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!

Now that I’m off the hook for jury duty (I didn’t get selected, but I did make it into a courtroom, so that’s always fun), I’m full steam ahead on getting ready for the school year ahead. That means a lot of organizing, cleaning, and decision-making.

When I changed schools earlier this summer, I left a very beautiful school building behind in exchange for one with a lot more history and age. My new work home is a lot older, but it’s kept up nicely and I’ve been feeling at home here.

The thing is, I’ve been getting this reaction from some people about my change of venue that is less than desired. People tend to set a lot of store by new and sparkly things. Hey, how can I blame them? New is usually very nice. But no matter how nice a space is, a school especially, the end result is what everyone makes of it.

Students make schools come alive, not awe-inspiring entryways or corporate-looking office spaces. This is a school, and it looks like one. Personally, I find that comforting.

Okay, end rant. Can I talk about this cookie cake now?

It’s chewy in the center and crispy at the edges, just like my favorite cookies are. There’s a layer of hot fudge that glues the peanut butter cups (both chopped up snack-sized and miniatures) to the top. And there are more chopped PB cups in the actual cookie.

Hey, it’s about to be my birthday. I want to do it up, and that means lots of peanut butter lover’s cookie cake for me. And if anyone wants to throw me a crazy wild party, just name the time and the venue. I’ll be there!

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!

As I’m working among the dusty books this summer getting the office ready for teachers, I need to take breaks from time to time. Last week, I spent the morning in a storage room without air conditioning straightening things out. By the time a few hours had gone by, I needed a break and some supplies. Luckily, I work down the street from Target, and when I got there, I stocked up on every single flavor of these baking mixes. After all, I need to bake treats for my teachers, who are coming in this week voluntarily to meet. Talk about inspiring!

Personally, I’ve always been inspired by people who lead by example. I’ve worked for some amazing teachers and instructional leaders who find innovative ways to help kids achieve, and it’s my continuous goal to be the same way. Hard work is important, and so are good intentions. Still, I also enjoy looking at ideas from a new angle and trying to find a different approach. It keeps everything much fresher.

It’s that same skill that makes me a lover of baking mixes. Sure, I could enjoy these NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® mixes just the way they are by following the directions on the box. And believe me, I did whip up a batch of both the Cookies & More with chocolate morsels as well as the Cookies & More with Butterfinger just for fun, and it was great. I also can’t wait to try the Brownies & More with Butterfinger. These new mixes have no artificial flavors or colors, and they come with the cutest little bags of chocolate morsels or Butterfinger bits. I’m always about the cute.

Still, when I buy a baking mix, I turn it into something else about 85% of the time. It’s just more fun that way! In this instance, I took the brownie mix and used a springform pan to make a “pizza” crust. The base gets covered with a peanut butter frosting and more chocolate morsels from the cute bag. It’s a fast, easy and fun dessert that I guarantee will fill the crowds with awe and wonder at what you can do.

How do you like to dress up your baking mixes? Pick some up with this special deal from Ibotta and start baking now. There are so many options, and the creativity is yours to enjoy. Innovation is where it’s at, and using baking mixes provides a solid place to start. See what you can create!

One day a week, the possibility of sleeping in until 6 looms. It’s so lovely. On Friday nights I snuggle into bed with the knowledge that I can just loaf in the mornings. Well, no. But I can be dragged out of bed by a child, go downstairs, sit on the couch, and hope that nobody wants to play with me so that I can read my book in peace.

Another special thing about weekends? Good snacking options! While I’ve always been a big fan of peanut butter blossom cookies, I’m not as into how they need to be made with shortening to prevent spreading. I don’t like shortening much. So instead, I put them into cookie cups, and that works just fine!

Bear with me for a few minutes as I talk about teaching. Ready? It’s a heavy topic for the almost weekend, but I need to express myself.

Years ago, a mentor told me that if I went into teaching expecting appreciation, then I was barking up the wrong tree. Instead, she told me, I would have to find satisfaction in my work from within. That intrinsic motivation would have to drive me.

The thing with teaching is that when people are feeling appreciative, they don’t necessarily express it. I have taught some lovely students who are thankful, and some parents of students who are as well. For the most part, people appreciate teachers and that’s really nice. The problem is, they’re not as vocal about it, so teachers often wind up hearing only from the people who are dissatisfied.

