Back to School...Boo Hoo!

Today is one of the last days of my March break...sniff, sniff...tear :(

Where has the time gone?!?

After thoroughly enjoying my cup of coffee on the couch this morning I decided to head to the kitchen to bake...what else would I do with my last scraps of free time?  Should I Relax!?! Don't be silly!

Now, the question of what to make? Hmmm...

I started thinking about going back to work next week:  getting up at 5:00am, hectic mornings getting an active 2 year old ready and out the door, breakfast in the car...should I go on?
Now I know what you're thinking...it all sounds VERY glamorous!  Well, don't be fooled...it's a crazy juggling act during the work week in this house.

So I wanted to make something that would help those first few back-to-work mornings potentially go a bit more smoothly.  Take some of the guess work out.  So why not bake some yummy muffins to enjoy during the morning commute?

I looked through my library of cookbooks to see what sounded good.  After flipping through several books I decided on an old favorite from Baking: From my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan.  This particular cookbook has so many delicious delights - everything from muffins to cookies to decadent cakes. 

I chose to make Great Grains Muffins.  I have made this recipe many times and have never been disappointed by it. 

But as I looked at the recipe I decided I didn't want to make the same old recipe yet another time.  I wanted to switch things up a little bit and put my own spin on these muffins.  Don't worry, I'm not going all paleo on you again...but after tasting how good those paleo pumpkin muffins turned out I wanted to make my muffins sweet, delicious, and a little healthy too! 

So I added a little bit of coconut flour and raisins here, some flax seed meal and oatmeal there...and of course I HAD to add some chocolate chips for that extra sweet factor.  After all my changes to the recipe, I was so happy that I'd really made this recipe mine. 

Here's how the final product came out:

I'll be honest, sometimes when you try something new with a recipe, or create your own, it can really be a crap-shoot how it will turn out.  But, let me tell you, they really turned out well.  They are light and fluffy, and the raisin/chocolate pairing was soooo yummy.  And while I was enjoying my muffin, I felt good that they did have that healthy twist - hooray for flax seed!

Well,  I hope you all liked my latest baking endeavor and stay tuned for the next one! 

Have a fabulous afternoon and take time to enjoy something sweet today :).

Recipe Remixes!

Reeeeee-miiiiiix!

Soooo...because I can't stand not having something turn out exactly the way I want it to when it comes to baking, I decided to give two recipes from last week another shot:  my scones, and the paleo pumpkin muffins. 

"But the scones came out delicious", you say, "Why try them again?!"  Well, not only did I want to make something scrumptious for my dear friend Carla who is also a new mommy (I know - so many new babies!), as I said last week, I felt these scones needed more dried cranberries.  So, I wanted to give them another shot.

As I began prepping all the ingredients for this yummy recipe, I thought about what (besides more cranberries) would make them taste more fabulous than before.  And after some careful consideration, I decided that they needed a little more orange zest too...and some more sugar, and why not add some vanilla for a bit more flavor.  I also cut back the bake time by a few minutes.

The final result was even more delicious than the last!  They were moister (from the less bake time) and even more flavorful than the last batch...hooray! 

Re-mix #1 was a success...but what would happen with the next recipe?  Gulp!

OK, on to the paleo muffins...oh boy.

The muffins I made last week were very moist and "pretty good" to quote my dear hubby (love you Steve!).  But "pretty good" is NOT good enough for me!

I had a little free time yesterday, so I took another look at the recipe and thought about what I could do differently to give these babies a little more flavor. 

The spices I'd previously used had added some good flavor, but what else could be done? Since sugar is not an option, I decided that some honey and maple syrup would help out for sure...don't worry, the syrup was organic and all natural - totally acceptable by the paleo-police.  (I also decided to add a bit more cinnamon and cloves.)

As I stirred and sniffed the sweet smelling batter, I still thought that there was more I could add.  And then it hit me...Of course!  What this recipe needs is.....CHOCOLATE!   

GASP! Chocolate?!?! How can that be paleo-approved?  Relax people, it was 86% cocoa and organic, so that's as good as it gets as far as keeping paleo is concerned.

So, I chopped up some chocolate, mixed it in, and I immediately felt that this time, these muffins would be better.

20 minutes later, my hunches were confirmed - the new additions made this recipe taste great!

Here they are:

Now, don't be fooled by their appearance...paleo muffins don't come out looking as fluffy as muffins using regular flour...but they were extremely moist and very flavorful.

So, I was quite pleased with round 2 of both recipes that I tried again.

Ok, time for breakfast.  What will I have you ask?  Well, I think I'll have a scone AND a muffin, thank you very much!

I hope you all enjoyed the reeeeee-miiiiiix and that you're having a sweet morning!

Hooray for St. Patrick's Day!

Every year we go to my mom and dad's for St. Patrick's Day dinner.  While I am mostly Italian (well, Italian-American) , I am just as proud of my Irish heritage.  So I love celebrating this holiday with my family.

