chewy cinnamon peanut butter cookies

Fourless peanut butter cookies have been sort of an obsession for me. They are so easy and quick to whip up. The recipe yields about a dozen and half cookies so they are gone fairly quick. Not taunting me from the cookie jar to just have one more! I also love baking with Joseph. Making flourless peanut butter cookie recipes are great hand eye coordination practice. from scooping from the mixing bowl, rolling in the sugar and then placing the cookie on the baking sheet. It gives him a good workout!

Here is another take on flourless peanut butter cookies. I found the recipe here. We did change a couple of things. I used 3 medium eggs (cause that is what I had on hand) amd Joseph wanted to add sprinkles! Make sure to space them or they will look like this! These babies are crisoy on the e3dges and have a chewy center. Would never have thought to pair cinnamon and peanut butter. They are now BFF in the cookie world. Grab a tall glass of milk and enjoy!

Bountiful blessings~ Blair Lynn

Yield: makes 1 1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup granulated sugar, for rolling

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, for rolling

Instructions

1. Add the first six ingredients to a stand up mixer on medium-high speed and beat for 1 to 2 minutes with a paddle attachment. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then bear for 1 minute more or just until smooth and ingredients are combined. Place mixing bowl in the refrigerator for 1 hour, allowing to rest and chill.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Combine the 1/4 cup granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
4. Using a small cookie scoop, form balls and dredge each one through the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Dredge the balls through the mixture twice to create a thicker cinnamon-sugar coating will produce cookies with more texture and more intense cinnamon sugar flavor.
5. Place balls onto a Silpat-lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Flatten the mounts slightly with the tines of a fork, creating a crisscross pattern.
6. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes. The bottoms will have set, but the tops may look under-done but they will set up as they cool. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheets for at least 10 minutes or until they've firmed up. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

reprinted with permission from Averie Sunshine

http://www.foodiecrush.com/2013/10/flourless-chewy-peanut-butter-cookies/

Emily's Finger Lickin' BBQ Thighs

Oven Roasted BBQ Chicken Thighs

Prep Time:

 5 Minutes

 

Cook Time:

 1 Hour

 

Difficulty:

 Easy

 

Servings:

 12

Print Recipe

I absolutely adore Ree Dummond aka the Pioneer Woman! I love her show, her blog, and her recipes. I want to meet her some day! My youngest daughter Emily, absolutely loves to cook.I must say she is becoming quite the cook! She has spoiled me rotten cooking dinner most evenings. 

Our two youngest children Emily and Joseph have celiac spru and are casein allergic. Recently Emily has developed more GI issues so we are now re-evaluating our recipes and dietary options. Poultry is making its appearance more in our menu plan.   

My beloved hates grocery shopping. I mean hates it. But occasionally he will decided that we need groceries and off he goes. Today he stumbled on a great sale on chicken thighs. Yummy yummy yummy I was low on BBQ sauce so I searched Ree's site.Here is what I found. I usually just cover the chicken with sauce and bake for an hour or so on 400 degrees. I like Ree's idea better.of basting the thigh's with BBQ sauce!.

Emily changed up the BBQ sauce a little to make it stretch. Wow wow wow! Emily said that these measurements are guestimates! 

Emily's Finger Lickin BBQ Sauce

1 Cup Sweet Baby Ray's Chipolte BBQ Sauce 

Salt and pepper to taste 

1/4 tsp chopped garlic 

3/4 C of brown Sugar 

1 C ketchup 

1/8 C water

Here is a picture of Emily's amazing BBQ Thighs. Look at these beauties. Wish you could smell and taste these beauties!

Enjoy~Blair Lynn

Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Thighs  Ree Drummond

Ingredients

• 3 cups Your Favorite BBQ Sauce

• 1/2 cup Peach Preserves

• 1 clove Garlic

•  Hot Sauce, Optional

• 12 whole Chicken Thighs, Bone-in, Skin-on

•  Olive Oil For Brushing

Preparation Instructions

Combine BBQ sauce, peach preserves, garlic, and hot sauce in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, or until nice and hot. Set aside.

PREHEAT OVEN TO 400 DEGREES.

