Caramel Rolls

I did it! I finally made my Mom's caramel roll recipe! I wanted to make it last year when I was trying to "challenge myself" in the kitchen, but I just never had the time/the right occasion to make it.

 

The recipe takes about 4.5 hours altogether and involves yeast! (I'm still slightly scared about working with yeast even though I've made these amazing donuts, this heavenly overnight coffee loaf, these delicious croissants, and this yummy from scratch monkey bread. You'd think I'd feel like a pro by now, but I don't. I still think yeast is finicky!)

 

I had to call my Mom twice to clarify some parts of the recipe and she admitted that she didn't have a real recipe for it. She had to kind of make it up when my brother asked for it a couple of years ago. Well, her slightly made up recipe has been delighting me for years and now I've "conquered" it!

Isn't it beautiful? So shiny and caramel-y?

 

I also tried something special with the recipe for Valentine's Day. I made the other dish of rolls with red colored caramel and tried to shape the rolls into hearts. Can you see the heart?

I think the red color scared my taste-testers seeing the natural colored one was eaten first. I don't blame them. As it turns out, the red dye slightly messed with the texture of the caramel.

 

But both versions tasted great! I must admit that I think my mom makes them better, but hey, she has more years of experience on me!

 

Oh, and in case you have 4.5 hours to make rolls, here's what they taste like: cinnamon rolls with caramel and pecans on top instead of frosting. Yum! 

Caramel Rolls (adapted from my Mom's Best Recipes Cookbook)
Ingredients
3/4 C scalded milk
1/4 C shortening
1 scant T yeast (1 packet should do)
3/4 C lukewarm water
1/2 C sugar
1 t salt
1 egg
4-4 1/2 C flour (see directions)
1/2 C light syrup
1 C brown sugar
4 T butter
1/2 C chopped pecans.
1 C cinnamon and sugar

Pour hot milk over shortening in a mixing bowl; let cool to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in water (100-110 degrees F). Yeast should be good to use after about 5 minutes (there will be some foam on top of the water.) Mix these together along with the sugar, salt, egg, and 2 C flour (not the entire amount.) Beat with electric mixer until there are air bubbles appearing in the batter. Cover the bowl with a cloth and let rise for 1/2 hour. (It might not rise much. This is ok.)

Add the other 2-2 1/2 C flour: knead on counter top for 8 minutes or so. Let rise in a greased bowl, covered for at least an hour.

While it's rising, heat the light syrup, brown sugar, and butter together until melted. Mix well and pour into 2 8x8 or 9x9 baking dishes. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of the caramel.

After the hour of dough rising, roll dough with a rolling pin onto a counter top. Roll out into about an 18 inch by 12-16 inch rectangle. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar (1 1/2 t cinnamon mixed with 1 C sugar.) Roll up dough and cut into 18 equal sections. Place on sides on top of caramel mixture (cinnamon & sugar side down), 3x3 in each pan. Let rise, covered, for 1 hour.

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until the dough is slightly brown. Remove from oven and flip onto a cooling rack. (Place wax paper under rack.) Make sure to spoon out the left over caramel mixture that is stuck to the pan back on top of rolls.

Eat warm. Add butter if desired.

Bake well and prosper!

Pumpkin Donuts

I must be making up for the lack of pumpkin posts on my blog. This is my 2nd pumpkin recipe post on my blog within a month! Aren't y'all lucky!

 

But let's get down to business...these donuts were THE BOMB! What? You don't use the phrase "the bomb" when you are doing business? Hmmm...ok... These donuts were incredibly pleasing. No...that's not the right way to describe them either. Look, if you make them your taste buds will bow down to you in thanks. There. That's about right.

 

I had read all of the comments on this recipe in preparation before I started making the dough. Everyone said that the dough was ridiculously sticky, therefore I was prepared for a mess. So prepared that I used gloves! 

Isnt' that a lovely mess?

 

I conquered that lovely mess and managed to cut out donut shapes.

