TWD: Pecan Powder Puffs

I look at that title and immediately think Power Puff Girls. I don't know why...I have two boys and neither of them has ever once watched, played with or talked about Power Puff Girls. At any rate..that's what I see. :)

This week's TWD selection was chosen by Tia over at Buttercream Barbie. And these cookies are anything but puffs. Made with nuts (I chose pecans) and just a little cinnamon, they resemble Mexican Wedding Cakes or Russian Tea Cakes. I said resemble because these are so much better than either of the others I have made before. Got that? :)

These are good with or without the powdered sugar. I of course, made a whole batch and took half of them to a friend for his birthday. His favorite cookies are Mexican Wedding Cakes so I had to share.

I just want to remind everyone to remember to let go of some of the little things during the day that maybe weren’t so great....and to find something good in everyday.

Here's mine for today:

Spring is finally here in Northern California and not a minute too soon. With 223" of snow falling up at Squaw Valley in March...I can honestly say...I am ready for some sunshine and warm weather.

Have a look over here for lots of variations on these cookies and thanks for stopping by.

TWD: Citrus Cranberry Sunshine Muffins

So...this is what happens when I make a half batch of something:

And...this is what happens when I make the full batch of something:

Guess what I did this week....yep. Exactly....the half.

Northern California needs a little sunshine right now...we've got plenty of citrus, that's super plentiful...it's the sunshine we're lacking. These little muffins taste like sunshine. :)

They're bright and cheerful and light with just the right amount of sweet.

I'll tell you what I did. First off, halved the recipe (never again), used dried cranberries instead of currants. I didn't have any lemon extract so I just left it out. Oh yeah, the one thing I didn't cut in half was the lemon zest. I just threw it all in with the sugar. I'm really glad I did...you can definitely taste the sunshine...um, I mean lemon.

You can even see the lemon zest in there!

And..to healthy them up a bit :) I used half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour. This kind that I get from Trader Joe's.

My kids came home from school and each had 2. 6-4=2. 2 left for me to eat....or save for the boys...or eat...or save. I can't decide. Maybe I'll just go make another FULL batch. We'll see.

Thanks to Lauryn over at Bella Baker for this week's choice. Certainly a hit at my house.

Stop by the TWD site to see what great combinations of dried fruit/nuts/chocolate the other bakers thought to put in their muffins.

Thanks for stopping by.

Corniest (Not so much) Corn Muffins

I made these, had a story to tell, and then never got around to it. Something about not doing so much and having lots of free time.

My apologies.

These corn muffins were great. The only thing I did was to omit the can of corn and throw in some shredded smoked cheddar cheese. YUM!


As you can see...I ate them warm with butter. Like there's any other way to eat them? I mean, COME ON!

Thank you Jill. Sorry I'm late. You can find Jill's muffins over at My Next Life and everyone else's here.

Thanks for stopping by.

And then I made these...

Ok, so...I skipped TWD this week. I'm sure you can guess as to the reason. Pots of dark chocolate and cream sitting in front of my two boys and me...my oldest looking at it and grimacing. (It's a texture thing.) My youngest looking at it and asking for leftover lasagna...and you know what would happen next. There would be 3 empty pots and only one dirty spoon. Yeah...not what I needed.

So...why not make cookies instead? That way I can spread the love. I started out just wanting chocolate chip cookies made from the ATC Baking Book. Then I saw the homemade marshmallows on the counter that needed to be used. Why not just chop them up add them to the cookies? And oh yeah, why not just brown the butter for the cookies before adding it to the dough...and forget the chips, let me just throw in semi-sweet chunks.

So these happened....

Really good, really gooey, really chocolaty.

You can go look at all of the other gorgeous Chocolate Pots de Creme here. And you can find the recipe on Christine's blog Black Cat Cooking.

Thanks for stopping by.