Cheerio Treats

Ok don't judge me but I love Seth MacFarlane and I think he did a good job hosting the Oscars. Now I now he's not for everyone and his jokes sometimes offend people but if you watch Family Guy you would understand that's his kind of comedy. Yes maybe the joke about Chris Brown abusing Rihanna was in bad taste but come on! And as far as him being super sexist and having a thing for making fun of women, I'm a woman and I laughed quite a bit. But then again I know his humor. I think the biggest issue with him hosting was the fact that there were a lot of people that don't understand his humor and that didn't really know who he was. I thought he was a great choice for hosting the Oscars because he is a natural showman and he can sing. Now I know that's not a good reason for hosting an awards show but I'm sure it helps. He's funny, he has great comedic timing, and hey he has a wonderful voice. But this is all just my opinion. If you didn't like him, fine, but I know for a fact that there have been worst hosts for the Oscars. As much as I love Billy Crystal he didn't do that great last year. And can we remember the disaster that was Anne Hathaway and James Franco? While I love Anne I don't think she should of been paired with James. But again I'm biased because I love Seth and thought he was a great choice despite his kind of crude sense of humor. 

Now time for a treat. Today is a quick no bake one. Cheerio Treats. When I found them on Pinterest I was excited to try them. I really wanted to make them for my daughter but turns out mommy and daddy liked them more than she did! 

Thank you Kathie Cooks for the recipe.

Cheerio Treats

Ingredients

1 c. sugar

1 c. corn syrup

1 c. creamy peanut butter

1 t. vanilla

5 c. Cheerios 

Directions

1. In a large sauce pan, combine sugar and corn syrup. Bring to boil over medium heat.  Allow mixture to boil for one minute and remove from heat.

2. Add peanut butter and vanilla to mixture and mix until smooth.

3. Add Cheerios and mix until all coated.

4. Drop mixture by spoonful onto waxed paper and allow to cool. Makes approximately 2 dozen.

 I used regular cheerios but you can use any kind you like.

While I was able to get 2 dozen out of these I actually got a few more. I think the final count was 28. And because of this the PPV is 4 per treat.

They are very chewy and sweet. I used natural peanut butter and regular cheerios to cut the sweetness down a bit.

When you store them make sure you store them one layer at a time with a sheet of wax paper in between each layer. I put them all way together without the wax paper and it turned into one big blob!

I really enjoyed these and so did everyone else. Try them out and let me know if you like them

Till next time! Amy Sue *^_^*

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Can I just say how sick I am of the weather here in Western NY??!! One day it's snowing and cold and the next it's sunny and warm. Why won't it just make up its mind?! If it's nice out I can go running but if it's cold out I can play in the snow with my daughter. She keeps asking us if we can go out and build a snowman. Well the last few snow falls we've had have been the light and fluffy stuff and of course that's not good for building snow men. So we then have to wait for it to melt a bit and then it melts too much and there is none left. Ugh! But if it's nice out I can just let her run around and play while I sit in the sun. See?! 

I can not wait for spring time to come around. I love just sitting outside in the sun or running around after the kids. This spring I would like to clean up the back porch and dig up this huge mint bush that is growing next to our fence. It's annoying because it cuts off a good chuck of the porch and when the bees come out it makes it impossible for us to sit outside. So I said this year it's time to get rid of it and when I get a chance I will get out there and tear it up no matter how hard it is! I would also like to plant some veggies and/or fruits. Now that I'm a stay at home mom for the time being I can do stuff like this :-)

Onto our recipe! Today is Sinckerdoodle Blondies. These light brownies are delicious! I've never made blondies before so I wasn't sure how they were going to turn out. But they were light and fluffy and very yummy. This was another Pinterest find. 

Credit for this recipe goes to: Baking Bites 

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar + 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil. I used parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. 

3. Beat in salt, egg and vanilla extract until well combined.

4. Add in flour and stir until no streaks of dry ingredients remain. 

5. Pour dough (it will be thick) into prepared baking dish and smooth it into an even layer.

6. Stir together remaining 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. Sprinkle dough evenly with cinnamon sugar mixture.

7. Bake for about 30 minutes, until bars are set and the edges are just very lightly browned. Cool in the pan before slicing.

This yields about 16 when cut into rows of 4. 

I substituted Splenda for baking instead or regular sugar. You use about half the sugar this way and that made these only 3 PPV's each. However if you do use regular sugar it would make these 4 PPV's.

My husband said these could use a little cinnamon in the batter itself. Once I tasted them I thought that might not be a bad idea.

When it says the dough will be thick they aren't kidding. I had to flour up my hands to push the dough into the pan. I think next time I will use powder sugar instead. Another trick I learned from Alton Brown ;-)

But these are very simple to make and I bet you have the ingredients to make these in your house right now! That's why I made them! :-) 

I hope everyone enjoys them and as always if you make them let me know how they turn out! Thanks!

