Category: Baking

Baking

Summer Fruit Cobbler

Featuredby laurenwesley62801 Comment on Summer Fruit Cobbler
Summer Fruit Cobbler

Most of the time, I share recipes so YOU can make them. But, this one, I’m sharing so I can make it… over and over again. Before this summer, I’d never made a cobbler. I was more of a pie person. But, let me tell you, a cobbler is 10 times easier than a pie… and dare I say it? BETTER!

This recipe is awesome because you can swap in any fruit for the peaches, and keep everything else the same. This month, I first made it with peaches (adding a few blueberries), then with strawberries and raspberries. Both were delicious. Recipe below.

This recipe was originally posted on my recipes.com, https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/easy-peach-cobbler. But, my take on it is below:

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar, divided
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 4 cups fresh peach slices (or other fruit)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice (plus a little more)
  • Ground cinnamon 

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
  2. Melt butter in a 12 x 9 inch baking pan. (Easiest step ever – throw it in the oven).
  3. Combine the flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder, and salt. Next, add milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter over butter (do not stir). Just let it kinda sit on top.
  4. Bring remaining 1 cup sugar, peach slices, and lemon juice to a boil over high heat, stirring the whole time. Next, pour over batter (do not stir). Sprinkle with cinnamon.
  5. Bake at 375 for 40 o 45 minutes.

That’s it! Serve with vanilla ice cream, and garnish with mint (if you really want to go all in).

And, that, my friends, is a wrap! You can swap in any fruit for the peaches… add a few blueberries if you like. One note, I did raspberries one time and they definitely cooked down to be more liquidy. But, the cobbler turned out delicious nonetheless.

This might be the easiest and most delicious dessert there is. Happy baking!

xoxo,
LW

Baking

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Featuredby laurenwesley62802 Comments on Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Easy chocolate buttercream frosting – our cake from last weekend! We ate almost half a cake in one day. Whoops.

Making your own frosting (instead of buying it):

I grew up in a house where we rarely had processed foods. Heck, we didn’t even have a microwave until years after everyone else did because my mom was worried about the radiation it might put out. So, it wasn’t until I was older that I even realized you could BUY things like pre-made canned frosting.

That being said, even my parents were realists. Hah. They would often use a box cake mix for convenience, but always make the frosting from scratch. So, here I am in 2020 doing that too! And, as long as you have some sort of electric mixer, making frosting is really pretty easy (and fast).

Ingredients:

For this chocolate buttercream frosting, you need 6 things.

The recipe is adapted from this Williams Sonoma Quick Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe. For one cake, I halved the recipe, and also used less powdered sugar. I used the microwave to melt the chocolate instead of a double boiler… because who has time or patience for melting chocolate in a double boiler in 2020? I’m about convenience over here. Ok, here’s what you need:

  • 4 oz chocolate (we used mini chocolate chips we had in the house)
  • 2.5 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 8 tablespoon (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoon. milk (plus more if needed)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp. salt

Directions

Start with all ingredients at room temperature.

And, double the recipe if you like lots of frosting. This conservatively frosts one cake.

To melt the chocolate: Put the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Take it out, stir with a spoon. Put it back in for another 30 seconds. Take out and stir. It should be melted and not burned by now, but if it needs to melt a little more, do 15 second increments, stirring in between.

To make the frosting: Use the flat beater in a mixer if you have it. But, any mixer will do. Mix butter, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt in mixer for about a minute. Stop, scrape sides of the bowl. Mix again another minute or two on medium speed. If the frosting looks too think, add a little more milk.

Then, pour in the melted chocolate and mix again, until the chocolate is mixed in. That’s it! Now you have delicious homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. Enjoy!

Cake Icing Tip: Use a spatula to put all the frosting into a big zip lock style back. Seal the top… then cut one bottom corner of the bag, and use that to pipe the frosting on your cake evenly before smoothing it with a knife or spatula.

P.S. We use Challenge Butter, because it’s made from only two natural ingredients.

P. P. S. If you’re making a cake for a birthday right now, I also wrote about making the most of a quarantine birthday at home here.

Baking, Working Moms

Everyday Smoothie Recipe

Featuredby laurenwesley62802 Comments on Everyday Smoothie Recipe

Why we all need this smoothie right now:

Keeping it short here, but if you’re like me, you’ve made it through the denial stages of shelter in place/quarantine because of Covid-19. The first few days (weeks) of being locked up at home I drank allll the drinks (hello, wine), ate all the unhealthy foods, and honestly, I was doing it to cope. But, now that it’s clear we’ll be doing this for a while (we’re privileged, btw, to be safe and healthy at home) eating a bunch of unhealthy crap is clearly not the solution.

