Valentine Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

Happy Valentine's Day Eve! Today I wanted to share these easy peanut butter cookie cups. They are the perfect treat for Valentine's Day - you can't go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate!

 Recipe:

1/2 cup butter softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp. vanilla

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Mix butter, vanilla, and sugars. Add peanut butter until combined then add egg. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture slowly until combined. Use small cookie scoop to scoop out dough. Roll into balls and place in greased mini muffin tray. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Don't over-bake. The cookie cups will need to cool in the tray so they will bake a little more after they come out of the oven. Press peanut butter cups into cookies as soon as they come out of the oven. It helps to unwrap all the peanut butter cups while the cookies are baking to ensure they are ready to press in right when the cookies come out of the oven. You can use Reese's peanut butter cups or any ones you like. My favorites are the dark chocolate peanut butter cups from Trader Joe's. Optional for Valentine's Day, you can press a large heart sprinkle on top when the peanut butter cups are melted. Let the cookie cups completely cool before you take them out of the muffin tray. I used a silicone tray to ensure they came out easily and didn't break. These are so easy and delicious! Enjoy!

XO,
Sarah

Themed Boards

Valentine's Day Breakfast Boards:

Valentine's Day Treat Board:

Super Bowl Snack Board:

Mother's Day Breakfast Board:

Olympics Breakfast Board:

Fourth of July Snack Boards:

Fourth of July Breakfast Board:

Fourth of July Treat Board:

Halloween Boards:

Thanksgiving Snack Board

New Year Dessert Board:

If you have been following along for awhile, you know my love for themed boards. I've been making breakfast, snack, and dessert boards for the past few years and I LOVE thinking of new and creative ways to make them. I wanted to round up all my favorites that I've made for different holidays and events. I hope this gives you inspo for a board of your own!

XO,
Sarah

Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches

Zach's birthday is coming up later this week, so I decided to try a new sweet treat I knew he would love, ice cream cookie sandwiches! His favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip so I knew I was going to do some with that, and the rest I did with vanilla ice cream and rainbow sprinkles because what screams birthday more than that. I used our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe for the outside of the sandwich. See the recipe below. 

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup softened butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

3 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. sea salt (1/2 tsp. table salt)

2 cups chocolate chips (I use dark chocolate chip)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 7 minutes then take out and hit pan on the counter to make the chocolate chips break apart and spread (optional), then bake for 3-4 more minutes. For these I used a large cookie scoop to make them XL. I don't usually make my chocolate chip cookies this big, but when making them into ice cream sandwiches I wanted them to be bigger to hold even more ice cream. I use an ice cream sandwich making contraption but I couldn't find the exact one online. However, this one is similar. I also saw the idea of getting a pint of ice cream and cutting off the cardboard and cutting it into slices. I haven't tried that, but it looked pretty simple!

You can use any variety of cookie or any flavor of ice cream you like. Also you don't have to put the toppings on the outside, I just thought it was fun. It does make them a little messier to make and eat.

Enjoy!

XO,
Sarah

Christmas Cocktails + Gingerbread Cake

Merry Christmas Eve eve! I can't believe Christmas is practically here!

Christmas Morning Cocktail

Today I wanted to share an easy Christmas morning cocktail. All you need is orange juice, cranberries, rosemary, oranges, and champagne. It is the perfect festive twist on a classic mimosa. Start by getting any ice cube tray you would like and fill them with cranberries, rosemary, and small orange slices. Then add orange juice to fill. Freeze until hardened. Place in cocktail glass and pour champagne over. This is the perfect way to keep your drink cold but not watery. Finish with sugared rosemary, cranberries, and orange slices/peels. 

See below for more details about the garnishes!

Gingerbread Cake

I posted this last year, but the gingerbread mix from Trader Joe's is the BEST and it is so versatile. The mix has little pieces of ginger in it, which gives it the best flavor. You can use it to make gingerbread cookies, gingerbread pancakes, or gingerbread cupcakes/cake. I've tried them all, and they are all delicious! This year I decided to make a mini naked gingerbread cake with cream cheese buttercream. I love how it turned out! It is so mini and cute. I tried a couple different decorations on top including some of the garnishes (see below) I made for the cocktails as well as the mini gingerbread houses I made from scratch. See more about those here.

Garnishes

The garnishes might be my favorite part of both of these and they are so easy to do yourself. 

For the orange peel, just cut a round of your orange and slice off the skin. Leave some of the white on there to help it keep it's shape, but cut most of it off carefully. Once you have your long peel, wrap it around a straw and hold it tight for 15-20 seconds. When you take it off, it will hold the shape! SO easy and makes your drink look extra fancy. 

For the dried oranges. Slice an orange into very thin even rounds. Place them on a pan and put them in the oven at 200 degrees for 6-7 hours. It is better to bake them at a lower temperature for longer, than risking burning them. Also it will make your house smell good!

For the sugared cranberries and rosemary, just make a simple syrup by combining 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar in a pan on the stove. Stir over heat until the sugar is dissolved. Coat the cranberries and rosemary in the syrup. Shake off any excess and let them sit on a drying rack for about an hour. They will still be sticky after an hour and that is when you will roll or shake them in sugar. I found for the cranberries you kind of have to press them into the sugar for the best look. You do not need to be careful with the cranberries they will hold up just fine. I love how festive and fun they look on the top of the cake or in a drink! Also, once you are done with them you can throw all these ingredients in a simmer pot and add some fresh evergreen stems and cinnamon sticks and your house will smell AMAZING. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

XO,
Sarah