Gingerbread Muffins

I just love gingerbread and gingersnaps. But I despise ginger. Make sense?

Yesterday the craving for gingerbread with whipped cream came upon me...I happened to have some molasses on hand and whipped cream! It was fate.

Instead of doing my regular gingerbread cake type thing that I normally make, I thought muffins would be a good idea. Why, you ask? Cause muffins are very cute.

You will love this gingerbread recipe- It has a lot of flavor, and calls for a whole cup of molasses, which I adore. Molasses is wonderful.

Gingerbread Muffins
Yield: 16- 18 muffins

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 1/2 cups AP flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 cup very hot water

Pre-heat oven to 350.
Grease a muffin tin.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy.
Scrape down sides of the bowl and add in egg, mix well and slowly pour in molasses.
All at once add flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.
Mix everything together. 
Pour in water and mix on low until well combined.
Evenly divide the batter into the muffin tin, filling about 3/4.

Bake for 16-20 minutes, Or until the top gently springs back when you touch them.

Top with whipped cream and ground cinnamon for decor.

Enjoy!

Reese Smore's Bars

I have a problem with people.


More specifically, people in their cars.


I was out running errands the other day, and noticed a man driving next to me, shamelessly digging for gold with his finger halfway  up his nose. 

A GROWN man. 

Do people think their cars are an invisible bubble?! You probably see this all the time....But some of my favorites are the people that are checking themselves out, flashing smiles in the mirror, making sure their nose hairs are all plucked, checking for lipstick on there teeth.

I just feel like if you're on the road with thousands of other people, and in a car that is very 
window-y, you would maybe remember that like, EVERYONE CAN SEE YOU.

So if you're tempted to pick your boogers in your car on a highway, don't do it. I can see you, and It's gross. Super gross.

Now we go from boogers to possibly the best bars in existence.

Just this past summer, when my family would have a fire in the firepit we started making our smores with reeses instead of hershey bars. And we never went back. 
It's nothing earth shattering and I'm sure many of you have done the same....but if you haven't, you are living a sad, sad life.

These bars taste like Reeses smores, except better.

Reeses S'mores Bars
adapted from The Sweet Life
Oven:350

• 1 Cup Butter
• 1 Cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 Cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 TBSP. vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp, baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 Cups graham cracker crumbs
• 24-30 Large reeses PB cups
• 3-4 Cups fluff (I did one large container)

Spray a 9x13" pan with cooking spray.

Beat together butter and sugars until fluffy- for about a minute.

Beat in eggs and vanilla. All at once add the flour, baking powder, salt and cracker crumbs and mix on low until combined.

Press 1/2-2/3 of the dough onto the bottom of prepared pan.

Evenly arrange the PB cups and lightly press into the the dough.

Spread fluff all evenly all over the PB cups.

With the remaining dough, break it up in 4 or 5 chunks and press each chunk flat on a lightly floured surface.

Piece all the dough on top of the fluff layer and gently press down on everything to bring all the dough together into one sheet of dough.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Allow to cool for at least 2 hours before cutting. You can dig into them right away, but don't expect nice neat bars....they will be a beautiful disaster.

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookie Cheesecake

So, I need to confess.
Diet resolution people annoy me badly.

Every time I hear people talk about their diet/weight loss/work out resolutions it makes me want to yell something. Like, STOP.

Who even follows through with their resolutions, anyway? 
All these people and their little eat lettuce only and run 10 miles a day diets....I mean, does that sound realistic for you?! Do people REALLY think that they can maintain that kind of lifestyle for the rest of their lives? And if they're doing it just to get to a certain weight, what happens when (if) they do get to that weight? They know nothing about healthy, nutritious eating, and most of the time (the people I've watched) just gain it all back cause they haven't made realistic LIFE changes! 
It's like an all or nothing mentality...which, I must confess, up until recently was me.
I hate the word moderation, but it's really the only word adequate for the type of lifestyle that will lead you to success when it comes to your health, and lets face it- your happiness. Who want's to be around a skinny grumpy person??! I think we all agree we like the people best that make good food, enjoy good food and laugh a lot. 
Besides, laughing burns a lot of calories. Well, I don't know if that's scientific...but in my universe it's a good ab workout.

So, seriously, If I hear one more person say they are on a diet, or talk about how all they ate all day was celery and cabbage soup, I don't know what I will do, but i'll think of something not good.

I made this cheesecake today. It's our favorite in my house...if you are one of those non coconut loving people, you can obviously leave it out!

I hope you allow yourself to eat dessert :)


Oatmeal Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookie Cheesecake
Pre-heat oven to 350.

Crust:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup flour, mounded
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup quick or old fashioned oats
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup sweetened shredded, coconut

Cream together butter, sugars, egg and vanilla.
Add in flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon and mix on low just until combined.
All together add oats, both kids of chips and coconut.
Mix on low until it all comes together.

Press dough into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a greased 9" spring form pan.

Cheesecake filling:
3, 8 oz. packages cream cheese, out at room temp for about 30 minutes
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. AP flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp. milk
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

In the same bowl you made your crust with, (it's ok if there is a little cookie dough that didn't get 100% scraped out!) beat cream cheese and both sugars together for 1 minute, scraping down the bowl a few times.
Add in vanilla, cinnamon and milk mixing well, then pour in your beaten eggs.
Mix well, and add chips and coconut.
Scrape down the bowl to get everything combined well if needed.

Pour into your cookie dough crust, and place the spring form pan in a shallow baking dish such as a cookie sheet that has an edge at least 1 inch high.
Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a 2 1/2" area around the outer edges starts to brown and no longer jiggles.

Cool in the spring form pan for 20 minutes before loosening the edges and allowing to sit for another 20 minutes before completely removing the sides. You may need a knife to help loosen the edges a bit.

Allow to chill for at least 4 hours before chowing down!