The hubby has taken the girls on a Daddies-and-Kids camping trip this weekend organized by a good friend of ours. He asked me if I could bake up some goodies to share with everyone and OF COURSE, was my answer! It’s the least I could do since he was giving me the weekend to myself plus, it gives us some safe, nut-free snacks/treats that the girls can enjoy. So Thursday was the day of baking frenzy.
This is what I baked up. And I couldn’t have done all this without my double oven. Well, I COULD have done it, but it would have taken me twice as long, so for that I’m grateful. Also my KitchenAid mixer. Saved my arm for future volleyball action. And OF COURSE for my hubby, who even though was gifting me this precious quiet time, still felt bad for asking and insisted on helping w/ clean up (make that pre-clean up) and lunch. What a lucky girl I am.
First up is…
BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS
Made 1.5 batches of my go-to Betty Crocker’s Banana Bread Recipe into mini muffins. This time, I skipped my usual adding of 2 Tbsps each of wheat germ and ground flax seed just to ensure they came out moist. I skipped the nuts and added about 3/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Baking time was about 17 mins. Keep an eye on them as they can dry out in an eye blink if you bake them too long!
Next up:
PUMPKIN MINI MUFFINS
This was also from another one of my go-to’s: Betty Crocker Zucchini Bread Recipe using the pumpkin bread variation. Ditto here, no additional healthy stuff added. Made 1 batch of plain pumpkin mini muffins and sprinkled a tad of cinnamon-sugar on top of each muffin before baking. In the second batch, I added about 3/4 chocolate chips and skipped the cinnamon sugar part. BTW, the Zucchini bread version is delish, too!
Let’s see… what did I make next? Oh yeah:
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE BARS
I got lazy and wanted to make something that required very little work on my part. That’s why I went for the pan cookie version. I didn’t even use my normal recipe and just used the one that was on the back of the Hershey’s Semi Sweet Chocolate Chip Morsels bag and they turned out lovely. Make sure it cools fully, like I let it cool for a few hours and by the time I cut into them, not a crumb nor chip stuck to my cutting knife. It was beautiful.
The container I used to pack the cookies up was an old baby spinach container I had saved. Never could quite figure out whether these are actually recyclable or considered a clam shell type container and therefore not, but I though what the hey… if the hubby needed to unload some stuff, then he could just chuck this.
And last treat to complete my baking frenzy…
SNICKERDOODLES
OMG. I just LOVE Doctor Yum’s Snickerdoodles Recipe. This one is filled with lots of wholesome goodness, but they are unbelievably tasty and chewy. YUM. ONLY thing I would change up here is to reduce the amount of sugar used. After ‘tasting’ a ‘few’ cookies, I felt like I was hepped up on goofballs. So next time, I think I’ll reduce it by about 1/4 to maybe even 1/2 cup (1/4 of each type of sugar) and try it like that. Then I could REALLY load up!
Update 4/15/14: Made these again today and this time I did reduce the amount of sugar to 1/2 cup of each granulated sugar and brown sugar. PERFECT!! (for me, at least). Also make sure to refrigerate the do before rolling the cookies in about 1.5 tsp balls. Then, squish them down a little bit with you thumb for the perfect cookie!
Whew!! There, I’m done with my baking frenzy! Now one would think that with all this mess of baked goods, that I’d have a mess and pile of dirty dishes to clean up. Yes, messy it was, but my pile of dishes was surprisingly small. It helped that I used the same mixing bowl and measuring stuff for every single recipe. The PAINFUL part of all this was washing and drying all those darned muffin tins. Yes all 8 of them. HATE washing those things!
Finally, here’s the lovely salad my dear hubby made for me while I was in my baking frenzy. Ain’t he a sweetie?
In this salad (all purchased at Trader Joe’s):
- Chopped organic spinach – because I don’t like to stuff big leaves in my mouth and I like to eat my salads with spoons whenever possible.
- Organic grape tomatoes
- Organic dried cranberries
- Toasted sunflower seeds
- Organic broccoli slaw
- Organic shredded carrots
- Fresh Mozzarella
Thanks so much for stopping by! Feel free to make my day by leaving me a comment, following my blog via email, Facebook or Instagram. The more the merrier, of course!
Christine, aka happyvballgirl : )
To check out items used in my posts or some of my favorites, simply click here: “Products I Love“. Purchases made using these links earns me a little extra cash to support my bento habit, which Hubby certainly appreciates. Haha! So, THANK YOU, should you choose to purchase any of ’em!
The baked goods were enjoyed by all (including some unwelcome raccoons who tore into the empty snickerdoodle container one night), especially the cookies and cookie bars! Thanks Sweetie!
haha! Rascally racoons! Thank YOU, Sweetie! 🙂
I looked at the picture and thought that it looked like a Thanksgiving spread of all snacks! You did a lot of baking. I know that doing more does make less dishes… I usually make so many dishes no matter what I do!! I am sure that they enjoyed the tasty treats all weekend 🙂
Haha! You are certainly correct, Alison! this time lucked out but usually, I'm like you – so many dishes no matter what I do! 🙂 Thanks so much for the sweet comments. They actually had SO much food on that camping trip that the whole batch of Banana Chocolate Chip muffins never even made it out to see daylight, so we had fun sharing them with teachers, friends and even froze a few for future. 🙂
Just made the chocolate chip cookie bar and it was a hit!! We are going to be having it for dessert tonight! Thanks for the great recipes.
Awww, you are so sweet to let me know. YAY! SO glad they were a hit! Eat one for me, ok? 'cause believe it or not, I didn't get one! 🙂
Haha!! I highly recommend making another batch so you can get some. I made them before my parents came into town and they were gone when I was looking for another one. 🙁 Going to make another batch soon and post on my blog so come check it out!
Just checked it out – awesome! Thanks so much for the sweet words and link back! Your pictures are fabulous and those cookie bars look delicious!! Now you're making me want to make some more. haha!
When I viewed your first photo my I had a look of awe on my face. Amazing! I also have a Kitchen Aid and double ovens, it makes marathon baking so much easier. Also helps to have an extra bowl for the Kitchen Aid – I don't yet. So special that you could do this for your family and share the recipe sources with your readers.
oh my goodness, you are such a sweetie, Kathy. Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your ever-so-kind words. You put a big smile on my face! 🙂
Wow I am loving your baking expedition! So much baking! They all sound fantastic and I am really digging that salad from the end. Sounds delicious.
hee hee. yes, SO much baking!! But it surprisingly only took me about 4 hours – not too bad! 🙂 Thanks so much for the sweet comments, Jacey! 🙂