Shamrock Peanut Butter Cookies

Saint Patrick's day is around the corner and to celebrate I made some peanut butter cookies in the shape of shamrocks. I was a little worried to make the cookies with peanut butter dough because I didn't know if the cookies would hold the shamrock shape, like gingerbread and sugar cookie dough does so well. But, I am happy to report that these held their cookie cutter shape very well and I think what helped is the amount of time I chilled the dough in the fridge and how thin I rolled out the dough. I chilled my dough for about an hour, which is necessary to firm the dough, because peanut butter dough is very soft and sticky to work with. These came out so soft and chewy and they were exactly what I was craving. 

Ingredients - Makes about 3 dozen (depending on the size of your cookie cutters)

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup of peanut butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla
• 1 egg (I substituted with egg whites)
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Mix butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla. Mix on low speed until thoroughly mixed.

Add the egg and beat on medium speed until mixture is creamy and fluffy.

Add the baking powder and add the flour in little by little.

Wrap dough in clear wrap and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes - 45 minutes. If you leave it in too long, you may need to let the dough sit at room temperature for 10–20 minutes until it is pliable, or roll it between parchment paper. 

If the dough too cold and brittle to roll immediately, it could crack. To fix this, let the dough sit at room temperature for a bit. It take a bit of time to get comfortable with being able to tell the sweet spot between chilled and also pliable enough to start rolling it out. You don't want it too soft and it can't be rock hard either.

Once dough is chilled, but also pliable (it may need to sit out for 10-20 minutes after the fridge) and has firmed up a bit, roll out dough on floured counter top and press down with cookie cutters. If the dough is cracking, it might need to sit out at room temperature a bit more.

I got this awesome shamrock cookie cutter from my sister during Christmas.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

I added a few green sprinkles on some of them before they went into the oven and the rest I left plain to either decorate with icing later or just left them blank to eat as is.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until bottoms are slightly golden.

Once out of the oven, place cookies on wire racks to cool completely.

I've been struggling with allergies, or a cold, off and on for weeks, and I think this is exactly what the doctor ordered, a bit crisp on the outside and soft in the inside.

I  keep the cookies in a tupperware to keep them fresh and soft. These would be great to give as a little gift, I would recommend tying a very thin green bow around the little clover stem.

Thanks for stopping by my little corner in the world. 

emerald green nails

I've been loving emerald green and have been trying to find the perfect color I had envisioned in my mind and I found a few that were beautiful, but a little too pricey, so I went to Walgreens and bought two different nail polishes to make the perfect glittery emerald green nail polish, the total was under $6.00 and now I have two different nail polishes to use separately or together.

I first painted about 2 coats of the Wet n Wild's "Sagreena the Teenage Witch" and once it was dried I painted 2 coats of the Sally Hansen's "Seanic" polish and they came out looking like emerald city in the Wizard of Oz, exactly what I wanted. Love it and it's perfect for Saint Patrick's Day!

strawberry lemon poppyseed pancakes

This weekend I made some yummy lemon poppyseed pancakes with lots of slices of fresh strawberries with drizzled agave. It was so sweet and delicious. Here is the full recipe. The last time I made them I added blueberries, but this time I just made them with lemon and poppyseed and added slices of strawberries.

I am dying to make some other pancake combinations. Have any suggestions?

Have a beautiful rest of the weekend and enjoy your week. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies

My sister and her son makes these simple, but very yummy banana oatmeal cookies, she mashes one banana and a half cup of uncooked oatmeal to make these cookies.  Here is her recipe on her blog.

I love that there is no flour, no eggs, and no sugar to add to these.

I added a few things to it and these are now my go to cookie.

• 2 bananas (riper the better)
• 2 tablespoons of peanut butter
• 1 cup of uncooked oats
• handful of chocolate chips 
• handful of cranberries (optional)
• Protein powder (for adults)

Mash the bananas in a bowl, add the peanut butter and then mix in the oats, once all ingredients are combined add the chocolate chips and cranberries. For adults add a scoop of protein powder to really boost the protein in these.

Put them in the oven at 350 degree for about 12-15 minutes.


Enjoy!

caviar nails for mardi gras

In honor of Fat Tuesday in New Orleans, I gave my nails the Mardi Gras treatment. I added some colorful "caviar" beads to one nail on each hand. I bought the beads from this etsy shop. It's really easy to do and they are so much fun.

First I applied about 2 coats of clear nail polish. My favorite clear polish right now is Chanel's extreme shine, but in this case you can use any nail polish as a base layer.

Next, you can either sprinkle or dip your fingers in the container and next press the little beads down to make sure they are all in contact with the the coat of polish, some spots my need to be filled in. Wait for a few minutes and they are all dry and ready to go.

