Two Amazing Recipes

I mentioned before that I have been baking a lot these last few weeks. Lots of events and gatherings mean I have a chance to bake yummy treats! Most of the baking I've done is not low in fat or calories. But if you are going to indulge, these goodies are worth it!

Whenever I get the urge to bake, I look into my recipe binder for inspiration. My recipe binder is nothing more than a plastic 3-ring binder filled with magazine pages, printed out recipes, and scraps of paper with recipes scribbled out. Basically, I find a recipe that looks good and put it into the binder. Lately, I've had the urge to bake every morning so I've been needing to find new recipes to add to my recipe binder. Baking Bites and Cookie Madness are two of my favorite sites to look for yummy treats. A few weeks ago I came across Strawberry Pecan Shortbread Crumble Bars from Baking Bites. I have been dying to try these babies out and I finally got my chance!

I made these bars on Monday morning and by yesterday afternoon they were completely gone. We had family in town- but not that many! We are just a sweet-toothed family ;) These bars are so so so good, they melt in your mouth. They are buttery, yet light. I was a little bit nervous at first because I've never made shortbread. I've never been a fan of the whole cutting the butter into the flour- it takes too long and I don't have the patience. However, the recipe is so simple and comes together pretty quickly. The most time consuming part is finely chopping the pecans. Other than that, the bars take no time at all.

I am already planning on making more for my mom's friends this week. I might experiment with a different flavor of preserves, so I'll let you guys know how they turn out.

Another yummy treat I made this weekend was inspired by July's issue of Cooking Light. My aunt was flipping through the magazine and begged me to make Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Marshmallow Cream Filling. I was slightly disappointed that she picked these out. They looked great, but I wanted to make something else. Well, I am so glad I listened to her request because these sandwich cookies turned out better than expected. I changed the recipe a little. Also, I didn't feel like making the marshmallow filling, I'm not a huge fan of marshmallows, so I made a cream cheese center. The adapted recipe for my sandwich cookies can be found here.

I tried a bite of one sandwich cookie and ended up eating the whole thing. It was too hard to put it down. The good news is that I packed up the cookies and sent them off with my aunt and cousins. I am glad I don't have those temptations around anymore!

Some of the other treats I made this weekend:

Food Network's Smore Brownies

Chewy Blondie Bites

Stay tuned for more recipe reviews!

Side note: The aunt that was visiting us with her family is a huge foodie. I actually think I inherited my love of baking from her. We have a lot in common because we are both the first-born. We both love cooking, baking, and anything food-related. She is a fantastic cook. When she lived in Mexico City, she had a catering business and specialized in cakes. In fact, she made cakes for most of her siblings weddings. I remember going to visit her when I was little and she would give us leftover icing to decorate parchment paper while she decorated the cakes. I'm close with all of my aunts, but I definitely have a special bond with Carmina.