Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookies

Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookies

It’s been a while since I made cookies, but I hope these make up for it!

Do you have a list of things you want to bake that’s about 17 miles long? I sure do. For at least a year and a half, I’ve wanted to bake these. The base recipe is in the Sally’s Baking Addiction cookbook (the first one), and I made one or two minimal adjustments, which I’ll explain later.

Suffice it to say, these don’t disappoint. They’re thick, chewy, and fudgy. Plus, they’re sprinkled with sea salt. Can a cookie get any better?

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S’more Cookie Cups

S'more Cookie Cups

You know, National S’more Day was last week. August 10th, to be exact.

I really wanted to post a timely s’mores recipe, but Kenny and I were away. And not only were we away, but we were also at a hotel hosting the Girl Scouts for National S’more Day. Talk about hitting pay dirt! There were s’more kits and fire pits everywhere.

Now that I’m back, I wanted to pay my respects to what is truly a marvelous holiday. Sorry if I’m a few days late! But these s’mores cookie cups should be worth it. They’re chocolate chip cookies filled and topped with everything you need in a s’more: the chocolate and marshmallow love. I’m excited to have these in the house!

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Peanut Butter Lover’s Cookie Cake

Peanut Butter Lover's Cookie Cake

Time to whoop it up, my friends. My birthday approaches!

When it comes to my birthday, I still feel like a little kid. I want presents, parties, and many celebrations. Sometimes that means I’m setting myself up. Let’s face it: I’m a mom of three and nobody has thrown me a party since I was 25. That was a loooooong time ago. But still, I hold out hope!

One thing I’ve learned to do is bake my own birthday treat. A few years ago, I baked this cookie cake for the first time. It was my favorite cookie cake ever, but my photo skills weren’t so great back then. Plus, I wanted to see if I could make the whole thing GF and a little easier. Done and done!

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Raspberry Cheesecake Crumb Bars

Raspberry Cheesecake Crumb Bars

Mash-ups are just awesome. Wouldn’t you agree?

Well, unless you’re mashing up two things that are great separately and gross together, like steak and whipped cream. No, thank you. But when the mash-up combines the best of both worlds, mama is happy.

What could be better than a raspberry crumb bar, you wonder? How about a raspberry crumb bar with cheesecake filling? Do I have your attention now?

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Peanut Butter Cup Banana Cake

Peanut Butter Cup Banana Cake

Does the world need more dessert with peanut butter cups? Duh.

I’ve been on a banana kick this summer, and it’s probably just me making up for lost time. I barely posted any banana recipes in the first two years of the blog, so this summer it’s just bananas all the time. Plus, I don’t like to keep them on the counter in the summer. The bugs, they will come.

Plus, this feels like the right time to write about this cake. There’s a slice of it on my desk in my new office, and I’m looking out at the tree by my window and contemplating happy thoughts. Why not add a moist banana cake filled with both peanut butter cups and peanut butter chips to the mix? A gluten-free one, might I add?

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Peanut Butter Brownie Pizza

Peanut Butter Brownie Pizza

Do you feel as though you have an impact on the world around you?

I’ve always felt very satisfied at my chosen profession. With teaching, I’m fairly sure that I make an impact. I just have to strive my hardest to make it a consistently positive one for my students and the teachers I supervise. That’s one reason I don’t really want to go into anything else; I might be getting paid, but it’s also a way to give back.

Teaching is also about possibilities. Every day, I see new paths for both myself and the people around me, and that inspires creativity. It’s that same creativity that sparks my baking and that makes it so much fun to create new desserts. Thanks to NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® and their new line of baking mixes, I can take their Brownies & More with chocolate morsels mix and turn it into a quick and tasty peanut butter brownie pizza!

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