Honey Tea Loaf Cake

February 15, 2021 Amanda Plott

When it snows. I bake. Okay, okay. In all honesty, I planned on making this Honey Tea Loaf Cake long before there was confirmation of snow in the forecast. But, it was a really nice treat to get to enjoy on a frosting winter' morning. And goodness gracious is it frosty today! Seriously. We have the coldest ‘high’ temperature on record today in Austin.

This Honey Tea Loaf Cake is… amazing. The pictures just don’t do it justice. The texture is very much so akin to a pound cake in that it’s dense, moist, and also somehow light. This loaf cake is par-baked before being finished off baking with a honey drizzle soaking into the loaf. The end result is this delicious cake with a natural line of honey ‘filling’…

Everything Chex Mix

February 12, 2021 Amanda Plott

I don’t think I’ve ever met a Chex mix that I didn’t like. And when I heard that we were going to be stuck inside for a few days with icy weather outside, I thought it would be a great time to warm the place up with some homemade oven baked Chex mix.

This time I decided to go with another trending flavor, and that’s ‘Everything but the…’ seasoning. You know, the famous stuff that they sprinkle on ‘Everything Bagels’? I’ve used it a lot in the past, as I’m sure everyone has, and I always love it. With this Chex mix, it’s no different…

Baked PB&J Oatmeal

February 10, 2021 Amanda Plott

Who knew you could enjoy a PB&J for breakfast? Oh, wait. I did! This Baked PB&J Oatmeal is loosely based on a few of my other baked breakfast oatmeals but in PB&J form. Yep! There’s peanuts, peanut butter, and even jelly baked right into this oatmeal. Plus, I made it dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegetarian.

This Baked PB&J Oatmeal can be made in advance and reheats really well, meaning that it’s perfect for meal prepping and having on hand through the whole week. And, if you aren’t a fan or are allergic to nuts, you can always swap out the peanut butter for any nut free alternative. That’s right, even those with sensitivities can enjoy this with the right alterations…

Circus Animal Cookie Blondies

February 7, 2021 Amanda Plott

If you love blondies and you love circus animal cookies then you are going to go nuts over these Circus Animal Cookie Blondies! Blondies are basically a vanilla (non-chocolate) version of brownies. So they’re a bit more dense and moist than cake.

These blondies are super easy to make and are whipped up all in one bowl. Plus, look at how colorful they are! With circus animal cookies baked right in, they have that frosted cookie crunch among the sprinkles and blondie. It’s basically heaven on a plate for me since circus animal cookies are one of my favorite guilty pleasures…

Giant Chocolate Chip Unicorn Cookies

January 28, 2021 Amanda Plott

Immediately after I made my last batch of GIANT cookies, my kid was already asking me to make some more. Of course, I didn’t want to do them exactly the same, so today I decided to go with just colorful sprinkles and a variety of chocolate chips. That’s right, a variety. Big, regular, small. Some dark, some semi-sweet.

The end result was some more amazingly delicious GIANT cookies that had something different in every bite. Some bites were full of chocolate, others of sweet candy sprinkles, and then others were a delicious cookie.

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake (Instant Pot)

January 22, 2021 Amanda Plott

So, here’s the thing. Sometimes when you’re trying to eat better, feel better, and be better… you need to indulge a little bit. One of the many mantras that I try to keep in my own mind is that you can ‘eat whatever you want so long as you cook/make it yourself.’ I think the idea behind it is that you would burn off as many calories in making your food as you would eating it, or at least enough to counter balance it.

That means, today we’re having a Triple Chocolate Cheesecake and I’m not going to feel guilty about eating it. Why? Because I made it from scratch and I did my very best to make it better-for-you while still tickling that chocolate craving itch with all the richness and decadence that comes along with it….