Baked Spiced Peaches.

 

This is definitely one of my all-time favorite desserts. I have no clue how healthy it is, but fruit is the main ingredient so how bad could it be?! One of the most important things you can do for this recipe is to make sure your peaches are perfectly ripe! But since it's peach season that should be easy!

Baked Spiced Peaches

3 ripe peaches cut in half

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

 1 slice (per peach) of butter (about 1 teaspoon)

vanilla ice cream

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Lightly grease an 8x8 baking dish. Place peach halves skin down onto the dish. Slice a thin piece of butter and place it on top of each peach. About 1 teaspoon per peach. In a separate bowl combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Once combined add about a tablespoon of it onto each peach. I made sure to sprinkle it all over so that the top was covered. Place it in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Make sure the butter is melted and the peaches are pretty soft. Mine took exactly 12 minutes. Take them out of the oven and with a spoon lightly scoop out some of the spicy juices in the middle and set a side for a minute while you place a scoop of your favorite vanilla bean ice cream on top of the peach. (My personal favorite is the Private Selection brand crushed vanilla bean that can be found at Smith's and Fred Meyer. Finally take the spoonful of yummy juice/sauce and pour it over the top of your icecream and prepare to enter peach heaven!

Enjoy

Printable Recipe HERE.

xoxo

Oatmeal & Chocolate Chip Cookies.

These oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are seriously THE BEST cookies on the planet! I am so picky when it comes to cookies. Number one, I absolutely hate nuts so no nuts in the cookies. Number two, they can not be even slightly overcooked. I like them soft and chewy. And number three, I am not going to make cookies unless they have chocolate chips in them. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration but seriously it's mostly true! Anyway, enough with the chit chat let's get to the actual recipe. You guys are going to die!

My recipe is slightly adapted from THIS recipe. 

Oatmeal & Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter softened 

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cups quick-cooking oats

1 12 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a stand-still mixer use the paddle attachment to cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated  sugar. Let it mix for about 5 minutes so that it is extra fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Then mix in the vanilla. In another bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in to the butter mixture until combined. Do not over mix. Mix in the quick oats and the chocolate chips. Again, do not over mix. Finally drop by spoonfuls onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. 

Bake for 8-9 1/2 minutes. Mine took exactly 9 minutes, but every oven is different so it is important to watch them. Once you cook one batch you will see about how long it takes. I always under bake my cookies a little bit because when you pull them out of the oven to cool they still cook a little bit. Once you pull them out of the oven let them sit on the pan for about 3-5 minutes until they set a little. If you notice that they are still under-baked you can always pop them back in the oven for another minute or so.
Next, transfer the cookies from the pan to a wire cooling rack and let them finish cooling off. Once they are cool you can put them in your tupperware container or wherever you want to store them.
In my opinion these cookies are even better the second day but I of course still eat them the first day. I mean who can resist a freshly baked cookie!

TIPS:

-It is imperative that you do not melt the butter. If you forget to leave it out to soften it's okay to microwave but in 3-5 second intervals. I repeat do not melt it even in the slightest bit!

-Remember to not over mix. (Except for the first step where you mix for about 5 minutes)

-Always line your baking sheets with parchment paper

-Always error on the side of under baking. At least that's what I aways say. Of course if you like your cookies on the crispy side then feel free to cook them a bit longer. 

-I always put my cookies in the microwave for 8-10 seconds before eating so that they are warm and soft when I eat them!

If you try this recipe leave a comment below telling us what you think!

Happy cookie making!

Printable Recipe HERE. 

xoxo

Vanilla & Strawberry layered Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting.

This simple vanilla cake with whipped cream cheese frosting and fresh strawberries is the perfect summer dessert.  It's fairly simple to make and the taste, well you'll die and go to cake heaven for sure!

Here's how to make it:

For the cake:

(This recipe makes two 9 inch layers, so you will want to make it twice if you want a 4 layer cake like this one.)

1 box of Duncan Heines white cake mix

1/2  a box of instant vanilla pudding mix

1 cup of sour cream

1/2 cup water 

3 egg whites 

1 stick of melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine all ingredients together and mix well. (I use the paddle attachment on my kitchen aid).

Pour into greased and floured cake pans.

TIP:  I always spray my cake pans with cooking spray and then lightly flour them. I cut out circles of parchment paper that fit the bottom of my cake pans and place those at the bottom of each cake pan. Since I have been doing this with my cake pans I have never had a problem getting my cakes out!

Place cakes in the oven and bake according to package instructions.  (Usually around 40 minutes. Also try not to open the oven a lot while baking because it can cause the center to sink a bit. Use your oven lights!) Be sure to insert a toothpick in the middle and make sure it comes out clean before taking the cakes out.

Let cakes cool while making the frosting and washing and slicing the strawberries.
For the strawberries:
1 lb strawberries washed and thinly sliced.

For the frosting.

Recipe found HERE.

I am absolutely in love with this recipe and find myself using it for literally everything!
(The original recipe doesn't make quite enough so I altered the amount of ingredients.)

24 ounces of cream cheese (room temperature)

2 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

In a separate bowl beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form. In another bowl beat cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and gently mix until combine. Do not over beat. 

To assemble the cake:

Start by placing one layer of the cake on your plate or cake stand. Put a generous amount of the whipped frosting on top and smooth around until evenly dispersed. Place sliced strawberries on top and then add another cake layer.

Repeat steps until your cake is complete!

We hope you enjoy this as much as we did! And feel free to ask any questions or give any feed back in the comments below. We'd love to hear from you! 

HAPPY BAKING!

xoxo

Printable Recipe HERE.