i'd rather be baking

So, I really like Annie’s Eats. A lot. Annie makes beautiful food and her recipes are refreshingly real. As in, they aren’t going to take me the entire day to make. I like that in a recipe.

Do you know what else I like? Cheesecake recipes that don’t require a multitude of cream cheese or a water bath. And Oreos. So when I read this post I got really excited.

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Hi friends! We just returned from a lovely long weekend at home, where we watched my “little” sister graduate from high school. Time flies when you’re having fun, or something like that.

But before we left, I baked some ridiculous cookies. I found this dark chocolate bark with cherries and hazelnuts at Whole Foods, and I really couldn’t leave it there. It was calling me. So I chopped it up and made cookies.

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Every week, I buy approximately five, often disgustingly green bananas. And nearly every week, come Friday they are gone. This is because I place one lovingly in Ryan’s hand on his way out the door each morning, as though he were six. Hey, at least I don’t put a note in his lunch or pat him on the head. Although I probably would if I could reach it.

Despite my determination to squeeze some fruit into my husband’s breakfast and pass along some of that potassium and calcium stuff, I woke up last Monday morning to find no less than seven rapidly browning bananas. You know the kind I mean. They’re so mushy that they remind me of baby food and make me gag a little on the inside. I’m going to be such a great mom.

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I may or may not have mentioned that I work at a small cupcake shop. It’s fun but, unfortunately, I don’t get to spend as much time decorating as I’d like. There are too many other things to do!

The problem here is that if practice makes perfect, then not enough practice makes, well, less than perfect. So earlier this week I brought home some frosting to practice.

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Early this week I had a brilliant idea for lightening my favorite brownie recipe. I was fairly convinced that a healthier brownie couldn’t be this easy and still taste good, but somehow, it was. I then proceeded to badly strain a muscle in my back and felt extremely grateful to have this snack/dessert/breakfast on hand without having to bake again for a few days. Because I certainly can’t last without goodies in the house. Heaven forbid.

I baked them in cupcake papers, intending for Ryan to take them to work as usual, but these are too good, and so much healthier than the original recipe that I just had to keep them. I froze a few and have happily nibbled on the rest all week.

And the great thing about these cupcake-sized brownies is that they’re already portioned out. And guess what? I cut the butter involved by nearly two-thirds and they’re still rich, delicious, and pretty indulgent-tasting. Can a girl ask for much more than that? I think not.

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