Secret Ingredient Vanilla Cookies

2 cups of flour

1 1/4 cup of sugar

2 sticks of butter

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 Tablespoon of vanilla

1 Egg yolk


Heat oven to 338 F.
Leave in oven for about 17- 20 mins. 
They will flatten out and be lightly golden around edges. 
Take out of oven, let cool on cookie sheet. 
Then use small heart shaped cookie cutout to make small heart shaped vanilla cookies.


Secret Vanilla cookies.

Sweet (Secretly Healthy) Blueberry Muffins

DRY
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
           (this could have been up to 1/2 cup wheat germ and then 1/2 cup flour)
1/2 cup oats
           ( I used 1 maple sugar instant oats packet, tried taking out as much sugar as I could and then topped the rest off with regular oats)
1/3 cup sugar (or less, should be half of 2/3)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

WET
6 ounces nonfat greek yogurt (I used one thing of Chobani strawberry Greek yogurt)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1.2 tsp vanilla (I did a tiny bit more)
A splash of skim milk.
1/2 cup of blueberries (I dusted them in flour)


Heat oven to 350 F.
Combine dry ingredients (flour, wheat germ, oats, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt).
Combine wet ingredients (yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla).
Fold yogurt mixture into dry mixture, combine completely. Add just a tiny splash of skim milk.
Gently fold in blueberries.
Spoon into 8 muffin (cupcake) tins.
Bake until top is golden and springs back when you gently touch it. 20 -25 mins.
My was done at 20.

This recipe adapted from http://domesticatedacademic.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/power-muffins-blueberryoatmealyogurtpower/

Sweet Mango Pie

Ingredients:

Filling-
3 Mangos (skin pealed)
1 can of condensed milk
3 egg yolks
The juice of 3 little green limes

Crust-
3 heaping tablespoons of butter (room temp)
3 packs of Maria cookies (4 cookies per pack), 1 pack of all bran cookies, 1 or 2 packs of canelitas (6 cookies per pack)
A little bit of skim milk

Suspiros -
1 cup sugar
3 egg whits

For the filling -
Peal the skin off the mangos, then cut mangos into little pieces.
Blend together all ingredients of the filling in a blender until you have a smooth consistency.

For the crust -
This is really more to eye than anything else. Start off with several pack of crushed cookies then add 3 heaping tablespoons of butter (no more!). At this point you should work this combination until it becomes dough like. You will know if you need to add more crushed cookies packets or, like I needed to do, add a bit of skim milk to the mixture to get a good texture.
Squeeze the mixture in your hands, then press hard onto the surface youre working on. Finally when you see you have enough, work the dough into the sides and bed of the 10 inch diameter pie dish.


Pour the filling into the pie dish (that should already have the crust situated). Pre heat oven 350 degrees Farenheit and pop it in the oven for about 25 mins. It could be a little less time, but very unlikely for it to be more. For me it took 25 mins because my oven was not fully preheated to 350 when I put it in. If it is already preheated fully to 350, then it should not take more than 20 mins.

While the pie is baking, time to make the suspiros which is the topping to this beautiful pie!
Use a hand mixture to mix the egg whites and 1 cup of sugar until stiff peaks form.

When the pie is done, take it out of the oven and let it cool completely. After it has cooled completely, use a spoon to drop the formation of little droplets of 'suspiros' on top of the pie.

Now set the oven to broil on low, and pop the pie now with suspiros on top into the oven for about 4 mins. The suspiros should start to golden.

Take out of the oven and cool completely to room temperature.
Then store in refrigerator.
Although I think this tastes best when it is still at room temperature.

Avocado, Banana, Blueberry Salad

They say necessity is the mother of invention. And this was certainly the case with this recipe. I had a lot of fresh foods left in the refrigerator that I wanted to use before they went bad. So I put them all together and out came this delicious and healthy recipe.

I hope you enjoy! :)

Ingredients

1/2 Avocado
1/2 Tomato
1/2 Large banana
1/2 or so of blueberries
1-2 cloves of crushed garlic (2 is probably too much for most people, but I love my garlic!)
Sprinkle of wheat germ
Sprinkle of dried cilantro (fresh would be great too, but I didn't have any)
Sprinkle of crushed ginger

Chop up the avocado, tomato, and banana. Then mix this together with your remaining ingredients.

Voila!

You have one delicious salad!

Amazingly Gooey & Chewy Snickerdoodle Blondies

These blondies are amazingly delicious! The maple flavor of the brown sugar really come out in the baking process and helps create such a moist and dense blondie treat that leaves you wanting to have "just one more" time and time again. 

Since I made these last week, my friends have been begging me to make them again :) So definitely a good sign! 

