Cookies Archives | with a Side of Sneakers

11 Snow Day Treats

This snow day treats post is sponsored by Foodie.com.

First things first, I sure hope this is true and not an evil, torturous rumor: Starbucks is bringing COCONUT MILK to all of it’s stores this month. Do you know how exciting this is to a dairy-free, soy-free latte lover?! Cinnamon dolce here I come; I’ve missed you so.

Moving on. This winter was predicted to be WAY worse than last year and that’s saying a lot considering we missed about 1,429 school days before November last winter. That being said, we’ve yet to see snow and it’s February. I’m not complaining since the temperatures have rarely dipped into the frigid region. Of course, I wouldn’t mind seeing some at least once. Preferably on a weekend if I’m being greedy.

So in the spirit of maybe potentially having a snow day sometime between now and spring, here are 11 fun treats to get you through your next snow storm. Or some that just have a snowy theme in case we never end up getting that snow. My personal favorite is obviously the beer snow.

What’s your favorite snowy treat?

Father’s Day Feastin

Holidays, Other

The husband’s first father’s Day was packed full if the best things in life: family & food.

We started the day with a neighborhood walk with Mimi {my mom} who was visiting for the weekend while the dads slept in a bit.

Then we showered daddy in homemade father’s day gifts:

Matching daddy-baby tie shirts!

After my parents left {enter giant pouty faces here} the husband and I took our little man to the park to check out the baby swings. Success! He loved the swing! But parenting 101 fail: we didn’t bring a hat or sunglasses or sunscreen, so our adventure didn’t last long.

After our park trip we moved on the next adventure of the day: letting the non-cool husband cook dinner. The inlaws brought the makings for a Greek salad. We kept things separate to accommodate various food preferences {read: me being picky. I hate almost everything about Greek cuisine}.

The husband contributed his piece de resistance: grilled kabobs. He marinated some chicken and veggies in Italian dressing, paprika, pepper, and Old Bay. {Everything gets Old Bay when he cooks.}

Along with the chicken we had red onions, green peppers, mushrooms, potatoes, and tomatoes. {Again separate so we could all be choosy. The perfect meal for a picky audience.}

Then came my contribution: dessert. 🙂

I made Phoebe’s grandma’s secret cookie recipe {a la Nestle Tollhouse}, with only 2 changes: 75% cacao dark chocolate and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

I’ve made these hundreds of times but instead of coming out like nice chewy cookie bars per usual, they came out soft & cake like instead.

Food science experts! What happened?! Did I cream the butter & sugar too long? Did I beat the eggs too much? Bake it funny? I’m used to strange results when I make a thousand substitutions, but not when I stick to the recipe.

Anyway, the cookies were still delicious. Dark chocolate is the way to go.

We finished up our celebrations with a sleeping baby {momentarily} and split one of the most satisfying beers to ever cross my lips: Epic Brewing Copper Cone Pale Ale from Salt Lake City. Although the bottle coat more than the wine I drink so we probably won’t be indulging in it again anytime soon. {Note: I drink really cheap wine so this isn’t as extravagant as it sounds.}

All in all, I’d say it was a pretty good first father’s day!

Coco-cinna Oatmeal Bars

Dessert

About a year BB {before baby}, I quit my job as a renal dietitian to become a private practice sports dietitian. Best. Decision. Ever. I went the low risk route- I didn’t jump in and rent an office, shell out a ton of dough on new tools or gear, or pour money into advertising and branding. I did whatever I could myself and figured everything else could wait. Quitting a job with a steady salary is risky enough; I didn’t need to blow the savings I’d so carefully sacked away to make this “one day” a reality.

Since I didn’t have an office, I did most of my counseling online. That meant I spent a lot of time at home. Working at home? Dream job, right? Of course.

Until you spend hour after hour sitting at your desk talking to no one but yourself. Even the lively interweb of social media didn’t cut it sometimes. It got lonely and depressing. I could literally go for days without talking to a real live human being face to face {when the husband was out of town}. So I turned to a favorite workplace of freelancers- Starbucks.

