The Easiest Blondies Ever

Hi friends, it's your favorite neighborhood baker, Jess.  One of the things I'm always in search of is a quick baked dessert recipe with all pantry items.  You know, sometimes you just want dessert and you  don't want to have to run to the store.  Enter Deb from Smitten Kitchen and her Infinitely Adaptable Blondies.  Once I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it out!

Last weekend, on an uncharacteristically rainy and cold Saturday, I gathered my ingredients.

Not pictured: Vanilla Extract

To get started, melt the butter in a small saucepan.  You could just melt it, or you could be like me, and let it cook for a while and start to get brown.  Nothing beats that caramely browned butter flavor, so it's worth taking the extra time.

Before

After

Let the butter cool off a little bit and pour it into a large bowl.  You're cooling this off just a little so that you don't get brown sugar flavored scrambled eggs.  (Just typing that is gross).  Then, whisk in a cup of brown sugar, vanilla and one egg.

Mix in one cup of flour and 1 1/2 cups of mix-ins.  Deb mentions that you can use whatever mix-ins you have on hand.  I chose chocolate chips and toasted pecans.  Shout out to my Snow Bird in laws, who brought back some pecans from the winter Down South.  See my notes below for other thoughts on great additions.

Press the mixture into a buttered 8x8 glass or metal tray.  It's not going to pour like a usual cookie batter, so you might want to try pressing it down with a spatula or wooden spoon.

Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.  The edges will be golden brown and it will still feel a little soft in the middle.  I think that's part of what makes the good--they're still a little fudgey or doughy in the middle.  I think they'd be too tough if you overbooked them, so keep an eye out.  You can cool and cut them or just let them cool in the pan and cut as you eat them.  Honestly, I think they would keep for about a week covered, but we finished them off within a couple of days.

Notes:

• As I mentioned, Deb says you can mix in just about anything to these babies and create something delicious.  I loved the toasted pecans and chocolate chips, but you could customize these any which way you want.  Some combinations I'd love to try out--
• 1/2 cup peanut butter and 1 cup of chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dried cherries and 1 cup of dark chocolate chunks
• 1/2 cup salted peanuts, 1/2 cup butterscotch chips and 1/2 cup toasted pecans
• 1/2 cup pistachios, 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

• Overbaking is the enemy of a good blondie!  Watch that they don't get too brown because they'll dry out.  Even if you would consider them a little underdone, they're probably ready to go.

• These are pretty rich, so you can serve them in small pieces.  They would be awesome as a quick dessert to take over to someone's house or to serve after a simple dinner party.  Also, kid approved (obviously!).  In fact, our preschooler woke up one morning, examined the pan and asked my husband "why did you and Mama eat two blondies because they're missing from the pan..." Busted. 

• One last serving suggestion would be a blondie sundae.  Quick story--I was once eating dinner at our favorite neighborhood place with my husband and Ry and were gifted a free blondie sundae by our waitress.  Apparently a table had ordered it, mistaking blondies for brownies and no longer wanted it.  A delicious blondie sundae on the house?!  Talk about a win!  We still talk about it months later!   Scoop some old fashioned vanilla ice cream on top and drizzle with caramel and/or chocolate syrup and you're a hero!  

Make these now and thank me later!  Let us know how they are and give us your ideas for mix-in combinations in the comments below!

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Hey, all.  It's your resident baker, Jess.  If any of you out there have kids or nieces/nephews, you might have noticed how kids feel about granola bars.  I'm pretty sure my kid could polish off three or four of them in one sitting.  I love that they're a fast way to give her a snack, but I don't love the added sugar or processed nature.  So that's why I decided to give this recipe for Crunchy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Oats 'N Honey Bars from Half Baked Harvest (Btw, have you guys seen this blog?  Everything she cooks looks amazing and her brother is Red Gerard, recent Olympic Gold Medalist).

Anyway, to get started, I grabbed my ingredients, all of which I already had in my pantry.  I substituted canola oil (see my note at the end) for coconut oil.

You'll want to mix together the peanut butter, oil and honey and microwave it in a measuring cup for around a minute.  Baker tip--spray the inside of your measuring cup with cooking spray to keep the honey from sticking to the cup.

Once it's heated, add the brown sugar and vanilla and stir to combine.    In the meantime, mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix thoroughly.  Again, you might want to spray your spatula to prevent it from sticking.

Pour it into the pan, which we sprayed and lined with parchment paper.  Spray the back of a measuring cup and use it to press down the mixture.  You want it to pack tightly together so that it holds when you bake.  This is a great job for a kid sous chef.