The dough was sticky but I wasn't scared. I had my eye on the prize.

Frying donuts. It's the best thing to do to donuts (besides eating them).

 

If you want some easy to make (not yeast!), "fall is in the air" spiced-sugar donuts, you should definitely try this recipe.

Pumpkin Donuts (recipe found on Epicurious)

Ingredients for the Donuts

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (Erika's Extras: you'll need more while rolling out the dough)

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk

1 cup canned pure pumpkin

Canola oil (for deep-frying) (Erika's Extras: I used vegetable oil)

 

Ingredients for the Powdered Sugar Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

Whipping cream (Erika's Extras: I used half & half)

 

Ingredients for the Spiced Sugar

1 cup sugar

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

 

Instructions for donuts
Whisk first 8 ingredients (everything up to the sugar) in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until blended (mixture will be grainy). Beat in egg, then yolks and vanilla. Gradually beat in buttermilk; beat in pumpkin in 4 additions. Using a rubber spatula, fold in dry ingredients in 4 additions, blending gently after each addition. Cover with plastic; chill 3 hours. (Erika's Extras: I put mine in the freezer for ~15 minutes. This worked fine)          

Press out 1/3 of dough on floured surface to 1/2- to 2/3-inch thickness. Using 2 1/2-inch-diameter round cutter, cut out dough rounds. Arrange on sheets. Repeat with remaining dough in 2 more batches. Gather dough scraps. Press out dough and cut out more dough rounds until all dough is used.

Using 1-inch-diameter round cutter, cut out center of each dough round to make doughnuts and doughnut holes. (Erika's Extras: I made about 3 dough rounds and donut holes at a time and then repeated the process.)          

Line 2 baking sheets with several layers of paper towels. Pour oil into large deep skillet to depth of 1 1/2 inches. Attach deep-fry thermometer and heat oil to 365°F to 370°F. Fry doughnut holes in 2 batches until golden brown, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Fry doughnuts, 3 or 4 at a time, until golden brown, adjusting heat to maintain temperature, about 1 minute per side. Using slotted spoon, transfer doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Cool completely. (Erika's Extras: Really keep your eye on the temperature of the oil. It drops quickly when you put in a lot of the dough.)          

 

Instructions for powdered sugar glaze
Whisk powdered sugar and 4 tablespoons whipping cream to blend. Whisk in additional cream, 1 teaspoon at a time, to form medium thick glaze. Can be made up to 3 hours ahead. Add donut holes to bowl of spiced sugar and toss to coat. Dip donuts on 1 side in the Powdered Sugar Glaze. Arrange doughnuts, glazed side up, on racks or plates.           

Ingredients for spiced sugar
Whisk all ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Dip plain donuts or glazed donuts in the sugar.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pumpkin-Doughnuts-with-Powdered-Sugar-Glaze-and-Spiced-Sugar-Doughnut-Holes-230926#ixzz2hjLfMk8W

 

Bake well and prosper!

Monkey Bread from SCRATCH!

It's a Friday before a long weekend which means I make monkey bread for my coworkers. Yes. It's tradition. (See here and here and here.)

 

I've wanted to make monkey bread from scratch using the Overnight Coffee Loaf recipe for the dough. So last night I did just that. Except...gulp...I had put in complete eggs. I didn't realize it only called for the yolks until after I stirred it together. I was sort of upset at myself but only for one minute. As my room mate can tell you, I said, "Oh well. It'll be a learning experience for me. I'll see how it turns out with egg yolks and egg whites!"

It turned out incredibly yummy. I was so happy with the results. It was so worth the waking up at 5am to pull the dough out of the fridge, sleeping, and then waking up again to put it together and in the oven. My coworkers agree.

