Brown Butter Banana Bread Cookies

I haven't posted a recipe in *forever*, but I have definitely been cooking and baking. Fall and winter are my very favorite times to be in the kitchen. There's just something so cozy and warm about it. It's just not quite the same heating up the kitchen with the oven during the summer.

Spending time in the kitchen is even more fun now with my little helper. Is it as easy? Definitely not since she grabs at everything...and sometimes manages to get something that we left too close. But it's certainly more fun. She intently watches every single thing I do and it's so cute. I hope she loves to bake with me someday!

Oops!

These brown butter banana bread cookies are one of my favorite things I've made lately. I love banana bread and these cookies add a fun little twist. Making anything in cookie form is more fun, right? The browned butter frosting drizzled on top definitely takes them to the next level. Browned butter takes everything to the next level, I think. In my opinion, these are the perfect excuse to have cookies for breakfast {umm, there are bananas in them!}, but they also would make a great afternoon treat and they're even yummy enough to have as a dessert!

Brown Butter Banana Bread Cookies
Makes about 30 cookies

Cookie Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 small bananas)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups flour
pinch of salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. nutmeg

Icing Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. When the butter is completely melted, swirl the skillet until the butter becomes a light caramel brown color, about 3-4 minutes. Immediately remove the skillet from the heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. {Click here for step by step photos of this process.}
2. Add the sugar to the brown butter and mix on low speed to start, then increase the speed and beat for one minute. (Mixture will not be light and fluffy.) Add in egg, and mix. Stir together mashed banana with baking soda and let sit for 2 minutes. Add mashed banana and vanilla to the bowl and mix.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three batches, mixing just until combined before adding the next batch.
4. Drop batter onto a parchment paper lined, or non-stick sprayed, baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown around the edges. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

For the icing: Follow the directions for browning the butter in step 1 above. Whisk in powdered sugar, and drizzle icing over cooled cookies. Store cookies in an airtight container.

Source: Iowa Girl Eats

  

Creamy Lemon Pie {Weight Watchers Recipe}

So, it's no secret that I love sweets. I'm also doing Weight Watchers to get rid of this baby weight. That can present a problem. Remember that one time I bought a pile of clearance Easter candy at CVS with my Weight Watchers meeting name tag ON MY SHIRT?!?! 

Anyway, I'm happy to report that I did exercise self-control around all that candy and only had a little bit at a time. That's one of the things I love about Weight Watchers...it doesn't restrict anything. Tell me I can't have something and that's all I'm thinking about.

A sweet friend of mine brought us dinner one night after Emery was born and she made us this lemon pie. She knew I was doing Weight Watchers so she looked up a Weight Watchers friendly recipe. It was so, so yummy and didn't taste like a "diet" pie at all. Perfectly creamy and perfectly lemony. The fun thing is that you can change up the flavors of Jell-O and yogurt you use. I'm definitely planning to make one using lime Jell-O and yogurt and maybe strawberry, too.

Weight Watchers or not, this is a recipe I'm sure I'll make again and again!

Creamy Lemon Pie
Makes 8 servings
1/8 pie = 5 PointsPlus

8 oz package fat free Cool Whip
1 package sugar free lemon Jell-O (or another flavor)
1/4 cup boiling water
2 containers of lemon yogurt (or another flavor)
1 reduced fat graham cracker pie crust

In a medium bowl, stir Jell-O into boiling water and whisk until completely dissolved (it will take a couple minutes of whisking). Stir in yogurt and Cool Whip and pour into crust. Refrigerate overnight or freeze for a few hours until set.

