Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Sugar Crackle Peanut Butter Cookie

 

These cookies turned out beautifully with a pungent smell of peanut butter. The sugar coating on the outside gives a nice sweet crust while the inside is left nice and chewy. As an added plus they make your house smell like an amazing peanut butter fairytale. Enjoy!

 

 

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup butter (cold and cut into cubes)
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups semisweet mini chocolate chips
  • Confectioners sugar (Powdered sugar)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375°.
Mix butter and Peanut Butter tell smooth and fluffy. 
Add in sugar and brown sugar and mix well. Add the egg and mix until cloud like fluffy texture. 
In a separate bowl mix flour, baking powder, soda and salt together. 
Mix dry ingredients into wet. Once all ingredients are mixed fold in chocolate chips. 
Put in fridge and allow to cool for around 20 min. 
Once cooled form dough into ping pong size balls and roll in confectioners sugar. Place on pan with parchment paper. 
Bake for 10 min. or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on pan for 5 min. Then transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool. 
Enjoy your tasty sugar crackle peanut butter cookies! 

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Banana Nutella Cookie Bars

I was going to make some Peanut butter and Jelly bars but then I realized that people really just love Nutella. So instead I opted to create my Banana Nutella Cookie Bars. They came out like a mix between a cookie and a sweet cracker with, of course, the Nutella and Banana goodness. Next time I think I will add more banana and maybe add a Peanut butter layer.



Recipe:

Ingredients:

 Crust 
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold butter (cut into small cubes)
1 egg 

Filling
1 13oz. Jar of Nutella 
6 Bananas 
1/2 cup sugar 
1 tsp vanilla extract 

Crumb Topping
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
2/3 cup old fashioned oats
6 Tbsp cold butter (cut into cubes)
Semi Sweet Mini Chocolate chips 

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°

2. Prepare a 13"-9' pan by coating in butter. Then put a small amount of flour in the pan and sift it around tell it covers the pans surface. Dump out excess flour and set pan aside. 

Crust
3. In a mixing bowl, whip the butter tell it becomes soft and fluffy. Then add in the sugar and mix well. Add in the egg and mix together. Then add in the flour and salt slowly as you mix. Keep mixing tell the dough begins to form. At this point I mixed the dough with my hands a bit. 

4. Transfer dough to prepared pan and press the dough into the bottom of the pan. You might be thinking at this point, "There is no way in hell that this dough is going to cover the whole bottom of the pan." It will I promise. Just keep pressing tell it's evenly spread along the bottom of the pan.

5. Put in oven and let bake for about 20 min. or until the crust just starts to turn a light brown. Remove and let cool on rack. 

6.Turn oven temp down to 325°

Crumb Topping
1. Mix all dry ingredients except the oats. Once mixed add in the oats and continue mixing.

2. Add cubes of butter and mix tell lose crumbs form. Set aside. 

Filling
1. Spread the whole jar of Nutella evenly along the crust that has been cooling. 

2. Peal and slice bananas and put into a mixing bowl. Slowly fold in sugar. If you mix to much the bananas will turn into more of a mush. I ended up not using the full 1/2 cup sugar but more like 1/3 of a cup. Fold in vanilla extract. 

3. Spread bananas over Nutella. 

4. Sprinkle crumb topping over the bananas evenly. It should cover the whole pan. Sprinkle on some semi sweet mini chocolate chips. 

5. Put in oven and bake 25-30min or until crumb top is brown. 

6. Let cool on wire rack for 30 min. Transfer to fridge and let cool another hour before cutting. 

7. Enjoy!





 




Friday, November 16, 2012

Minimalist Fashion

I enjoy minimalism. It's clean precise and to the point. I have found that the majority of minimalist designs are full of gray tones, which can feel so dead. Minimalism doesn't have to be all gray though. It can be colorful and full of life. The main rules to follow is balance. Wear a bold pieces but insure that its the one bold piece to stand out on its own. No need to clutter it with a million other patterns and colors. Minimalism allows the eye to fully take in the color tones, shapes and textures without being over whelmed. It's beauty in the simplicity of lines and color.




Ann taylor

Ann Taylor
 http://www.etsy.com/listing/72640635/balancing-act-ring-modern-rough-cut?ref=sr_gallery_23&ga_search_query=modern&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=handmade

Minimalist fashion can vary so widely but to me it's one that fallows the lines and use of bold colors and structured shape. Its the use of positive and negative space.  It's simple clean and precise. Really a breath of fresh air. Just try not to get caught up in the gray hew trap and understand that Minimalism can be colorful.
Amanda Brooks says it well in her book I love your Style saying, "Minimalism is not about abandoning pattern or print...It's an indulgence in superbly executed cute, quiet plays of color and tones and clean strong shapes."(Brooks, 113)

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Candy Corn

The number one festive candy for halloween is Candy Corn. Just seeing an image of candy corn makes you think of Halloween. So as my treat to you some images of candy corn along with other classic treats. Enjoy!










Have a Sweet Halloween!

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Halloween Treats and Images

The Halloween season is upon us and I'm as giddy as a school girl. I have been looking at all the great images and tasty treats. I picked some of my favorite and I hope you enjoy.
http://katherinarodrigues.deviantart.com/

http://www.etsy.com/listing/57467143/paw-readings-cats-witch-primitive?ref=usr_faveitems

http://www.etsy.com/listing/81644535/pumpkin-pie-bites-pumpkin-shaped-pies?ref=usr_faveitems
http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&q=harvest+#/doj4u8
http://browse.deviantart.com/digitalart/?order=9&q=harvest&offset=48#/d4gmg9z
http://browse.deviantart.com/artisan/culinary/?order=9&q=fall&offset=24#/d2eiyo2
http://browse.deviantart.com/artisan/culinary/desserts/?q=halloween#/d31i8be