Cranberry Cream Cheese Muffins/Bread

I've had a lot of cranberries in my freezer for awhile, just waiting to be made into something yummy. Problem is, I couldn't decide what. So, I was searching Pinterest yesterday, and I found a recipe I'd pinned but hadn't made yet. (Shocker.) I decided that these needed to be made into muffins!

And wow, was this a hit. They are not overly sweet, I did try to make them slightly healthier (thus the applesauce vs using butter), but the boys devoured them. Gabriel ate 3 or 4... after eating 2-3 servings of dinner. Adrian only ate 1, but again, that was right after dinner!

If you are looking for a fairly healthy snack/breakfast, this is it! 

Remember, comments are loved! What's your favorite use of cranberries?

Printable Recipe

Cranberry Cream Cheese Muffins/Bread

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• ⅔ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 4 eggs
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° (for bread) or 375° (for muffins). Lightly grease 2 loaf pans or lightly grease/line with muffin liners 24 muffin tins. 
2. Cream together cream cheese, sugars, and applesauce. Slowly add in eggs and vanilla; mix until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add to cream cheese mixture just until combined. Stir in cranberries.
4. Spoon into prepared muffin liners or loaf pans. For muffins, bake for 18-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. For bread, bake for 60-70 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Yield/Time

24 muffins, 2 loaves of bread (12 slices each)

*Note: bread has not been tested, I've only made muffins!

45 minutes (muffins), 1 ½ hours (bread)

Nutrition Facts *I calculate nutrition facts for reference only, this is not done scientifically

114

Source (for original): 12 Tomatoes

Sausage Wontons

This recipe is amazing! It's great as a party appetizer, or to make a small batch as a snack/addition to dinner. Nate & I love these! While pregnant, I could probably eat the whole plate... ;) 

These are definitely a only-once-in-awhile thing, though... the calories may not be that high, but between the cheese, sausage, and ranch: these little wontons are NOT good for you! Delicious, but a little less than healthy!

Also, note: they do not reheat well, so try not to make more than you think you'll need! This recipe is easy to cut in half or quarters. 

Remember, comments are loved! What's your favorite appetizer recipe?

Printable Recipe

Sausage Wontons

Ingredients

• 16 ounces wonton wrappers
• 1 pound sausage
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup Ranch dressing

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. 
2. Spray a miniature muffin pan with cooking spray. Insert wonton wrappers into the muffin pan so as to form small cups. Bake 5 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow the baked wrappers to cool. Remove from the pan.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the sausage, Monterey Jack, Cheddar, and Ranch dressing. Fill the baked wonton wrapper cups with the mixture. 
4. Bake the filled wonton wrappers 7 to 12 minutes, until the sausage mixture is bubbly and slightly brown. Watch closely so the wonton wrappers do not burn.

Yield/Time

Servings: 48

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Nutrition Facts *I calculate nutrition facts for reference only, this is not done scientifically

73/wrap

Source (for original): All Recipes

Reese's Pieces Chocolate Cookies

Originally posted 11/16/13, updated 3/13/17

I would say that it's fairly obvious that I love sweet things, whether you actually know me in person or even if you just read the title of my blog. I am a big fan of peanut butter/chocolate combos in particular. (Surprisingly, I don't like regular Reese's much. Not a fan of their peanut butter. Reese's Pieces, however, are an entirely different story.)

So when I saw a recipe for Reese's Pieces Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies on one of my favorite blogs, I had to try it! 

I made a few changes (as you can see by the title alone), but we love this recipe! You could easily sub different things for the peanut butter chips/Reese's Pieces.... but I am really not sure why you would want to. ;) I also had to play with the baking time/ingredients, as the cookies were great on day one but get hard & dry quickly. Once I made some changes, that solved the problem! (I don't know what they are like past day 3 now.... they never make it that long!)

One tip I would like to stress: Be careful not to overbake these! They will get harder faster if you do. Ovens vary, but I would check them at 10-11 minutes. Since I made the change to the ingredients, I would recommend trying for 11 1/2 - 12 minutes; but again, ovens vary. 

Enjoy!

These are my favorite cookies to bake--this is definitely my current go-to recipe!

Remember, comments are loved!

Printable Recipe

Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter-flavored Crisco
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cups all purpose Flour
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup peanut butter chips
• ½ cup mini Reese’s Pieces *make sure you get Mini!!!*

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Place Crisco and sugars into a stand mixer, cream until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until well combined. 
3. Slowly add flour, cocoa powder, salt, cornstarch & baking soda. Hand mix in peanut butter chips and Reese’s Pieces.
4. Scoop dough (or form into balls) and place onto greased baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until baked through. 
5. Let cookies cool for 5-8 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Serve and enjoy.

Yield/Time

2 dozen

Prep/total time: ½ hour

Nutrition Facts *I calculate nutrition facts for reference only, this is not done scientifically

146 calories each

Source (for original): Picky Palate

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

So, first off, I have to apologize for the lack of posts lately... We found out we are having a girl (yay!), so I've been spending a lot of time in the evenings sorting boy clothes, getting it ready to sell, and then sorting the mountain of girl clothes I've bought. Between that, and being utterly exhausted... I haven't really been doing many new recipes. New ideas and taking photos requires energy that I just don't have! :) 

I did get some baking done this weekend, though...  I made this Sunday morning, before Nate & I had a fun date! Partly to 'pay' my mom for watching the boys... partly because I wanted chocolate. ;) 

I have a lot of variations on these cookies, and while these aren't always my go-to recipe, they are always a hit!

Remember, comments are loved! What's your favorite double-chocolate recipe?

Printable Recipe

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup cold, unsalted butter, cubed *note: these were made with Crisco, but I've made them both ways. While I am a Crisco girl generally... this time, I decided that they are better with butter.
• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips *This time, I only used 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, the other half was Andes chips! They were great!

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed.  Mix in the cocoa powder until well blended.
2. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, and cornstarch to the bowl and mix on low speed just until incorporated.  Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula. (The dough is very thick.)
3. Roll into small balls, and place on baking sheets a few inches apart. Flatten slightly. 
4. Bake 12-16 minutes.  Let cool on the baking sheets 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield/Time

3 ½ dozen cookies

1 hour

Nutrition Facts

153

Source (for original): Love from the Oven