Source: Weight Watchers

  

Perfect Pumpkin Bread

One of my favorite things about fall is all of the pumpkins! I love seeing pumpkins everywhere, I love pumpkin candles, I love pumpkin spice lattes, and I love pumpkin bread. There's something just so homey and cozy about pumpkins. I light my pumpkin candles as soon as I get home every day and it instantly makes our house feel so warm and welcoming. I love it. It's the small things. :)

I first had this pumpkin bread a few years ago when one of Daniel's co-workers sent him home with a loaf. We both loved it and ate the whole thing in about two days. Maybe it was just one day. It was a long time ago...I can't remember. Don't judge. Anyway, he asked her for the recipe and I've been making it several times every fall since. Making this pumpkin bread even made it onto our fall bucket list. It's that good, y'all.

I made my first batch of the season this a couple of weekends ago and I cannot even tell you how good our house smelled. You will not be able to wait for this bread to come out of the oven! It has the just the right balance of pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg and it is perfectly moist.

You've got to try this pumpkin bread this fall. You just might find yourself eating an entire loaf in one day, too. ;)

Perfect Pumpkin Bread
Makes 3 loaves
Printer Friendly Version

3-1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 heaping tsp. cinnamon
1 heaping tsp. nutmeg
3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 unbeaten eggs
2/3 cup water
1 can pure pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie mix)

1. Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Add all remaining ingredients and mix until smooth.
3. Grease three medium-sized loaf pans (8" x 4"). Pour the batter into the loaf pans as equally as possible.
4. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until the bread starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. Check with a toothpick to make sure it's done.
5. Cool, slice, and enjoy!

  

Fudgy Peanut Butter Brownies

I absolutely love having a reason to bake! Last night, the girls in my community group got together for a Pinterest party. We were all supposed to bring a recipe that we had pinned, but never made. This was perfect for me because I pin like crazy...especially to my desserts board! When I'm supposed to make something for an event, I almost never even consider making anything but dessert. Dessert is my favorite {at least before I was pregnant!}. Even though I haven't been eating as many sweets lately, desserts are still my favorite thing to make.

I didn't have to scroll down far on my desserts board before these layered peanut butter brownies from Six Sisters' Stuff caught my eye. With the layers of marshmallow frosting and peanut butter, these brownies are super fudgy, perfectly peanut buttery, and ultra rich. Just the way a brownie should be. :) I mean, check out this peanut butter layer. There's just something I love about melted peanut butter.

Seriously, just look at those peanut butter and chocolate layers! It's almost like a layer of fudge on top of a brownie.

The original recipe called for homemade brownies, but I took the easy way out and used a box mix. I certainly wouldn't hold it against you if you have a favorite homemade brownie recipe you want to use, though. ;) Either way, you'll definitely want to have someone to share these brownies with!

Fudgy Peanut Butter Brownies
Makes 24 1-inch brownies
Printer Friendly Version

Boxed brownie mix + ingredients to make brownies
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Frosting
3 T. milk
2 T. cocoa
1/4 cup butter
5 large marshmallows
1 cup powdered sugar

Prepare brownies according to package directions (I used an 8x8 pan). Allow brownies to cool for 30 minutes. It's okay if they're still warm. Melt peanut butter in the microwave until it's smooth. I microwaved it for 1 minute and it was just right. Spread the peanut butter over the brownies. Refrigerate until the peanut butter layer sets up (30 minutes to an hour).

Once the peanut butter layer is set up, make the frosting. Over medium heat, combine the milk, cocoa, butter, and marshmallows and stir until the mixture is completely smooth. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar. Once the frosting is smooth, spread it over the peanut butter layer and refrigerate until set.

Recipe slightly adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff

  

{Five on Friday} September 13, 2013

TGIF!! Fridays are seriously my favorite. For some reason, Fridays mean that it's totally acceptable for me to go to Sonic on my way to work and get a junior breakfast burrito and a Route 44 strawberry limeade {like every week}. I make all kinds of rationalizations like that on Fridays. I mean, I need some fuel to get through a crazy Friday with 20 eight-year-olds, right? :)

So I haven't done one of these posts in a while...that might have something to do with the fact that I've been going to bed around 8:30 every night here lately. I think I might finally be getting a little of my energy back, though. Maybe I can start making it to 9:00. :) Anyway, here's my Five on Friday for this week.

