We decided last night after dinner that we felt like eating some bread. Flash forward like 2 hours, and we were enjoying some fresh baked bread. And we are really looking forward to making French toast with it this weekend.
While I was making some cookies tonight (and eating waaaay too much dough), I starting thinking about following recipes.
There is something very calming to me about following a recipe. I think it is a control thing. You can measure and mix according to instructions, and it will come out as a finished product (and you can add your own flair here and there).
It is also a little connection to home and family. I can follow a recipe given to me by my ma, knowing that her ma, and the ma’s before her, have all made the same thing. Its like you can taste the love.
But when I was making cookies tonight, I thought about trying to make something without a recipe. Cookies sans recipe. I know the basic ingredients and mixing order, but it could be a total disaster. Or it could be awesome. And something I could pass down for years to come.
It all started when we wanted to see a movie at Alamo. And then we looked up their new menu, which had a peanut butter banana cookie. And we thought: huh, how bout that? So I looked to see if I could find a recipe for peanut butter banana cookies. And now here we are.
These cookies are definitely chewy and soft. They have a little different taste to them (and we ran out of chocolate chips!), but if you are looking for something new and different, try them out!
I got this idea in my head that I needed to make croissants this weekend. I started the process on Friday evening. By Sunday morning, my shoulders were sore from all the rolling, but I didn’t care because it was time to put the croissants in the oven. I had a little brunch party with some of my favorite people, and we ate fresh from the oven, flaky croissants with whipped butter and jam.
(I used a combo of these two recipes here and here. I used the dough from the first recipe, but next time, I might try the other one. I mixed it for all the time it said, and I thought the dough was a little tough. But it turned out fine in the end!)
Sometimes, I want just like one bite of something. Like I want one bite of banana pudding (mmmm….banana pudding).
So when you want one bite of cake, you make mini cupcakes! These are so tiny! I made some butter pecan cake, topped with a bit of frosting, and a couple chopped pecans. Everyone at work said they tasted kinda like buttery waffles.
I was really nervous about the baking time for these little guys. I couldn’t find something that committed to a general time that mini cupcakes might bake. I ended up letting these guys be in the oven for 9 minutes, and they came out nice and moist.
We equated one cupcake to one bite of normal cake. So if you want three bites, then enjoy 3 mini cupcakes! Yummy math.
I made cinnamon rolls for Easter morning. I basically started crying as I was rolling them up because I missed having Easter with my Ma so much. It is really hard living across the country from her. But I think she was here with me a little bit, since this was my first time making cinnamon rolls on my own, and they turned out BEAUTIFUL.
We had our own little Easter, just me and my most wonderful and handsome fiance. We dyed some eggs, admired the Easter flowers, and made a big dinner. 
When I looked for flourless chocolate cake recipes, I found two that caught my eye. Since I couldn’t decide which one would be better, I broke down and made them both. Sorry I’m not sorry.
I made this cake earlier in the week. Last night, I made this recipe. They both use the same basic ingredients, but this one uses some fluffy egg whites, so it has a more spongy, light texture, with a thin, crispy outer layer. Who could say no to that?
One of my dear friends is celebrating Passover this week, and asked if I could make a chocolate torte. I have never made a chocolate torte, but I was excited to try! I was a little bit nervous about putting so many eggs, and no flour, into the batter (and I accidentally cracked the cake down the middle flipping it out of the pan). But it turned out really good! Kinda like a brownie cake!
It was eaten very quickly, so this was the only terrible picture I took of it. We ate ours cold, in really thin slices, with a little fresh whipped cream and strawberries.
And I imagine that if I would have taken food styling classes and made this in daylight, the picture would look something like this:
You can find the recipe here. Try it!
Nothing makes me feel more domestic than a fresh batch of banana muffins. They smell like home.
These ones have walnuts and chocolate chips from my mom’s recipe. I have been trying to find like a banana oatmeal or something like that. Do you have any good banana bread recipes?
Everyone hold on to your hats, because I made something, and ADDED something to the recipe. I am turning into a baking rebel.
But for real, I know I am not a very adventurous baker. I usually stick to a recipe for the most part. I might use normal butter for unsalted butter, or light brown sugar for dark brown sugar, when I want to get crazy.
But I wanted to eat an orange, and I wanted to make cookies, so I decided to add some orange zest to these chocolate chip cookies. And they didn’t turn out to shabby. The zest added a nice freshness to it. Everyone at work seemed to eat them, so I would say that is success.
We ate ours split in half, with an orange split in half, and some tea.
guy and his girl 