Mookies {Muffin Tin Cookies}

2 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm

1 cup brown sugar, packed

½ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips 

 Preheat oven 325°.  Grease a mini muffin tin.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside.  In a mixer mix butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg  and vanilla until combined.  Add dry ingredients and beat at low-speed just until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon small spoonfuls into your hand, and roll into about 1" balls, place a ball in each muffin tin.

Bake for 15-18 minutes. 

Allow to cool completely before removing each cookie from the tin by running a butter knife around the outside of the cookie, loosening it from the sides.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

This is a bread machine recipe, but I'm sure you could adapt it and do it by hand... but I'm not the one to ask about that haha!

We LOOVE pizza at our house! In fact, pizza crust is one of the few foods that my picky little guy will eat! I tired this crust recipe and I loved it! I made a BBQ Chicken Pizza with it, and it really went well with the taste of the wheat crust! I will definetly make this again!

 

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
1 1/4 cups of warm water
2 T. + 1 t. olive oil
1 1/2 cups of Whole wheat flour

2 cups AP flour
1 T. of sugar
1/2 T. of salt
2 1/4 t. of yeast (or one packet)
1 T. Garlic bread seasoning (mix of garlic powder, onion flake, parsley and lots of other seasonings)

Put the wet ingredients in the bread maker
Put the dry ingredients into the bread maker EXCEPT for the yeast and garlic seasoning.
Make a small valley in the center of the dry ingredients and fill with the yeast making sure it does not touch the wet ingredients
Set the bread maker to the dough setting. Let the machine run until it has formed a ball. Add the garlic seasoning and let it run until the seasoning is incorporated and the dough ball is smooth. Stop the bread maker, and place the dough ball into an oiled bowl. cover with plastic wrap and let rise for a little while, until it has about doubled in size. sprinkle the ball with a little flour, pull it out and place on a floured board. Roll into whatever form you want (pizza, bread sticks, calzones) and let the dough rest and rise again for a few minutes before using. Bake at 425 until done (It just depends on what your cooking, anywhere form 15-25 min)

What are your favorite pizza toppings!? I'm always looking for new ideas!

Sandwich Bread {in the bread machine}

I love homemade bread! Especially on a cold day, with a big bowl of beef stew. Which, ironically, is exactly what we ate this with!

Original recipe from Heather Drive Blog.

1 1/3 cups very warm water
1/3 cup olive oil (do not substitute with vegetable oil–use olive oil!)
2 tsp. salt
4 cups flour
2 tbsp. and 2 tsp. white sugar
3 tsp. yeast

In the breadmaker pan, combine water, oil, and salt.
Add the flour on top of the liquids. Pour sugar into one corner of the breadmaker pan. Make a well (a dent) in the center of the flour and pour the yeast into it.
Set the breadmaker for a “basic” loaf and press start. Walk away… in three hours, you’ll have delicious fresh bread!

** I started by baking this in the breadmaker, but I didn't realize I'd spilled flour in the bottom and is started to smoke, so I ended up baking it in the oven at 350 for around 20-25 minutes.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Recipe from Mommy's Kitchen
3 - eggs
1 1/2 - cups sugar1 - cup vegetable oil or 1/2 - vegetable oil + 1/2- cup applesauce
1 - teaspoon vanilla extract
2 - cups grated zucchini
3 - cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 - teaspoon salt
1 - teaspoon baking soda
1/2 - teaspoon baking powder
1 - teaspoon cinnamon
1 - 3 oz box instant chocolate pudding
1/2 - cup pecans, chopped, optional
1/2 - cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl beat the eggs, sugar, oil, (or oil applesauce combination) and vanilla extract. Fold in the zucchini. Sift the flour and combine with salt, baking soda and baking powder, cinnamon and pudding mix.

Add to the egg mixture and mix well. Fold in the nuts if using and the chocolate chips. Pour into two greased loaf pans or 4 mini loaf pans.

Bake for one hour, or until wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely. If making mini loaves bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

Raspberry Coconut Jello Cake

My sister in law introduced me to this cake when we were over there for Sunday dinner, and I fell in love! It is the perfect summertime dessert! She told me that it had been around for awhile, but I guess I missed the jello-cake-bandwagon! This cake can actually be made in any flavor combination, I made this one for my mom's birthday. You could do Lemon-Lime, Orange-Vanilla, Pineapple-Coconut... the options are really endless!

Raspberry Coconut Jello Cake

1 white cake mix (plus whatever it takes to make it)

1 tsp coconut extract

1 package raspberry jello

1 large container of cool whip

1 package coconut pudding mix

Prepare your cake mix according to package directions WITH the addition of the Coconut extract.

Bake cake and allow to cool completely.

