Of course you don’t. Who cares.

But if you’re anything like me and have an extreme-to-average love for all things peanut butter, you’ll probably like this new [...]]]>

…want to know how many jars of nut butter I have in stock at a given time? Or how I may or may not go through about one jar each week?

Of course you don’t. Who cares.

But if you’re anything like me and have an extreme-to-average love for all things peanut butter, you’ll probably like this new way to enjoy breakfast.

{inspired by CCK’s baked oatmeal for one, adapted from my Nutella Baked Oatmeal}

ingredients:

• 1/2 cup regular oats
• 1 1/2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter (or any other nut butter)
• 1/4 cup milk
• sprinkle of cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• mix-ins like chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit, etc. (optional)

directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place peanut butter in a bowl and microwave for 10-15 seconds. Add milk to bowl and whisk into the peanut butter until well-combined. Mix in the oats, cinnamon, and salt. Lightly grease an oven-safe bowl with cooking spray, and then pour the oatmeal into that bowl. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes.

What’s your go-to breakfast lately?

Some of my other favorite peanut butter recipes:

• peanut butter chocolate chip cake batter blondies
• peanut butter chocolate chip cookie cake {for one}
• peanut butter oat bran muffins
• 2-ingredient peanut butter cookie {dough}
• lazy girls’ puppy chow
• chocolate peanut butter mousse pie

Your wish is my command.

ingredients:

directions: Preheat [...]]]> A little while back I asked what new varieties of Cake Batter Blondies you’d like to see most, and one of the top responses was a Red Velvet version.

Your wish is my command.

ingredients:

• 1 box red velvet cake mix
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 batch of cream cheese frosting (optional)
• sprinkles for topping (optional)

directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put cake mix in a large bowl and mix in the oil and egg. Then add the milk slowly just until the batter is combined – you want it to remain as dense as possible. Place batter in a greased 8×8 pan or 8-inch cake pan and bake for 24-26 minutes. Let cool for at least 60 minutes before cutting/frosting because the gooey center needs to set. The result will be a decadent, brownie-batter texture.

These are the perfect combination of the richness of Red Velvet Cake and the ooey-gooeyness of a fudgy brownie. The addition of cream cheese frosting is almost too much to handle.

Almost.

You can find the rest of my cake batter creations on the recipe page.

As a busy and single twenty-something living in New York City, one of my favorite things to do is have dinner then hit the town with my girlfriends. Sometimes instead of going to one of our favorite restaurants, though, it’s nice to spend the [...]]]>

As a busy and single twenty-something living in New York City, one of my favorite things to do is have dinner then hit the town with my girlfriends. Sometimes instead of going to one of our favorite restaurants, though, it’s nice to spend the evening at home and have a relaxing dinner before heading out for the rest of the night.

Last week my best friends Jessi, Erica, and I did just that. We all met at my apartment after a long day of work, and I greeted them with a Cranberry Lime Mocktail.

To make: combine one part Simply Cranberry Cocktail, two parts lime-flavored club soda, and a generous squeeze of lime juice in each glass. Add a few ice cubes and a handful of frozen berries. Garnish with a slice of lime.

This was one of the most refreshing drinks I’ve ever had and the perfect way to finish a long day of work. I loved the flavor of Simply Cranberry Cocktail – it had a unique and delicious taste that is different than other cranberry cocktails I’ve tried before; I’m so glad Simply Orange Juice Company asked me to try it! The balance of tartness and sweetness was perfect. It’s also made with not-from-concentrate cranberry juice. Simply Cranberry Cocktail is newly available at grocery stores in the refrigerated juice section, so be on the lookout for it!

We continued to unwind by chatting and catching up on life – and by life I mean work, boys, gossip…the norm.

Then it was time for the main course – what I like to call All-Nighter Energy Salad. We love eating salads before a night out because they’re not too heavy but still give us the energy to stay out until the wee hours of the morning.

…because being healthy is all about balance, right?

all-nighter energy salad.

ingredients:

4 cups romaine lettuce

3 cups baby spinach

1/2 pound chicken breast, grilled and sliced

1 avocado, sliced

1/2 cup feta cheese

1/4 cup almonds, chopped

dressing of choice

directions: Chop the lettuce and spinach and place in a large serving bowl. Top with the chicken, avocado, cheese, and almonds. Toss and serve with dressing of your choice (we went with a Champagne Vinaigrette).

We finished the meal with 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies…aka the most simple yet delicious cookie recipe ever. I’ve seen this recipe all over the internet but followed Katie’s lead.

To make: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine 1 cup smooth peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, and 1 egg. Drop golf ball-sized spoonfuls on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, and press down with the back of a fork. Bake for 6-8 minutes (mine needed the full 8 minutes). Let cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

With the Cranberry Lime Mocktails, the salad, and the cookies, it turned out to be the perfect girls’ night in…before going out, that is I can’t wait for our next get-together!

What is your favorite way to make a party or get-together at your home more festive? Tell me about it in the comments for the chance to win a $100 gift card!

…but this is that tenth time.

yields 12-14 cookies

dry ingredients:

wet ingredients:

On this particular day, that looked a little bit like this.

ingredients:

I’m such a rebel, I know.

