Lazy Valentine Cookie Bars

January 14, 2021 Amanda Plott

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We all reserve the right to be a little lazy every so often, and with a quick trip planned for the weekend (followed by two weeks of self-quarantine) I’m feeling the laze take over. Either way, my daughter asked for some more cookies after all the GIANT Valentine Cookies from last week disappeared. Gee… I wonder how that happened…

Being as I was out of special Valentine sprinkles, and again… I’m being lazy, I thought I’d try my hand at a ‘lazy cookie bar’ recipe that was passed off to me. I did make one small change to lower the calorie count just slightly, but other than that it’s pretty much the same-same…

Giant Valentine Cookies

January 8, 2021 Amanda Plott

Nothing says ‘I love you’ quite like a GIANT cookie. these big cookies are about 4-5 regular sized cookies in ONE. BIG. COOKIE. And do you want to know a secret? They’re made with HALF the amount of sugar as the originals. That’s right, I was able to shave off half the sugar by making a couple of simple swaps.

The first swap that I made was subbing in a brown sugar/stevia blend for the regular brown sugar. I also swapped half of the original sugar for a granulated stevia. the important part here is the granulated part. While you could use any other natural sweetener that measures cup for cup like sugar, I prefer the granulated one since it doesn’t have the usual fake sweetener taste…

Orange Bundt Cake

December 31, 2020 Amanda Plott

Usually towards the middle of winter is when I start to crave all the bright citrus stuff. Grapefruits, oranges, and lemons - oh my! And this Orange Bundt Cake takes the cake. The bundt cake that is. With a light dusting of powdered sugar on top, this cake is perfectly light, sweet, and delicious.

This cake would be perfect for breakfast, brunch, or even as a dessert option. And with it being divided into 12 servings, it’s enough to serve a crowd, or have plenty on hand for meals through the week. With just enough sweetness and flecks of orange, this really is a very versatile cake…

Mini Shortbread Christmas Cookie Bites

December 21, 2020 Amanda Plott

These tiny Mini Shortbread Christmas Cookie Bites are really one of the best things I’ve put in my mouth this week. They’re light, crisp, buttery and full of festive holiday sprinkles. Of course, I didn’t go with traditional ‘red and green’ sprinkles. I found some awesome colorful ‘gingerbread’ holiday sprinkles that really made these tiny bites pop!

The very same ones that I used in my Healthified 'Lofthouse' Soft Sugar Cookies! The sprinkles here DO make a difference, so be sure to use your favorites. Jimmies and ‘confetti’ style sprinkles work best because they don’t bleed out color into the batter as easily as some others…

Instant Pot Cheesecake Bites

December 10, 2020 Amanda Plott

Most recently I found a fun way to make tamales in the instant pot, and being as I’ve also made a cheesecake in the instant pot too, I thought… is it possible to make mini cheesecakes? As it turns out, it is! These Instant Pot Cheesecake Bites are fun and easy to make. Plus, they’re lightened up just enough to be guilt free while still tasting great.

As it turns out, the instant pot is a great way to make cheesecakes, and these mini ones are made directly in my handy-dandy egg bite mold! I lightened them up by using sweetener instead of most of the sugar, and also used a reduced fat cream cheese…

Skinny Peanut Butter Bread

November 16, 2020 Amanda Plott

Baking is the name of the game right now. It never fails, every year in the midst of Fall and Winter months I attempt to get as much use out of my oven as possible since it becomes too hot to do so through the most of the Spring and Summer months. I’ve made a lot of breads lately and I’ve got to say that this Skinny Peanut Butter Bread is one of my favorites.

This bread is perfectly sweet and full of peanut butter flavor. I found it to be a great breakfast bread, but I’m wondering too if there could be other uses by way of a PB&J sandwich…