Lemon Cookies

I seem to always choose to make recipes that include chocolate.. That is probably because I LOVE chocolate. I decided to make something lemony. I found this nice recipe for lemon cookies.  

I thought the dough was a little sticky and I had to cook the cookies for 11-13 minutes instead of the 9-11 that the recipe calls for.  They came out crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  The flavor was delicious.  My son really loved them.  He was very upset when I took the cookies to work and didn't bring any home for him.  I think I may try a recipe for Lemon Coolers soon.

recipe from Lauren's Latest

The cookies get rolled in powder sugar before baking so you get the crackle effect.

Lemon Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated suger
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 tsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray set aside.  I use air-bake sheet so I do not have to grease them.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powder sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the bottoms to barely brown. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

I got about 2 dozen cookies. :)

~Michelle

No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

I found another great recipe to try. I love granola bars. I really don't know why I haven't tried to make some before now. Maybe I thought they would be difficult or complicated, I really don't know why they were not on my radar before. Boy, I'm glad I gave these No-bake bars a try. YES, so good. 

I think that these granola bars are very delicious, chewy and have a great texture. The taste is wonderful the peanut butter really add a great flavor. And of course, the chocolate is always a necessary addition. Great mix of salty and sweet. It is so great eating and giving the kids a snack that is homemade and doesn't have any preservatives. They get enough of that sometimes.

recipe from twopeasandtheirpod

No-Bake Granola Bars

Ingredients

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups quick oats

1/2 cup crispy rice cereal

3/4 cup chopped pretzels

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

Cut out an 8x8-inch square of parchment paper. Place the parchment paper in the bottom of an 8x8-inch baking pan.

In a large sauce pan, add butter, brown sugar, honey and peanut butter. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture starts to bubble. Once bubbling, cook for 2 minutes while stirring.  (keep time). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Stir in the oats, crispy cereal and pretzels. Stir until well coated. Pour into the prepared pan. Press the mixture evenly into the pan. Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips over the top and gently press into the granola bars with your hands or a spatula.

Place the bars in the refrigerator and let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting.

I ended up cutting them into bite sized pieces.

~Michelle

There are so many wonderful baking/cooking blogs out there, cookbooks and old recipes that I have, and I wish I could just bake everything, at least once. :) 

Snickerdoodle 2

When I'm actually home at night and the kids are over a friends house I find myself looking for something to do.  That gives me the chance to BAKE. I decided to try another snickerdoodle recipe.  I came across this recipe from Cooking Classy. This is also where I found the coffee creamer cookie recipe that I made, and totally LOVED.

I thought that the batter was too sticky to handle and roll with my hands.  I took the ice cream scoop and just plopped the dough into the cinnamon-sugar mixture, flipped it over and gently place it on my air-bake cookie sheets.  They tasted delicious. The kids, their friend and I each ate 2 right away. Just a little crunch and very tender in the center. Yum

They spread out quite a bit so for the rest of the batches I just made 9 per sheet.

Snickerdoodle Cookies 
about 3 dozen cookies


Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt 
3/4 cup butter 
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light-brown sugar 
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3 Tbsp sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract 


1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, 3/4 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, whip together butter, 3/4 cup granulated sugar and light brown sugar until pale and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. 

Mix in egg and egg yolk. Stir in sour cream, vanilla and almond extract. Add in dry mixture and mix just until combine. 

Allow mixture to rest 20 minutes at room temperature. In a separate small bowl, combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar with 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon. 

Scoop dough out by the heaping tablespoonfuls (each ball should be about 1 1/2 Tbsp) and roll into balls, then roll balls in cinnamon sugar mixture (give them a good coating). 

Bake on Silpat lined or buttered cookie sheets in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. I used air-bake sheets and didn't butter them. Allow to cool several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.


~Michelle

Room Makeover

My son headed out to boy scout camp for the first time on his own.  I went to visit him a couple of times for lunch he was having a great time. However, at night he was pretty home sick.  I suppose the thunderstorms that popped up several nights during the week didn't help.  He also had so many mosquito bites I felt bad for him.

We decided to give his room a little make-over while he was gone.  He had been asking for new bedding for a while so off he went and the make-over began.

These are the before pictures. He used to share a room with his brother. The other bed used to be where the train set is on the floor. 

I scraped all of the popcorn off of the ceiling and then painted it with two coats of white ceiling paint.

Here is someone prending to help. He just wants to stand on the ladder for a while.

I had to decide quickly on the paint color. I went with Behr paint and primer in one from Home Depot.  The color is Baked Scone. How could I go wrong with a baked good color. Right?

Over the dresser I hung 3 8x10 in black and white of him doing some things that he likes.

I really think that it turned out just wonderful. He loved it so much and the best part it is still clean and he is making his bead everyday. 

~Michelle