Snickerdoodle Bars

Lately I have become a little bit lazy when it comes to cookie making. I love the dough, but not the time it takes to sit and wait for batches of cookies to bake. Especially when it comes to cookies like peanut butter, sugar cookies and snickerdoodles because of all the extra work it takes to prep the cookie dough before baking. I realize by lumping peanut butter cookies in there it tells you exactly how lazy I am, lol.



With that being said I've been creating a lot of bar cookies. Make the dough, press it all into a pan, bake and bam...done! I would like to say they all turn out fantastic, but that is so not the case. Lots of trial and error people!! Well, finally, one paid off. I have fallen in love with this Snickerdoodle Bar recipe and after making it 3 weeks in a row can now say its not a dud, lol. The best part is my family completely agrees, yay!!! I hope you like them as much as we all do.

Snickerdoodle Bars

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat until well blended.
4. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
5. In a small bowl, combine the white sugar and cinnamon.
6. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the batter in the baking pan.
7. Bake for 30 minutes.
8. Let cool slightly then cut into squares.

Long time no write :(

I can't believe how long it's been since I've taken the time to write a post. I'm laying here on the couch and thought what the heck...

I have been busy trying to redo the upstairs. We have lived here 3 1/2 years and I haven't touched it at all...crazy right!! Well I changed that in a hurry!! I started with the kitchen by removing the top chair rail and reprinting. Then removed some cabinets. We don't have the funds to purchase the cabinets I want right now, but I'm okay with that ;)

What's a few months...

In the grand scheme of things a few months is just a blink of an eye, but in the blogger world its years. I can't believe how long it's been since I have blogged, but I kinda got took over by life and a little social thing called Instagram. Don't shoot me, but I'm loving it more than Pinterest. I know, crazy right??

Well how do I sum up a bit of whats been going on...pictures. Enjoy!!!

A must visit and a little treasure

Last week when I was on my way home from SNAP I couldn't help but make a side trip. Heber City is one of my most favorite cities in the world. Just south of Park City Utah it is a second home to me. My parents are both from there so I spent the majority of my youth there vacationing. Now that all of my grandparents are deceased I don't make it up there as much as I would like. So as I was headed down I-15 looking east to Timpanogos I naturally took the exit. I called my Aunt and cousins and was all smiles as I entered the valley.

It was amazing to be able to spend a couple of hours feeling like I'd come home. It was a great re-charge of my system. Especially when I was able to spend a little time here:

They were a very important in my life and miss them daily!!

On a much happier note my cuz gave me the most fabulous little treasure...a recipe. Any of you who are lucky enough to visit Heber they have a most amazing burger joint called Dairy Keen. They posted a few of their recipes in the local newspaper and the name alone had me excited...Waffle French Toast!!

 Waffle French Toast

Makes 5 Slices

2 Eggs

1/4 cup Milk

1 tsp Sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon

5 slices of Bread

Preheat your waffle iron. Spray with cooking spray. Mix the egg, milk, sugar, cinnamon together in a bowl that will fit the bread. Dip the bread into the egg mixture, turn the bread over to cover all the bread. Place the soaked bread into a pre-heated waffle iron. Close the lid and press down slightly. Cook for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Open the lid and remove. Enjoy with maple syrup or powdered sugar.

They are amazing!! My kids couldn't get enough and neither could I :)

To new things and old favorites

Anyone who knows me or at least has been out to eat with me knows that I am one picky eater. I order the same foods, I make the same foods, tried and true through and through! But due to Bryce's International Day project I branched out to my Aunt for some help. Bryce chose Greece for his country and I just so happened to have an Uncle that was from Greece. Unfortunately he has passed, but my Aunt was the next best thing. She had oodles of information for us and some great recipes for us to try. The one we went with is called "Koulourakia" or Easter cookies. I was thoroughly amazed at how good they really were. I mean, granted, they're not chocolate chip. But I really liked them!! If you ever feel like a little something different, I would definitely recommend these little treasures.

Koulourakia (Easter Cookies) 5 dozen

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

6 eggs

1/2 cup milk

4 tsp baking powder

8 cups flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp allspice

2 tbsp anise

Topping

2 egg yolks (I omitted this)

sesame seeds (I omitted this)

powdered sugar

Cream butter add sugar - mix. Add eggs, milk, vanilla and anise. Combine flower, baking powder, cinnamon and allspice. Mix well. Kneed dough and add additional flour until no longer sticky. Roll into 1 inch balls. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. When cool roll in powdered sugar. If using the egg and seeds: baste cookies with yolk then roll in sesame seeds finish by sprinkling with powdered sugar.

Now with the something new comes tried and true. I have to include my all time favorite recipe - Seven Layer Bars.

Seven Layer Bars

1/4 cup Butter (melted)

1 cup Graham Cracker Crumbs

1 cup Coconut

1 15oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 6oz package Chocolate Chips

1 6oz package Butterscotch Chips

1 cup chopped pecans

Layer in order listed in a 9x13 pan. Press ingredients together. Bake at 350' for 30 minutes.

One word...YUMMY!!

What we've been up to

My goodness time flies when you're having fun! I have been trying desperately to get caught up on orders and to prepare for the Queen Bee Market at the Snap Conference. In the mean time my little ones have been busy as well.

Bryce played in a little Basketball league and he did amazing. He still is a little shy and that equates to a lot of running around. I can't wait until he realizes that he is one amazing young man and takes the bulls by the horn to go after that ball!! Each year he gets closer and closer to that goal :)

A few years ago I dabbled in making these onesies for friends who were expecting. I was asked by my BFF's mom to make one for her friend and I was excited to do it. Took me a few tries to remember how I did it, but I thought it turned out super cute :) I was happy to see that I still had some sewing skills!

I can't believe that one year has passed and Bryce now has his Wolf. Cub scouts has done amazing things for him and I am so thankful for such an amazing program!!

Jayna and Bryce had their first piano recitals and I can't even explain how proud of them I am!! They did an awesome job and I was completely devastated to find out that my camera didn't record Bryce :(

Good thing we'll have another one in a couple of months!!!

The girls had to get to dance right after so they were dressed a little differently than everyone else, but I thought that added to the character of their pieces ;)

And that's a little snippet of what we've been up to.