Mini Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

My-oh-my where do the weeks go? Seems like just yesterday it was Father's Day, and now it's my younger sister's birthday.
Happy eighteenth birthday, Hannah! Now you can buy tobacco, go to strip clubs, and gamble in Oklahoma. I hope you like the cake I baked you.
(Coming soon)

These last few weeks have been busy-busy. All I want to do is relax, watch some My Life on the D List and Weeds, have some Mini Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, and maybe play one of my favorite games.



Do you want to play the game with me? And when I say "game" - it's not really a game, but something Hannah and I invented a few years ago. Here's how you play if you want to play with us.

First, go to Cooks.com, then look on the left hand side of the page and you'll see where it says "Recent searches". Now, take a look at what people have been looking up. It's funny, wild stuff. Disgusting-sounding recipes, misspellings, random searches that don't make any sense.
All-in-all it's a great time.

Let's take a look at a few:


Doesn't Glen's Tator Tot Casserole sound just delicious? I know I love casseroles made with frozen tater tots. Also, Glen, come on. Get your act together and spell "tater" tot correctly. Ore-Ida would be disappointed in you.


Milk Can Dinner anyone? What is a milk can dinner? That sounds like something the Boxcar Children would eat before James Alden moved them and Watch over to his mansion.


Instant Potatoes Cheese? Um, can you not form sentences anymore? What kind of recipe are you looking for exactly? Because, you know, you could cook instant mashed potatoes according to the package instructions and stir in some cheese. Just an idea.


If you're looking for Aunt Sophie, I don't think Cooks.com is the place for you.


Last but not least, Woodchuck! Mmmm who doesn't love a good woodchuck roast? I'm always on the hunt for a good woodchuck recipe.

See? It's oodles of fun. We try and find the the oddest or most disgusting recipe searches. In some cases, these recipes do exist, such as the woodchuck recipe.


Now here comes the fun part. Click on a woodchuck recipe and email it to your friend. They'll have no clue where it came from, and you'll make them sick to their stomach when they read the first line of the recipe:
"Remove scent glands from woodchuck."



Okay, now that we've had a little fun for today, let's talk about Mini Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and how cute they are! They're mini, cute and delicious. Eat one, then take a shot of milk. Eat another, and then another shot of milk. Pretty soon you're drunk on milk and stuffed with cookies.

Mini Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Recipe by Me)
Printable Recipe

1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups quick oats
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; continue to cook the butter, whisking frequently, until it starts to brown and foam, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside for 10 minutes.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt; whisk in oats until combined.
In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together brown sugar and peanut butter until creamy, about 1 minute; beat in browned butter until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in oat mixture until combined; stir in chocolate chips.

Roll tablespoons of dough into balls, place on cookie sheets, and flatten slightly. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

Makes 4 dozen mini cookies

Skinny Peanut Butter-Banana Oatmeal Bars

I'm feeling a little confused as I write this post this morning.

The reason being, someone found my blog by googling "Is it okay to eat old canned cinnamon roll dough?"

Well, I had to google that myself to see the results. Sure enough, my website is the ninth result in the search. All be darn.

Let's see if I can ease your mind with this question you ask. Now, I am not a canned cinnamon roll dough expert, but I would say it's okay to eat old canned cinnamon roll dough. But then again I guess it depends on the expiration date. I'm guessing canned cinnamon roll dough is full of preservatives, so you could probably keep it in your refrigerator for months.

Mmmmmm preservatives. I could go for some Pillsbury cinnamon rolls right now. Or crescent rolls. God bless crescent rolls - you forget how good they are. They're so buttery, flaky and irresistible.

But back to my expert opinion about canned cinnamon roll dough. I would recommend baking the cinnamon roll dough before consuming to reduce the risk of being infected with E. coli. Same goes for Nestle Tollhouse refrigerated cookie dough. Bake that dough and you'll be fiiiiine.

Or, I know, we could bake our own cinnamon rolls and chocolate chip cookies.

What's that? You're trying to eat healthy? You want to look good in your bikini for swimming and float trips? Yeah, yeah, I hear ya.

I've been trying to eat healthier too, by eating extra vegetables and fruit. Lots of fruit. How can you not when so much of it is in season and so affordable?

