Sinfully Sore Sunday.

I absolutely LOVE to bake. I love that feeling of creating something tasty that other people can enjoy. To me it is so fun to try new recipes and attempt different ideas. For the most part I cook very healthy, but I do enjoy baking treats and giving them away. Although I don't eat the sugary sweets I bake, I do fully believe in moderation. I think that there is room in your diet for all foods, and when you are focusing on eating good things most of the time you have room for some treats every now and again!
My friend needed some cookies for a church lesson, so I jumped at the chance to try out a recipe I'd seen on Picky Palate for brownie stuffed chocolate chip cookies. Sounds divine right?

First make up your favorite box brownie mix. You can make them from scratch if you'd like, but a delish box brownie mix will do the trick just fine, and is a heck of a lot quicker.

While the brownies are baking mix up the cookie dough. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Ingredients: 

2 sticks softened butter

1 Cup granulated sugar

3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla

3 1/2 Cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 Cups semi sweet chocolate chips

  

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare brownie according to package directions. Let cool completely. Cut your brownies into squares. You can make them whatever size you like depending on how many cookies you want to make. I made mine about one inch squares. In a stand or electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla, continue to beat until well combined. Place flour, salt and baking soda into a bowl; mix to combine then add slowly to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips. Place a scoopful of cookie dough on top of a brownie square and another scoop on the bottom.  Gently press and enclose brownie with dough adding pinches more dough to cover sides if needed.  Place filled cookies onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.

Bake for 14-16 minutes or until edges are golden brown.  Remove and let cool for 15 minutes before removing from baking sheet.

 

They smelled divine, and everyone seemed to love them! How could you not? A Combo of brownies and chocolate chip cookies?? As I was baking these I was thinking how yummy it would be to serve them warm with a scoop of ice cream. 

MONEY.

 We also made some mock Pizza Factory Bread sticks. The Pizza Factory is the restaurant I talk about all the time that has my all time favorite salad bar. We were looking for a good bread stick recipe, and I remembered a recipe I'd seen on Jody's blog Great Blog Food Made Better. (Little did every know we were using a health-i-fied recipe...muah hahahaha.)

We made two variations, cinnamon sugar and garlic. I sprayed mine with spray butter and sprinkled a little pizza seasoning on it. They turned out really good! Thanks for the recipe Jody! 

I don't get very sore anymore, so I love waking up to sore muscles. I know that sounds crazy, but I like feeling like I did something, like something is changing! After yesterdays two plus hours of lifting and doing intervals I was feeling it today. 

One of the sequences I did yesterday is this KILLER LEG COMBO. After doing ONE set you will have done 165 lunges and squats. Do it twice through, or three times and you'll be looking like Jessica Simpson in the Dukes of Hazard. Not to mention you'll be using your core the whole time, and feeling it in your shoulders and upper back from holding your weight in front of you.

Again. 

MONEY. 

What is your favorite baked good? I am a fan of warm cookies, brownies, and cinnamon rolls...or pretty much anything with cinnamon! HOWEVER, I would rather have some fat free frozen yogurt than baked goods any day. Do you like to bake for other people? I love it. I would rather make something and give it all away than eat it. I know. Weird. 

Thanks for letting me indulge a little. We'll be back to healthy and low-fat tomorrow ;)