These are super fun, and they come in a variety of colors.

Thanks for stopping by.

february birchbox review

For Christmas I gave a few of my loved ones BirchBox subscriptions. They all love them and then I figured I should get myself a little something too, so I signed myself up for a subscription too. Who doesn't love getting little packages in the mail?

I recently received my February BirchBox, the box comes with about 5-6 samples of cosmetics, accessories, and sometimes home goods (think candles), or treats items.

You can edit your profile on their website so you can tell them what type of items you like or don't like so they can customize your box.

This month's box came with Harvey Prince Hello perfume,  Beauty Protector Protect & Oil, OPI tinted top coat, Skin & Co Truffle Therapy Serum, and Harney & Sons tea samples.

Skin & Co's Truffle Therapy Serum is working wonderfully for me. During the winter months my skin, like many people, feels dry. After washing my face, I put this on at night and instantly I feel like my skin drank some water and I woke up with softer skin. I am looking forward to continuing testing it. I have also been slathering it on my dry winter hands.

I don't need many more perfume samples, as I have quite a few and I use them when I travel, they are the perfect size. I actually don't wear perfume very much and if I do wear it, I like a soft and simple scent. When I put this on it reminded me of a perfumed roller oil I used to wear when I was a teenager, so it brought back many memories. It's sweet and woodsy all at the same time.

One thing I thought that was interesting was the note with the perfume from the Harvey Prince company, they indicated that their fragrances should empower women to feel young and beautiful, but I don't understand why a perfume should make a person feel slim or why that should even be listed. I thought that was unnecessary. When was the last time you bought a perfume because it made you feel slim?

Beauty Protector's Protect & Oil is a great find for me. I love using argan oils on my hair, I used to use moroccan oil, but this one leaves a beautiful shine and is not greasy. It protects your hair from heat damage from heat tools like hair straighteners and curlers. Sometimes when I put oil on my hair for shine and to tame frizz it leaves a coat on my hand, this did not and it left my hair very shiny. 

OPI "Don't Violet Me Down" is a tinted top coat. This is great for someone who wants a little color on their nails, but does not want a full coat of nail polish on their nails. I first put it on my bare nails and I did not think the violet tinted shade was flattering at all, it looked like my hands were suffering from frostbite, so I removed it and then first painted my nails with a pale pink nail polish color and once that was dry I painted the tint over it and that gave it a night pastel violet tint.

I understand it also comes in red, teal, and amber/orange. I can see this be used for some fun designs with glitter, ombre effects, and other fun things, but for someone who likes standard polish colors this might not be for them. I think the red tinted nail polish can be useful, as it can give a bare nail the look of a nice healthy shade of pink. 

Lastly, I am a huge fan of Harney & Sons teas, so when I got two tea bags of teas I hadn't tried before I was excited. I received White Vanilla Grapefruit (white tea) and Paris (black tea) a sweet smelling vanilla, caramel and fruity tea. They both smelled heavenly and tasted so good. If you like tea as much as I do I highly recommend trying Harney & Son, they create such wonderful and interesting teas.

Thanks for stopping by!

heart pancakes

This weekends pancakes took a heart shaped theme for Valentine's Day. I really wanted to buy this heart mold, but by the time I remembered to get it for Valentine's it was too late. So I went ahead and just made the shapes in the pan while I poured the mix. I have also seen others put the mix in small ziplock baggies and cut out the tip to make it easy to make shapes.

Once the pancakes were made, I cut out tiny banana shaped hearts and sprinkled some cinnamon.

I made these chocolate chip banana pancakes using Skinny Taste's recipe. They were so easy to make and I loved that it was mostly made of mashed up bananas.

Have a beautiful Valentine's weekend!

Love of love,

Kim

chocolate chip cookie pie

Chocolate chip cookies are Yanni's absolute favorite. I make them about once a month or every two months. I would make them more often, but I think he would go into some type of sugar shock, so I have to limit his little sugar in take. 

When I found this chocolate chip cookie pie recipe I just knew he would fall over. Don't worry he's okay. But I had him sit down first before I showed him. The graham cracker crust, with the warm chocolate chips and moist center is too good to be true.

Recipe

1 unbaked 9-inch graham cracker crust or make your own. I made my own using this recipe.
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups of chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a bowl add flour, eggs, and sugars. Beat well. Add butter, beat, then stir in chocolate chips.
3. Spoon mixture into pie crust.
4. Bake pie in oven on cookie sheet for approximately 45 minutes, or until knife inserted halfway from edge comes out clean.

So perfect with a cup of milk, hot cocoa, or if you are proper, some afternoon tea.

Thanks so much for stopping in my little world!

I would love to hear from you if you try this recipe. You won't regret it.

Yours Truly,

Kim