Mix the jello with 2 cups of hot water (instead of 1 cup hot/1 cup cold like the box says) While the jello is still liquid, use a straw/skewer to poke holes all over the cake. And I mean ALL over. This would be a good kid job... or an angry momma. Pour the jello over the cake, concentrating on the holes. Refrigerate overnight or at least 4-5 hours.

A few hours before you plan to serve, mix together the cool whip and pudding mix. Frost the cold cake with that mixture. Refrigerate another 2-3 hours.

Slice and ENJOY!

Best Ever Cornbread!

 

I will never go back to pouch mix cornbread EVER again! This cornbread is SO good, it's not dry, or crumbly like other cornbreads, its moist, and yummy, and SOO GOOD! I've made it twice in the past couple weeks!

 

Best Ever Cornbread

recipe from here

1 cup cornmeal

3 cups flour

1 1/3 cups sugar

2 Tbs. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2/3 cup vegtable  oil

6 Tbs. melted margarine

4 eggs

2 1/2 cups milk

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a big bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the oil, butter, eggs and milk. Stir until it is just mixed. Bake in a 9x13 pan for 35 minutes.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies
recipe from here
3/4 C butter at room temperature
3/4 C brown sugar, packed
1/2 C sugar
1 C peanut butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 C flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 C sugar (for coating)

Start by creaming the butter. Then add the brown sugar and 1/2 cup sugar and cream together.
Beat in the peanut butter.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until combined. Mix in the vanilla extract.
Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and combine well.
This is what the dough looks like finished. It’s a nice moist dough, not too wet, but also not dry.
Pour the remaining 1/4 C sugar in a small bowl. Take a heaping tablespoon of and form into a ball. Coat the ball in sugar by rolling it around in the bowl. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
Press the tines of a fork into the balls to create the cross-cross pattern on the top and to flatten the dough just a bit. Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set and lightly brown around the bottom edges

Carrot and Oatmeal Muffins for your picky toddler

My little buster loves muffins! So I added a few things to bulk up the nutrition!

This is such a quick, easy recipe! You need 3 things...

Oatmeal muffin mix (okay, and the stuff to fix it, mine took and egg and 1/3 c milk)

1 carrot, grated

2 TBS wheat germ

Mix and bake according to package directions.

Easy peasy!

Spaghetti Bread

Does any one else's husband make a sandwich out of their spaghetti and garlic bread EVERY time you have a pasta dinner!? Mine does! So when I saw this recipe, I knew it was right up his alley! 

I had this on the menu for the week and immediately had a few people emailing me wondering about it! I first found it on pinterest, and had been really excited to try it! It was a hit! We all (including my 1 year old) loved it! 

Bread Dough (I used this recipe and just used 1/2 the dough and froze the rest, and it still made a ton!) 

1/2 box of thin spaghetti

1/2 jar of Spaghetti Sauce (plus more for dipping)

1-2 cups crumbled italian sausage-cooked (optional)

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 egg

Parmesan cheese

garlic bread seasoning

Ok, so this is more of a dinner idea than an actual recipe, because you can use whatever bread recipe you want, and however much spaghetti you need. But this is how I did it....

Prepare your bread dough in your breadmaker (or by hand). Once your Dough is done, separate into halves and freeze one half (or make bread) Boil your spaghetti noodles according to package directions and drain. Mix your spaghetti noodles, sauce and sausage together.

 Roll out your dough into a large rectangle. Place your spaghetti mixture in a strip down the middle of the dough, leaving room at the ends and top with the cheese. With a knife, cut the sides of the dough into 1 inch strips, starting at the sides of the spaghetti and working out. Then proceed to braid the dough up over the spaghetti, tucking the ends under the braid.

Brush the dough with the egg, and sprinkle with the garlic seasoning and parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until the top is browned. Personally I would of baked mine a little longer, but my husband was in charge of taking it out while I ran to the store for lettuce, and he likes things a little less done! :)

Allow to cool for a few minutes and slice into portions. Serve with warmed pizza sauce for dipping.

We will definitely be having this again, many times in the future! It looks SO pretty and it tastes even better!

Perfect Bread Machine Rolls

1/2 c. warm water (if you get it too hot or too cold, the yeast will not work properly, make the water only slightly on the hot side of lukewarm, and be sure it is NOT so HOT it is scalding.)

2 1/2 tsp. yeast (or 1 pkg is OK-which is 2 1/4 tsp.)

1/3 cup sugar

1 c. milk

3 Tbsp. butter (soft)

1 egg

5 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

Put the yeast, warm water and sugar into your bread machine first. Let it set a few minutes before adding any more ingredients. This should make your yeast foam a bit, which is a good sign that it is working properly. Then add the rest of the ingredients in the order listed. Put the salt in last.

