Make It Monday! Faking It!

So every now and then we all fake it... Its a necessity of life... just to keep your sanity you have to do it every now and then...

I am of course referring to fake baking... and no I don't mean at the tanning salon....

I have mentioned before that I was "cheating" and using a pre mixed dough to make cookies back when I was pregnant with Max, but that was out of the sheer need to bake, eat something that is just crazy bad for me and well not have to do all the work...

But today when I wanted to make a few muffins and saw the packet of oatmeal muffins in the cupboard I had no doubt in my mind today was a Faking It kind of day...

It's not hard to Fake It... you just have to put on enough of a show to make sure that your coving your bases and not to over do it because every one knows when your hollering at the top of your lungs just how great your muffins turned out your clearly not really doing it from scratch...

 

So here are my tips for Faking It!

I have two favorite ways to Fake It with Oatmeal Muffins...

The base of course is your plain Oatmeal muffin mix, on the back it will tell you to add water... DONT! Add milk instead then follow the rest of the instructions.

If you want to spice it up and make Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins add a dash of Cinnamon and Ginger then add a few Chocolate Chips and bake... Easy right....

And better still... if you want to make Oatmeal Raisin Muffins....

Add the Ginger and Cinnamon and of course your Raisins.... then when you put them in the pans to bake sprinkle a little brown sugar over the top and bake as usual, the sugar will melt and caramelize a little giving you a crunchy sweet topping!

Bring that to the school bake sale and you can bet your behind that none of the other Momma's will be guessing that you Faked It! Well unless they read my blog too... and lets be realistic friends... they don't...

Happy Monday! And Happy Faking It too!

Make It Monday! S'mores Squares!

I love Summer and all things outside in Summer... but I especially love a camp fire and s'mores!

I love them so much.. I made these cookies last year and while I loved them they just weren't the s'mores flavor or texture I was looking for so I made these...

Now I'm sure that you can find something similar if you google search but I was in a baking/cooking mood when inspiration hit me and I just kept going...

This recipe is super simple and follows a similar recipe that you have no doubt used before when making rice crispy cookies!

S'mores Squares!
1 Tbsp Butter
2 1/2 Cups Marshmallows
2 Cups Golden Grams Cereal (I use the Sally brand from Walmart...)
About 1/2 to 1 Cup Chocolate Chunks (or 1/2 of a Chocolate Easter Bunny... not that I sacrificed one of Delaney's bunnies for this recipe.)

Melt the marshmallows with the butter over medium heat, then remove from heat and add in the cereal and then the chocolate, mix well and press into a small square dish that is greased. Allow to cool and cut into squares!

These are crispy and chewy and are full of chocolate all in one bite and they got the stamp of approval from Robyn's work buddies so they must be good!

If you like S'mores give these a try they are sure to bring you back to last years camp fire with family and friends... or at the very least get you ready for the real thing in the next few months!

 
PS linking up with It's Just Called Spicy and Rock and Share at the Shady Porch! Stop by and check them out!

Baking FAIL! Flourless Chocolate cookies!

I love to bake... I love to eat baked goods... I love to try new recipes for baked goods.

However sometimes these new recipes can go horribly horribly wrong... 

I figured that since I try so many recipes and of course there are going to be a few that wont work out eventually I should share with you the epic baking fails that I have as well as the great successes. 

My sister asked me to make these cookies for her as she loves Flour-less Chocolate Cake... and I had already pinned them on Pintrest so I thought hey why not.... 

Here is the recipe....

Flour-less Chewy Chocolate-Walnut Cookies

2 3/4 cups walnut halves

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 large egg whites, at room temperature

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.

Spread the walnut halves on a large-rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 9 minutes, until they are golden and fragrant.  Allow them to cool, then chop them coarsely.

Position two racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and lower temperature to 320.


Line two large-rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.


In a large bowl, whisk (or combine in an electric mixer on low speed) the confectioners’ sugar with the cocoa powder and salt followed by the chopped walnuts. While whisking (or once you change the speed to medium), add the egg whites and vanilla extract and beat just until the batter is moistened (do not overbeat or it will stiffen).


Spoon the batter onto the baking sheets in 12 evenly spaced mounds, and bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until the tops are glossy and lightly cracked; shift the pans from front to back and top to bottom halfway through to ensure even baking. Slide the parchment paper (with the cookies) onto 2 wire racks. Let cookies cool completely, and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Read more: http://www.remodelaholic.com/2011/08/flourless-chewy-chocolate-cookies-and.html#ixzz1XffNpncY

So on Sunday I got it all ready and made these cookies... 

and as you may have guessed they were a huge fail! they never baked the way they should and they stuck to the pans like crazy, when I say stuck I mean the only part that came off was the edges and they came off in small slivers. They tasted great, at least the edges did... and I'm sure the only reason they didn't work was because I messed the recipe somehow. However I got so mad that the works of it went in the trash shortly after... 

no pictures, no evidence, nothing left! 

I get really mad when something I make doesn't work out... (like throw things across the room mad) and it likely gets thrown out, taken apart or just left as is and is never touched again... 

Oh well it's bound to happen!

How do you react when things go wrong? Do you lose it like me or do you keep your cool and find a way to make it work? I'd love to hear some coping strategies if you have them... Leave me a comment and maybe next time I have a fail I can try them out....

Photo Friday!

This week and last I have been baking a lot for my Best Friends wedding shower... 

so much so that this tragedy happened...

I've never had a wooden spoon break... 

I've never even heard of a wooden spoon breaking...

Perhaps it is a Friday the 13th thing...

However a little piece of my heart broke with this spoon, as it was my favorite of the wooden spoons in my collection. 

I think all this shower stuff is making me a little loopy, good thing the shower is Sunday perhaps I will be normal again soon!

Hope that you haven't had any baking problems or catastrophes... but if you have I'd love to hear all about them in the comments! We can laugh at our baking issues together!