So, I gussied up my wee Irish lassie

and we were ready to go! (She loved her sparkly green dress! It was very "Riverdance"!)


Back to the food:

I think it's a common misconception that Irish food is boring, bland, or just revolving around potatoes.  I think over the years it has evolved and it's really so delicious!  I LOVE eating corned beef, shepherd's pie, scones, and...well...all the traditional dishes on this day!  I especially loved the selection of Irish cheeses my mom put out.  They were so creamy and good!  Cheese is my second love, right after all things sweet!

I volunteered to make the shepherd's pie, which came out AMAZING I must say.  But I also made something sweet to go along with the meal.

After considering my options...I decided to make rice krispie pops.  Everyone likes rice krispie treats and I knew that my nieces and nephew (as well as my little sweetie) would just love them!

I have been wanting to try out some new decorating tools I'd just gotten and thought this was a good opportunity to do so.  And while I was at it, I decided to get crafty and experiment with a few different designs:

What's the L for?  Take your pick: Leprechaun, Leah, Lucky, Liz...the list could go on and on!

I just thought the dots were a really cool look!  (They almost looked like white strawberries.)

Shamrocks were a natural choice, of course!  A national symbol of Ireland people!

And here's a close up of a shamrock:

 Swirls are harder than they look everyone!  But they looked pretty cool too :)

And lastly, a more traditional drizzling technique:

Here are some group shots of my little rice krispie pop army:

And here's how I displayed them on the dessert table- in some mugs:

The consensus from the whole family was that they were delicious!  I have to admit I had like 3 of them!  They were like potato chips, I couldn't just have one! And my toughest little critic loved them as well:

She was very taken in by the dots and gobbled her pop all up :).

Well my friends, after all the baking I did last week I am off to put my feet up and relax a little bit!

I hope you all liked my latest sweet creation and that you all had a fabulous St. Patrick's Day as well!

Til next time, don't forget to eat your sweets!

Sweet Scones for a Sweet New Mama :)

Tomorrow is a VERY exciting day...one I have been anxiously waiting for for almost 3 whole months.  I get to go meet my friend Heather's adorable baby boy!  Being a new mom is no joke friends.  No sleep, velour pants 24/7 for the first 2 months (maybe that was just me?), and your life is now revolving around this amazing (and very demanding) new little person...catering to their every need.  It's seriously hard work!  So I thought to myself, this hard working mama deserves something yummy.

In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, I decided to make some scones.  So many variations to choose from...which kind should I make?  I decided on orange/cranberry scones. See I told you - I'm obsessed with cranberries lately!  But, other than my crazy cran-session...the orange and cranberry combination is seriously delicious.

I was super excited to use my new scone pan:

What's cuter than mini scones?

In the past I'd always made my scones using the drop-method and they would be round.  But why not try a new way of doing things?

I rolled out and cut up my dough into little triangles then carefully placed them into my new pan.  As they baked a wonderful smell traveled around the kitchen telling me that something good was going on in my oven :)

When I flipped them onto the wire drying rack and took a look at them, I was so happy with my cute little army of mini scones!

Here they are:

And a closer look:

Don't they look yummy? I certainly thought so!

So, of course, I HAD to try one

Sorry Heather...quality control you know.

While I will admit I could have added a few more dried cranberries...(ahem...yes, I know I need to seek help about this cranberry addiction business)...they came out flakey and good.  (I hope you like them too Heath!)


Well, the kitchen is all cleaned up from the day's baking, and now...onto cooking dinner...a mother's work is really never done!

Have a great night sweeties and I hope you all have been enjoying this week's sweets so far. :)

Birthday Sweets for a Sweet Friend!

This past Saturday night my friend Julie and I got out for a much deserved (and very rare!) ladies night.  So we left the kids with our hubbies and hit the road Thelma and Louise style...top down, hair blowing in the wind, ready to let the night take us where it may!  

Ok, who's kidding who here?  It was night time in the "winter" and way too cold to let the wind blow through anything....and anyone that knows me knows that I am anything but spontaneous!

Julie and I had both researched some fabulous Westchester eateries prior to our night out and decided on Via Vanti in Mount Kisco.  This eclectic restaurant had delicious food, a cute atmosphere, and very yummy desserts...the main reason we decided on this quaint little spot.  Their gelato was to die for!


It was so nice to relax with a glass of wine and catch up about our kids and our lives!


Of course, being that sweets are a very big part of my life, the conversation naturally went in that direction for a little while.  We discussed what desserts I'd made recently, the tempting treats on the menu for the night, and our favorite sweets.  Over the course of this chat it came out that Julie's favorite childhood sweet was shortbread cookies.  She so vividly described this one sweet shop that all the kids would go to in her neighborhood.  