Then put your bread machine on it’s dough setting, which should last approximately 1 1/2 hours. As your dough mixes, use a spatula or spoon to help the flour get mixed in.

Once your dough cycle has finished, cut your douugh into balls and place on a baking sheet. Allow to rise until they rolls are doubled in size, about 1 hour. Bake at 350 for 15 min or until golden.

Healthier Banana Bread Muffins

These banana bread muffins are AH-MAZING! They are SO moist and yummy, I probably ate a few too many! Next time I think I will double the batch and freeze half. I got the original recipe form this amazing site, and them my changes are in italics.

Makes 22-24 muffins

4-6 ripe medium bananas, mashed

1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce

2-1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 tbsp butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 oz (3/4 cup) chopped pecans

1 tsp cinnamon

Pam baking spray

Preheat oven to 325°. Line two 12 cup muffin tins.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt with a wire whisk. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add eggs, bananas, apple sauce cinnamon and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until thick. Scrape down sides of the bowl.

Add flour mixture and pecans, then blend at low speed until combined. Do not over mix.

Pour batter into muffin pans and bake on the center rack for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the pan cool at least 20 minutes.

Texas Roadhouse Rolls & Cinnamon Butter

This recipe is amazing! If you have never been to Texas Roadhouse, take it from me, their rolls are DIVINE! And these were a pretty close match! (but doesn't the fact that someone else is making them, and cleaning up after them, make everything 10x better?) This is actually a bread machine recipe, which I love because I cannot, I repeat CAN NOT bake to save my life! My bread machine is my best baking friend! I got the original recipe here. These will definitely be a Sunday staple at our house from now on! They
1/4 cup warm water
2 tsp dry yeast
1 cup milk
1-1/2 Tbs butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp salt
3-1/2 to 4 cups unbleached flour

Put all of the above ingredients into your bread maker, and set to the dough cycle. When it's done, take the dough out and roll it into a rectangle. Cut it into squares and let them rise for 20-30 minutes or until they are slightly larger than when they started. Brush with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with a little milk) and bake at 350° for 10-15 minutesor until the tops are golden brown.
When they are done, while they are still hot, SLATHER the top with butter! Dont be shy! Serve with Cinnamon butter! (below)

Cinnamon Butter
1/2 cup softened butter
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp honey
Whip with beaters until light and fluffy!

Snickerdoodle Bars

dare I say... these are better than the cookies :) 

Snickerdoodle Bars
1/2 c. room temp. butter
1 c. sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 c. flour
2 Tbs sugar + 2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add all other ingredients and beat until smooth. Spread batter into a greased 8x8 baking dish and bake for 30 min or until the edges are light golden brown.

spring cookies.

cake batter cookies.

cake mix, of choice. 

{i used funfetti for these ones.}
1/3 oil
2 eggs

375 degrees preset on oven. mix together cake mix, oil, and eggs. 

spoon onto ungreased baking pan, i did mine half a spoon for little 

cookies. bake 6 to 8 minutes, until barely golden brown. {I leave them 

on the pan a few minutes until cooled when they get out, this 'cooks'

them a little more and makes it easier to take off the pan.} Then mix 

any type of frosting together, and put on bottom part of one cookie. and then

add another cookie to the bottom. Making a sandwich. roll the frosting 

that is out into some sprinkles

and voila!    coooookies!

Strawberry Cupcakes & Limeade Slush

I made the yummiest strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for my little sister's bridal shower a few weeks ago.

Ingredients:

• White Cake Mix
• 4 Eggs
• 1 C. diced Strawberries
• 1/2 C. Oil
• 1/2 C. Water
• 1/2 - 1 C. Flour
• 1 large package of Strawberry Jell-O

Mix all ingredients together, and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. You could always make white frosting and add fresh strawberries in it to make a strawberry frosting. My grandma makes this as a cake and chills it in the fridge. It's so yummy!


I also made Limeade Slush! Wow - I will definitely make this during the summer for something delicious and cold!

Ingredients:

• 1 Can Frozen Limeade, slightly thawed
  
• 1 C. Sugar
• 8 C. Water
• 1 liter of Lemon-Lime Soda
  

Mix all the ingredients together until the sugar is dissolved. Freeze until solid (or mostly solid.) I used quart sized Ziploc bags (I opened the bag and used a large measuring cup to 'hold' it open for me while I poured the limeade into it. I then laid all the bags flat in a metal pan and put them in my freezer so they would freeze flat for easy storage. It took overnight for my limeade to get mostly frozen.

To assemble, pull the limeade slush out, and slightly thaw. Break up slush in a punch bowl or pitcher, pour lemon-lime soda over and serve! Garnish with sliced limes and lemons.

