Apple Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies (Guest Post)

A couple of months ago Nicki Anderson, a health and fitness guru, contacted me to guest post on At350Degrees. She owned and operated the award-winning Reality Fitness, Inc. Personal Training studio, has  authored four health and motivational books (Nicki Anderson’s Single Step Weight Loss and 101 Ways to Motivate Your Clients and Increase Retention), and is a health and fitness contributor to websites, magazines, and newspapers. She’s found delicious guilt-free summer snacks using Stevia–my favorite so far, Apple Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies!

Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hi, my name is Carissa and I’m an Oreo addict. I mean, what would be the point of frozen yogurt if you couldn’t drown swirls of vanilla bean froyo in crushed Oreos?! These cookie’s facts really are fun because I love looking at each country’s own special Oreo flavors like China’s Green Tea Oreos, Argentina’s Oreo Alfajors, and Mexico’s Oreo Trio Chocolates. I honestly don’t know what makes an Oreo so delicious, but to make me stray away from my strict acceptance of only soft and chewy cookies, an Oreo must be something special! 

Chewy Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies

I have a bit of an obsession when it comes to bananas..and once they start to turn banana-bread-ready brown, I absolutely cannot stop myself from using them in a baked good. My usual go-to recipe is Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, but even my friends have become a little tired of my usual fix! So, as an alternative I decided to search for a banana cookie recipe (which is surprisingly hard to find), and after pages of Foodgawker research, I eventually came across these delicious looking chocolate chip banana oatmeal cookies.

Linzer Cookies

Happy belated Mothers’ Day, everyone! Just like some people like salty or sweet, chocolate or vanilla, my mom LOVES cookies! But, this is not just any cookie recipe, it’s my mom’s favorite cookie recipe: Linzer cookies! These cookies always remind me of traditional bakery cookies packaged in those special pink boxes, especially sprinkled with a pound of powdered sugar.

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

After two completely failed attempts to create “over the rainbow” St. Patrick Day cupcakes, I decided to stick with a good, old classic…with a slight twist. As you may know, I consider Chocolate Chip Cookies my specialty, so when I was on my recent Nutella kick, I had to try infusing my trusty cookie recipe (one that still tasted just as delicious when I accidentally added double the flour the recipe called for) with this chocolate hazelnut magic, aka a fantastic gift from the gods!

Gingerbread Men

Now that I’m on winter break, I’m officially ready for winter celebrations! To some people, winter means building snowmen or hanging ornaments on the Christmas tree, but for me winter means building gingerbread houses and decorating Christmas cookies! Every year my best friend and I have a cookie-decorating party where we decorate sugar cookies in gingerbread men shapes, but this year we decided to go all out and make traditional gingerbread men.

BEST Snickerdoodle Cookies

The cookie monster is correct to believe that “A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand”! But, as my Chocolate Chip Cookies have become my baking “specialty”, I have also become a very discriminating cookie aficionado; the perfect cookie must be soft, sweet, and chewy, melting in your mouth upon first bite. And, since cookies are both my mom’s and my best friend’s dessert of choice, I’ve made quite a lot of cookies in my years. Especially on a day like today, while I’m sick in bed with a red-like-Rudolph nose, a warm cookie from the oven and a tall glass of ice cold milk sound absolutely A-MAZING! Whoever claimed that Oreos are milk’s favorite cookie certainly hasn’t tasted these outstanding snickerdoodle cookies! The cookie is unbelievably soft, yet cakey ,and the cinnamon sugar coating adds such a delightful fall-time warmth! These snickerdoodles are heaven in a cookie, and interestingly enough, the origin of their arbitrary name remains a mystery to this day! Enjoy!!!

Recipe: Perfect Snickerdoodle Cookies

***NOTE: To form a perfectly round, bakery-style cookie, I use a mini ice cream scooper to portion and shape the cookie dough.

 

Peanut Butter Blossoms (/Thumbprint Cookies)

It’s October, which means it’s National Cookie Month! October is my second favorite month, after May (my birthday month and the peak of Spring), because I LOVE Halloween!!!! Ever since I was little, I would watch Disney channel Halloween features like Hocus Pocus and my favorite of all time, Halloweentown! Maybe it’s just my love of fairies and all-things-magical, but pumpkin spice candles, candy apples, and monster decorations instantly bring me back to being a little kid making festive arts ‘n crafts and harassing neighbors for candy. In my opinion, Halloween even outshines Christmas candy canes and presents under twinkling trees! But anyways, in celebration of National Cookie Month, I made these absolutely delicious Peanut Butter Blossoms, aka Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies! With some imagination, they even resemble Halloween colors with their dark chocolate kisses and orange-y peanut butter cookie! The cookie is my favorite type, perfectly soft and chewy! And, what could ever be wrong with something topped with Hershey’s Kisses?! These cookies are absolutely fantastic! Enjoy!!!

Recipe: Peanut Butter Blossoms

***NOTE: If you like these peanut butter cookies, check out this Black & White Thumbprint Cookie recipe, which is just as delicious! Also, visit Foodimentary to learn more about national food holidays!

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons (&Food Holidays)

Here’s a belated shout-out to Sept 9th,  national “I love food” day! (Yes, It’s actually a holiday!):

I recently discovered Foodimentary, an outstanding blog that celebrates food holidays, which is the most addicting website ever. I spent about 45 minutes looking up which food holidays fell on monumental days like Halloween (national caramel apple day) and my birthday (national raspberry popover, raspberry tart, and chocolate custard day). But out of all of the wonderful food holidays, my favorite is certainly national “I love food” day because I love food, or at least desserts! So in celebration,  I made these delicious chocolate-covered coconut macaroons that are to-die-for! They are the best of a chewy cookie and ice-cream-like chocolate coating. This dessert looks absolutely beautiful, especially when you play with the chocolate flavors and designs! (Plus, check out the note below for a super fast and easy way to amaze your guests without spending hours in the kitchen!) Enjoy!!!

Recipe: Coconut Macaroons

**NOTE: These macaroons can easily be made  as a semi-homeade version! Just use bakery/store-bought macaroons, melt some chocolate chips, dip and voila! Possibly the quickest, most delicious dessert ever!

Double Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

My mom’s best friend always raves about my Chocolate Dipped Almond Biscotti–she makes them for all of her guests! I figured she must be getting tired of bringing the same almond biscotti to work, so i hijaked the traditional vanilla biscotti to create a chocolate-infused, sweet and crunchy twist! The biscotti almost tastes like a brownie in cookie form,  incredibly rich and fudgy! I also added pistachios for a colorful change, but if you’re a chocolate purist, feel free to leave them out because the cookie will definitely be great on its own. I really want to make these again to experiment with the design; my next try would be white and dark chocolate drizzle! Enjoy!!

Recipe: Chocolate-Pistachio Biscotti 

***NOTE: Remember, like in my other biscotti recipe, you can play with the cakey-ness or crunch of the cookies by changing the baking time or even omitting the double-bake.