Caramel Salted Cookies or what I call "Legal Crack"

These cookies are amazing- I mean they are soooo delicious you'll eat 10 before you even realize what you've done. They are also incredibly easy to make, which is not always a plus, because well- I make them at a drop of a hat! So these cookies are adapted from this recipe at Weight Watchers. I'm pretty sure that the things I changed or adapted didn't affect the caloric values etc.... So I'd say whatever the weight watchers recipe says for nutritional info is probably the same- BUT I don't know this for a fact. So here goes: The recipe in pics (ingredients, measurements and baking instructions below pics). :)

a few of the great ingredients!

the packed brown sugar. I leave about a 1/4 inch of the cup to be filled with the maple sugar.

the maple sugar filling the remaining portion of the cup. This is the way I measure it every time so I don't know the exact measurements for the brown and maple sugar. This, is where I am not a rocket scientist!

creaming the butter, sugars, vanilla and egg.

the finished dough, with the all purpose and whole wheat flours, salt and baking soda. (and my ripened bananas in the background ready for this recipe that I found on Pinterest, that I've been meaning to blog about myself)

YUM!!! The finished cookie with the salt sprinkled on. I have a confession- I ate this cookie before it cooled completely. :) oops!

and now for the ingredients list.

1/2 cup butter- I use salted sweet cream butter- the original calls for unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar- this is where I really vary the recipe. I fill the 1 cup scoop up and pack the brown sugar until there is about 1/4 inch left. Then I pour maple sugar in the remaining 1/4 inch in the cup and lightly pack it down.  Maple sugar is my secret weapon in this recipe. I use Coombs Family farms but I just saw the Trader Joes is carrying it. see photos 2 and 3 for an illustration of what I do.
1 Large egg
1 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla extract- this is also a variation on the original which calls for only 1 teaspoon of vanilla.  I also use homemade brandy vanilla that a friend made for me, so make sure you use a good vanilla, not imitation!
1 Cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt- plus a little extra for sprinkling on the top. Make sure your sea salt is a fine grain, like a table salt consistency
1/2 teaspoon baking soda.

instructions:
pre-heat oven to 400 F
cream butter, sugar, egg and vanilla.
add flours, salt and baking soda.
beat until combined.

On parchment paper lined cookie sheets roll cookie balls the size of large gum balls and place them evenly on the cookie sheets. bake for 7 mins 30 seconds. Honestly, that's how long! I've tried it for 8 mins and while they are still good, they end up being a little crunchier than I personally like- taking them out 30 seconds earlier is perfect. Of course all ovens vary. They will seem like they are not ready to come out but trust me the are, they will be light golden brown around the edges.

Let them sit on the cookie sheets while you ready your cooling racks and get your sea salt for sprinkling ready. Transfer warm cookies to cooling racks and sprinkle a*small* amount of sea salt on the top. The salt will melt slightly on your warm cookie and stick to the cookie when it cools.

Let cool and EAT!!!! YUMMMMMMM!!!!!! (and just maybe share?!?)

Outfit of the Day (er.....Night)

Outfit of the Day- well night really!

My husband and I had a little date night last night to the movies, and this is what I threw on. :)

Oh and for those wondering, we saw The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel- so funny!

Urban Outfitters infinity scarf- my favorite color in the whole wide world, so I HAD to have it! Can I also say it's sooooo soft and comfy!!!

The outfit as a whole. Urban Outfitters infinity scarf, Target long sleeved tissue tee in black, Victoria's Secret white tank peeking out, my new Citizens of Humanity Lennox jeans- like buttah,  and my free- yes free!- flip flops from Victoria's Secret. 

outfit from another angle. :) the cute little accent rug in my stairwell is from Urban purchased about 4 years ago- I love it!

Mixin' the cheap with the not-so-cheap!

Outfit of the Day :)

Mixin' cheap with the not-so-cheap

The complete look. I love this mix of inexpensive shoes, skirt and tights, with pricey shirt and cardi both from Anthropologie.  What a great balance, and also insanely comfortable!!! (my puppy and laundry pile got in on this pic too!)

