Molasses Cookies

How was your Christmas? Was it merry? Was it really really merry??

What about new years? Did you make a scary resolution you won't keep? I didn't. Bite me.

Yay! That makes me happy. I have holiday recipes to share with you..sure, I'ma bit late, but still, you can eat them at any time of the year and I'm sure they'll be delish!

I love molasses. I think it represents everything that is holy and righteous and all the good that's not in this world. Probably because it's all in these delicious cookies.

Also, bonus! You can give them to people as gifts and make eternal pals. Not that they'll make it out of the kitchen, right?

On another note, my Christmas was and has been amazing. My whole entire ginormous family got together in a medium sized house in Virginia for a couple days just so we could get our yearly fix of squishing and getting all up in each others business. It was posh.

My trip included stops in New Hampshire and Vermont and eating my weight in granola and homemade peanut butter. Let's not discuss the condition of my belly.

Ps. This post was an excuse to use the words delish and posh.

Soft, Chewy Molasses Cookies


Adapted from Martha Stewart

makes 30 cookies

3 cups plus 2 tablespoons of flour


2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger


2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves


1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg


1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, softened


1 cup of packed, dark brown sugar


1 tablespoons of ground ginger


1/2 cup of molasses


2 teaspoons baking soda, dissolved in 1 tablespoon of boiling water


1/4 cup of sugar plus extra for rolling


Sift together flour and spices into a medium bowl. Put butter and brown sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in molasses.


Beat in flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the baking soda mixture. Shape dough into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, as long as you can wait.


Preheat oven to 325F. Shape dough into half inch balls and space twp inches apart on greased baking sheets.


Roll balls in sugar and bake until surfaces crack open slightly, 10-12 minutes. Remove from sheets before completely cooled. Consume.

It's Christmas. I made you Toffee Bars.

You know that feeling you get after Thanksgiving?

You're stuffed. You're happy. You'd better be feelin thankful.

The joy and happiness you find in all things food and baking has diminished and all you want to do is eat carrots and watch Elf. Maple syrup on spaghetti? Totally yummy.

That feeling happened to stick with me for the past two weeks or so.

I guess that's a lie. I did do lots of baking, just most of it was disastrous. But fun. The fun totally made up for the disaster.

I guess I just haven't been feeling the inspiration to bake so much these days.

But guess what?! Holy smokes, the fire is back! I made you food! Yummy food. Unhealthy food. Big, fat, Christmas-time food. It's delicious. It's worth the sugar. It will make you happy.

After you taste these, you'll be glad I waited so long to give it to you. I gave you time to work off those seven pieces of pie. Yeah . . . seven.

 My Mom has had the recipe for these for forever, by the looks of the grease, chocolate and butter stained paper. Why she hasn't been making them every night for dinner is beyond me.




Toffee Bars

2 sticks of butter

3/4 cup of brown sugar, packed

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 

1/4 teaspoon of salt

2 cups of flour


1 cup of chocolate chips (or peanut butter chips)


1/2 cup chopped nuts


Preheat oven to 350F and grease or line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper. 


Cream butter with a mixer or soften slightly and stir by hand. Add sugar and vanilla and continue mixing. Slowly add the flour and salt until thoroughly incorporated. 


Pour into prepared pan and spread out evenly across the pan with your fingers. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. 


Take out of oven and spread chocolate evenly over the entire top. Bake for 5 more minutes. 


With a spatula, spread the chocolate evenly over the top of the crust. Sprinkle with nuts. 

Cool for an hour in the refrigerator or until completely chilled. Cut into bars or squares.

Pancake Muffins

My teeth are telling me not to give you the recipes I really want to give you.

I wanted to bake you cupcakes like these, but you can wait till after Thanksgiving, right? Maybe not. 

What about pancake muffins? Pretty rad, huh? 

Do you want a healthy recipe? I've got lots. I made blackberry muffins. Maybe I don't want to share.

I made some (almost) vegan oatmeal banana lime bread. It was super nifty, wish you could have been there.

I have an apple pie in the oven. It has cheese. Do you want the recipe? I bet you do.

