sugar jumbles.

The rain has hit us in Southern California once again.
What happened to the warm springtime?! :)
I do love stormy weather though,
and am making the best of it by baking!

Sugar Jumbles are the easiest little cookies to make, and they are so delish. From the old Better Crocker Picture Cookbook that was first printed in 1950, these cookies can be made a million different ways. Here's the basic recipe, which I adore.



Sugar Jumbles
{from Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook}

Preheat oven to 375F.

Mix together thoroughly:
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Sift together and stir in:
1 1/8 cups sifted Flour
1/4 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes until delicately browned (cookies should still be soft). Cool slightly then remove from baking sheet.

Simple, yummy, and perfect for a not-so-sunny day.
These are also perfect to whip up for an after-school snack for the little ones. :)
Happy Monday!
xo!

PS.
Participate in Life Made Lovely Monday!
These cookies are making my life more lovely for sure. :)
These, and a cup of coffee.
Yum.

peanut butter smooches.

I needed to figure out a way to use up the leftover Valentine's Hershey kisses I had sitting in my pantry,
so Andrew and I decided to toss them on top of some easy peanut butter cookies!
This seriously is the easiest recipe ever created. :)
You've all seen a variation of this cookie, but here's my take on it...



Peanut Butter Smooches

Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 bag of Hershey's chocolate kisses

Stir together peanut butter, sugar, and the egg in a medium bowl until blended and creamy. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 to 10 minutes. When you remove the cookies from the oven, add a chocolate kiss to the center!
That's it?! Yep, it is seriously that easy.

Happy baking, and happy eating! :)
xo!

fancy coconut cake!

Birthdays are alive and well around my house at this time of year.
This past weekend we threw a birthday party for my grandma,
and today is my sweet boyfriend's birthday!
{Happy birthday, babycakes!!!}

Which in turn means that there is
a lot of birthday cake around the house as well. :)
{Hey, I am not complaining!}



I am a huge fan of baking cakes from the box, thank you Mrs. Crocker. :) But for the party this past weekend, I wanted to jazz up the white cake and frosting deal and make it a little more special.

Fancy Coconut Cake

What You'll Need:
1 Box Better Crocker White Cake Mix
2 Cans White Frosting
1 Bag of fluffy Coconut

Bake the cake as directed on the box, with one exception. I have learned from my mom to substitute olive oil for vegetable oil. It makes the cake super moist and delish! After the cake is baked and cooled, frost it completely. This does not have to be an award winning frosting job, since you will be covering the entire thing with coconut.

After it is all covered in lots of frosting, take small handfuls of the coconut and gently press it all the way around the edges of the cake, being careful to cover the whole surface, sides and all. After it is covered, go around the edges and clean it up to make it all look pretty. Easy, right? And the cake looks much more impressive than the time it took to whip it up!

Happy cake eating to you all!
I am off to bake another one for the boyfriend! :)
{Did I mention I love birthdays?!}
xo!

lemon meringue bars.

Happy Monday, friends!
I am back this week with a fantastic recipe to share with all of you.
Like, so fantastic, I could not stop eating these. :)

I love anything lemon, especially in summer.
And if you happened to miss my mom's class a few nights ago,
this is one of the recipes I made for her.
They were easy, and if you aren't into the idea of making a lemon meringue pie,
these bars were the perfect alternative.

{And here is my caveat for you as well: Martha gets real exact with her measurements, which is probably why these turn out so well. But it is so annoying. I can't stand it. But, get over it like I did and make these. You'll love Martha again, even if her precise-ness is nauseating! :) }

Lemon Meringue Bars
{From Martha Stewart}

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
6 large eggs, plus 4 large egg whites
2 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350. Make crust: Put butter, flour, confectioners sugar, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, and the salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until well blended.
2. Transfer mixture to a 9-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet. Press batter evenly into baking sheet. Chill in freezer 10 minutes. Bake until golden, 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
3. Make filling: Whisk together whole eggs, 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, the lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons lemon zest. Pour over crust. Bake until filling is set, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Keep oven at 350.
4. Make meringue topping: Put egg whites and 1/2 cup granulated sugar in the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
5. Using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread meringue over filling, swirling to create soft peaks. Bake until meringue begins to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely. Cut into bars. Bars can be refrigerated in an airtight container, up to 1 day.

PS.
Let me know if you try these
and fall deeply in love with them like I did. :)
Enjoy your Monday, xo! :)

catching up.

