Lovin' From the Oven

Chocolate Chip, Almond & Toffee Cookies

by 7 Comments




I really can’t wait for the fall and winter weather. As much as I love the sun, I prefer sleeping bundled up in sheets rather than sweating through them. Although the heat doesn’t keep me out of the kitchen, it’s a lot more comforting with the oven running when it’s cold out. Cue countdown to cold weather.. now!

Last night, my DB and I went to Disneyland to finally see the World of Color show. Yesterday was actually the perfect day to go to Disneyland… no people (we were able to park on the Daisy level even when getting there at 3:30!), warm weather, cool night, and little traffic! Our Disneyland annual passes expire in two weeks, and sadly, I don’t think we’ll be renewing our passes. This means no more pin trading! ::sigh:: Time to be an adult… or something like that.

I know that these are simple cookies, but simple ones are the best kind! I like trying out different chocolate chip recipes purely out of curiosity. What makes it better? What makes it worse? These were soft, chewy, and sweet.. just the way I like them. The recipe comes slightly adapted from Cafe Johnsonia. Enjoy!

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  • 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup toffee pieces

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Beat butter and dark brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat for another minute. Add the vanilla, beat well.
  3. Whisk dry ingredients together. In two or three additions, mix the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture.
  4. Fold in the chocolate chips, toffee and almonds. Use a mini ice cream scoop or tablespoon to drop balls of the dough onto baking sheets. Gently flatten the tops of the dough.
  5. Bake for about 8-10 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet.
For those that asked a million years ago, I did a room tour on my fashion blog HERE. Enjoy!

Banana Bread with Walnut Streusel

by 10 Comments






I just got back from Vegas, yet again, from a girls’ trip! This time, there was a lot more relaxing and plenty of shopping. We had no set schedule and rented a car so we didn’t have to walk five miles a day. The whole trip was a lot of fun, being able to hang out with my mom, her favorite sister, and my favorite cousin! My cousin and I were basically looking into a time capsule as we watched our moms interact. It was going to be us thirty years later.. and we couldn’t love it any more! I would be thrilled to even be half the woman my mom is.

Oh, this is my 200th post! HOORAY! Thank you to everyone for following along and pushing me through everything. I wouldn’t be here without you guys! I have a story to share with you all for my 200th post:

I went to Vegas with hopes of buying the Speedy 30 with strap monogram idylle limited edition in fusain (since I saw it two weeks ago) as a birthday present to myself, only to find out that it was sold out in ALL of Vegas! I was SO disappointed. I told my dearest boyfriend my story and asked him to make my day better. What did he do? He sent me this picture:


With the caption “It’s Bo!” (Bo is our dog, for reference). Of course, on my little phone screen, I had to squint to see what was next to Bo. I just about had a heart attack.. “Is that a Louis Vuitton bag I see?! He couldn’t have.. could he? He did?! What the heck is in the bag?! When did he get this?!” I had to show my mom to see if she saw the same thing I did. Yup, it was confirmed.. there’s a definitely a Louis bag in the picture. The more I asked him about it, the more he kept saying how I was crazy and how he had no idea what I was talking about.

I was seriously dying for the next 24 hours, waiting for my plane ride home. When I finally did come home, I had an hour left of my birthday and spent it with my boyfriend. That’s when he gave me this not so little brown bag. I sat myself down on his stairs and just held it. You guys might call be crazy, but I may or may not have cried a little bit from happiness. I untied the ribbon, pulled off the tape, and opened the box. What did I find? This!

