To start this week off I had a great cereal bowl, with 1 tbls of oats and a whole banana this time for a little extra boost. Delicious as always.

I also packed some toasted pumpkin seeds for snacking, about 2 tbls worth.

I polished off half of the bag around 11 after my workout in my Women’s Studies class. They were nice and chewy so my mouth felt busy.

For lunch I decided to have a nice, creamy smoothie. I haven’t had one of these guys in a while and let me tell you, they were missed! How did I forget just how creamy and fruity and filling this smoothie was? I added two nuggets for some carbs and chewing action smoothies lack.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

1/2 cup non-fat plain yogurt

1/4 frozen banana

1/4 cup milk

1 cup whole frozen strawberries

Just plop everything into a blender and mix until smooth.  You may have to use a spoon to move some of the frozen strawberries to the top in order to blend them in completely.

I used a Magic Bullet so that cup I’m eating out of is the one I made the smoothie in which makes cleanup a heck of a lot simpler.

I decided the nuggets needs a close up shot because these are no ordinary nuggets. These are mozzarella and sweet corn nuggets. That’s right, meat-free nuggets that are truly a delight. Seriously, with a little ketchup, these nuggets are the perfect combination of flavors.

I ate lunch around 1 and by 3:45 I was craving a little something so I tried a sample of Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters.

Great, so great. A perfect mix of salty and sweet with a combination of nuts thrown together with some honey and granola. There were only about six large clusters in the bag, but with some water this snack really left me satisfied.

For another quick study dinner I put together I wrap with a La Tortilla Factory Whole Wheat, Low Carb, Low Fat tortilla, some green peppers, 1/2 cup frozen chicken, shredded Romaine hearts and 1 tbls of hummus. I added an apple for a sweet crunch at the end and was left completely content at the end of my meal.

Alright, time for a little more studying and then bed. Yesssssss

Halloween has never been my favorite holiday since i outgrew tick or’ treating. Last night I actually stayed home (being news editor does have some down sides). I did celebrate Halloween earlier on in the day so I can’t complain too much.

We even wore costumes even though it was only around noon. Taylor was a cheetah moose, Julia went as a disco ball and I hauled out the old school uniform. Cliche yes, but it cost me zero money.

But today was great! I made a special traditional treat to celebrate- Pan de los Muertos or Bread of the Dead.

I’ve never made this before and I was a little nervous only because my expectation were so high. I had my first taste of this bread in Spanish class in grade school and I’ve been addicted ever since. I was really impressed with my skills if I do say so myself. This bread was perfect. So sweet and soft but with just the right amount of crispness on the very outside of the bread.  Coupled with the glaze and sugar on top- let’s just say its a good thing I have this once a year. I ate two mini loaves!

I know the holiday is over but I highly reccomend trying it before next year.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.

Pan de los Muertos

Bread:
1/2 cup fat free milk

1/2 cup margarine

6 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

2 tbls vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp orange zest

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup warm water

Glaze:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

To make the dough, heat the milk and margarine together in a medium saucepan until the butter melts.Stir constantly.  Remove from heat and add warm water (I nuked it in the microwave for 25 seconds).

In a large bowl combine 2 cups of the flour, yeast, salt, vanilla and the sugar. Beat in the warm milk mixture then add the eggs and orange zest and beat until well combined.

Stir in 1/2 cup of flour and continue adding more flour until the dough is soft. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. I found that moistening my hands a little helped a lot.

Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl cover with plastic wrap and let rise overnight in the refrigerator. It got really big! Maybe tripled in size.

In the morning punch the dough down and shape it into 8 fist sized, round loaves, reserving 1/9 of the dough for decorating on top. Don’t worry if these look a little small, these babies raise a lot in the oven.

After making the loaves use the reserved dough to form an “x” on the top of each loaf (to represent the bones!)

Place loaves onto two baking sheets with four loaves on each. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour. The dough didn’t really rise much more for me, but I think this helped warm the bread up a little for baking.

Bake loaves in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and let the loaves cool slightly in baking sheets.

While the bread is cooling make the glaze.  In a small saucepan combine the sugar and orange juice, and bring to a slow boil, stirring constantly until all the sugar melts. Brush over the glaze over the loaves and sprinkle sugar on top.

My roommates were very excited that they each got their own loaf, and they particularly liked the glaze. Success!

While I was waiting for the loaves to bake I had this carrot for “breakfast.”

When the bread came out of the oven I scrambled an egg with some green peppers, sliced turkey and low-fat cheddar for lunch.

