White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Pudding Cookies

The hubby and I have been dreading winter since we drove our little Penske truck up here. And now ... winter is here. Thankfully, I have to say that this winter has been pretty darn kind to us. Both the hubby and I have been told several times that the winter season has been unusually warm this year. Apparently by this time of year, there has already been a little snow and the temperature is close, if not already, freezing. Last week, we were in the 60s :) -- insert happy dance -- Though, the hubby and I are prepared. We went winter coat shopping, and the cutest corniest part ... we got matching jackets. Ok ... pause ... by no means did I mean to get matching jackets. Each of us wanted the warmest jacket we could find. And it happened to be the same jacket, from the same brand but tailored to each gender. Twinning!

I have really loved moving to Rhode Island, more than I even thought I could. I love the city vibe without the big city feel. I love our little home. I love where I work and the people I work with. I definitely am enjoying living in Rhode Island more than Texas. BUT, although it is not freezing, it is cold here. And it is these cold times, when I really miss Texas. Don't get me wrong, Texas holds a very special place in my heart since that is where I met, fell in love with and got engaged to the hubby. It's also where I got Ninja face! So, when my Texas friends tell me about the wonderful weather they are still experiencing, that oh so lovely 70 degrees in December ... I start thinking more about sweet ol' Tejas. And so for some Texas throw back, I share with you some photos the hubby and I took of our last few days at Texas A&M. Whoop! 

In keeping with Christmas ... and the sweet train ... because you know me and my sweet tooth. I wanted to share this cookie recipe I made for the hubby. I was scrolling through Pinterest, which now has "recommended for you" on the main feed, and I saw these cookies. I immediately thought of the hubby for a two reasons. 1. It is a recipe that doesn't have "chocolate" -- I am not a person who thinks white chocolate is "chocolate." The hubby always tells me, I keep making desserts with chocolate and should try something different. 2. The recipe included cranberries, which the hubby loves. I decided to go out of my "box" because I knew the hubby was going to love it. And he sure did. Surprisingly, I did too. This cookie was originally not a pudding cookie, but we also know my deep love for pudding cookies. 

WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP CRANBERRY PUDDING COOKIES 

 Inspired by The Domestic Rebel

INGREDIENTS

Preheat over to 350F Degrees
Makes about 4 dozen cookies

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 (3.4-3.56 oz) box of vanilla pudding
1 1/2 stick of butter, softened
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. honey
3/4 c. white chocolate chips (+ 1/4 c. for sprinkling on top)
3/4 c. dried cranberries (+ 1/4 c. for sprinkling on top)

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and vanilla pudding- set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, cream together (on medium speed) butter and both sugars until fluffy (about 5 minutes). Then add eggs, one at time, vanilla and honey. Scrape down sides. Then reduce to low speed and add flour mixture (dry ingredients). Combine until just incorporated. Finally add white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

Line baking sheet with baking mat, aluminum foil, parchment or wax paper. Scoop out 1 inch, large cookie dough balls onto sheet (roll between the palm of your hands for a nice round shape). Press a few extra chips and cranberries on to top of cookie dough balls. Pressing down slightly to flatten. Space the cookies 2 inches apart and bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Store in air tight container.

Enjoy,

Pecan Sandie Brownies

The motto when entering our new state was "Discover Beautiful Rhode Island." And that was exactly what I intended to do. Being a new north-easterner, I was warned that the beautiful warm summer weather would be short lived, and that I should probably start exploring right way. The first place we wanted to find was a dog park for Ninja. After all, our dog park in Texas was amazing, lots of space to run around and wonderful friends, human and furry. We really miss them and I know Ninja does too! But, when I took Ninja to the nearest dog park ... saying it was a hole ... sadly, is an understatement. So, I decided to make Ninja the center of this new journey, creating an album called "Ninja Discovers Rhode Island...and a little bit of Massachusetts" [so I am not the most creative person]. We started with the coolest doormat that we could find:

During this hunt for new, fun places to enjoy with Ninja, I stumbled on my favorite place in all of Rhode Island. Chase Farm. It's a beautiful little piece of serenity and my go to when I had a stressful day or week. It isn't technically supposed to be an off-leash dog park, but about 99% of the people there have dogs that run around off leash. So we decided to join the party.

