Donuts are really an instant crowd pleaser. They look super impressive.
These are brown butter baked donuts using this recipe. Instead of sprinkles, these guys enjoyed a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips atop their chocolate glaze. Show stoppers.
PS- I tried to save one of them in a plastic baggy, but it like absorbed the glaze and got all drippy looking. So don’t do that.
Holiday baking season is growing near, so its time to narrow down my cookie selections for gifts. I like to give a nice variety, even though I would personally die happy with a huge tray of just my ma’s gingerbread cookies.
I tried out a new bar cookie recipe over the weekend. Bar cookies are sometimes tricky for me, since I always worry they aren’t baked enough in the middle. I tried a basic blondie recipe, with some big dark chocolate chips, some mini regular chocolate chips, pecans, and coconut. I was too lazy to toast the pecans or coconut, but they were definitely a huge hit with my guinea pigs.
A while back, my ma and I decided to try to make foccacia bread, but my brother said that it wouldn’t taste as good as the bakery kind. So I got to write in my diary that my brother thought wrong, because it tasted just as good, if not better.
This time, I tried raisin foccacia. I made half a batch, since we don’t need a monster amount of bread around here. I made sure to put as many finger pokes in the top as possible. I also made sure to spill half the raisin water on the floor, but if I were you, I would leave that part out. 
There is just something about freshly baked bread. Its perfect. We ate this warmed in the toaster for breakfast for a couple days, then I sent the rest off to the office. But now that I’m thinking about it, we should have warmed it, and put a little butter/cinnamon/sugar combo on top for dessert. Oh darn, I’ll have to make some more.
I finally changed my name on my drivers license. Crossing that off every to-do list I have made in the last 3 months.
To celebrate this momentous occasion, I planned some baking time. Nothing warms up a house like morning baking. I made some butter pecan cookies. I know I have toasted pecans before, but I think I burned a couple. Shhhhh.
These cookies are like the ultimate in butter. They aren’t the prettiest, but they do taste warm and cozy.
Side note: I always feel more awesome the more clothes I pile on. This is a tshirt, a sweatshirt, and a button-up on top. Layers for days. You can take a girl out of the Northwest, but you can’t take the Northwest out of a girl.
Here are some gluten-free recipes I’ve collected this week that I am excited to try soon. Sweet potato muffins. Flourless chocolate cupcakes. Spiced orange chocolate chunk cookies. Honey oat bread. Yay for fall baking season! I need to get my hands on some fancy flours.
We were in Crate and Barrel looking for chairs, so obviously we walked through the kitchen section. And I saw a cookie scoop in real life, and somehow it made it back home with us. And then I had to make cookies to try it out. It was a very slippery slope.
I tried out these double chocolate cookies. So yes the cookies were delicious and kinda like brownies and everyone liked them, but do you see how perfectly uniform all the cookies are? Its like they belong in a tiny bakery window that should be in our kitchen. 
I’m not sure it technically counts, since I just modified an existing recipe, but I have been telling everyone who will listen that I made my own cookie recipe. I am very good at following recipes, but I am not always as good at knowing what will taste good together, and what ratio they should go together at. But I took my best guess, and they turned out so good! I used this recipe, did a couple minor tweaks, and subbed in some oatmeal for some flour, and added butterscotch chips for chocolate. It has actually been cooler, wetter weather around here, and something about butterscotch and oatmeal seemed appropriate for the season!
Have you ever made up your own recipe? I feel like I need to have at least a couple of my very own recipes, so I can pass them along when I am a grandma.
I attempted bagel making yesterday, and made the best discovery. I found the place in the house that dough likes the best! It only took 3 months of experimenting, but it likes it best on the floor in the bedroom by the laundry basket next to the window. Success!!
BUT… I got caught up in how magnificent the dough was, and I totally forgot to oil or flour the pan when I let them do the second rise. So they stuck all over, they wouldn’t let go of my fingers, and most deflated trying to get them into the boiling water, so they came out a hot mess. I think the taste and texture really have potential though, so I will try again, with all the knowledge combined!
I decided last week that I have been eating too much ice cream. I wasn’t really sad about it, but it still is kinda bathing suit season around here, so I can’t quite let myself go just yet.
I decided to experiment with some gluten free treats. I think they are pretty paleo too, for you cavemen. These are almond butter coconut cookies. They just came out of the oven, and 4 of them are already gone. I think its safe to say they make a more than adequate dessert. I wrote out the recipe below!
Almond Butter Coconut Cookies
Preheat to 350. Mix almond butter and coconut. Add egg, vanilla, soda, and honey. Scoop to make cookies and place on baking sheet lined with parchment. Don’t forget to flatten a little with the fork! Just like peanut butter cookies. Mine went in the oven for 10 minutes and came out very tender. You could probably bake a minute or two longer for a crunchier cookie. Eat 2 as soon as they are cool, and don’t feel at all guilty about it.
Like farm to table, except it started as a pin… get it??
Here are some of my recipe pins that I am excited to try soon. Quinoa and blueberries for breakfast. Sweet and salty bagels. Shrimp and grits. Gluten-free almond coconut cookies. Let me know what you are cooking up this weekend!
PS: I just hit 2,000 pins this morning! How exciting for me!
Double PS: Isn’t it the worst when you see something, and it leads to nowhere? I assure you that all pins that I can remember have been tried and tested.
guy and his girl 