white chocolate chips | Just About Baked

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White Chocolate Butterscotch Banana Bread

January 9, 2015
Mir
Bread Basket, Cakes, Dessert for Breakfast, Let Them Eat Cake
26 Comments

It’s been a snow day kind of week.

The other day, my kids and I spent our first snow day of the season together. I’m always the parent on duty for snow days since I’m a teacher, so we do snuggly activities during the day. We watch movies, drink lukewarm chocolate (nothing hot for my babies!), dabble in arts and crafts, and of course, we bake.

This time, I happened to have some overripe bananas on the countertop, which could only mean one thing. In a world with bananas and children, there must be banana bread.

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Holiday Oreo Chip Fudge

December 19, 2014
Mir
Candyland
13 Comments

Day Three! Day Three! Fudge Week is drawing to a close. I hope you’ve had as much fun as I have. It’s been quite an honor to pair up with Gayle. Check out her fudge recipe today!

This final offering is made with white chocolate (yep, I’ve done milk and dark already this week) and it’s soft and perfectly fudgy. To be honest, I wanted to use Chanukah colors for this fudge, but guess what? Oreo doesn’t make a Chanukah variety, and Nestle doesn’t do blue chips. I had to keep the colors to Christmas. That’s okay!

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Black and White Cookie Dough Fudge Bars

November 19, 2014
Mir
Bars n' Brownies, C is for COOKIE!, Candyland
18 Comments

I’m about to go on a little rant here. Y’all ready?

I have very strong feelings about food safety. A few years ago, Nestle released a batch of tainted cookie dough and a few people ate it raw. One woman died. And Nestle closed their plant to clean it and disinfect it, but the bottom line is, somebody made a huge mistake.

The same thing has happened with bags of salad mix. I mean, really. Tainted spinach? And peanut butter. How did salmonella get into peanut butter? And of course, eggs and raw meats are always an issue.

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Autumn Candy Pizza

October 10, 2014
Mir
C is for COOKIE!
10 Comments

I don’t eat much pizza. Not for want of loving it, believe me. I love pizza. Honestly, I know very few people who don’t. Like my kids. They eat a lot of pizza.

But pizza leads to heartburn, and tummyaches, and vast regret. I guess that means I have to pretend to be a grown-up and not eat much of it. Well, the traditional kind. Nobody ever said anything about cookie pizza!

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Candy Corn Wownies

October 6, 2014
Mir
Bars n' Brownies
25 Comments

I’m all about food hybrids, y’all. It’s even more fun when they have cool names.

The Cronut? Sign me up. I just wish I’d thought of it first. But beware, because the Bronut (i.e., a brownie/donut mash-up) is totally mine for the taking. What can I say? It’s a dream, a glint in my eye, but it’ll happen. And the Pake? I didn’t make that one up, but who can object to pie and cake together? Or the Pookie? I love cookie and pie in the same place!

It is with this spirit of cooperation and togetherness that I bring you…drumroll, please…

The Wownie!

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Pumpkin Spice Magic Bars

September 29, 2014
Mir
Bars n' Brownies
24 Comments

Do any of you feel like a trip to the grocery store is a vacation? Especially if you have kids and they’re not there?

You can wander up and down aisles, picking things up at leisure and putting them down. You can try free samples. You can hunt for new products. And if there’s a Starbucks in the store, you can do it all with a lovely hot cup of beverage.

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Pumpkin Snack Cake

September 15, 2014
Mir
Cakes, Gluten-Free Goodness, Healthier Indulgences, Let Them Eat Cake
12 Comments

I love the idea of a cookie jar. Growing up, that wasn’t something we had in our house. We had plenty of dessert options, mind you. Just not an actual jar with cookies inside. As a result, it’s always been sort of a dream for me to have a cookie jar.

Except, well, they’re often ugly. And breakable. And most aren’t airtight, so the cookies go bad faster. And when kids get home from school (or their exhausted teacher mom), a cookie isn’t necessarily the answer. Sometimes you want cake. Amazing snack cake. No, not Little Debbie’s (though I do miss those hydrogenated suckers). Healthy, delicious, homemade pumpkin snack cake.

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Tricked-Out Graham Cracker Crust Tutorial

September 12, 2014
Mir
Pie Day, Pies
14 Comments

I have a lot of strong beliefs. Here are some:

1) The Indianapolis Colts will rise again.

2) Taking time for yourself is not an act of selfishness, but necessity.

3) Cakey brownies are a crime against humanity.

4) A lot of brides need to stop wearing strapless gowns. Other silhouettes rock!

5) Trying to sleep in my class is an act of disrespect.

6) Hope springs eternal as long as you’re getting enough sleep.

Oh, and here’s another for you: graham cracker crust needs to be tricked out!

What do I mean by that? I’m so glad you asked!

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White Chocolate Oreo Bars

September 3, 2014
Mir
Bars n' Brownies
26 Comments

I read last year that Oreos are highly addictive. Like, more than crack. I wouldn’t really know, because I’m not a crack kind of girl. I prefer my highs via sugar.

And boy, do I eat a lot of it! Whenever I see anything that’s cookies and cream in flavor, my heart soars a little higher and my mood lifts. There is nothing like that flavor combination. And when Oreos make their way into baked goods, it’s pretty much as good as it gets.

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Magic Twist Bars (Gluten-Free!)

Today is my first day back at work. Ah, the good ol’ grind. A week from today, my now empty classroom will be full of sleepy teenagers wondering what in the heck happened to their freedom. I will be annoyingly perky and they will hate me. Heh heh heh.

This is year 15 for me as a teacher, and every year, I love it just a little bit more. Teaching is unpredictable and active and just so much fun. I laugh a lot at work. But then, I find people funny. Kids especially. I know that my own kids get really mad when they think I’m laughing at them (i.e., all the time), so I will do a better job of hiding my smiles at work. Maybe.

To make my esteemed colleagues feel a bit better about returning, I’ve made some treats. One of my teacher buddies can’t have gluten, and guess what? She’s been teaching for over 35 years. So I think she deserves these bars!