Healthy...er Peanut Butter Cookies

These are tasty, crumbly and soft right from the oven! I put a little dollop of the *healthier* nutella on there as an extra indulgence. They are tasty either way!

1 cup natural peanut butter (organic is best because it's unsalted and has no extra oils)
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. organic vanilla extract
2 egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray baking sheet with PAM or line with parchment paper.
2. Beat the peanut butter in electric mixer on high until light and creamy; add everything but the egg whites and beat for 30 seconds. Add egg whites and beat until just incorporated.
3. Using hands, form 14-15 balls out of the dough. Place on prepared sheet pan, about 1-inch apart. Press each cookie with a fork in criss-cross. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until light brown.
4. Cool on wire rack. Enjoy!!!

Pumpkin Scones

It's been awhile since I've posted a recipe. Pretty much not cooking too many new things because I just don't feel good about 75% of the time. But, I love morning foods. I love pumpkin. Pumpkin never goes out of season in my house. I use healthier, organic items when I bake for myself now. Although it's expensive, it is so worth it! So I'll write it as I made it. I ate 2 1/2 of these tasty guys after I made them. YUM! So here they are for your enjoyment:

For the scones:
2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
1/4 cup and 3 tbsp. organic cane sugar
1 tbsp. aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
6 tbsp. organic unsalted cold butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 tbsp. organic whole milk
2 egg whites (or 1 whole egg, I don't eat the yolks anymore due to my health)

For Spiced Glaze:
1 cup and 3 tbsp. organic powdered sugar (haha...still not the healthiest, but everyone deserves a little sweetness in life)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg (if I could go back and add more, I would...I LOVE nutmeg!)
1 pinch ground ginger
1 pinch ground cloves
2 tbsp. organic whole milk (you may want more depending on consistency desired)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Note: I didn't have parchment paper on hand. I just sprayed the pan with nonstick spray. Same effect.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Mix on med-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, milk and egg whites. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and form the dough into a ball. You may need to use your hands here. Pat down dough onto a floured surface. If dough seems sticky, top with a little flour before using the rolling pin. Roll the dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle about 4 inches by 12 inches. Use a pizza/pastry cutter to slice the dough into 3 equal parts. Cut each portion into an X pattern (four pieces) so you end up with 12 triangular pieces of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until light brown. Immediately place on wire rack to cool.
4. While the scone are cooling, combine all the ingredients for the glaze in stand mixer. Use paddle attachment to combine until desired consistency. Frost each scone with glaze and allow to dry.
5. Enjoy!!!

Note: You can freeze unbaked scones and make them fresh another day. After cutting the scones into separate portions, freeze on a baking sheet until firm and then wrap them tightly with plastic wrap. Put the wrapped pieces into a ziploc freezer bag. When ready to bake again, pop them straight into the oven, no thawing required. You may need to add a few more minutes of bake time though. Monitor it.

1 Banana Crumb Muffins

So do you ever get down to one banana? It sits on your counter and gets all nice and er...brown. It's all by it's lonesome and it's rare that one banana will go very far in any recipe. And you're not going to eat it looking all nasty like that. Black bananas (no matter how many) do not have to go to waste. I had 1 banana, so I did the math on my normal recipe and made this, yummy lovely thing!

Banana Crumb Muffins

Yield: possibly 5 muffins =)

3/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. + 1/8 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 banana, mashed

1/4 cup white sugar

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1/2 of an egg, beaten

(Idea: use the other half to make a small portion of scrambled eggs to go with your muffins)

2 tbsp. + 2 tsp. vegetable oil

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Milk, if needed...I used about 1 tbsp. because mine was too thick

2 tbsp. + 2 tsp. brown sugar

1 tbsp. flour

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tbsp. butter, cold

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease 4-5 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers. (I personally like the outside layer to have a slight crunch with the inside being nice and fluffy. So I go with greasing instead of lining.)

