Peanut butter candy bar cookies

Last week I babysat Jennifer's two daughters, aged 11 months and 3.5 years for FOUR days whil eshe and Spence spent the 4th of July weekend on a boat. All I can say is WOW, that was exhausting! Saturday was especially bad, as I was up all night waiting for the 11 month old "high maintenance" baby to cry. All I wanted to do the next day is make it to 2 PM when the whole house could take a nap. So, I decided to bake some cookies to help pass the time and keep me awake. All I can say is that these were awesome! There were a lot of steps that the 3.5 year old could help and you have to stick the batter in the fridge for 1/2 an hour, which gave me time to cater to Ms. High Maintenance.  Highly recommended! (If you look close, you can see my baby bump. Ok, ok, it is kind of hard to miss!)

 Original recipe here: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/candy-bar-peanut-butter-cookie-50400000108776/

Ingredients 

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
36 bite-size chocolate-covered caramel-peanut nougat bars

Directions 

1. Beat first 4 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until blended.
2. Stir together flour and next 2 ingredients in a small bowl. Add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Cover and chill 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350°. Shape about 2 tbsp. dough around each nougat bar, using lightly floured hands, and roll into balls. Place 3 inches apart on ungreased or parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
4. Bake at 350° for 13 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks.
Note: I used Snickers Minis. A bag contains 36 pieces.

Harvey Wallbanger cake

Only one small piece left. Success!

I cannot believe it has been 1 month since my last post. Unfortunately being pregnant has left me with 0 energy to cook. In fact, I have reverted back to undergrad bad behavior, as I often turn to a bowl of healthy cereal for dinner and maybe a piece of fruit or two. However, my super-employee Anna was leaving for the great (soon to be) white north, so I wanted to bake her a goodbye cake. Of course I turned to my new favorite cake cookbook "Booze Cakes" and found this gem of a recipe, which was super-easy, quick, and cheap (with the exception of the Galliano.) Anna must know she's a super-employee, because I hate going to the liquor store pregnant! Of course I bring my cookbook so the clerk knows the fifth is for a recipe, although when I mentioned this to him he said that pregnant ladies are in there all the time. Does this strike you as a bit weird?
If you make this cake, try to do it the night before. It is even yummier after absorbing the liquid from the frosting, a texture like pineapple upside down cake!

Ingredients

For the Cake: 

1 box yellow cake mix

1 (3.3 ounce) box vanilla instant pudding

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/4 cup vanilla vodka (regular vodka works too)

1/4 cup Galliano liqueur

1/4 cup orange juice

For the Glaze 

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon orange juice

1 tablespoon vanilla vodka (regular vodka works too)

1 tablespoon Galliano liqueur

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 10 inch bundt pan.

2) Beat cake mix, instant pudding, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla vodka, Galliano and orange juice until smooth. (About 3-4 minutes) Pour into greased bundt cake pan and cook for 45-50 minutes or until the bundt cake turns golden brown.

3) Let rest in cake pan 10 minutes and invert onto wire rack. Drizzle with glaze after cake has cooled.