Happy Father's Day!

Even though I am a day late, I hope all the dads out there enjoyed their Father's day! For holidays such as these, I often bake my dad's and my future father-in-law's favorite cookies to supplement their gifts. I even do it for birthdays or Easter. Desserts are a great way to say you've been thinking about someone and homemade treats say you took the time to create something they love.

Both my dad and Greg love my signature oatmeal cookies: Oatmeal Lace Cookies. I've made them for several years now and even mentioned them in one of my podcasts I did on healthy cookies. Yep! HEALTHY cookies. This amazing recipe is actually a Weight Watchers Recipe! For those of you following the program, two cookies are three points. It's also very easy; I just need a bowl and a spoon. My mixer doesn't have to get dirty for this!

Oatmeal Pecan and Lace Cookies, Weight Watcher Website

1 ¼ cup(s) rolled oats

½ cup(s) dark brown sugar, packed

1 tsp baking powder

½ cup chopped pecans, finely chopped (or walnuts, or almonds, or whatever nut you choose)

1/8 tsp table salt

1/3 cup(s) regular butter, melted

1 large egg, beaten

½ tsp vanilla extract

1.     Preheat oven to 350 F and cover 2 cookies sheets with parchment paper or foil. I don't have parchment paper and, therefore, use foil for everything. I would suggest spraying the foil with a nonstick spray; the first time I made these I didn't spray and they were GLUED to the paper and fell apart. No matter what you use, spray!!

2.     Chop the pecans or walnuts. To do this, I simply put them in a plastic bag and go to town with a rolling pin. I always use walnuts for this recipe because I always have them on hand. This recipe works well with walnuts and pecans, no matter what you choose. You can even do them both--this will alter the points value though. Then, mix oats, sugar, baking powder, pecans and salt together in a large bowl until well incorporated.

3.     Add butter, egg and vanilla to oat mixture; mix well. As you can see in the picture below, the mixture just looks wet and does not seem to stick together very well. Just make sure you get it as wet as you can as you mix it up.

4.     Slide teaspoonfuls of batter onto prepared cookie sheets and flatten each out, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie. Yes; I mean SLIDE. Scoop up the batter with the spoon and slowly push it onto the cookie sheet. Make sure they aren't in a ball form; you want them to be flatter so they come out like "lace."

5.     Bake cookies until edges turn golden, about 8 to 12 minutes. Let cookies stand on cookie sheets for 2 minutes before removing to cooling rack.

 

    There is not much of a physical difference between when you put the cookies in the oven and when you pull them out. However, the bottoms get golden brown and look like crystalized sugar, as you can see in the bottom photo. A word of caution: don't get discouraged if they fall to pieces on you. It took me quite a few times of making these to keep them whole and prevent them from falling apart. However, they are nutty, vanilla-y, and full of flavor, which makes them great to eat as a cookie or to eat in pieces in a bowl of milk or cereal to act as granola. 

   The best part? They are Weight Watchers approved! Two cookies for three points? Most of the time you cannot touch one cookie for under four. These are sweet and fulfilling--definitely guilty free. The best part? Making them for your dad is not going to hurt his diet. It's giving him a healthy alternative that he will love and completely enjoy. Just see how long those cookies last. :D

Toffee Crunch Muffins. . . Without the Toffee!

Remember one of my first posts about the yummy Toffee Crunch Muffins?

Instead of making this EXACT recipe, I decided to make dinner muffins out of them instead!

Regular Muffins from Kitchen Aid Baking Basics:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

1 egg, beaten

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 . Grease 10 standard muffin cups (I think I made mine smaller because I used 18 muffin cups).

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and slat in bowl of electric stand mixer. Combine milk, sour cream, egg, butter and vanilla in small bowl until well blended. Stir into flour mixture until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. 

3. Bake for about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out smooth (I had to bake mine for 25 minutes, but start with less time and then go up). Remove from pans; cool on wire racks 10 minutes. 

All I did was omit the toffee! They remained a little sweeter because of the milk, brown sugar and vanilla, but were really great fresh out of the oven with the beef stew I made on a stormy night. I also reheated them a few nights later in the oven, and they tasted the same as the first night! Keith likes to eat them with butter, but I personally like them plain. Either way, they are a perfect carb for dinner or breakfast!

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

When my mom and I go to doctors appointments, we often sit in the waiting room and read their piles of magazines looking for tasty recipes to try. If we happen to find something appealing that catches our eyes, we quickly flick them around the room and quietly peel the recipe out to slip in our pockets. Not the best method but an effective one I have perfected over the years.

Today's blog features a recipe I found this shady way: peanut butter banana muffins. Now, if you are not a fan of peanut butter OR bananas, then you are out of luck today, my friend. However, I happen to enjoy both greatly, as does almost everyone in my family--especially my dad. I made them with him in mind and brought them to him this past weekend. I am waiting for his opinion on them. But this recipe was especially appealing to me because I had bananas that skipped the "firm" stage and went straight to "gross."

Nasty, right?

Banana and Peanut Butter Muffins

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1/3 cup Country Crock spread

¼ cup peanut butter

½ cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1.     Preheat oven to 400. Grease two 12 cup muffin tins or line.

2.     Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl; set aside.

• Beat Country Crock spread with peanut butter in large bowl with mixer until smooth. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs. Alternatively beat in flour mixture and milk combined with bananas with mixer on low speed until blended.

Spoon into prepared pan to make 18 muffins.

5.     Bake 20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.

    As you can see, I actually got 24 muffins instead of 18. I prefer my muffins a little smaller so I can eat more of them. :D Here's the final product:

I know--my camera takes awful photos. Sorry! Not a photography major. Anyways, these muffins came out very light inside and fluffy too.

However. . .

I forgot the salt. 

I know, I know. This is the first time I have EVER forgotten an ingredient, but I'm not sure if missing the 1/4 of a teaspoon really mattered too much. It might have helped a little bit, but these muffins were just really bland. REALLY bland, and to have some salt in there would have been beneficial. However, I think part of my problem too was that I kept expecting them to taste like my banana bread recipe, which they definitely do not. 

If you are craving muffins, I'm not sure I would recommend this recipe to you. Now, my dad really likes foods that are more "bland" than most people (he would disagree). If you fall into this category, they might be for you. All I know is that I ate half of one, and I was a disappointed in the results.

On the other hand--these make great dog treats! Apollo was having bathroom problems outside, but refuses to eat rice or even regular banana anymore. He is just too spoiled for his own good. Instead, I have him pieces of these to eat, and he gobbled them right up--he's definitely my boy because he loves his carbs. After he had a whole one, he would not leave me alone for more. I have broken up pieces to freeze and keep around as treats for him when his tummy gets upset. It is not enough peanut butter to hurt him, and he loves it anyways. Plus, it has banana, which will help his tummy. 

If any of you are inspired by peanut butter banana recipes and find a great one that you love, please share it with me! I need something to replace this one! Thanks!

I guess this is karma for stealing the recipe out of a magazine, huh?