Do you want my Grandma's pound cake recipe? Perhaps to try some of my Mom's delicious cheesecake? I never did get around to telling you about my Ninja bread. How does some sunflower seed bread sound? Strange? A little bit weird? Welcome to my life. 

I'm really just stalling. And teasing you with yummy food, but mostly stalling until we run out of muffins and bread in this house and my canker-sore goes away.

Do you want a fancy-pancy cake? I could totally make you one.

Maybe you want to hear about the pizza I'm dying to have, or the caramel rolls my Mom whipped up last week. Those were good. 

Maybe you want me to tell you about how I'm totally craving this chili right now, possibly with one of those pancake muffins on the side? Nobody said I was normal.

Truth is, I just don't really have anything awesome to give you. Oh sure, those things are awesome awesome, but I still think that there's something different I can find to bring you that will make you jump up and down for joy when you taste it and shower me with praises. You don't think so? Too bad. 

I'll keep looking. hang in there with one of these muffins in each hand. I will find you something spectacular to stuff your face with, although these muffins might satisfy you forever.

These pancakes disguised as muffins were the result of me attempting to make honey nut muffins (AKA, Winnie the Pooh Muffins) but realizing we didn't have honey, so doing some quick on the spot thinking and adding pancake syrup instead. The result is a muffin that tastes like a pancake without the chance of you catching on fire. Success.

Pancake Muffins

makes 12 muffins

2 cups of flour

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

2 eggs 

1/2 cup of milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

2 tablespoons of butter, melted

1/2 cup of pancake syrup

12 almonds (optional) 

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. 

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, butter and vanilla. Pour into dry ingredients. Mix well. 

Add syrup and stir thoroughly. Batter should be thin. Pour into prepared muffin cups.

If desired, place one almond on top of each muffin. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until lightly browned. 

Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Serve with butter. Mm. 

 (It's perfectly acceptable to place said muffin on top of scented christmas candle).

Fresh Mango Bread

There are a few things you need to know about me.

1. The Three Stooges scare me. (this will always be number one on every list)

2. I'm totally going to name my daughter Basil. Or Butter. Or Bacon. Definitely Bacon.

4. If my life was spent watching the Lion King with a tub of chocolate ice cream and frozen cool whip, I'd be insanely content.

5. After eating nine muffins I sometimes go into a muffin coma and the only thing that can bring me out of it is the smell of fresh baked bread. Major yum.

6. Some days, I (and the rest of the teenage world) don't feel like waking up and playing a part in the production of life. Life can be stupid. Boring. Not nearly as exciting as dreaming about black and white replays of the Berenstein Bear's in Central park doing the polka and offering gifts of expensive looking leather dictionaries and non-stick cookie sheets. This happened.

To pull yourself out of this magical state how bout knocking the socks off those slightly creepy fluffy animals with thoughts of this Fresh Mango Bread, warm from the oven with a mug of hot black tea and honey with a splash of cream? They won't know what hit them.

This bread is delicious and warm and not overly sweet. Because of the whole wheat flour it has a different texture than most bread, and while it's still very moist it crumbles a little when you cut it, not to mention the large slices of mango every other bite that add a juicy, delicious balance to the bread. Feel free to make this earlier in the week and then enjoy it for breakfast, or maybe even make two loaves and freeze one for future munching.

Fresh Mango Bread

adapted from Joy the Baker

makes one 8 1/2x 4 1/2 loaf pan

3 eggs

3/4 cup of milk

2 1/2 half cups of whole wheat flour

3/4 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of packed brown sugar

1 or 2 peeled, pitted and diced mangos

1 peeled, grated apple

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease baking pan. 

Whisk the eggs and the oil together.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. 

Rub the brown sugar between your palms into the bowl, breaking up any lumps, then stir it in.  

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, switch to a sturdy rubber spatula or wooden spoon and mix until blended- the batter will be very thick (really more like a dough than a batter) and not easily mixed, but persevere, it will soon come together.  

Stir in the mango, apples, raisins and zest. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake the bread for 1 1/2 hours, or until it is golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  If the bread looks as if it’s getting too brown as it bakes, cover loosely with aluminum foil.  

Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes before running a knife around the edges. Cool for 15 minutes more before removing from pan.