Dark Chocolate Caramel Cookies

Thank you to Pinterest for this delicious recipe! I think these are way better than plain chocolate chip cookies.

Recipe
Dark Chocolate Caramel Cookies

Comments
 - Baking these on the tinfoil is key - I just slid the tinfoil off of the cookie sheets when the cookies were done to let them cool on the counter

Rating
4/5

Banana, Oatmeal & Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had two ripe bananas to use and decided to try this new recipe from Skinnytaste.  It literally took 5 minutes to whip these up.  I thought they might be a good recipe to try with Anna when she's old enough to help me in the kitchen.

Recipe
Banana, Oatmeal & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Comments
 - The recipe calls for walnuts but I used mini chocolate chips instead since I was going for the dessert effect versus the snack effect
 - This made 20 cookies, using 1 flat Tbsp of "dough" per cookie.  I recalculated the WWPP and it came out to 4 points for 5 cookies

Rating
4/5

WW PointsPlus
~1 per cookie

Salted Pretzel Marshmallow Bars

I've seen a few pretzel-based bar recipes on Pinterest lately and thought I'd give one a try (for Mike to take to work!).

Recipe
Salted Pretzel Marshmallow Bars

Comments
 - I didn't have peanut butter chips so I used regular creamy peanut butter
 - I ended up having to add about 1-2 Tbsp of oil to my chocolate chips to get them to the proper drizzling consistency
 - The flavor of these bars was good but between the peanut butter and the pretzels I ended up drinking like 4 glasses of water after I ate them
 - The drizzle looks nice in terms of presentation but the marshmallow pieces on top don't look very nice.  I might look for a bar recipe with the marshmallows baked into the bar next time.

Rating
3/5

Glazed Donut Muffins

I was in the baking mood last night so I made these muffins.

Recipe
Glazed Donut Muffins

Comments
 - This ended up making 16 muffins, not 12 (so the WWPP are calculated based on 16).  I only filled the cups about 2/3 full.
 - I didn't have nutmeg so I substituted the 3/4 tsp nutmeg for 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice.  Since there's cinnamon in the pumpkin pie spice I cut the cinnamon back from 3/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp.
 - Instead of dipping the muffins into the glaze I used a silicone basting brush to brush it on
 - I thought the 425° was a bit too hot for baking, so next time I'd probably reduce the heat to 375° or so and cook them a bit longer.  The bottoms cooked too quickly.

Rating
3/5

WW PointsPlus
6

Nutella & Banana Wraps

Bananas and chocolate are one of my favorite combinations.

Recipe

1/2 medium banana

1 Tbsp Nutella

1 whole grain flatbread (I used Flatout Flatbreads Multi-Grain with Flax, 3 WW PP)

Spread Nutella evenly over flatbread.  Slice banana lengthwise and layer slices on 1/3 of the flatbread.  Roll it up, kind of like a flat burrito.  Spray a skillet with PAM and heat on medium.  Place wrap in the pan, seam side down, and cook for about 2 minutes or until slightly golden.  Flip and cook for another 2 minutes.

Comments

 - This is a really good tasting wrap but I didn't think it was that filling

Rating

4/5

WW PointsPlus

6

Sugar Cookie Bars

I didn't get around to making my usual cut out sugar cookies this year, so I improvised and ended up making sugar cookie bars thanks to a recipe I found on Pinterest.  I dyed the icing a light green and then used a toothpick to sketch out a Christmas tree.  I used green sugar sprinkles to fill in the tree and trimmed it with a red garland using some red icing (Wilton's).

Recipe

Sugar Cookie Bars

Comments

 - I didn't have heavy cream for the frosting so I used skim milk.  It ended up being a bit too runny when I used the full 1/4 C so next time if I use skim I'll just end up using a few teaspoons shy of 1/4 C.  I stuck the bars in the fridge so that the icing would firm up.

 - These bars are absolutely delicious and so easy.  I may be making these for a few more years until Anna is old enough to help out with the cookie decorating...

Rating

5/5

Homemade Twix Bars

I made these last night for a potluck that Mike has at work.  They were easier and better tasting than the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars that I made a week or so ago.

Recipe
Homemade Twix Bars

Comments
 - I used Tollhouse milk chocolate chips for the topping and ended up using some heavy cream to thin them out a bit, maybe 5-6 Tbsp.  I didn't use shortening as the recipe suggests.  The heavy cream worked well with the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars so I thought it would work here as well.  The Tollhouse chips aren't as high quality as the Ghiradelli so they started to break down, with the oil rising to the top once I spread the chocolate over the top of the caramel.  I just wiped up some of that with a paper towel.  It didn't impact the taste, they just didn't have a perfectly smooth top.

Rating
4/5

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

I found this recipe on Pinterest and made it last week for a coworker's birthday.  So rich, but so good!

Recipe
Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Comments
 - I thought the crust was too crumbly...maybe I blended it too much.  Next time I might reduce the amount of sugar in the crust to help it stick together better.

Rating
4/5

Homemade Applesauce

My mom's cousin Liz brought this to Thanksgiving and it was a hit!

Recipe
4 large apples, peeled and cored (I used Cortland)
1/2 C. water
1/4 C. brown sugar (give or take, depending on sweetness of apples)
~1/4 tsp. nutmeg (just under)
~1/2 tsp. cinnamon (just over)

Add the apples and water to a large saucepan.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and cook for about 30 minutes, or until the apples are broken down thoroughly.  Add the brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon, then reheat to boiling.  Eat warm or cold.

