What I've Made Lately (Edible Version)

Wow, I haven't updated my kitchen adventuring since September. That's an easy blog post. :)

First, I made more cookies. The second try at chocolate chip (from my Betty Crocker book) were also bad. The third (a recommended recipe from smitten kitchen) was much better, but still not quite good enough.


Next, I took advantage of the bad bananas in our kitchen to finally try banana bread! I am happy and relieved to say that it turned out really tasty. Especially with my flash of genius to sprinkle chocolate chips on the top. :) I used Martha Stewart's recipe as written on Slow Like Honey, except I didn't use nuts. (I don't like nuts in baked goods.)


With all that buttermilk left in the fridge (from the banana bread), I needed to find another recipe to use more. Duh--buttermilk biscuits! I found a few recipes and went with this Southern recipe from food.com that got lots of positive reviews. I made them for Husband, because he's nice, and so I decided to make them heart-shaped. I had started cutting a very rough shape with a knife when I remembered that I do own a heart-shaped cookie cutter! It's the only one I have, and it was a wedding favor from at least ten years ago (shit!). I always kept it in my implement drawer just in case and finally got to use it! Hurrah!

The biscuits came out very tasty and adorable too.


Since the cookie cutter is so small, we ended up with a lot of biscuits. So I brought a bunch in to the office, my first week or so, to much excitement. :)

A week later, I finally got around to using two things I'd been looking forward to: a cookbook from Peanut Butter & Co, and a jar of their Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter. I was going to do regular peanut butter cookies, but the facing page was for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies...and that sounded good! So I made these, chocolate peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and they were pretty delicious!


The last few weeks have been pretty busy and I haven't baked anything. This past week I was getting anxious to make something, so on Friday I made more biscuits. That afternoon I had gone to Target and picked up some more cookie cutters too, so I was excited to make some new shapes. :)

As they were in the oven, I decided to try for another goodie that I hadn't made before. I was flipping through the Betty Crocker cookbook for a cookie inspiration, when brownies caught my eye. Mmm, I do love a good brownie.


Unfortunately, these are not very good brownies. (They aren't quite sweet enough, and that damn funny taste that cursed my chocolate chip cookies showed up again.) Now, has that stopped me from eating bites here and there for the last two days? Including first thing this morning? No, it has not. :) Because, hello, chocolate, sitting right there on the counter--how can one resist?! This one cannot. And that's okay.
Nancy suggested two good recipes and I look forward to making more brownies that actually taste good.

Yesterday we also made some more banana bread. I am relieved that it is quite yummy. (I was worried that the earlier experience might have been a fluke.)

I bought some new baking soda in hopes of making a new, good batch of chocolate chip cookies. At Costco yesterday, I bought four pounds of butter (in bulk it's almost half the price! baked goods require a lot of butter!), though I resisted the four pound bag of chocolate chips for five dollars (which was probably dumb to pass up). I'll make sure to let you know how it goes!

If you have any dessert suggestions for me to try (I like trying new things so I can take pictures), I would love to hear them!