M&M Cookie Bark

Sometimes a crisp, crunchy cookie is exactly what you need. And sometimes you need it with a little chocolate. And sometimes, you don't want to go through the motions to portion dough into individual cookies. That's where this delicious treat comes in. Buttery, sweet and dotted with mini M&Ms, you get a lot of crunch and cookie flavor in a treat with a texture very reminiscent of brittle or bark. It's like two desserts in one. Plus candy. Seriously, how can you go wrong? Dave practically inhaled this stuff, but I got a few good chunks too and it's really good. So good I sent it to my Foodie Pen Pal this month!

Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Muffins

Well, color me mortified. Seriously, I don't have a recipe for the crow I'm currently eating. After writing up the post below and completely enjoying my April Foodie Pen Pal, Ashley, my diminished computer skills (i.e.: my ability to remember to hit the publish button) followed by an illness that kept me either in bed or lying on the bathroom floor, thus away from blog maintenance meant I missed Wednesday's Foodie Pen Pal reveal day.  And for this, I'm sorry. Please take a look below at the wonderful box I received from Ashley at Happy, Pretty, Sweet and these fun muffins I sent her. I'm so sorry if you felt neglected, Ashley! Meanwhile, I'm going to see if I have any ketchup to choke down this crow.

I could quite literally eat chocolate all day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Except I do need actual nutrition. So I make real food and enjoy that. But if I can make chocolate flavored real food, then that's a major score. Of course that means I love these muffins. Delicious, tender, chocolatey muffins with a surprise inside of slightly gooey caramel thanks to Rolo minis. Perfect for breakfast or a lovely afternoon snack. And definitely perfect for a chocoholic, like me. And my Foodie Pen Pal.

Low Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yup, a tasty, healthy (ish) cookie. And chocolate chip to boot. Now, I use a lot of butte in my house and I'll be the first to tell you, this recipe will not become my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. But, for those times when I want a sweet treat and want to not spiral down the sugar-guiilt road, these cookies will come into play just fine. Plus, they are good recipe to have on hand when you want to take a sweet treat to a gathering but don't want to be harassed for "making everyone fat" (I feed because I love, not because I want you to buy bigger pants). Either way, I was thrilled with how this recipe turned out. Dave thought the chewy inside was tasty, but he said that they definitely tasted like a healthy cookie. But I thought they were nutty without actually having nuts in them and liked the crisp edge surrounding the chewy center. And for a healthy cookie, they taste great. Clearly, Dave hasn't endured the flavorless, dense cardboard that can be a healthy cookie.

Vegan Spiced Pumpkin Bread

It's been a while since I baked up some bread.  But I couldn't just make one big loaf, so I opted for a pile of little mini loaves, made dairy-free with pumpkin and lots of spices.   In fact, this bread is so well spiced, that you might stop for a second, like I did, and wonder if it's gingerbread, thanks to a little bit of added molasses.  Soft and tender, this is a delicious little loaf.  I had a bit with my breakfast and then later a little nibble for a late night snack. It's just too good.  And since it's vegan, you know there was a reason that I decided to make this recipe, as my tendencies rarely lean toward vegan or dairy free cooking.  So a vegan recipe and the last day of the month can only mean one thing: Foodie Pen Pal reveal day!

Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sweet, salty, soft cookies that just make me smile.  Bits of caramel, chocolate chips and big salty pretzel pieces are packed into these soft and chewy cookies for an amazing combo of salty and sweet, and a twist on the traditional chocolate chip cookie.  I'm always up for an easy drop cookie and these are delicious.   In fact, these are so good, they are likely going to end up in the Christmas cookie tins this year.  I'd been wanting to make them for a while and finally was convinced to do so when I got my September Foodie Pen Pal match who was clamoring for something sweet and salty.

Carrot Cake Mix Cookies

Time for cookies!  Soft chewy cookies with lots of flavor--not just a not to carrot cake, but also white chocolate chips as a nod to the traditional cream cheese frosting on carrot cake and an added sweetness from caramel bits.  These cookies are yummy and fun and so easy to make.  They would be a lovely after school treat or for a bake sale or some other fall gathering.  Carrot cake tends to be a big deal in the spring, but these cookies definitely have a place as a fall treat.  And I just hope my Foodie Pen Pal enjoyed them too.

Belgian White Beer Cookies

Um, yes I did.  And they are amazing. Like seriously not what I expected and totally better than I would have thought.  I was faced with a challenge to make these cookies and to that I said, "Challenge accepted."  Soft and lightly sweetened with a reduction of honey and beer, these cookies let the citrus notes and honey flavor shine with a slightly crisp edge and a surprisingly soft cookie interior.  I was a little worried when I didn't see any coriander in my spice rack and wondered if I could substitute something that would still be appropriate for cookies.  Guess what?  There is no substitute for coriander.  So you have to bribe your husband to go out to the grocery store at 8 pm when he just wants to sit on the couch but since he's easily bribed by the cookies (which need the coriander to make), it all works out. So really, you don't need a substitute.  (Except when you realize a week later that you did have coriander and now you need to make another batch of cookies for your husband to make up for sending him to the grocery store when you didn't really need to go.  Yeah, that may or may not have happened.)

Cherry Almond Bread

I always think that cherries and almonds shouldn't work together but they really do and the result is always perfect.  I think the almond flavors just really make the cherry shine as a true star.  And it's a rather holiday-like combination, so this bread seemed a perfect fit for gifting this season.  A bread with a moist crumb, dotted with almonds and sweet cherries, you'll love the smell and taste and know immediately it is meant to be shared.  Which is why I made this my treat to this month's recipient of my Foodie Pen Pal package.

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have you ever found a recipe you just had to make immediately if not sooner and then spent the next week visiting 5 grocery stores and 2 Targets looking for the one elusive ingredient that sets that recipe apart from everything else only to not find it and then you finally look online and are so excited until you notice they want to charge you 300% more than the items costs just to ship it to you so you get sad and then angry and decide even if you do find that elusive ingredient you're never going to make that recipe?  Yeah, me neither.  (cough, lying, cough).  Instead I decided to make something more awesome than the original recipe because you know I love seasonal ingredients so I couldn't help myself when I saw the cinnamon milk chocolate M&Ms during my failed mission.  I decided to turn them into an amazing oatmeal cookie full of chocolate and cinnamon for an excellent fall cookie with a soft texture and tons of flavor.

Texas Trash

Have I got a week of food ready for you.  It's a week's worth of tailgate and football food with some delicious items that will double as football snacks or full on meals perfect for eating while watching the game.  And I'm starting off with a simple party mix with an awesome name that will completely kick the booty of whatever snack mix you've been enjoying up until now.  Smoky flavor with a spicy kick, this Texas Trash snack mix is delicious and hearty with tons of different textures and delicious goodies.  Pretzels, nuts, cereal and corn chips all serve as the delivery mechanism for a lovely mix of seasonings and spices, perfect for munching while drinking a beer and watching the game.  Although it's pretty tasty for movie night, too.

Coconut Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This was not a combination I thought I'd be so in love with.  But they're wonderful.  A good chocolate flavor, but not overpowering, a perfect texture and oat goodness from the oatmeal and a sprinkling of coconut really come together in a soft, chewy cookie.  And I used coconut oil for the first time.  I think it really enhanced the coconut flavor in the cookies--in a subtle and good way.  Coconut is not one of my top flavors, but these cookies were a perfect chocolate/coconut combination and I think the oatmeal really helped cut the intensity of either flavor.  While Dave, Madaline and I enjoyed these cookies, Ernie was simply delighted by them.  I made several other things the weekend I made these and apparently everything else paled in comparison.

It's Foodie Pen Pal time again and I was tasked to send a package to Barbara at Summer Sensations. If you want to know more about Foodie Pen Pals or join in the fun of getting a package full of fun stuff from a fellow foodie and sending one of your own to another foodie, visit Lindsay's blog at The Lean Green Bean.  When I asked Barbara her favorite cookie flavor, she immediately responded coconut and chocolate chip.  I'd remembered seeing a recipe from Maria at Two Peas and Their Pod just a few days earlier and that sealed the deal on sending a sampling of these cookies tucked into Barbara's package.  I was the lucky recipient of a package from Donna, who is a blog reader from Annapolis, Maryland.  I had to chuckle when I opened the lovely package.

Scotchilla Cookies

Yum, yum, yummy.  Dave and I couldn't get enough of these.  Partially because I split the batch and sent some to my Dad and brother, some to my Foodie Pen Pal and left just a few for us, which we finished promptly.  I love the sweetness of the butterscotch and white chocolate chips paired with the nutty oatmeal.  This is a soft cookie loaded with chips and lots of flavor.  Plus I love the name--a combination of butterscotch and vanilla after the flavored chips included in the dough--so much fun!  A twist on a traditional oatmeal cookies, these are so good, they might make it into the Christmas cookie rotation.

Yup, it's Foodie Pen Pal time again, and I was paired with two lovely ladies.  First I sent a package out to Stephie of Eat Your Heart Out.  She's a sweetheart and I swear we're like long lost sisters.  Be sure to check out her blog to see what I sent her, besides these cookies.  And I received a package from Summer, a Las Vegas native and devoted food blog reader.  She sent me some local Las Vegas treats, including barbeque sauce, a champagne mustard (can't wait to try that on grilled chicken) and these lovely dark chocolate chip cookies from Heaven's Cookies.  These were delicious (and finished more quickly than I care to admit) and I loved the story behind this Las Vegas-based cookie company.  Since Dave and I foster rescue dogs until they find their permanent home, I loved that these cookies were inspired by a desire to stop puppy mills and raise awareness about animal cruely, with a portion of the proceeds going to animal charities.

Chocolate Bailey's Cookies and Foodie Pen Pals

We've got a lot to cover today.  Let's start with these beautiful cookies.  First, they're pretty.  Second, they're chocolate.  And third, they're laced with booze.  Not many ways to top that.  The cookie is soft and chocolatey, but the Bailey's Irish Cream leaves an undertone of something different that pairs nicely with the white chocolate chips.  A perfectly chewy cookie with several layers of flavor, just asking to be paired with a glass of milk.  Yum.

I'd pinned this recipe around St. Patrick's Day when the Bailey's recipes started making the rounds.  Ali from Gimme Some Oven posted this lovely treat and I didn't care to wait a full year to make them.  I'm not even sure why I made them in the first place, but the recipe was so easy and the cookies taste so perfect, that I had to make them again. This time for sharing with my Foodie Pen Pal.