Comments
 - No need to cut the apples into small pieces before cooking - just throw large pieces (quarters, halves) of the cored, peeled apples into the pan
 - I only cooked the apples for about 15 minutes since I like chunky applesauce.  Also, I skipped the brown sugar since I'm on WW, which kept it at 0 PointsPlus!

Rating
5/5

WW PointsPlus
1 (4 servings; this assumes that you add the brown sugar)

Microwave Baked Apples

I wanted to make just two servings of baked apples and didn't want to use the oven.  Here's a quick, low fat way to make baked apples in just a few minutes.

Recipe
2 medium apples, cut into bite size pieces (I leave the skins on)
1/4 C. old fashioned oats
1/4 C. granulated Splenda (or white sugar)
1/8 C. brown sugar

Coat a glass 8x8 baking pan with PAM.  In a bowl, mix all ingredients thoroughly.  Pour into baking pan.  Microwave on high for about 8 minutes, or until apples are tender.

Comments
 - The oats are still a bit firm after the 8 minutes are up.  If you prefer your oats to be more cooked, use quick cooking oats instead of old fashioned oats.

Rating
4/5

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies are really easy and really rich.

Recipe
Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Comments
 - Next time around I am going to try to make these with Splenda for Baking instead of sugar
 - I've made these with quick cook oats and also traditional oats...I prefer the latter

Rating
4/5

Pumpkin Fluff

This is a great low fat, low sugar, high fiber dessert!

Recipe

Pumpkin Fluff

Comments

 - I've made this twice...the first time with light Cool Whip and regular instant pudding, and the second time with sugar free Cool Whip and sugar free instant pudding.  They tasted pretty much the same so I think this is a good sugar free swap!

Rating

5/5

Apple Crisp

This recipe is an oatmeal-topped take on apple crisp.

Recipe
Apple Crisp

Comments
 - I cut the apples (Fuji) into fairly small pieces, but next time I might try cutting the apples into slices
 - I skipped the lemon juice
 - Instead of using 1/2 C. butter I used 1/4 C.

Rating
4/5

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

I needed to use up an open package of Nabisco chocolate wafer cookies, so I looked up pie recipes that used an Oreo cookie crust.  Since Mike and I both love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups I thought this pie would be a good one to try. 

Recipe
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Comments
 - I didn't have Oreo cookies so I made the crust using this recipe instead since it doesn't use the Oreo cream filling: Oreo Cookie Pie Crust
 - When I was making the cookie crust I put a plastic sandwich bag over my hand to keep the cookie mixture from sticking to me
 - This pie is insanely rich...this could be a 16-slice pie instead of a usual 8-slice pie

Rating
4/5

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

I made a half batch trial run of these yesterday since I'm planning to make them next weekend for my father-in-law's belated birthday celebration. 

Recipe
Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Comments
 - The ganache is tricky...during my first test I used bittersweet chocolate and I thought it was too bitter.  Plus you really couldn't taste the whiskey.  When I made these again I used semisweet chocolate and doubled the amount of whiskey.  I chilled the ganache for about 15 minutes before I tried to pipe it and it was still too runny.  I ended up adding some powdered sugar and used my hand mixer to thicken it a bit.  The whiskey flavor still didn't come through.  These cupcakes would still be really good without the ganache.
 - The cake portion of the cupcakes aren't overly sweet which is good because the Baileys frosting is really rich

Rating
4/5

Oreo Truffles

My coworker made these for my birthday this year and they were sooo good.  I made them for Mike's birthday this year since he's a big fan of Oreos.

Recipe
Oreo Truffles

Comments
 - I used lower fat Neufatel cheese instead of cream cheese
 - For dipping I used Ghiradelli white chocolate chips.  My coworker used vanilla almond bark.  Both work just fine.  I just melted the chocolate chips in a small bowl and used a toothpick to dip the chilled Oreo balls into the chocolate.  Freezing them for 15+ minutes is crucial, otherwise they'll fall apart when you stick them with the toothpick.

Rating
5/5

Margarita Cupcakes

I made these for a coworker's birthday and was pretty impressed.  This is just a good vanilla cupcake recipe in general if you were to omit the lime and tequila. 

Recipe
Margarita Cupcakes

Comments
 - N/A

Rating
3.5/5

Pumpkin Scones

Starbucks just brought back the pumpkin spiced latte, the weather is getting cooler and the leaves are starting to change colors.  Fall is here! I have to say, I am pretty excited for fall weather after sweating through a really hot summer at six through nine months pregnant! I subscribe to emails from the Skinnytaste blog and she sent one the other day with a pumpkin oatmeal recipe.  Then my friend Jen sent me a recipe for pumpkin alfredo a day or so later.  Other than the latte, I've never really tried anything pumpkin-y (?) other than pumpkin pie, which I've never really liked.  Honestly, at Thanksgiving I'd rather spend pie calories on extra mashed potatoes and gravy! I thought I'd try to learn to like pumpkin since I'm in love with the latte...I had one at the Galleria today and it was sooooo good!

I bought some pumpkin pie spice and a few cans of pumpkin at the store the other day and made my first pumpkin recipe today: glazed pumpkin scones.  I love scones - on our honeymoon in Ireland I swear I ate them every day, freshly baked at each B&B.  These are not healthy but they really are tasty.  I'll try some healthier pumpkin recipes as fall continues!

Recipe
Pumpkin Scones with Spiced Glaze

Comments
 - I didn't have half and half so I used low fat buttermilk
 - Instead of granulated sugar I used granulated Splenda
 - I substituted pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon/ginger/cloves/nutmeg
 - These weren't as dense as I would have expected.  They were really moist and flavorful though.

Rating
3.5/5