Inexpensive wedge shoes by Qupid, from a local store in San Luis Obispo, called Lucky Lulus.  These shoes were $25. I love to wear them both with dresses and with flare jeans. 

Shirt from Little Yellow Button and cardigan from Bailey 44, both found at Anthropologie. I've had both of these shirts for eons. I parted with the striped shirt for a brief time, and the friend I gave it to gave it back when she realized she never wore it and I could fit into it again. :) what a great gal!!!! I'll never part with it again!

the adorable cap sleeves on the Little Yellow Button shirt. You can also see the detailing of the shirt- the collar is the most adorable feature ever!! The skirt is a high waisted pencil skirt from Old Navy that I got on clearance for $12 a few years ago- I wear it all the time and will cry the day it starts to fade or fall apart!

I kinda want to live in this outfit! :)

Chillin' with my Gnomies

I'd love to take credit for the title but the good people at LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics came up with that Holiday 2010. They had me at Gnomie- but more on that in the captions later....

First I have to say that this blog was inspired by Coral, the lovely author of  SLOmygosh one of my favorite blogs this side of the Atlantic! The post that inspired this can be found here. 

So, why gnomes you ask? My obsession/love affair with gnomes (and all things whimsical) began as a small child when I found this book on my parents bookshelf. I have my parents to thank for a lot of the things I love, but my first foray into the whimsical was found in their collection of books, including Gnomes (the aforementioned book), as well as Faeries by Brian Froud & Alan Lee, and another absolute favorite, The Faeries Pop Up book, featuring the artwork of both Brian Froud and Alan Lee- which I paid an arm and a leg for, so no, you can't borrow it! :)

Anyway, after reading that book I was convinced they were real. When I was old enough to know that they sadly weren't real and living in my garden, tending to my plants- I decided it was okay to indulge my little fantasy with tastefully placed lawn art without being the "crazy gnome lady" down the street. So began the controlled obsession. (You've really got to know where to look for these little guys- they hide in plain sight)

The cover of Gnomes- the book that started it all!!

L-R top: My gnome juicer- which is untouched and will probably stay that way- I can't bear to squash an orange on his head!,  Woodland Garden gnomes: Arnold and Sarah get married (in my geraniums and getting sun bleached ),
L-R bottom: Woodland Garden: Adam with butterfly, and a Christmas gnome I found a few years ago.

Left top: My gnome slippers!! I had to finally toss these out. Left bottom: The wrapping paper from my LUSH Chillin' with my Gnomies holiday 2010 gift set- which, yes I admit, I bought just because it has gnomes on the paper and was called Chillin' with my Gnomies- I did happen to like what was inside too! (and yes, I DO still have the wrapping paper!!)
Middle: my Woodland Gardens Gus, the original gnome.
Right: my wee house plant gnome- a housewarming gift from a dear friend who totally feeds my addiction!

My new gnome watering can! This little gem would have escaped my notice without Coral- for better or worse! Haha!

and lastly this cheeky little guy! (who isn't a Woodland Gardens gnome)

I can hear it now, you're dying to ask if I watched Gnomeo and Juliet, loved it and bought it to watch all the time: Yes, not really and no. It was cute- we'll just leave it at that. But I will admit I was secretly excited when I heard about it, I so wanted to love it- but I'm more of Tim Burton kind of gal when it comes to animation, give me The Corpse Bride any day.

No Bakin' Required!

Vegan Gluten Free No Bake Peanut Butter "cookies" (that really ended up being a brittle/toffee)

Here's a recipe that I altered to make vegan and gluten free. For the original recipe check it out here: Suzie The Foodie.

I have quite a few people on my holiday goodie list that have food restrictions (specifically vegan or gluten free, or both!) so I am always up for the challenge of finding recipes that look good to me that can be altered to meet my needs. This recipe is one such recipe. The original is full of glutens and corn syrup- I did my best to take that all out without sacrificing any of the yummy taste. So here's what I did.

