Tetris Cookies

Ever since I was a kid, I've loved playing Tetris on my GameBoy. Just the word "Tetris" gets that electronic Russian music in my head all over again like an '80s earworm. It's hard not to like Tetris. It's problem solving, creative thinking, and stress management for adults and just plain fun for kids. My husband had a game night at his work and I wanted to contribute something, so when I saw these Tetris cookies by PSHeart, I thought they were perfect! I doubled my recipe, just like the original post did, but there's one little detail they left out that I want to warn you about...

Before I get to that, here's what you'll need to make 88 Tetris sugar cookies (more or less, depending on how large or small you cut them!):

1 cup of butter
1 1/2 cups of sugar
4 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 Tablespoon of milk
4 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder

Preheat your oven to 350 and cream the butter in your mixer. Add your sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, and milk and beat hard.

Add the flour and baking powder and beat again - if it's more liquidy than doughy, it's ok.
Cover your workspace with flour and roll out your dough. The thinner the dough, the crisper the cookies. If it's thick, the dough will puff up in the oven!

Now it's time to make the shapes. If you want to use a template, that'd be the smart solution. I decided to eyeball it instead. Meh.

Pop them in the oven until the bottoms and sides are golden brown (anywhere between 5-9 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cookies.

Let them cool before icing. Now if you have the time, you can make your own royal icing. However, by the time I finally got these puppies out of the oven, two hours had already gone by and I was exhausted. I colored white Pillsbury frosting out of a can instead. Don't kill me.

Now my version of Tetris on the Game Boy wasn't in color so I had no idea what color the pieces should be. Really, you can use any colors you want. If you have a black food writer pen, that'll probably work better than the black Wilton sparkle gel icing I used.

All in all, they were a big hit at game night, even if they didn't look perfect and took over 4 HOURS to make. This is one of those times where you can and should tell your kid, "Don't forget to play with your food!"

TOTAL COSTS: About $20 to make 88 cookies

$.99 for the butter

$2.69 for the sugar

$2.79 for the eggs

$2.29 for the milk

$3.29 for the flour

$1.99 for the baking powder

$1.99 for the frosting

$2.99 for the black Wilton Sparkle Gel

Used homemade vanilla extract and had food coloring on hand

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: A little over 4 hours

10 minutes to make dough

2 hours to cut and bake 88 cookies

2 hours to decorate 63 of them

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 3 out of 5

Getting the right thickness, making sure they didn't burn, getting the black lines to be straight...yeah, there are a few places you could mess up. Heck, I dropped and broke quite a few, so try not to get too frustrated if they don't turn out perfect. Whoever is eating them will think they look and taste delicious, no matter what!

Simplified Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Why do I call this "simplified" lemon poppy seed bread? The original post goes into such excessive detail, you begin to wonder if author lives in a white home with padded walls. I'm telling you, it's on the side of ridiculous. So I'm going to take this post from CookingClassy and try to simplify it for you. It's delicious bread so I don't want instructions like, "Allow to cool 5 minutes in loaf pan (and no longer than 8 minutes)" to deter you from trying it out yourself because of how annoyed you are by their instructions!

Here's what you'll need:

1 2/3 cups of flour
2 Tablespoons of poppy seeds
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of sugar
2 Tablespoons of lemon zest (they say 3 lemons, I used 2 without any problems)
1/2 cup of unsalted butter at room temp.
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons of sour cream (see what I mean?)
1/4 cup of milk
2 Tablespoons of lemon juice

For the glaze:
1/4 cup of sugar
3 Tablespoons of lemon juice

Start by preheating your oven to 350, take your bread pan, coat it with PAM (or butter) and flour the inside of the pan. Trust me, it'll make it a lot easier to get it out of the pan once all is said and done.

Grab a medium size bowl (not your mixer) and whisk together the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt until combined (they say 20 seconds but honestly, who's counting??).

In your mixer, add your sugar and lemon zest.

Here it gets kind of ridiculous but using your fingertips, rub the lemon zest and the sugar together until the sugar becomes pale yellow. Hey, at least your fingers will smell delicious!

