jump to recipe Nathaniel’s birthday was actually almost two weeks ago, but when Sandy knocked out the power, birthday baking was put on hold. Then I went away to BC, and so it got further delayed. Then I got home, we restocked the kitchen, and the time for birthday treats for his class finally arrived. […]
Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Muffins
Whenever I find a recipe for a 3 (WW) P+ muffin, I have to try it, I’m always trying to expand my breakfast repertoire. So this was next on the list. My first obstacle, however, was that they’re made with my favorite flour, whole wheat pastry flour, and now TWO of my grocery stores are […]
Whole Grain Nutella Swirl Banana Muffins
People went NUTS over these. I made some mistakes along the way and had to improvise, and wasn’t even sure they were going to turn out okay. But not only did they turn out fine, they turned out delicious, and I have never had raves like this before. I think the word (and the substance) […]
Cinnamon Chip Maple Oatmeal Cookies
These are so tasty! What a great recipe for someone to just invent. I want to learn how to do that. In the meantime, I’ll keep making great cookies like these. And eating them, unfortunately. I’m going to have to get these out of the house soon.
Speculoos Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
jump to recipe They were supposed to be Biscoff Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies, but the grocery stores around here are all out of Biscoff, and who doesn’t want an excuse to use the word Speculoos? Mom’s the one who got me interested in Biscoff spread, and she’s also an amazing baker, so I’ve decided these cookies […]
Vanilla Chai Muffins
Muffin redemption has arrived. I haven’t blogged my last two experiments because I just wasn’t happy with them. It started on Saturday, when I was very excited to make Rocky Road Muffins. And don’t they look good? Sadly, they were not so good. I thought they were too dense, too hard, the chocolate was too […]
Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats
Recipes like this are reason number twenty million for why I love the internet. I told Jana to pick a birthday treat, and she went to my Pinterest board and picked Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats. So I read the comments under the recipe, and a lot of people were complaining that the squares fell apart because of the moisture created by the pumpkin. And then one person posted that she came up with a solution to get the moisture out of the pumpkin. I followed her link. I followed her advice. I will now follow her blog. And maybe follow her around.
Baked Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes
jump to recipe Remind me not to listen to Presidential debates while I’m baking. It’s so depressing. It feels like this great big game with so little meaning. And yet I’m still watching. I listened to it on the radio while I was baking, I switched to my iPhone when I had to walk around […]
Apple Cider Spice Bread
jump to recipe Here’s another one I’ve been looking at for a while. I don’t like baked apples in things, but I do love apple cider and apple-pie-type spices, so how could I resist a recipe for Apple Cider Spice Bread? The only thing keeping me back was the full stick of butter required, so […]
Spiced Pumpkin Bran Muffins
jump to recipe I’m always on the lookout for more healthy muffin recipes, since that’s what I have for breakfast every day. Well now I have a new one to add to the collection. We went apple picking today, and you’d think I’d be baking something with apples, but I don’t actually LIKE baked apples, […]
Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread (Lightened Up)
I finally did something with those brown bananas that have been sitting on the counter for days, disgusting all of us. Or maybe just me. I don’t know. I find them disgusting! But I’d seen this lightened-up version of cinnamon swirl banana bread a while ago and wanted to try it out. Its time had come.
Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffins
These are wonderful. Fluffy light texture, deep rich espresso-pumpkin flavor, just delightful. Sophisticated, ever so slightly, but definitely a treat and a reasonably healthy one at tha
Maple Oat Cookies
I gave the kids a choice of four different cookie recipes, and they chose these Maple Oat Cookies with the request that I add chocolate chips. Fair enough. I’ve been wanting to make these for a long time.
