Easy Peasy Flourless PB Cookies

These super easy, gluten-free peanut butter cookies made it into my first vacay day. The recipe has been sitting in my recipe binder for a LONG time, and it was a simple but yummy, no-fuss recipe. If you're looking to do some baking after work, this recipe would be a good pick, as it uses minimal ingredients, minimal equipment, and bakes quickly. And since they're flour-free, that co-worker who's super trendy and refuses to eat gluten has no excuse. (And the people who actually can't eat gluten will be grateful). Ta-da!

Real Simple's Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes 36 cookies| Hands-On Time: 10m| Total Time: 30m

Ingredients

• 2  cups  creamy peanut butter
• 1  cup  packed light brown sugar
• 1  cup  granulated sugar
• 2  large eggs
• 2  teaspoons  baking soda
• 1/2  teaspoon  kosher salt

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, sugars, eggs, baking soda, and salt until smooth.
2.  Shape the dough into balls (about 1 heaping tablespoon each) and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Using the tines of a fork, flatten each ball, creating a crisscross pattern.
3. Bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until puffed and golden, 10 to 12 minutes (the cookies will deflate as they cool). Let cool slightly on the baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

You can also get creative with some add-ins, if you'd like. After baking half of the cookies, I added pretzels and toffee to my dough. You could also mix in rolled oats, dried cranberries, or chocolate chips.

Ellie wasn't even hiding the fact that she was waiting for me to drop some cookie crumbs her way.

Vacay Week!

Last week was SUCH A LAZY WEEK. Every night I came home from work and crashed...missed two nights of work outs, and ate frozen TJ's pizzas a few too many times. Now I'm even more thankful that I was planning to take this week off work, have a little personal stay-cation week in ol' Chitown.

I've got a look of cooking and baking to catch up on.
Last night I finally made these grilled fennel crusted pork chops. I wasn't the biggest fan of the carrot salad on the side, but pork/fennel is a beautiful combination. If you haven't tried it, please do! Just smash the fennel seeds a bit, crack 'em up, to release a little more flavor, and season your pork with salt, pepper, and the fennel. That's all it needs.

Today I'm catching up with this creamy chicken and spinach pasta I was supposed to make last week...woops.

In my free time, I'm hoping to work through a few dessert recipes. I have a giant  accordion file folder that I sort my recipes in after ripping them out of magazines, printing off line, and scribbling on napkins. Boyfriend doesn't believe it's actually organized, but I swear it is, by breakfast, lunch, dinner, sides, desserts, and etc. It weighs about 8 lbs. so I need to have a big baking spree and tackle a few desserts this week.

There are so many good dessert recipes out there, but who ever finds the time to make dessert? Definitely not during the week, that's for sure. We need more cookies in our life. ASAP.

I'm just home from teaching my 6AM spinning class, starting the week off right! Only other goals today would include taking 3 big bags of clothes to the donation center and starting this throw, or at least getting the supplies for it. And I have to finally finish 1Q84, the book I've been reading. I'm so close!

50% off J. Crew Sale! Boom!

 So by now J.Crew has been blowing up your inbox with their extra 40% off sale items promo. But what they're NOT telling you is that if you GO INTO a J. Crew, they're giving 50% off sale items, in store only! Boom. So get off the couch, hop on the el, the bus, in the car, and get there.

I went to J.Crew on my first day off. The sale was a bit picked over, but with an extra 50% off, I knew I could find something.

I picked up this two-toned pink color block Oxford for $20. Boom! I can only wear a few button ups alone, without a sweater over, because I'm, well, "blessed" up top. But I'm happy to say, this one looks great alone or under a sweater.

This soft blue bling button cardigan was only $20, too! Another score, you can never have too many cardigans. And this one is so light, it could easily be worn in the springtime over a dress. I only found these in XS, but luckily the XS fit well! And let me repeat, only $20! A J. Crew cardigan for only $20, you can't beat it. 

I also picked up this necklace, in my recent efforts to build up my jewelry arsenal and wear legit jewelry. Because I had none. Until now. This necklace was only $39.50, in store. Not bad for J. Crew jewelry!

I don't think any of these pieces are available online anymore. But remember, extra 50% if you hop into the store!!

And can we take a moment and discuss the downward spiral that is J. Crew Factory Online? I've only ever shopped J. Crew factory via their website. A few months ago, they had that giant website overhaul, and basically since then, I feel like there has been no selection on that site. Not that it's been a bad selection, but they have about 30 items listed on that site to buy, total! Why is that? And it also feels a little more expensive than before their website re-design. Any thoughts? Do you agree, or am I just being a spoiled brat?

Salty Chocolate Chunk Cookies - Sounds Weird, It's Not!

Last month's Bon Appetit had an entire section on salted desserts - YES!
I'm such a sucker for salted caramel, salted chocolate. That little pinch of salt adds and brings out so much flavor, it's ridic. I'm going to work my way through all of those recipes, but I started out with these Salty Chocoalte Chunk Cookies.

A few notes: I used chocolate chips instead of chocolate chunks - time saver in chopping that chocolate. I also used Hawaiin Black Lava Sea Salt instead of a Maldon or flaky salt, because we had it lying around, for some reason. You can use any brand of sea salt, as long as the flakes are big.

