Muffins and Creativity, that's what baking is made of

Again, this baking craze has taken all week. I won't be baking today as I'll be headed out to Mike's after work. Have to do physical therapy first though. But - in exciting news I'll be back out doing light jogging in about 1 1/2 weeks. Rugged Maniac here I come!!! :) I love to run, it's a release and so not being able to run has just totally SUCKED!

So Wednesday night I made banana muffins. Just delicious, classic banana muffins from my mom's recipe. I grew up on these things. Delicious, moist and just the right banana flavor (granted I add an extra banana to add some extra flavor). I also cook them slightly under done so they have that little gooey top. Mmmmmm, I'm drooling on my keyboard now. *wipes face* Yeah, add some butter on one of those puppies fresh from the oven and mmmmmm delicious for breakfast or a snack.

Fresh from the oven - beautiful

Just a little gooey, just right

Hot and Buttered ;)

Mom's Banana Bread

Ingredients

2 bananas, ripe and mashed (I usually have some saved up in my freezer - peeled and frozen right as the peel is turning brown - thaw and mash (easier to mash too))
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil (in this case I used butter because I didn't have oil)
1 tsp Vanilla
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
2 cups all purpose (AP) flour

Mix bananas and sugar together. Let sit for 15 minutes.

Add eggs, oil, vanilla, and water. Mix well. Add soda, salt and flour. Mix until incorporated.

Put into desired device (cupcake pan, loaf pan, cake pan).

Bake at 350 for 15-20 min. Until golden on top and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

YUMMMMMMM!

So then yesterday night, in my baking frenzy this week, I cam across a no bake recipe that I just had to try, since it doesn't involve my oven. That's a good thing when temps are reaching a hellish 108 here. Ick! My AC does NOT need to break down. So to avoid that I have a curtain between my kitchen and hall and then I keep my AC on the high side (unless Mike comes over, then I turn it down a bit).

So, these magical cookies I found, that require no baking and are totally ok to eat raw, since there isn't any egg in it. I found this amazing site that had these little gems, which also showed me two other sites that have equally delicious recipes for similar things...going to have to experiment for sure.

So, without further ado, here are the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Stuffed Oreo's.

Yes, that is what I said, chocolate chip cookie dough STUFFED Oreo's (or in my case, duplex cookies lol)

Why the world has not embraced these yet is beyond me. I mean come one, take an Oreo, open it up, fill it with chocolate chip cookie dough, put back together, dunk in chocolate and top with sprinkles if desired. O-M-G!

So I made these last night, sent out some pics to friends who immediately said "OMG AMAZING!!!"

Yes we all OMG'd haha.

I bought the Oreo knock offs, as I'm not spending $4 for a pkg of cookies that will not last long, let alone stay in my house. Then proceeded to buy other necessary ingredients that I didn't have on hand. (mini chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, butter - i ran out - and some yogurt because I wanted it)

So to make these beauties (mine didn't turn out so pretty but I will discuss later).

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Stuffed Oreo Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 (16 oz) pkg Oreo sandwich cookies or other Oreo like cookie
Chocolate bark (white, dark or milk) for dipping
Mini M&M's, sprinkles or other decorative bits for extra decoration (or more chocolate like white chocolate drizzle - oh the possibilities)

Directions:
Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add condensed milk and vanilla. Add flour and salt and beat well. Mix in chocolate chips.

Separate each cookie and place 1Tbsp of cookie dough on one half of each cookie. Top with other half and press lightly. Repeat with remaining cookies. Dip in chocolate - either half or all of the cookie. Let excess chocolate drip off. Place on waxed paper lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with mini M&M's or sprinkles. Place in fridge until chocolate hardens (or place in freezer to have an ice cream sandwich feel).

Sounds delish right? Well you're right. It is, yum, I could just eat the cookie dough.

Straight from the mixer - OH YUM

I don't have a fancy scoop - spoons work.

Stuffed and ready for dipping

Dipped and in the freezer
(yes that's pizza crust under the plate)

So they turned out well, tasted great ----- one problem.

WTF Cookies!?

I pulled the plate out of the freezer to remove cookies from the plate and put in a container. Well, never having this problem before with my plates and chocolate, the cookies would not come off the plate easily. About 6 of them broke off and were cracked and missing good chunks of the cookie. Was a bit mad. At least 80% of the cookies survived and only are missing a tiny bit of the chocolate they were dunked in.

Still tasted good. They just aren't pretty.

Speaking of pretty, I found out I could still wear this cute/pretty dress I've had since high school. I haven't worn it since I was 17 - well I'm definitely not fat then.

So until the next adventure in cooking - which will be Saturday or Sunday - whenever we decide to have pretzel bread enveloped bratwursts. YUM!

Allez Cuisine mes amis!