Low Fat Pumpkin Gingerbread
Last night I was looking for something I could eat in quantity. I knew I’d be on a post-Homeland food rampage so I made something that wouldn’t break the Weight Watchers Points Plus bank if I ate a large amount of it, and that’s how I found this recipe for pumpkin gingerbread. I also figured […]
Gingery Carrot Tea Cake With Cinnamon Glaze
jump to recipe I’ve made this before, sort of, but today I changed the recipe, used a new pan to make things pretty, and took the glaze from one dessert to add to it, skipping the frosting. We have company coming, and we’ve actually been talking about having these guys over for years. Literally. Years! […]
Peanut Butter and Dark Choolate Mini Muffins
Dave doesn’t usually express a strong baking opinion, but tonight he asked for something that didn’t have pumpkin, but did have chocolate. I didn’t exactly come up with something Weight Watchers-friendly, but sometimes one must make sacrifices, especially where peanut butter and chocolate are concerned. Also, it looked like a fun recipe to make. I […]
Spice Bundt Cake With Cinnamon Glaze
I don’t know what happened, I just had to make this cake last night. Maybe it was how good it looked, maybe it was the mood I was in, maybe I’m just nuts. But I had to make a cake, and I did, and it’s delicious, and and it even looks good, which breaks tradition. […]
Banana, Peanut Butter, and Honey Muffins
jump to recipe Finally! I am always looking at recipes that involve peanut butter, are low in points, and healthy enough for breakfast, but usually they involve some sort of Epicurean compromise. But my quest is over. I have found them! These banana, peanut butter, and honey muffins are delicious, in a no-caveats-needed way. Bursting […]
Cinnamon Chip Pumpkin Blondies
(for Antonia’s birthday) It’s Antonia’s birthday, and she’d like something with pumpkin. Since I experiment on her constantly with my baking, she deserves something customized for her birthday. These blondies also included a honey and caramel drizzle baked into them, which sounded pretty delicious to me. Guess what? They ARE delicious. They’re birthday delicious. They’re […]
Healthy Breakfast Cookies
I made these healthy breakfast cookies in BC when we were visiting Mom, and I’ve been wanting to make them again ever since, this time with cinnamon chips. I ended up making one other change by accident, and I think it made them even better.
Chocolate Clove Yogurt Cake
So while the Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Singles were baking or cooling or in various states of I’m-not-sure-if-these-will-work-out, I started working on my back-up plan. I’d seen this recipe on Pinterest a while ago, and I loved the idea of chocolate and cloves, plus I liked that it looked a little weird in the picture. […]
Banana Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal Singles
This has been a very strange evening. I don’t usually skip ahead to the end of my baking tales, but really, I was ready to give up on these weird oatmeal singles muffiny thingles completely, until Dave and Nathaniel each gobbled one up with glee. And then about ten minutes later, when I asked Dave […]
Cinnamon Roll Muffins
Yesterday was a clunky day. So while these were in the oven, I was increasingly convinced that I was making clunky muffins as well. I liked the idea of cinnamon roll muffins made of healthy ingredients and low in fat, but wasn’t sure these were it. I waited until this morning for a proper breakfast […]
Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Mini Loaves
I’m almost too busy savoring to type. These mini loaves are sublime. I really had no idea what I was going to bake when I got home tonight. I had bananas to use up, and I had peanut butter cravings, but I always have peanut butter cravings. Still, I felt obliged to honor them tonight. […]
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins
I’ve been wanting to make these for days. Peanut butter, banana, oatmeal, all in a low-point, low-fat, healthy muffin? Sold. I had some icky brown bananas ready, too. The only reason I had to wait an extra day was because I spent Tuesday night making Snickerdoodle Mini Loaves for Miff’s birthday. By Wednesday I was […]
Apple Cider Mini Muffins (and big ones too)
Okay. These are incredible. You know when you go apple picking and they sell these crazy apple cider donuts that you can’t stop eating? Well this is the home version. There’s no frying with these, and the ingredients are shockingly NOT unhealthy, but more important than that on this special day is that they are […]
Wheat Germ And Molasses Bread
Oh fine, you might not think that sounds appealing. But it does to me. I’ve been wanting to try another recipe with wheat germ ever since I made those breakfast cookies in BC, and I love the flavor of molasses, and the picture on the recipe just looked very delicious to me. Look at it. […]
Low Fat Chocolate Zucchini Cake (fail)
Things don’t always go well in baking. Sometimes, you just learn about what doesn’t work, and move on. And that’s today’s lesson. Oops. I didn’t bake last night, I went to some crazy “Restore The Core” class instead. It wasn’t exactly a mistake, but I won’t be going back. I felt good for having done […]
Healthy Gingerbread Muffins
jump to recipe This looked simple enough, and very delicious, but I may have screwed it up by using the wrong kind of sugar. I’m going to taste one of these muffins when I finish writing this up and then we’ll all know. If I did screw it up, I’m going to make them again; […]
Breakfast Bran Muffins
I haven’t made bran muffins in a long time, and I found this nice, low-fat, healthy, and flexible recipe on Pinterest, so I whipped them together last night. I have to say, I’m very, very happy with the results. I do love a good bran muffin, and these have an unusually light texture, with a nice flavor that you can adjust based on your own tastes. I have big plans for these muffins. Plus, they were sort of fun to make.