Bread Machine Potato Rolls

I got this recipe from my new favorite recipe blog They came out perfect and were SO yummy I just had to share!

Potato Dinner Rolls

1 cup milk
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup instant potatoes flakes
3 cups unbleached white bread flour
2 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place all of the ingredients in the the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Set on Dough cycle, press Start.
When cycle is complete, remove dough from the machine, deflate and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Let rest for 10 minutes. Divide the dough into twelve equal pieces and form into rounds. Place the rounds on lightly greased baking sheets, decoratively slash top of each with a sharp razor or knife, if desired. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm area until doubled in volume, about 30 to 40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown.
Makes 12 rolls.

chewy cookie bars

My mother in law actually gave me this recipe, so props to her :)

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup tub margarine

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups of chocolate chips

Cream together the margarine, vanilla and sugars, then add the eggs. sift together the dry ingredients and add to the wet ingredients. Gently stir in the chocolate chips. (the dough will me slightly runny, at least ours was) Grease a cookie sheet and pour the cookie dough onto the sheet. Ours didnt quite fill the entire sheet, but almost. Bake at 350 for about 25 min. they wont look completely done, but let them sit in the pan for like 10-20 min and they will be perfect!

Bread Machine Pizza Dough

One of my new years resolutions was to perfect my perfect pizza dough recipe, well I think I've done it! My mother in law bought me a breadmaker awhile back, and I was stumped at how to use it. Well the other week I dusted it off and made some bread. It was glorious! So now I have been using it for everything! It's so easy just to throw everything in there and press start and let it run! No mixing, no kneading, no mess! I've made pizza and breadsticks 3 times in the past week!
Basic Pizza Crust
1 1/4 cups of warm water
2 T. + 1 t. olive oil
3 1/2 cups of flour
1 T. of sugar
1/2 T. of salt
2 1/4 t. of yeast (or one packet)
1 T. Garlic bread seasoning (mix of garlic powder, onion flake, parsley and lots of other seasonings)

Put the wet ingredients in the bread maker
Put the dry ingredients into the bread maker EXCEPT for the yeast and garlic seasoning.
Make a small valley in the center of the dry ingredients and fill with the yeast making sure it does not touch the wet ingredients
Set the bread maker to the dough setting. Let the machine run until it has formed a ball. Add the garlic seasoning and let it run until the seasoning is incorporated and the dough ball is smooth. Stop the bread maker, and place the dough ball into an oiled bowl. cover with plastic wrap and let rise for a little while, until it has about doubled in size. sprinkle the ball with a little flour, pull it out and place on a floured board. Roll into whatever form you want (pizza, bread sticks, calzones) and let the dough rest and rise again for a few minutes before using. Bake at 425 until done (It just depends on what your cooking, anywhere form 15-25 min)
This pizza was pineapple and Canadian bacon with, get this... HOMEMADE Canadian bacon! Beau's step dad made us some, and it was AMAZING!! sorry this isn't the best picture, we keep eating it all before i can get over there with a camera! At least that tells ya its good!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been craving these cookies for a few days and finally broke down and made some. I remembered a recipe my mom used when I was younger and wanted to recreate them. At the moment I was wanting to bake, my mom was in a meeting so I couldn't call her and I was just feeling too lazy to load the kids in the truck and drive to her house and find the recipe. But then when I googled PBOCCC (I didn't actually google the acronym, but you understand that my fingers might fall off if I type it all out over and over) I found all kinds of recipes. I decided to try two and see how it went. Recipe 1 was from Martha Stewart so I figured it would be good. Recipe 2 was from Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen and it looked a lot like my mom's recipe so I was excited to try it.

Recipe 1 reminds me a lot of "Ranger Cookies" that are the only flat crispy cookie I have ever liked. Now I like two. It called for natural pb, whole wheat flour, and peanuts but I didn't use those because I didn't have them. I would love to make them again with whole wheat flour but white flour worked great yesterday. It has a ton more oatmeal than recipe 2 which may or may not have resulted in my kids' breakfast today being these cookies. They ate a banana too so I'm not the world's worst mother. Recipe 2 are fuller, almost cakey cookies that are ridiculously good as well. They kind of just melt in your mouth. They are exactly like my mom's recipe. Both are delish. I highly recommend each of them. But beware... I officially spoiled my dinner with sweets for the first time in my life and totally went to bed last night with a belly ache because I ate way too many.

Recipe links:

Recipe 1

Recipe 2

delicious recipe blog.

these banana bars are seriously the BEST thing ever to hit my mouth.

I can eat about 2 sheets of these bars...and finish off the frosting.  

This blog is done by a friend of mine and she makes some awesome foods!

{of which all are delicious!!}

banana bars found HERE.

blog HERE.