One.
Daniel went on a business trip to New York City at the beginning of this week. I was super jealous because I *really* want to go to New York City. I seriously hate it when he's gone. I worry way too much. For example, he got to his hotel the first night around 11:30 and hadn't even had dinner yet. He told me that he and his boss were going to walk a few blocks to go to this burger place for dinner. My response: "Honey, be careful. I hate the thought of you walking around at midnight on dark streets." Clearly, I've never been to New York City. He assured me that the streets weren't dark and sent me this picture. I mean, I knew that the streets wouldn't be completely deserted, but I did not think it would be like this at midnight! I guess it really is the city that never sleeps.

Two.
September is a *major* birthday month in our family. Within two weeks, both of my parents have birthdays and both Daniel and I have birthdays. There are so many birthday meals and birthday treats in our future! Yay! :) Daniel asked me what I wanted and I finally came up with this Urban Decay Naked2 eyeshadow palette. I've heard so much about it on other blogs! By the way, does anyone else have a hard time coming up with things you want the older you get?! It seems like it gets harder for me every year.

Three.
I am determined to add some sort of festive cheer to our front porch for fall this year. Every year, I have the best intentions. Then September turns into November and I decide that it's not even worth it at that point. Oh, and just to prove how indecisive I am, we went to Hobby Lobby last week and bought everything I needed to make this moss covered monogram for the front door. Aaaannnd, I'm heading back to Hobby Lobby tomorrow to return it all. I just kept thinking about how mad I would be if I spent the money to make it and it ended up looking horrible. So, I think I'll just exchange it for a wreath that's already made. At least then I *know* I'll like it. :) Oh, and if you want some front porch inspiration, check out this post from Six Sisters' Stuff. It just makes me want to go on a hayride, carve a pumpkin, and cozy up with a big mug of apple cider!

Four.
We love a good game night around here every once in a while...Phase 10 is one of our favorites. Well, our Saturday night last weekend consisted of junk food and a new game. I've been hearing about this game called Farkle and decided to order it when I needed to add a little more to my Amazon cart to get the free shipping. At first we thought the scoring was going to be complicated, but it ended up being really easy to catch on to once you played a couple of rounds. Oh, and I won. :)

Five.
I love it when I have a reason to bake something. The girls in our community group at church are having a Pinterest party on Sunday night. Everyone is supposed to bring something they've pinned but never made. We're also going to make some kind of craft. I'm super excited about it! Now, I just have to figure out what I'm going to make. My dessert board on Pinterest definitely gets the most attention. I have 558 dessert pins! These peanut butter brownie buddies look pretty yummy...and perfectly poppable! Decisions, decisions...

Well, whatever you end up doing this weekend, I hope you have a wonderful one! :)

  

Midweek Randoms {July 31, 2013}

Hi everyone! Happy Wednesday! I'm linking up this week with Megan from In This Wonderful Life for midweek randoms!

• How can it possibly be the last day of July?! HOW? My parents always told me that time goes by more quickly as you get older and they weren't kidding! I just wish my summer didn't fly by so darn fast! :(

• Speaking of summer ending, I went to school yesterday and Monday and got a LOT of work done! This will be my seventh year teaching and I'm telling you, I've never been more calm and productive. I always get crazy stressed out and can barely think straight because of everything I'm trying to remember. Daniel and I have been praying these last couple of weeks that I will have a calm and peaceful mind and be able to get a lot accomplished. The Lord has completely answered that prayer and I'm so grateful. I am way ahead of where I normally am at this time of year and I started in a new classroom that was packed up in boxes. Praise the Lord! I can enjoy this last week and a half of summer without that burden! You can go here to see how my classroom looked after we worked last week. Here are some pictures of how it looked when I left yesterday. I still need to put some things on the walls, but a lot of that will come as I teach different concepts.