The recipe says to heat the extra peanut butter in the microwave and drizzle on top.  Mine never really got thin enough to drizzle, so I just sort of spread it around.

Bake for around 20 minutes and then let it cool for 10-20 minutes before slicing (see note).  Now get ready to snack!

Notes:

• The recipe only calls for 2 tablespoons of oil, but I found that my mixture was a little on the dry side.  As a result, the bars crumbled a little as I cut and stored them.  I think if I were to make them again, I would add another tablespoon of oil and/or more peanut butter to give it a little more moisture.
• The recipe suggests you cool the bars for 10-20 minutes before slicing.  I'd say, I would cut around 10 minutes of cooling.  I waited longer and found that the bars were starting to get a little brittle.  We'll probably eat the pieces as granola, but if you want actual bars, cut sooner.

There you have it!  A great snack AND you can feel good about them because they're homemade.  Give them a try and let us know what you think in the comments below!

Healthy Smoothie Recipe Round-Up

Hey gang, it's Jess.  Although Ry and I are not big on New Year's Resolutions, one thing I'm trying to do this year is eat more breakfast.  I am notorious for getting up with JUST enough time to get myself out the door presentably.  I rarely leave myself enough time to eat breakfast and as a result, I end up with just a venti latte in my stomach all morning.  Not the healthiest of options.  I'm trying to find more healthy breakfast options that I can grab and go.

Smoothies are great for this because they pack a lot of bang for their nutritional buck.  You can stuff them full of fruits (and veggies) and start your day off right.  You can pour them and drink them as you drive to work or while you get going on work, too.  Also, for you mamas out there, they're  super kid-friendly.  I know my kiddo loves them and will happily drink them, no matter how much spinach I cram in there!

Here are a few of my favorite smoothie recipes from Pinterest.

• Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Smoothie
• Triple Berry Kiwi Smoothie
• Blueberry Muffin Smoothie
• Strawberry Lime Watermelon Smoothie

Now, here's one of my favorite homemade recipes that we've been enjoying in the mornings.  The addition of the oats seems odd, but it thickens the smoothie, gives you extra fiber and keeps you feeling fuller longer!

Fruity Oat Smoothie (Makes 2 servings)

• 1/2-3/4 cup milk (you can use regular milk, soy, almond, etc)
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 cups frozen fruit (We use bananas and berries but anything you like works)
• Optional add-ins: 2 tablespoons peanut butter or almond butter, handful of spinach, scoop of vanilla protein powder 

Pour the oats into the blender and pulse until they're powdery.  Add frozen fruit, milk and blend until smooth.  Depending on the consistency of your fruit and how you like your smoothie, you may want to add more/less liquid.  

Do you like smoothies for breakfast?  What are your favorite recipes?  Let us know in the comments and give them a try!

TTO Holidays: Gift Guide for the Kiddos

Welcome to the next Twins Take On the Holidays 2017 Gift Guides!  We're going to bring you some of our favorite things for some of your favorite people this holiday season.  Hopefully this will inspire you to grab some great gifts for everyone on your list.

Today, we bring you our favorite presents for the kiddos in your life!

• Rick Riordan is probably the most popular author with the kids in Jess's class.  They literally fight over these Heroes of Olympus books.
• If you know a preschool girl, then you're a friend of Moana.  This doll is adorable and perfect for tagging along with any little gal.
• This walker is the exact one that Jess's kid used when she learned to walk.  Just be careful, its songs will get stuck in your head for months!
• Jess doesn't know exactly what Minecraft is, but her students are obsessed with it.  
• Who doesn't love PlayDoh?  
• MegaBloks are great for building when Legos are too little for toddler hands.  However, if the kid on your list can handle it, these Wonder Woman Legos are amazing! 
• Razor scooters are still almost as popular as bikes with the elementary set.  
• These two books are favorites with Jess's little one.  They're the kind of books you actually don't mind reading as an adult.
• We aren't big stuffed animal people, but Jellycat ones are the exception to the rule.  They're adorable and the perfect size for little hands.
• The book, Wonder, has been popular for a while with middle grade kids, but with the upcoming movie, it's sure to be a hit this year.
• We love Uggs and these are as cozy as they are cute.  
• Jess enjoys a cup of this pretend coffee about as often as she does her regular morning joe.

We hope this gives you some ideas for the little folks in your life.  What are your favorite things to buy for your favorite kids?  Let us know in the comments and keep an eye our for the rest of our Gift Guides!