I couldn’t help but eat half of the loaf before taking this picture.

After some lounging I finally changed out of my pajamas and Julia and I headed to the engineering center to study. Neither one of us are engineers but most of our friends are so we decided that’s all the permission we need.

I ate another loaf of Pan de Los Muertos for a snack, and then followed it up with an early dinner around 6.

Yogurt parfait in a jelly jar!

I had to use my yogurt by today so I combined about a cup of lowfat plain yogurt with a tablespoon of raspberry jelly and some oats and Go Lean Crunch on the top and the bottom. Easy, delicious and portable. What more do you need?

I just got home at 10:30 and I am ready to pass out. Until tomorrow.

I actually didn’t mind being on campus today. A lot of people gave themselves the day off so campus was deserted and very quite. It was really beautiful.

After classes I went to the gym!!! Finally! It felt so good. Even after just two days of  extra rest by body felt so much tighter when I was stretching. Hopefully I’ll limber up again.

I decided to do something different today and try having what I was going to make for dinner for lunch around 1. I had heated up 1/4 cup of garbanzo beans, a 1/4 cup frozen chicken and 1/2 cup chopped green peppers in a little olive oil on the stove.

I tossed it with 1/4 cup of whole wheat penne and 1/2 tsp of olive oil with a dash of salt. I’ve never bulked up pasta this way before and I loved it. All the extra protein kept me full longer and gave me the visual like I was eating more of the pasta which curbed my carb craving. I’ve heard its also better for your body to eat your biggest meal earlier on in the day. I think this maybe works for me and I’m going to keep experimenting with it.

I rounded off the meal with some water, some Stephen King and an apple about half an hour after the pasta.

After getting dressed, I had to dash across campus again for my office hours/news section meeting. The meeting was short and sweet but I did a little extra studying after and got famished around 6. So I ate the only thing in the newsroom- two little chewy candies.

I made a quick sandwich for dinner so I could get right to studying (Issue in American Thought this time). A few slices of chicken breast, Romaine hearts, sliced apple, Jack Daniel’s mustard and brie on a sandwich thin was the perfect combo with a little skim milk on the side.

I was completely satisfied with this meal and had two dried apricots and a cup of green tea for dessert, mostly just to feed my sweet tooth. Alright, back to studying!

After the miserable test I was going to work out, but the rec center closed so I went another day without the gym and am not feeling too great about myself. But everybody needs a rest day- or four.

About yesterday, I go so caught up studying and going to a newspaper dessert party that I completely ran out of time to post! So here’s a quick summary: woke up with a cereal bowl, skipped the gym to look pretty for a newspaper photo shoot, had a great salad accompanied by a cup of tea and a self portrait.

I also went to a dessert party that was chock full of great treats, but I forgot to take pictures (too busy socializing). To make up for it though, I have a new recipe today!

I woke up with a big cereal bowl with a whole banana today for a protein craving I was having.

After my test and the depression that followed I wasn’t feeling too hungry. Around 3 I decided to have a little something for lunch so I put peanut butter and half a banana on a Kashi Go Lean waffle with a drizzle of hot syrup.

Then I started to feel a bit better.

When Taylor said that she was going to make a pie for our family dinner tonight with store-bought crust I almost had a heart attack. Store-bought baked goods or desserts from boxes have no place in my house. I demanded that we make something from scratch. We had a bit of a time restraint so a rolled pie crust was out of the question. A quick brainstorm with Taylor resulted in a great recipe that’s part apple pie and part crumble or crisp: Holly Place Apple Pie.

Holly Place Apple Pie

Crust:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

4 tbsp sugar

1 stick butter, melted

Pinch of salt

Filling:

3 lbs apples (about 6-8 apples)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

Pinch of salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup whipping cream

Crusty crumble topping:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

2 tbsp spreadable butter, melted

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

First things first, you have to crumble all of your graham crackers. We did this by hand so it took a while but I’m sure a food processor would work. This was one of the few things Taylor actually helped with in the baking of the pie (a snowball fight seduced her outside).

Add the sugar and mix into the graham cracker. Pour melted butter over the mixture and use your hands to blend. I also added a few tablespoons of water to help with this step.

Dumb the crust mix onto a pie tine and using your fingers, mold the crust to fit the pan making sure to cover the sides and bottom as evenly as possible.

A big thanks to my roommates for some action shots.

Pat threw on an apron and sneakily joined in, thanks Pat.

Chill the pie crust while you assemble the rest of the ingredients. To prepare the filling, slice your peeled apples into thin slices. The peeling/slicing part took forever with so many apples! So worth it though.

