candy bar cookies

yummmmy.

these are some of my favorite holiday treats, & the customers at the shop have been loving them too! some people call them ‘seven layer bars’ but i don’t usually do mine with all the layers so i call them ‘candy bar cookies’ instead :) it’s sort of like heaven in your mouth!

enjoy!

ingredients:

1 stick of butter

graham cracker crumbs

1 can borden’s sweetened & condensed milk

1 bag of chocolate chips

1 bag of white chocolate chips

1 bag of reeses peanut butter chips

shaved coconut

** you might also like to use butterscotch chips or add nuts!**

directions:

melt stick of butter in baking dish, press graham cracker crumbs into the melted butter, layer your chocolate chips, spread condensed milk alllll over it, and top with coconut. bake for 30 minutes at 350.

plum creek cafe is now open!

yay! the cafe is now up and running! featuring treats from, ‘speckled feather bakeshop’ … aka my baked goods :) soooo exciting! i went with simply strawberry muffins, fancy banana muffins (peanut butter, banana, chocolate chip), & pumpkin spice & everything nice muffins! i also had peanut butter s’mores cookies & neiman marcus bars.

boy oh boy!

obviously had to sample everything & check for poison… needless to say, everything was DELICIOUS!

hoping to sell out :)

little debbie who?

prepare yourself for some pretty exciting news & a few mouth watering pictures. i am so very excited to announce that i am the official betty crocker, in charge of all of the delicious baked goods at plum creek cafe! my SUPER creative, smart & talented mother owns a vintage shop here in fort collins, called vines vintage market. she hasn’t been open a year & has already expanded TWO times, tripled in size & had tremendous amounts of success… yea, i’m bragging on her, but it is AWESOME what God has built in her life & allowed her to be a part in! this all being said, she is now opening a cafe within the store!

plum creek cafe.

for the past few years it has been a dream of mine to open up my own bakeshop, but with our gypsy lifestyle it was something i knew i’d need to wait on and do down the road. so, when my mom decided to put in the cafe she asked me to do all of the baking while we are here in colorado! it is the perfect opportunity to try out SO many of the recipes and ideas that i have had in my mind & make them a reality! i am SO excited!

so, when are we gonna get to the mouth watering pictures??

oh, now :)

just wanted to give you a little sneak peek of a few ideas i’ve got for opening weeks menu! enjoy!

 

**photos from pinterest**

monster cookies.

i just couldn’t help myself.

it was time for baking! so little sister came over and we made homemade monster cookies. deeeeelish! we used a recipe from the all knowing, paula deen… and surprisingly enough, it only called for one stick of butter ;)

they turned out to be very yummy, peanut buttery, oat-y, chocolatey… mmmm.

recipe can be found here!

happy monday!

a pretty little bridal shower.

while i was home in colorado, we threw my sister's bridal shower. my sister taylor & i were the "hosts", however elle & my mom were SO helpful with baking & decorating, we could NOT have done it without them! it was a success to say the least! ashton LOVED it! here are few pics of the details i was able to capture in between baking/cooking & partying! enjoy!

      

on our menu:

hummus with flatbread & veggies

brie bites (recipe)

caprese skewers

fruit cups & dip

lasagna cups

s'mores cups (recipe)

neiman marcus cake (recipe)

AND

chocolate chip cookie dough truffles for our guest favors (recipe)

beverages:

black & blue mojitos (recipe)

green tea soda (recipe)

bridesmaid punch

fresh lemon & lime water

fresh cucumber & mint water

(most recipes were found on taylor & myself's pinterest pages! come pin with us!)

oh yea… and there were a few people there too! ha! however, i’ve photo overloaded you enough for today, so check facebook for all of the people pics later this week :)

we LOVE the bride. bottom photo, courtesy of shannon gertz :)

treat yourself.

most mornings i usually enjoy some yogurt & granola, or toast & fruit, the occasional bowl of cereal… but saturday morning deserved something more. i woke up to some serious favor from God & felt so blessed and comforted that He just ALWAYS provides, knows what to do, takes care of me…

  He’s got this.

So, downstairs i went. I slipped on my most used piece of “clothing” in our house, my apron, and opened up my laptop to a recipe that i had recently pinned for future baking purposes.

banana bread pancakes with a vanilla maple glaze.

yummm. they sounded like music to my ears & happiness to my belly. not to mention, banana pancakes always make me think of Jack Johnson, who is responsible for both husband & i’s first ‘song’ (better when we’re together) and also my little sister ashton and i’s ‘song’ (banana pancakes). can you think of a better reason to treat yourself to banana pancakes on a saturday morning?

they were delicious. i served them (to myself, ha!) with fresh fruit, turkey bacon & juice from a mason jar… because let's be honest, everything tastes better served in a mason jar! 

enjoy :)

Banana Bread Pancakes

makes 12 pancakes

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2/3 cup milk
mini chocolate chips

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 large ripe bananas, mashed

2 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Measure out the milk and add the vanilla extract to it. Whisk together the dry ingredients and add in milk and vanilla, stirring to combine. The mixture will still be dry. Add in mashed bananas and mix. Add in melted butter and stir until batter is somewhat smooth.

Heat a skillet or grilled on medium heat. Using a 1/3 cup measure, spoon batter into rounds and cook until bubbles form on top – about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for a minute or two more. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve hot with butter and syrup, or the vanilla maple glaze.

Note: if you don’t have/can’t find whole wheat pastry flour, use 1 cup of regular whole wheat and 1 cup of all purpose. Or 2 cups of all purpose.

Vanilla Maple Glaze

1/2 cup maple syrup

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth. Pour over pancakes.  

my helpers...

have a wonderful day!

xoxo

nutella & sea salt sugar cookies.

nutella & sea salt stuffed sugar cookies

so i hadn't baked in a whiiiile!

i found these cookies on pinterest & with my recent obsession with chocolate & sea salt things... it was a must try :)

they were pretty easy to make! the blog that i found the recipe on was great with instructions, you can find it here!

these were not a favorite in our house... husband didn't like feeling the salt in the cookies, but that could probably be fixed by using fine sea salt! i thought the flavor was good, but also didn't like crunching the salt... oh well, guess i will have to bake again! not mad :)

happy thursday!

reeses peanut butter surprises!

peanut butter surprises!

so my older sister & i had a baking night this past weekend! i, as usual, wanted to try something new! we've put oreos inside of cookies, and also s'mores... so what could be better than that? hmmm... oh yeah! a reeses peanut butter cup. yummm. i've shared the recipe i used below! enjoy :)

Ingredients:

3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. bittersweet chocolate chips
1 bag of standard size reeses cups

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy and light in color. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.

3. Mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chunks.

4. Take one scoop of cookie dough, place Reeses peanut butter cup on top and then take a second scoop of cookie dough and place on top of the Reeses. Press the cookie dough together, sealing the edges and then carefully mold into a ball. Drop dough onto a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. (The tops will not brown, but do NOT cook longer than ten minutes.)

5. Let cool, on the sheet, on a wire rack for five minutes. Remove from baking sheet and let cool completely.  EAT!