These are bar cookies I made, and they're very healthy and delicious. They're kind of like a cakier, moist granola bar. Skinny Peanut Butter-Banana Oatmeal Bars are low-fat and pretty nutritious! I used whole wheat flour, spices, oats, puffed rice, sliced almonds, banana, honey, natural peanut butter and egg whites in the batter.

Skinny Peanut Butter-Banana Oatmeal Bars
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup puffed wheat or rice
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1 cup finely mashed banana
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons natural peanut butter
2 large egg whites
2 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with foil; grease foil.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, salt, oats, puffed wheat and almonds until combined.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together banana, brown sugar, honey, peanut butter and egg whites until combined; whisk dry ingredients into wet, until combined.

Spread batter evenly into prepared baking dish and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Remove pan from oven and cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack before slicing.

Makes 12 bars

Strawberry Rhubarb Crostata

Good morning, dad. Happy Father's Day to you! I wonder what you're doing right now. Having your morning joe and reading the Sunday paper? Wait, I guess you wouldn't be reading the paper if you're reading this. Do you realize I just wrote this right before you woke up? Yes, it is true. I was up late baking you a pie. No, I didn't bake you this Strawberry Rhubarb Crostata. I realize you don't like rhubarb... or at least you think you don't. I think you secretly do. Grandma convinced you that you don't like it.

You like all different kinds of food! You're the bravest foodie I know. Thank you for pushing me so much, growing up, to try new foods. Thank you for introducing me to homemade pasta, asparagus, smoked brisket, fried eggplant, and more. Thank you for loving the foods that mom didn't, and allowing them in the house - pickles, mayonnaise, hot sauce, etc. Would I be so interested and passionate about food if it weren't for you?

Yup, you're my dad, dad. And I love you. I think you're a great father... you're always good to talk to, always there for me, always helping me with things. You've done a fine job as a father. Look how good I turned out! Heh heh heh. You're a smart, funny, talented, kind, generous man. Yes, you deserve a good pat on the back. And some hugs.



I'm not sure how you feel about rustic, free-form pasties on your special day. Err, pastries. I bet you like pasties.

That's what a crostata is: a rustic dessert tart, prepared by folding the edges of the dough over the top of the filling. I think you would like a crostata... just prepared with a different filling.

I'm a fan of the strawberry-rhubarb, though. Especially in combination with strawberry preserves, sliced almonds, and a cream cheese pastry dough.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crostata (Recipe by Me)
Printable Recipe

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons ice water

1 cup thinly sliced strawberries
3/4 cup finely chopped rhubarb
1/4 cup strawberry preserves
3 tablespoons corn meal
3 tablespoons sliced almonds

To make the pastry dough, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, confectioners' sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the cream cheese and butter, and knead together using a pastry blender or your fingertips, until mixture resembles pea-sized lumps. Sprinkle in the ice water, a tablespoon at a time, stirring gently with a fork after each addition, adding only enough of the water until dough starts to come together.

Using floured hands, pat dough into a smooth, flattened disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes, in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a large sheet pan with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together strawberries, rhubarb and preserves until well combined.

Coat a work surface with the cornmeal. Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out thinly on surface; place on prepared sheet pan. Spread strawberry-rhubarb mixture over dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Fold in dough edges to form a rim; sprinkle almonds over strawberry-rhubarb mixture.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Cool 10 minutes before slicing.

Makes 6 servings

Cinnamon-Hazelnut Brownies

Enough talk about Vegas, enough giveaways, enough product reviews. Let's get back to the basics. Let's all relax and talk about dessert.

Dessert makes me happy. I believe everyone should have dessert every day to bring them happiness. Whether it's chocolate cake with ice cream, fruit, or candy, you need to have a little sweetness in your day.

Today I'm making dessert for you. Come on over, I'll put the coffee on and we can have it and discuss Top Chef Masters.

I hope everyone likes Cinnamon-Hazelnut Brownies. If you haven't tried them, you simply must. It has been a few months since I last baked brownies, and I couldn't resist making some.

These. Are. Amazing. I received rave reviews for these brownies that are packed with chocolate and hazelnut flavor. It's a dark chocolate brownie batter with cinnamon and Nutella, topped with chocolate chips and chopped hazelnuts.


