S'mores Brownies Redux

Happy National S'mores Day!  I constantly feel like I'm always a day late and dollar short on celebrating food holidays (except for Christmas since I'll prep for that months in advance).  Well this time I'm a day early since the celebrations for this chocolatey, marshmallowy, graham cracker treat actually happen tomorrow.  But these brownies need to be made for the celebration.  I made them for one of the other groups at work as a thank you for helping me, but stole a few for myself (and my immediate coworkers.  The graham cracker crust is a nice thick base for the fudgy brownie which is then topped with mini marshmallows and mini chocolate chips for a gooey, delicious topping.  All of the elements that make S'mores awesome, but with a brownie in the middle.  Sounds like yum to me.

Zucchini Hummus

As the zucchini began their intrusion into our lives again this summer, I wanted to find some more unique recipes to use them instead of just bread or shredded for sauces.  So I found this recipe and really liked it.  Dave was still not keen on the idea of zucchini, even in a dip form, and since this recipe makes about 2 cups, I had a lot of hummus to pawn off on people.  I ended up taking this into work and you would have thought I fed the ladies in my office crack.  Seriously, they loved this stuff. First we ate it with some pretzels we had kicking around, then I brought it out with some fresh veggies during a staff meeting. This hummus is unlike most hummus you've likely had (no chickpeas!) and has a clean, fresh flavor, but at the same time is undeniably hummus-y.

Blueberry Waffles

We get some amazing blueberries from our farm.  I'm happy to just eat them by the handful (and usually do), but Dave wanted me to "do something" with them recently and decided he wanted blueberry waffles. Happy to oblige (hey, if he's going to have input on a meal so I don't always have to come up with the menu, I'll jump right on it), I found a recipe and got to work. These baked up to fluffy, delicious waffles with a touch of sweetness in the batter and a bit more from the blueberries.  We ate more than a few, but they were perfect for a lazy Sunday breakfast and of course I froze the extras, turning them into toaster waffles for a quick weekday breakfast.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Is it ice cream?  Is it cake?  Better still, is that fluffy buttercream frosting?  I had a flashback to a time when my mom made these amazing cupcakes in ice cream cones. I can't remember if it was for a birthday party, a school treat, or just because, but I remember thinking they were so awesome. My mom was pretty creative with cake and had a talent for decorating cakes that I just failed to get the hang of (my sister inherited that gene).  But as I remembered these cupcake cones, I knew they were something that even my lack of skill could pull off.  Tasty vanilla cupcake batter is poured into ice cream cones (the flat bottomed cake cones) and baked up to golden and fluffy.  Topped high with chocolate buttercream made to look like soft serve ice cream and dusted with confetti style sprinkles, these cupcakes not only brought back memories, but also brought smiles to my friends faces when I shared these at a party.

Vegan Banana Mini Muffins

Miniature versions of things automatically gain stock in my mind as better.  They're cuter, they contain less calories so you can eat more of them, and according to Judy Blume's classic Superfudge, small ones are sweeter.  And this particular recipe for mini muffins also made me a believer that a vegan baked good could be soft, fluffy, and delicious.  Lots of banana flavor and made egg and dairy free thanks to almond milk and coconut oil, I couldn't get over these fantastic muffins.  I may have eaten more than my fair share.  But I'm sure the bigger question for you was why on earth would I make a vegan muffin.  Have I met me?  Well, yes, and I made them because it's Foodie Pen Pal time!