Drizzle olive oil on 2 rimmed baking sheets and place chicken thighs skin side down in the pans. Roast for 25 minutes. Remove from oven briefly, brush sauce all over the thighs, then use a spatula to flip them over to the other side, being careful not to tear the skin. Brush the tops with more sauce and return to the oven for 7 minutes. Remove from oven, brush on more sauce, and return to the oven for another 7 minutes. Remove from oven, brush on sauce, and turn up the temperature to 425 degrees.

Continue roasting for another 5 to 7 minutes, or until the sauce is starting to brown around the edges and the thighs are totally cooked through. Remove from the oven and let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Delicious! of course it is. It is a Pioneer Woman Recipe... http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2014/06/oven-bbq-chicken/

Beef Goulash

When we lived in Charleston, our neighbor across the street, Barbara made the most awesome goulash in the world. For years I begged her for her recipe. Our youngest daughter, Emily dearly loved her goulash and would be so happy when Barbara would bring over a big ol pot to share. Just the other day Emily mentioned how much she wished she could have some of Barb's goulash!

I got to thinking about it and started researching recipes. There seemed to be some pretty standard recipes out there. I started with this recipe and then did some tweaking to make it my own.

Goulash

1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce  ( I used spaghetti sauce I made the previous day)
1 medium onion ( I used red) chopped
4 garlic cloves chopped
1 green pepper diced (I used red)
1/2 tsp of oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and thyme
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds of lean grown beef
1 - 2 pounds of pasta

Makes 6 servings

Place garlic, onion, pepper in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook until the onions begin to caramelize. Remove from skillet. Brown meat in same skillet as veggies so anything left in pan can be cooked with the beef, add spices. As the meat begins to brown, break into smaller pieces. Drain meat after fully cooked. Add diced tomatoes to skillet allowing bits from pan to loosen. Add sauce, simmer 10 minutes. Add meat making sure all meat is evenly coated with sauce. Simmer 10 minutes. Add veggies simmering for an additional 15 minutes.

While beef sauce is simmering, cook pasta. I used elbow macaroni. Cook accordingly.
Pour meat sauce over pasta and mix. By cooking the pasta separately the pasta is able to maintain its shape and is not over cooked!

The next time I make this dish I am going to add zucchini. I think it will enhance the depth of flavor.

Fruit Pizza

When time is of the essences or I am just being plain lazy, Betty Crocker is my BFF! We love her GF brownie, chocolate chip cookie, and cake mixes. The brownies are awesome! 

Betty has added a sugar cookie mix and a flour mix to her options. I am excited! Before our kids were GFCF they loved the Pampered Chef Fruit Pizza. I loved to make and take it to potlucks and it was one of the most popular Pampered Chef party foods I use to serve when I was a Consultant. But once they could no longer eat it I no  longer made it. 

I just recently discovered a dairy free creme cheese alternative.

Waiting for this to hit our local store.

 

So now with the new Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix I am looking forward to making this yumminess again soon! 

The following recipe is from the Pampered Chef site: 
http://www.pamperedchef.com/recipe_search/recipe.jsp?id=9660

Ingredients:

1	package (18 ounces) refrigerated sugar cookie  dough
1	package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/3	cup sugar
4	cups assorted fresh fruits such as sliced strawberries, kiwi, bananas, peaches, blueberries, raspberries or mandarin oranges Note: I would drizzle chocolate over the top like the picture. Yum Directions: Preheat oven to 350°F. For crust, shape cookie dough into a ball. Place dough in center baking dish; flatten slightly with palm of hand and roll out dough to 12-inch circle, about 1/4-inch thick. Bake 18-20 minutes or until light golden brown; cool 10 minutes. Cool completely. For topping, combine cream cheese and sugar mixing well. Spread mixture evenly over top of cookie. Arrange fruit over cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate. Cut into 16 wedges. Yield: 16 servings Nutrients per serving: Calories 210, Fat 10 g, Sodium 170 mg, Dietary Fiber less than 1 g Cook's Tips: Substitute canned sliced peaches, well drained, for fresh peaches and grapes, cut in half, for blueberries, if desired. Enjoy!

Blast from the past...Monk Food aka Lentil Soup

The following post is from March 13, 2008 this is my now 15 yr old! Not many things have changed! She still loves to cook, and still is a picky eater! :0)

Monk food

Yesterday we read Chapter 3, volume II, Story of the World. This chapter addresses the spread of Christianity to Britain. One of the suggested activities was to prepare Lentil soup. I have never had lentil soup but loved the idea of eating as the monks would. We ever pretended it was butter so we could have butter on our bread! Emily could not get over that the monks were not allowed butter on their bread nor that they were not allowed to meat at breakfast. "No sausage or bacon? Poor them!"