Also, bring your butter and eggs both to room temperature before you start. This keeps your cookies fluffy so they don't collapse while cooling.  My boyfriend LOVED these, and his friends took a few home.

This recipe makes about 25.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 72% cacao), coarsely chopped
• Maldon or other flaky sea salt

Preparation

• Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 375°. Whisk flour, baking powder, kosher salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside.
• Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar, sugar, and powdered sugar until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add egg yolks, egg, and vanilla. Beat, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl, until mixture is pale and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low; slowly add dry ingredients, mixing just to blend. Using a spatula, fold in chocolate.
  
  

  

  
  
• Spoon rounded tablespoonfuls of cookie dough onto 2 parchment paper-lined baking sheets, spacing 1-inch apart. Sprinkle cookies with sea salt.
  
  

  

  
  
• Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until just golden brown around the edges, 10-12 minutes (the cookies will firm up as they cool). Let cool slightly on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks; let cool completely. DO AHEAD: Cookies can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
   

  
  

  Isn't baking the perfect Saturday afternoon activity? I kind of love it. 
  I'm going to tackle these after I teach Body Pump this afternoon.

Mmmmmminty

Mint green dress / Markus Lupfer sequin sweater, $505 / H&M , $24 / True Religion true-religion jeans / Kate Spade crossbody bag / Essie mint green nail polish, $16 / TOPSHOP Mint Baby Cord Skater Skirt


I'm seeing it everywhere. Are you?

Vacation Day #1 I did a SMALL amount of shopping (I'm trying to space it out so I don't spend too much money all in one day) and saw mint EVERYTHING! What do you think? A little pale for winter, or a nice, almost pastel softness perfect for the snow?

I think this is going to be my excuse to pick up a few new pieces for my already bloated closet :)

I'm heading to Anthro tomorrow, and going to keep an eye out for these:

Guess what!?!?!? Big girl-life moment had last weekend...

I got my first facial! I don't know why I've never had one before, I just never thought about it.

But lately I've been trying to overhaul and hone down my skincare routine, figure out what products I need, what works, what will give me a great complexion.

I've always been a big Neutrogena person, but suddenly all of my adolescent Neutrogena buys seemed to dry out my skin. I tried a few other drugstore products, and while on my Lush kick I tried Herbalism, but that's not strong enough for me, I started breaking out like crazy. Thank god I got this facial ASAP, because 1. I needed it, and 2. I learned a lot.

I went to DermaSpa and Chrissy's Vitamin-C facial was great! My skin felt so clean and smooth afterwards, and she was very forthcoming with recommendations, talked me through my daily routine and what I could improve on...

1. Exfoliate 2-3 times per week. I used to exfoliate every day, because I struggle with blackheads, and exfoliation gets rid of blackheads, right? Big NO! Apparently my overexfoliation screwed up my natural oil-making process, and my skin has been over-producing because it thinks it's being starved.

2. Salicylic Acid is my friend. I always hear, and kind of believe that organic products are best for your skin, but it sounds like I need a salicylic acid to break through the oils and dirt on my skin. That's one thing I feel like I wasn't achieving with Lush's Herbalism. It didn't get everything off. So I picked up a face wash that Chrissy recommended. And salicylic acid isn't BAD for me, right? At the end of the day, I want to look good, so bring on the acid!

3. Sunscreen! I've never really thought about wearing sunscreen on a daily basis. But Chrissy stressed this more than anything else. Sun will age your skin more than anything else. I'm going to pick up an SPF 30 today to mix with my current facial moisturizer and I suggest you do the same!

4.  It's never too early to start using anti-aging products. With young, healthy skin, I may not NEED any anti-aging products, they wouldn't hurt to start using, for maintenance, at least.

All of these tips sound so obvious, but when look at all of those skincare products out there, so many choices, it's just a bit overwhelming.

I've heard good things about Mario Badescu products, so I'm going to pick up a few of those products.

Any recommendations on your end? And do you usually stick to one brand with your skincare, or will you use cleanser, moisturizer, toners, and serums from several different brands?

The Little Things

Boyfriend had the day off from work, and not only did he put up our curtains, but he made dinner! What a good boy :)

Slightly wrinkled, but I think they'll do :)

He did a very good job with this roasted chicken and beets w/ couscous and yogurt sauce from Real Simple. This chicken had a perfect amount of spice to the skin. I'm not a big fan of beets, but he did a good job roasting them and I'm very impressed.

All of his help leaves me with some time to put the laundry away, and more importantly, sit down and relax. Which rarely happens at night during the week. A glass of wine, some stretching, and The Bachelor. What could be better?

Happy Monday!

Here are my workouts for the week - I usually plan my workouts in a calendar, but writing them down in a blog somehow makes me more likely to get to the gym on all planned nights :

Tuesday - Teach Body Pump Express / CXWorx
Wednesday - 7pm Yoga
Thursday - Sub CXWorx
Friday - Teach Spin
Saturday - Teach Body Pump
Sunday - 10:15 AM Yoga

- Yeesh, lots of teaching this week! Means extra moola. Also means I need some more yoga and stretching time, and maybe an epsom salt bath.

I'm excited for this recipe coming up this week, mostly because I bought the pork chops at my favorite butcher's, Gepperths, and I know they're going to be delicious.

Have a great rest of the week!