Last summer I took my two nieces (then 2 and 4) blueberry picking. They had an amazing time, and amazingly learned to tell the difference between a blueberry that was ripe and one that wasn't. One problem: they enjoyed themselves so much that I didn't have the heart to stop them once we had we had enough berries. So they kept picking until we finally drove off with about two thousand pounds of fresh blueberries. (Slight exaggeration. Slight.) We got home and I came up with a great way to use up some of the surplus: "Who wants to bake blueberry muffins?" And so we did. And even the blueberry-muffin-haters among us loved them. I made a triple recipe, thinking I'd freeze a bunch. That wasn't … [Read more...]
Chewy Molasses Ginger Cookies
Just after I finished making a big batch of this dough, my heart sank. My family won't like cookies with ginger and ohmygosh cloves. But the dough was ready, and I wasn't going to throw it out. So I sat and shaped the cookies, all the while thinking about how nobody would eat them. It's a good thing I'm not a betting sort of woman, because I'd have lost big time. My little brother (notoriously unadventurous in the palate department) took one look at the cookies and said "Oh, yay! Snickerdoodles." His mistake is understandable. They look a bit like snickerdoodles, with the crackly top and the sugar topping. But my tasters bit into the cookies, and far from the looks of horror I had … [Read more...]
Peanut Butter Truffle Stuffed Oreos
These started out as truffles, and evolved into one of the most delicious, easiest desserts in the planet. The truffle filling is a classic combination of two flavors any sane individual adores: chocolate and peanut butter. Stuff that decadent mixture in between two Oreos, roll it in some sprinkles, and voila! No bake, super easy and totally gorgeous. The sprinkles are great too. I made them for a party to celebrate the birth of my new niece, hence the pink you see in the picture. You can do blue for a boy, colorful for a child's party, or any other color/shape sprinkles that match your theme and or color scheme. If you don't have a particular color that works, use plain white- it fits … [Read more...]