That was before the slicing really started and look how many apples that is already!

Place sliced apples into a large bowl. Add cinnamon, both kinds of sugar, salt and flour to the bowl and toss to coat the apples. Remove your pie crust from the fridge and stack as many apples as you can in that thing! More is always better! Pour whipping cream over the apples in the pie crust.

Now make your crumbly crust.  Mix the graham crackers with the cinnamon and sugar and mix in the melted butter. Cover the apple filling with this mix. Pop the pie in an oven set to 375 degrees for 35 minutes or until the crust is browning on the edges and the middle of the pie looks a little moist and caramelized.

Somehow in this process I managed to eat the equivalent of three graham crackers, a whole apple and probably a good tablespoon or two of butter and sugar. I can’t help but nibble while baking, just to test and make sure everything is okay.

While the pie was baking in the oven we tucked into our feast. We ate on the floor at a low table (actually a closet door on top of speakers but who can tell?) with pillows and candles…

We had some mixed peppers, onions and sweet potatoes made by Pat, creamed corn and bread from Ally and a big pot roast from her boyfriend Forrest. A pot roast which Pat decided to carve with no shirt on, a common theme as you can see.

I made myself a plate with vegetables and some sliced celery and hummus. I don’t eat mammals which is why I turned down the roast, but from what everyone was saying with their mouths full, it was great.

For dessert I had a nice healthy slice of the pie and it was GREAT. The graham crackers really added the perfect texture and flavor to the apples that got all nice and soft and caramelized in the oven. Rave reviews were heard from the rest of the table. Pat even declared it “the best I’ve had.” The Holly Place Apple pie was such a hit, half of it was gone before I even got a picture.

After some lounging time after this feast I broke out the books again. It’s still snowing outside, but I feel a lot better then I did earlier today. A good meal and good friends will do that for you.

Here’s hoping to another snow day!

This mornings cereal combo was the normal blend of cereals plus a new addition- oats.

Cereal Bowl (with Oats!)

1/2 cup generic Cheerios

1/2 cup Go Lean Crunch

about 1/2 cup milk

1/2 sliced banana

2 tsp oats

That’s a lot of halves! The oats were a nice addition. I couldn’t really taste them mixed in but the fiber paid off- I forgot to pack a snack today and good thing I didn’t because this cereal bowl held me over until lunch at 1:30.

Lunch today was a nice vegetarian treat. I made a little hummus wrap and had a pear on the side.

Hummus Wrap

1 La Tortilla Factory’s High Fiber Whole Wheat Tortilla

2 tbls hummus

1/3 green pepper, sliced

1/4 cucumber, sliced

3 large Romaine leaves, shredded

Very green and very good.

Around 4 I had to run some errands and ended up in King Soopers buying candy for my pen pals and some supplies for my big surprise this weekend! I snacked on three mini cheese cubes, a granola sample, three chocolate covered almonds and Halloween Twizzler candy. Not the best snacking (lots of sugar) but it is Halloween week!

Speaking of which, I found out I have to stay in on Halloween. Someone had to be in charge of the news section for the paper and edit any breaking news stories that come in. So I have a big bowl of popcorn and some scary movies waiting for me this Halloween. Spending holidays alone is very lonely.

But that’s for another day, today was prep time for the dessert I’m making for family dinner tomorrow. I won’t reveal the recipe yet but let’s just say these two ingredients will be present.

I had to peel and slice 6 apples and let me tell you, the apple corer my Mom gave me was a life saver. Thanks Mom!

Baking prep was followed by a far less exciting kind of prep, studying. Yes, its that time of the semester again- midterms (cue shrieking and tears of frustration). I have my math midterm on Wednesday and I am very nervous. So I hit the books for a few hours until Julia and I decided to have dinner together around 7.

I had 1/3 cup sweet potatoes warmed up with a 1/3 cup chicken that I froze yesterday accompanied by a little celery and Romaine salad with red wine dressing.

I also had a little cup of milk with dinner…a Snoopy cup!

Dessert was half a peanut butter cookie courtesy of Evan, and then it was back to quantitative reasoning- where I will be for the remaining hours of consciousness.

At least I get to bake tomorrow!

For breakfast I made an egg scrambled with a little nonfat milk and a tablespoon of cheddar. I rounded out the meal with a Kashi Go Lean Strawberry waffle with some spreadable butter and boysenberry jelly on top. There’s nothing like eggs and carbs on a Sunday.