Emily loves to help in the kitchen and this was no exception. She loved chopping all the veggies, adding the lentils and watching the spinch wilt. The lentil soup was wonderful and easy to make. Emily on the other hand has a different opinion, can you say YUCK! Did I mention that Emily is an extremely picky eater? At least she tried the lentil soup.

Because we are a larger family I doubled the recipe for lunch tomorrow. Well that was the plan, for evening snack Jeff, Sarah Elizabeth and I had another bowl. At Sarah Elizabeth's suggestion a few bowls were shared with their Godmother and Godfather, they called to say the soup was yummy! So there was no soup left over for lunch! ;0)

Lentil Soup

1 onion (we used a vidalia)

2 carrots, chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1 bay leaf

1 (14.5) can crushed tomatoes

8 C water

2 Tbs. vinegar

1/4 C of olive oil

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1 tsp. dried oregano

1tsp. dried basil

1 C lentils

1/2 C spinich, rinsed and thinly chopped

Salt and ground pepper to taste

*Note: I added 2 Tbs. Johnny's Season (we sprinkle this on about everything!)

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots and celery; cook until stir onions are tender. Stir in garlic, bay leaf, oregano and basil; cook for two minutes.

Stir in lentils, add water and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. reduce heat,a nd simmer for at least one hour. When ready to serve, stir in spinach and cook until it wilts. Stir in vinegar, and season to taste. Enjoy!

This makes about 6 servings.

Rice Crispy Treats

I cannot remember the first time I ever had a a rice crispy treat. But I am sure it was quite wonderful experience! When our children went GFCF, Emily worried about the fun food she would no longer be able to eat. The first yummy I made for them was GF rice crispy treats. I must admit the cereal I used was less than desirable. :0(   But i kept trying using different cereals over the years.

The other day my BFF Janet called to let me know that she had found Kellog's GF Rice Crispy cereal mark down. Did I want any? Um, yes! She scored 3 boxes! I was so excited!

The exchange occurred at a family baby shower. Oh my goodness it was so hot that day, 95 degrees in Seattle is just down right mean. 95% of Seattle folks do not have a/c in their homes.ous included, I DO NOT DO HEAT. Around 11 pm it was finally below 85 degrees. Emily asked if it was cool enough to make rice crispy treats because she could not wait! I made her wait till in the morning. After all it could count as breakfast right?! :0)  Holy cow were they good! Tasted just as I had remember. The kids were soooo excited.

Enjoy~Blair Lynn

      

GLUTEN FREE DAIRY FREE RICE CRISPY TREATS

6 C GF Rice Krispies

3 TBSP Earth Balance 

1 bag of mini marshmallows or 10 oz. of large marshmallows

In a large sauce pan melt earth balance on low. Add marshmallows, stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

Add cereal and coat until well covered.

Using a buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan coated with cooking spray or earth balance. Cool. Cut into squares or shapes.

MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS:

In a microwave-safe bowl heat earth balance and marshmallows on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Follow steps 2 and 3 above. Microwave times may vary.

Frozen Pup Treats!

Last January our family became richly blessed by the newest family member to join the crazy Sprouse House. Harley is a 6 year old Golden/Yellow Lab. He sooo fits in! It has been a long time since I have loved a dog like I love Harley. He is suppose to be our son, Joseph's therapy dog. But we all know he is my boy. :0)

Seattle summers last about as long as a blink of your eye. It does not start until July 5th and runs through the end of Augusts. Sometimes we are lucky and the rains hold off till September. But once summer kicks in it is great. Sometimes we make it out of the 80's! When it is hot all you want to do is eat frozen anything. Harley included. Harley loves to chomp on ice and ice cream! I was really excited when I saw a recipe for frozen dog treats aka Frozen Paw treats but for 1/4 of the price. 

My doggie tasters Lucy, Clifford, and Harley gave it 5 paws and 3 wagging tails!
May your dogs bowl be bountiful
~Blair Lynn

Frozen Paw Treats
1 Large container of yogurt I use plain
1 cup of peanut butter
3 large carrots minced
4 very ripe bananas (the riper the better)

Mix ingredients in food processor till smooth. Place in ice cube trays for 24 hours. Remove and place in ziploc bag. I cut up the ice cube before giving to Harley, otherwise he just swallows it whole! 