I’ve been lucky enough in my career that I have been given appreciation on a regular basis, but this week I heard a conversation that stopped me in my tracks. Someone was talking about teaching, and they made the argument that any warm body could stand in a classroom full of highly motivated students and the results would be the same as with a teacher who was putting forth the best possible effort.

Boy, did that rankle. All teachers who are working to help students of any background or skill level are making a difference. We’re not babysitters, caregivers, or place holders. There is an unimaginable skill set to teaching, and it still shocks me sometimes when people (some of whom otherwise seem intelligent and perceptive) just don’t get it.

If you’re a satisfied parent whose child has good teachers, tell them that. Tell them you appreciate them. Well, not right now. It’s the summer, and they don’t want to be bothered now. But you get the idea!

On to less deep topics: cookie cups! Peanut butter blossom cookie cups, to be exact.

The best part about cookie cups is that the mini-muffin tin holds in the cookie dough so that it can’t spread. The result is a thick cookie. And you can just press the Hershey kiss right on into the center, making it quite a blissful experience.

Happy almost weekend, and go hug a teacher. Or buy us chocolate. Or bake us cookies. We need it!

Theoretically, we’re halfway through the summer after July 4th. But since the school year here didn’t end until June 20th, we’re not at the halfway mark yet. Nope, no siree! It’s in the 90s, my schedule is more flexible, and I’m getting in lots of quality family time!

There’s something really satisfying about hanging out with everyone when the weather is hot. We can log in lazy pool days, enjoy evenings in the cul de sac after dinner blowing bubbles with all the extra sunlight, and stop looking at the clock so much. We can also pause for afternoon ice cream snacks, and let’s face it. Those are the best. Right now my freezer is fully stocked with EDY’S® Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream and EDY’S® Baby Ruth Ice Cream, and they’re getting a lot of attention. How could they not, when they’re inspired by two of my favorite candy bars?

Since you all know I’m the biggest bargirl ever when it comes to baking, I made a batch of Butterfinger® cookie bars to go along with my ice cream. There’s pretty much no greater combination in life than a good dessert bar and a bowl of ice cream.

The other day, my middle kid had her birthday weekend. She was born right before July 4th, which means that the doctors didn’t bother us at all in the hospital after she was born. They literally ran off to picnics and barbecues, leaving us behind. In fact, the doctor who delivered her met his wife that night at a party. It was a strangely tranquil weekend, and I remember just relaxing with my newborn and eating an entire package of cookies. Hey, I’d earned it.

What struck me at the time was how important family is to everyone, even busy-seeming hospital staff. I mean, the place was nearly deserted. There aren’t many times of year when people just clear a place and head home en masse, but summertime is when we all want to be together. The summer nights might be long, but the months pass quickly. Actually, so do the years. That newborn is now six years old, and she’s not a baby anymore.

Thankfully, she’s someone whom I also like as well as love, and we have a lot in common. One is our endless fondness for ice cream. When she saw the containers of EDY’S® Ice Cream in the freezer, she knew that the best kind of Walmart trip had just taken place.  We took out spoons and had a snack moment together, just my birthday girl and her proud mommy. Plus, I feel a lot better about sharing ice cream with my kids when it’s made with fresh milk & cream with no rBST (milk production hormone). This ice cream is so good, and it has the good stuff in it too!

To go along with our ice cream, I made these Butterfinger cookie bars. The base is a chewy peanut butter cookie, and then I filled the dough with chopped up fun-sized candy bars. I even crumbled some more Butterfinger on top for the perfect finish!

When paired with EDY’S® Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream, these cookie bars make the perfect summer snack. It’s even better during these long summer days that we all spend together. Take some time out with the people you love! This is the time, y’all.

Yes, I said “skort.” Before you assume that I’m dressing like a 2 year-old, they do make cool skorts nowadays that look like miniskirts but that have shorts under. It’s more ladylike not to flash people.

When it’s hot outside, I like to sit on my front step drenched in sunscreen and mosquito repellent. I’ll bring out a book, a cup of ice water, and a frozen treat. This week, these peanut butter fudge pops are getting a lot of play. They require only two ingredients, so get cracking!

Lately, I’ve been trying to up my crossword puzzle action. Studies show pretty much everything you want them to show, but one of those things is that crossword puzzles keep brain function higher as we age. I don’t know if it’s true, but by golly, I’m gonna do them anyway. After all, crossword puzzles are fun, and if they’re maybe healthy for my noggin, why not?

My grandmother was a big crossword puzzle enthusiast. After she retired, she would wake up in the morning and start a puzzle before going for her daily swim. When she got back, she’d dry off and make lunch, and then after lunch, she’d make a cup of tea and finish the puzzle. What I remember most is that she always used an erasable pen, a habit that I plan to mimic when I hit retirement. After all, writing in pencil is no fun, but mistakes in pen don’t work with crosswords. She was a very sensible woman.

When I was a kid, I’d spend every third Sunday with my grandparents. My grandmother would honk her horn and I’d come outside quickly, dreading a second honk. Then we’d head to the pool together, where she’d forego her usual laps to watch me splash around and play with me. When we go home, my grandmother would make me a pizza with extra cheese while she prepared sandwiches for my grandfather and herself, and she’d always let me snack on cheese while the pizza was cooking. And dessert was always ice cream in a fancy ice cream parlor-style glass with Magic Shell on top.

Back then, I didn’t know what the word “pamper” meant, but that was definitely it. Nobody pampers like grandparents. My relationship with my grandparents was complicated, but I loved those Sundays of being indulged. I mean, I ate a whole pizza every time. It was amazing. And I was allowed to spend the afternoon doing whatever I wanted. Now I see my kids with their grandparents, and I know they don’t yet appreciate how lucky they are. But they will someday!

I always think of childhood when I make popsicles. Isn’t that the age when we’re most delighted with food on a stick? Oh, who am I kidding. Everyone loves that!

These pops are made of two things: peanut butter and chocolate milk. That’s it! Mix and freeze. You’re done. It’s like a frozen fudge bar, but with a peanut butter twist. Calcium and protein in one shot, friends! How is that for healthy?

And if you’ll excuse me, I have a crossword on the front porch to attack along with one of these. Hope you have a moment to yourself today!

This time of year, I’m usually basking in summer with not much to do. But thanks to a recent job promotion, I’m burning the candle at both ends. I wake up, work, work some more, and that’s kind of how it is. But at least the sun is shining!

And I have these to sustain me. The base is my favorite flourless peanut butter cookie dough filled with my even more favorite candy aisle choices: patriotic peanut M & Ms and Baby Ruth bars. Heck yeah!

Here’s the thing about holidays: baking bloggers LOVE them. You see, it’s hard to get constant inspiration from just life itself, so holidays provide a lot of ideas. Or at least, they provide a lot of candy with color schemes. I can’t tell you how excited I get every time the candy matches the season. It’s so darn cute.

Now that I’ve been blogging for two and a half years, I sometimes sit back and take stock of what I’ve accomplished so far. You see, I’ve been teaching for much longer, so compared to the time I’ve been in that profession, my time here on JAB is a drop in the bucket. Even so, I’m happy with where I’ve gotten so far with this little blog, and I try and take time to enjoy it.

Just a few days ago, I was texting back and forth with an old friend of mine. He had a rough day and wanted to know if I had “baked anything for the pain.” I immediately let him know that I’d just been paid to buy lots of ice cream and bake something to go with it, and that he should come on by with a huge spoon. In that moment, I felt very lucky. Lucky to be paid to work with ice cream, and lucky to have good friends to come over and share it.

They say that it’s super healthy to keep your brain active by trying new things and doing crossword puzzles. In theory, I love crossword puzzles, but my house is too hectic for me to sit back with that cup of tea and enjoy one on a regular basis. So instead, I’m a big fan of trying new things. This blog pushes every ounce of my creativity, and I’m so happy it’s here. Even though my day job is about to get a lot more hectic, I still want to hold on to what I’ve created here on JAB.

One of my favorite discoveries this season has been transferring flourless peanut butter cookie dough into bars. It’s even better than regular cookie dough. Wanna know why?

It’s the most intense peanutty flavor ever. When you reduce a cookie dough to mostly the star ingredient (peanut butter, in this case), it’s amazing. The flavors are so good. Add in peanuts and candy and the happiness overflows.

Another good thing about this cookie base? No mixer. About five seconds and no chill time is pretty much the situation! Feel free to thank me later.