Monkey Bread from Scratch (adapted from Mom's Best Recipes Cook Book)

1 pkg dry active yeast (or scant 1 T)

1/4 C warm water

4 C flour

1/4 C sugar

1 t salt

1 C butter or margarine (softened)

3 egg (or try just using the yolks of 3 eggs)

1 C lukewarm milk, scalded and cooled

1 C sugar

2 t+ cinnamon

 

Topping:

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 C brown sugar

1 t cinnamon

Soften butter. Cut in flour, 1/4 C sugar, and salt until mixture looks like a pie crust mixture. Dissolve yeast in warm water and stir with a fork so no big lumps form. Once stirred, mix in yeast, egg yolks, and milk. Cover; refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight. Take dough out and punch it and then knead it briefly. Leave dough in bowl and cover. Let rise for 2 hours. (Dough will not double in size.) After 2 hours, grease a bundt pan. Make cinnamon and sugar and place in a small bowl. Take small chunks of dough and roll around in cinnamon and sugar and then place in bundt pan. Boil together butter, brown sugar, and 1 t cinnamon. Pour mixture over top of dough. Bake 350⁰ for 1 hour or until the top of the dough is very hard. Remove from pan and let cool 10 minutes before inverting.

 

Erikas Extras: Frost with powdered sugar glaze (mix 1 C powdered sugar and a tiny bit of milk.)

Bake well and prosper!

Monkey Bread with Peeps

It's been awhile since I brought monkey bread into my office. I try to do it before a long weekend but I've been slacking. I didn't do it for MLK Day weekend nor for Presidents Day weekend.

But then inspiration popped into my head. Or should I say peeped into my head?

"Can I incorporate Peeps into monkey bread?"

 

After some research, I decided that yes, yes I could! 

I decided to melt some electric pink Peep bunnies with some butter to make a topping to put on the baked monkey bread.

These cute little bunnies with somewhat scary eyes were about to enjoy a butter jacuzzi and become...

A molten lava of pink goo.

Cool, right?

 

The marshmallowy topping poured nicely over the top of the baked and inverted monkey bread. It added a slight taste of Peeps to the bread, but over all just created more sugar to eat. Perfect!

Have a happy Easter!

Monkey Bread (aka Pull Apart Rolls) with Peeps (adapted from Mom's Best Recipes cookbook)

2 cans of biscuits (I prefer the extra buttery and fluffy ones)

1 C sugar

2 t cinnamon

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 C brown sugar

1 t cinnamon

1 package of Peeps

3 T butter

Generously grease tube pan with Crisco. In paper bag, put sugar and 2 t cinnamon. Using 1 can at a time, cut biscuits into quarters. Place in paper bag and shake to coat. Place evenly in tube pan.

(Second Part)

Boil together butter, brown sugar, and 1 t cinnamon. Pour mixture over biscuits. Bake 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before inverting.

 

While it's cooling, melt 8 Peeps with 3 Tablespoons of butter. Stir until completely melted.

 

Invert bread and pour Peep mixture on top.

 

Let guests pull apart.

Bake well and prosper!

Lavender Biscotti with Dried Cherries and Pistachios

Lavender: isn't it lovely? I've wanted to bake with it again but last time I stopped at a farmer's market to pick some baking lavender up they were all out. Then I forgot about it until last week when I passed by a lavender stand in Union Square. I happily whipped up this recipe which I had waiting patiently in the wings (aka my "to make" folder.)

 

It was worth the wait. The slight hint of lavender mixed with lemon zest, dried cherries, and pistachios is a perfect combination.  



Lavender Biscotti with Dried Cherries and Pistachios (adapted from u Try.it)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon dried lavender
Zest of 1/2 a lemon, grated
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup dried cherries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat, set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and baking powder together. In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment on medium speed, cream the sugar, butter, lavender, lemon zest, and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Turn mixer to low, add the flour mixture slowly until just combined. Fold in the pistachios and cherries with a rubber spatula.

Slightly flour both hands and transfer the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Form the dough into a log. Approximately 14-inch in length and 3-inch in width. Bake for 35 minutes or until light golden on the edges. Let it cool on a wiring rack for 30 minutes.

