BakeStravaganza

I hope you had a nice weekend.  I could be found in the kitchen over the weekend.

Making and baking was fun…

…Doing the dishes?  Not so much.  But unavoidable.

Everyone asks about these bowls when I post them.  They are these Zak bowls and they have been used multiple times per week for the past 3 years and I would say I have at least another 30 years left with them.  Extremely well-made.  They show no signs of wear, at all.

What did I make?

This was just some of it.  And I’m not even kidding.  I didn’t intend for it to turn into such a bakestravaganza but it did.  Not that that’s an awful thing or anything.

The chocolate 9 x 13 pan is a pan of Special K Bars (No Bake and with easy vegan modification)

They are so gooey, peanut buttery, chocolatey.  Make them.  My grandma will thank you.

And then the cookies.  Well.  Whoops.

The cookie recipe I was developing accidentally made about twice what I thought I was getting into.

Extras?  Just freeze them.  I do it with all my desserts.  If you don’t need a pan of Special K Bars, 3 dozen cookies, Samoas Bars, last week’s Candy Corn Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites, and more…

Just throw it all in the freezer and dole out as needed.  Like around midnight when snack time is calling when company drops by.

What are the cookies?  Well, that’s a secret for now.

I developed them from this recipe for Peanut Butter Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies but you’ll have to sit tight.

The raw cookie dough for the new cookies was perhaps the best raw cookie dough I’ve ever eaten.  So, so, good.

Other than cooking and baking, stuffing my face with cookie dough, and doing the dishes, I also managed to spend time with Scott and Skylar.  We went to a pumpkin patch.

And Skylar jumped around in a Jumpy Castle You know, those blowup things you worry your kid is going to sprain their ankle in it or get some kind of bacterial skin disease from that grimy plastic.  Yeah, those things.

But she loved every jumpy second of it.

And I loved enjoying the 70F sunny weather and the day with my family.

I also enjoyed a few Samoas Bars over the weekend

They enjoyed them too which made me happy

Questions:

1. Best thing you ate or did over the weekend?

My list includes everything I mentioned in this post.  Baking, creating, cookie and bar eating, pumpkin patching it, being outside and with my family.

And I got some nice yoga and runs in, too.

2. Do you eat raw cookie dough?

Even though there is a raw egg in the dough I made over the weekend, and I ate a couple spoonfuls anyway.  I grew up eating raw batter, crusts, brownies, and cookie dough.  And I’m still here today.

You could always make raw vegan chocolate chip cookie dough which is made to be eaten raw.  No eggs.

There’s many schools of thought on raw eggs.  Some people think there’s nothing wrong with it and do it often (bodybuilders for example).  Other people would never eat raw eggs because they worry about salmonella.

Some people may eat something with a raw eggs only if they are fresh eggs or if they know exactly where the eggs came from or if they’re pasteurized as in homemade Caesar dressings, mayonnaise, eggnog, homemade ice cream or custards, and in Hollandaise sauces.

To each her own.

Remember Orange Julius when they really did have raw eggs in them?

I will never forget in my seventh grade Home-Ec class (do they still have “home economics” class?  I doubt it) but we made Orange Julius with raw egg.  In a public school in rural Minnesota and no one batted an eye.  Pretty sure that wouldn’t happen today.  Even though those Orange Julius’ tasted awesome.

So even though I don’t make a habit of eating raw dough, every once in awhile you have to taste the batter to make sure it’s okay before you bake it, right?

If you’re just catching up on posts from the weekend, here are mine since Friday:

• Samoas Bars
• Pumpkins Picked & The Week
• Flipping for Newman’s Own
• Caramel Pumpkin Whip Dip <—Best 15 second dip I have ever made!

Last chance for the $100 Visa Giftcard & Pedometer Giveaway

Have a great week!