Baked Cinnamon Mini Donuts
The kids have been begging for mini donuts and yesterday was our first Saturday at home in weeks, so I finally took out the mini donut maker Jenny gave us, and got to work. Lucky for me on a sleepy Saturday morning, I had a helper. Juliet was in charge of the flour (whole wheat […]
The Road To Redemption: Peanut Butter Banana Bread
I admit it, I’m still recovering from the cheesecake debacle. But it was a half day at work, and there were some brown bananas on the counter, and I had a recipe for peanut butter banana bread that looked worth a try. And trust me, I read and re-read and re-read the ingredients list as […]
The Pumpkin Cheesecake Debacle
Well, it finally happened. The dizziness got the best of me. Back in June, on my sister Rosie’s birthday, I promised her a pumpkin cheesecake, but she was away all summer and we couldn’t work out the details of making it and getting it to her. She’s back in Manhattan for a few days before […]
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies
It wasn’t a great night to dig into a new cookie recipe. I am still getting dizzy every night, and today I went to the doctor where they took multiple vials of blood out of me. So I’m extra dizzy. And cookies take a long time, simply because of the swapping out of trays until […]
Mocha Snack Cake
I made this simple but magnificent cake at Mom’s in BC, and I had to find out if I could reproduce it in my own kitchen. I didn’t change the recipe one iota in either place, keeping the all purpose flour, the white sugar, and the butter, but for all I know, the magic may […]
Low Fat Pumpkin Muffins
jump to recipe We came home after a beautiful weekend in Fire Island to a muffin-less house; well, it wasn’t supposed to be muffinless, but the banana muffins I made did not survive their weekend abandonment. I’d made another batch at the same time and brought it to Fire Island, and those were still fine […]
Healthy Pumpkin Bread With Cinnamon Chips
Dave looked at me like I was crazy when he saw me standing in front of a counter full of ingredients, and I don’t blame him. Every afternoon I get this lightheadedness and feel dizzy, and the feeling extends well into the evening, and yet there I was, setting up mixing bowls and measuring cups. […]
Butterscotch Cookies With Rice Krispies
It’s nice to be back in my own kitchen. Tonight I’m feeling a little off, I’ve had this lightheadedness going on ever since I started taking Claritin last week. I knew I wanted to make cookies the kids would like, but since I’m still feeling dizzy, I also wanted to keep it simple. No batches […]
Baking in BC: Healthy Breakfast Cookies
We were still in BC and my baking urges were not yet satisfied. The mocha cake was delicious but pure dessert, and the banana muffins were delicious but routine, so I found something that was new but not terribly decadent and it had been on my list to try for a while: Healthy Breakfast Cookies. […]
Baking in BC: Banana Muffins With Peanut Butter Chips
I had to make my famous original Banana Yogurt Muffins in BC once I saw Mom’s potato masher. “Do you have a potato masher, by any chance?” “I do, but it’s not a very good one. It has a penguin handle and it’s in the drawer.” Okay, Mom? That’s not a penguin. I think it’s […]
Baking in BC: Mocha Snack Cake
(with help from Serious Coffee) Okay, I just want to start by saying that this is my favorite new thing I’ve made in a long time. It’s really, really delicious, and very easy to make, and you should brew up some coffee and make it immediately. You will not regret it. I wanted to make […]
Baking in Toronto: Oatmeal Peanut Butter Snack Squares
We started out our vacation in Toronto, and I really felt like what the city was lacking was a giant dough ball. I think that’s what my brother’s house was missing too, as it certainly didn’t have one when I got there. So I set out to remedy that with the very delicious, previously tested […]
Gingery Carrot Tea Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
This cake was created to make someone feel better, so I’m hoping it does its job. I haven’t frosted it yet as I write this, but the cake smells fantastic, the frosting tastes wonderful, and I can’t wait to combine them in the morning. I just didn’t want to put the cake in the fridge […]
Banana Peanut Butter Chip Oatmeal Bread
(Yes, that top one has a slice taken out of it already.) It was supposed to be Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bread, but I’m still holding on to the perhaps groundless hope that Juliet will actually eat some of this. And we all know she doesn’t eat chocolate, unless it comes in a wrapper from […]
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
I decided there were more chocolate zucchini recipes out there worth trying. So I tried one. I admit I am a little distracted today. In addition, we had our summer outing at work today, so I spent the afternoon on a boat cruising around Manhattan. It was actually quite lovely, with wonderful views of the […]
Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf
“I’m glad I took the whole piece.” That’s what Dave said after he came upstairs to taste the Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf I made tonight. He took half of the piece I cut for him, but I told him to take the whole thing. He was glad. He said so! (And by the way, that’s demerara […]
Coconut Baked Oatmeal
I wanted to make something relatively healthy, but I’m really tired too, so it was time to try Coconut Baked Oatmeal. I pinned the recipe after we devoured the Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal from the same site (Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures), and it’s an easy recipe for the exhausted. You just put it all in a […]
French Yogurt Cake
Well. I wasn’t going to bake tonight, I thought I needed a break, but then I decided it might be fun to make something new and then watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. We have a friend of the family competing tomorrow. Go Nicole! And even though I’m not watching them live, I recorded […]
Secretly Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting
As Nathaniel & Juliet would sing, “It’s the final countdown…” All week I have been using my colleagues at work as guinea pigs. They tasted, they described, they compared and contrasted. They weighed the issues: kids have to like them, they can’t be too messy, they need to appeal to the widest variety of tastes, […]
Secretly Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes With Greek Yogurt Frosting
read about Night 1 read about Night 2 Tonight was the last night of true experimentation. Whatever I make tomorrow goes to the kids at St. Philip’s Academy for Read It All Up®, and that’s that. But tonight I went back to the site where I found the extremely delicious recipe for Secretly Healthy Chocolate […]
Read It All Up Test Night 2: Pumpkin Cupcakes
(with Chocolate Pumpkin Frosting) read about Night 1 Now I really do feel like Annie in The Bake Shop Ghost. I’m trying one recipe after another, trying to find the magical one that will strike just the right note for Read It All Up®. I think tomorrow’s recipe is going to be the big winner, […]
Read It All Up Test Night 1: Chocolate-Zucchini Muffins
This is going to be a week of experimentation. My friend Carol and I have started up a non-profit called Read It All Up®, which is all about combining our mutual love for reading and food into a way to get kids to love reading at a very early age. You can see more on […]
Peanut Butter Cheerios Treats
I don’t think this really counts as baking, necessarily, but it’s a favorite of Juliet’s and I’ve been promising to make it since Friday night. And she was determined to help, which always makes it more fun. The first time I made this, I had it all mixed together and then I glanced over at […]
Experiments In Zucchini: Secretly Healthy Chocolate Cake
Most people who know me know of my hatred of cooked vegetables. Unless you count corn and potatoes, which are more like starches, I don’t eat any cooked vegetables at all, ever. Oh, Dave sometimes purees some carrots and sneaks them into the spaghetti sauce, and I make carrot oatmeal muffins, but that’s really as […]
Coconut Oatmeal Cookies With Mini Chocolate Chips
(for Dad’s birthday) jump to recipe So my Dad’s birthday is on Monday, and I can’t be there to celebrate with him, so I’m sending coconut. My Dad loves coconut. I wanted to make him something fun with fluffy coconut frosting, but (a) I couldn’t give Mark & Linus something delicate to carry along with […]
Oatmeal Tea Bread redux: An Adventure In Toasted Walnuts
I have a confession to make: I have never toasted nuts before. I generally don’t cook with nuts, either, and part of that is my own texture preference. I like nuts, but I don’t love biting into something crunchy and resistant in the middle of something nice and cakey. I don’t usually bake with chocolate […]
Espresso Chocolate Muffins
“Can you make something with espresso?” asked Kate. Of course I can. We have a house full of visiting family this week and couldn’t be happier about it. I plan to stuff them full of baked goods as much as they’ll let me, and they get to make requests too. Tonight I whipped together a […]
Lemon Poppy Seed Sugar Cookies With Juliet
The cousins are coming, the cousins are coming! I plan to make a lot of treats while they’re here, but Juliet and I got a head start today by whipping up some Lemon Poppy Seed Sugar Cookies. I’ve made them before, and they always turn out addictively delicious. This time I added cuteness to the […]
Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal
After I threw the corn muffins away, I had to make something else, and it was almost lunch time, and the kids requested that the primary flavor be peanut butter. I couldn’t argue with that idea, as I love peanut butter with a fierce, obsessive love. We’d had baked oatmeal at Mussers’ Bed & Breakfast […]
Healthy Cornbread Muffins (fail)