Ally, Julia, Taylor and I bundled up and headed out to do some grocery shopping, I was dying for some fresh produce. First we went to Costco, and that was my lunch for the day! They had so many delicious samples. I tried pumpkin bisque, cheese tortellini, turkey, salmon and some corn bread. So good! I didn’t buy too much, just some frozen berries, more GoLean Crunch and some romaine hearts. After that we headed to my favorite place to buy food in Boulder, Sunflower Market. I had a few samples there too. Chocolate covered coffee beans, chocolate covered cashews and yogurt covered almonds. I stocked up on lots of delicious veggies, some chicken and beans. I have a lot of fun meals planned for this week.

I spent the rest of the day in the kitchen, literally the rest of the day. First thing on my agenda was to make some cookies for Halloween to send to two of my pen pals. Yes, I have pen pals and they’re the old fashioned kind. I made them Halloween cookies!

Adapted from Martha Stewart.

Candy Corn Cookies

8 tbls unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbls unsweetened applesauce

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

64 candy corns

(Makes about small 64 cookies)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put butter and sugar in a medium sized bowl and combine.

Add egg yolks, vanilla, baking powder and salt and beat until fully incorporated. Add flour and mix until a sticky dough forms. Add a 1/4 cup of water if necessary to make the dough wet enough to mix completely.

Scoop out teaspoons of dough and roll between your hands to create balls. Place balls on baking sheets, 2 inches apart.

Bake for 4 minutes, then rotate baking sheets and bake another 4 minutes. Cookies should not have browned at all and will be dry to the touch.

Remove from oven and gently press a candy corn into each cookie. Let cookies cool for a minute in the pan and then completely on wire racks.

These cookies were so easy to make and turned out to be perfectly buttery, bite-sized morsels with a slight crisp to them.

After packing the candy corn cookies away to send to my pen pals, I made a few extra with peanut butter chips by request of my roommates (also delicious).

After the baking was done, I moved on to the cooking. I found that cooking some things at the beginning of the week and then freezing them helps me to make healthy, relatively quick meals on the weekdays when I have less time (and energy) to deal with these things.

I got some great organic sweet potatoes today at Sunflower. At first I was a little worried by their lack of orange color but thankfully they were still sweet potatoes.

I chopped them up (with the skins on) into cubes and threw them all into a large bowl. I tossed them with 2 tbls of olive oil, 2 tsp of salt and 4 big shakes of cinnamon. I placed the cubes on a broiling pan and roasted them for 20 minutes at 45o degrees.

They were beyond words.

Then I had a little chicken cooking party with my roommate Julia.

After a little tutorial for her on how to remove the gross parts of the chicken breast, I rubbed mine with a combination of salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and Cajun seasoning to taste and cut them into smaller pieces. Then I popped them on the George Foreman grill for 5 to 6 minutes each. I let them cool and sliced them into bite sized pieces to freeze.

Julia cooked hers in a big skillet with olive oil and salt. Her chicken breasts were HUGE.

I had to run to a newspaper meeting after the cooking so I whipped up a sandwich using sliced chicken breast, broccoli sprouts, raspberry preserves and brie on some whole wheat sandwich thins.

I found this great spreadable brie at Sunflower and I’m in love. So easy to use and really adds a nice, creamy flavor to sandwiches. I had to claim my territory and protect it from hungry roommates which is why my name is on the package.

It was a great day for food at my house today.

I blended up a smoothie bowl using 1/2 cup of chilled green tea, a handful of ice cubes, about a 1/2 cup of plain yogurt and a handful of blackberries and strawberries then topped with a little Go Lean Crunch that I didn’t really need but figured would add some nice crunch. The smoothie turned out a bit icy but it filled me up so I can’t complain.

To eat with the smoothie bowl I warmed up 3 fritters in the microwave and melted some boysenberry jelly to drizzle on top. With a little butter they were divine.

Look how delightful a little overexposure brings out the color!

After breakfast, I was hit by a sweet tooth craving… followed by a baking craving around 1. I wasn’t hungry at the time but I knew in a little while I would be so I decided to whip up a nice treat.

I haven’t baked in about a week and it was getting to me! I know I’m making cookies tomorrow so I didn’t want to do anything big. Then I remembered I had a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread I wanted to get rid of. We also had eggs and I found some dried fruit left from a trail mix and it hit me, bread pudding E.Z. style!