You can switch up the ingredients. I have used apples, peas, and even included kale!

FLOURLESS PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Every year when the warm settles in, it never fails that I get the urge to bake. I guess to make up for all the cool times I should have taken advantage of but didn't! Luckily the Pacific Northwest weather wavers back and forth between 50's-60's in the spring. It does not really gets warm until around July 15th but this spring has been different. It is as if Mother Nature has totally lost her mind! We have had the most beautiful spring. Full of warmer than usual sunny days and now summer weather. Later this week it is going to be almost 80 degrees! Unheard of in these parts.

Our 12 year old son Joseph, took a nasty fall off a playground structure the other day resulting in him being stuck in bed for the few week. I have been wanting to try these flourless peanut butter cookies for weeks. So when it was my turn to take a break from sitting with Joseph I headed to the kitchen to decided what was for dinner and snack. So here I am making my kitchen HOT baking cookies! :o)

I learned several things making these cookies:
1. Use a good brand of peanut butter.I used an off brand i picked up at Grocery Outlet. Too oily and not enough peanut butter flavor.

2. Start out small and work your way up. I could not find my Pampered Chef small scoop that i like to use when making cookies. I thought I had the medium scoop but guess what....it was the large! oops These cookies reallllly spread! They actually doubled in size.

3. I rolled the cookies in raw brown sugar... it altered the flavor greatly. Giving the cookies more of a brown sugar flavor. My cookie tasting expert told me that they were ok, but she prefers my stand by peanut butter cookies.

4. Do not add time to the suggested cooking time. I add too minutes because of the size and the cookies got too dark around the edges. I however love extremely crisp cookie edges!

5. adding 1/2 C of Enjoy Life dairy free mini chocolate chips would be yummy!

Enjoy!
~ Blair Lynn

GLUTEN FREE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Ingredients

• 1 cup peanut butter ( any kind of nut butter will work)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt or to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat together with a fork the peanut butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Drop spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
5. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Pop Corn

Man, I love pop corn! I can eat it just about anytime of day. Same with our kiddo's.

Your probably thinking why is Blair writing about pop corn? Way back when, I thought microwave pop corn was the bomb! One day my destine to be my future Mother-In-Law, made stove top pop corn in olive oil. Zowie!! It was awesome. After that fateful bliss day, I always cook pop cornon the stove rather than the ichy bag stuff. 

Recently my pop corn world was rocked yet again! Sarah Elizabeth's BFF made pop corn in the microwave but not with the prepackaged, hydrogenated oil stuff. Just a simple brown bag or "poke" as my Grandma called it. Simplify at its best!

Microwave Pop Corn

Ingredients
1 brown flat bottomed lunch size paper bag
1/2 C pop corn kernels
Salt or seasonings
Earth Balance (optional)

Directions
Place pop corn in paper bag. Fold top of bag 2 times. Do not not use staples, twisty ties or anything to secure bag. The fold will hold during popping.

Place in microwave using the pop corn setting. Microwave times vary. Listen for when the popping slows. Be careful, DO NOT OVER COOK OR BURN! Your house will be very stinky and your taste buds will be very sad. You most likely will need to play around with the cooking time to get it just right with your microwave. Add seasons and enjoy!

Try these toppings for some gourmet popcorn fun:

• Mexican: Add chili powder, hot sauce, and salt.
• Kiss My Breath: Shake in onion powder and garlic powder — hold the kiss.
• Cheese Please: Mix in Parmesan cheese with a little salt.
• Sweet Tooth: A dash of cinnamon, a sprinkle of sugar, and a topper of honey. Now that’s money.
• Classic: A shake of salt with a pat of butter.

May your table be bountiful~blair

Baked Tortilla Chips

In reviewing our family food budget I have decided our family eats as well as spends way too much on corn chips each month. We have nacho's for lunch once a month and we use these to tunnel through the mega size hummus we graze through on Sunday afternoons for lunch. Don't worry, there are vegetables involved too!

As you may recall, my goal this year is to make more than to buy more.I was trolling through the internet for tortilla chip recipes and found I liked this recipe the best. Very easy and straight forward.

