Mir | Just About Baked

Chocolate Caramel Chip Pumpkin Cookies

November 10, 2014
Mir
C is for COOKIE!
22 Comments

Last week, my daughters went to the pumpkin patch with their preschool. Yep, while I was working crazy hours to finish grading papers for first quarter, they were wandering around a farm, gazing at chickens and goats and picking pumpkins. Oh, to be four years old again.

When my eldest daughter got home, she shoved her pumpkin at me and said in her serious little-girl way, “My teacher says you have to make soup.”

I took the pumpkin, sighed (this is an annual struggle as I literally cook the fruits of my childrens’ labor), and said, “How about cookies?”

Peanutty Magic Bars

November 9, 2014
Mir
Bars n' Brownies
6 Comments

I have to love my office the day after Halloween. Teacher after teacher troops in and I watch as each one sighs and drops a bag of leftover candy on the table for people to share. “Gotta get rid of this,” they say, eyeing the candy with great misgiving, “or I’ll eat it all.”

I scoop up the Reese’s and Snickers and Twix and M & Ms, shove them in my desk drawer, and have snacks for the next few weeks. Believe me, I have no qualms about having candy around. It doesn’t bother me at all. Candy was meant to be eaten!

Cookies and Cream…Cookies!

November 7, 2014
Mir
C is for COOKIE!
16 Comments

Yesterday, I was humming to myself while making ganache when the phone rang. It was my mom. Here’s how the conversation went:

Mom: How are you?

Me: Great! I’m making ganache.

Mom: Why?

Me: For a pie.

Mom: Oh. What’s the pie for?

Me: I’m a baking blogger. I bake stuff.

Mom: Right.

It’s a pretty frequent conversation that we have. My mom, a talented and fantastically strong woman, is not a baker. She sees it as a practical necessity at times, but otherwise, she never just bakes because it’s fun, whereas I bake all the time because I love thinking of dessert ideas and seeing where they go. That’s usually the primary reason I hop into the kitchen to create things.

Turtle Pie

November 5, 2014
Mir
Pie Day, Pies
22 Comments

I have a cold. My youngest gave it to me by shoving her fingers in my mouth while she was snotting right and left. See, she never wants me quite so much as she does when she’s sick. Maybe she’s just more attached to Mommy when she’s not feeling well. Or maybe she thinks it’s really funny to get Mommy all sneezy and wheezy.

Diseases terrify me, mainly because my house is like a germ incubator. With three kids running around, we get no break between October and May in the sickness department. For the past few years, I’ve averaged 5 stomach viruses per school year. Colds are nothing in comparison.

Apple Snack Cake

November 3, 2014
Mir
Cakes, Healthier Indulgences, Let Them Eat Cake
24 Comments

Snack cakes are great. Growing up, I was a big Little Debbie’s fan. Swiss Fudge Rolls? Heck yeah! Oatmeal cream pies? That was basically lunch during my high school years.

The problem with the packaged snack cakes is that they are kind of full of really bad stuff. Like that “crème” filling they all boast? Yeah. That’s made of animal fat, or some kind of hydrogenated something. Have it now and then. But we’re not in high school anymore, so eating it every day is not advisable.

Pumpkin Spice Dipped Oreos

Oops. I did it again.

Yes, just like that noteworthy song, here’s another hit for you! Because who can ever say no to a dipped Oreo? I can’t. You shouldn’t, either.

Especially when the Oreo in question is the limited edition Pumpkin Spice flavor. And I put a cute little candy pumpkin on top! Sorry, but the cuteness factor here is getting to me. I can’t resist my own creation.

Maple-Glazed Bronuts

I warned you this was coming. The mashup of all mashups. The moment in my baking career all will look back upon and point to as that one, special instant when everything came together.

Or maybe it’s just a nice post for a nice day.

Boys, this one’s for you. You like beer. You like donuts. And your feminine counterparts are pretty wild for brownies and anything with maple syrup. Actually, we like beer and donuts, too. Why gender stereotype?

Peanut Butter Intensity Bars

October 29, 2014
Mir
Bars n' Brownies
22 Comments

Hey, it’s been almost a week since I’ve posted a PB and chocolate recipe. In my world, that’s one week too long!

There are times when life gets a little intense, friends. This is one of those times. It’s been a rough month, and reading the newspaper really doesn’t help. I don’t understand how people can watch the news before they go to bed. Do they want to have nightmares? Lie awake in their beds imagining worst-case scenarios?

THE Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake!

October 27, 2014
Mir
Cakes, Gluten-Free Goodness, Let Them Eat Cake
22 Comments

I’ve realized something about pesky gluten.

You notice it’s not there when the flavor in something isn’t strong enough. Like in a yellow cake, it’s pretty easy to detect an absence of gluten. But in a peanut butter-based dessert or anything with chocolate, it’s much harder. Which is why I’m pretty decent at gluten-free baking. Nobody ever accused me of ignoring peanut butter or chocolate!

Brownie Truffles

October 26, 2014
Mir
Bars n' Brownies, Candyland, Gluten-Free Goodness
8 Comments

Every problem is an opportunity.

My mom used to say that to me when I was growing up and I’d be all miserable because the girls in my class were mean evil witches. My goodness, when it comes to psychological torture, girls have it down pat. I’m still bowled over by the behavior my classmates exhibited toward me when I was a kid, and I kind of wonder how they live with themselves today. Are they telling their own kids to go out there and make fun of the kid in class who doesn’t have the perfect designer outfit?

Anyway, I could write about this forever, so I’ll pause here and talk about the proverbial lemonade from lemons thing. Or in this case, brownie truffles from an epic fail.