O.C.D. Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Otherwise known as the Oatmeal Cookie Dough stuffed Spice Cupcake...

Jeesh that's a mouthful...literally!

Bake Me Happy - Pretzel Bottomed Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Pie

I tend to be a fairly conventional person.

I’m not a “fly by the seat of my pants” kinda gal.

I like the norm.  The status quo.  A schedule even.

I work well with structure and repetition.

That doesn’t translate into boring…I am just prepared.  Isn’t that what we try and teach our children?  To be prepared for life.  Have a plan and stick to it…that kind of thing.

When people say they are looking for “spontaneity” and “excitement” I just don’t get it.

I tried to be that person when I was young, but the truth is…it was never “me”.

I like what I like, I do what I do, and I don’t need anyone coming in all willy-nilly and messing up my order.

Don’t pop over to my place unannounced.  I don’t have a “pop over-able personality”.  I need time to “wrap my mind” around the fact that you are coming over.  Mr. AKM would say I’m anti-social.  I’m not really.  I love to socialize…I just wanna KNOW when I’m expected to do it.  I have conversations to prepare for…and I usually need to wash my hair before I face people…or at least throw on my favorite baseball cap.  Is that too much to ask?

I don’t do spontaneous vacations.  The thought of a get up and go trip gives me anxiety.  Like the fact that I need to go to the doctor to get anxiety meds kind-of anxiety. 

I hate to fly…not because of my fear of heights or fear of crashing but because I can’t just pull the plane over and get out anytime I want.  It’s a “control” thing for me.

I am still a fun person.  At least that’s what I tell myself.  I just like to plan my fun.

So back to predictability…

When it comes to making desserts I make what I like…brownies and chocolate cake.  Nothing wrong with that.  Again, I like what I like.  And if I’m baking it, why shouldn’t it be all about me and my likes? 

My kids tell me its “boring”…predictable even.  GAH!  Can’t they just be grateful that I like to bake at all?  Geesh!

Soooo…I decided that maybe it might be time to step outside of my comfort zone and try something a little less “predictable”.

And then I found these.

And then I made them.

And we all ate them.

And they are not at all boring or predictable!

Go make them and see for yourself!

Pretzel Bottomed Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Pie

by Angi McCarthy of AKM designs & delights

Keywords: peanut butter pretzel pie cookie

Ingredients (1 cookie pie)

Pretzel Bottom

• 2 cups crushed pretzels
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Cookie Pie

• 1 cup butter, room temp
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 cups white wheat flour (or you can use white)
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli cuz its the best EVER)
• 1 (8 oz) bag Reese's minis

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°

Combine crushed pretzels, 1/2 cup melted butter and 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl. Press mixture firmly into the bottom and up sides of a 10" pie or tart pan.

Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven.

While crust is baking make the blondie filling.

Cream butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar with your mixer.

Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined and smooth.

On low speed add in your baking soda, salt and flour until incorporated evenly.

Stir in your chocolate chips and Reese's Minis until evenly distributed.

Press mixture on top of baked crust.

Place pie back in oven for 30-35 minutes.  Remove and cover top with aluminum foil to prevent burning the top and put back into oven for 15 - 20 minutes.

Let cool COMPLETELY on wire rack before serving.  If you do not let it cool completely, the inside will be mushy.

Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and come back and tell me how much you LOVED it!

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**Post inspired by Cookies & Cups.

You may find this post partying in the following places:

Monday:  Debbie Doos - The Girl Creative - Skip to My Lou - Craft O Maniac - Lisa's Craft Blog - The DIY Show Off -Everything Under the Moon

Tuesday:  Not Just A Housewife - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Clean and Scentsible - Crazy For Crust - recipes - Uncommon Designs

Wednesday:  Savvy Southern Style - Blue Cricket Design - Seven Thirty-Three - Someday Crafts - Michele Raven Designs/

Thursday:  Delightful Order - Something Swanky - Recipes - The How To Mommy - A Little Nosh          

Friday:  Dwell on Joy- Finding Fabulous - Chic on a Shoestring Decorating - Fingerprints on the Fridge - Shabby Nest - Whipperberry – Miss Mustard Seed - French Country Cottage - Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home), Latest & Greatest Friday (Days of Chalk and Chocolate), Bacon Time, Fusion Friday (Jane Deere Blog). 

Family Traditions...

Rollin' in the Dough!

Gee...would'nt that be nice if we really were rollin' in the dough?  As in raking in the big bucks...just stacks and stacks of cash as far as the eyes could see.  I know money doesn't necessary "buy" happiness but is sure could help to make life a little more happier.  I'm just sayin' is all.   I mean how unhappy could one be with the ability to purchase that brand new (to me), completely re-furbished 1967 Chevrolette Convertible Corvette in Candy Apple Red?   Seriously now...if I could drive one of those every day with the top down and my hair blowing in the wind I'd find it pretty hard to NOT have a smile on my face.

But that is a whole other kind of dough than the one I'm talking about today.  Today, I shall share my grandmothers famous Tea Cake Cookie recipe.  My mom and I make these every year at Christmas Time.  They are seriously addictive...not to sweet but JUST right.  I love to eat them with a tall glass of ice cold milk...or a hot cup of coffee...or tea...or because I saw them sitting there and my hand just gravitated towards them.  It doesn't matter if I just ate a 9 course meal.  If I see these, I MUST eat six one.

Don't they just becon to you?  You know that they do.  You wanna just reach in and grab one doncha?  It's ok.  I won't laugh if you tried to pull it off the screen.  I wish this screen had a scratch-n-sniff application for you to upload.  Just imagine the smell of the most divine sugar cookie-esque smell EVER and then double that.  YUM! 