I knew I was going to bake tonight, and I decided it should be something that all four of us could enjoy. That means nothing with chocolate (Juliet), nothing too fattening or decadent (me), and nothing too spicy (Nathaniel). But everybody likes corn muffins. I used to LOVE corn muffins, especially back when I was […]
Oatmeal Tea Bread
Yesterday I didn’t bake anything. So tonight I baked two things. I made my signature banana yogurt muffins, although I was a little distracted and forgot to top them off with cinnamon chips. Crap. They turned out great anyway, I say with honesty, and without any ego. They’re just delicious, that’s all. But I’ve had […]
Snickerdoodle Mini Loaves (and muffins)
There are some baked goods that I call “get-it-out-of-the-house-or-gain-ten-pounds-delicious”, and I created that expression specifically to describe snickerdoodle mini loaves. They’re insane. Antonia — the same Antonia who inspired me to make the Cheesecake Brownie Bites — asked for something decadent again, this time to celebrate John Calvin’s birthday tomorrow. She isn’t a Calvinist; in […]
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins With Juliet
The kids were completely disinterested in the Chai Pumpkin Bread, unsurprisingly, and as of late I haven’t been baking things that Juliet particularly likes, so I offered to make her something she’d like, and after some waffling over the cookies vs. muffins debate, she made her wishes known: Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, please. And she […]
Chai Pumpkin Bread
jump to recipe I wanted something to contrast yesterday’s bran muffins, something with a more complex flavor. When I saw that the ingredients for this recipe included cardamon, allspice, cloves, black pepper, and brewed chai tea in addition to cinnamon and nutmeg, I knew my search was over. See all that stuff? I figured I’d […]
Buttermilk Bran Muffins
jump to recipe I was planning on making carrot oatmeal muffins tonight, since I’ve run out of breakfast muffins, but then I was poking around in the Epicurious iPad app today and saw a buttermilk bran muffin recipe that looked like it was worth a try. When I got home, I asked Nathaniel which one […]
Oatmeal Peanut Butter Snack Squares
I’ve resisted this recipe for as long as I can. I mean, I pinned it TWELVE DAYS AGO and it has peanut butter, oatmeal, mini chocolate chips, and at some point you actually get to turn it into this: That’s twelve days too long, in my book. I had a great excuse to make it, […]
One Bowl Chocolate Cake
I’m not sure which I’m happier about: conquering a recipe with (liquid) coffee in it, or finally managing to successfully dust something with powdered sugar without having it look hilarious, like a 4-year-old did it. Both feel like long-awaited accomplishments, and both resulted in deliciousness. A long time ago, years before I was baking anything […]
Bossk Brownies from the Star Wars Cookbook
jump to recipe Nathaniel, unsurprisingly, is a Star Wars fan. And Nathaniel owns a very entertaining book called The Star Wars Cookbook. No, really, he does. We’ve made Wookie Cookies before, but this time Nathaniel really wanted the Bossk Brownies. I’ve had some bad experiences with brownies, but I decided to give it a go. […]
Cheesecake Brownie Bites
Antonia is a co-worker who likes my baking so much that it inspires me to try making new things, and she needed something decadent. I love a good baking assignment, so I narrowed it down to three choices, and let Nathaniel cast the deciding vote. It took him about three seconds. This was one of […]
Pumpkin Scones
jump to recipe The night after we got home from Pennsylvania, I was feeling the baking urge again. The baking urge means that I want to make something I’ve never made before. And that always brings me to my Pinterest board where I pin healthy recipes I want to try. And THAT is where I […]
Baking Scones At Mussers’ Bed And Breakfast
jump to recipe Every June, on or about the last day of school, we take the kids to Pennsylvania to ride the rails at Strasburg Railroad. We ride Thomas the Tank Engine, visit the train museums, buy jams in tiny jars, eat homemade ice cream and shoofly pie, and take a horse & buggy ride […]
Espresso Spice Pumpkin Muffins
Something’s just OFF with me today, so I am surprised these muffins turned out so well. Honestly, I was knocking things over the whole time I was making these, spilling things too, and I swear that every time I opened the fridge, things just leapt out at me. I dropped my iPhone three times today. […]
Mini Donuts WIth The New Mini Donut Maker
Last week, Jenny sent us a box of presents from ThinkGeek. She said there was one gift for each of us and we had to figure out whose was whose. She did say that it wouldn’t be difficult, and she was right. Juliet: Ice Princess Ice Cube Straws Nathaniel: Finger Sporks Dave: Sizzling Bacon Candle […]
Banana Bread
Nathaniel has been asking for banana bread again. He really liked the cinnamon swirl one I made a few weeks back, but what he was after was the recipe I used to use a long time ago, long before the baking frenzy began, and he wants chocolate drizzle on it too.