This week has been all about getting back to a routine here at my house. Andrew and I have gotten into a bad {and secretly I'm thinking, fabulous!} habit of sleeping in until after 8:30. Which means that Andrew is not adhering to his "going to bed before 8pm" routine, and instead stayed up until 11pm a few nights ago to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" with me. Yes, bad summer habits. I'm trying to recify it, believe me. I can't have my six-year old staying up until 11pm, no no no. :)

So, I feel like my blog has been playing catch up as well lately, and for that, I apologize. Next week I have big plans to make sure the blog and shop are back on track.
As well as our sleeping habits. :)

So here are a few catch-up random thoughts and news that have come up in the past few days.

Andrew lost another tooth!!
Both front teeth are gone,
and I must say, he looks SO darn cute. :)


I finally painted my wire basket from the thrift store!
I went with lime green and I adore it.
I just need to find the perfect space for it now. :)


Another thrift store find?
A gorgeous vintage globe, which I have been dying to find!
Five bucks! It's going in Andrew's bedroom.
More photos about this very soon. :)


A fun custom order from my mom!
She is hosting a decor and summer ideas class
entitled "Living Little" and the theme is
Seashells, Sand, and Lemonade!
So she wanted me to make a little favor for each guest,
and these bird & flower mix packs are now available in my shop as well. :)
They turned out adorable.


More random baking notes to add?

• I made these again a few nights ago. YUM. They are truly delicious!
  
• I am in the process of helping my mom out for her class, and I'm baking these. They are just about to come out of the oven and they smell delicious! :)
• I am now dying to make these. Not too bad on the waistline, and they look fantastic!

Hope you all are enjoying a fantastic week!
What are your random thoughts for this Friday?
xo! :)

chocolate coconut bon-bons.

Recently, my dad was diagnosed with a mild case of diabetes. So in the interest of cutting out some of the refined sugar out of our diets, I was on the hunt for recipes that used Splenda as opposed to white sugar. While I am not a huge fan of Splenda in general, these candy-like treats turned out amazing and I would most definitely make them again.

And by the way,

Andrew couldn't stop eating them.

That's the mark of a perfect treat! :)

Chocolate Coconut Bon Bons

Ingredients:

½ cup fat-free cream cheese, softened
1½ cups Splenda
1 cup fat free sweetened condensed milk
2 cups flaked coconut
2½ cups Rice Crispy cereal

9 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate

{This is what was recommended by the recipe, but I needed much more. Maybe I am way too heavy handed with the chocolate?!}

In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, Splenda, and sweetened condensed milk. Mix in the coconut and rice cereal to form a workable dough. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. {I left them in overnight and they were fine.}

Melt chocolate over a double boiler, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat when melted. Use a toothpick or something similar to hold the bon bons with while you are dipping them. {I used a smores fork since I don't have any toothpicks at the moment. Worked perfectly haha!} Set on wax paper to dry completely and then enjoy!!
PS.

I am thinking these would be delicious if they were frozen or chilled as well!

If any of you have yummy recipes for diabetics,

please email them my way!

I would love to expand on this, and try some new things. :)

Enjoy your Thursday, xo!

chocolate pudding pie!

Let me first warn you:
this is such an addicting pie for two reasons.
Number One: It's slammin'!!!!
Number Two: It is eerily easy to make, which makes whipping up a pie such a no-brainer. :)

Oh yes,
and I hired a photographer
to document me making this pie a few days back.
He is funny,
bright,
very short,
and best of all,
he was completely FREE!
{I just had to pay him with licks of the spoon
and a big piece of pie afterward!}
Enjoy Andrew's photographs for this one and please ignore any fuzziness in the pictures.
He is already quite excited about his prospects as a photographer in his later life. :)

Chocolate Pudding Pie

Ingredients:
1 package Jello chocolate instant pudding
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 graham cracker pie crust
{I read somewhere that you can use an oreo pie crust, which is certainly what I'll be doing next time!}
One tub of Cool Whip topping, completely thawed in refrigerator
{Comes out to around 2 cups, I suppose. The more the better though, in my opinion!}

Beat pudding mix and milk with a whisk for two minutes. Stir in half of the Cool Whip with the pudding, then spoon mixture into the pie crust. Top with the remaining Cool Whip topping and refrigerate until you are ready to dive in! :)


{and now we are back to my photos again haha! he lost interest after a while. :) }

So addicting.
You have been warned, my friends. :)
xo!

