Just a Mom, HA!

Mini Peanut Butter Cookies (Gluten Free)

I’m about to show you a cookie that is flour-less, butter-less, and that boasts only 4 ingredients in its batter. Brace yourself:

Huh. I was a little surprised myself.  This is a normal looking little cookie – not what I’ve come to expect from gluten-free baking.  Sadly I made these when I was so sick that I lost my sense of taste completely, so I can’t tell you how they are straight out of the oven, but I will say that their texture improves with time and their taste on day 2 is very scrumptious.

Mini Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
(Slightly Modified from Spark Recipes)

• 1 c Peanut Butter* (works best with natural PB, reduced-fat, low sodium, that kind)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• Milk chocolate chips, if desired

Combine first 4 ingredients and stir until well combined.  Use a rounded teaspoon to scoop dough onto a cookie sheet (I lined mine with parchment paper for easy removal).  Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes, remove from oven, stick one or two chips into the cookie tops, then return cookies to oven one final minute of baking.  Let cookie sit on baking sheet to cool then remove them to a rack.

*Kim’s notes: I’d love to try this recipe again with natural Almond Butter.  Also, if you aren’t a fan of chocolate, skip the chips and criss-cross the dough balls with fork tongs for a more classic PB cookie look.

Peanut Butter Frozen Fluff

This is a dessert that can please almost anyone.

The Reese’s lover looking for a chocolate-PB fix.  The health nut that needs a treat that won’t ruin the day.  Even the Weight Watcher’s crowd only has to count one little point for this dessert.

Oh, and it’s easy. That pleases me.

You can eat these in their wrappers, straight from the freezer, or you can be a little classier and turn them out into a dish or plate to be eaten with a utensil.  When sharing one with Cee tonight I used the plate approach, which was classy… until I licked the plate to not waste one drop of the gooey joy that is this stuff.

Peanut Butter Frozen Fluff (adapted from Spark Recipes)

• 1/2 tub of light or fat-free whipped topping (such as Cool Whip)
• 1 Tbs of natural, reduced-fat Peanut Butter
• Chocolate syrup (such as Hershey’s), reduced calorie or sugar-free
• cupcake liners

Stir together the whipped topping and peanut butter until combined. Spoon into liners that are in a cupcake pan or set out on a tray (this recipe makes 6).  Freeze until set – I let mine go over night, then put cups into a freezer bag or wrap them individually to be stored in the freezer until time to serve.

Kim’s note: These were great, but maybe PB isn’t your thing.  I’m thinking of trying this again, but mixing in a couple of Tbs of cheesecake pudding, then drizzle it with strawberry sauce.  Or mashing some berries and putting them in for fruit fluff.

Happy Cooking!

Banana Oat Cookies

This is actually another semi-healthy cookie recipe.  The banana flavor pounds your taste buds, the oats give it substance, and with only 3 Tbs of butter (I used a light spread) there isn’t too much to be guilty about…

UNLESS (dun dun duuuuhhhh)….

You take them to the next level by adding chocolate chips and crushed up Reese’s pieces (in Easter colors).

These cookies are pretty ugly, but that’s their only negative – they’re soft, moist, and flavorful. At the end of the day, there was only 4 left which I think says plenty about their flavor.

Banana Oat Cookies
(adapted from Spark Recipes)

• 3 Tbs butter, softened (I used light spread)
• 1 mashed ripe banana
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 c. flour
• 1 c. quick oats
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2/3 c. mix in’s (in the pictured cookies I used mini chocolate chips and crushed Reese’s pieces, but to be healthy you could use some raisins, chopped nuts, blueberries, whatever suits your tastes)

Combine all wet ingredients and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Add dry ingredients and stir well. Add mix in’s and blend until evenly distributed.  Spoon cookies out onto cookie sheets (I baked mine on parchment paper) in about tablespoon sizes, not too big.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Cookies will be soft, cool on baking sheet and then on wire racks.  Makes close to 2 dozen.

Happy Cooking!

Surprise Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are healthy.  That means a somewhat odd texture, but a taste that’s just about normal.

If that doesn’t weird you out then keep reading.

Did you spot the surprise ingredient?  That would be a chickpea.  A garbanzo.  Otherwise known as a bean.

I got this recipe from my friend the Trainer Mama.  I didn’t do much to her recipe, just used regular flour since that’s all I had, and added a few of my own touches to the dough-making process.

Chocolate Chip Chickpea Cookies

• 1 c. brown sugar
• 3/4 c. sugar free applesauce
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
• 2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 c. flour (she uses whole wheat, I used all-purpose)
• 1/2 c. rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt (I would only add this if you’re using no-salt beans, canned beans have TONS of sodium)

I found that the cookies tasted most like cookies when the beans were mashed – if you don’t mash them then the occasional bite just tastes like a bean.  To mash I warm the beans up a little first then mash with my hands and a potato masher.  They will be flaky, but that’s normal.