Whole Grain Thin And Crispy Oatmeal Cookies
(some with cinnamon chips) Another great Pinterest find. I tried really hard not to bake for Robin & James, because they don’t want to be loaded up with baked goods, but I couldn’t help myself. Despite the fun of annoying Robin with the word “muffins” as much as possible, I opted for cookies, since I’d […]
Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
(for Dave’s birthday) I made these at Christmas, and Dave loved them so much that this is what he wanted for his birthday instead of a cake. I offered to do both, but no: he wanted the cookies. So cookies he received. I initially found this recipe on the Food Network site, but I got […]
Weird Oatmeal Cake, and Baking Fever
It’s been an odd evening. On the way home, I decided I wanted to try this recipe for “My Best Oatmeal Cake”. The photo above is directly from the recipe page, but let me tell you, I don’t think there’s an iota of a chance that this recipe was used to make the cake in […]
Cream Cheese Pound Cake
According to Pinterest, I first noticed this recipe 20 weeks ago, which means it’s been waiting for me since January. Maybe it was the three sticks of butter that dissuaded me from trying it sooner, but a visit from our glorious friend Jenny was a good excuse to try something new, and she said she […]
Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins
A while back I tried out a recipe for cinnamon oatmeal muffins that was a disaster. Adjusting and experimenting with it would have been a waste of time, especially considering how many wonderful recipes there are out there that are actually worth making, so I unPinned it. It went off into the Phantom Zone with […]
Mini Pumpkin Bran Muffins With Chocolate Chips
jump to recipe I am still a little surprised at the deliciousness of these. I had some pumpkin to use up, I bought some wheat bran I wanted to try out, and I had the urge to prepare something healthy, and I think I hit the jackpot with this recipe, which is pretty good for […]
Crisp Peanut Butter Cookies
How come it never occurred to me to use the meat tenderizer on peanut butter cookies before? The fork-created cross-hatch is a peanut butter cookie staple, but the meat tenderizing mallet is fun and has the whole pattern built in. I admit it was the lovely photo on the recipe that made me decide to […]
Pumpkin Peanut Butter Blondies
Juliet likes peanut butter again! She wanted me to bake something with peanut butter, but I wasn’t in a cookie-making mood, what with all the pans going in and out every ten minutes and the fact that I’d just finished doing all the dinner dishes. Tomorrow I’ll make cookies, but today I wanted something that […]
Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread
Sometimes there’s no turning back. There was a point where I thought I’d have to trash the whole thing, but I persevered, and despite a rather major misstep, it all came together at the end. I’m still not quite sure how. Nathaniel wanted banana bread. I have a tried and true recipe from long before […]
Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Brownies
Like all the reviews said, they don’t taste quite like brownies, but it’s hard to stop eating them once you start. They were really easy to make, despite a few screw-ups along the way. And even though I made what might be my best batch of banana yogurt muffins ever yesterday, I still needed some […]
Banana, Coconut, And Lime Muffins
Put the lime in the coconut…and add banana. Scratchy sent me this recipe yesterday, which was especially thoughtful considering her utter disdain for bananas. I had a hankering to try them, especially when I found a particularly revolting-looking overripe banana on our kitchen counter (that would have been ever MORE revolting for Scratchy, the banana […]
Biscoff Oatmeal Cookies
Have you ever tried this stuff? It is meant to replace peanut butter, but it’s basically a spread made from cookies. When Mom asked me to pick some up for her, I got a jar for us as well and I have had my eye out for recipes. This one popped up on Pinterest last […]
Baking In British Columbia
I have never baked in someone else’s kitchen before, but I was out in Sooke, BC, visiting my Mom, and bake in her kitchen I did. Of course I was in Canada, so all the ingredients were just a little bit different. The salt is in a square container instead of a round one, the […]
Snickerdoodle Cookies