Outlets, WiFi, windows, music, coffee, snacks, and most importantly, human interaction all in one place. Given my undying love of all things coffee, it was the perfect set up. Just a couple hours here and there was enough to get me my fix. {Of people that is. My coffee fix was never satisfied. Winking smile }

And thus began my love affair with one of my now-favorite Starbucks treats: the cinnamon chip scone.

I loved them so much. I didn’t so much love the nutritional profile. I mean a treat here and there is no biggie, but with the record I was started to accrue, it could’ve gotten dangerous.

So I made my own version. Still a treat; much healthier; just as delicious. The only problem was I couldn’t find cinnamon chips. Because I was so desperate to recreate my treat, I made my own cinnamon chips. The were delicious. But seriously, who has time to make cinnamon chips when the craving for a scone strikes? Not me.

Enter step-dad to the rescue. He hunted down the chips, sent a few bags my way, and has kept replenishing them. I started slacking in the baking department and suddenly I had an excess inventory of cinnamon chips.

What to do, what to do… Back of the bag to the rescue! Problem. Solved. Coconut Cinnamon Oatmeal Bars.

I subbed coconut oil for the butter and tossed in a handful of coconut flakes. There’s a reason the recipe’s on the bag– delicious.

And since everything’s better with sprinkles:

Highly recommended.

Today on tiny sneakers I’m looking for advice on beach travel with a baby. You can also read my sob story about my bout with mastitis.

Ginger, Spice, & Everything Nice

Recipe

A couple of weeks ago the Junior League kicked off the season with a holiday leadership social, complete with mashed potato bar, bacon wrapped pretzel sticks, and asparagus filled phyllo pockets. But the best part? The sweets room.

All of the members of the exec team baked up a batch of their favorite Christmas goodies- and shared the recipes. Wedding cookies, crack rock {you know it- the magical creation that occurs when saltines are covered in butter and sugar}, peanut butter bars, snickerdoodles, peppermint bark, and more.

I’ve never been a huge gingerbread cookie fan- I love the intense zing of gingerbread snaps but don’t care for how hard they are; I love the appearance and holiday festiveness of cutout gingerbread cookies, but they tend to be lacking in flavor.

But since I’m an equal-opportunist sweets taster, I decided to try one of the gingerbread cookies. Based on my past experiences, I don’t think gingerbread was the right word- they were tangy and bursting with sharp ginger flavor, with a slight bite on the outside, and a chewy, divine center. Little bit of candied ginger popped up every few bites, taking the generic ginger cookie to a whole new level.

So while I had every intention of coming home and making endless batches of saltine cookies, I somehow ended up with the gingerbread cookie recipe in front of me instead.

I never leave well enough alone, so of course I had to make the recipe my own. I upped the whole grain content, veganized it, and pumped up the ginger flavor. The end result? Amazing. Crunchy, sugary outside; soft, chewy inside.

Because cookies {like all baked goods really} taste exponentially better fresh out of the oven, I baked half of the dough and left the rest in the refrigerator so I could have another fresh batch as soon as the first ran out.

Let’s just say that didn’t take too long.

The secret ingredient that donates a intense richness to these cookies? Sesame oil. The balance of spicy ginger and toasted sesame oil make for a combination you can’t stop eating.

Serve these cookies to Santa and he won’t be in any hurry to leave. Winking smile

Print

Ginger Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup non-dairy butter room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp chia seeds + 3 Tbsp water
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 ounces candied ginger chopped {optional}

Instructions

Combine chia and water; let sit for ~5 minutes. {You can also use flax.}
Cream together butter and sugars. Add oil, molasses and chia mixture.
In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients, except candied ginger.
Slowly add flour mixture to butter & sugar, mixing just until combined.
If using, gently stir in candied ginger chunks.
Dough will be slightly crumbly. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
Once chilled, roll dough into 1 inch balls.
Roll in granulated sugar, then place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart.
Bake 10 minutes at 375.