Add all wet ingredients and sugars to the mashed beans and blend together.  Next add the dry ingredients and stir well to form the dough.  Lastly stir in the chocolate chips.

Bake on parchment paper or a lightly sprayed cooking sheet at 350 degrees for 11 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks.  Store in an air tight container and can be frozen to make them last longer.

*Since these are a low-cal sweet treat, I have a small bag that I keep in the freezer for when I need an emergency dessert that won’t ruin my healthy day.  I even like them cold and straight from the freezer since that makes the odd/chewy texture less noticeable.

I was worried my boys wouldn’t like these and I’d have to end up eating them all by myself, but they really surprised me.  Jay and Cee both gobbled them up like regular cookies…

Sometimes it can be a little hard to get the shot I want when cookies are involved.

Happy Cooking!

Molasses Ginger Cookies

Oh this is a beautiful cookie:

Whenever there’s a cookie recipe that calls for less than a stick of butter but yields up to 4 dozen cookies, I’m there.  This gem came from the Better Homes and Gardens website and is everything that I’m looking for in a cookie – chewy, sweet, and around 50 calories.

The boys loved them too.  I was worried that Cee wouldn’t be on board with such a strong flavor, but he loved them, begged for them… probably ate about half of them.

One negative thing that I will say is that rolling the dough balls was a long and messy process – the flavor is worth it, but this isn’t a simple, throw-together cookie.

Molasses Ginger Cookies (from Better Homes and Gardens, slightly adapted)

• 1/3 c. margarine, softened
• 2/3 c. packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c. dark molasses
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Half-the-Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I love cookies. LOVE them!  Growing up with my parents, how could I not?  My mom is a cookie artist and my Dad is a Cookie Monster.  What I don’t love are the cookies that are SO buttered that they leave grease behind on your fingers or napkin.

Here’s a little secret – you can half the butter on LOTS of cookie recipes.

I even used low-cal butter.

That being said, the flavor was perfect.  Not too sweet, smooth inside and slightly crisp on the outside.  Fierce.

Half-the-Butter Oatmeal Cookies

• 1/4 c. butter/margarine, softened (I used light Blue Bonnet)
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/4 c. white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 c. flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 c. quick oats
• 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used the mini-chips and they were great)

Cream together the soft butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg, and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients all at once, then stir until well blended.  Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets.  Bake at 325 for 13 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet, then transfer for racks.  Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Happy Cooking!

Valentine Cupcakes (3 Color and Heart Shaped Cupakes)

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day!  For a special surprise, I made Valentine cupcakes for my sweetheart.  They were a combination of ideas that I’d seen, and I was VERY happy with the results.I’m not a baker and I’m not a decorator, but these are just cute, don’tcha think?

AND the ideas used on these cupcake could be applied to other holidays/events, so let’s check these ideas out:

What you need:

• 1 cake recipe or one cake box mix
• 1 frosting recipe or 1 can frosting
• food coloring
• marbles
• plastic bags

To make the heart shaped cupcakes, line the baking pan with cupcake papers, fill them according to your recipe’s directions (about 2/3 full is normal), then slide a glass marble between the paper and the wall of the pan.  It will look like this:

Bake the cupcakes according to your recipe’s instructions (mine baked at 350 for 18 minutes).  Be careful of the marbles when you remove the cupcakes – they pop out and are HOT!

Here’s a good view of what the marbles actually do to the cupcake:

I looked at these and said to Jay, “I think they look like little Pac Man heads more than hearts.”  He said that made them all the better Valentine for him.

IDEA for OTHER USES:  Make these into Pac Man cupcakes with yellow frosting and chocolate eyes!  Or use some green and white for little dinosaur heads with open toothy mouths.

To Make Three Color Cupcakes: To make the tri-color cupcakes as seen here, start with a white-colored cake (mine was a type ofvanilla).  After the recipe is mixed together take about 1/4 of the mix and put it in a plastic bag with food coloring.  Squish the bag until it is evenly colored.  Do the same thing with another 1/4 of the mix adding a new color, or a darker shade of the first color.

Fill the cupcake papers about 1/2 full, then snip the corner off the plastics bags and funnel the colored cake batter one at a time onto the center of the white batter until filled about 2/3 full.  Try not to let the colors mix together very much, just layer them.  Bake according to recipe directions.