( requested (and assisted) by Juliet) Juliet doesn’t eat chocolate chip cookies. I don’t understand it at all, but that’s how it is. And now no peanut butter cookies. She was sure she wanted some kind of cookies with butterscotch chips, but then she didn’t, and then she wanted lemon poppyseed sugar cookies, but suddenly […]
Chocolate Chip Cookies
(requested by Nathaniel) Sometimes an 8-year-old boy just wants a straightforward treat. “Chocolate chip cookies,” he said. “Big ones, though…not like the little ones you usually make.” It’s true, I am guilty of making my cookies small, because then they contain fewer Weight Watchers points. Of course that strategy only works if you don’t eat […]
Mini Lemon Loaves After The Vehicles Fair
Today was a day for the kids. I’m going away in a few days, which makes me nostalgic for family time in advance, plus it was the annual Vehicles Fair, which we have loved going to since Nathaniel was just a tiny guy. I asked Juliet what she wanted me to bake and she didn’t […]
Lemonade Stand On Mother’s Day
This isn’t about baking, it’s about three kids who decided that they wanted to run a lemonade stand. We had a beautiful weekend of hot summer weather, and a little while after Margot came over to play, Nathaniel approached me for what he clearly thought would be a fruitless mission: he wanted to know if […]
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins
(and other baked goods) It’s Mother’s Day, so I’m allowed to bake as much as I want, right? Last night I made the carrot oatmeal muffins again as well as the low-fat gingerbread, and then started off today with mini pancake maple muffins. Once I got those cleaned up, I whipped up some more lemon […]
Pumpkin Muffins With Sugar On Top
jump to recipe I had Greek yogurt to use up, and I wanted to try something new, and I wanted to keep myself busy and distracted. The result? Pumpkin muffins. I started with whole wheat white flour, then whisked in baking soda, baking powder, and salt. I threw in more cinnamon than the recipe called […]
Chocolate Yogurt Loaf With Powdered Sugar
Tonight I made a Rudi Cake — a tribute cake to someone special and so much missed. For extra strength, I added espresso powder. And for his white hair, I topped it with powdered sugar. Made with love and sadness and a zest for life and good flavor, I present the Chocolate Yogurt Loaf. I […]
Cinnamon Oat Muffins
They can’t all be gems. I’m always looking for healthy muffin recipes, but I sort of knew this one was going to be a dud. Don’t make these! I’m still blogging them though. Think of it as a warning, some type of public service announcement. It’s too bad, though, I do love the cinnamon/oatmeal combination. […]
Cream Cheese Pumpkin Roll Bars
I made this once before, a long time ago, and I remember thinking it was a bit undercooked. The flavor was there, but it was a little too wet and not cakey enough, so I figured I’ve made about 20 new things since then, and maybe I’ve acquired some baking skills along the way. Also, […]
Lemon Poppy Seed Sugar Cookies
I’ve never heard of Lemon Poppy Seed cookies before, until I found them on a blog through Pinterest, and I couldn’t possibly be happier with the results. It’s a light, tasty, Spring-y cookie (as in the season, not the bounciness) and good for the soul. I needed some lightness. This recipe starts with the dry […]
Carrot Oatmeal Muffins
I had one last burst of energy today so I made something healthy that turned out to be delightfully delicious, and not, you know, delicious enough just because they’re good for you. Carrot Oatmeal Muffins! Also they were very easy to make! First I got to break out my new peeler on the carrot. Cool little […]
Back At Home With Lemon Ginger Tea Muffins
I am back from my trip, operating on almost no sleep, but feeling the need to ease some stress with baking. I found this recipe for Lemon Ginger Tea Muffins on Pinterest and thought it was worth a shot. I didn’t add the pistachios, though. They looked really good, but they add Weight Watchers points that I could do without, I’m trying to get back on track after some missteps.
Nathaniel wasn’t feeling well at school today, so when Dave brought him home I was able to get the lemon ginger tea on double duty, brewing his up with some honey to soothe his weary throat. Should I mention he was playing Lego Harry Potter on the XBox at the time? Sick days can be fun.
On to the muffins.
Soft And Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
I love peanut butter cookies. (I love peanut butter anything.) I also wanted to make a treat for the kids to tide them over while I’m away, and to make them feel good and sweet and happy while I’m still here, too.
