Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

My dad loved cookies as much as I do, and that's really REALLY saying something.  However, unlike me, his favorite were Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.  This was the recipe my mom would always make for him!

Chocolate Fudge Pie

Who doesn't love fudge pie?!  

Wacky Cake

My mom used to make this for birthdays when I was a kid.  It's a super tasty and unique chocolate cake!

Coca Cola Cake

My mom made a lot of fun cakes when I was growing up.  As a true Southerner, of course one of those cakes was a Coca Cola cake.  It's delicious!  

The Softest Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love all chocolate chip cookies.  Chewy, crispy, fluffy, barely cooked... If you are craving a soft chocolate chip cookie, this one is the best!

Browned Butter Pecan Pie

In my family, no single person is responsible for all the holiday cooking, regardless of who is hosting the meal.  We are a potluck family, where each family member is assigned a dish or two to bring, so we can focus on just being together.  I had three separate holiday dinners to attend this Christmas, so I was sure I would be asked at least once to bring a dessert.  I had been dying to try out a new pie recipe, since I rarely have a good reason to bake a full-fat, decadent pie. Much to my surprise, everyone instead requested my "Crackaroni & Cheese", so I have found myself making a ton of macaroni and cheese, and alas, no pie.

Ultimate Fudge Brownie

The only thing in my culinary life that can match my deep love for chocolate chip cookies is a fudge brownie.  My favorite kind of brownie has a flakey buttery crust on top, but is gooey and fudgy inside.  While I adore my healthy brownie recipes (like my Black Bean Brownies), sometimes I just want a classic delicious brownie!  For the past few months, I've been experimenting with different brownie recipes, and tweaking them to try to create my personal favorite brownie.  If only I put this much work into other endeavors in my life.... Anyways, after much determination and calories, I've finally created a recipe that results in the ideal, ultimate, fudge brownie.  Honestly, this whips up so quickly and easily (with ingredients I always have on hand), that I'll never feel the need to buy a box mix again.  

Lactation Cookies

My little sister gave birth to adorable (and hungry) twins a few weeks ago.  She has been exclusively breastfeeding both of them, and her lactation consultant suggested that she try eating lactation cookies to help increase her milk supply.  She asked if I knew how to make the cookies, and if I had tried them.  I had certainly heard of them, and their benefits.  I breastfed both my babies, one for 9 months, the other for 6 months, and I had supply issues that I battled both times the entire duration.  I remember looking at recipes, and then losing motivation to actually bake them.  Babies are exhausting, and when you are breastfeeding, you get short little breaks between feedings that you'd rather use to shower or shove carbs down your throat; not standing in the kitchen baking.  That memory made me insist that my sister not worry about making the cookies; I would make them for her.  So for those of you new breastfeeding mamas; send this recipe to your mom, your sister, or good friend and have them bake them for you.  You go take a nap.

Frosted Sugar Cookies

As I have confessed before, I am a Cookie Monster.  I frigging love cookies.  Peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies; I love them all with my whole heart.  During Christmas break, my daughter and I did our annual tradition of baking a ton of cookies and eating about half the cookie dough before they even get in the oven.  This year we did an extra step and frosted the cookies and topped them with sprinkles.  My toddler thought this was literally the greatest thing ever.  I'm not sure what was the best part, decorating the cookies or eating them.  Who am I kidding....the best part will always be eating them. 

Mattie's Pumpkin Pie

This recipe is, in my completely biased opinion, the BEST pumpkin pie recipe on earth.  It's an old recipe, created by a family friend named Mattie.  It's her recipe from the 1950s, except it actually involved using real pumpkin, not canned.  I cheated and used canned, but added an extra step to make the canned pumpkin taste more like fresh pumpkin.  Sadly, Mattie passed away many years ago, but her amazing recipes live on in our house.  I wish I could have gotten a better picture to really illustrate how wonderful this pie is, but I had a pie crust mishap (as I often do...crusts aren't my thing).  Regardless of how it looks in photos, I promise you this is the creamiest pumpkin pie you will ever, ever eat.  

Peanut Butter Fudge (Black Bean) Brownies

So I'm happy to announce that I had my baby boy a few weeks ago!  He was born on September 26th, at 6 lbs 6 oz, when I was exactly 38 weeks along.  

Interestingly enough, my 3 year old daughter was also born in September, about 2 weeks early, at 6 lbs 7 oz.  Their hospital newborn pictures look almost identical; they both have such similar features and coloring at birth.  My daughter is now blonde and blue-eyed and looks absolutely nothing like she did as a newborn, so I'm curious to see how much Stinker (yup, his nickname is Stinker...and sometimes Stink-Stink) will change in this next year.  He, however, was born with brown eyes, so I'm betting he keeps his darker coloring.  

Pumpkin Bread

When I was pregnant with my first child, I over prepared for everything:  birthing classes, breastfeeding books, baby supplies, etc.  However, there was one area where I completely dropped the ball:  I didn't make any food ahead of time.  I didn't realize how hard tasks like cooking dinner and running to the grocery store would be with a baby.  Instead we spent the first few months of my daughter's life ordering take-out and eating overly processed boxed foods.  This time, I planned ahead.  I made a month's worth of freezer dinners, snacks, desserts, and breakfasts.  One of my favorite items I made was Pumpkin Bread.  It was so easy and quick to make, and tasted so moist and delicious.  I was originally going to keep it pure with no add-ins, but my daughter convinced me to make it with chocolate chips.  I definitely think she made the right choice!  Feel free to mix in your own personal favorite add-ins.  This recipe makes two loaves, and freezes beautifully...if you can wait that long to eat it. 