Add butter to the mixture and mix until it's fluffy. Be sure to scrape the sides to get it all whipped together. Add one egg at a time and finally, add the vanilla. Note: if you drop an eggshell and then accidentally put it on high instead of turning off the mixer, it's really frustrating getting all the shell pieces out... or... so I've been told... ahem...

In a small bowl, whisk together your milk and sour cream and heat in the microwave until warm (30 seconds and it'll start to curdle!)

Now here is where the instructions really start to annoy me. They want you to add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the mixing bowl, then 1/2 of the milk mixture, then 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice, then another 1/3 of the flour, 1/2 of the milk mixture, 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice, then the rest of the flour mixture. If you want to add all the ingredients this way, it's up to you, but I honestly don't see how this is going to affect the way the bread tastes. My advice? Just don't add the flour mixture all at once or you'll have a big mess to clean up!

Pour the dough into the bread pan and smooth out the top.

Bake for 40 minutes, cover it with foil (making sure the foil doesn't touch the bread), and then bake for another 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Now as I mentioned earlier, they want you to wait 5 minutes before removing the bread from the pan. While it's cooling, add your lemon juice and sugar in small bowl and heat for 15-30 seconds, or until the sugar has dissolved. This will serve as your "glaze".

Take the bread out of the pan and brush the top with the glaze. Give it a few seconds to absorb the first coat, and then add on another coat of glaze. The more glaze, the better (considering it's not very thick).

And there you have it, folks. The simplified version of lemon poppy seed bread! Try not to devour it all at once before your drug test...

TOTAL COSTS: About $25 (if you don't have any ingredients - prices from Vons)
$3.29 for flour
$6.29 for poppy seeds
$1.99 for baking powder
$.99 for salt
$2.69 for sugar
$.99 for 2 lemons (used lemon juice from lemons)
$.99 for butter
$2.79 for eggs
$1.99 for sour cream
$2.29 for milk
Used homemade recipe for vanilla extract

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 1 hour, 30 minutes
30 minutes to prep the dough
50 minutes in oven
5 minutes to cool
5 minutes to glaze

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5
Making bread isn't difficult, I assure you, it's just instructions like the original that make it sound more complicated than it actually is. The hardest part is making sure you don't burn the darn thing. Keep an eye on it and you'll do just fine!

Mini Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

I'm from Kalamazoo, MI (odd name, I know) but they're home to some of the best donuts (doughnuts?) in the country - Sweetwater's Donuts. I have found no real comparison in Los Angeles, so when I saw this recipe on AverieCooks, I thought I'd make my own as a nice morning treat with a cup o' coffee. If you have half an hour to spare and a mini muffin tin, you should definitely give these a shot (I may or may not be typing with one hand with a mini doughnut in the other...)

To make 24 mini donuts, you'll need:
1 large egg
5 Tablespoons of softened unsalted butter
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
3/4 cup of buttermilk (I used 2% and they came out fine)
1 1/4 cup of flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
Pinch of salt

For the sugar coating you'll need:
3 Tablespoons of melted unsalted butter
1/4 cup of sugar
1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon (the more cinnamon you use, the darker they'll look)

Start by preheating your oven to 350 and spray the inside of your mini muffin pan with PAM.

Add the egg, butter, sugars, and vanilla to a stand mixer and beat until it's light and fluffy. Be sure to scrape the sides to it's all whipped together. Add the (butter)milk and beat to combine.

Add the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt on low until just incorporated. Expect it to be a little lumpy and thick.

Add the mixture to your mini muffin pan until each cavity is 3/4ths of the way full.

Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until you can insert a toothpick and the center comes out clean. Let them cool for 10 minutes in the pans before removing, at which point, you can make your sugar coating.

To make the sugar coating, use two bowls - one with the melted butter (about 20 seconds in the microwave should do it), the other with the sugar and cinnamon. Do not combine the two!

Once the donuts have cooled, dip the tops into the melted butter bowl and then roll around in the cinnamon sugar bowl so the tops are completely covered. If you want to cover the entire donut with cinnamon sugar, just make sure you melt enough butter and have enough cinnamon sugar on hand! Note that depending on how much cinnamon you use will depend on how dark the donuts look.

You can eat these right out of the oven, refrigerate them for later, or freeze them for up to 3 months for another morning snack (though to be honest, I'd be surprised if these lasted for more than a couple days in any household!)

