Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies filled with Caramel and Peanut Butter

As usual, my inspiration to make something in the kitchen struck late at night.

At approximately 9:52 last night, I decided I was going to make these bad boys. Of course, the one ingredient I lacked was that 1 egg so I jumped in my car and drove 5 miles down the road to the nearest Dollar General.

If I had decided 5 minutes later that I was going to make these, I would have been driving 20 minutes to the nearest Walmart.

Welcome to small towns people.

I pulled up to the Dollar General and ran inside like a crazy person as the cashier yelled after my trail of dust “you have 2 minutes to shop!”

Believe me, I know that. I have had a retail job before. Nothing is worse than someone coming in right at closing and staying 20 minutes past the time.

On a little side note…I chose this recipe last night because I had a bag of caramels in my cabinet that felt lonely and asked me to find them some cookie friends and also because it didn’t look too hard to mix. My Kitchenaid is at the doctor right now and I’m very lost without it. I’ve also come to the realization that I’m very spoiled. “You want me to what??…mix that with my hands and a spatula?! You’ve got to be kidding!!”

Get well soon Kitchenaid! We all miss you!

XOXO,
Megan and her Kitchen

Well enough of my necessary drama…

On to the cookies!

Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies filled with Caramel and Peanut Butter
Adapted from http://www.bakeaholicmama.com

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 lg egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup old fashion oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
12 caramels
12 teaspoons peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter on medium/low heat until golden brown and has a delicious nutty flavor to it. Remove from heat.

In a separate bowl, mix together both sugars, egg, and vanilla. Once it’s combined, add in the browned butter.

Mix in oats, flour, salt, and baking powder until combined. Then refrigerate for 20 minutes to chill the dough.

Once the 20 minutes is up, roll the dough into 12 equal sized balls and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet 2 inches apart.

Push a caramel square into the center and wrap the dough up around it a bit.

On my first batch, I decided to wrap the dough all the way around the caramel but they didn’t come out so well pretty-wise. The second batch I decided to just push the walls up around the caramel and not cover the top of the caramel. I think taste and texture they came out the same but for appearance, the second batch was better.

*I don’t have a picture of the pre-cooked picture of the second batch but it looks a lot like the picture above where I pushed the caramels in. I just made sure that there were no cracks in the dough on the sides and kinda made a boat for the caramel.

The final touch is to put a teaspoon of peanut butter on each cookie and then put them in the oven.

Something else that I altered is that the first batch I did a teaspoon of PB on the cookie and it seemed to kinda melt and just go everywhere on my cookie sheet. The next batch I just did 1/2 a teaspoon on the cookies and it seemed to work out better. Now if you are totally fine with peanut butter covering everything, then be my guest and do the original recipe. A little extra PB never hurt anybody

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes.

These are best eaten hot but if you do save them be sure to put them in an airtight container and when you do eat them again, pop them in the microwave for 10 seconds. Just be careful not to burn your mouth though since the caramel can get a little on the hot side.

Brown Butter and Caramel and Peanut Butter…O My!!

Hugs & Smooches!

Trail Mix Nut Butter

I love the fact that we have so many options these days for nut butters!

I was explaining this recipe the other day to my mom and she said “I just don’t get the whole nut butter thing…I mean, is there really anything better than peanut butter?”

While I understand her logic (because who doesn’t love peanut butter??), I couldn’t quite explain the excitement of the nut butter world.

It’s just some thing new and each kind has different flavors! I feel like there is endless possibilities!

Not to mention that is is a gigantic help for those people that have peanut allergies.

In attempt to not only buy and eat this delicious spread of different butters, I decided that as a Culinary Graduate, I should probably just go ahead and whip up a batch myself!

I’m glad I did!!

Trail Mix Nut Butter
2/3 cup cashews
1/2 cup almonds
1 Tablespoon dried cherries
1 Tablespoon mini chocolate chips
1 teaspoon coconut extract

Put cashews and almonds in food processor. Turn it on and run 7-10 minutes until mixture becomes creamy and the consistency you want it. Add dried cherries, M&M’s, coconut extract, and chocolate chips and let it spin for another minute until add ins are cut up as much as you like. Put in an airtight container.

*When I got done with mine I threw just a few more pieces of the chocolate chips and M&M’S in there to give it texture and visual appeal.

Everyone that tried it loved it and said it tasted just like trail mix! I’m so excited that I finally made some!

I just crossed one more thing off my 2013 goal list! Yae me!!

Hugs & Smooches!

Cinnamon Papaya Smoothie

The other day I was at Whole Foods and decided to pick up a papaya. I asked the produce guy if they were in season and he pointed them out right in front of me.

I think now would be a good time to mention that I’ve never eaten a fresh papaya.

I had no idea they were so giant!

Anyway, I had this smoothie recipe in mind that I had written down some time ago from this amazing blog.