PS.
For more yummy recipes,
pop over to The Goat and the Kid today.
Delish! :)

giveaways and treats. :)

Goodies galore!
Want to win these fantastic items from my shop?
Head over to visit Heather at Blessed Little Nest
and enter for your chance to win!

And I'm guest blogging over there today as well...
want to know how to make these yum-o treats?

The Blogger's Guide to Summer
is where it's at today, my friends!
So many fun posts and giveaways, you'd be crazy not to enter. :)
xo!

what betty crocker taught me.

I was flipping through the vintage Better Crocker cookbook to find some new cookie recipes a few days ago, and came across a very interesting piece of information that I have missed up until now...

There is a cookie section dedicated to
cookies that are deemed
"beau-catchers and husband keepers"!
So that's where I've gone wrong. :)
I better get baking...
Thanks, Mrs. Crocker!
xo!

chocolate oatmeal no-bake cookies.

I adore cookies with oatmeal in them.
Makes any ordinary cookie so much more substantial!
That's why I love these simple, yet amazingly easy cookies.
And the best part?
No baking! :)



Chocolate Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 cups 0ats (Quick or Old fashioned, uncooked)

In large saucepan, combine sugar, milk, margarine and cocoa. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Continue boiling 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in oats; mix well. Quickly drop by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper or greased cookie sheet. Let stand until set. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

That's it!
I told you they were easy, right? :)
Enjoy, xo!

happy memorial day!

Hope you all have a safe & festive
Memorial Day!
I will be cleaning up around the house, wrapping up Etsy orders, and baking in the kitchen with the little bug tomorrow.
Not baking these amazing cookies, but something much simpler. :)
But aren't they divine?!
Find out more about these cookies here.
More recipes of my own coming up this week, so stay tuned!
xo!

chocolate chip blondies

I was in the mood for something sweet last night, but wanted to watch what I was eating as well. I have finally gotten back into the swing of exercising {even started running a bit!} and so I didn't want to ruin my week with a big plate of dessert.
Enter in a Weight Watchers recipe.
I changed it up a tiny bit, using Sucanat instead of brown sugar.
And I used regular butter instead of light butter.
I mean, seriously.. who keeps that kind of thing around?
Certainly not me. :)

Anyways, even with my adjustments,
it turned out delicious!
The perfect treat in the evening if you don't want to completely ruin your diet. :)

And
come to find out,
the perfect breakfast treat as well.
Does it make me a bad mom if I gave Andrew a little square of it after his breakfast this morning???? ;)

Chocolate Chip Blondies

{adapted from a Weight Watchers recipe}

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
{although i used sucanat in place of the brown sugar!}
6 tbsp butter
2 large egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup water

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, beat brown sugar and butter until fluffy. Add egg whites and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture alternating with water. Stir in chips.

Spread into a foil-lined 9- x 13-inch baking pan. Bake until golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Cut into squares and enjoy!
xo!

martha's snickerdoodles.

This week is Teacher Appreciation at Andrew's school, so we thought a batch of homemade cookies would be a nice treat for his kindergarten teacher tomorrow. Out came Martha Stewart's Cookie Book, and Andrew set off to find a recipe he wanted to make with me.

Snickerdoodles

From Martha Stewart's Cookies

{& recently blogged about over here at one of my favorite blogs!}

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1 cups (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

-

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.
Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 1 3/4-inch balls; roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

*Martha says this recipe makes 20.

I made 36.

You be the judge on how many this recipe makes for you. :)

Happy baking, xo! :)

lemon bars and a sneak peak!

Ok, baker-girls! Get your ingredients and mixing spoons at the ready. Here's another fab-tastic recipe that I whipped up the other evening! And PS. Notice there are no great after photos. Yes, we ate them that quickly. :) Onto the recipe...

Lemon Bars
From Get Togethers Cookbook

Ingredients:
2 cups flour, divided
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
Garnish: powdered sugar

For crust, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, powdered sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press into a 9x9-ish baking pan in an even layer. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes, until just golden at edges. To make filling, whisk together eggs and sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Stir in lemon juice, then remaining flour. Pour filling over baked crust. Reduce heat to 325 degrees; bake 25 to 30 minutes, until filling has just set. Let cool for at least 30 minutes, then dust with powdered sugar and you've got a dream dessert ready for you! :)


And...
To keep with this lemon and yellow and happy theme, here's a sneak peak for you as to what's going on behind the scenes while I get ready for the Queen Bee Market this Saturday!