Garbage Bread Pudding

7 slices cinnamon bread

1/2 cup whole milk

1 cup sugar

2 egg whites

2 tbls vanilla

2 tbls unsweetened apple sauce

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

~ 1/4 cup dried cranberries

~ 1/4 chocolate chips

(Makes 7 individual bread puddings)

Tear the bread slices into chunks, including the crusts for texture and color. Place bread chunks in bowl.

In a larger bowl mix together the milk, sugar and egg whites and whisk with a fork to blend.

Add vanilla, salt, cinnamon and applesauce and mix together.

Mix in the bread chunks in small amounts, gently tossing them  in

the wet mix with a large spoon to coat. Repeat until all the bread has been incorporated. Add in the cranberries and chocolate chips to the mix gently.

Let chill in fridge for 2 hours (or at least 30 minutes) so bread can soak in the wet mix and really get all those delicious flavors.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin tin with some chilled butter before adding the bread pudding batter. The bread should have deepened in color and soaked up almost all of the liquid when removed from the fridge.

Scoop batter into muffin tin, filling 7 slots to the very top. Bake in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes or until a knife inserted into the pudding comes out clean. Let puddings cool in tin before removing. Use a sharp knife to gently loosen each pudding.

For my first attempt at bread pudding I thought these turned out really well! The inside was just slightly crispy and the inside was a sticky, gooey perfection. They also got rave reviews from all of my roommates. Ally said she also liked that I baked them in the muffin tin so each person got their own.

While those puddings were cooling around 3:30 I decided to make a little lunch to have so I could finish the meal off with my freshly baked dessert. As I wasn’t too hungry, I decided to go for something with a lot of protein that would fill me up but not make me feel gross. An omelette it is!

I whisked one egg and fried it in a small skillet, adding a tablespoon of low-fat cheddar, some spinach and a slice of chicken breast at the end to make the perfect light lunch.

After finishing off the omelette I completed the meal with my bread pudding.

It was the perfect Saturday lunch! I had two apricots and a root beer barrel for a snack before dinner. My selection for my final meal was so slim. I ended up with half a whole wheat tortilla and some hummus, a Boca burger and some cucumbers. It was so unimpressive though I couldn’t bear to take a picture.

Be on the lookout for some Halloween cookies tomorrow!

Corn Fritters:

- 1 can corn, drained

- 1 egg and 1 egg white, lightly beaten

- 1/3 cup whole wheat flour

- Pinch of salt and sugar

To make the batter blend up the corn in a food processor or blender (I used the almighty Magic Bullet) until chopped.

Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until a thick batter forms, it only took me about 30 seconds.

Drop heaping tablespoons of batter onto a large skillet greased with a bit of olive oil. Fry for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Repeat with remaining batter.

I have to tell you I was a bit skeptical about these little guys at first. Corn and I haven’t had a good history (Goat cheese and corn quesadilla is a bad idea let me tell you) but these were amazing.

Seriously, they were like savory little pancakes with the perfect texture. Luckily I made about 12 so I saved the rest and stuck them in the fridge.

I ate three of the fritters for lunch with a little bit of hummus as a dip (which was heavenly) and the half of a salad I made at Whole Foods the night before. The salad was also delicious with spinach, edamame, shredded carrots and beets, cherry tomatoes, chopped turkey, flax seed, a little couscous and some red peppers. I topped it off with a little bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dressing, but only a little. I like my salads more on the dry side.

After my wonderful lunch, and a great episode of Nip/Tuck, I was all set to start working… so I thought. I lost hours of time messing around online and reading. When I finally got around to working on my British Lit. paper it was 5! I had eaten 4 hours before and I was craving a little snack so I chopped up half an apple and sprinkled it with some cinnamon. I added a tablespoon of peanut butter and 2 Wheat Thins Fiber Selects which tided me over to dinner nicely.

Then I took a nap. I know, I know. When I finally woke up around 7 I got a little work done until I decided I was hungry around 8:30. I wanted to get back to work so I just whipped up a little quesadilla with a corn tortilla, sliced chicken breast, spinach and low-fat cheddar. I also ate a little plain yogurt with cinnamon and some GoLean Crunch for texture.

It was fairly satisfying but ruined a bit by the fact that I realized I felt too guilty about not writing my paper to go to a pre-Halloween party tonight. I know I would just be miserable thinking about how much work I have to do tomorrow if I went. On that note, I’m distracting myself again!

Wish me luck on the paper.

I woke up this morning hungry from my light dinner last night (half a salad from Whole Foods and a bit of yogurt) and there was nothing more that I wanted them my traditional cereal bowl. I’m quite boring in the breakfast sense. Give me a nice, comforting bowl of cereal with a banana and I’m set. That’s all I’ll eat for weeks.