Transfer the log onto the cutting board. With a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2-inch thick slices. Return biscotti to the same baking sheet, arrange the biscotti cut side down. Bake the biscotti for another 15 minutes or until they are pale golden. Transfer the biscotti to a wiring rack and let them cool completely.

Bake well and prosper! 

Buckwheat Crêpes

As promised, the buckwheat crepe recipe from the post yesterday.

These crepes are so easy and I found them to be very dreamy. (If one can call food dreamy.)

Buckwheat Crêpes (from David Lebovitz)
18-20 crêpes
It’s best to let the batter chill overnight, but let it come to room temperature prior to frying them up. And keep stirring the batter as you go while frying since the flour tends to sink to the bottom.
2 cups (500 ml) whole milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons (80 gr) butter, salted or unsalted, melted
1/2 cup (70 gr) buckwheat flour
3/4 cup (105 gr) all-purpose flour (In France, I use type 65)
3 large eggs

In a blender, or with a whisk, mix together all the ingredients until smooth. Cover and chill overnight.
To fry the crêpes, remove the batter from the refrigerator about an hour before frying. Stir it briskly; it should be the consistency of heavy cream. (If not, you can add a tablespoon of milk.)
Heat a 8- to 9-inch skillet on the stove top. You can use a real crêpe pan that’s been seasoned, but I use a Tefal non-stick skillet which works great.
Drop a tiny piece of butter or neutral oil in the hot pan and wipe it around with a paper towel. (Only needed for the first crêpe, but feel free to re-butter after a couple of crêpes.)
Lift the pan and pour 1/4 cup of the batter in the middle of the hot skillet, swirling the pan to distribute the batter quickly and evenly. The pan shouldn’t be too hot or too cold: the batter should start cooking within a few seconds, giving you just enough time to swirl it. It may take a couple of crêpes for you to get your rhythm.
After about a minute, run a non-stick spatula around the underside of the rim of the crêpe, then flip the crepe over. (You can use your fingers after a little has been lifted, but beware, it will be hot!) So use the spatula the whole time if you wish.
Let the crêpe cook on the flip side for about 30 seconds, then slide it out onto a dinner plate. Repeat, cooking the crepes with the remaining batter, stirring the batter every so often as you go.
Crêpes should be served warm. To rewarm the crêpes for serving, fold the crepes and put them in a baking dish covered with foil. Heat them in a moderate oven until warmed through.

Serving
Feel free to be creative and use any fruits or sauces you wish. A smear of Nutella, your favorite jam or simply a drizzle of honey and a tab of butter is terrific folded inside. For savory crêpes, fold some grated cheese and maybe a piece of ham in the crêpe and warm in a non-stick or lightly-buttered skillet for a minute or so, flipping the crêpe midway though, until the cheese is melted.

Storage
Since this recipes makes 18-20 crêpes, it may be more than you need all at once. But if you’re going to stand over a hot stove, you may as well make extra and freeze them. Once cool, wrap securely in plastic film, then foil. They’ll keep in the freezer for a couple of months. You can also store them in the refrigerator for up to three days, well-wrapped.

Erika's Extras: I made a third of this recipe and stuck the batter in the freezer for 15 minutes. They turned out fine. (Just in case you don't need so many crêpes and if you're rushed on time.)

Bake well and prosper!

Overnight Coffee Loaves

So, last week I had a pretty important birthday.

Watch out New York City! You just gained another 30 year old female! I was very excited to leave my 20s behind. Not that they were bad. But I think there's something great about being in your 30s in NYC. I guess I just feel that this city caters to a slightly older crowd.

 

Speaking of catering to crowds, I baked up a storm to feed my friends for my birthday party! (I'll be posting all my baked goods this week, so keep your eyes out for everything.)

 

To usher in my 30s I decided to give back to my favorite city. I held a two part party. First part was picking up trash in Astoria Park. Second part was meeting at a bar. Those friends who volunteered were treated to a free happy hour on me. Those who decided to not volunteer and just meet at the bar paid for their own drinks. People really enjoyed this concept and everyone understood the rules.

 

Well, I couldn't have people picking up trash on an empty stomach now could I?

 

Since I had taken some days off of work to celebrate my birthday, I decided that I finally had enough time and I was finally mature enough to make Overnight Coffee Loaf.

 

You see, this is from my Mom's Favorite Recipes Cook Book. And all of my siblings and I LOVE this bread. So, I had some trepidations about making it. This bread had a lot of history behind it and I didn't want to mess it up.

 

Guess what. Within the first steps of the recipe I was a mess.

Thus, the bread turned out FANTASTIC.

I was fortunate enough to have a friend over who got to taste test it with me right when it came out of the oven. It was to die for. We ate a whole mini loaf. (I couldn't find my other loaf pan so I improvised. See below.)

I was very excited to share it with my volunteers before picking up trash. Too bad it was a gloomy and somewhat cold day. This bread is just so much better warm than cold. Nobody had a problem eating it though. :) And tons of trash was picked up! (Must have been the boost of sugar that helped. Here's a little bit of the trash that was found.)

Yes, that's a prescription bottle on the bench filled with lithium. Found. In. A. PARK! Eek!

So, as you can see, the first part of my birthday party was a success. Many of my friends told me that they didn't expect to have so much fun picking up trash. Ha!

Second part of party and more recipes from my birthday week to come. For now, here's the recipe for this delicious bread.

Overnight Coffee Loaf (from my Mom's Best Recipes Cook Book)
Makes 2 loaves of bread

1 pkg dry active yeast (or scant 1 T)

1/4 C warm water

4 C flour

1/4 C sugar

1 t salt

1 C butter or margarine (softened)

3 egg yolks

1 C lukewarm milk, scalded and cooled

2 T melted butter or margarine

1/2 C sugar

1 1/2 t cinnamon

powdered sugar glaze (powdered sugar and milk)

Soften butter. Cut in flour, 1/4 C sugar, and salt until mixture looks like a pie crust mixture. Dissolve yeast in warm water and stir with a fork so no big lumps form. Once stirred, mix in yeast, egg yolks, and milk. Cover; refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight. Grease 2 loaf pans. Divide dough in half; roll out each half into an oblong shape that will fit into your loaf pan length wise when rolled up. Does not need to be super thin. Brush one side of each flattened dough with 1 T melted butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle half on each half. Roll up dough, placing seam side down in pan. Cover and let rise 2 hours; dough will not double in size. Bake 350⁰ for 1 hour. Remove from pan and let cool for a couple of minutes. Frost with powdered sugar glaze (mix 1 C powdered sugar and a tiny bit of milk.)

Erika's Extras: Add more cinnamon and sugar for a bolder cinnamon flavor in the bread.

 

Bake well and prosper!

Maple Yogurt Muffins with Pecans

Happy Thanksgiving!

My dad is in town for a couple of days for a nice, fun filled father/daughter vacation. I know he likes pecans and I wanted to make something we could bring to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. When I saw these muffins I knew I had a winner!

This recipe is also a good one for using up any leftover pecans from Thanksgiving baking.

And now for your enjoyment: A special something from my past. A Thanksgiving poem I wrote in 4th grade.

Thankful for the food we eat
Happy 'cause it's turkey meat.
Apples, bananas, grapes
None are for the apes.
King on high we praise thy name
So you love us all the same.
Giving us our food to eat.
In every room it's very neat.
Vistors coming now.
In the living room we eat the cow.
Nothing better than cherry pie.
God, I hope I never die!
(copyright Erika Beth 1992)

I hope you laughed a little at that and I hope your holiday is filled with tons of mirth and joy!