Another fun first here in Rhode Island, was Ninja's fist time at the beach! Being born and raised in Texas, Ninja has gotten to nurture his cowboy, outdoor side -- but not so much his beach bum side. Ninja wasn't into swimming and splashing around in the water for fun, but he was great at attempting to "rescue" people. There was this one nice woman in particular who was trying to back swim, only for Ninja to think she was drowning. Least to say, he bothered her, A LOT.

A few months ago, I had a department picnic to go to. My last department get together before heading to Rhode Island. I signed up to bring a dessert but that day, I got behind with moving stuff. I needed something quick and EASY. I couldn't have my last dish there be something store bought! They say that a great cook or baker is able to look into their cupboards and improvise. That's what I did. I saw some pecan sandies and a box of brownie mix. And there you have it -- pecan sandie brownies! What I didn't expect was how big of a hit it was at the picnic! Gone in just a few minutes and everyone was wondering what was in them ... if I told them I would have had to kill them ;) Just kidding! I told them, they would have to stay tuned to my blog :)

PECAN SANDIE BROWNIES

A For the Love of Dessert Original Recipe 

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 325F Degrees

Pillsbury Family Size Fudge Brownie Mix (plus ingredients listed below)
2/3 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. water
2 eggs, room temperature
1 package Keebler Sandies, pecan shortbread

DIRECTIONS

Mix brownies according to package directions. Grease a 8x8 baking dish. Pour slightly less than half of the batter into the baking dish. Then line sandies on top of the batter, pressing down very slightly. For me, the last row only fit cookies cut in half. I used about 18 cookies. Then cover the sandies with the remaining batter. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow brownies to cool before cutting, with each square containing 1 cookie.

Note: When I made these brownies, my sandies were more to the top then I intended. So I adjusted how much batter you pour before and on top of the sandies in the recipe above, so that the sandie layer would be more towards the middle.

Enjoy,

Pretzel and M&M Peanut Butter Cookies

::begin vent:: I have been searching my baker butt off to find a rental in the area between Providence and Boston. And have been pretty unsuccessful. I thought I would have choices in places on where to live ... I was wrong. Just finding ONE place is proving to be difficult. At first it was finding places that were in our budget. But I soon learned that this was not the biggest issue. The big issue was finding a rental that would accept dogs -- big dogs. And by big anything over 25-40 pounds. I mean seriously!?! There are other breeds beyond toy breeds. Do not get me wrong, all fur babies are wonderful and some people like the little ones but others like the big fur babies -- as in my Ninja face ... my love bug ... my baby! ::sigh:: Also big dogs can be just as well behaved and clean (if not better) than little dogs ... never judge a book by its cover.

I was even going to give in and just rent one of those fancy "luxury" living complexes and spend extra to bring Ninja with me but ... I hit my next road block. Apparently Shar- pei are considered an "aggressive breed." I mean really?!? Have you seen Ninja on his birthday -- that munchkin is anything but. If its not one thing, it is another right? I really hate to comprise safety so I am still searching for a safe place that is large breed pet friendly. Definitely proving to be more stressful than the fun I thought it would be. Keep your fingers crossed or if you happen to live in the middle of Boston and Providence and have some thoughts on where to live -- I am all ears!

So the hubby just learned that stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Clearly he needs to spend more time on Pinterest ;) Keeping with that theme and being the dessert loving food blogger that I am ... I decided to turn my stress upside down and make dessert. hahaha I actually made this dessert for the hubby's grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. But I did sneak some for myself and enjoyed them once we came home. I usually am a chocolate gal and do not like to mix my sweet and savory but every now and again I get these peanut butter cravings and I have really come to appreciate salty mixed with sweet. And man am I wishing for some right now to calm my apartment hunting nerves. Poor hubby had to come home to a grumpy wife so I bet he could have used these as well!