E.Z’s Ideal Cereal Bowl Du Jour

- 1/2 cup generic cheerios (Hey, starving college student remember? Gotta cut corners where you can)

- 1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch

- 1/2 of a large banana sliced

This is where I sometimes make variations for add-ins. Today it was:
- Big splash of 1% milk

- Five almonds choped

The ending results.

It was delicious as always but a little dry and could of used more milk. I was a little stingy with it today because I really only drink skim. But it was still delicious!

Alright, now I have to drag Erica out of bed to get free coffee before class. I love Fridays.

There are a few things in this world that are wonderful enough to justify an unconditional love from yours truly. In no particular order they are as follows: my family, butter, licorice, rain, a warm bed, my dog, my roommates, sugar, books, high heels, New England and my CU Independent new section.

Last week I had the divine pleasure of combining a few of these things into one big, warm, lovey-dovey display of my affection– black and white cookies.

The black and white cookie (for those of you who have yet to taste its sweet perfection) is my kind of dessert. Part cookie, part cake and a whole lot of sugar and butter make these treats one of my favorite.

With a fall potluck (hence and orange and black frosting) with my news team, family weekend a day later and Halloween right around the corner I decided to bake something from the heart.

Now, as some of you may know, most of my recipes I try to “healthify” a bit with some substitutions to make my desserts a bit friendlier to one’s body, but sometimes people, you just need to say, “to heck with it!” and make that full fat, all sugar, all decadent cookie and enjoy it! So that’s what I did with this recipe. And let me tell you…I knew they were going to be a hit the minute I had my dough ready to go. Seriously, this is probably some of the best dough I have ever tasted in my life. I couldn’t stop eating it! A full half a cup of raw, uncooked dough managed to find its way into my belly.

The end result was just as heavenly with a lovely moist cookie covered with a professional looking frosting glaze that tasted even better after a day or two of just sitting out.

So whip out those sticks of butter, throw in an extra little bit of sugar and a whole lot of love, and whip up a big batch of these cookies just in time for the holiday spirit that’s settling in.

Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker.

I was cooking for quite a few people so my recipe yields around 35 cookies. If this is too much, just cut the recipe in half.

Cookies:

5 cups flour (I used a half white all-purpose and half wheat blend)

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp salt

1 1/3 cups buttermilk

2 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cups unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 egg white

Frosting:

Vanilla

2 cups confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup boiling water

Food coloring (if desired)

Chocolate

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (melted)

3 Tbls confectioners sugar

1/2 cup boiling water

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Make a dry mixture with the flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.

Use the buttermilk and vanilla to make a wet mixture and set that aside as well.

Beat together butter and sugar until well incorporated with few lumps and a white color.

Add eggs all at once and combine well.

Beginning and ending with the dry mixture, alternatively beat in the dry and wet mixes at small amounts at a time.

Grease cookie sheets with cooking spray. Add 1/4 cups of batter to the sheets about 2 inches apart. Make sure you keep them at least this far apart! These cookies expand A LOT more then you would think!

They weren’t even done rising at this point if you can believe it.

Bake in the middle of the oven until tops are barely golden and the cookies spring back when you gently touch them with a finger. For me, this was about 11-14 minutes.

Remove from cookie sheet to a wire rack and cool completely before frosting. Chill in the refrigerator if necessary.

While your cookies are baking and cooling make your glazes.

Boil the water. I kept adding more water and had a pot of it constantly boiling because I found that the vanilla glaze in particular gets a bit thick after it cool down and you will want to keep it from hardening before you frost the cookies.

For the vanilla glaze, mix together the vanilla and sugar in a small bowl. Add tablespoons of boiling water until a smooth paste forms. I added a few drops of yellow and red food coloring to make mine a bit more festive. Feel free to leave this out or make our own fun frosting color.

Frost one half of the cookies with this frosting.

For the chocolate frosting, melt the chocolate chips in a small bowl. I used a microwave and nuked the chips for 30 seconds and then ten additional seconds until it was fully melter. Be careful with the time, you don’t want to heat it too long and burn the chocolate.

Add powdered sugar and boiling water one tablespoon at a time until you have a nice, smooth chocolate glaze.

Frost the other half of the cookie with this frosting.

Chill cookies in the fridge until the frosting sets, around 20 minutes or so.

If you want to keep these cookies for a few extra days (or give them away as treats to your loved ones as I did) wrap them individually in clear plastic wrap to preserve freshness and make handling more sanitary.