Fudgy Black Bean Brownies

As followers of my blog know, I love desserts.  I simply cannot have dinner without dessert; it would be like going to bed without a pillow, or taking a bath without bubbles.  You could do it, but why would you ever want to?  My need for dessert is a tricky one, because I also strive to eat as healthy as possible.  Desserts are generally not known for being the most nutritious of meals (and sorry, fruit just doesn't cut it as dessert for me).  So I'm always on the lookout for healthier versions of traditional desserts.  The health food scene has been abuzz lately with talk about Black Bean Brownies, but some of the feedback on them hasn't been great, so I had put off making them.  After all, I don't want my desserts to actually taste healthy.  However, after going five months with an aversion to chocolate (thanks, pregnancy!), I decided to celebrate my return to the wonderful world of chocolate by trying my hand at making a "doesn't-taste-healthy-black-bean-brownie".  

Chewy Sugar Cookies

Despite being 21 weeks pregnant, I'm still running 4 to 5 times a week. It's certainly not easy, but I generally feel pretty good after a run, and therefore am pretty motivated to keep it up.  However, the other day when I was getting ready to lace up my sneakers, I was stuck by a different sort of motivation:  I needed to bake and eat sugar cookies. 

Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

In case you didn't the announcement in my Lemon Raspberry Muffins post, I've caught a slight case of pregnancy.  I was able to find out recently if I was having a boy or a girl, and since I discovered the result literally the day before Easter, I decided to share the surprise with my family by making Gender Reveal Cupcakes.  When I was pregnant with my daughter a few years ago, I had almost the exact same timing, and that's how I let them know I was having a girl.  I had made white cupcakes with buttercream frosting for Easter, and stuffed the inside with bright pink frosting (buttercream dyed with red food coloring).  This time I found myself drawn to lemon cupcakes.  After a bit of recipe searching, I decided on the always amazing Sally's Baking Addiction, and I'm so glad I did, because these cupcakes turned out delightful!  For the frosting, I knew that it just had to be a cream cheese frosting, and I used the Our Best Bites recipe because it's the perfect amount of sweetness (as in, not too sweet!).  As for the stuffing, I decided I would try to be keep it healthier and instead of using food dye, I would mix the frosting with blueberry or strawberry jam.  Unfortunately, while the flavor was amazing this way, the color did not show up as an absolute blue or pink, so I ended up having to resort to food coloring after all.  Oh well! 

I'm sure you are all curious now to what I stuffed these delicious cupcakes with--blue or pink frosting?  

Lemon Raspberry Muffins

So today I have some news to share. You may have noticed that my blog entries have decreased a bit since January.  The reason? Well, I've been exhausted and sick.  Just the thought of most food makes my stomach uneasy.  Yup, that's right:  I'm pregnant!  Baby #2 is expected in early October.  I had a very tough first trimester, but now that I'm finally in the second trimester, I can start to feel my appetite and motivation trickle back.  Woo!

Stealthy Chocolate Bars

My daughter is the quintessential picky eater.  At one point, it got so difficult she actually ended up working with a food therapist for several months.  Now she is doing much better, and is much more willing to try different foods.  Unfortunately, she is still very resistant to eating most so-called "Superfoods".  So in an effort to sneak some nutritionally-packed produce into her diet, I came up with my Stealthy Chocolate Bars.  It tastes like dessert, but is made with mostly healthy ingredients packed with vitamins.  My child gobbles these up, while singing "yummy, yummy, in my tummy".  My husband and I both really enjoy it as a dessert too!

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

If you've been following my blog lately, it's pretty clear that I'm on a cheesecake kick. My guilt-free basic cheesecake recipe is just so easy and quick to make, and it's been fun thinking up new types of cheesecake to bake.  This past week I decided to add in some frozen raspberries, and it was delicious.  Please note that if you make these, it will not have a completely smooth creamy consistency--it will have a raspberry consistency.  You know, since it's pureed with raspberries and all. :)  Feel free to substitute your favorite frozen fruit instead of raspberries.  I bet it would be great with blueberries!  This is a great way to sneak healthy fruits into your kid's (or husband's) dessert.  

Skinny Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares

The leaves in Georgia are finally turning red and yellow, allowing it to finally feel like fall.  In celebration, I immersed myself in the current pumpkin-craze, and whipped up a Skinny Pumpkin Cheesecake.  Like my other skinny cheesecake recipes, it's low in calories yet somehow still creamy and delicious.  Best of all, it is seriously a breeze to make.

Skinny Cheesecake Squares

Earlier this year, I created a recipe called Skinny Chocolate Cheesecake Squares.  The recipe is ridiculously easy, quick, and low in calories, so it's no surprise that it became the most popular dessert recipe on my blog.  Due to its popularity, I decided to create a basic non-chocolate version of it, for those that prefer their cheesecake more traditional.  Feel free to top it with your favorite fruit!