Warm and Cuddly Snickerdoodle Cookies

As fall finally starts to roll around, I want something warm and comforting to snuggle up with. This felt like the perfect opportunity to add fuel to the flame of my crazy cookie obsession.

They are perfect for eating warm with a nice glass of milk or a steamy cappuccino. Make these cookies and share them with someone you love. Turn the season premiere of your favorite tv show into a celebratory cookie palooza.

Snickerdoodles fall right behind chocolate chip cookies on the ultimate comfort food scale. These cookies are soft, chewy, and down right addictive. Because there are no overpowering ingredients, the focus is more on the light and fluffy texture.

These cookies are for Goose because not only is he sugar and spice and everything nice (just like the cookies themselves), he also ate them already and won’t complain about me posting a recipe from a few weeks back. Especially if I promise to make some more for him very very soon. Like this weekend soon.

In case you still weren’t already convinced, these snickerdoodles really are that good that they will disappear and force you to remake them again and again. And since they take less than a half hour to whip up, I’m sure you won’t mind filling your house with the scent of warm, cinnamony cookies again.

 

Healthier Snickerdoodle Cookies 

Adapted from ElleFirebrand’s recipe on Food.com

Yield: 24 cookies

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar plus two tablespoons, divided
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 1 egg white
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon plus 1/2 teaspoon, divided
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking power, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, ginger, allspice and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a mixmaster on medium-high speed, cream together brown sugar, 1/2 cup of white sugar, and butter until smooth. Beat in vanilla and egg white.
4. Turn the mixmaster down to slow, then gradually add in the dry ingredients.
5. Once combined, shape the dough into 24 balls and place them on baking trays in the freezer for about a minute to allow them to firm up. Meanwhile combine the remaining 1/8 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
6. Remove the cookie dough from the freezer and roll each ball in sugar mixture, then place them two inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Use the palm of your hand to lightly flatten the cookie dough balls.
7. Bake the cookies for about 6 minutes. Allow them to cool on the baking pan for 1 minute before transferring them to cooling racks to finish cooling.

 

Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Quinoa

This is undoubtedly my favorite breakfast to make at home. Not only does it taste like a decadent serving of pie first thing in the morning, but also because you can make it a few days in advance, it takes less than two minutes to prepare in the morning!

I know that pumpkin season is over, but numerous studies have shown that canned produce, while much cheaper, has essentially the same level of nutrients as its fresh or frozen counter parts. And let’s be real for a second, even if it was pumpkin season, I’d still probably be using a super convenient can. It’s so worth it to take a few minor short cuts when it comes to cooking in order to avoid the cost and preservatives of  preserved food.

Prepare the quinoa with water and cinnamon sticks

Put 1/4 of the pumpkin in each jar

Pile the quinoa on top of the pumpkin

Pour milk atop the quinoa

Top the quinoa with flax seeds

Finish it off with a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves

Enjoy!

I developed this recipe when I got tired of my simple peanut butter quinoa or quinoa with milk and spices. I wanted something that was a bit more fun and that felt a bit more luxurious. Cue the pumpkin pie breakfast concoction.

Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Quinoa 

Serves 4

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup quinoa
• 3 cinnamon sticks (optional)
• 1 can of pumpkin (make sure it’s pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 1/2 cup skim milk, soy milk, or almond milk
• 1 teaspoon flax seeds
• 1/2 heaping teaspoon cinnamon (splurge on a good brand, not McCormick’s….I promise that the quality makes a huge difference)
• 1/4 heaping teaspoon fresh ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:

1. Fill a small sauce pan with the water, quinoa, and cinnamon sticks. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer and cover the pot. Leave the pot covered for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa absorbs all of the water. Remove the cinnamon sticks from the quinoa. In the mean time, combine the spice mixture in a small ramekin.
2. Divide the can of pumpkin even among four glass jars. Top the pumpkin in each jar with 1/4 of the quinoa.
3. Add slightly less than half a cup of milk to each of the jar. Then add the 1/4 teaspoon of flax seeds and finally 1/4 teaspoon of the spice mixture to each jar.
4. Stir the quinoa mixture together until combined.
5. Enjoy right away or refrigerate it for up to five days. For warm quinoa in the morning, microwave the glass jar for 90 seconds.

Sensibly Indulge Your Sweet Tooth With These Cinnamon Roll Muffins

In life you have choices, you can choose to see the best or the worst in every situation. Whenever your life seems tough, you can envy someone else with a seemingly better life, or you can be grateful for each of the many things that you cherish in your life.

The same is true about these Cinnamon Roll Muffins.

You could abhor these muffins as a sinful combination of butter and sugar. Or you could look at them as a portion-controlled, preservative-free alternative to the massive cinnamon rolls that Cinnabon sells in the food court at the mall or in the refrigerator isle at the grocery store.

Perhaps it’s slightly idealistic of me, but I choose to view these muffins in the second, more positive light. There’s no point in baking up a batch of sugary, delicious muffins if you feel guilty while indulging in them. So make these muffins, and give yourself a pat on the back for making your muffins yourself, so that you can control the ingredients.

I made these muffins for my classmates on ASB (student government) and they were a huge hit. These would be a wonderful addition to any brunch get-together or a tasty afternoon treat to accompany a cup of coffee or tea.

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Yield: 12-14

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients: 

Topping

• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp. butter, softened in the microwave for 20 seconds

Filling

• 3 tbsp. butter, melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tbsp. ground cinnamon

Batter

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup cinnamon chips or butterscotch chips

Icing

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1-2 tbsp.

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake papers, and line two extra cups in another pan if you want.
2. Mix together the sugar, oats, flour, and butter for the crumbly topping and set it aside.
3. Stir together the butter,  sugar, and cinnamon until it reaches a soft, pudding-like consistency for the filling, then set it aside too.
4. To make the batter, in a mixmaster or by hand, whisk together the melted butter, milk, and eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, oats, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and chips. Add the dry mixture to the liquid, stirring just until combined.
5. Fill the muffin liners with half the batter. Next top each muffin liner with about 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon filling. Then top them with the remaining batter. Finally sprinkle the muffins withe the oat topping, and push it into the muffins gently.
6. Bake the muffins for 23-25 minutes, or until they’re golden brown, rotating the muffin tins half-way through the baking. Remove the muffin tins from the oven, and wait 5 minutes before transferring them from the pan to a rack to cool.
7. While waiting for the muffins to fully cool, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk to for the icing.
8. After  20-30 minutes, drizzle the icing over the muffins. Serve them warm.