There's going to be piles of cute things.
I hope you can come visit me & shop, shop, shop! :)
xo!

rocky road bites.

Andrew helped me make this fantastic recipe the other evening.

{And excuse his odd "hat" in this photo. He got "how to train your dragon" pajamas and has not wanted to remove the cape that goes with them yet haha!}

This is one of those recipes that is 100% kid-friendly, fool-proof, and you will have so much fun tossing chocolate chips onto the graham crackers together! :)

Crispy Rocky Road Bites

from Get Togethers Cookbook

Ingredients:

24 chocolate graham cracker squares

{However, I used regular graham crackers and it was amazing!}

1/2 cup butter, melted

12 oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup toffee chips

{I am not a fan of toffee, so I used those yummy Reese's chips instead, which I highly recommend!}

2 cups mini marshmallows

{We had extra bunny-mallows left over from Easter, so ours are pastel colored haha!}

Arrange graham crackers on a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet, sides touching. Pour melted butter over crackers; sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips and white chocolate chips. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 350 degrees, until butter is absorbed. Using a spatula, spread melted chips over crackers; sprinkle with toffee {or peanut butter chips} and marshmallows. Return to oven for 3 minutes, or until marshmallows begin to soften. Set aside. Place remaining chocolate chips in a small ziploc bag. Microwave on medium setting until chips melt, about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Snip a small hole in one corner of bag and drizzle chocolate over crackers. Let cool for at least 30 minutes until set.

And here is my warning to you all...

These are so hard to stop eating.

Proceed with caution. :)

xo!

almond butter chocolate chip cookies.

As I was flipping through the latest issue of Clean Eating,
I found this yummy-looking cookie recipe.
Using some new ingredients to me,
{sucanat & almond butter, anyone?}
I whipped up a batch yesterday.

Let me tell you...
super easy,
suuuuper tasty,
and no refined sugar!
They are "clean" cookies!
I say, not too shabby! :)




Andrew prepared the chocolate for me. :)





Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

From Clean Eating Magazine,
March/April 2010

1 cup unsalted almond butter, stirred well

3/4 cup Sucanat

1 large egg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp sea salt

3 oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa or greater), broken into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl. stir together the first 5 ingredients until blended. Stir in chocolate. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and let cool for 15 more minutes.
Makes about 24 cookies.

Super yummy, right?!
And eat these knowing that you aren't being too bad on your waistline. :)
xo!

a tasty coffee cake.

For Easter breakfast, I made the most delicious coffee cake from one of my favorite bloggers. I've wanted to try it out for the longest time, but I rarely eat anything more than a bowl of Cheerios for breakfast! :) I finally tried it out in honor of the holiday morning, and it was
oh-so-delish!

Cardamom Coffee Cake

2 c. soft butter
2 c. light brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tbsp. vanilla
2 c. sour cream
(I only had 1 cup on hand so I did 1 cup sour cream and 1 cup vanilla yogurt)
4 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. powdered cardamom
1/2 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamon, and salt. Add sour cream and flour mixture alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Fold in each addition just enough to blend. Don't beat or over mix!

NUT MIXTURE:

1/4 c. light brown sugar
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts.

Spoon 1/3 of the batter into a well buttered tube or bundt pan, then 1/2 of the nut mixture, then 1/3 batter, then remaining nuts, then remaining batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until brown on top and dry when you insert a probe all the way down. Turn onto a plate after 10 minutes of cooling.

Then slice up some strawberries, and enjoy your delicious breakfast!
xo! :)

bake these right this minute.

Thanks to this fantastic blogger, I tried these yummy little snowball cookies.
Am I in a baking mood lately or what?!
And while I know these are more of a classically winter cookie,
{what with the name "snowballs" and all!}
I just decided that they are now my anytime cookie.
Seasons be darned! :)









Snowballs

¾ C butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbl water

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 C sugar

1 ½ C flour

1 C chopped nuts

1/2 C choc chips

{the recipe called for a cup, but I cut a few of the chips out since my dough looked quite chocolate-y already!}

Cream butter, vanilla, water, sugar and salt. Add flour and mix well. Add chips and nuts. Form into 1” balls. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool for a few minutes. Roll in powdered sugar while still warm. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Then pop one in your mouth and

enjoy the deliciousness that is the snowball.

xo!

And

PS...

Andrew enjoyed them, too! :)