Weekend Recipe Wrap-Up

On most weekends my dishwasher really gets a workout.  Between church events, entertaining, and just wanting to reward ourselves after a long week of salad-eating [yeah, right], there's a lot of cooking going down in my kitchen from Friday to Sunday.  I had 3
out-of-the-park recipes that I just had to share with you.

Every Sunday I make breakfast for our college Bible study.  It's usually muffins, but you never know when someone else might show up with Hooters dip, a cheese ball, or meatballs.  At least one of those has actually been placed next to the coffee pot in our meeting room.  I'll let you figure out which one.  Whoooo can guess?   

Yesterday I made these Lemon Poppyseed Muffins from Joy.  They were quick, lemony, and oh-so-delicious with a nice cup of coffee.  On Sunday mornings I usually eat 3 muffins and drink 2 or 3 cups of caffeinated coffee spiced up with some kind of flavored creamer.  I used to think the baby really liked the music at church but now I think it's just the sugar.  Try these!



Last night we had a game night with the students and the theme was Street Food.  I don't know how these homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies fit with the theme, but they are AMAZING.  I can't tell you how delicous they are!  You have got to carve some time out [they aren't quick] and make these soon!  They taste so much like Little Debbies, but better because they actually contain real oats.  Ok, before you accuse me of hating on the snack cake princess, hers may have oats but they aren't as visible.  I'm sure hers have a gazillion ingredients and lots of preservatives, too.  You won't need any preservatives if you make these because they won't stick around for long!  You end up with a pillowy but not too sweet marshmallow filling between 2 spiced and chewy thin oatmeal cookies.  YUM!

Last but not least, on Saturday night I decided to make Nutella brownies.  I think I've mentioned before that I am really terrible at making homemade brownies.  These brownies from Baked are the best recipe I've eaten/prepared to date.  But, when you get a craving for brownies the last thing you want to do is wait.  So I found this recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod for Nutella brownies and decided to give it a whirl.

I followed it pretty much as they described, only I used vanilla in place of hazelnut extract and added in a teaspoon of espresso powder.  Also, I didn't measure the Nutella...I think I used half the jar rather than 1/4 cup.  Oops.  These are great because I had them mixed up and in the oven within 10 minutes and they baked in about 30 minutes.  Why the pie shape?  I feel that all brownies should have the equal opportunity for a chewy crust and a gooey middle.  It's just what I believe.  Enjoy!