Ingredients:

1 cup Brown Rice Syrup (**** here's the reason why the ended up crunchy like brittle. apparently brown rice syrup hardens like in candy making. So stick to the corn syrup if you want them to be like the original recipe. I'm going to play around with this and add some coconut oil and see if I can keep them from being hard and crunchy)

1 Cup sugar ( I actually substituted some of the sugar with Maple Sugar- which is a little *less* bad for you)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

pinch of sea salt

1 1/3 cup peanut butter

4 cups of gluten free flake cereal ( I used Arrowhead Mills Sweetened Rice Flakes)

handful of non-dairy semi sweet chocolate chips (I used Trader Joes Brand)

In a large saucepan heat the brown rice syrup, sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer for 2 minutes. Carefully add the peanut butter- I do mean carefully, the previous mixture will be very hot and you don't want to splash yourself with it while you add the peanut butter. Stir to melt into mixture.

Add 4 cups of cereal to mixture. Stir to combine. Add a handful of chocolate chips (optional). Stir until melted. Using a greased ice cream scoop ( I "greased" mine with earth balance vegan "butter") scoop cookies onto parchment paper. Let cool. YUM!! *see my note below the photo for an accidental variation I found!
* These actually turned into more of a peanut brittle type consistency. Next time I make them I will spread them out into a thin later and break them up like brittle. These scoops were too hard to eat and I had to break them up. So this recipe needs to go back to the drawing board.

Cookie in a Cupcake- livin' the dream

This is a recipe that I found on Pinterest and modified to suit our tastes. It looked too good to ignore!! It's not vegan, it's not completely organic and it's not remotely good for you- but man does it taste good!!! (I apologize for the bad lighting in the photos, my camera broke and I'm having to use my phone (which is nothing fancy and has no flash), and of course I chose to make these at night).

Cookie in a Cupcake

So first things first, I didn't have enough time to make both

the cookie and cake batter from scratch- so I purchased Trader Joe's chocolate cake mix and followed the directions. I did however make the cookie dough from scratch (and frosting for that matter). The only modification that I made on the cookie dough was substituting maple sugar (yes that says sugar and not syrup) for the white refined sugar, cuz I don't keep any in the house and have no plans to use it. It is not a direct 1 to 1 ratio. For every cup of sugar a recipe calls for you substitute 3/4 cup of maple sugar. I did however use the brown sugar that the recipe calls for- I don't feel as bad using that. :)

below is a photo of the finished cookie batter and the bake batter in the cupcake tin.

The first step after you make both batters is to pour the cake batter into the cupcake tin about 2/3rds of the way. Roll cookie dough into a large marble sized ball and drop in the center of the cake batter. Complete this step for all of the cupcakes. In a pre-heated 350 degree oven, place the completed cake/cookie combo. Bake cupcake for 21-23 mins. Your finished, unfrosted cupcake should look like the photo on the right below....

While the cupcakes were baking I made the buttercream frosting. (recipe to follow below-I forgot to take pictures while I was making it so no photos of the frosting process but you can see if on the finished cupcake- which I tinted mint green, just for fun.)

After the cupcakes cooled I put the frosting into a ziplock bag and snipped off the end to make a frosting bag. I piped the frosting in circles on the finished cupcakes. Because this is a buttercream frosting it sets up quite firm when refrigerated which is nice on one hand cuz the frosting holds its shape once on the cupcake but on the other hand you want to let the refrigerated cupcake warm to room temp before you eat it so the frosting is softer.

Below is the completed cookie in a cupcake- they are soooooo good!!!!

(read on for the frosting recipe)

Buttercream frosting recipe. :) Also found on Pinterest.

1 cup of softened butter- use salted butter instead of unsalted for a better taste.

4 tablespoons of half and half

4 cups of powdered sugar

3 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

put softened butter in mixer (or use a hand mixer) whip the butter. Add the half and half, and whip some more. Once the butter and half and half are mixed, slowly mix in the sugar. Once that is mixed add the vanilla- mix some more and voila! Delicious buttercream frosting!! This frosting will melt so be warned- don't put it on warm cupcakes, or leave the frosted cupcakes/cake out for too long- it won't be pretty!

Leah’s Miracle Miles Walk is raising money for The Family Care Network’s 8th Annual Miracle Miles for Kids