Easy recipe, no milk, no flour...peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies

By now you know how much of an absolute peanut butter enthusiast I am.  I cannot, for the life of me, understand how people do not like peanut butter.  Just the mere thought of it makes my mouth water.

I stumbled upon this recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.  It could not have been more simple.  There are only 5 ingredients!  There is also no milk and no flour!  I made these for my son's percussion group where there are some kids with lactose allergies and gluten allergies.  They almost created a black hole inhaling these cookies!

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp baking SODA
1 cup brown sugar....packed firmly (use light brown sugar)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

That's it!  Throw it all in a bowl and mix!  Scoop by tablespoon onto a lined cookie tray.  Oven should be 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Bake these for 7-9 minutes.  Allow cookies to cool completely before removing from tray.

These cookies are sooooo good.  They are gluten free and lactose free....so they are healthy right?  That's the rationale I use anyway.

Happy baking!

Almond cookie recipe

I am always looking for a new cookie recipe to try.  Even the best chocolate chip recipe gets tired after a while.

We had a few friends over to our house this past weekend.  I was trying to find some recipes that would allow me to prepare the food early in the week and then freeze the food until the weekend.  I found an easy recipe for almond cookies.  They are much like butter cookies or shortbread cookies.  I personally do not eat almond, so I could not test these for myself.  I was hostage to the opinions of others.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a bowl blend the butter, sugar, and almond extract. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture 2 Tablespoons at a time to the butter mixture until completely combined.

Roll into small balls and flatten slightly. Cook for 7 minutes (they will not look done) at 400 degrees on a lightly greased pan or parchment lined pan. Cool cookies until they are just warm and place sliced almonds on top of each cookie.  (I only ha slivered almonds, but these worked just was well.)  

Now, it's time for the almond glaze....

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

3 teaspoons water

For the glaze: Combine powdered sugar, almond extract, and water. Drizzle a spoonful of glaze on top of the almonds and cookie.

Well, the cookies baked up beautifully, they froze beautifully and then defrosted beautifully.  I couldn't quite understand my guests as they tried to talk with cookie crumbs in their mouths, but I heard a lot of "Mmmmmm" and saw lots of head bobbing, so I am going to assume they were good.  

Bridal Shower Cupcakes

When my daughter was in high school, she had this little group of girls she would hang around with.  There were 2 of them that were especially close to her.  Now that they are in their mid 20's, they are still very close.  The third amigo is getting married at the end of summer, and the other two were throwing her a bridal shower.  The colors for the wedding are yellow and blue.  Her wedding dress is almost all lace, so I wanted to reflect that in the cupcake theme.

I made both chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, put pale yellow buttercream frosting on them all and then decorated them with a blue flower and some pearl dragees.  The girls had given me an idea for a bridal dress on the top of the cupcake tower, so I made a cake using a Pyrex bowl.  I then covered that with white fondant and pressed my lace mold over the bottom of the dress to mimic the lace in the actual gown.

I heard rave reviews from the bride-to-be, as well as the two girls throwing the party.  I don't think I have ever been more nervous or more proud of something I've created.

Here is the final product...