My Beautiful Month

In case you aren't on Instagram, or don't follow me, here's a peek at my Insta-Life lately.
[*All photos are taken from my Instagram account.]

While Christmas shopping, we found a humane shelter giving tree and bought a bunch of gifts for the little guy, Mr. Zub. A new tradition started!

Mr. B, these CAVS seats are excellent!

My first finished adult coloring page. It's so PRETTY!

Book Club + Hot Chocolate Bar = Good Times

FAREWELL, 2015!

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Cookies for Days

Not to brag, but Jess and I are getting really good at this whole baking extravaganza cookie thing.

Two years running now, we succeeded in making dozens of cookies without any major disasters. No burnt Pretzel Bark, no forgotten ingredients, no cookies in a heap on the floor, no time-consuming meals, and no major messes (well almost, you see, flour is tricky thing...).

This eighth(!) year was a roaring success. At the end of the day, we had 10 different cookies and one bark. Oh, and a couple scars.

Ouch!

Yes, if I could sum up this year's baking day with one word, "ouch" along with a few other choice words comes to mind.

And it's a new word for us. We might have been picking up cookies from the floor for years and cleaning flour off the walls and breaking utensils, but we're pretty good at knowing things are hot.

Apparently, I forgot this at 9 am when we started making the Brown Butters. I think the name itself is warning enough. Yet, when I decided to remove the saucepan full of boiling browned butter from the stove so it wouldn't burn I forgot. I continued to stir. I continued to chat. And then some splattered out of the pan and onto my barefoot. Oh my mother-loving stars!

First off, I have to admit, this is the first baking extravaganza not to require socks or thick slippers because it's 60 freaking degrees outside. In December! In Ohio! How are we supposed to chill our extra dough if there's no snow?! Why is it not cold enough to let the bark set up outside, and instead I have to shove it in my freezer, where there is no room because Mr. B thought a half empty freezer is no good and he must stock it with meat the day before our cookie baking madness?! But I digress.

Thank you, Jesus, for lavender oil. When I was finally able to form decent coherent words, Jessica handed me the oil and I rubbed it all over the top of my foot. Within the hour the burn was gone, the mark was gone, and I was beyond grateful in a happy dance form. I was lucky, however, Jessica was not. I'm going to blame it on her pregnant brain, but she too forgot hot things are hot. Baking sheets straight from a hot oven are hot. Yeah, she pulled a Brindi. I still have the scars from last July. I'm sure she will have the scar this time next year; it's bigger and angrier. Ouch! Unfortunately, the lavender oil only soothed her. It's funny how sensitive the skin on our forearm truly is. It's also funny the words that come out of our lady mouths.

Other than the pain, we had quite the sugar-filled, fun day. The Brown Butters turned out to be the tastiest ones we've made in a while, and Mr. B can attest to said tastiness. Definitely. In fact we even tripled the batter, giving us well over 175 of these bite-sized cookies. The first cookies started, the last ones finished. As we were frosting these bad boys, Mr. B kept walking by and grabbing them. Soon I realized he was eating them faster than I was frosting them. I had to tell him to stop because we had them counted and still had to divide them up. Jessica gave me a this-is-why-we-do-it-at-my-house look. As Monica says, I know!

In the end, we ended up with 80 Brown Butters each. Yet, it was odd. When I got home from work the next evening there were only 30 of these delectable cookies in the entire house. These 30 now reside in the back of the freezer. Mr. B is verbally not happy about this.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Virtual Coffee Date

I pray everyone had a happy, healthy, blessed, and FILLING Thanksgiving. I know I did... If we were having coffee right now, I know you'd want to hear about the family and what craziness happened at this year's dinner table, but I'm just dying to share my Christmas baking list with y'all and I just can't wait.

But priorities first, get your coffee (and maybe a few cookies since y'all be starved for them by the time you read this post) and then take a peek at my list.

First off, I made a list. I checked it twice. I checked last year's list, and the year before that, and the year before that... and I completely ignored all of the cookies I failed to make. They will be made one day. They will not be forgotten. But I can't help it. I see a new cookie recipe the day before and my plans change. Wait. Is that something shiny?