The great thing about making these chips at home is you can use what ever seasonings you have on hand and are cheap! I am also thinking these would make a nice hostess or house warming gift paired with homemade salsa.

We took our chips with us tonight the Everett Aqua sox's game. Beats paying $5 for a large bag of popcorn, which I am sure the kiddo's could NOT eat. Jeff and the kids enjoyed them. Next batch I am thinking cinnamon and sugar!

Ingredients 

Corn Tortillas (You can use flour but then they will not be GF!)
Nonstick cooking spray, I used canola but olive will be yummy as well.
Seasoning of your choice (*optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Lay single tortillas out on wax paper. Spray each side with oil, lightly. Sprinkle with seasoning. *
Stack 8 tortillas on top of one another. Using a pizza cutter or knife divide into 4ths or 8ths.

Arrange triangles in a single layer on baking sheet.* Bake 7-10 minutes until edges start to curl and are lightly brown. CAUTION: these will burn very easily. Once chips are brown and crisp transfer to a cooling rack.

Chips will continue to crisp as they cool. Completely cool before transferring to an air tight container. Use within 1-2 days.

* I did not salt or season mine. Next time I will lightly season with sea salt. :0)

May your table be bountiful~blair

Breakfast Lasagna

On Tuesday, June 26th, our family starts our summer schedule! Wahoo! I thought Joseph's school schedule would never end. Our home school Center finished the first week of June! So over the past few weeks I have been preparing for the endless weeks of Joseph wanting to be on the computer for 12 hours a day and Emily reading14-15 hours a day in her room about Vampires...so NOT gonna to happen! (we are homeschooling this summer) Anyway, I wanted to get a jump on menu planning. 


Do you ever get in a "rut when planning your menu's? Or if you have been really bad and NOT planning your meals? In looking at my "generic meal plan", breakfast is my worst offender. Look at this schedule! I ask, how boring is this?


Sunday: muffins or baked breads, meat and eggs
Monday: eggs, veggies, and/or beans
Tuesday: yogurt with fruit
Wednesday: french toast
Thursday: scrambled eggs and fruit
Friday: french toast
Saturday: cereal/yogurt with fruit 

I LOVE the website, Just A Pinch. I have found some really yummy recipes on this site. However, they are rarely GF/CF. When I make modifications, they usually do NOT the cut with my food critics children. So, usually make them an alternative dish. I really do not like to do that. Then I feel like a short order cook. Those days are long gone at our house. 

This dish maybe served hot or cold.

The second time I made this yummy, I added black berries and raspberries. Em added a smidgen of Cool Whip to her serving. She said that it looked naked and needed something to "cut the sweet". Uh, yeah, sure Em!


You can find the original recipe here. 

Beautiful and so versatile! 

May your breakfast table be bountiful and full of joy~Blair

Breakfast Lasagna


Ingredients

3/4 c	sugar
1/4 c	my all purpose flour mix
1/4 tsp	salt
1 1/2 c	almond milk
6	egg yokes * mashed bananas maybe used in place of yokes
1 1/2 tsp	vanilla * omit if using vanilla almond milk
6	toasted Van's GF waffles
6	frozen GF pancakes (thawed) * I make mine ahead
1 c	blueberries
2 c	strawberries (sliced) *  1 C blackberries and raspberries

Directions

1

 In a 2 quart saucepan combine sugar, flour, salt and milk over medium heat. Cook stirring until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.

2

 Remove pan from stove. In a small bowl, beat egg yolks slightly. Slowly add to pan. If you do this too fast or have not allowed the pan to cool eggs will scramble when added to milk mixture. Return pan to stove cook, stirring constantly till thickened. Remove from heat, slowly add vanilla and stir; chill until ready to use. Use EXTREME CAUTION this will burn/scorch very easy. Don't ask how I know this!

3

 TO ASSEMLE:
Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking oil. Place a thin layer of pastry cream in a 9x13 pan.

4

 Add toasted waffles and cover with 1/2 cream spreading evenly.

5

 Cover with 1/2 berries and layer on top of cream.

6

 Top with pancakes and spreading the remaining cream on top of pancakes evenly.

7

 Top with remaining berries. * I left off top berries because I do no like cook berries. I then covered with foil to bake. Remove foil in the last 5 minutes.

8

 Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Cover with remaining berries if you like.