THICK & CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

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Some days call for classic thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies. Those days could be hard days, sad days, lonely days, happy days, cold days, warm days...who am I kidding? Almost any day could call for freshly baked thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies. This is my go to chocolate chip cookie recipe. It produces exactly what it says, thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies...nom...nom..nom.

It's Monday, you know what that calls for? Thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies. :)

xo,

s.s.♥.

OVERNIGHT WAFFLES

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On Christmas morning I ate the BEST waffles I had ever eaten in my entire life. Better than any waffle that I have tried in a restaurant. For realz.

They were perfectly crunchy on the outside yet soft and scrumptious on the inside. My mind and taste buds were right out blown. I could eat those waffles for days on days on days.

I got the recipe from my sister in law who had made them on Christmas and when I starting planning my One Word brunch, I knew I HAD to make these waffles for the ladies.

They're called overnight waffles because you make the batter the night before and then leave it on the kitchen counter to work its magic. That may sound freaky to those of you concerned with "food poisoning and all" but I've had these twice and so far, I'm good to go. They're really, really, really good so please do yourself a favour this weekend and make these puppies.

recipe from smitten kitchen

To eat these the best way possible, make sure you have toppings on toppings on toppings. We had nutella, cookie butter, whip cream, fruit, syrup and butter. 

all photos by Amy Gary Photography

Are you drooling yet?

Yep, now go and make these waffles.

over & out,

s.s.♥.

RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE BROWNIES

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Are you a Valentine's lover or hater? Even though I have been single for most of my life (James was my second official boyfriend, and the first one was in grade 9 for two weeks, ha) I've always loved Valentine's Day, probably because I'm a hopeless romantic at heart. 

So I made you a dessert for Valentine's Day. You can make it for your boyfriend or your friends or heck, make it for yourself, and rent The Notebook. You can pretend you're eating it with Ryan Gosling. That sounds like a pretty fantastic Valentine's Day if you ask me.

Enjoy!

xoxo,

s.s.♥.

TOMATO BASIL SOUP WITH ROASTED GARLIC

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Our church is in the final week of the 21 Day Challenge. This is the fourth time we've embarked on this journey and it has been amazing. Our pastor challenged us to join the challenge by fasting and praying for God to move in 2014. I absolutely love this because it's all about drawing near to God. In the past I've done the Daniel Fast (eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains only), full fasts (juice and water only) and partial fasts (i.e. no sweets).

For personal reasons this year I'm doing a partial fast combined with a few days of full fasting. Already I've sensed a closeness to God that I haven't felt in awhile. Another thing that has helped me draw closer to God is fasting "the scroll". Oh you know the scroll...the "I don't know what to do in this moment so I'll just scroll through instagram, twitter, facebook...oh look thirty minutes have gone by.."  Yeah, I fasted from that and it's been so FREEING. I'm hardcore addicted to my phone so it's nice to break the addiction for a few weeks. I've already noticed two things 1. I'm way more productive 2. my iphone battery lasts almost the whole day! But one thing is for sure, I so miss looking at pretty pictures on instagram and being in the know of all the Christian celebrities I follow, ha. If you have questions on fasting, check out this website or leave a comment below!

So I made some soup for you! Actually that's a lie. James made some soup for you. He's made it the past two Sundays and it is delish. He modified the original recipe to make it vegan. (Just use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth all you Daniel fast peeps….ps…here is the original recipe which we've adapted)

happy wednesday!

xo,

s.s.♥.

NUTELLA STUFFED BROWN BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

i made you another cookie…

nutella stuffed brown butter chocolate chip cookies with sea salt. oh yes. this is the mother of all cookies. don’t even get me started on this cookie. 

i made these for a christmas baking exchange that i hosted with a few friends. 8 of us girls gathered and we each made 7 half dozens of a certain cookie to trade. usually you make a dozen but i couldn’t handle having 7 dozen cookies around! 

i wrapped mine using kraft paper (target), string and some evergreen from our Christmas tree.

cute packaging? obviously from rachel.

it was a great night, laughing and chatting and eating and exchanging cookies. i highly recommend having a cookie exchange!

and without further ado, here is the recipe for the mother of all cookies…

nutella stuffed brown butter chocolate chip cookies 

makes two dozen cookies

ingredients needed-

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1 cup unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon plain greek yogurt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

1/2 jar of Nutella, chilled in refrigerator

Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

directions:

1. whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.

2. brown the butter by melting it in a saucepan over medium heat. start whisking the melted butter. keep whisking and the butter will begin to foam. keep whisking. after a long time the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan; continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning. allow it to cool for a little while.

3. mix the butter and sugars in an electric mixer until thoroughly blended. beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla, and yogurt until combined. then add the dry ingredients slowly and beat on low-speed just until combined. fold in all of the chocolate chips.

4. now chill your dough for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator,

5. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. after the dough is chilled, measure about 1 1/2 tablespoons of it and roll into a ball. flatten the dough ball very thinly into the palm of your hand. place 1 teaspoon of chilled nutella in the middle and fold dough around it; gently roll into a ball. place dough balls on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart and flatten with your hand gently. 

6. bake the cookies 9-11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. cool the cookies on the sheets for 2 minutes. sprinkle with a little sea salt. transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

7. enjoy!

recipe slightly adapted from ambitious kitchen

have fun devouring these!

-s.s.♥.