Amy Sue *^_^*

Malt Whopper Pudding Cookies

As most of my friends know I have been trying to lose weight for a while now. And while my weight loss story is a long one I would just like to comment on the last month or so. My family has been through a lot of stuff since the beginning of this year. Both my husband and I lost our jobs within a week of each other. While his was unexpected he still understood why they did it. For me however I was completely blindsided (that's all I'm going to say on the matter). We both started to search frantically for jobs while we both applied for unemployment. I was approved but he wasn't. But he did end up getting a job shortly after being let go which was good. The only thing that kind of stinks is it was no where near what he was making at his last job. I was worried. Because all of this I thought I was going to spiral back into eating my feelings. There were days I would just stare at the cookies or chips and just think I could have a few and be ok. But I never gave in. I thought back to how far I have come and it was great motivation to keep going. I've been doing Weight Watchers since the end of June and so far have lost about 47.5 pound. Once everything was all settled I was able to figure out finances and as of this moment we will be ok going forward. It just goes to show that even in your worst times there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

And with that I think it's time for a new recipe! 

Again this is another one I found on Pinterest. I love Whopper candies and thought they would be fun to make. They are pretty simple and only require a few extra ingredients like the pudding and the whoppers. 

Credit for this recipe goes to:  Chef in Training

Malt Whopper Pudding Cookies

INGREDIENTS

o   3/4 cup butter softened

o   3/4 cup brown sugar

o   1/4 cup sugar

o   1 small box instant vanilla pudding dry, do not prepare

o   1/4 cup malt milk powder

o   2 eggs

o   1 tsp. vanilla

o   1 tsp. baking soda

o   2 1/4 cups flour

o   1-2 cups Whoppers

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cream butter, brown sugar and sugar together in a large bowl.

2. Add in vanilla instant pudding mix and malt milk powder and beat until well combined.

3. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

4. Add flour and baking soda and beat until well combined.

5. Mix in Whoppers until evenly distributed.

6. Roll dough into 1" balls.

7. Place them on a greased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes.

This recipe yielded about 4-5 dozen cookies. 

I used Jell-O's sugar free vanilla instant pudding to cut down on the calories. 

Also when I rolled them into balls I made sure there were two whopper candies per ball. Any more and the ball would be too big.

Don't eat them when they first come out of the oven! Wait for them to cool! If you don't the whopper candy insides get to be a bit chew and hurt your teeth. But once they are at room temperature they are really soft and the candies return to normal.

They are sinful but only 3 PPV's!

Well there you have it! I hope you enjoy them and again if you make them please let me know! 

Amy Sue *^_^*

Malt Cookie Bars

I was cleaning tonight thinking opps! I forgot I said I would post one of the recipes I made today! See I'm trying this new thing where I actually follow through with things. If you know anything about me you'll understand why I say that. I like to start stuff and then not finish... A LOT! There was this Snow White cross stitch that I was working on for about 5-6 years that I just finished last summer, so yeah... But here I am!

Ok for tonight I will be telling you about the Malt Cookie Bars I found on Pinterest. I actually found them because I pinned a different cookie that was from the same blog.

And because I want to give credit where credit is due here is where I first found the recipe: 

Chef in Training

And here is the recipe itself:

Malt Cookie Bars

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup butter 
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar 
• 1/2 cup malted milk powder
• 2 Tbsp. chocolate syrup 
• 1 tsp. vanilla 
• 1 egg 
• 2 cups all purpose flour 
• 1 tsp. baking soda 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Beat butter, brown sugar, malted milk powder, chocolate syrup, and vanilla for 2 minutes. 

2. Beat in the egg until well combined.

3. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and stir to combine.

4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix well.

5. Stir in the chocolate chips.

6. Line a 9x9 baking dish with parchment paper. Press the cookie dough into the dish.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 28-30 minutes. They will still seem gooey in the centers so let them cool completely before cutting into them.

When I first tasted the batter it tasted just like a whopper candy ball! I was in heaven because I love those candy's!

When I put the parchment paper in the pan I made sure to cut the corners diagonal so they would fit into the corners of the pan better. An old trick I learned from Alton Brown. Also when it says to press the cookie dough in make sure you use your hands! I couldn't use my spatula because the dough was so thick and sticky so I took my rings off and went at it!

 I decided to cut these into 24 squares or what I thought was 24 square haha!

 I'm doing weight watchers so you will see point plus values for all these recipes. For one square when cut into 24 servings it is 6 points. Yikes! Better send them to my friend Shane ASAP!!! 

Actually that is why I am baking right now. The other night I was pretty bummed out and I asked if I could bake for him because like I said before baking makes me happy. He said an enthusiastic yes and I said OK I'll bake some up and send them down! He's in Florida and very home sick. Love you and miss you Shane!! 

Ok ladies and gentlemen I hope you have enjoyed my first recipe! If you decide to make them let me know how they turn out! As for me I'm off to do a quick workout and then probably reading till the hubby gets home from work. Night all! 

Amy Sue *^_^*

I love to bake!

I have always loved to bake. I'm not even sure where it started but ever since I can remember baking always seems to make me smile and calms me down. About 6 years ago I bought a cookie book and a bars & squares book on Amazon and I've tried a lot of the recipes in each book. I make cookies for everything and every season. I'll usually make something when the mood hits me (and we have what we need in the house). The reason I decided to make this blog is because since I have become addicted to Pinterest, and a stay at home mom, I have a little more time on my hands and lots of recipes to try! I just want to share my creations with my friends and family as well as the rest of the web. I also hope to use this blog to get out some of my random thoughts (and I have lots of them). So I really hope you enjoy the recipes I post! Also if anyone has a recipe they want to share or have me try please let me know! I love to try new things. Later today I will be posting 1 of the two creations I made today. :-) So I hope everyone enjoys my blog! Thanks for the support!

Amy Sue *^_^*