Springtime Sugar Cookies

I couldn't resist decorating cookies for spring, and so I made chicks, butterflies, lambs and bunnies for Easter. I LOVE decorating sugar cookies. They turned out really cute, but I couldn't seem to get photos that did them justice.

FFWD Week #30: Mustard Batons

Not being the biggest mustard fan, I admit to being somewhat wary of this week's recipe. However, having some puff pastry in my freezer and a jar of Dijon in my fridge, I gave it a whirl. I didn't measure anything very exactly, and just spread a thin layer of mustard on the puff pastry - this turned out to be perfect, flavourful, but not a kick in the face! This was definitely the quickest FFWD recipe yet, it took practically no time at all!

FFWD Week #29: Chocolate & Vanilla Eclairs

Mmmmmmm! I was so excited for this recipe, and it did not disappoint! I made half of the recipe and made around 30 mini eclairs. Even with being so small, they took over 20 minutes to bake. I decided to go with chocolate pastry cream to fill these, and I am so glad I did, it is so delicious!!!! Seriously, my dreams are made of stuff like this chocolate pastry cream. I've been spreading the leftovers on chocolate-chip oatmeal cookies, yum! The vanilla glaze provided quite the challenge! When I was mixing it I kept thinking it should be thinner, but then it would drip right off of the eclairs. I decided to top them with some sprinkles that I bought when I made cake donuts a few weeks ago. I definitely want to make full-sized eclairs someday soon, and try different flavours!

FFWD Week #28: Garlicky Crumb-Coated Broccoli

Garlic - check Butter - check Bread Crumbs - check Broccoli - check Lemon Zest - check. Could this be anything but delicious? No, no I don't think so! I made this Cinnamon-Sugar Pull Apart Bread the other day. My apartment smelled amazing. It is all gone now. Sigh, I miss it.

Baked Mini Cake Doughnuts with Sprinkles

Brunch is a meal that needs to be shared. The other day I was lucky enough to share brunch with some lovely friends, and I made these mini doughnuts. This recipe really impressed me, they were very flavourful. I dipped them in lemon glaze and topped them with sprinkles. The sprinkles made them really beautiful.

Baked Cake Doughnuts - from Doughnuts by Lara Ferroni

Makes 18 mini doughnuts

3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp All Purpose Flour

1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (I used white pastry flour)

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup superfine sugar (I used regular granulated sugar)

1/4-1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp unsalted butter or vegetable shortening

1/4 cup milk, scalded

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Sift the flours and baking powder together into a large bowl. Whisk in the sugar, nutmeg and salt. Add the butter and use your fingers to rub it into the dry ingredients as you would in making a pastry crust, until evenly distributed. Add vanilla, milk, yogurt and egg and stir until just combined. Do not overmix or else your doughnuts may be rubbery.

3. Use a piping bag to fill each doughnut cup about 3/4 full. Bake 6-10 minutes until the doughnuts are light golden brown and spring back when touched. Let cool slightly before removing from pan. Glaze as desired.

Lemon Glaze

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

3-4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Almond Joy Oatmeal

Oatmeal is awesome. It is comforting and filling and can be doctored up with an endless amount of delicious things! This morning I made Almond Joy oatmeal from Live Well 360. When I added the vanilla & almond extracts I was sure that I had added too much, but once stirred together, it was delicious. I halved the recipe, but kept the full amount of almonds and I also used sugar instead of stevia. I also topped my oatmeal with a spoonful of Greek yogurt, because it makes everything better!

Today, I ate my oatmeal out of a green mini loaf pan with a hand carved spoon, just because I can =)

Almond Joy Oatmeal (from Live Well 360)

Makes one serving or two smaller ones

1/2 cup (40g) rolled oats

1/2 cup skim milk

1/2 cup water

pinch of salt

1/2 medium banana, sliced into thin pieces

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

1 tsp stevia

7 g almond butter

7g mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

7g coconut flakes, sweetened

4g almond slivers, toasted

Directions In a medium size pan, heat the oats, milk, water, and salt over medium heat. Once the mixture begins to simmer, approximately 5-6 minutes, stir in the sliced banana. Continue to stir, almost whipping, until the banana breaks down and the mixture thickens and becomes creamy, about another 3-4 minutes. Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, and stevia, and stir until incorporated. Pour into a serving bowl and top with the almond butter, chocolate chips, coconut shavings, and slivered almonds.