Now to make this treat extra special… you can heat it up and serve it with ice cream. Yes, that is extremely indulgent but there are days when indulgent is necessary!

Finally, this recipe uses simple ingredients that I know I will most likely already have in my kitchen. Makes me that much more excited about baking it! :) 

I found this recipe here on My Own Sweet Thyme.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Yields: Approximately 15 - 30 servings (depending on how you cut them)

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups packed dark brown sugar 
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Mix together flour, and baking powder and set aside. 
In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

Next, stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.

Bake at 25 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool slightly and cut while still warm.

Homemade Magic Cake

Homemade Magic Cake 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbjZLiWbR0E

I was so excited to finally get to try this recipe over the weekend! It is one that I had seen several times on Pinterest and had even ended up pinning the recipe twice by mistake. I think what intrigued me so much about this recipe was how easy it seemed to make, and yet how complex the results looked.
For starters…. this cake is magic! and not only in its taste ;)
This cake is called a magic cake because it uses just one batter that after baking in the oven, results in 3 delicious and distinct layers. I can't explain the science behind it, but it works.
The bottom most layer becomes a very dense layer, almost like your crust. In the middle you get a creamy custard layer. And on top is a light spongy layer. Put it all together and you have one amazing cake!
I used a Kitchen Nostalgia recipe that can be found here. But ended up more closely following a YouTube link on that page that can be found here :)

Below is the recipe as I made it.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs, separated, at room temperature
• 1 Tbsp water
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 4 drops of vinegar
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp (150gr) of sugar 
• 3/4 cup (115gr) flour 
• 1 stick (125gr) butter, melted 
• 2 cups milk (500ml), lukewarm
• powdered sugar (optional)
• whipped cream (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Separate egg whites from egg yolks for the 4 eggs. Put egg whites in bowl and add 4 drops of vinegar. Then mix egg whites until stiff peaks form.
3. In another bowl, beat egg yolks, sugar, water and vanilla until mixture is frothy. Add in melted butter and continue to beat for another minute. Then add in the flour and mix it in.
4. Next add lukewarm milk (must be lukewarm, so that butter does not harden) and beat in until well incorporated.
5. Now gently fold in beaten egg whites (being sure to fold and not mix!)
6. Pour batter into a greased 8 x 8 in baking pan/dish and bake in preheated oven for about 50 minutes or until the top is golden. (Baking time can vary anywhere from 40-60 mins on this, so check on it at around the 40 min mark)
7. After out of oven, let cake sit for at least 3 hours before serving. If you want to up the presentation, sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top and add a dollop of whipped cream. Delish!

           Enjoy :)

Some Helpful Tips!
- I personally think this cake tastes best served cool. Try leaving it in the refrigerator and taking it out just a bit before it's ready to be served. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and a dollop of whipped cream and you're ready to go!
- Also super important! If you mix the eggs whites instead of fold, you will not get nice defined layers. It is okay that there are foamy clumps floating to the top, that is what the mixture is supposed to do!
- A last important thing is that when this cake comes out of the oven, it may seem a little liquidy and you may think it is not done. I say go by the color of the top of the cake. For me, it seemed a bit liquidy but after sitting for 3 hours at room temperature, the cake took stronger form and was perfect.

This is one of my new go to recipes and I'm sure it will become one of yours too!
The next time I make it, I want to experiment and try one commenters recommendation and simply put all the ingredients in a blender. If that works out, I'll update this post with pictures!
:)

The Most Delicious Moist Banana Bread Ever!!!

The Most Delicious Moist Banana Bread Ever!!!

Okay so maybe this is not the most humble title for a recipe, but it really is the most delicious, moist, banana bread ever! The best part is how simple this recipe is to make and how easy it is to make adjustments if you like. Yesterday when I made this bread, my mixer was acting a little wonky and so out  of frustration I began to mix the butter and sugar by hand! It turned out perfectly :)  The original recipe can be found here. I've made a few adjustments but the process is still very simple. Yesterday I made this recipe for a small loaf and cut all the ingredients in half.

Below is the recipe that I use for the full sized loaf.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened (if using unsalted, add 1/2 tsp of salt)
• 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of white sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 bananas, finely crushed
• 1 1/2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla
• 1 cup of walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream together butter, dark brown sugar, and white sugar. (Can even mix this with your hands!)
3. Next, add eggs to the mixture and beat with a fork. 
4. Then add crushed bananas and beat in until well combined.
5. Add in flour and baking soda to creamed mixture. Add vanilla.
6. Pour mixture into greased and floured loaf pan.
7. Bake for about 60 minutes, or until top is dark golden color and a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
8. Enjoy! :)

These pictures show the banana bread made with walnuts, but if you are not particularly fond of nuts, or are allergic, just leave them out! Either way you make it, you will love the result!