Almond Cookies

Pin It Now!      COOKIES!....... O, how I love sweets. Since having baby Griffin I crave them. I tell myself that it's okay because I'm breastfeeding so it must be what the baby needs. What am I going to do when I no longer have this excuse (that is totally over played)? I feel less guilt about sweets when I make them myself, since I know everything that goes in the recipe.

     Recently my husband discovered the Almond Cookies that Whole Foods bakery sells. O My Gosh they are amazing! However at $1.29/each, I could no longer crave 2 every day. That is where this recipe idea came from. It is so close and maybe even better than the real thing.

Almond Cookies

 you need:

1c unbleached wheat flour

1c almond flour

1c sugar 

3tsp baking powder

2 sticks of butter or earth balance buttery spread sticks melted

1egg (room temp)

1/2tsp vanilla extract

2tsp almond extract

1c sliced almonds

preheat oven to 325

What to do:

1. In a large mixing bowl add the flours, sugar and baking powder. Whisk together

2. In a separate bowl whisk together butter egg vanilla and almond extract 

3. combine wet ingredients into dry until moist (don't over mix)

4. add sliced almonds and mix

5. on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet scoop "big spoon" (TBSP) size mounds onto the cookie sheet, you will need 2 large cookie sheets

6. Bake for 13-15 min, you don't want them brown just tan. Serve cooled and ENJOY!!!!!! 

Our New Addition

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     What a wonderful start to the new year.... we have added a sweet little baby boy to our family! His name is Griffin Christopher and he arrived on 1/11/15 weighing 6lb 5oz.

     I can not believe that it is already April, and I have been away from here for almost 4 months. We have not taken a break from cooking, but finding time to share it with anyone besides the family is not always easy to do. Sleep has now returned to our house and I couldn't be happier.  I can finally cook and write all about it. There is a ton to share!

 
    Our sweet boy Bennett turned 2 in March! It's so hard to believe I had 2 kids under 2 at one point. (insert hair pulling out) Luckily no one has told B that he should start acting terrible. It's hard to believe it was 2 years ago our lives changed forever in the best way possible. That also means it's been almost 2 years since I've decided to learn to cook. Things are becoming tastier everyday!
 
      Tomorrow I turn another year older (YIKES!) , and figured I would close out 30 by sharing a glimpse into what's going on at home. I look forward to this next year and all the fun recipes to come.   Thanks for stopping in to see what we are up to and I hope you will follow our journey.

~xo~

French Toast Casserole

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     Looking for an easy and delicious way to feed a group or your family brunch? This casserole is a recipe worth making. We have used it at Thanksgiving and for a few brunches that we have hosted. In the past I always made individual slices but that was VERY time consuming, as it turns out this is just as delicious and not time consuming at all. If fact, it tastes best if you prep it the night before. So when morning comes simply remove it from the fridge and bake!

     We are very lucky here in Charlotte, we have a bakery called Great Harvest Bread Company and they make wonderful "real food" breads. They happen to make a whole wheat cinnamon chip bread, and that is what I like to use for our french toast and french toast casserole. I like to describe it by saying, "it tastes like fairies made it". That is the truth too, it is so delicious!

     I hope that you will all find this make ahead recipe easy and delightful. The only draw back is it is not very allergy friendly. There are no nuts, but it does contain dairy and gluten. If you an allergy free home, you are in luck you can serve this as your main course for breakfast or brunch!

French Toast Casserole 

what you need:

1 Cinnamon Bread Loaf or 1 Brioche Loaf

(we use whole wheat when possible) 

6 eggs

2 cups whole milk

1/2c heavy cream or 1/2 & 1/2

1tsp vanilla

1/2tsp nutmeg 

1/2tsp cinnamon

what to do:

1. In a large mixing bowl combine all of your ingredients except bread and cinnamon

2. With a hand mixer beat on medium speed for 2 min until combined well

3. Grease a large casserole dish (I use a 9x13) 

4. break bread into about 1" chunks and put into the casserole dish 

5. pour custard mixture over top and using clean hands or a spatula mix bread into the custard

6. cover and store in fridge overnight (you can skip this but it tastes better if you chill it for at least an hour)

7. remove casserole from fridge and uncover. Sprinkle cinnamon and a little extra nutmeg over the top. Put into a 350' preheated oven. Bake for 40-50min until a toothpick will come out clean and the top is slightly brown.

8. Serve with Pure maple syrup and enjoy!