Maple Yogurt Muffins with Pecans (from and now for something Completely Delicious)

Ingredients

1/3 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup real maple syrup

1 cup plain yogurt

2 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup pecans, chopped and around 16 pecan halves for topping

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or grease with butter and dust with flour.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook until browned, swirling the pan as necessary to promote even cooking. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.

In a bowl, whisk together the browned butter, maple syrup, yogurt, and eggs. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar. baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the wet ingredients all at once and stir until just combined. Add the chopped pecans.

Fill the muffin pan with the muffin batter, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Top each with a pecan half. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 15-18 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 12-16 muffins.

Bake well and prosper!

Almond Joy Poptarts

Lalala! <---- That's me singing. Why am I singing on my blog? Because it seems like it's all I do in my free time right now. I'm happy if I get time to bake since singing has taken up most of my baking time too!

But I don't mind. Especially when I get to dress up as a countess. Check it out:

 

Pretty awesome, right?

My next costume won't be as pretty, pretty princess-y seeing I'll be playing a pants role (a boy.) Ha!

Thankfully, between that show and rehearsals tonight, I had time to bake. These "poptarts" were buttery and yummy without being too sweet.

Almond Joy Poptarts (adapted from Cookies and Cups)

1/2 cup cold butter, cubed

3 oz cold cream cheese, cubed

1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
1 tsp water
raw, unsalted almonds for garnish

I made the chocolate frosting from my Chocolate Eclair Dessert recipe.
1/2 T butter, melted
1 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted (Baker's squares)
1 1/2 T milk
1 T white corn syrup
1/2 t vanilla
3/4 C powdered sugar (Erika's Extras: I would suggest sifting the powdered sugar)

1. In a large bowl, cut the butter and cream cheese into the flour until mixture form coarse crumbs. With your hands blend the mixture until a smooth dough forms.

2. Flatten dough, wrap in cling wrap and chill for 1 hour, or until firm.

3. To make filling combine coconut and sweetened condensed milk. (Add more condensed milk as needed.)

4. When dough is chilled, remove from fridge and roll out on a floured surface into a 17x10 inch rectangle. Dough will be very thin.

5. Cut dough with a knife into 2 x 2 1/2 inch rectangles.

6. Spoon a heaping teaspoon amount of coconut filling onto center of half the rectangles. Moisten edges with water and place another rectangle of dough of top, pressing edges together.

7.Using a fork, seal the edges together all the way around.

8. Whisk egg and water together to form an egg wash and lightly brush egg wash over the top of each mini tart.

9. Bake at 375° on a parchment lined baking sheet for 10-12 minutes or until edges golden.

10. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

11.When cooled, place an almond on top of each tart. Make the chocolate topping by mixing all the ingredients together. Pour a teaspoon+ of frosting on top of each tart and allow to set.

Bake well and prosper!

Vegan Breakfast Cookies

Confession (I feel like I confess a lot on my blog...) - I've never used coconut oil before. This recipe calls for it and I was scared that I wouldn't even find it at the grocery store. But there it was in the "European and World" food isle.

When I opened it up at home I was surprised to see it was in a solid form. I guess I was expecting more of a liquid oil. I was concerned I would never get it blended into the cookie dough. But then I researched it online and found out that it usually comes in solid form and softens very quickly in heat. I let out a sigh of relief.

You can make these cookies with normal chocolate chips, but since I had vegan chocolate chips on hand I decided to use those. Therefore it made the recipe vegan.

I really enjoyed these as did the few people I shared them with. One friend said, "I could eat a couple of these each morning." To which I said, "Me too. In fact, I think I ate 5 this morning!"

Vegan Breakfast Cookies (Modified from uTry.it)

Ingredients

2 bananas (preferably ripe or spotty bananas)

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

3/4 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Then, mix the remaining ingredients into the bananas until well combined.

Allow the batter to sit for 5 to 10 minutes. With a mini ice cream scoop (about 1 tablespoon), place the batter onto a baking sheet.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.

Bake well and prosper!