I always make at least 8 different types of cookies (why eight? It's my favorite, it's powerful, it just happens), and this year I think I'll choose two recipes for each category and decide later on. So, here we go!

1. The one cookie that just screams Christmas: The Sugar Cookie

• Pioneer Woman's Angel Sugar Cookies (I'm leaning towards a simpler sugar cookie this year.)
• Red Velvet Sugar Cookies (sounds messy but beautiful)

2. The obvious cookie: The Chocolate Chip Cookie

• The chocolate chip cookies from the Seriously Delish cookbook (My mother-in-law has become addicted to them.)
• Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies

3. The must-have-or-everyone-gets-mad cookie: The Brown Butters with Caramel Frosting

• The Famous Brown Butters (Obviously, except this year I might make them on their own separate day, so I can make plenty for EVERYBODY.)
• I'm not sure if I want to go with Pretzel Bark again or maybe try a new scone recipe (possibly Maple Pecan Scones)

4. My traditional Christmas cookie: The Snickerdoodle

• Ginger Doodles (found in the Dashing Dish Cookbook)
• Chocolate Espresso Snickerdoodles (what a twist; I like it!)

5. My absolute-favorite-cookie-in-the-whole-wide-world: The Almond Blueberry Cookie

• Almond Blueberry Cookies (duh?!)
• Macadamia Nut Cookies (I'm going with another nut)

6. The random cookie: Something with "Apple" (I have no idea why, but this has become a thing)

•  Apple & Spice Cookies (found scribbled on a random note card in the back of a cookbook)
•  No-Bake Tiramisu Cookies (no idea why I place them in this category....)

7. The "Girls Only!" cookie: Something with LEMON (this is a must for me and Mama)

•  Lavender Lemon Sable Cookies (My mouth waters just looking at these!) or these Lemon Crinkle Cookies (which are apparently the best lemon cookie ever.)
• And for another fruit, either these Blueberry White Chocolate Cookies or these Fresh Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Brown Butter Cookies

8. The must-not-forget-Daddy cookie: The Chocolate [Something] Cookie

• Chocolate Crackle Tops or Chocolate Kisses
• Mocha Latte Logs (I've been wanting to make these all year!)

I plan to make my Raspberry Rudolph Noses for my Charlie Brown Christmas program at work. And I'm thinking about making some Earl Grey Truffles for hostess gifts this year. They sound fabulous. Instant invitation to parties ;)

Wouldn't these go perfectly with your coffee?

Happy Holiday Baking!

What's on your baking list this season?
 
With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

My Beautiful Month

In case you aren't on Instagram, or don't follow me, here's a peek at my Insta-Life lately.
[*All photos are taken from my Instagram account.]

He likes to sit on the stairs where he can look out the windows and sound the alarm if a car drives by or the neighbors check their mail.

Early Christmas presents from Mr. B: over-the-cabinets lights and a personal heater to keep my toes warm at work.

Our new popcorn maker. Not too bad :)

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Raspberry Rudolph Noses

There's a story here.

These cookies originally started out as Raspberry Poinsettia Blossoms, from this recipe. However, when I first attempted this recipe four years ago, they did not look anything like the picture. The petals didn't separate; I spent my time cutting and spreading only to have them bake together, leaving faint knife marks in the dough. But, y'all they were delicious. They weren't pretty, but oh so delicious.

At the time, I wasn't sure if it was because I had been baking for hours and hours before attempting the recipe, the heat of the kitchen/oven, the wearing of my patience, or.... who knows? But I thought someday I'd give these cookies another try.

And no better time than the present, right?

Welp, failure again. I had the same exact issues...baking together and faint knife marks. I mean what does a cookie baker need to do to get these poinsettias to POINT?! These are just impossible. I do not have the cookie baking skills for these beautiful Christmas treats.

Fortunately, I only tried a few cookies at first. Remembering my previous dilemma, I tread carefully just to see the results. Round cookies. My result was four round cookies with knife marks. Four ridiculous (but tasty) round cookies.

"These look like Rudolph noses," I stated when I set the cookies on a rack to cool.