It’s summer and things should be quiet, but they’re not. I’m cool with that, since we only go around once. Trying new things is important! Well, as long as we take our dessert breaks in between. We all need a moment here and there!

This summer, I’ve got the kids when I’m not working, and it’s great. But I need some hours in the day to get things done, so hello to camp! And hello to having a smidgen of peace and quiet.

And hello to peanut butter cups! My favorite candy is back in these flourless PB cookie cups. They might not have any flour, but you won’t miss it at all with all this peanut butter goodness!

People don’t really understand what the summertime is like to a teacher, so I’ll try to explain as best I can. See, we are on overdrive for 10 months out of the year. We show up to work at crazily early times (I’m there around 5:45), get set up, and then we’re on. All day.

With teaching, you can rarely sit back. Checking e-mail is often impossible, as is using the bathroom. There is a constant flow of human interaction, ranging from pleasantries to several nonstop hours of active instruction.

Back when I was earning my certification in college, a professor told us that anyone entering the teaching profession would never have trouble sleeping at night. Boy, was he right. Every day, after running around and then running around some more, I crash as soon as the light goes off. It’s a nice perk, really.

In the summertime, our lives resemble other people’s. We can go to bed late (meaning 10 o’clock), we can have moments of leisure, and we can get some sunlight. It’s a totally different experience, and we love every moment of it. It’s a complete change of pace.

You can bet that during these months, I do a lot of baking. In addition to my two months of cake decorating class, I’m in the kitchen every day, testing recipes and trying out new things just for you! So be sure to stick with me during these lazy months as I bring you more dessert.

These are the way to start off a life of leisure. The cookie base is just peanut butter, two sugars, egg, baking soda, salt and vanilla. These ingredients get combined and chilled for a few hours, and then you put the dough into mini-muffin tins with a miniature PB cup pressed into the center. A few minutes later, you have the best cookie cup ever!

Hope your summer is filled with promise, just like mine. Can’t wait to share my adventures with you!

This is the last week of classes! Hurray! Hurrah!

Yes, in answer to your question. Teachers are much more excited about the end of school than the students. For two months, we can keep normal hours and not spend our days talking kids into learning. Sounds like a win to me! And let’s not forget the ice cream.

My summers are spent with ice cream. Whether I’m eating it straight up or incorporating it into another dessert, life is grand. This frozen peanut butter ice cream pie is made with Blue Bunny® Homemade Vanilla ice cream, and you will not want to miss one bite!

The first time I ever tried Blue Bunny® ice cream was at summer camp. School was out and I was feeling free and easy, but that all changed when I went to a sleep-away camp full of kids I didn’t know. It was really intimidating, and it threw my 12 year-old world into chaos.

I’d like to say that it was the best summer ever, because that would be a good ending, right? The truth is always more complicated than that, but I did learn a lot. And I can totally credit some of my more introspective summer moments that year to Blue Bunny® ice cream.

See, we got to have a scoop of it after dinner, and it was probably my favorite part of the day. I’d take my bowl of ice cream down to the lake (which was, of course, freezing to swim in) and sit on the edge. I’d savor the ice cream slowly, staring at the water and having all the idealistic summer dreams that a girl can have. You know, about what life will be someday, when we’re all grown up and have the perfect life. All that kid dream stuff.

Summers are for dreaming, after all. The school year makes it hard to do anything but work nonstop, but in the summer, anything is possible. The evenings are full of pinkish gold sunsets, and the mornings dawn bright and full of promise. How can anyone not love that?

For that matter, how can anyone not love ice cream? There are some pretty incredible flavors that I couldn’t resist buying when I was at Walmart this past week, like Blue Bunny® Salted Caramel Craze and Blue Bunny® Peanut Butter Party. The packaging is clear so that you can actually see the swirls in the ice cream flavors, so start swooning now. I’m totally hosting an ice cream party with my kids to celebrate the end of school this week. We’ll have to turn the sprinkler on, too.

This pie incorporates the timeless simplicity of Blue Bunny® Homemade Vanilla ice cream with my two loves, chocolate and peanut butter. Set in a chocolate cookie crust, the ice cream is mixed with peanut butter, filled with chocolate chips, and topped with irresistibly fun Smucker’s Magic Shell Chocolate Fudge Flavored Topping. I don’t know about you, but the creamy ice cream combined with the crunch of the chocolate is my version of heaven.

