Triple Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies are my enemy! Well, that was until I changed just a few things in the classic Nestle recipe. They still aren't my perfect idea of a Chocolate Chip Cookies, but they are almost there!. 

A peek of posts to come!

Here's a little peek at what posts I have in the works. I'm going back to the sugar for upcoming posts!

Triple Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
Banana Cream Pie
Mini Banana Cream Pies

My first attempt at...donuts!

My first attempt at making donuts with this new donut maker I got for Christmas. The recipe wasn't great but they do taste alright. Liking the maker so I can't wait to try out another recipe!

Date Pinwheel Cookies

One of my favorite foodie things about the Holidays is the sweets, cookies in particular. This year I had the opportunity to bake one of my favorite cookies with my Grandma D. A moment that I will cherish for years to come. In my family, I'm sure in most families, we all have that one cookie we just can't get enough of. That one we just can't wait for! For me, it's the Date Pinwheel. A simple cookie that's just sweet and soft enough, but still has a nice crunch. Not to mention the delicious filling of dates and nuts. Perfect combination, if you ask me. While I may be a fan of many cookies, this one always makes me the happiest foodie. 

Chocolate Peppermint Whoopie Pies

This year at work we tried something a little different and formed a committee to plan the Christmas party. We decided to change things up a bit from the previous years. We added a few games and etc etc. The most important change for me was of course food related. Instead of using the store bought cookies and cakes, the committee made desserts and brought them in! Silly me, I said I would bring in Whoopie Pies. 

A Thank YOU...

I  just wanted to drop a huge THANK YOU to all the viewers of my blog. I'm amazed at the amount of views I've received in the past month, especially considering I've not posted much. Thank you SO much for stopping by and checking out what I have here. 


I also wanted to post a little sneak peek of an upcoming post. This has probably been the busiest week of my life and it's not over, so I'll be posting next week. I recently made some Whoopie Pies for a work Christmas party and I want to share the recipe for the Chocolate Peppermint Whoopie Pies. :-) Here's a picture of post that's to come. 

Beef & Vegetable Stew

Today I bring you a simple post with a simple recipe. While this recipe may be simple to make, it's by far the BEST beef stew I have had thus far in my life. 

Fall for Pumpkin Bread

As I sit here in the early days of Fall I feel an overwhelming sense of comfort and inspiration to write and share stories. When I started to write this blog post I had a flood of thoughts and memories. I tried to narrow all I wanted to say into a story that wouldn't take hours to read but still held a personal element. To think, all these words I want to say came from a simple post about my favorite season, Fall, and my favorite seasonal ingredient, Pumpkin. Cheers to the power of food!

Pumpkin goes with Fall like grilling fits with Summer. It's just a natural and universal fact. It's a perfect harmony. There is nothing I like more in the Fall than to be baking pumpkin bread, pumpkin whoopie pies, or even just a plain pumpkin pie. Once that oven starts to warm the spices there is just nothing in comparison. That's one good thing about having a small kitchen and apartment, the aroma just flows throughout. It's in the warming of those spices and the release of that spicy aroma that I find my state of bliss. That natural warming scent is one that not even the best candle can reproduce. 

When I think back on the pumpkin desserts I've made I think the Frozen Yogurt Pumpkin Pie has to be the strangest one I've made. It was a simple dessert; canned pumpkin mix combined with frozen yogurt and placed in a pre-made graham cracker crust (not exactly sure of measurements and added spices). It was delicious, don't get me wrong, just weird to have the cold pumpkin. That was a one time thing I made back when I really started to get into cooking/baking. Come to think of it, I think that's the same year I attempted to make Homemade Eggnog. That was an epic fail! I'm not exactly sure, other than my serious food love for it, what I was thinking when I decided to try and make eggnog. Regardless at least one good food experiment came from that Holiday cooking adventure. 

I have to say my favorite pumpkin dessert, so far, would be the Pumpkin Whoopie Pies I came across last year. Check out my version of the recipe here. You can't go wrong with the combination of pumpkin cake/cookie and cream cheese frosting! These Pumpkin Whoopie Pies have been in high demand by those around me that have eaten them. I get hassled all the time because I don't make them enough and share them. So, if you decide to make them and share, be prepared for some serious attention. :-)

As I've already made the Pumpkin Whoopie Pies a few times this season so I thought it was time to go back to a classic, Pumpkin Bread. I decided to take a look at a few recipes and I settled on one I found in a Southern Living Holiday cookbook I have. I did make two adjustments to the recipe. I split sugar measurements into half granulated and half brown sugar. Instead of Pumpkin Pie Spice I did a spice blend similar to the whoopie pie recipe because I love the amount of flavor the combination gives to the Whoopie Pies. After a few taste tests, I liked this recipe because it reminded me of a Pumpkin Bread I would have eaten growing up, with a little extra spice. 

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread        [Printable Recipe]

adapted from: Southern Living Christmas Cookbook

Yields 2 loaves

Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 15 oz can pumpkin
• 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla

Direction:

1. In the bowl of a mixer combine the sugars and oil. Mix until incorporated. 
2. Add the eggs, one at a time, be sure to mix well after each egg.
3. Stir in pumpkin.
4. In a separate bowl combine the flour and the rest of the dry ingredients. Whisk together and add to pumpkin mixture alternating with the water.
5. Stir in vanilla.
6. Pour batter in prepared pans . Bake at 325 for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool pans on a wire.

Single Serving: Baked Mac & Cheese 1

As Fall is setting in I know most everyone is thinking about comfort food. What better comfort food is there than Baked Mac & Cheese? There is just something extra comforting about a good Baked Mac & Cheese. 

Simple Cheesecake - No longer fear baking a cheesecake!

Do you just excited, maybe even start to feel a food high, when certain ingredients are involved in a dish/meal/dessert? Cream Cheese is one of those ingredients that gets me excited. It's never just the cream cheese alone however. In this case it's the combination of cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla…that gets me to that place of bliss. Of course, there are some more ingredients and a bit of time to get to the place a bliss, a cheesecake.