Almonds, and Sugar, and Butter, Oh My!

Hello again, there! Much like my preteen journals of years past, I have been majorly slacking on keeping up with my blog and it upsets me as much (and hopefully more) than it does my lovely readers. Since last year I've been to Ghana in West Africa and back, I've interned at the County Health Department and helped teach new moms about safe ways to put their babies to sleep, I've written, and revised, revised, & revised a 50+ page thesis, and I've received my master's in public health (MPH)!!! So many good things are in the works for the future, and I'm just so grateful for my awesome support system that's helped get me through the tougher times.

Baking is a great stress reliever and has helped too, as well as coming up with new ways to invent healthy and delicious meals to supplement all those yummy goodies. Going forward, I'd like to include more variety of recipes including my salads and smoothies. I'm Certified in Public Health, so it's like my duty, right?!

That said, for now I will keep the sweets coming with these delicious and deviously simple Mexican wedding cookies. I got the original recipe from a Lauren Conrad guest post on Refinery 29, and was delighted with the melt-in-your-mouth results, which also reminded me of many Italian and Swede-style cookies my mom and I would bake around Christmas. I made these as gifts and brought the rest to work in an attempt to save my waistline.

Can I reiterate that these cookies are so EASY! Seriously, you don't even need to know how to crack an egg to make these cookies. Perfect to bake with little ones, as long as they have eaten all of their vegetables with dinner because this one is chock full of butter and powdered sugar (the good stuff). I've modified my recipe with the substitution of whole wheat flour to make myself feel better about this, but feel free to use just all-purpose or a gluten-free variety. The almonds can also be subbed for another nut if allergies are an issue, but I'm not sure how they would turn out without any nuts at all. Go low for the recipe.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar (for coating)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg (I think I used 3 pinches, but I like a lil' spice in my cookie)
1 cup almonds or nut or your choice, ground or chopped to bitty pieces

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, salt, flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground almonds to form your dough. If your kitchen is warm [as is mine when its 80+ degrees and my oven is on] or dough seems too soft to form, chill for about 10 minutes.

Roll into 1-inch balls.

Bake for eight minutes, until just golden on the bottom.

Let the cookies cool for just a few minutes, and then toss in the remaining ¾ cup powdered sugar. You want the cookies to be warm, or the sugar will not stick.

And that's all, folks! This recipes makes about 30 cookies. No need for a greased pan or parchment paper.  Enjoy!

Easy Smore's Brownies

Hello! I am in a great mood today because I am graduating in FOUR days!!! Can't believe that I've made to to the end of this amazing journey and onwards to a new chapter, but I'm glad it's happening. So of course, I have to keep the selection of sweets and baked goodies coming! This is a delicious and super easy recipe for some campfire-style brownies! These take only a bunch of ingredients to throw together and produce a tasty, decadent snack that you dont have to actually build a fire for.

I started with a boxed mix from Trader Joe's for time conservation reasons. Trader Joe's Brownie Truffle Baking Mix produces a delicious, fudgy brownies and I would definitely recommend it! [Sidenote- it might seem like am a secret Trader Joe's spokesperson, but as much as I wish I could get paid for advertising them I really just love their products and value!] I cut these up into really small bites so I had 48 brownie bites in my 9 x 13 baking pan and they went like wildfire!!

mmm, gooey

Here's what you'll need:

1 (good quality) boxed brownie mix + needed ingredients (see back of box - my mix called for two      eggs and a stick of melted butter. Or if you're feeling fancy, make your brownies from scratch!)

2 cups marshmallow fluff

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:


Now we will get the graham cracker crust ready. To start, melt 1/2 cup of butter in a small bowl. Place pieces of graham cracker in a ziplock bag and seal. Roll a rolling pin over the cookies, which should start to break up into small crumbs. Repeat this process until all cookies have been turned to crumbs and you have enough to fill 1 cup. Save the bigger chucks for garnish.
In another small bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and cinnamon. Pour into bowl of melted sugar and mix with a fork until it is clumpy and sticks together between your fingers. Pour mixture onto bottom of brownie pan and press down with fingers.

Make brownie mix according to box directions. Pour batter into pan over graham cracker crust. Bake according to directions. Let cool and cut into pieces.
When brownies are cool, place a dollop of marshmallow fluff onto each brownie and garnish with a piece of graham cracker.

I ate mine with ice cream!!

Enjoy!!

Chocolate Cranberry Bars

Good Afternoon!!

Thankfully Spring-y weather has retured to Pittsburgh and this post is coming to you from outside a cafe with a cup of pineapple juice and sunshine =]. The school year is winding down with one week of classes left to go, and with my fashion show coming up (tomorrow!!) I have been super busy! But never, ever to busy to bake. I made these white chocolate + chocolate chocolate cranberry bars last week because I'm always looking to try something new! They came out delicious and were SUPER EASY because the recipe called for boxed cake mix and just a few other ingredients! I got the original recipe from Betty Crocker and modified it a bit in my usual way. These yummy bars are great as an on-the-go snack or you can eat them on the couch with friends and a movie like I did.


What you'll need:


1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 Tbsp water
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1 cup white vanilla baking chips  (6 oz)
1/3 cup chocolate chips, melted

Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom and lightly flour 13x9-inch pan, or spray with baking spray and flour.
In large bowl, mix cake mix, butter, water and eggs with spoon until dough forms (some dry mix will remain). Stir in cranberries and baking chips. Spread evenly in pan.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
Melt the chocolate by putting chips in a mug or bowl and placing inside a saucepan filled with water (like pictured below). Heat to a boil, stirring chips until melted.

Drizzle over finished bars. Cut bars 6x4.

Enjoy!!!