 

This is my favorite spot in the room right now. Colorful and cozy... :)

• I found a super fun trick yesterday while I was working at school. I needed to write items for my "wish list" on Post-it notes and I thought it would look so much nicer if I could just print straight on the Post-it notes. {I know, totally unnecessary, but I'm an elementary school teacher! Things like that make me happy!} I knew that I'd seen somewhere {probably Pinterest} that there is a template for printing on Post-it notes so I consulted Google and found one! Here's the template and directions if you want to try this. The template is for 3x3 Post-it notes, but of course, I wanted to print on apple shaped ones. :) I just centered the apple Post-its as best as I could in each box and it worked perfectly! I was so excited!! It really is the little things...

The font I used here is CK Handprint.

Here's my finished wish list. If parents want to donate an item to our classroom, they'll just take that apple off the tree and send the item to school with their child. I've done this at our "Meet the Teacher" event every year and it's really helpful!

• We had our family cookout last Saturday and my brother and his wife brought the BEST smoked pork. They own a restaurant called Holy Smoke BBQ in Gadsden and it is so yummy! Their fried okra and french fries are amazing! And of course, the pork is incredible, too. You should totally check it out if you're in the area! We were sad when all of our leftovers were gone!

• And last, but certainly not least, I finally got my cheesecake fix. We went to The Cheesecake Factory to get our half price cheesecake and it definitely did not disappoint. Even after two weeks of careful thought and deliberation, I still struggled to make up my mind when confronted with the huge case of cheesecakes and that crazy long menu! I powered through, though, and went with the Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake. I had never had this kind before, and oh my. It was the perfect balance of cake and cheesecake. There were also layers of peanut buttery caramel! Divine! Daniel ended up going with the Fresh Strawberry Cheesecake. A boring choice, in my opinion, but he's more of a "straight up" cheesecake person so I guess it makes sense for him. ;)

Well, I think that's all my randomness for today! I hope you have a fabulous rest of the week!! :)

  

Oreo Truffles {3 Ingredients!}

We had our family cookout this past weekend and it was so much fun to see everyone and get to spend some time together {and eats lots of food}. I realized late in the evening that I had not taken one picture. Not one. :(

Well, I guess I took one picture. These Oreo truffles. Yes. I first made these two years ago for Christmas and they were such a hit that I've made them for several of our family gatherings since. My nieces and nephews especially love them. And of course I do, too. They do involve Oreos, after all. :)

These truffles really couldn't be easier and the results are fancier than you would think considering how easy they are to make! You only need a package of Oreos, one package of cream cheese, and white almond bark {found in the baking section of your grocery store}. You could also dip them in chocolate almond bark, but my favorite is the white.

{Source}

You definitely need to try these for your next party! I'm pretty sure they'll become one of your favorites, too! :)

Oreo Truffles
Makes approximately 30 truffles
Printer Friendly Version

1 package Oreos (reserve one Oreo for sprinkling)
1 (8 oz) package light cream cheese
1 package white almond bark

1. Place all but one of the Oreos into a food processor and pulse until they are fine crumbs.
2. Add the cream cheese to the food processor and process until the mixture is fully combined.
3. Roll the mixture into one inch balls and chill for at least 30 minutes.
4. Dip the truffles into the melted almond bark and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet to set up. To garnish, sprinkle with Oreo crumbs, drizzle with melted chocolate, etc... Store in the refrigerator.

Notes:

• I use my Pampered Chef small cookie scoop to scoop the truffles and then I roll them into balls.
• If the almond bark is too thick, you can thin it out by adding a teaspoon of vegetable oil at a time. This will also give it a nice shine.
• To dip, place a toothpick in the truffle, dip into the almond bark, lift the truffle off of the toothpick with a fork, and then push the truffle off of the fork with the toothpick.

Linking up with Anyonita Nibbles, Lamberts Lately, and Chef in Training.