Wednesday's baking fun and homemade dinner

Well I had all these plans for Wednesday but one by one they either got cancelled or moved.  So to make myself productive I figured I would BAKE:)

BREAKFAST COOKIES

These are all over Pinterest with a ton of different variations.  I just love the fact that my son eats them because he refuses to eat oatmeal, so any chance I get to integrate it in any recipe I take it!  He always feels so special when I packed them for his school snack, he thinks he is getting a super special treat and always brags about them to his teachers and friends.

Another thing I love about these cookies you can add what ever you want!  I am thinking maybe some honey or dried fruit instead of chocolate chips or even some flax seed.  Use your imagination!

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/3 all natural/organic peanut butter (i used creamy)
• 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce (i used my own homemade cinnamon applesauce)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups quick oatmeal, uncooked
• 1/4 chopped peanuts
• 1/2 cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips (optional)

Preperations

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, beat with a mixer the banana and peanut butter until combined.  Then add in the applesauce and vanilla, beat with mixer until combined.

Add in the oatmeal and nuts to the banana mixture and combine.  Then fold in chocolate chips.

Let the dough rest 10 minutes

Drop cookie dough, with a spoon, onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and then flatten the cookies by lightly pressing down on the top of the dough.  make them about 1/3 inch thick.

Bake cookies approximately 30 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and let rest on cookie sheet for 5 minutes then move to a cooling rack.

Store in an air tight container and ENJOY!

Tonight I had my ladies night out and the theme was Tea & Cookies.  I figured I would do cookies since I am not much of a Tea connoisseur.  So searching through my "The Taste of Home Baking Book" I found the perfect recipe. 

Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies

I love the fact that these delicious cookies have minimal ingredients.  Here is the link to the recipe:)

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Hazelnut-Shortbread

Instead of wax paper in their recipe I wrapped it in plastic wrap.  Now the picture on this site has different colored drizzle but I used semisweet chocolate chips.  I just melted about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, put it in a bag, cut a very small hole in the corner then drizzled the cookies.  (these specific directions were in my cookbook but seem to be somewhat different online.)

 

 

They were so super yummy delicious and a total hit!

Bourbon Chicken

Dinner time came around and was dying to try this Bourbon Chicken recipe that I found on Pinterest.  It was so delicious.  My husband said best bourbon chicken he has ever had, and he has even had the real New Orleans style, this was better.  This was such a simple and quick meal!  LOVE IT!

http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/201809/Bourbon-Street-Chicken

(i always have to add some fresh steamed veggies)