Listening to her fond memories from her childhood got my wheels turning about trying to make some shortbread myself.  And with Julie's birthday being right around the corner, this would work out perfectly!  Time for a visit from the "Eat your sweets fairy"!


I've never made shortbread before and, accordingly, researched various recipes until I found one that looked good.  I was a little wary about the consistency of the dough as no other cookie dough I've made before had that texture.  But, I persevered and continued on with my baking task of the day...determined to make a nice birthday treat for my dear friend :).


Well, after all is said and done, here is the delicious final product:

I dipped them in chocolate for a little extra pizzazz!  Chocolate makes everything better, right?
And here is how the final wrapped gift looks:

I know, how very Ina Garten of me...this is how she always wraps up cookies, and I thought it would look perfect!  I'm very pleased with how these cookies came out and have squelched my wariness about making shortbread.

Ok everyone, I'm off to deliver my treats. 

Happy birthday Julie! Thanks for being a dear friend and I hope you like the cookies!

Everybody's Nuts...

...for Date Nut Bars! 

One of my favorite things to make (besides biscotti) is date nut bars.  They were another dessert my mom used to make for the holidays when we were growing up. This family classic always comes out light and moist.  And in my opinion, the combination of the sweet dates and crunchy nuts are a winning pair. 

I've been wanting to bake something for our dear family friends Wendy and Joel for a while now (they have been very supportive of Eat Your Sweets!) and have been searching for the right thing to make.  Should I try something new? Or make something tried and true?

As I researched some new and different recipes, I decided to take a look at my binder of old faithfuls to see if the right choice would be in there.  The moment I got to the date nut bars I thought, what a perfect selection...these are always a hit!

So I rolled up my sleeves, tied on my apron, and began to chop, dice and measure all the necessary ingredients.

Now, as many of you might remember I made my mom's traditional date nut recipe for "Sweets-mas".  I also made a "twisted" version of the date nut bars that had chocolate and coconut in it. THOSE were amazing!

As I popped the batch of traditional bars into the oven, I thought to myself, what other "twisted" combinations might be good for these already scrumptious bars?  I checked the upstairs pantry, checked the downstairs one, then decided on dried cranberries and toffee as the winning ingredients.  I've been all about dried cranberries in everything lately, and toffee...hello?!?! Toffee is a delicious pairing with just about dessert!

So I mixed up my creation and hoped that it would be just as fabulous as the last twisted bar.  After 40 minutes of bake time and far too many minutes waiting for my new treat to cool, I cut them up and took a bite...success!! The sweet/tartness of the cranberries with the smooth flavor of the toffee literally made me say "Mmmmmm".  I felt as though I was a little girl again, humming while I ate my food! :)

Here are the visual aides to make you all start drooling:

The traditional date nut bars:

And here are the latest twisted version of them:

Well, I am off to deliver some date nut bars to our friends...fingers crossed they love them as much as I do!

I hope you are all having a fabulous day and that you take some time to eat your sweets today :)

Stay tuned for tomorrow's sweet of the day!

To Be...or Not to Be...

...Paleo.  That is the question.  The answer for this sweets lovin' girl is a definite NO!  But my crossfit loving husband is all about this primal way of eating - no sugar, no dairy, no carbs....only things you can hunt and gather are allowed to enter your body. 

Let's be honest folks, the only things this girl is hunting and gathering are different types of sweets to shove into my mouth! 

But seriously, I try to be supportive of Steve's eating habits and do enjoy eating healthy meals as well...but, as I've stated before, in my mind, it's all about balance.

Now, as I said, I am the farthest thing from being paleo...but I am determined to be able to bake that way. 

I'm not too proud to say that my first few tries at paleo baking (no flour, no sugar, and none the other goodies I typically use) were, dare I say, disastrous!  I gave it my best shot, but coconut flour is a fickle friend.  My baked goods were either too dry, too crumbly...I was very frustrated!

After taking an appropriate sabbatical from paleo baking, I summoned up my courage and decided to try again.  Like we tell our kindergarteners all the time: "Where there's a will, there's a way!"

Today, I decided to make pumpkin muffins...I EVEN used organic pumpkin for my healthy
hubbie :).

As I mixed and measured, stirred and scooped, I said a silent prayer that this time my efforts would turn out better than they had in the past.  While they baked, a very pleasant pumpkin-spicy aroma filled my upstairs, so I was very hopeful!

So, here, they are:

After sampling this latest attempt at paleo baking, I have to say that they are much moister than my last few kitchen mishaps, so hooray for that!

But, seriously...these puppies need some sugar! Haha.

Let's see what Steve has to say when he gets home and tries them. 

Well my sweet followers, get ready for lots of posts over the next 2 weeks because I'm off from work for spring break, HOORAY! 

The ideas of what I will bake are swirling in my head and I can't wait to share them with all of you!

Til then, eat those sweets!