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Cinnamon-Hazelnut Brownies (Recipe by Me)
Printable Recipe

1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (I used mini-chips), plus additional for sprinkling on top
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup Nutella
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup finely hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line an 8x8-inch square baking dish with foil; grease foil.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder and salt; whisk until combined.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; remove pan from heat and stir in chocolate until melted. Beat together melted chocolate and granulated sugar, in a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on high speed, for 2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to medium and beat in Nutella, eggs and vanilla, for an additional 2 minutes, or until well combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture until just combined; scrape batter into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips and hazelnuts.

Bake for 23-25 minutes, or until set. Cool completely before lifting foil out of pan and slicing into bars. Freeze for easier slicing.

Makes 12 brownies

Vegas Vacation Part Two

I wasn't sure if many people visited downtown Las Vegas, but apparently they do, because we hopped on the "deuce" (the bus that goes up and down the strip) and it was packed. It was the most annoying bus ride ever, stopping every ten seconds, until we arrived downtown.

Once I saw Fremont Street, I was blown away. I don't know.. I guess I wasn't expecting much, but I'm so glad we went. It's the street with all of the original Las Vegas casinos. It's the Vegas you see in old movies and TV shows. There's a huge canopy covering the street with a light show and music. This summer's theme is the sixties.


Groovy.


Far out.





This reminds me of Midnight Cowboy, which I just watched.


Mermaids casino! I remembered a few of you mentioned this place and said they had fried goodies. You were right! They had fried Twinkies and Oreos. I was going to buy some but the line was ridiculous and we didn't have time to wait.


Like I said before, Paris was my favorite casino. I loved how the inside was decorated, and all of the shops and restaurants. They had the best drinks we had anywhere, too. Great slots also. Here's an inside secret - play the Mega Winner slot machine. They're fun and you seem to win a lot.


Eric and I dined at a cafe in Paris! I had a French sandwich and a French soup. Eric had a French burger and French fries. And we both had French bread.
Oh la la.





I heard about this place called Luv It Frozen Custard that was supposed to be really famous and close to the Stratosphere. I kept looking for it when we were walking around, but I didn't see it. I asked about ten locals about the place, too, and they had no idea what I was talking about. Very frustrating. Because now after checking out their website, I realize we were incredibly close to it. That makes me sick. Look at their delicious menu!



I noticed an abundance of gelato in the city, so for this trip, that's what I chose to concentrate on. We sampled some at the Venetian, but opted for a different place, sort of in the shopping mall area. None of these gelato places seemed to have names, by the way.



They had an assortment of different flavors, but I excitedly chose "Stracciatella" without thinking about it. It seemed so exotic! Unfortunately it was just chocolate chip. Eric got mint chip, which I preferred. We were a little disappointed because it didn't taste any different than regular ice cream.



We had better luck at a gelato place in Caesars Palace. This was the best gelato we had while we were there, and.. It. Was. Amazing. We got to sample several different flavors and it was hard to choose; we went with pistachio and peanut butter cup. Sooo good. I won't tell you how much it was, though, because you'll be sick.



Now I have the urge to make my own gelato - I'm thinking pistachio. I wasn't sure what the difference between gelato and ice cream was, so I looked it up. Gelato is made with milk, as opposed to cream. Also, I think gelato might be airier and melt faster. I'm still a little confused.

Anyway, I'm itching to get back in the kitchen and bake, and also get caught up on my blog reading, so that's all I have for you about our Vegas trip. My one complaint about Vegas is I didn't get to do everything! Not even close. So if any of you feel like taking a trip sometime... :)

I leave you with this picture of me in Caesars Palace, standing by a piece of art. A true masterpiece.

Vegas Vacation Part One

Congratulations to Carrian of Sweet Basil! You won the yogurt coupons. Check your email! Quick! You need that yogurt as soon as possible.

I love having giveaways. This time to pick the winner I just asked Eric to pick a number 1-83 and he selected number 39, which was Carrian. I wish I could have a giveaway every day. Wouldn't that be fun? I'm going to start doing that. I can give away my furniture and possessions. Mondays's blog I'm giving away my grandma's antique bed. Tuesday I'm giving away my leftover chocolates from Valentine's Day. Wednesday it will be my tennis trophies from high school.

Seriously, thanks for entering the giveaway and leaving comments. I don't know... I've just been thinking lately... I feel so honored when people stop by, visit, leave comments, etc. I never get used to it. The blogging world is awesome and I truly appreciate you all. I really do. I'm so thankful to be a part of it.

Anyway, let's get to this Vegas trip before I forget what happened... which is already happening.