It’s a crazy, weird, and uncertain time. But, I believe in controlling what we can control. And, the food we put in our body (assuming we have the means to choose these healthy items) is definitely in our control.

Eating healthily has never been about looking good, for me. (That doesn’t motivate me). It’s about feeling good. Taking care of my body, and fueling my body to have the energy I need to be a good mom, good wife, good friend, sister, daughter, neighbor, employee. You get the picture. I want the energy to be able to do the things I want to do. And, right now, more than ever, a lot of us neeeeed some fuel. (Disclaimer here – I’m still eating tons of delicious things too – and baking a lot – but this smoothie is a fast and simple way to stay healthy while also hunkering down at home).

Everything in the recipe has a long(ish) shelf life too! So, if you’re stocking up on groceries for long stretches, this works well. You can buy the spinach in bulk and freeze it!

Must give credit where credit is due:

I got hooked on this recipe when I did the Arbonne “30 days of healthy living program” years ago. The premise of this program is that our meals should contain only things that are good for our bodies, and when possible, in the optimal proportions.

Long story short, this program says the following.

  • 1/2 of your plate should be greens
  • 1/4 of your plate should be lean protein
  • 1/8 of your plate should be a good fat (almond butter, in this case)
  • 1/8 of your plate should be a complex carb (think berries, carrots, quinoa)

This smoothie takes that same idea, and puts it in a meal you can drink. And, the healthy fats keep you full!

Ok, so here’s the recipe:

  • A big old handful of spinach (or other leafy greens)
  • About a quarter cup of frozen berries (blueberries are my go to)
  • A spoonful of almond butter
  • 1 serving of protein powder (I like Arbonne vegan protein – vanilla)
  • 1 cup (plus a little water) of coconut/almond milk
  • Scoop of ice

That’s it! You blend it all at once in your blender. And, there you have it: a perfectly balanced meal that will actually keep you full. (I add the Arbonne fiber boost to keep me full for longer – but you could also do chia seeds or something else).

This is my favorite milk to add – but you can really add any non-dairy milk you want as a liquid.

Take the basic recipe, and switch it up!

The best part about this recipe is that you can swap things in and out, but still keep the basic components of greens, carbs (berries), fat (nut butter), protein, liquid, and ice.

  • Greens options: spinach, kale, any dark leafy green
  • Fruit options: any frozen berries (you can obviously do other frozen fruit too – but berries have the lowest sugar)
  • Good Fat – any nut butter, or a few buts. Avocado works here too
  • Protein – any protein powder
  • Liquid – any non-dairy (or dairy if you want, I guess) milk. I’ve also done plain water and it’s turned out fine.
  • Ice – don’t forget the ice for a better consistency

That’s all, friends. Happy blending! Stay healthy and safe out there.

Baking, Motherhood

Drake’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

by laurenwesley62801 Comment on Drake’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

If you are anything like me right now, you’re baking lots. Like, lots and lots. It brings me joy. It passes time. It keeps us indoors. And, we can do it with our kids!

We were lucky enough to be gifted a big beautiful box of challenge butter back before quarantining, and I am SO glad we have all of this butter on hand to bake with. Their butter is “churned daily from two natural ingredients: the freshest 100% real pasteurized sweet cream and salt. That’s it. Nothing artificial or synthetic.” Took that from their website. But, this is 100% our go to now. Clean ingredients are everything.

Ok, so without any fuss, here is my dad’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. They are my FAVORITE cookies. And, it’s my favorite dough. 🙂 You guys, we even had my dad make these and served them at our wedding. They are everything. So, check your pantry (hopefully you have all the ingredients on hand), and get baking. The recipe is below:

Drake (my dad)’s Famous Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 cup butter (recommended challenge butter) softened
  • 3 regular eggs (or 2 large eggs)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups oats (quick cooking oatmeal is fine)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Then, in a large bowl (I use my mixer with the wire whip attachment), mix sugar, brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla . Beat at medium speed, stopping to scrape the bowl regularly, until fluffy. It usually takes about 2 minutes.

Then, add the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Mix it in using the mixer on medium speed about 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl as necessary here, too. And, finally, stir in the chocolate chips. (Best time to taste the dough is now. Pro tip from my mom: ALWAYS unplug the mixer before putting anything in the bowl).

Then, drop the dough on cookie sheet in 1/4 cup sized spoonfuls, making sure they’re at least 2 inches apart, because the cookies will spread. Then, cook at 350 degrees for 14 to 17 minutes, until golden brown.

Enjoy!!

Oh, and P.S. Eat the cookies! Love your body. Your body is awesome.