"THESE LOOK LIKE RUDOLPH NOSES!"

Rudolph-the-Red-Nosed Reindeer cookies they are indeed! And that was how this new tasty raspberry, red and circular cookie came about.

'Twas a good night.

Raspberry Rudolph Noses
*slightly adapted from this recipe

Yields about 3 dozen cookies

3/4 c coconut oil, softened
1/4 c sugar
1-2 t vanilla extract
1 box (4-serving size) raspberry-flavored gelatin
1 flax egg (1 T flaxseed + 3 T water)
1 c all-purpose flour
1 c whole-wheat pastry flour

Preheat oven 375 degrees. In large bowl cream together coconut oil, sugar, vanilla, gelatin and flax egg until well combined. Stir in flours and mix well. Roll the dough into about 1" balls and place on cookie sheet, slightly flattening balls with your palm. Bake 9 minutes, but make sure to take them out before the edges start to brown, letting them cool on the pan another five minutes before removing to racks to cool.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Triple Chocolate Cookies

I have been making these melt-in-your-mouth health-ified chocolate beauties for years.

And besides these Chocolate Chili Cranberry Cookies, this chocolate cookie is my close second favorite. I first discovered this cookie when perusing the internet for something chocolate-y to add to my Christmas baking. I found this instant winner, and since then have made my own healthy substitutions. However, it's been a while since I indulged in these, and after looking at this season's baking list, I knew I needed at least one chocolate cookie and dug out my recipe.

The best way to devour eat these bite-size cookies are straight from the oven when they're warm and gooey. YUM-O. Just try not to scorch your tongue. A couple of seconds in the microwave is a great substitute for when you shouldn't eat them all straight from the baking sheet because you need to make a pretty platter to take to Grandpa's Christmas and everybody is depending on you to bring a cookie platter with at least one chocolate cookie. Oh, and if you don't want to spend the rest of the holiday season in your yoga pants because none of your jeans fit.

Wait... who doesn't want this? Yoga pants are comfy. Yoga pants are acceptable. Yes, definitely. Sign me up for that.

But, hey, these are "health-ified," remember? You can eat the whole sheet and probably still fit into those jeans. And, trust me, you will be tempted to eat more than one, or five. The gooey chocolate just oozing out of the cookie. A soft not-too-sweet treat with rich dark chocolate chunks. I won't blame you if you lick the pan. Just let it cool first, 'kay?

Black Bean Triple Chocolate Cookies
*adapted from Ellie Krieger's recipe

Yields: 2 dozen cookies

1/4 c coconut oil, softened (or the original recipe's 1/4 c unsalted butter, I vary this substitution)
1/2 c scant dark brown sugar
1/4 c scant granulated sugar
1/4 c plain Greek yogurt
1 flax egg (1 T flax seeds + 3 T water)
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 c black beans, pureed
1/2 c whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder (Trader Joe's is my favorite, of course)
1/3 c dark chocolate, chopped
1/3 c semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the butter (or oil) and sugars until well combined. Add the yogurt and flax egg and beat until creamy. Mix in the vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well. Stir in the black beans, mixing well. Then add in the chopped chocolate and mix well. Using a tablespoon, scoop the batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

Nutritional Information per cookie: 77 calories, 3 fat, 12 carbs, 1 fiber, 1 protein, 8 sugar

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Cookie Madness

It's back!!!!!!!!! And just in time for National Bake Cookies Day :)

And to be absolutely honest, it was our most efficient one yet.

With three stand mixers, five mixing bowls, and five paddles, how could it not?

And Karen, Jessica's mother-in-law, kept us on track. Instead of Jessica and I realizing we don't have an ingredient and setting out to rummage the cupboards, Karen was all "I got it!" and we kept on going. Running quite smoothly, I must say.

Now, if you would allow me to be completely honest for one tiny moment here, I admit I was not feeling the baking mood. This Christmas has quickly sprung upon me, and at one time I thought I was ahead of the game, and then I turned around and seemed to be buried in my Christmas to-do list. I didn't get any dough prepared ahead of time. I forgot all of my recipes and half of the ingredients for the Apple Snickerdoodles (which just became regular Snickerdoodles with some apple butter in them, and it made them super soft) at home.