Seeing as that I had never eaten a fresh papaya, I had to YouTube it to see how it was cut.

Sounded easy enough so I jumped right on it this morning when I crawled out of bed.

Cinnamon Papaya Smoothie
1/2 large papaya
1/4 cup ice cold water
1 packet of stevia or truvia
1 Tablespoon chia seeds
2 Tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Here is my beautiful papaya!

Cut the ends off…

Then peel it with a vegetable peeler

(Looks like the sunset!)

Then slice it down the middle

And dig out all the seeds and membrane with a spoon, then turn it over and cut it into chunks

Put all the ingredients in the blender and purée until smooth.

I had to purée my papayas a little but before I put the rest of my ingredients in since I only have a small magic bullet blender.

This was an awesome experience since I’ve never dealt with papaya before but this smoothie just wasn’t quite sweet enough for me. I think it also depends on the kind of papaya you get, depends on the sweetness as well (from what I read on google).

For those people out there though that don’t have a major sweet tooth (we can be friends but I’ll never understand you) this would be a fantastic smoothie for you!

I will make it again and maybe add some extracts or more sweeteners to it. It’s a really good base recipe and you could try any fruit! This may open a whole new world (a new fantastic point of viewwwww!) for new fruits for me.

Hugs & Smooches!

Almond & Avocado French Macarons

For the first time in my life, I made French Macarons.

I was so nervous and so excited!

I made sure I followed the recipe exactly the way it was written.

As if I already don’t do that as a baker.

I came across this recipe in my monthly SELF magazine. Also, since this recipe had avocado in it, I thought it would be a good time to try avocado.

I know…..I’ve never had avocado….sometimes I’m a scaredy cat. Please don’t hate me. I just don’t think I could handle that.

On top of the fact that it was out of my all time favorite magazine and it was putting me out of my comfort zone with the whole avocado thing….they were also pink and lime green!

Now I’m not a girlie girl who loves pink but who doesn’t love bright colors together?! They were so cute and springy!

Come to find out, I had nothing to be nervous about because they turned out perfect (YAE ME!!)

I loved them and was jumping up and down in my kitchen like a 5 year old on Christmas morning.

Now…..I of course have to share the recipe with you.

I’m nice like that.

You’re welcome.

ALMOND & AVOCADO MACARONS

Parchment paper
2 cups sifted powdered sugar, divided
1 cup almond flour
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 to 2 drops red food coloring (optional)
1/2 small avocado
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 drops green food coloring (optional)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. In a food processor, process 3/4 cup powdered sugar with flour until combined, 1 to 2 minutes.

In a bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer on medium high until foamy.

Beat in granulated sugar until soft peaks form.

Add almond extract and red food coloring, if desired; beat just until meringue peaks are firm and glossy, 3 to 8 minutes.

Sift sugar-flour mixture over meringue; gently combine.

Pipe macarons onto parchment paper with a 1/2 inch round tip. Be sure to pipe from the inside out so that the “swirl” ends on the outside of the circle and doesn’t leave a little tip standing up in the middle. I figured this one out a little too late.

(Notice the ones the farthest away from the camera have a swirl in them and the ones closest are more flat)

Another random thing I found out that I didn’t know is that macarons bake EXACTLY how you pipe them. They don’t spread out or puff up or move. At all.

So be sure to get them exactly how you want. That could be a good or bad thing depending on how much practice you’ve had.

(See the ones on the left are swirled and the ones on the right are smooth)

Another thing I learned is that if they are swirled (which is NOT the thing to do) they don’t sit flat when you are trying to take beautiful pictures of them stacked on top of each other.

That so didn’t work. Maybe next time.

Bang baking sheets on the counter really hard to force out the air bubbles and then let them sit for 20 minutes. Place baking sheet in oven and lower temperature to 300 degrees. Bake until macarons are golden on the bottom about 10-12 minutes.

This is the part where you get excited…

Take them out of the oven (and see how perfect they are!!) and let them cool.

Then proceed to jump around the kitchen all excited. Feel free to sing as well because singing and dancing always go together.

This of course is optional.

While they are cooling, get your clean food processor bowl and put remaining 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, avocado, butter, lemon juice, vanilla, salt, and green food coloring, if desired, into the bowl and process until smooth.

(go ahead…taste it….it’s pretty frickin’ good!)

Spread 1 teaspoon of filling on half of the macarons; top with remaining macarons. Serve or wrap and refrigerate up to 2 days.

213 calories per 3 macarons
11 g fat
3 g saturated fat
26 g carbs
2 g fiber
3 g protein

Aren’t they lovely?

I’m a proud Macaron Mamma!

Hugs & Smooches!

April Foodie Penpal Reveal Day

Another month has gone by and another delicious package of food has been sent to me!

