Indulgence: S'more Cookies

Nothing says summer like s'mores. Am I right? Or am I right? We love s'mores, but we have one little problem... we don't have a fire pit. It's makes it a little hard to make them the traditional way, and I'm not brave enough to let my kids do it using our gas stove, so these are our next best alternative. :) And though we try to keep things healthy around here, an indulgence every now and again is just fine. Happy 4th of July!

Indulgence: S'more Cookies
24 SERVINGS 
PREP: 12 minutes           COOK: 12 minutes            READY IN: 24 minutes

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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• 11 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 heaping cup of mini marshmallows
• 1-2 packages graham crackers, broken into squares (I used 24 squares, but how many squares you use will ultimately depend how much dough you put on top of them)
• 3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into single squares

DIRECTIONS

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1. Mix together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar together until nice and creamy.
2. Add in the eggs, one a a time. 
3. Once mixed, add the vanilla. Mix.
4. Add the baking soda, sea salt, and flour. Mix together.
5. With a large spoon, or spatula, mix-in the chocolate chips and marshmallows.
6. Chill the dough for one hour in the refrigerator.
7. Preheat the oven to 375º.
8. One a cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper, lay out the graham crackers, side by side. (For step by step pictures, click here).
9. On top of each graham cracker, place a tablespoon of dough on top. (I used my regular sized cookie scoop and it worked great).
10. Bake the cookies for 5-6 minutes, add the Hershey bar to each graham cracker cookie and bake for another 5-7 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely (I threw them in the freezer for about 20 minutes) and cut them with a sharp knife.

Enjoy!
Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything.

Indulgence: Apple Strudel Ebelskivers

 We rarely do anything fancy for Valentines Day. I'm more of a show me you love me everyday kinda girl :) Lucky for my husband, it keeps my expectations low for the holiday. The first few years we were married we had a tradition of just making a nice dinner at home. With our Healthy Habits Challenge this month I'm thinking we'll revert back to that. It gives more control over not ordering the fat-filled yummy food at the restaurants. However, you have to have at least one treat for Valentine's day, right? Breakfast is the perfect meal to do so. Plus you have all day to burn it off ;) These are so simple and delicious, yet they look fancy enough to be from a restaurant! Try these for your sweetheart this Valentine's day! He'll love them so much, maybe he'll buy you something fancy as a thank you? Here's to hoping!!

Apple Strudle Ebelskivers

makes 21 ebelskivers 

PREP: 20 minutes           COOK: 10 minutes            READY IN: 30 minutes

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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Batter

• 3 large eggs, separated
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups buttermilk (or substitute with 2 cups milk with 1 teaspoon lemon juice added)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling

• 2 Granny Smith apples
• 4 tablespoons butter (I never said these were healthy ;)) 
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

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1. Prepare your filling. Peel and core your apples. Finely dice. 
2. In a skillet, melt 4 tablespoons of butter. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, salt and apples. Cook on low heat until apples are soft, about 10 minutes. Set aside when done. 
3. While apples are cooking, prepare your batter. 
4. With your separated eggs, beat the yolks with sugar and salt in a large bowl. 
5. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. 
6. Add dry ingredients to your egg yolk mixture. Alternate adding dry ingredients and buttermilk (or substitute mixture) until everything is well incorporated. 
7. Take your egg whites and beat with a hand mixture until they form stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter with a spatula. 
8. Heat your ebelskiver pan over low to medium heat. 
9. Brush pan with a little melted butter. To each well add 1 tablespoon batter, followed by 1 teaspoon of apple filling in the center with 1 teaspoon batter on top to seal it off. 
10. Let it cook for about 3 minutes. Turn ebelsikver using a wooden chopstick or skewer and cook for another 2-3 minutes until both sides are browned. 
11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 until all the batter and filling is used. 
12. Serve warm with syrup, cool whip or apples. 

NUTRITION FACTS

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   1 ebelskiver   122 calories  5.4g fat  15.7g carbs   2.9g protein   5.9g sugar   

Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from The Great Breakfast Book

Holiday Pepper Jelly

I'm not a spicy person. Meaning - I don't ever eat spicy foods. I feel like too much spice masks the flavor of what I'm eating and just leaves my tongue and throat feeling a little bit sick for a few hours. BUT, this Holiday Pepper Jelly is the perfect amount of spice for these taste buds. A coworker made this pepper jelly for our staff a few days ago and it was gone before anyone could go back for seconds! Great to spread over some cream cheese and dip a few crackers in.

Holiday Pepper Jelly
6-8 HALF PINT JARS
PREP: 30 minutes           COOK: 15 minutes            READY IN: 45 minutes

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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• 3 cups red pepper, finely chopped (appx. 4 peppers)
•  1 cup green pepper, finely chopped (appx. 1 1/2 pepper)
• 1/2 cup jalapeno, finely chopped (appx. 2 peppers)
• 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 packages pectin 
• 5 cups sugar

DIRECTIONS

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1. Combine chopped peppers, vinegar, and pectin in a large saucepan.
2. Bring to boil, stirring constantly.
3. Add sugar while still stirring. Return to a boil.
4. Boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
5. Ladle into sterilized jars. Wipe off top lip of jars and put on boiled lids. Screw on rings.
6. Process in boiling canner for 5 minutes. Water needs to cover jars.

NUTRITION FACTS

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    2 TBSP serving    84 calories   0 g fat   21.4 g carbs    0.1 g protein    21.1 g sugar   

Enjoy!