Day 26: Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies by Theresa Gill

Today's guest blogger is my cousin, Theresa. Theresa is one of those people you can't help but want to be around. I first mentioned her a few weeks back when we signed up for the Chicago Marathon. Theresa is a busy mom of two absolutely adorable kids. One of my few older cousins,  I have always looked up to her. I have loved being able to grow up with her. She is inspiring, thoughtful and really really funny. There are times we still giggle like we are 10 when we get together :)

With our cousin Andrea (middle) going to see the Mega 80's!

Theresa's cookie will be the perfect solution to busy mornings! I am going to make a bunch of these and freeze them. Enjoy!

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Top of the Muffin (Cookie) to YOU!!!

When my cousin Stephanie asked me to be a "guest blogger" I was a little worried. After all, my baking skills don't go much further than the Chocolate Chip Nestle Tollhouse Recipe. I also make a mean Oatmeal Raisin every once in a while, but how boring is that?

My daughter, Katherine, started Kindergarten this year. Each morning is a whirlwind of getting dressed, brushing teeth, and eating breakfast. The other morning I had my famous chocolate cookies sitting on the counter and that's exactly what Katherine wanted at 7am. I'm sure every parent has experienced these exhausting mornings. After debating with my very persistent 5 year old for 10 minutes about how eating cookies for breakfast is "not healthy" or a "good start to the day", she finally gave in with tears running down her cheeks and had a bowl of Frosted Flakes...Just kidding. No sugar cereal over here just a good old fashion bowl of Cheerios.

Then the idea came to me...A breakfast cookie!! Well, after googling "breakfast cookie" I found I wasn't the only one with this idea. In fact, there were millions of recipes. I started to search and most of them looked, well, just pretty gross (and okay, maybe a little complicated). HMMM....I proceeded to google blueberry muffins and then I saw the ray of light...Blueberry Muffin Cookies. I found a few recipes and came across one that looked simple and tasty. Better yet, they were called "Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies" and I immediately thought of an episode from one of my favorite all time shows, Seinfeld..

Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup salted butter, softened

1 cup sugar
1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 teaspoon lemon zest, about 1 lemon

1 cup frozen blueberries, thawed and drained

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, set aside.

2. In the bowl of your mixer, cream together butter and sugar until well combined. Add in egg and beat until combined. Add milk, almond extract and lemon zest then beat until combined.

3. Slowly add dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and mix until combined. Gently fold in blueberries. The dough will seem too thick, but just keep at it!

4. Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour, then shape into large balls. Bake 6 to a baking sheet for 13-15 minutes, or until slightly golden brown on the bottom, and set on top. Do not overbake, Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool all the way.

Katherine: YUMMMMM!! TASTY!!

The Cookies were delicious. So good that I had 3 myself (It's a good thing I'm just a guest blogger). The lemon zest is what gave it superb flavor. They tasted exactly like a blueberry muffin top. I'm excited to try different variations such as adding oatmeal, applesauce, orange zest, flax seeds, etc. TOP OF THE MUFFIN-COOKIE TO YOU!!!!

Day 25: Classic Peanut Butter Cookies with Reece's Pieces by Leann Marosi

Today my guest blogger is my brother's girlfriend Leann. However just calling her his girlfriend doesn't seem fair, she is a special part of our family and the boys all think of her as their aunt. A perfect match for my brother, we see the two of them sharing a long happy life together. She is smart, beautiful and brings out the best in everyone around her. We are so grateful Louis found such a wonderful girl. We just love her to pieces!!!

The cookies Leann baked look so delicious!!! Enjoy!!!

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I would like to think of myself as a master chef and expert baker; however the reality is quite the opposite. My parents were good cooks and baked well, their family backgrounds providing an eclectic mix of cooking styles and recipes. As a child I was often off in my own little world, and never quite learned as much in the kitchen as I should have from them. Over the years I have become a pretty decent cook, but my baking skills are far from where I would like them to be.

