Blackberry Macaroons

In looking through a cookbook, I ran across this recipe and it seemed like a good little snack.  The Weight Watcher's points are low (1 pt. each) and the carbs are only 5 grams.  All in all, a good snack.  Only problem is I am the only one who likes them, so all those low points aren't good if you're eating 4 or 5 at a time!  Hmmmm...

Ingredients
1 package (14 ounces) sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup blackberries

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper

2.  Combine coconut, flour, sugar, egg whites and almond extract in food processor or blender (I used my stand mixer).  Process until combined and move to mixing bowl

3.  Gently mash blackberries in small bowl (some chunks may remain). Fold blackberries into coconut mixture, just until combined. (do not over mix)

Hand Model: Kelsey

4.  Shape mixture into 1/2 inch balls, place on prepared baking sheet.

5.  Bake 25-27 minutes or until set.  Remove to wire racks and cool completely.


Serving size 1; Calories 47; Total Fat 3g; Protein 2g; Carbohydrate 5g; Dietary Fiber 1g; Sodium 25 mg

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Hamburger cookies! What the...?

For those of you who know me, you know I don't eat beef.  I WILL however eat cookies! These adorable treats have been a favorite of the kids for years.  I used to make them for the kids to take to school for their special birthday treat.  


Ingredients:

Nilla Wafers
Keeber's Grasshopper cookies
1 Container Vanilla Frosting
Yellow food coloring
Green food coloring
egg white
Sesame seeds

1.  Divide a container of frosting in half and (with food coloring) make one portion yellow (to represent mustard) and one portion green (to represent lettuce). 

2.  Spread each frosting on two different Nilla Wafer cookies (the flat side).  



3.  Assemble the cookies with a Grasshopper cookie in between.  

4.  After you're all done with the assembly, brush each top with a little egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  

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Banana-Pecan Muffins

Anyone who doesn't have old-mushy bananas in their kitchen probably: 1) doesn't like bananas, 2) goes to the store every day just to buy 1 banana or 3) is lying.  Well I frequently have old bananas (insert joke here).  I either put them into a smoothie or make muffins.

Is it just me, or is there some nationwide banana conspiracy to get you to buy more bananas?  Yeah, they're cheap, but we all end up throwing them away because they are disgusting when they're mushy!  And don't even get me started on those banana stands!  They may hasten the aging of the bananas by 10 minutes, but they are hardly worth the space on the counter or the $10.00 I shelled out for ours!  That is $10 my kids are never going to see in their inheritance.  At least one of them will get the banana hanger, which I'm sure will appease them.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened
1 cup sugar.  I used 1/2 cup Truvia instead
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas (which I'm sure you gathered from my rant above)
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans (walnuts would be good too)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Either coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray, or use cupcake papers.

2.  In large bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy.  Add eggs and beat until light and fluffy. 

3.  In a separate bowl, mash bananas with fork and add into sugar, butter and egg mixture, stir.

4.  Stir in flour, baking soda and cinnamon, mixing just enough to moisten.  Add pecans.

5.  Spoon batter into muffin cups (really, was this necessary for me to put in here?  Of course you're going to put the batter into the muffin cups, WE'RE MAKING MUFFINS HERE PEOPLE!  What else would you do with the batter?  If you're that incompetent that you didn't know that, you probably shouldn't be around sharp objects either!)

6.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

These are fine to be frozen too and then you can have 1 anytime you want!  Take that banana farmers!

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Brownie Cookies

So - I'm not big into baking, but my office was having a cookie contest and damned if I was going to lose! (The prize was a bottle of wine...hence my motivation). So I looked up recipes online but I'm not a huge cookie fan to begin with...I love brownies though so I was on the hunt for something brownie-ish. I came across this recipe which looked very easy and I added in the walnuts for a little something extra. They turned out to be very messy to make, but extremely delicious!

Ingredients:
- 1 package brownie mix (13 x 9 inch pan size)
- 1 cup flour
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used the mini ones)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- Confectioner's sugar

1. Mix together in a large bowl the brownie mix, flour, egg, water and oil. Fold in the chocolate chips and the walnuts.

2. Then spoon about a tablespoon into a shallow dish filled with confectioner's sugar. Roll the mixture around until completely coated and then place on a greased baking sheet.

3. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until completely cooked through. Enjoy with milk...yummy!

Side Note: I did NOT win the office cookie contest...damn overachievers in my office made all these fancy-pants cookies...I majorly underestimated my competition. 

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