Strawberry Cookies

My sister posted these today on her blog and I immediately got up and made them! I have had a strawberry cake mix sitting in my pantry for who knows how long (I had dreams of making chocolate covered strawberry cake balls but just never got around to it.) and this was the perfect thing to use it for! Go check her blog out and make these cookies!! I've actually made these with a chocolate cake mix and a fun-fetti cake mix also and they were amazing too! THE simplest cookie ever!

Caramel Apple Cider Cookies

These cookies were soooo yummy---right from the oven. Once they cooled off, I didn't like them as much. Matt still thought they were pretty good, but they were definitely a totally different cookie vs. eating them while they were still warm. Most of this has to do with the caramel in the middle of the cookie. If the cookies are cooled off, so is the caramel and it's hard and chewy as opposed to melted and gooey. I'm honestly not a big fan of caramel anyway, so maybe you just need to try these out for yourself! (Side note: The recipe does say that you can place a cookie on the top of a mug of a hot drink for a few minutes and the steam from the drink will re-melt the caramel. We didn't have any hot drinks to try this out on, but give it a shot!) They were so much easier than I expected--the hardest part was unwrapping all the apple cider packets and all the caramels! Give them a try!

The recipe can be found here.

I can't for the life of me find the pictures I took of these cookies, but when I do, I'll post them!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies & Pumpkin "Pie" Potpourri

Just made these.

In the oven.

Batter was amazing.

Can't wait to eat them.

Matt doesn't like pumpkin.

ALL MINE! :)

Also just made this with a pumpkin I bought at the Farmer's Market today.

It is also amazing.

Smells wonderful. (I used cinnamon.)

Super easy (and fun!) with the help of Matt's drill & 1/2" bit!

Don't Get Used To This!!

I know, I know! Three posts in three days!! Crazy, huh? :)

I bought some bananas the other day knowing that a few of them would get mushy so I could make these. I stumbled across this recipe on FoodGawker (LOVE this site!! SO much inspiration!!) and couldn't wait to try it out! It's the perfect recipe for mushy bananas--so often we just make banana bread and call it a day. But next time you're in the mushy banana pickle, make these! I promise you won't regret it!!

I changed the recipe up a little (my version is the one seen below) because I was out of oatmeal. I just omitted that, then upped the flour a little. These were amazing! Different from your average (but still amazing!) chocolate chip cookie, yet also different from your average banana bread... I swear these cookies taste just like banana bread-in cookie form-plus chocolate chips. Tell me your mouth's not watering just thinking about it!

I took some pictures, but they basically look just like chocolate chip cookies so there's nothing special there. And I don't feel like getting up to get my camera to upload them. I ate so many of these cookies, I'm just plain lazy at the moment. :) But here's the recipe for you all to enjoy. Let me know if you try it!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
original recipe found here.

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup softened unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe banana (two good-sized bananas)
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Add half the flour mixture, mix, and then add the banana and mix. Add the rest of the flour mixture and mix until combined. Mix in chocolate chips.

Drop tablespoon-sized balls onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes, rotating halfway through.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies (mine made a whole lot less, because I like to make huge cookies!! But make yours the size you like--either way, they'll taste great! Just watch them in the oven to make sure they don't burn!)

Sugar Cookies

I bought some new "toys" the other day so since it's Friday (and my day off!), I decided to try them out! I bought the Wilton 101 piece cookie cutter set from Wal-mart, and their 18-piece cake decorating set. I had a total blast. I can't remember for the life of me where I got the recipe I used, but it's titled "No Fail Sugar Cookies." I ended up halving the recipe because I didn't have enough flour for the whole thing. Also, I didn't have enough ingredients to make any of the icings I looked up (can you tell I need to go to the store???) so I just used a can of store-bought I already had and colored it three different colors. Green, pink, and a darker pink. My boyfriend, Matt, loves the lesser-known super hero The Green Lantern, so I decided to make him a few with the Green Lantern symbol on them. I spiced a couple of those up with some pink, which he didn't really appreciate. :) For the others, I just pulled out some random cookie cutters and had fun coming up with ways to decorate them. Enjoy!

The naked cookies.

The Green (Pink) Lantern

Love. My first try at lettering.

More hearts, plus M & A for Matthew & Ashlee.

Pink cowboy boots!!

Dinosaurs!

Some randoms. A heart I forgot when I was doing all the others, a "ruff" looking dog, and a LOST plane! :)