PRETZEL AND M&M PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Concept from Sally's Baking Addiction

Peanut Butter Cookie slightly adapted from Lil' Luna 

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 350F Degrees

3 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. peanut butter
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 c. pretzels*
2/3 c. M&M*

*Optional: keep extra for topping

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda - set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, cream together (on medium speed) shortening and both sugars until fluffy. Then add in peanut butter, eggs (one at at a time), milk and vanilla -- in that order. Scrape down sides. Then reduce to low speed and add dry ingredients. Combine until just incorporated. Remove from stand mixer and fold in pretzels and M&Ms.

Line baking sheet with baking mat, aluminum foil, parchment or wax paper. Scoop out 1 1/2-2 inch, cookie dough balls onto sheet (roll between the palm of your hands for a nice round shape). Space the cookies 2 inches apart. Slightly flatten the cookies using the palm of your hand. Press any extra pretzel crumbs or M&Ms into the top of the cookie dough balls. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Enjoy,

S'more Cookie Bars

As the hubby and I are getting closer to the big move -- there are certain things I want to check off my Texas bucket list. One of the top things on this to do list was to go to the Houston Livestock and Rodeo one more time. This was a special event for me for a few reasons. First, I LOVE PITBULL...not just a little but a lot. I have been wanting to see Pitbull for awhile and could never find anyone to go with me. But I have one friend who shares my love of Mr. International and when I asked him if he wanted to go, he said "Dale" like only a true Pitbull fan would say.

I was a bit disappointed because Mr. International gave a shout out to each ethnic group -- White, Black, Hispanic...and then....NOTHING! Ummm...last time I checked there were also Asians...as in Indians and Sri Lankans...as in MEEEEEEE....the freakishly obsessed fan in section 634. ::waving:: How are you going to be Mr. International....Pitbull who sang with Priyanka Chopra and then forget to give a shout out to your Desi girls ::shock face:: Shame on you Pitbull! But I still love you!

The hubby came too, but not so much for Pitbull but for the fooooood. Which brings me to my second reason; the amazingly delicious, cholesterol filled, fat gaining food. And this year had some of the best Rodeo food finds everrrrrr. Let's start with Fried Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese frosting....yup, you read right and let me tell you OMG x infinity. But that was not it, they also had fried Nutella....again, yup...imagine a corn dog except with pound cake and stuffed with straight Nutella. I was in such a wonderful food coma.

The last but most important was spending it with the hubby. 6 years ago in March of 2009, a few weeks after dating the hubby, he took me to the Rodeo -- my first ever rodeo. It was so fun and we were so young. It is crazy how much time just flew by. To think that 6 years later he would be my sweet hubby, the love of my life and the only reason I would still be in Texas 6 years later...I would never have guessed! Plus, our good friend joined us and it was a fun get together and some good laughs.

In the trend of clogging your arteries, I had to share a recipe for another sweet tooth favorite -- S'mores :) Enjoy these fairly easy to whip up s'more bars. I made these for Deacon and his owner's farewell party (I know ::tear::) and it was a big hit. But who doesn't love s'mores, right?!? That would be the hubby..FAIL.

S'MORE COOKIE BARS

Slightly adapted from The Gunny Sack

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 350F Degrees

FOR THE COOKIE
1/2 tsp. water
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. shortening
1/3 c. brown sugar, packed
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs (5 sheets)

FOR THE TOPPING
1 c. mini Hershey's Kisses, divided
1 c. mini marshmallows 

DIRECTIONS

For the cookie:
In a small bowl, combine water and baking soda. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla, egg and water-baking soda mixture. In a separate medium bowl sift together flour and graham crackers. Slowly mix into wet mixture until well incorporated, but do not over mix. Fold in 1/2 of the mini Hershey kisses.  Line a 8x8 baking dish with aluminum foil and grease lining. Spread batter in lined dish and bake for 18-20 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

For the toppings:
Remove from oven and sprinkle mini marshmallows over the bars. Place under broiler for a few seconds until toasted (watch carefully as this happens quickly). Turn off oven and remove baking dish. Sprinkle remaining Hershey kisses over bars and return to oven for 2-3 minutes until Hershey kisses soften.

Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars. I suggest refrigerating for clean and easy cutting.

Enjoy,

Cinnamon Pecan Pudding Cookies

Welcome to the 12th Day of Christmas recipe! Only I would share my last Christmas recipe 6 days after Christmas. In all fairness, Christmas with my in-laws was on the 29th and I am sure we were not the only family to have a delayed holiday party. Plus, we can blame it on my Indian Standard Time (yes, I'm Sri Lankan, but it still works)...and yes, I did say that and yes, that is so a real thing :) I really wanted to post this recipe before the year ended because each December (and by each the last two years my blog as been "alive") the hubby and I pick our favorite recipes of the year. Well...spoiler alert...this recipe was on the hubby's list and it would be really awkward to have a recipe on his list that I did not even post yet. Sadly I have yet to post my Thanksgiving recipes, but I'll just have to do a Thanksgiving recap in 2014...I ask that you still love me.

And since I am still in holiday mode, I wanted to share two extra holiday gifts I got. The first was from Ashely. She was so sweet and got me things I could use for baking and blogging. I got these adorable penguin measuring cups and a penguin spatula :) I love, love, love penguins. For one they are adorable...they are like black and white sea otters. Second, they remind me of Stephanie. In high school she used to do this adorable penguin impression by flapping her arms which used to crack Paulina and I up. Ashely also got me cookie tins for next year's 12 days of Christmas countdown. I'm excited! The second gift I got, was this gorgeous hand, knitted blanket that my grandmother-in-law got me. It was perfect, because the weather just got really cold, and by cold -- I mean Texas cold. So now I have this warm blanket to cuddle up with Ninja....okay and the hubby ;)

These cookies are so holiday yet so everyday. The hubby describes them as eating a cinna-bun, topped with pecans. And who doesn't love cinna-buns -- which you can also eat anytime of the year. Since the hubby loved them so much, I picked up some extra cinnamon chips during the after Christmas holiday sale at the grocery store. The hubby was like a cookie pusher at the party with my in-laws getting everyone to try these cookies, because he loved them so much. It was great because my in-law all really loved it, which made me smile :) They also thought it tasted like cinna-buns. They are soft with delicious bursts of cinnamon and a wonderful pecan crunch. Plus, cookies are always so easy to whip up and I am convinced that there is now way to ruin a pudding cookie...NO WAY...

CINNAMON PECAN PUDDING COOKIES

A For the Love of Dessert Original Recipe

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 350F Degrees

2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 (3.4-3.56 oz) box of vanilla pudding
1/2 tsp. cinnamon 
1 1/2 stick of butter, softened
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. of cinnamon chips + extra for garnish
1 c. chopped pecans + extra for garnish

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, vanilla pudding, and cinnamon- set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, cream together (on medium speed) butter and both sugars until fluffy (about 5 minutes). Then add eggs, one at time, followed by vanilla. Scrape down sides. Then reduce to low speed and add dry ingredients. Combine until just incorporated. Remove from stand mixer and fold in 1 c. of cinnamon chips and 1 c. of pecans (use the remaining cinnamon chips and pecans to press into the top of the cookie dough balls).

Line baking sheet with baking mat, aluminum foil, parchment or wax paper. Scoop out 1 1/2-2 inch, cookie dough balls onto sheet (roll between the palm of your hands for a nice round shape). Space the cookies 2 inches apart. Slightly flatten the cookies using the palm of your hand. Press remaining cinnamon chips and pecans onto the top of the cookies. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Enjoy,
Chika