Mint Chip Brookies

It really didn't take me long to at least decide on the flavor of Kevin's Christmas present. Kevin, our cousin Stefan, and I were talking at Thanksgiving and the topic eventually landed on my baking. One thing that Kevin gushed about was the Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars I made YEARS ago (I'm still kinda surprised he didn't talk about the bars with mint Oreos that I made a couple years ago for Father's Day, considering within a week he asked me to make him [and Helen?] a second batch that he paid me to do). So I decided to search for a mint recipe. Eventually I decided on Mint Brookies from Crazy for Crust - like when I made Kati's peanut butter brookies a couple years ago, this recipe allowed me to use a box mix for the brownie layer so I would be able to make it semi-quick during the week.

I thought they baked great until I went to cut them: the brownie layer was a bit gooey, especially in the middle. But apparently they were a hit with Kevin because he brought a bunch to Auntie Vicki and Uncle Rob's house on Christmas Day. Stefan even commented that the gooiness of the brownies made them better.

Peanut Butter Brookies

I love and hate the holiday season. Love because Christmas music and movies are awesome and there's all kinds of treats. Hate because I bake treats for almost a dozen people (not to mention make candy for 5 cousins) so it can get a bit overwhelming. I technically only have one main day - Saturday - to take my time to bake since Sundays I have to leave mid-afternoon for dance class and the rest of the week I work. So I sometimes pick a few recipes that are quick to make.

Like for Kati's present. I also kinda wanted to make something that's been a trend for a few years - brookies (a brownie-cookie hybrid). There are a few different ways to make them. The one I chose is layered - one layer of cookie dough and one layer of brownie batter. The recipe I found on Jen's Favorite Cookies allows a box mix for the brownie layer (and honestly, why not? Box mix brownies are THE BEST of all mix choices). And they bake at the same time. Bonus - the cookie layer has peanut butter in it.

Fireworks Cookies & Cream Cookies

A few years ago I had a temp job gave employees a 4-day weekend because the 4th of July was on a Thursday that year. They probably did the same this year since the holiday was on a Tuesday. My current job isn't that generous (government/federal jobs must be like this in general since I had to work the day after Thanksgiving when I had a temp job at a bank one year). So to make up for it I decided to make some patriotic cookies to take into work on Monday. After looking at my patriotic treats Pinterest board (because really, where else do I have to look? 😏) I decided on Fireworks Cookies & Cream Cookies from Inside Bru Crew Life.

Strawberry Coconut Cake Mix Cookies

For Mother's Day this year I knew I had to do something simple. Auntie Vicki was having a brunch and my mom wanted me to make the orange pound cake I'd made her a couple birthdays ago (the night Anthony and Kati announced their engagement). Because I would be limited on time I decided to look at what kind of cookies or bars I could make with a box mix (I have no idea who it was that first came up with the idea to doctor box mixes but I will never not thank that person. The recipes are great when I'm short on time). For the flavor I decided to make something with coconut (I can't seem to not make something for my mom with coconut. Not that she's complaining) and that was strawberry flavored. The latter I did for two reasons: 1) I love strawberries and I know she's not picky about what flavors her treats are and 2) my dad (for whatever reason) hates strawberries so even if what I picked didn't have coconut, he'd stay away from them. I eventually settled on Strawberry Coconut Cake Mix cookies from The Frugal Girls.

(P.S. I know it's been two weeks since Mother's Day. My first excuse was that iCloud wasn't working so I couldn't get the pics on my iPad to make the collages. My second excuse is that I've been hesitant to do certain things lately. Like cut cable and switch to paid streaming services like Netflix.)

Old-Fashioned Cola Cake

I'm addicted to a lot of foods and drinks that are bad for me. Soda is one of them. So when I offered to bake dessert for the BBQ my parents were having for Mother's Day, I was intrigued by the Old-Fashioned Cola Cake I found in The Cake Mix Doctor during my search (because of the lemon bars for my mom I figured I should find a quick recipe). To keep things simple I stuck with just the cake and decorated with a can (or two) of frosting.

Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

Over the last few years I've lost interest in using box mixes to make cakes and brownies. Sure they're good in a pinch but why not make something from scratch? That's why I try to save recipes and buy cookbooks that embellish the box mixes. And when I decided earlier this week that I wanted to make peanut butter brownies to "break in" my new KitchenAid stand mixer and bake for the first time in my new apartment, I ended up finding a recipe similar to what I wanted in Betty Crocker's Fix with a Mix Desserts cookbook. It's not exactly what I wanted but I couldn't find that. And as I've said before, I'm no good at creating recipes on my own.

My new toy. Isn't it purrty?