School is finally out, and we’re celebrating with ice cream. Is there any better way to do it? Bring on the fun with Blue Bunny® ice cream and awesome summer memories!

And it’s even more a thing when it’s smothered in peanut butter caramel and sprinkled with sea salt. If you’re looking for me, I’m hiding in a closet with a giant wedge of this and a martini. Come find me sometime next week.

Oh, and did I mention there are peanut butter chips inside the brownie? This is one of those times when you run toward making this. No walking!

I’m sure you’ve all been following the news story about the gorilla and the kid at the zoo. The story is tragic and scary in so many ways, but that’s not what I’ve been thinking about for the past week.

To be honest, I’m completely shocked at the response to this event. Without seeing much (or any) footage or even knowing details, people quickly and vocally split into Team Kid or Team Gorilla. They’ve been tearing one another apart online, each side insisting on being right. Experts have been brought in too, just in case the fighting wasn’t loud enough.

Even if you know the details, even if you were there, can I make a request?

Be compassionate. Be kind. Have good manners. Stop assuming you know everything and that you are above reproach. Stop tearing other people apart.

No matter what political affiliation you have, this election season has been marked by the same vitriol and hate. Instead of arguing issues, people are employing the classic logical fallacy of ad hominem rhetoric to make personal insults and senseless jabs the order of the day. It’s as though a reality TV mentality has taken over our political consciousness and landscape, replacing real conversation and intellectual debate with spite and pettiness.

Well, I’ve had enough. I don’t want to read any more about the horrible things people say and do to one another. How can we expect our children to grow up and be good people if the adults around them have lost their minds?

I spend a lot of time practicing avoidance. Instead of letting stupidity get to me, I often pass up reading the newspaper. That probably makes me less informed, but considering how idiotic people can be, I’m cool being out of the loop. I’d rather stay in my bubble and eat dessert.

All I did here was take my happy brownie base, add peanut butter chips, and put it into a 9-inch springform pan. After baking it, I covered it in my super-easy peanut butter caramel, which is a hack. Just combine sweetened condensed milk with a cup of peanut butter over low heat and stir until smooth. Once it’s covered and set, sprinkle the whole thing with sea salt.

The result is a brownie cake you will not soon forget. I wish I could forget all the ickiness going on in our world right now, and that everyone could just behave. But since that won’t happen, I’ll hole up with this instead!

You all know that I have a passion for bar cookies, and I have an equally great passion for chocolate and peanut butter. In my world, no snack beats a Reese’s peanut butter cup. In fact, the absence of PB cups in life is a really good reason to never give up on sugar.

These are dense, chewy, peanut buttery, and flourless. That’s right. Why do you need flour when these bar cookies are decked out with enough peanut butter cup goodness to satisfy even the biggest fanatic?

To put this in perspective, my son ate these. One of my favorite bloggers in the whole universe, Dorothy, has a category for food her husband actually ate. I should institute a similar category for my own son, because he usually turns his nose up at my baked goods and opts to eat rice cakes instead. No, I am not kidding.

He ate these yesterday, and then he had seconds, and then he asked for more later in the day. #success #victoryismine

Of course, he needed some extra TLC after a particularly violent fight with his little sister. Here’s how it went down:

Boy: (screeching at top volume)

Me: What happened?!

Boy: (exhibiting red arm) She pinched me!

Girl: (also crying at top volume) No!

Me: (to Girl) Why are you crying?

Girl: It was sort of an accident!

She maintained that injuring her brother was “sort of” an accident and I never got more details. So I “sort of” punished her by sending her to her room in floods of tears while my son nursed his arm and talked me into giving him more of these bars.

On my trip to Hershey’s Chocolate World a year ago, I learned the secret to baking with peanut butter cups by observing their baked goods and methodology. In my field, that’s the best kind of research. Anyway, I noticed that they use the snack-sized (i.e. regular-sized) Reese’s in their baked goods, which makes so much sense. It packs a more powerful PB punch. So now I try to use them when I can.

The cookie base is simple: peanut butter, egg, sugar, baking soda, salt and vanilla. The baking soda and egg help these bars to rise, and the absence of flour makes the texture super dense and chewy. These are perfection.

If you’re a peanut butter fan, these bars are for you. No Reese’s addict can resist!