Juliet Makes Mini Pancake Maple Muffins
It’s Saturday morning and we are all tired and a little crabby today. I’m going on a work trip tomorrow and I think it has all four of us just a little edgy. Juliet told me she didn’t want mini muffins, Nathaniel begged for them, Juliet changed her mind…and then grabbed her apron and decided […]
Juliet Makes Banana Muffins
Tonight I got Juliet to help with the baking. Step one was to get her to stop stacking up all the supplies. (Note the baking powder on top of the salt. I’d already removed the peanut butter jar and the baking soda but she started rebuilding the minute I turned my back.) I think the […]
Spiced Yogurt Muffins
jump to recipe I love these muffins. I’ve made them before, but I change things up just a little bit each time I make them. An actual, real chef even ate one of them and didn’t pass out or spit it out or yell at me or anything…I think he even said they were good. […]
Cinnamon Swirl Bread
(requested by Nathaniel) This was another very early Pinterest discovery: Cinnamon Swirl Bread. I made it in early January and I was disappointed because my streusel swirl sank to the bottom. The only reason I haven’t made it since then was my father’s description: “It was delicious but the sugar made my teeth sing.” But […]
Maple Pancake Mini Muffins
Maple Pancake Mini-Muffins (from Bakerella) I make these almost every weekend for the kids. This was probably the first recipe that set off my love of Pinterest; I saw it posted there and realized there was a whole world of amazing baked goods worth discovering. The idea is so smart: pancakes for breakfast that are […]
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Sometimes I want a recipe that has a little technique to it. Last night’s gingerbread was quick and easy, but this afternoon I wanted something that required a little more finesse. I knew I’d found the right recipe when I read this tasty direction: In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together […]
Low Fat Gingerbread Cake
I’ve had my eye on this recipe for a while, it’s been parked on my Recipes I’d Like To Try (Baking) board on Pinterest. On a Friday night, I tend to bake things that don’t require a tremendous amount of attention; a one-pan item is perfect, especially if it’s going to make the kitchen smell […]
Low Fat Chocolate Muffins With A Small Surprise
I’m exhausted, but I wanted a treat, and I didn’t want to feel crappy about indulging. For that, this is my go-to recipe. These muffins are incredibly easy to whip together in almost no time, and they always taste fantastic. Good texture, strong chocolate flavor, boosted by a little espresso powder. It’s a very basic […]
Quaker Oat Bran Muffins With Spices
(and Egg Accidents) I ate the last of the banana muffins for breakfast today. And I need breakfast tomorrow. Bran muffins it is. This recipe isn’t even on Pinterest, because it’s on the back of the Quaker Oat Bran box…at least that’s where it starts. But that’s just the foundation. It gets a lot more […]
Chai Shortbread Cookies
Dave very thoughtfully bought some cardamom over the weekend, and I think when somebody gives you an ingredient or a new cooking pan, you should make them something. Therefore: chai shortbread cookies. The ingredients list is pretty small: The only sugar in this dough is powdered. Weird, right? And other than that it’s just butter […]
Frosted Sugar Cookies With Nathaniel And Juliet
The kids loved when we made sugar cookies for Valentine’s Day, and have been begging me to do it again. It seemed like a good day for a time-consuming project; I needed some distraction but I wanted to spend time with them, and that fulfilled both needs with one buttery, sugary task. Why not. Since […]
Chai Spiced Tea Loaves And Muffins
I already have a plan for how make them prettier, but I think the deliciousness is just about right. Found this recipe on Pinterest, of course. (Of course!) I waited to make the glaze until the following morning, and it was very easy. The whole recipe was specific, but easy. The adventure began as I […]
Red Velvet Cookies. . .
. . .with White Chocolate Chips and Cream Cheese Blobs It’s supposed to be a cream cheese swirl, but I am esthetically challenged when it comes to baked goods. I can make things that taste wonderful, but none of them look all that terrific, and some look downright scary. My treats are designed for deeper […]
Banana Yogurt Muffins
(a Laurie original) I made these again last night for two reasons. Reason #1: I had two of these. They were gigantic! And getting browner by the second. Reason #2: I wanted to see if the gloriousness of the first batch was a fluke. I put dry ingredients together: whole wheat white flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, […]
Maple Yogurt Pound Cake
I knew I still wanted to do some baking today! I’ve had my eye on this recipe from Food52 for Maple Yogurt Pound Cake. It won a contest! I had to try it. I didn’t have Grade B maple syrup, had to settle for the good stuff, organic Grade A dark amber from Trader Joe’s. […]
Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Squares
Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Squares Juliet has been asking for these, and they really don’t take very long, and it had been well over twelve hours since I made anything. It was time to make it so. This time I tried doing some photos along the way, not that anybody actually needs detailed instructions on […]
Banana Yogurt Muffins on a Fresh Start Sunday
Fresh start Sunday. I have not been very good when it comes to Weight Watchers over the past few weeks. I just got this sense of entitlement about late night snacking that has not been serving me well. (But isn’t late night snacking one of life’s joys? Why must it be so bad for you? […]