Growing up I remember helping my parents bake fairly often. Sugar cookies in the shape of Christmas trees and stars, homemade frosting, butter ball cookies, and sour cream cookies sprinkled with cinnamon are what I remember most around Christmas. In the fall my dad used to make apple pie after we went to Hy’s Apple Orchard and picked our own apples. Unfortunately being a helper to my parents never translated into a grand culinary skill for me as an adult. I do not like chocolate or sweets of any kind, and I think that’s played a part in my lack of baking skills. Baking seems like it would be so much more enjoyable if you enjoy eating the finished product!

The first time I made peanut butter cookies as an adult, I made them for my boyfriend Louis. After a discussion about making cookies, I tried to prove to him that I could bake well. The finished product turned out to be what he still calls "football cakes" to this day. I didn’t know how much cookie dough should go into each cookie. When they came out of the oven they were huge – and oddly enough were shaped like footballs. How that happened I will never know. Fortunately after that I have managed to get much better.

Peanut butter cookies are always a hit in my house; I won't eat them, but Louis sure will! Originally I wanted to try something I had never made before. I hardly ever bake, so when I actually do, I try to do something different each time. Louis loves Dr. Pepper, so I thought that could be fun. The experiment was a complete failure. I think the recipe I was going off of was missing a few ingredients, or the measurements were wrong. They wound up tasting like cardboard; not even mini chocolate chips could save them. So much for trying something new! Based on the remaining ingredients I had in the house, peanut butter cookies turned out to be my only other option. If you don’t really love peanut butter, it may be best to leave out the Reece’s Pieces I added in.

Classic Peanut Butter Cookies (with Reece’s Pieces)

½ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup butter, room temperature
½ cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 ¼ cup flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugars and beat for two more minutes.
Mix in the peanut butter and egg. Mix together the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Stir the dry ingredients into the sugar and butter mixture. Add in Reece’s Pieces if desired. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place about three inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten in a criss-cross pattern with a fork. Bake until light brown – about ten minutes. Cool on baking sheets for a minute; transfer to rack to cool completely.

Day 24: Crunchy Chocolate Peanut Butter Stacks by Alexia Jackson

Today my special guest blogger is Alexia. Married to my cousin Jeremy, Lexi fits right in with our family and that is not an easy task. As I mentioned before we have a large family, meeting us for the first time had to be incredibly intimidating. That could be why she mistakenly told me her name was Michelle the first time I met her. She immediately laughed and still jokes about that moment today (see how awesome she is)!

 

Lexi is beautiful, loving and super fun to hang out with. She also took time out of her busy schedule to make this treat and blog about it.  I am so excited for her and Jeremy as they get ready to welcome their first child. They are going to make great parents:)

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Snips, snails and puppy dog tails…

Or should I say sugar and spice and everything nice? If you might have guessed I have babies on the brain. My name is Alexia and I not only Stephanie’s cousin and guest blogger today, I am also 35 weeks pregnant!  This is my first pregnancy and we are so excited to be welcoming this little surprise into our family in the next month.

During this pregnancy I have had a sweet tooth like you wouldn’t believe.  I am always looking for something chocolate in my kitchen and was so excited when I came across this three-recipe cookie on Pintrest.  It’s so simple and easy and I can whip it up after a long day of teaching, not to mention this might be a good recipe to keep handy when I don’t have much time with little one coming.

                                                       Crunchy Chocolate Peanut Butter Stacks

1 ½ cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter
3 cups Corn Flakes cereal – I actually used the Kellogg’s fruit and yogurt corn flakes.  Sounds healthier, right?

Instructions

Place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir.  I did this for two cycles.

Add peanut butter and stir until well combined.

Fold in Corn Flakes until the flakes are evenly coated.

Using an ice cream scooper I dropped the mix onto a wax lined baking sheet.

Throw them in the freezer for 20 minutes and enjoy!