Whole-grain Applesauce Muffins

Last night my roommates and I were in a minor car accident.  We are incredibly grateful that the accident wasn’t worse.  Other than a little soreness, we are all okay.  Needless to say, though, I was in the mood for something comforting this morning.  I decided to bake muffins (which, as you may not know yet, is one of my favorite things to make.  I’m slightly obsessed).

Vegetarian Enchiladas

Because I became quite ill after eating in a mexican restaurant about four years ago, I haven’t eaten in one since then. Even the thought of homemade mexican food bothers me sometimes. Fears aside, it’s time to try a recipe that I’ve been holding onto for a while.

I’m not vegetarian, but I’m not much of a meat-eater, either. My friend, who came over for dinner and a movie, is vegetarian, though. It seemed like a good time to test this recipe. Enchiladas for a girl who’s afraid of mexican food and for a girl who doesn’t eat meat!

Black Bean Stew

I don’t know too many recipes by memory, mostly because I rarely cook or bake the same thing that often. I like to try new recipes and change previously-attempted (and sometimes never-attempted) ones. This black bean stew is one of the exceptions. I’ve made it several times, but the recipe is so simple (and did I mention delicious!) that it’s almost impossible not to remember.

Dark Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

Friday Pandy and I made two (!) pumpkin pies with my leftover pumpkin puree (and she still ended up taking some of it home… apparently I had a lot more pumpkin than I originally thought). This morning I whipped my remaining whipping cream with a bit of almond extract, then folded it into a prepared chocolate pudding mix. So needless to say, I do not need any other sweet treats around my kitchen.

Well, tell that to Bake or Break’s recipe for Dark Chocolate Chunk and Dried Cherry Oatmeal Cookies.

Pumpkin Walnut Scones

I’ve had this can of pumpkin sitting in my pantry for months now. I had secret ambitions of making another pumpkin cheesecake, but I had also promised Rebecca a pumpkin pie at some point around Thanksgiving. Neither intention materialized. So when I was wondering what to bake this afternoon after coming home from the grocery store, I decided it was time to use some of that pumpkin. I settled on scones– something I’ve never made before. After a little research, I cobbled together a recipe and crossed my fingers.

Chocolate Shortbread

Oh my, another Martha recipe.  I promise we’re not total addicts.  It’s just that Mary gave me Martha Stewart’s Cookies book for Christmas, so I had to try a recipe from it.  I had a lot of extra butter in the fridge from holiday baking, so I decided on a shortbread recipe.  Martha calls them “Chocolate Charms,” but I skipped dusting mine with cocoa powder, which gives me reason enough to rename them (drum roll, please) chocolate shortbread.

Whole-Wheat Raisin Biscotti

I’ve wanted to try a biscotti recipe for a while, but for some reason it always seemed daunting.  Maybe the twice-baked thing, and cutting the log into those adorable little pieces.  Yeah… terrifying.  

Nonetheless, I decided to face my fears the day after Christmas!  I found a recipe on Martha’s (we’re on a first name basis) website that doesn’t use butter (some biscotti recipes do, some don’t) and seems healthy (I’m on a whole-wheat baking kick).  Whole-Wheat Walnut-Raisin Biscotti!  It has great reviews.  Then I went and changed the recipe…

Martha’s Chewy Chocolate Ginger Cookies

This morning was a baking sort of morning. Some days are like that. (Okay, most days are like that.) The only problem this morning was I didn’t have any eggs. And how many things can you bake without eggs? Only one recipe I know off the top of my head: Marthat Stewart’s Chewy Chocolate Ginger Cookies. Amanda (who I affectionately call Pandy) and I have made these cookies together twice before, but I was certain that the batch I decided to bake this morning would fail miserably. We’re not too neurotic about following recipes precisely– actually, we rather like to experiment– so surely I couldn’t completely botch these cookies.