banana oat muffins.

Here is a healthier banana muffin recipe for your Thursday! It uses wholesome ingredients such as oats and bananas. I used stevia instead of sugar to cut back on the carbs. The bananas and vanilla greek yogurt combined with the stevia help bring out sweetness in the muffins.  When butterscotch and white chocolate chips are added, these babies come out to only 16 grams of carbs (13 grams without baking chips). 

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banana oat muffins from britney munday

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups of old-fashioned oats

2-3 bananas

2 eggs 

1 cup of vanilla greek yogurt

½ cup Stevia (or sugar)

1.5 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1/2 cup baking chips or nuts, optional*

Instructions

1. Mash bananas in large bowl.
2. Add eggs and yogurt to large bowl. Mix well.
3. Mix in stevia, baking powder, and baking soda to banana-yogurt mixture. 
4. Use blender or food processor to grind oats into flour consistency.
5. Transfer oat flour to your large bowl. Mix well.
6. Fold in baking chips and nuts. 
7. Line 18 muffin tins or spray muffin pan with oil. 
8. Spoon batter equally among muffin tins.
9. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

*I used a combination of butterscotch chips and white chocolate chips

chocolate swirled cream cheese chocolate chip cookies.

This is by far one of my new favorite cookie recipes.  You truly get the best of both worlds: a rich cream cheese chocolate chip cookie combined with a simple yet perfect chocolate cookie.  Since they are swirled, they look even prettier too!

These cookies take a bit of time to prepare since you have to make two different types of dough but it is still an easy, straightforward recipe. I had a blast making these and eating them too, of course! I hope you enjoy these gems as much as I did. 

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chocolate swirled cream cheese chocolate chip cookies 

from averie cooks

Ingredients:

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup original block cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar (I used Stevia)
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste
1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used part mini, part normal sized chips)

Chocolate Cookies:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup dark or light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste

Instructions:

1. First, make your cream cheese chocolate chip cookie dough. Put butter and cream cheese into mixer and beat until well combined. Add both sugars, egg, and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
2. Gradually add flour, cornstarch, and baking soda until just combined. Scrap down mixer as needed.
3. Gently fold or mix chocolate chips into batter.
4. If you only have one mixing bowl, transfer cream cheese chocolate chip cookie batter to another large bowl and place in refrigerator.
5. Begin making chocolate cookies in mixing bowl. I didn't wash mine out since the chocolate color will take over and you are using the same ingredients anyway.
6. Put butter and sugar into your mixing bowl and beat until soft, creamy, and well combined.
7. Add egg and vanilla extract and continue beating until well combined. Scrap down sides as needed.
8. Gradually add flour, cocoa, cornstarch, and baking soda. Mixing on low, just until combined.
9. Start with your cream cheese cookie dough. Using a small cookie scoop (or filling up a medium cookie scoop halfway), drop dough onto cookie sheet. I got 12 on a sheet.
10. You will do the same with your chocolate dough (using a cookie scoop, a spoon, or clean fingers) except you will place the chocolate dough on top of each ball of cream cheese dough. 
11. With clean hands, roll each mound of dough into a ball. Then, slightly flatten each dough ball.
    
    

     
    
    
12. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-9 minutes (or 12-13 minutes for bakery sized cookies), just until edges are set. My edges weren't even brown yet but they firmed up and were perfect.
13. Repeat until your dough is gone. You will have slightly more cream cheese dough so you may have some plain cream cheese chocolate chip cookies (definitely nothing wrong with that!). I got 5 dozen cookies. The original recipe suggested making 15 bakery-sized swirl cookies and 1 dozen plain cream cheese chocolate chip.

pb banana & oat dog treats.

I've been wanting to make dog treats for Rose for awhile now but I never seem to get around it. I won't lie- it's probably because I'm too busy making people food!  We ran out of store bought dog treats a few weeks ago so I decided it was time to try it out. 

I made these last night and Rose taste-tested one. She gobbled it up quite quickly so I'm assuming that means she enjoyed it ;) 

These were too easy to make and you may already have the ingredients on hand. If you don't have flax, you could probably just add more oats. In case you are worried about any of these ingredients, here is a list of people food that is safe for dogs. 

Below is the recipe & pictures of our sweet Rose just because she's cute! :)

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pb banana & oat dog treats 

adapted from miss molly says & lola the pitty

Ingredients:

1 cup oat flour 
2 small bananas, mashed
⅓ cup peanut butter 
2 Tbsp flax seed (can be ground or whole)
1 egg (or 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Put all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
3. Mix ingredients together thoroughly until well combined.
4. Use a medium cookie scoop (or a spoon) to form balls of dough. Flatten out balls of dough using the back of the cookie scoop or your hand.
5. Place on a nonstick baking sheet (or use parchment) and bake for 20 minutes. Bake until edges are slightly brown.

apple fritter cake.

On the way-too-incredibly-rare occasion I get a doughnut, I always get apple fritters. I don't know what it is about them but I can't get enough (it probably helps they always seem to be bigger than a regular doughnut ;) ! 

I have found numerous DIY apple fritter recipes but most of them require frying and that just seems like a lot of work (maybe someday).  I was pumped to find this apple fritter cake and believe me, it was delicious! 

Perfect recipe for this beautiful fall, apple-picking weather we are having now. 

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apple fritter cake from the domestic doozie

Ingredients:

For the batter:

3 cups flour

1/4 tsp. salt (I omitted)

1 cup white granulated sugar (I used 1/2 c stevia & 1/2 c white sugar)

4 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 cups milk (any kind)

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup butter, melted

6 small apples cored, peeled and diced (I used 2 very large apples & 1 small apple)

For the topping:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp. flour

1 tbsp. cinnamon

For the glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

5 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Start by mixing all the ingredients for the batter (except the butter) together in a bowl. Once combined, carefully pour in the melted butter. Mix on SLOW speed so butter doesn't splash everywhere.
2.  Pour the batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Evenly distribute the apples over the top of the batter. 
3. In a separate bowl mix together the topping ingredients. Drop small scoops of it evenly over the apples. Topping will be thick.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Depending on how many apples you put in and how juicy they were you may need to increase your time. If the top is getting too brown you can always cover with foil.
5. Combine powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla for glaze.
6. After you take it out of oven, let sit for 20 minutes and then pour the glaze all over the cake.

funfetti cream cheese cookies.

Yes, you read correctly: funfetti cream cheese cookies. Cream cheese in cookies is easily one of the best baking ideas ever.  It gives cookies an extra boost of rich flavor while also making them super soft & gooey.

I didn't add quite as many sprinkles/nonpareils as suggested but it's pretty obvious when you have enough (or not enough). I also didn't chill the dough and my cookies were fine. If you are worried though, scoop out individual cookie dough and put on a plate for 10 minutes in the freezer.

These are perfect for any season or occassion- enjoy!

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funfetti cream cheese cookies from the messy baker

ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 stick  unsalted butter

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

½ cup white granulated sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg, at room-temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

~⅓ cup sprinkles 

~¼ cup nonpareils

directions:

1. Cream together the butter, cream cheese, both sugars until pale and fluffy; about 3 minutes. Scrap down the sides of the bowl.
2. Add the egg and beat until incorporated. Whisk in vanilla and almond extract.
3. Gradually add in the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Beat until the batter comes together and the dough is smooth, about 1 minute.
4. Beat in all the sprinkles/nonpareils. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and give the dough one last stir to make sure the sprinkles/nonpareils are evenly distributed.
5. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours or overnight. *I skipped this step and my cookies were fine*
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
7. Using a medium cookie scoop, drop dough 3 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 12-13 minutes, no longer. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.