However, our set baking date had arrived and it was time to get out the 10 pounds of butter and those cookie sheets!

Oh, check that. Since our baking extravaganza was at Karen's house (near Jessica) I didn't bring my baking sheets or cooling racks. I figured between the two of them we'd have enough. Guess who else forgot her baking sheets and cooling racks? Good thing Jessica's husband didn't mind stopping at GFS, while he was out and about, and picking us up some cookie sheets.

Other than a few forgotten ingredients, recipes, and baking needs, we had a disaster-free baking experience. Our first one EVER. The only mishap came when I was talking to Mama on the phone (to find out how the hard candy making went; my family was doing that the same time we were baking, and since I have yet to master the ability to be in two places at once, I couldn't make it this year. BTW, I'll be posting about my family's hard candy tradition tomorrow) when I accidentally wasn't paying attention after adding the flour to the bowl and set the mixer on high. FLOUR.EVERYWHERE. Good thing my phone was in my hand at the time and not laying beside the mixer as it had been for most of the day. I'm sure I lost at least 1/4 c of flour during that fiasco.

This picture doesn't do the mess justice.

Ai yi yi, Anyhoo, it was nice to have an extra fridge for all our dough. However, what we really needed was another oven or two. This whole only one oven thing really slowed down the fast pace we had developed with the doughs. And we were definitely getting the dough out quickly.

When I said efficient, I wasn't joking. Between the three of us, we managed 12 different recipes. These included Potato Chip Cookies (Karen's favorites), Browned Butters (a doubled recipe I almost wrecked), Lavender Shortbreads, a double batch of Mint Chocolate Chips, Butterballs (see below for recipe), Citrus Butter Cookies (made with doTerra's essential lemon and lime oils), Myles' special sugar cookies (from The Honest Company), Oatmeal-Cherry-Walnuts, (non-apple) Snickerdoodles, and one tray of Pretzel Bark (because Jess accidentally burnt the caramel for the second batch). Although we made the dough for our last two cookies, Karen's Molasses ones and Jessica's Sour Cream Cut-Outs, we didn't get a chance to finish them. It was 6 o'clock and the Sour Cream dough wasn't chilled enough to roll out and cut (but the frosting was made!), and it was 6 o'clock. The molasses could be baked another day.

Jessica and I still had to go back to her house and make cupcakes and banana bread for her son's fourth birthday party the next day. We also had to decorate, clean the house, and fill treat bags. And who was the one that decided all of this was a good idea in one weekend?! We're still pointing fingers. (Oh, and Karen had been up since 6:30 that morning baking and decorating the Daniel Tiger cake.)

Yet, when all was said and done. We did it. We made a dozen different cookies plus three different frostings. We threw a successful and fabulous party. We are over-achievers. We are exhausted.

Karen's Christmas Butterballs

makes about 3 dozen butterballs

1 c unsalted butter
1 t vanilla extract
1 t baking powder
2 1/4 c flour
1/2 c sugar
3/4 c pecans, chopped
powdered sugar

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar; add in vanilla. In separate bowl combine flour and baking powder; add to wet mixture. Mix well and stir in chopped pecans. Bake 10-12 minutes.

Once balls have cooled, roll in powdered sugar and let set completely.

*Note: for some reason these butterballs didn't quite stay in a tight ball form. Just so you know, ball form is what you're aiming for. (I think our oven and kitchen were too warm.) Still delicious though!

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

My Beautiful Month

In case you aren't on Instagram, or don't follow me, here's a peek at my Insta-Life lately.
[*All photos are taken from my Instagram account.]

New season = new haircut. It's been a few years since I last had bangs. I felt a change coming on. And that's about as daring as I get with hair.

Let the Christmas decorating commence! :)

Mr. Darcy loves tearing up toilet and paper towel rolls. LOVES IT.

I could use some of these pumpkin thumbprints right about now. I was a good girl and didn't eat any from the last batch. It's definitely time to get back in the kitchen. It's cookie season.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi