Foodie Friday- Gingerbread White Chocolate Cookies

So, recently I have been baking up a storm, making multiple batches of all kinds of delectable Christmas cookies. This recipe is one I found via Pinterest and just had to try. They are perfectly festive and the addition of the white chocolate makes them a little different and extra special. I'm not too much of a gingerbread fan myself, but WOAH these guys were delicious. And relatively simple to make, as well. Want to try them out for your Christmas festivities? I think they'd make an awesome hostess gift.

Ingredients

3 cups flour

1 tsp cinnamon

2  tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup molasses

3/4 cup softened butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup white sugar

1 cup white chocolate chips

 In a medium size bowl, combine your dry ingredients (flour, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.) Whisk until incorporated.

 In another (large) bowl, beat your brown sugar and softened butter together until light and creamy.

 Nom nom nom.

 Now, add your molasses, egg and vanilla on low speed until mixed with butter and sugar.

 Slowly add your flour mixture to your wet ingredients and mix until totally combined.

Now, lay out some saran wrap and flatten your dough into a little gingerbread frisbee. Cover it in Saran wrap and stick in the fridge for at least 4 hours. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

After the dough is all chilled out, roll it in 1 inch balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are just brown. Immediately remove from oven and press 5 white chocolate chips into center of cookies. Let cool, and enjoy!

Foodie Friday- Avalanche Bars

 

I got this tasty recipe idea when browsing Pinterest one afternoon. I came across this

delicious recipe and just altered it slightly. I love rice crispy treats, but these are an insanely upgraded version with peanut butter, white chocolate and chocolate chips. And they have a festive winter name, too! I sent these to work with my hubby so I couldn't overindulge, and everyone gobbled them right up- they were definitely a hit. So yummy! 

Want to try them? (yes, you do!) Here's what you will need:

3 cups Rice Crispies, or puffed rice cereal

11 oz bag white chocolate chips

1/4 cup creamy honey nut peanut butter (or just regular, if you can't find honey nut)

1 and 1/2 cup mini marshmallows

1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, plus 2 tbs for topping

 

First, in a large microwave safe bowl, place the entire bag of white chocolate chips. Microwave for 1 minute, then stir. Microwave for 15 second intervals and stirring between until chocolate is totally melted.

 Measure out your yummy peanut butter...

 

 and stir it into your white chocolate. Doesn't that look delicious? It is. 

Now, pour in your rice crispy cereal, marshmallows and 1/4 cup chocolate chips. Stir all together until well blended.

 

Now, in a greased 8x8 pan, press the mixture lightly into the pan with the back of a spoon. Now let totally cool ( I placed my pan in the refrigerator to speed the process) 

 

Once completely cooled, cut your bars into squares and enjoy!

Foodie Friday- A Healthier Breakfast Burrito

Hey guys! I know we're typically used to a sweeter and more calorie laden recipe on Fridays- and trust me, those are some of my favorites! I have a serious sweet tooth. However, if that's the only thing you know how to make in your kitchen, you're bound to put on a few extra pounds. So I decided I would share some healthier recipes on the blog to balance things out! 

Here is one of my favorite breakfasts- I love breakfast burritos, but I've taken a slightly healthier approach to the typical fatty and starchy version you'll find in most restaurants. 

Let's get started! Here are the ingredients you'll need:

1-2 eggs (depending on appetite)

Guerrero whole wheat tortilla 

Garlic salt

Roma tomato

Laughing Cow light

Turkey bacon ( I use Eating Right)

Shredded 2% Sharp Cheddar (optional)

Salsa (Pace is the best!!!)

 Dice up half of a Roma tomato and put into a bowl. You of course can use more if you like lots of veggies- also feel free to add onion and peppers for extra flavor, but I don't like them so I omit them from my burritos.

 Crack some eggs into the bowl- 1 or 2 per burrito, I have four pictured because I made one for hubs, too!

 Add a dash of garlic salt for flavor. Whisk together.

 Spray a frying pan with some Pam, heat it over medium heat and scramble your eggs. I find the key to the best scrambled eggs is to heat them over lower heat and keep them moving constantly- don't let them sit in one place for too long.

 Get your tortilla ready on a plate.

Spread your laughing cow wedge over the tortilla as evenly as possible. Now, put your scrambled eggs in the center of the tortilla.

 Now, using the same pan (no need to dirty another!) cook up some turkey bacon to your liking. Yum!

 Lay the cooked bacon on top of your eggs. Optional: sprinkle with a little bit of shredded cheddar and top with salsa. Salsa is an awesome way to add a lot of flavor without adding a whole bunch of calories. Now wrap it up like a delicious little burrito baby and slice in half. Sometimes I like to zap mine for 20 seconds in the microwave to ensure everything is nice and warm.

Now add a side of fresh grapefruit and enjoy! Sorry the picture is a little sad- it's a testament to how yummy this is! I started nomming it down before I remembered I needed to take another picture. Oops :) 

I hope you guys enjoy this new healthy recipe! It doesn't taste "healthy" at all, I assure you. I am pretty much the pickiest eater ever and I LOVE this breakfast- I hope you will too.

Foodie Friday- Smores Bars

 

 Sticky, gooey, messy, chewy... aren't smores the best? Cooking them outdoors with a warm fire and friends is of course, ideal... but when you're lacking the campfire, try these! They are so delicious and terribly sinful- but very worth it.

Ingredients

7 graham crackers

1 and 1/3 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 cup softened, room temperature butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

2 large (4.25 oz) Hershey's Milk Chocolate bars

1 and 1/2 cup marshmallow fluff

 

First, heat your oven to 350 F.  Grease an 8x8 inch pan and set aside.

We're going to need to to crush those yummy graham crackers into a fairly fine powder- I put my grahams into a gallon ziplock, sealed it, and used a rolling pin to finely crush them, but you can you a bag and a hammer, or really whatever method you would like :)

 

In a smaller bowl, combine your finely crushed graham crackers, flour, baking soda and salt.

 In a larger bowl, cream together both your sugars with your room temperature butter until creamy and fluffy.

 Add your egg and vanilla and blend until combined.

 Add your flour mixture to your butter mixture and on a low speed, mix together until totally combined- your dough should be a bit crumbly looking.

 Separate out half of your dough and put the other half aside. Using one half, press the dough into the bottom of your greased pan

 Lay your chocolate bars side by side on top of the dough.

 Spread your marshmallow fluff on the chocolate layer.

 

 Now, with your other half of dough, you can either manhandle it to get it even on top of the marshmallow layer, or you can use this handy little tip: Put your dough into a gallon zip lock baggie and flatten it out with your palms or a rolling pin to about the same size as the dish.

 Now cut open two sides of your bag so it opens like a book.

 Now you can flip your dough onto the top of your marshmallow layer easily- some of my dough crumbled a bit, and it's not perfect, but no worries! It still tastes amazing :)

 Pop those yummies in the oven for 30-35 minutes to cook, and take them out and let them completely cool before cutting into them.

 And enjoy! Look at how gooey and melty and delicious. NOM.

I slightly altered a recipe I found at Baked Perfection- whose Smores Bars look about a thousand times better than mine, but I still thank so much for the idea to make these delicious treats!

Foodie Friday- Spiced Slow Cooker Pecans

 These spiced pecans will blow your mind! They are made in the crockpot, so they are super simple. You basically just dump in the ingredients and stir- that's it! No skill required. These are so tasty and I think that they would make an excellent gift packaged in pretty little containers :) I will definitely be making these again for Christmas! Want to try? Here's what we need:

Ingredients

16 oz pecans

 1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp allspice

Heat your crockpot on high for about 20 minutes beforehand.

 

 Pour your pecans and melted butter into the hot crockpot and stir.

 Add powdered sugar and mix until pecans are well coated.

 

Cook on HIGH for 15 minutes, stir, turn the crockpot to low and cook 2-3 hours on low setting, stirring occasionally until your pecans have a shiny crunchy sugar coating.

Mix your spices in a small bowl and pour over your pecans, mixing until all pecans are coated.

Enjoy! Yes, it's that simple- so there is no reason you shouldn't try these out! You're going to love them!!

I slightly modified a recipe found here.

Foodie Friday- Sugar Cookies

This week when I was at the grocery store, I totally forgot to get any ingredients for Foodie Friday! I couldn't even believe myself. I didn't really want to go back to store and spend more money, so I decided to make something with ingredients I already had on hand. You might already have the ingredients for a tasty little cookie already in your pantry! 

A great resource to use when you want to make something yummy but don't want to run out to the store is Super Cook- it's a website where you can enter the ingredients you have on hand, and it will pop out all the recipes you can make with those ingredients! Cool, right?

Let's get started making some easy and delicious Sugar Cookies!

The ingredients you will need are:

2 and 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup shortening 

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

First, sift your flour and baking soda together into a small bowl.

Then, whisk your flour, salt and baking powder together until well mixed.

Take your softened butter and shortening in a large bowl and blend it on a low speed with your powdered sugar and granulated sugar until soft and fluffy. 

Add your egg and vanilla and mix until blended.

Don't eat it, though it is hard to resist.

Shape into small balls the size of a key lime.

You can either flatten then with a glass bottom dipped in sugar...

These cookies will be light and crispy and pretty thin, good for dipping in milk, coffee or tea! Personally, I like my sugar cookies a little softer and thicker , so I made the next batch that way. Just take the same amount of dough and keep it pretty round without flattening it.

Yum yum, delicious! I love sugar cookies. You could also make a quick icing for these, but my household likes them without icing much more, so I just left them as is! They are absolutely delectable, I LOVE sugar cookies... do you?