Oh So Fresco

Bon Fresco never disappoints!  I just got this for lunch....

A Maniacal Goal

I really really really REALLY want to do one of these...let the training begin!

Rugged Maniac 5K

Ben, you in?  ;-)

Mamma Mia...here I go again...!

What is it with me and baking cookies lately?  I'm not really a 'sweets' person.

While grocery shopping (NOT with cookies in mind) I was hit with the sudden urge to make some type of s'mores cookie.  So I scooped up the ingredients, pulled up Mamma Mia on the DVR (great background music for baking!) and got to work.

My S'mores Cookies 

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
• 3/8 cup granulated sugar
• 3/8 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1-1/8 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup Milk Chocolate Chips
• 4 crushed graham crackers
• mini marshmallows

Heat oven to 375°F.

Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Add egg; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips and crushed graham crackers.

Scoop about a tablespoon of dough and form it around 3 mini marshmallows.  Roll into a ball, then place on an parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Keep cookies 2 inches apart.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cookies.

These were SO stinkin' good.  Crispy cookie, melty chocolate chips, chewy marshmallow center.  I halved my original recipe, and I probably shouldn't have.  I only got to eat like 3 cookies...I brought 1/2 a dozen to my friend, and my husband inhaled the rest. 

Must make again soon!

Impromptu Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies

Last night I felt like making cookies, so I scrounged through my pantry and here's what I came up with.  They turned out a little flat, but still chewy and delicious!  Sorry for the poor photo quality, this is the result of flourescent lighting in a windowless kitchen using a cell phone camera at 9:30 pm.

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup oat flour
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• 1 TBS flax seed meal 
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup dried blueberries

  

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat.

  

With a mixer, cream together the butter, applesauce and the two sugars until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.

  

In a second bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flours, meals, baking soda, baking powder, and salt). Add this mixture to the butter and sugar and mix until just incorporated.  Do not over mix. 

 

(Right about here I got a phone call from my best friend in Germany, so cookie prep halted for about an hour.  I wonder if this is why they turned out flat?) 

  

Stir in the oats and blueberries until just until combined. Using a tablespoon scoop or a spoon, place dough in mounds on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.

  

Bake one sheet at a time for 15 to 16 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

 

Penance

Bless us, bloggers, for we have sinned.  It has been 6 weeks since our last post.


So what happened?

1. Ben & I ventured to Colorado Springs for a week.  The only chance we had at sammich-ing was a brief stop at a Jimmy John's.  Very good, but lacking the full-fleged sammich-ness.  The rest of our time was spent somehow surviving 16+ hour days wearing perma-smiles and dodging cuckoo co-workers.  We had one day of peace to see Pike's Peak & Garden of the Gods before flying home and dying...but not before almost missing our flight...long story.  Silver lining?  Heck yes, we got to stay at The Broadmoor!

(Explanation needed?  We were running a convention for the association by which I am employed.) 



Midway up Pike's Peak...we didn't get to go all the way



Garden of the Gods

The Broadmoor...this picture does the property zero justice

2. St. Patrick's Day yielded zero corned beef leftovers...hence the lack of sammiches.

3. I've immersed myself in yoga to offset the ridiculousness at work.  It's the worst...anyone hiring?

4. Oh, and Ben has a hernia.


Off to say an Our Father and five Hail Mary's.