This year, we deciced to let all the grandkids (my nieces, nephews and boys) make and decorate the cookies.  This was a test of wills for me as I am a obsessive freak bit obsessive with making perfect cookies.  But I do believe that they pulled off some pretty awesome master pieces if I do say so myself (and I do say so!).

It starts like this...

Measure out all your ingredients...like DUH!

Mix it all up in your candy apple red Kitchen Aid mixer (ooh la laaaa).

This step is the most important of all...sample your batter.  I mean, you HAVE to make sure it tastes good after all before you turn it into cookies.  Geesh!

Then roll out the dough to 1/4" thickness. 

Then you grab all the little hands you have to start cutting out the dough into fun Christmas Shapes.

After the shapes are cut out and on cookie sheets, put them in the oven to bake for 12ish minutes (or until they are a light golden brown).  If you were smart you'd take a picture of this step for people to see what they are suppossed to look like...but I did not experience one of those smart moments.  I will blame it on the chaos involved with having seven children helping in the kitchen.  That's my story and I'm STICKING TO IT!

While they are baking whip up a batch of the tea cake cookie icing...make it any color you wish...then let the little ones go to town decorating them.  With any luck, they will look like this when the are all finished.

Santa would be so proud to see those waiting for him Christmas Morning with an ice cold glass of milk, don't you agree?  HECK Yeah he would!  Now go get your rolling pin out and start Rollin' in the Dough!

Do you have a special cookie recipe that you love to bake during the holidays?  If so, I'd love to hear about it!

Tea Cake Cookies:

1 cup crisco or butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 1/2 cups flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon butter flavoring (optional)

Oven 350 degrees

Cream shortening and sugar together.  Add eggs and vanilla - mix well. 

Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl.

Add dry ingredients and mix well.

Roll dough on floured surface 1/4" thick, use cookie cutters to cut shapes

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 12 minutes or until light golden brown. 

Tea Cake Icing:

1/2 stick butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

4 tablespoons milk

Use whisk attachment and beat the butter and powdered sugar until smooth and well blended.

Add vanilla.  Add milk one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency.

Linking up to the following parties...

The Girl Creative

Skip to My Lou

Craft O Maniac

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Shabby Nest

Whipperberry

Faith...is there any other way?

How the Cookie Crumbles and the Nerf War Begins...


Do you ever have those moments where you look around you at all that is going on in your life and think to yourself

…this is so NOT my life?  

This is NOT what I had set out to accomplish at this age

…This is NOT where I expected to be at this stage. 

I had expected to be traveling more

…be more successful

…have more money saved

…be at a secure spot in our lives

…be preparing for a future

…saving for college educations for our children

…paying off mortgages sooner

…really thinking about a retirement plan. 

But we are not. 

Instead we are one of the statistics

…one of the unemployed statistics that is. 

One of the hundreds of thousands of others struggling to make ends meet every day.

While that sounds like a lot,

I find comfort knowing that We. Are. Not. Alone.

We are only ONE. 

And just when the entire weight of the world is resting right on top of your shoulders and you think that you can’t hold it up any longer and you feel your head actually drop as you stare at the floor and you allow yourself to wonder why…Why me?  Why now?...

And at that very moment that your are drowning in your own self pity

Your kid pops you back into reality with a Nerf bullet to the head and then the other one starts pelting you with this machine gun type action which results in a huge frenzy of Nerf gun wars while you duck to take cover behind a chair choosing to grab the pillow off of it using it as a shield to run up the stairs to get your own gun in an effort to save yourself

…and the laughter erupts. 

That type of laughter that makes your side feel like it’s about to split open from laughing so hard! 

That was me last night! 

And that Nerf bullet to the head…that was God!

That was his reminder to live in the moment for it is all we truly have. 

Be thankful for today…

Be present in the moment…

Know that the future will take care of itself…

And God has a plan for each of us. 

It may not happen as quickly as I would like for it to or in the way that others expect for it too…but it WILL happen.  I KNOW this to be true.  I can feel change coming.  I feel something good stirring deep in my soul and I KNOW that God is working his magic in each of us in my household.  I believe that all things happen for a reason and that something good always comes out of a bad situation.

I am not at liberty to share all the details of our situation but know that something good this way comes!

And by good I mean a batch full of spicy cinnamon AWESOME-NESS!  I betcha you all thought I forgot about the cookies huh?  I wouldn't do that to ya!  Not in a million years!

These cookies are a tradition around here at Christmas time...and my man knew that they were JUST what I needed when I walked through the door today :)  That's right, I said MY MAN!  I'd love to take the credit for these chewy, gooey and OH SO YUMMY cookies, but alas, I can not.  He is the one that is to receive all the rewards for his efforts.  GO MR. AKM!  YOU SO TOTALLY ROCK!

But since he baked them I do not have photos to share of the during process...BOOO!  We forgive him though, don't we?  YES!  So I will just leave you with one last photo and then the recipe....

Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with Cinnamon Chips

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. butter flavored shortening

1 c. packed light brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups rolled oats

1 c. raisins

1/2 c. cinnamon chips

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.

2.  In large bowl, cream together the butter, butter flavored shortening, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth.  Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt; stir into the sugar mixture.  Stir in the oats, raisins and cinnamon chips.   Drop by rounded teaspoons (or tablespoons) full onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

3.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden.  Do not overbake.  Let them cool before removing them to a cooling rack.  Store in an airtight container.

Sharing the love in the follwing places...

Finding Fabulous

Chic on a Shoestring

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Shabby Nest

Whipperberry
Savvy Southern Style

Blue Cricket Design

Someday Crafts