The recipe called these cinnamon and raisin buns, but let’s call things like we see them. These are cinnamon rolls with raisins rolled all up in them.
I have been playing with the bread machine. Its really a genius invention. The dough comes out so soft, like a baby. And yum, ate them with soup for dinner. One of my very favorite meals.
This is a Swedish limpa bread made from sourdough starter. It has some rye flour, as well as some different types of seeds, a touch of brown sugar, and a little orange zest. Heartier and darker than traditional sourdough. We ate it as toast for breakfast with butter and jam. Yummy in the tummy.
I was excited to try a rye bread. The internet says that rye sourdough is supposed to be the most healthy type of bread. I was a tad worried about the rising process, since rye breads tend to be more dense, but my little yeast army worked like magic.
The guy just sharpened all our knives, so look at those beautiful slash marks now!
Usually muffins are more of a breakfast or snack food. But the heart wants what it wants. And who said that muffins can’t be dessert. I certainly didn’t say that.
What a happy coincidence that we happened to have 3 old bananas. Before and after pictures:
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.
We have been making homemade pizza once a week. This week was bbq chicken pizza (based a little on this recipe). We don’t have one of those fancy pizza stones, but my ma and I are gonna play with hers next visit.
While I am in the kitchen fixing up dinner, this one stares at me. Like I am supposed to be entertaining her instead.
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. 
guy and his girl 