2. In a bowl, mix together 3/4 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup white sugar, 2 tbsp. brown sugar, the egg and the veggie oil. Add the mashed banana and vanilla. Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture, until just moistened. Add milk if needed. Spoon batter into prepared muffins tins. (I like to use my old icecream scoop to do this. These are cheap. I would suggest investing. It is so much easier than an actual spoon and it is the perfect measurement for muffin tins, which means cupcakes too!)

My Faithful Little Guy

3. In a small bowl, mix together 2 tbsp. + 2 tsp. brown sugar, 1 tbsp. flour, and the cinnamon. Cut in the 1/2 tbsp. of cold butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (Note: you NEED to cut COLD butter in. If you melt the butter and mix it in, it ruins it. If you use room temp butter, it ruins it. Cutting in butter means taking cold butter and a pastry cutter, or a couple knifes/forks, and literally just cutting the butter into tiny pieces while mixing it with the other ingredients. Not everyone knows that so I felt it important to tell the blog world.) Sprinkle over muffins.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes. The muffin will "spring up" when you touch the center if it is done. (Don't ruin your muffins by sticking a toothpick in it. Test it with your fingers. Try it! It will literally be "springy" if it's done.)

Enjoy!



Rachel Ray's Neapolitan Baked Ziti *Edited*

Okay, I only have one "official" follower, but I know...I just know...that other people are reading this blog too. So, here's one of my favorite meals to make. Pretty simple. I've edited it to suit my pantry and needs...

1 pound ziti (with lines)

2 tbsp. EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4 cloves garlic, grated or minced

1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes

(Here I just buy the Walmart brand. It's cheap, but then I do have to actually go through and rinse the seeds out. Eh...it's cheaper.)

Dried Basil, you're gonna eyeball it

Salt and Pepper to taste

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

1 dried bay leaf

Dried nutmeg, a dash or to taste

A healthy helping of shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

(Please, for the love of all that is good, do NOT use the fake stuff in the green container. Get REAL Parmesan cheese!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

1. Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil to cook the ziti. Once boiling, add some salt and the pasta, and cook just shy of al dente. The ziti will finish cooking in the oven. Drain thoroughly.

2. While the water is coming up to a boil, start the red sauce: Place a medium-size sauce pot over med-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tbsp. Add the garlic, and cook for about 30 seconds.

3. Add the tomatoes and smash them (unless you're like me and went through and de-seeded all of them, they won't need mashing anymore) into small pieces with a potato masher or with the back of a spoon. Add the basil and season with some salt and pepper. Bring up to a bubble and simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Once you have the red sauce working, make the white sauce: Place a medium-size saucepot over medium heat and melt the butter. Add the flour, stir to combine and cook for about a minute. Whisk in the milk, add the bay leaf and season with some salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring up to a bubble, turn the heat down to low and gently simmer, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove the bay lead and discard.

5. Combine the cooked ziti with the red sauce in the pot the pasta was cooked in and transfer everything to a baking dish (9x13). Top with the white sauce. Sprinkle (or I more like bury mine) with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Transfer to the oven and bake 25-30 minutes. I like mine a little crispy, but if you don't I would only suggest 20 minutes, or just keep your eye on it.

Enjoy!

Happy Hips

Happy Hips is the name of my in-home "business" which doesn't really get too much business. I can't really shout out to the world that I bake in my home and then sell it because it would break way too many food laws and such. But, I have decided to blog about my baking/cooking instead. And of course, Happy Hips is such a cute name that I had to keep it. I'm still working on this template. I have found better but can't figure them out. If you see something you like and simply do not want to bake it or can't bake (which I don't believe is true for anyone who tries), I'll be happy to do business with you =D
So, here goes my most recent baked good, which is a simple cookie...

Peanut Butter Blossoms (Yield: 42)

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

2 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup white sugar for rolling

1 small (9 oz.) bag Hershey kisses

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg, and stir in the milk and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture until well blended. Shape tablespoonfulls of dough into balls, and roll in the 1/4 cup white sugar.

3. Bake 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to wire cooling rack, immediately pressing a Hershey kiss into the center. Allow to cool; the kiss will harden as the cookie cools.