The Monogram Speedy 30!!! I still cannot believe this just happened. This. Just. Happened. Apparently he went shopping by himself to the Louis store on Rodeo, only to see that they were sold out of all their Speedys. If you know him, you’d know that this was well out of his comfort zone. Since they didn’t have it at the store on Rodeo, he went to another store and picked up the last Speedy 30 they had there. He wanted to get me the Damier Azur Canvas one (He knew that that was the print I sold my old Speedy to buy), but since they were sold out, he took this one so he had something to give me in time for my bday. My bf told me I could exchange it for the Damier one if I wanted, it’d just take two weeks for me to get it. But of course, how could I give up something that my boyfriend picked up himself for me? I don’t have the heart to exchange it— I love it SO much.
So basically, I’ve just been dying in heaven ever since and in shock of how lucky I am to have such an amazing boyfriend. Seriously. Oh, and apparently there’s a Speedy shortage on all of the West coast, if you were curious. They sold all of their winter supply already and won’t be getting more til Christmas.
Well, that’s my little story. Sorry if I bored you, I just had to share! This beautiful bread is adapted from My Man’s Belly. Haha I just laughed out loud reading that sentence. Nothing comes from my man’s belly, everything just goes in it. So maybe it’s a little too late and I’m cracking myself up; it happens sometimes. Somehow, I have a list of three banana breads I turn to, and this one is one of them! Simplicity at its finest. No chocolate, no add-ins, just bread. I even made it three times in one week once; it’s that good!

Banana Bread Recipe

  • 2 2/3 Cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 12 Tablespoons (1 and a half sticks) Unsalted Butter
  • 2/3 Cup Sugar
  • 2/3 Cup Honey
  • 3 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • 4 Large Eggs
  • 2 Cup Bananas – Mashed (6 bananas)

Streusel Recipe

  • 1/2 Cup All purpose Flour
  • 1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts
  • 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (packed)
  • 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

Banana Bread Recipe

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
  2. Butter and flour two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pans.
  3. In a medium bowl, blend together the first four ingredients.
  4. In a large bowl, beat on high speed, the butter; sugar; vanilla; and honey. Beat for 2 – 3 minutes or until light yellow in color and lighter in texture.
  5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients in thirds. Blend until combined (the texture will be grainy, like sand).
  6. Slowly add in the eggs and beat to combine.
  7. Fold in the bananas.
  8. Once thoroughly combined, pour into the buttered and floured loaf pans. Spread the batter evenly.

Streusel Recipe

  1. In a small bowl, add all ingredients.
  2. Blend with the back of a fork until a coarse crumb forms.
  3. Sprinkle the streusel topping on top of the banana bread.
  4. Bake for 50 – 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  5. Let cool for 10 – 15 minutes before removing from the pan to further cool.

Ask me anything on Formspring

Cherie’s Snickers Peanut Butter Cookies

by 7 Comments






I honestly don’t know how people go to work 40 hours a week. We work to live, live to work. It’s a strenuous lifestyle that can also be just as rewarding. For me, I feel like I have to go on a mini vacation every month just to keep from overloading.. and I don’t even consider my job “real” work (since it’s just a part time job)! What am I going to do once I join the work force?! Oh dear. Hopefully I’m lucky enough to do something that I love so it doesn’t feel like work.

I’ll be taking my second mini vacation this week with another trip to Vegas, but this time it’s a girls’ trip with my mom, my aunt (mom’s sister) and her daughter (aka my cousin). We’ll be celebrating my aunt’s and my birthday! I’m counting down the hours… so excited!

I feel like I made these cookies oh-so-long ago. But don’t these cookies just look drool-worthy? After baking these, I confirmed that I don’t like peanut butter cookies. Am I crazy? I love having peanut butter chips and candy in cookies, but I don’t like peanut butter cookies itself. Either way, my DB loved these. The cookies are very moist, almost to the post where they’re crumbly, and have a different kick depending on what type of candy bar you use. I got a grab bag that had the three musketeers, milky way, snickers, and midnight milky way. The recipe is slightly adapted from Amanda’s Cookin’.

Oh, I’ve actually been updating my style blog, A Pile of Style, frequently! Feel free to drop by over there and say hello! 🙂

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 ½ cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 bag mini size candy bars, whatever you prefer
  1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
  2. Cream butter, sugars and peanut butter. Add eggs. Stir or whisk together flour, soda and salt. Add to creamed butter mixture and mix well.
  3. Roll into balls or use a cookie scoop.
  4. Cut the candy bars in half and place them cut side down on top of the rounded cookie and press down gently.
  5. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven and leave cookies on cookie sheet for 2 minutes to rest. Cool on a cooling rack for ten minutes.
  7. Allow to cool completely before eating (if you can wait!).

Ask me anything on Formspring

Categories