Now I’ve gotten all sorts of crazy over here and decided to give a boxed carrot cake mix a try. And, I’m happy to say that in this particular case, crazy can be quite [...]]]> A few weeks ago I deviated from using the usual yellow cake mix and used a chocolate one.

I’m such a rebel, I know.

Now I’ve gotten all sorts of crazy over here and decided to give a boxed carrot cake mix a try. And, I’m happy to say that in this particular case, crazy can be quite delicious.

ingredients:

• 1 box carrot cake mix
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons milk*
• sprinkles for topping (optional)
• frosting (optional – see below)

directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put cake mix in a large bowl and mix in the oil and egg. Then add the milk slowly just until the batter is combined – you want it to remain as dense as possible (*you actually might not even need the milk). Place batter in a greased 8×8 pan or 8-inch cake pan. Bake for 23 minutes.  Let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting because the gooey center needs to set. The result will be a decadent, cake-batter texture.

If you want to take these up another notch, you could top them with cinnamon sugar icing or cream cheese frosting.

I decided to leave most of them frostingless this time because like to keep my blondies mouth-poppable.

(…I’m pretty sure I just won the most awkward, most dirty-sounding sentence award. Ahem.)

Anyway, these are pretty rockin’. If you don’t like carrot cake, though, you might like one of my other cake batter recipes.

Sick of all of my cake batter recipes? Of course you aren’t.

Well good, because I have a treat that everyone will love, but it takes just about 5 minutes to make and requires NO (real) cooking.

(inspired by Quick-n-easy Vanilla Fudge)

ingredients:

It’s true.

It was sort of by accident. We needed an extra dessert for our family Christmas party and had chocolate cake mix in the pantry but no frosting. I thought, I wonder if I could [...]]]> Did you know that the recipe I’m about to share is actually the one that inspired the invention of Cake Batter Blondies?

It’s true.

It was sort of by accident. We needed an extra dessert for our family Christmas party and had chocolate cake mix in the pantry but no frosting. I thought, I wonder if I could somehow maneuver this cake mix into brownies…

Long story short…it worked.

ingredients:

• 1 box chocolate cake mix
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
• sprinkles for topping (optional)

directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put cake mix in a large bowl and mix in the oil and egg. Then add the milk slowly just until the batter is combined – you want it to remain as dense as possible. Mix in chocolate chips. Place batter in a greased 8×8 pan or 8-inch cake pan and top with sprinkles. Bake for 20-22 minutes. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting because the gooey center needs to set. The result will be a decadent, brownie-batter texture.

Even though I’m not chocolate’s biggest fan, these are seriously good. They’re fudgy and gooey but in a different way than regular brownies – a better way, if you ask me.

More CBB varieties:

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake Batter Blondies
• Nutella Cake Batter Blondies
• Coconut Cream Cake Batter Blondies
• Snickerdoodle Cake Batter Blondies
• Original Cake Batter Blondies

If you had to pick – blondies or brownies?

It was only a matter of time before Cake Batter Blondies took a peanut butter twist, and after seeing Courtney’s version last week, I knew I just couldn’t put it off any longer.

ingredients:

directions: [...]]]> Say that 10 times fast.

It was only a matter of time before Cake Batter Blondies took a peanut butter twist, and after seeing Courtney’s version last week, I knew I just couldn’t put it off any longer.

ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup chocolate chips

directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cake mix in a large bowl, set aside. In a small bowl whisk together the egg, oil, and peanut butter. Add wet mixture to the cake mix and combine as much as possible, then add the milk. Mix in the chocolate chips. Place batter in a greased 8×8 pan or 8-inch cake pan,  and bake for 27-29 minutes or just until the edges turn golden. Let cool for 60 minutes before cutting because the gooey center needs to set. The result will be a decadent, cake-batter texture.

…let’s just say that these give Reese’s peanut butter cups a run for their money.

Don’t like peanut butter? You might want to try:

• Nutella Cake Batter Blondies
• Coconut Cream Cake Batter Blondies
• Snickerdoodle Cake Batter Blondies
• Original Cake Batter Blondies

Call it what you want, but the chocolate hazelnut spread is in fact the perfect addition to a new variety of Cake Batter Blondies.

ingredients:

directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cake mix in a large [...]]]> Nuh-tella.
New-tella.
Euro peanut butter.

Call it what you want, but the chocolate hazelnut spread is in fact the perfect addition to a new variety of Cake Batter Blondies.

ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1/2 cup Nutella, melted
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/3 cup milk
• chocolate sprinkles (optional for topping)

directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cake mix in a large bowl, set aside. In a small bowl whisk together the egg, oil, and Nutella. Add wet mixture to the cake mix and combine as much as possible, then slowly add the milk. Place batter in a greased 8×8 pan or 8-inch cake pan and top with sprinkles (optional). Bake for 25-27 minutes or just until the edges turn golden. Let cool for 30 minutes before cutting because the gooey center needs to set. The result will be a decadent, cake-batter texture.

If Nutella isn’t your thing..well, that’s just weird. But you might like:

• Coconut Cream Cake Batter Blondies
• Snickerdoodle Cake Batter Blondies
• Original Cake Batter Blondies

…it seems I have to take back my claim of not liking chocolate.

ingredients:

directions: