble/ packing peanut them so they made it... let me tell you... I packed that box like I did my 10th grade egg drop project!

ok did anyone else have to do this? it was for physics class, *shout out to Mr. Morrill!!!* you had to devise a container that wasn't more than (blank) inches in surface area, that would hold a raw egg and allow you to drop it off from different heights and not have it break?? You started with a small drop of 6 feet and it all culminated with the entire class walking up the stairs of the bell tower to the observatory to drop them off (did I mention I was also in astronomy club in high school...can we say NNNEEEEERRRD!) And yes you read that correct we had a bell tower... So you chuck them off a seven story drop to their doom! Or in my case, safety!! That's right my egg survived!! Yup as I said before, I really am a NERD, because I though this project was awesome! OK back to cookies....

Pizzelles are a great gift, all you really need to do is a tie a bow around them, they are seriously pretty on their own! I can't wait to see when my person gets her cookies, I hope, like my egg, they make it their safely! You'll have to wait and see the ornament I made her, I'll link to her once I know she's received the package!

Pizzelle Cookies
(recipe borrowed and slightly tweaked from my awesome girl Maria's family!!! Wooohoo Maria!)
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick butter (melted)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
2 tsp baking powder
optional: zest of lemon rind
optional: 1.5 Tbs anise seed (I'm not a fan so I didn't use it)

BEAT eggs, add sugar gradually, add melted butter

MIX flour, baking powder, anise (if using)

ADD dry mixture to wet gradually, stir in lemon zest (if using)

DROP sponfulls on a hot pizzelle iron and cook according to iron instructions (mine has a light that goes on and off when they are done) remove and cool on a wire rack, or roll into ice cream cone shape and set aside to cool.

You can take two of these and make nutella sandwiches, or sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with ice cream... or just eat them all up plain!

Chow!

So I was planning on posting about these amazing muffins I made this weekend but my camera doesn't want to connect to my computer at the moment... soooo you will just have to drool over these cookies instead :)

Don't those look tasty?


The recipe is taken directly from the wind attack. (great pictures there too, check them out) I found it randomly and was so happy I did. I actually made these before Thanksgiving but never got around to posting about them! They were super tasty, and even if you don't have creamy honey you can use normal honey, they will just be a bit more gooey. Come on... you know you want to try them :)

Molly over at Batter Splattered is hosting a cookie/ ornament exchange!! Molly is the fantastic lady who also hosted the jam exchange I took part of a few months back :) Let's give a big round of applause for Molly *clap clap clap clap*

After a somewhat crazy day at work, then some time to blow off steam at the gym, I pulled into the driveway to see a happy little package propped up against my front door. At this point I got very excited and started hoping like mad that the package was for me and not my roomie, I mean I love my roomie but come on it's a cute package, of course I want it to be for me :)

After quickly parking I ran out of the garage leaving behind all objects of importance to grab the package... score!!! it's for me! :) I looked at the return address Jeanne S. from Mountain View California... ooo Mountain View, that's where some of the google friends work when they are in the country! At this point I knew it must be my cookie exchange partner since I had no idea who the name was... unless it was a secret admirer... ooooo. I got even more excited and quickly went back to my car to retrieve all of my bags (I swear I'm a bag lady I don't know how I manage it but I always have at least 3 bags to schlep in every night).

OK so why is it that the more excited you are to open a package is DIRECTLY correlated to the amount of tape on said box??? Man Jeanne you used some industrial strength tape! That sucker wasn't coming undone anytime soon! After some wresting and a pair of scissors I finally released the contents of the box *packing peanuts flying everywhere*


Let me tell you. TOTALLY worth the struggle to get this package open. Jeanne wrote me a great note and she included a cute tin brimming to the top with gingerbread men/trees/canes and some biscotti.


That's totally not me trying to steal the gingerbread man so I can behead him... I have no idea what you are talking about... Seriously though how cute are these little guys, and all decorated to the nines! They didn't just look cute they tasted delicious too, same with the biscotti, YUM!

The other thing included was a Christmas ornament, even though she lives in CA she's originally from Ottawa (Ontario, Canada) which is why they are a little pair of mittens and an adorable sweater on a hanger! I'm not sure if she is the one who made these or not but serious props to whoever did, they are ADORABLE!!! (UPDATE: she DID make them! keep reading to find out where you can read about all her cute creations!)

Jeanne thank you so much!!! I love all of it and it totally made my day!! I'm not sure if you have a blog or not (I have an email in to Molly asking her) but if you do and see this send me a comment so I can link to you!! Thanks again! (UPDATE: Jeanne does have a blog!! It's a knitting one! So go check it out here )

:)

OK onto finishing making my ornament and then some cookies... I totally know what I'm going to make... but shhhh it's a surprise!

It's cookie carnival time again! Katie over at the Clean Plate Club hosts it! I missed last month... man where did August go anyway?? But I was able to tackle this months before the big move!! Yup I'm moving apartments, into a totally better place, much nicer, and not with crazy landlords who don't fix anything hooray! As per my usual I totally messed with the recipe to health it up :) Here is the original recipe if you want it.
* 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed Ruby Red grapefruit juice 1. In the bowl beat coolwhip and juice until light and fluffy, cover and place in freezer for 30 minutes or until set.

Chow!

So as you may know John and I went to Ithaca last week. Lots of hiking, chowing, reading, some more chowing, and some more hiking... Here are some highlights!





We were very lucky to have a friend loan us her house while we were there all week! Gretchen and Mike got married a little while back and now Gretchen lives in Rochester with him... which means her house that she is selling in Ithaca was open for us to crash! She has such an adorable house and it was a pleasure to stay there! She also gave us a ton of places to go try out... I'll totally write about them later in case anyone is planning a trip there!

As a thank you I wanted to bake them something so here is what I baked tonight! It's a spicy version of an old favorite. The batter is so good even before it's cooked... I totally licked the bowl clean and then later while walking past a mirror realized I had left some of the cookie dough on my face... oh yes I'm just so classy! :D


Spicy Oatmeal Crisps

Ingredients
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated whole nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (optional- but so good try it!)
dash teaspoon salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine, softened
2.5 onces (one small container) of Gerber prune puree baby food
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup regular oats
Cooking spray

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 8 ingredients (flour through salt) in a medium bowl. Beat sugar, butter, prune puree and vanilla in a large bowl with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat well. Stir in flour mixture and oats.

Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until crisp. Cool on pan 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pan; cool on wire racks.

These cookies spread like mad, so don't let them get too close to each other or they will end up smooching while they bake! Smooching cookies so scandalous! I totally put mine too close... most of them were making out by the end of the baking session. Must have been HOT in that oven! :D

Chow!

So I made these last weekend for Erika's summer party, which was wonderful!! And the food was super tasty! Had I been thinking I would have taken pictures.. sooo many good things. I ate my heart out!! Bread with goat cheese wrapped in eggplant on top... all types of fresh roasted veggie wraps... these eggrolls that were to die for... lasagna... the list goes on!! I brought along some cookies to add a little sweet :)

Chocolate cookies
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
dash salt
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup splenda blend (or 1/2 cup white sugar)
1/2 cup apple sauce (unsweetened)
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
sprinkle of powdered sugar and cinnamon once cooled

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl, in a measuring cup measure apple sauce, add eggs and beat, add vanilla. Add wet to dry mixture and stir. Stir in chocolate chips

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Let cook on a wire rack then sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Chow!