This was my first trip to Las Vegas, but it won't be my last. Eric and I had such a good time! We stayed there for five nights and didn't get bored one bit. The number of casinos, shows, restaurants, and things to do was astounding. There is plenty of affordable entertainment in the city. I also like that it's so easy to get around to everything. You can walk everywhere, take the bus, ride the monorail, take shuttles, cabs, etc. Vegas is the perfect place for a quick, cheap getaway. That is, if you don't gamble too much.

We flew into the city on Wednesday afternoon, and it was beautiful. I absolutely love the landscape of desert and mountains. The weather was perfect - it was warm but not hot, and there was no humidity! I'm not used to NOT having humidity. We stayed at the Stratosphere, which overall I would recommend. It was fine for the price we received on our stay. I didn't like that it was so far down the strip; we had to walk quite a bit to get to everything. The casino itself was just okay... it didn't seem to have as many slots and games as others. The picture above is of the tower, which we didn't go into, but it has restaurants and rides at the top.

This is a view from our hotel room. If you look closely you can see Carl's Jr. which is where we ate right after we got there because we were starving and didn't want to wait to find anything else. I've never eaten at a Carl's Jr. before, and I've never encountered so many homeless people at one time.


This is our hotel room - pretty nice, overall. It's not the Bellagio, mind you.


Here is the large pool at the Stratosphere. The pool area was excellent.


Let's take a tour of some of the casinos. The Bellagio is gorgeous, and I loved the water show in the front.


There's something about the Palazzo that caught my eye every time we would pass by.


Treasure Island. In the front they have slutty pirate shows every night. "Cinnamon" is the star of the show, but you can call her "Cin". She talks about seamen and coves a lot.


The Venetian. I would have loved to stay here. No, we didn't take a gondola ride.


The Mirage during the day. Our cab driver called it "The Meeedrage" so we might have been saying it wrong. We pronounced it "The Muhr-age." But we're hill folk.


...and at night. They have a volcano show at night that's incredible.


The Eiffel Tower at Paris. This was my favorite casino by far. Isn't this picture pretty?


New York, New York! This is where I gambled for the first time. I thought it might be lucky to gamble here and maybe, hopefully win money for culinary school. Let's see how it played out.


Okay, this is how it went down. Ready? I selected the Triple Cherry slot machine... this was the one. This was the slot machine that was going to pay for my culinary education. It seemed fitting - cherries are food.. cherries go in desserts. Yes!


Play by play: money being inserted. Wow, a dollar! Someone was feeling crazy that night. Too many White Russians, possibly?


You have to pull the lever and not use the button for extra luck. It's a proven fact.


Come onnnnn big money! Mama needs a new pair of shoes and culinary education! I really did need a new pair of shoes... I'll tell you about this in a second.


I lost. Are you kidding me?! I have to wait tables for years to come before I can go to school? Geez. Thanks a lot Triple Cherry. You bastard of a slot machine.

So Eric sits down at a Wheel of Fortune slot machine... his first time gambling in Vegas. He wins like, six or seven bucks. But what he didn't notice was, there was already thirty dollars just sitting on the machine. So he won this on the first try:

Bastard of a boyfriend.


The World Series of Poker was going on while we were visiting Vegas, at the Rio, so we decided to walk there. The Rio is off of the strip, but it seemed close, so we decided to walk... an hour and three miles later, we were there! That was a huge mistake. We later found out there are free shuttles to the Rio from Balleys and Harrahs. At the world series we spotted Phil Hellmuth, John Juanda, Andy Bloch, Annie Duke and more. If you're into poker you would have loved it - all of the professionals were there. Eric and I even got to sit down and watch Daniel Negreanu play in a final table filmed by ESPN:


Unfortunately, walking to the Rio and walking all over the strip really tore my feet up. Flip flops are comfortable, but they're not good walking shoes! I also couldn't resist wearing heels a few times, and THAT was a huge mistake. My feet had blisters all over and were swollen the whole time. I could barely walk one night and we had to make an emergency stop at Walgreens for band-aids and new shoes.


And that is the lesson for you today. This is the one thing you should take away from reading this blog post: wear comfortable shoes in Vegas.

I'll wrap up this Vegas trip recap in my next post - it's too much to fit into one. The next post will actually have some food stuff in it! Something other than Carl's Jr.