peanut m&ms

WIAW: Friday Lenten Eats

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 5 Comments

Happy Wednesday!  You’ve made it – you’re halfway through the week. And some of you lucky dogs are more than halfway if you have Friday off … not me.

I may not have Friday off, but I’m celebrating – because it’s What I Ate Wednesday! The day for sharing a checking out a random day of eats (and spying on all of your food too…because I love seeing what everyone eats).

For breakfast, I had some fruit salad and nuts and a little yogurt on top of the fruit salad. I still can’t get enough fruit and Siggi’s. That’s probably the theme of this pregnancy – fruit, Siggi’s and dessert.

20160318_085318

For a snack before lunch, I had a handful of mixed nuts. Wow, look at all that salt!?20160318_115909

Lunch was a mishmash. I had some roasted veggies, tofu and a barley salad. And then some leftover black bean soup from Panera that I hadn’t finished for dinner the night before. I don’t eat meat on Fridays during Lent and this was the perfect filling meatless meal!20160318_130533

A mid-afternoon snack included an apple.20160318_132502

AND of course some peanut M&Ms. 20160318_144723

For dinner, B and I had plans to have Dave and Anson over – they were going to help us with our baby registry and B was going to make fish for a Lenten Friday meal. While he cooked the meal, we snacked on some cheeses and bread (bread not pictured). 20160318_184831

And our dinner – SO delicious. Mashed cauliflower with some gruyere, asparagus and shallots and scallops. My apartment still smells fro the scallops but they were SO GOOD.20160318_194633

And dessert? Some of these Bailey’s St. Patrick’s Day themed cupcakes! And maybe a Samoa or two (unphotographed).

20160316_203311

 

That was a delicious Friday!

Some questions for you:

  • Do you go meatfree once a week? What’s your favorite meatless meal?
  • What’s your favorite afternoon snack? Sweet/salty combos – nuts and fruit or even peanut M&Ms!

A Chocaholic’s Dream … Double (or triple) Chocolate Chunk Cookies

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / Leave a comment

My grandmother passed away last week. I know – it’s not quite the opening you expected in a blog post about chocolate cookies. But let me explain.

My grandma was a chocaholic. For as long as I can remember, she always loved chocolate. Mallomars were actually her favorite cookie; I’ve heard countless stories about how the local grocery store where my dad grew up in the Bronx called her the “Mallomar lady.” My parents would buy boxes and boxes of Mallomars and wrap them to give her as holiday gifts. To be honest, I never really liked Mallomars. And I’m certainly not a chocaholic – as you may have noticed, I hardly ever make something that’s chocolate based. And when I do, it’s often for B or other friends and family. And during the holidays, I always made sure to include something chocolate when baking, because I knew that would be what my grandma would like best. In fact, I even brought her some Rolo Stuffed Peanut Butter Brownies this year before Christmas when I visited her with my dad.

(image via npr)

I’ve been somewhat of a funk since she passed away. I know, it’s normal – and I know, I don’t usually post about stuff like this on here. But I tend to look back on old blog posts as some sort of a diary and I want to remember this time. In fact, it feels good to remember her here and to think about her love of chocolate. Anyway, in case you haven’t noticed, there are two main ways I deal with stress/anxiety/etc. in my life – running and baking. So I’ve been doing a lot of both this past week. And one of the recipes I made, I made in honor of my grandma. Because I know she would have LOVED these cookies.

My grandma, B and me on our wedding

My grandma, B and me on our wedding

Got a chocolate lover in your family? Or maybe you have the chocaholic gene in your family? (My dad got it too!) Then you’ll love these cookies. They’re soft, chocolatey and well – pretty much everything a chocolate cookie should be.

triple chocolate chunk cookies icrashedtheweb

Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Here’s what you need:

  • 2 c. all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 c. granulated sugar
  • 3/4 c. packed brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 c. semi-sweetened chocolate chips
  • 1/2 c. semi or milk chocolate chunks (I used mini Hershey kisses, chopped up)
  • OPTIONAL – for the extra chocaholic: 1/2 c. your favorite M&Ms (I used some peanut M&Ms in some, but didn’t photograph those)

Here’s what you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, cocoa and baking soda.
  3. Cream together butter and sugars in a large bowl of a stand mixer. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
  4. Slowly add in flour mixture, about 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
  5. Stir in chocolate chips, chunks and M&Ms (optional, but without the M&Ms they’re only double chocolate chunk cookies:)).
  6. Allow dough to chill in refrigerator for 30 min to 1 hour.
  7. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
  8. BAKE for approximately 10 minutes, until cookies are puffy. Cookies will be a little bit cracked on top but still soft.
  9. Cool on wire racks.
  10. Share with our favorite chocaholic or enjoy yourself!
double chocolate chunk cookies - i crashed the web

These are technically double chocolate chunk cookies since you can’t see the peanut M&M ones. I dare you to wait for them to cool!

triple chocolate chunk cookies with milk - i crashed the web

Surprise! They go well with milk.

And because this wasn’t the happiest blog post, I leave you with a famous/fun Mallomar reference. My grandma wasn’t the only one with Mallomar addiction 🙂 (and this is from the Sopranos – so it’s obviously got some language that’s NSFW)

Cereal Peanut M&M Cookies (and they’re perfect for Valentine’s Day!)

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 2 Comments

I’m a big fan of cookies that feature everything. That’s right – I said it – everything. I love compost cookies, monster cookies, an all those cookies that tend to be stuffed with pretty much everything in your pantry.

These aren’t quite everything-in-your pantry cookies, but they’re close. They feature Special K, granola, oatmeal, coconut, peanut m&ms … and more. Which is why I’m calling them Cereal Peanut M&M Cookies. And because breakfast cookies sounds too healthy. These are based one of my favorite recipes – Special K cookies – but have a few extra ingredients.

cereal peanut M&M cookies for valentine's day - i crashed the web

Cereal Peanut M&M Cookies

Here’s what you need:

  • 1 c (2 sticks) butter, softened
  • 1 c granulated sugar
  • 1 c brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbs vanilla extract
  • 2 c all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 c. uncooked old fashioned oats
  • 1 c. granola (try homemade granola or even your favorite store-bought – this time I used TJ’s vanilla granola)
  • 2 c Special K cereal
  • 3/4 c unsweetened coconut
  • 1 c peanut M&Ms
  • 1/2 c chocolate chips

Here’s what you do:

  1. Combine flour, baking soda and baking powder and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, mix Special K, oats, granola, coconut , M&Ms and chocolate chips. Set aside.
  3. Beat butter and sugars until fluffy.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each egg is added.
  5. Stir in flour mixture slowly, mixing well.
  6. Stir in oat mixture and mix with wooden spoon until well blended.
  7. Make tablespoon sized scoops on greased baking sheets.
  8. Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes.
batter for cereal cookies ... look at that granola and those m&ms!

batter for cereal cookies … look at that granola and those m&ms!

peanut M&M cereal cookies for valentine's day

Want to make them extra special for an upcoming holiday? Add colored sprinkles and M&Ms. For example, I used the Valentine’s special M&Ms and added some red sugar crystals to the dough before baking and POOF! They’re perfect for Valentine’s Day – which is ONE WEEK AWAY!

peanut M&M cereal cookies for valentine's day