This month I received a package from Kara, who is from Michigan. I informed her that I did not have a Trader Joe’s in my area and had never been to one so it would be much appreciated if she could send me a couple goodies from there.

She sent me a whole box of TJ’s goodies!

I was so excited!

I never really buy licorice but now I’m not sure why. There wasn’t anything special about this certain licorice but for some reason it just hit the spot! Since, I’m on weight watchers it is a tad bit healthier for me to eat then chocolate bars

Raspberry dried fruit bar…I love all fruit so this one is definitely a winner! I haven’t eaten it yet but I think I’ll grab it on the way out the door today

Ermehgerd! SPECULOOS!

I’m pretty sure this is the most magical word in the universe. I. Love. This. Stuff.

I’ve had the cookie butter from TJ’s before but not the cookies. Just in case you don’t know…they are fantastic dipped in your coffee! Nothing like caffeine and sugar to start your day off

Dark Chocolate Pretzel Slims…I adore dark chocolate. These things are a fantastic snack after dinner…or first thing in the morning

Can you tell I’m not married yet? I have the weirdest/worst eating habits.

Last but definitely not least (because I love cinnamon sugar)…

Cinnamon and Sugar Pita Chips!

I’ve recently taken a liking to pita chips so these were perfect!

Super tasty and already half gone!

Thanks Kara for all the great Trader Joe’s stuff!! You hit the nail on the head!

If you would like to learn more about the foodie penpal program click here and then click on the foodie penpal tab at the top. I highly recommend it!

Hugs & Smooches

Quinoa Granola

A couple months ago I bought a box of quinoa for this recipe that I acquired a couple months before that.

Why yes I am a procrastinator. Why do you ask?

After FINALLY opening the box (not for this recipe but for another one) I decided to buckle down and just jump right on it.

It’s not even hard. That’s the terrible thing about the fact that I procrastinated doing it.

I originally found this recipe at RFFMBT. This girl is awesome on this blog and she is very inspiring because she ha been heavy before and knows what it is like to try and lose weight and keep it off.

The majority of her recipes are great so I wasn’t surprised when I liked this one as well.

Ladies and Gents…I give you the very first granola recipe I’ve ever made!!

Quinoa Granola

1/4 c. Uncooked quinoa
1 T. Whole flaxseed or chia seeds (I used chia seeds this time around)
1 T. Shredded unsweetened coconut
1 T. Agave
1/4 t. Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well.

Spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Spread the mixture thinly on a baking sheet.

(Before & after)

Bake for 10-15 minutes. Once the granola has started to turn golden brown, remove from the oven and let cool. This will let the granola set so you will have different size pieces. After the granola has cooled for about 5 minutes, remove from baking sheet with a spatula.

*Makes 2 servings

Hugs & Smooches!

Color Run 2013

This past weekend was The Color Run in Tulsa!

Last year, I did it for the first time and it was also my first 5K to do. If you would have told me 5 years ago that I’d be voluntarily running (or attempting to run) a 5K, I would so not believe you.

It’s not very often that I get proud of myself, but this past Saturday was one of the times.

If you remember, one of my 2013 goals was to do The Color Run in under an hour. This is a pretty hard goal for me since 1. I’m not a full on runner and 2. If you ask anybody that knows me, I’m the slowest walker ever.

So, it was a goal that I really had to push myself at. Did I reach my goal???

I think I’ll tell ya later…

First of all, if you don’t know what the color run is then let me tell you!

You show up on race day with a white shirt on and you wait in a starting line with thousands of other people (13,000 to be exact in Tulsa) and then the people in charge let waves of 1,000 go at one time.

You take off down the road they’ve roped off for this marvelous event and just wait for the Color Stations to come up.

The Color Stations are areas along the trail that have people standing on both sides with colored powder. They throw it in you as you run through and you get all colorful and happy! The different station colors were yellow, blue and orange.

(That picture is a little hazy because I was trying to take a picture through my ziplock bag which was protecting my phone from color and happiness)

You get the scenario though.

It’s cloudy and colorful and AWESOME.

(Pre-color)

Once you go through all the stations and cross the finish line, you go up to the stage with tons of other people and throw your own individual packet of color (that was provided in your packet pickup along with an awesome tshirt!).

That is the best part of the whole race because you are in a giant storm of color and everyone is jumping around and acting crazy! Music is blaring and it’s ok to just let loose and be crazy!

That’s also when you get covered in MORE color!!!!

After the race, I met up with Linds and her Mom. This was their first year to do the color run and I’m so glad they did!

Of course Wrangler was there to cheer me on (along with my awesome Momma) and provide me with Gatorade

By the way…I TOTALLY REACHED MY GOAL!!

Even if I just beat it by a couple minutes, I was still one ecstatic color runner!

Here’s to making better time in 2014!!!

Hugs & Smooches!

*a couple of the professional looking pictures on here were taken from Facebook Color Run fan page. The rest were my own pictures.