Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies and Dutchess' "Photoshoot"!

Hey Readers!
I'm back and super excited to (hopefully) start sharing more wonderful recipes and photos with you! These cookies look super delicious and are really easy to make. I was planning on bringing them to our outdoor church service on Sunday, but then I "sampled" one and decided they were too good to share!! Enjoy!(:

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 eggs
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

Directions

This recipe's Ingredients were scaled to yield a new amount. The directions below still refer to the original recipe yield of 4 dozen.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together shortening, margarine, brown sugar, white sugar, and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the oats until just combined. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until just light brown. Don't over-bake. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Dutchess' Photoshoot!

-Sophie

Awhile...

Hey Readers!

 I know it has been a really long time since I have blogged, and I apologize! 

                       

 This last week, I was on a mission's trip to Oklahoma with the world's best youth group. Although I was sick most of the time and the weather got up to 115º F, I deeply enjoyed doing the service projects we did there. On Monday and Tuesday we worked at a lady's house, scraping and painting her house and also organizing her back porch.

On Wednesday and Thursday we worked at a local kid's club organizing games, crafts, skits, songs, and memory verses for the kids of the community. Because of the obviously scorching weather, we played TONS of games involving buckets of water. (;  In the day we worked at our project sites, but at night a local family  took us "sightseeing" in the community, one night we had a community cook-out, and that afternoon we went swimming at a community pool.

Although I had a BLAST on the trip, I am overjoyed to be back in the coolness of my home!(: The next blog you see from me, I PROMISE, will be a delicious recipe... Thanks for reading! 

-Sophie

Holy CREPE!

I know crepes may sound a little difficult to make, but they are SUPER easy and don't require much time, effort, or ingredients. Crepes are sort of like pancakes, except the texture is a little different and they are much thinner. You can top them or fill them with pretty much anything you'd like!

Basic Crepe 

1 c. all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 milk
1/2 c. water
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. melted butter

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour and eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter, beat until smooth.

2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 c. for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter cots the surface evenly.

3. Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn, and cook the other side.

Before the works...

After the works...

But like I said, you can put just about ANYTHING on your crepes. I put strawberry yogurt with strawberries in syrup on mine. Here are a few other ideas...

-Bananas, chocolate, and peanut butter

-Peanut butter and jelly

-Fresh fruit and whipped cream

-Chopped nuts and whipped cream

-Eggs and vegetables

-Whipped cream and chocolate syrup

-Nutella Spread

-Grilled Chicken and Cheese

-Butter and cinnamon sugar

Bon Appetite! (:

-Sophie

Iced Mocha Frappe

On our way home from Colorado, my mom bought a magazine called "125 Best Blender Recipes", loaded with tons of recipes for shakes, smoothies, coffee drinks and more! I, personally, love Starbucks and all their refreshing treats, so I found this recipe for a homemade Iced Mocha Frappe. Its simply DELICIOUS and easy! 


Iced Mocha Frappe
Total Time: 5 min.
Makes 2 drinks


2/3 c. cold strong brewed coffee
2/3 c. whole milk
2 tbsp. chocolate syrup
4 tsp. sugar
2 c. ice cubes (silly me! I used 2 ice cubes instead of two cups of ice cubes!... Still tasted great though!!)


In blender, combine coffee, milk, chocolate syrup, sugar, and ice. Blend until mixture is smooth and ice is finely crushed. Serve immediately. 

... And for those who are watching their carbs, calories, fat, whatever, here you go! 

Per Drink:

125 cal.

3 g. Protein

24 g. Carbohydrate

3 g. total fat 

2 g. saturated fat

0 g. Fiber

11 mg. Cholesterol

60 mg. Sodium

Bon Appetite! 

-Sophie

Apology, Snickerdoodles, and Mini Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dear readers,

                      I am deeply sorry about the long gap between my last blog post and this one... I was on a trip to Colorado last week and was busy the days leading up to when we left, hence the lack of blogs! While I was taking that temporary "break" from blogging, I had baked banana bread (you already have that recipe) and snickerdoodles (which I will share with you in a moment!) But when I was away, I was in deep longing for my kitchen and the wonderful scents it brings when I bake. So yesterday, the first day home, I baked some Mini Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies which I brought to a youth group cook-out last night... I came home with a cookie-less plate! The recipe is super easy and doesn't require many ingredients. So here I am, back in business and ready to bake! Enjoy the recipes and pictures!

Snickerdoodles

1 c. Shortening

1 1/2 c. White Sugar

2 Eggs

2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

2 tsp. Cream of Tartar

1/2 tsp. Salt

2 tbsp. White Sugar

2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375ºF 

In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and 1 1/2 c. sugar. Stir in the eggs. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. In a small bowl, stir together the 2 tbsp. sugar, and the cinnamon. Roll dough into walnut sized balls, then roll the balls in the cinnamon-sugar. Place them onto an unprepared cookie sheet, two inches apart. 

Bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be slightly brown. Remove from sheets to cool on wire racks.

Mini Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips (1/2 c. regular chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or spray with cooking spray) and set aside. Combine peanut butter and sugar until well combined, about 2 minutes.  Add egg, baking soda, and vanilla and mix for another 2 minutes.  By hand, mix in mini chocolate chips.  Roll into teaspoon sized balls and place onto prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 7-8 minutes, until they look dry and lightened in color.  Let cook on baking sheet for a minute.  Carefully press each cookie down with a fork.  Continue to cool on baking sheet for an additional two minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Snickerdoodles

Mini Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Bon Appetite!

-Sophie

Recipes: Fresh Fruit Smoothie!

Fresh Fruit Smoothie

10 Strawberries (Washed and stems removed)

2 Bananas(peeled)

1 Orange (peeled)

8 Large Ice Cubes

1 c. Milk

Add all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. For extra creaminess and flavor, add whipped cream and/or chocolate syrup.

Recipes: Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today, I was in the mood for some DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES, and was searching the internet for a recipe... Here is the recipe I found from www.cooks.com. ("Cooks.com" is a website that has a recipe for probably every single thing imaginable for both cooking and baking. I use the website for most of my blogging recipes.) 


Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 3/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 c. softened butter (I used shortening)
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa
2 tbsp. milk
1 c. chopped nuts
1 c. chocolate chips


Combine flour and soda. In another bowl, cream together until fluffy the butter, sugars, and vanilla. Whisk in egg. Stir in cocoa and milk. Fold in flour mixture, nuts, and chocolate chips. Drop batter by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake about 12 minutes at 350ºF. Cool before removing from sheet.

Okay, so they look good right? Well, just as I was typing up the ingredients, I realized I missed not only one "small" thing but actually a few!... I forgot the milk (until the second batch) and until now, a very important element, the baking soda, as well as the salt. I must have had a weird blood sugar or something, but I am sure that at one point or another, every good baker makes mistakes... And I just made a big one! :P I guess I'll just have to bake them again (later) and show you how they look when they include all the required ingredients. They still tasted GREAT though! 

Until my next baking experience, my dear blogging friends...

Bon Appetite!

-The very irritated, Sophie

:)