Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Next week is my sweet Bella Joy's first birthday. We are having both sides of our family visit us for several days, so I have been busy preparing lots of freezer meals to serve. I whipped up a big batch of Joy the Baker's oatmeal cookie pancakes yesterday(Yummo!) (http://joythebaker.com/2009/04/oatmeal-cookie-pancakes/).

Today I made these healthy Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Pancakes. Their aroma is heavenly and they are simply delicious. They will provide a quick but hearty breakfast for our family on a very fun-filled and busy weekend. I included instructions on freezing these at the bottom of the recipe. Enjoy!

You are Prayed for and Dearly Loved by your Heavenly Father!

Psalm 70:4
But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The LORD is great!”

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur Brand)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup natural peanut butter (I use Skippy Natural Chunky peanut butter)

2 cups milk

2 eggs

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Mix flour, baking powder, and sea salt.  In a small sauce pan, melt butter and peanut butter together, stirring so that it won’t scorch.  Pour melted butter and peanut butter, along with the milk and eggs into the flour mixture.  Whisk until well mixed.  Gently stir in the chocolate chips.Cook the pancakes on a buttered griddle or skillet, flipping halfway through cooking.   Serve with real maple syrup or your favorite pancake topping.  

NOTES:
You could take two pancakes and spread a layer of peanut butter topped with banana slices in between to make a quick on-the-go breakfast sandwich. Makes about 20 three inch pancakes.

To freeze, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and lay pancakes in a single layer. Put in your freezer for 1 hr. Remove from the freezer and put frozen pancakes in freezer ziploc bags. Each morning, just grab a bag of pancakes from the freezer, place on a microwaveable safe plate, and warm for 45-60 seconds.

Marty the Zebra Cookies

I made some yummy and visually-appealing cookies this morning. Because nothing truly says "Good Morning" at 7:00 a.m. like a cocoa and white chocolate chip filled cookie, right? My almost 1 year old blessing loves to wake up super early each day, and this morning she contently played with her bowls and spoons while Mommy baked. These cookies are soft and plump and would be delicious dunked in a glass of cold milk or served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. You could even make the cookies a little larger and fill two cooled cookies with a scoop of ice cream. Wrap the ice cream-filled cookies up with Saran wrap, stick them in the freezer for a bit, and enjoy a homemade ice cream sandwich.

When my son saw these cookies, he said, "Mommy, they look like zebras-just like Marty from Madagascar!". Thus, we named them our "Marty the Zebra Cookies" :-). If you have a Madagascar fan in your house, bake some and call them "Marty" cookies in honor of the recent release of Madagascar 3. 

You are dearly loved by your Heavenly Father and prayed for daily! God loves to sprinkle your days with His love and joy...Just surrender your burdens to Him and allow Him to pour His peace and comfort on your heart.

1 John 3:1
"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"

White Chocolate Chip Cocoa Cookies

Original recipe from Nestle

Makes 3 1/2 dozen medium sized cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

2/3 cup cocoa

1 TSP baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 sticks [1 cup] butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 TSP vanilla

2 large eggs

2 cups white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in one bowl. In different bowl, beat together softened butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs beating well after each one. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in white chocolate chips.  Drop by well rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake 9 to 12 minutes or until centers are set. My cookies took 12 minutes on air-bake sheets. Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes (DO NOT try and remove the cookies from the sheet until they have cooled at least 2 minutes).

Egg,Cheese & Sausage Puffed Biscuits

We were blessed this week to have friends from Mission visit us, and their visit gave me the opportunity to bake lots of yummy treats. I made these Egg, Cheese, and Turkey Sausage Puffed Biscuits for breakfast, and they were a huge hit. I originally pinned this recipe on pinterest, but I made several changes (substituting bacon with turkey sausage, and using Grands biscuits instead of the regular sized pillsbury biscuits). These are going to be my go-to recipe for biscuits from now on. The cheese melted inside perfectly and the enclosed biscuit around the filling makes them a portable on-the-go breakfast for my husband and kiddos. You could change the filling to include any ingredients that you like, but I chose scrambled eggs, crumbled turkey sausage, and cheddar cheese. I am sure mushrooms, mozzarella cheese, or bacon would be great additions as well. Enjoy!!

You are prayed for and dearly loved by your Heavenly Father!! Show Hospitality to your friends, neighbors, and family today. Bake something Yummy and Share the Love of Christ with them through your hugs, smiles, and random acts of kindness.

Romans 12:13

"Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality."

Egg, Cheese, & Sausage Puffed Biscuits

Ingredients:

1 package of Pillsbury Grands Biscuits (8 biscuits)
4 Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Patties (cooked and crumbled)
5 eggs scrambled
4 cheese slices, cut in half
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp. water
Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees . Using a rolling pin or your hands flatten each biscuit. Top each biscuit with a spoonful of egg, a spoonful of sausage and 1/2 slice of cheese. Pull up on each corner to form into a ball, pressing together at the seam. Place in greased muffin tins, seam side down. Lightly whisk water into egg yolk and brush over each muffin. Top with pepper to taste. Bake for 13-15 minutes. Let cool on baking rack and serve warm. Yield: 8 Biscuit Puffs

Note: I made these the night before I put the muffin tin in the refrigerator covered with foil. The next morning, I just popped them in the oven and they cooked perfectly.

Nutella-Swirled Blondies

Hello dear friends. Yesterday I had a problem...I had 1/2 cup of nutella left in the jar and it was either eat it or make something with it. I made the wise choice and flipped through recipes that I had bookmarked and found this one for Nutella-Swirled Blondies. I tweaked the recipe a little and the result was a delicious gooey melt-in-your-mouth Blondie filled with nutella goodness. If you happen to have nutella in your pantry then bake some of these treats. Enjoy the blondies warm or cool with a glass of cold chocolate milk for a perfect Summer snack. Your children and your belly will thank you :-).

Blessings to you my dear readers! You are dearly loved by the God who sees you, hears you, and has adopted you as His own!

Romans 8:15-17 Message

This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!

Nutella-Swirled Blondies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup crushed peanuts

1/2 cup Nutella (about 10 spoonfuls)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8″ baking dish with parchment paper or foil and generously grease the lining. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat; add both sugars and whisk until combined and sugar is melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Next, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla extract until combined. Slowly drizzle in the butter and sugar while whisking constantly. Then add the flour and whisk until just incorporated. Fold in the crushed peanuts. Pour the batter into the prepared dish, then drop spoonfuls of Nutella over the surface. (I did 10 spoonfuls) Swirl the batter in the pan making “S” shapes with a butter knife. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top cracks slightly and is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist pieces clinging to it. Remove to a wire rack and let cool completely before cutting into squares.