Simple Yet Gourmet

It’s no secret- I love chocolate and peppermint, and when they are added to popcorn it is scrumptious! Each piece of popcorn gets coated with white chocolate mixed with crushed candy canes,  drizzled with milk chocolate, and sprinkled with even more peppermint pieces. Absolutely addicting! This makes the perfect snack for munching on while watching a Christmas movie or driving around to see that lights. It comes together really quickly too so it’s perfect for those busy days when you don’t have time to make cookies but still want a yummy treat.

If I had to choose only one cookie to eat for the rest of my life, it would be these cookies!! They are my favorite cookie ever! I took my favorite brownie cookie recipe, wrapped it around a Candy Candy Cane kiss, rolled it in crushed peppermint and then rolled it in powdered sugar. The result? A rich, fudgy brownie like cookie literally oozing with white chocolate and peppermint with a delightful little peppermint crunch on the outside. If you love peppermint and chocolate as much as I do these are a must make! 

I love this time of year when the temperature drops and it's perfectly acceptable to make and eat all kinds of pumpkin things! I've been meaning to try my hand at cake donuts for sometime now and these pumpkin ones were calling my name.  Unlike yeast donuts that require a few rises and fry up nice and fluffy, these cake donuts come together pretty quickly (with a small chilling period) and are more dense and moist in texture. The outside gets all craggy and crispy which is perfect for collecting all the sugary glaze.  Such a delicious combo of textures and perfectly flavored with pumpkin and spices.  We loved these!! Note: I tried making a few of these in the air fryer as an experiment and was amazed at the difference in texture.  Not in a good way.  The air fryer ones were much tougher and not craggy and crispy.  So stick with frying these in oil and you won't be disappointed.  

These festive little cookies are so fun and delicious! They are intensely chocolatey with a fudgy, brownie-like texture.  So delicious even if you stop there, but to make these more festive I added in white chocolate chips and Reeses Pieces, then rolled them in sprinkles for an added pop of color! I left a few without sprinkles and liked that they weren't crunchy, but they also weren't as colorful so just do what you like.  You can play around with the add-in's too.  Halloween M&M's would be another great option, but you really can't go wrong here!  

If you try one new cookie recipe this Fall, let it be this one!! I'm not kidding when I say that this is  one of the best cookies I've ever made.  They've already received rave reviews and comments such as, "Amazing!", and "Incredible!"  These are not your average snickerdoodle, not that I have anything against the traditional ones, they are made with browned butter and extra brown sugar for a rich caramel taste.  But wait, it also has a caramel center! And of course that classic chewy texture with a cinnamon/sugar coating.  I could eat these every single day. They are SO GOOD you guys! 

                A homemade tomato sauce that does not require you to spend the entire day blanching and peeling pounds of tomatoes.  This is a creamy, easy and delicious way to use all of those home grown tomatoes you have this year.  Canned or frozen, the taste of summer tomatoes can last year around.       When I am ready to use it for spaghetti sauce, I add a pinch of sugar, some butter and spices to make an amazing sauce.  Is there anything better than fresh sauce on a cold January day? This is now my favorite sauce to make with roma tomatoes.