IDEA for OTHER USES:  Use any color combo you want, or add some flavor extract to make flavor layers to your cupcakes!DECORATING:

I won’t ever pretend to be an expert on this, so if you’re like me here are some ideas:

• To get that smooth frosted look, warm up your icing.  A few moments in the microwave makes frosting much more liquidy, you can then dip your cupcakes in the frosting and let them dry for a no-stroke iced finish.  NOTE: If there are bubbles in your icing just be patient and wait for them to clear on their own.  If you dip them too soon the bubbles show on your cupcakes.
• No frosting funnels? No PROB! This is the average pantry after all – just spoon some frosting into a plastic zip bag, snip a very small piece off of one corner and squeeze away for easy decorating with no special tools (that is was I did for all cupcakes pictured).

Happy Cooking!

Naan Revisited – “Healthy” Pizza & Cinnamon Rolls

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post for naan, Indian flat bread.  I fell in LOVE with this recipe and was inspired by a friend’s comment to try it in new ways.

#1 Pizza:

Naan pizza was fantastic and is a great way to “healthify” a favorite comfort food of mine.  Naan is oil free, I used turkey pepperoni, and went light on the cheese, giving me ALL of the glorious taste without grease puddles to mop up.  Heaven!

To try this: Make naan as directed, but break it up only into 3 sections.  Roll them out, place on a sprayed cookie sheet for the second rising.  After the second rising, top dough with your favorite pizza ingredients, and bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes (or as long as it takes to cook through and lightly brown the edges).

#2 Cinnamon Rolls.  Again, heaven (and easier than I thought)!

To try this: Make naan as directed, but break it only into three pieces. Roll pieces out into as even a rectangle as possible.  Cover dough with melted butter, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Roll the dough until you have formed a long ‘log’ and pinch the edges to seal it up.  It’s okay if some of the cinnamon slime squeezes out, I spooned the extra over the tops when they were all placed.

Slide a thread (or dental floss could work) just under one end of the log until you reach about an inch and a half, then cross the thread over the log and pull ends until you make a slice through the dough.  Remove the now cut roll and place cut side down in a lightly sprayed cake pan.  Repeat this for the entire log.  Allow rolls to rise the second time.  Bake rolls at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until tops are lightly browned like in the picture.  Top with a simple glaze and serve warm.

Simple glazes can be made with powdered sugar, a little melted butter, a little vanilla and a little milk. Happy Cooking!

Pudding in a Cloud

Here’s an EASY dessert idea straight from my childhood that pleases both young and old.

Pudding in a cloud.

So simple, yet so stinkin’ good!  The idea is that you can’t see the pudding from the outside because it’s too well blocked by a layer of COOL WHIP!

Yum! (Or nummy nummy num, as Cee would say.)

My mom would make these on special family nights and line them out on the counter for all 5 of us.  My brothers and I would argue and shove until we were sure that we had the biggest or best serving.

It works with any pudding, any whipped topping, can be served up with a plethora of other goodies, or can be scaled back with low-cal Cool Whip, sugar free pudding, skim milk and you’ve got yourself a great low-cal alternative to ice cream!

Pudding in a Cloud

• 1 tub whipped topping
• Pudding – any flavor, I’ve only ever used instant which makes for a quicker dessert, but cooked pudding would be fine if you have the patience.
• Individual glass dishes (or at least a see through container if you don’t trust your kiddos with glass yet)

Mix up pudding according to package or recipe.  Allow to cool in fridge until set.  Using a spoon, heap and glob of whipped topping into a glass container, smearing it around until the glass is completely covered and you can’t see through (that would be the “cloud”).  Line all of the containers that you’ll use in this manner, then scooped the set/chilled pudding into the cloud.  Put a small final drop of whipped topping on the top.  Eat it alone, stash it in the fridge for a few hours, or serve it up with other goodies – goes great with graham crackers, nilla wafers, or anything else you want!

Happy Cooking!

Wonder Bars (AKA Homemade Reese’s)

Now to reveal this other mystery goody on our caroling plate this year…

Wonder Bars – a classic, Mama D treat.  They are a wonder, because they are Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – homemade style.  They are wonderfully tasty, but also wonderfully fattening, so proceed with caution.

Wonder Bars

• 3/4 c. margarine or butter
• 1 3/4 c. graham crackers, crushed (11 crackers)
• 1 c. peanut butter
• 2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 16oz. milk chocolate chips

Melt margarine, add peanut butter and mix. Add graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar to butter mixture then blend well. Pad “dough” into a 13×9 in pan. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave chocolate chips for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Spread on top of PB mixture. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to help the chocolate set.

Kim’s tips:  Doing half of this recipe in an 8×8 square pan is great for smaller families.  Also, if you choose to chill your wonder bars to help the chocolate set faster, let them come back up to room temp before cutting them so that the chocolate doesn’t crack.

Happy Cooking!