TOTAL COSTS: About $24 (if you don't have any ingredients - prices from Vons)
$2.79 for eggs (though you only need one)
$.99 for butter
$2.69 for sugar
$2.29 for milk
$3.29 for flour
$4.79 for cinnamon
$1.99 for baking powder
$3.98 for nutmeg
$.99 for salt (though you only need a pinch)
Used homemade recipe for brown sugar and vanilla extract

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 30 minutes
15 minutes to prep mini donuts
10 minutes to bake
10 minutes to cool
5 minutes to dip all in butter and cinnamon sugar

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5
The hardest part is making sure they don't burn in the oven but as long as you keep an eye on them, they'll be fine. My favorite part? They're enjoyable for any season!

Apple Pie Baked Inside an Apple!

We're coming up on the 4th of July and nothing is more 'Murican than apple pie, right? Well, when I saw this post by DomesticDilettante, I thought these apple pies baked in apples were too good to be true. Look how perfect they are! Ahhh but there's a catch... wanna know what they forgot to mention? I'm not saying these aren't good but you might want to know the whole story before venturing to the apple orchards...


To make these mini apple pies, you'll need:

* 5 Granny Apples (4 whole apples and 1 to chop up for the filling)
* 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
* 1/4 cup of sugar
* 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar
* Pie Crust (mine was store-bought and you only need 1)





To start off, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and cut off the top of an apple.

Using a knife and/or a spoon, core out the inside of the apple. If you're able to save any of the insides, keep them in a bowl for later. Chances are, though, you'll mainly be pulling out the core and a bunch of seeds, which aren't worth saving.

Do this for all four apples. Do not puncture a hole in the side or the bottom or you will have juices running everywhere. Trust me on this one.

Once your apples are hollowed out, it's time to make the filling. Peel and chop up your extra apple (which will fill almost 4 apples perfectly). Place the pieces in a bowl.

Next, add your cinnamon, brown sugar, and sugar and stir together until your apple pieces are coated in yummy deliciousness.... mmmm... yummy deliciousness...

Spoon your filling into each of your apples without overflowing.

Next, the "crust". Take your pie crust and cut it into slices. Now mine were pretty thin - about 1/4" thick - so you might want to make yours thicker but it's totally up to you. Fold each row and column under and over so as to make your woven lattice pie crust.

If you have an 8"x8" pan, place the apples in there, pour enough water to cover the bottom, wrap foil on top and stick in the oven for 20 minutes. If you don't have an 8"x8" pan and you just skipped the last sentence entirely, two 5"x8" bread pans work and just put two apples in each pan, pour in water to fill the bottom, cover with foil, and stick in the oven.

After the 20 minutes are up, take off the foil and stick the pans back in the oven. Be very careful, as hot steam will come up from under the foil and bad words you didn't know existed will flow from your mouth. So... be careful.

Now you can either let them bake another 20 minutes and they'll look like the ones on the right or 25 minutes and you get the ones on the left. As long as the apple filling is soft, you're good to go.

And now, ladies and gentleman, the part you've all been waiting for... what did the original post forget to mention or show? How the apples look from the side.

Warning: might not be appropriate for people who like their applies to be perky, green, and perfect.

Aiiiiiiiee!!! What IS that?! Well folks, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but any photo you see of these will always from the top and never from the sides because of this exact reason. It ain't pretty. The apples kind of collapse on themselves. However, the filling inside is delicious, the crust tastes good, and the lining of the apples taste like applesauce so what's a little wrinkle here and there, right?

TOTAL COSTS: About $15 to make 4 apple "pies" (prices from Vons)
$1.99/lb for Granny Smith apples
$4.79 for cinnamon
$2.69 for sugar
$2.70 for pie crust
Made my own homemade brown sugar

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: About 1 hour, 35-40 minutes
20 minutes to cut and hollow out apples
20 minutes to make the filling
15 minutes to make the lattice crust on all 4 apples
20 minutes to bake with foil
20-25 minutes to bake without foil

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 3 out of 5
Trying to make sure the filling is done while not burning the top is easier than it sounds. Just keep an eye on the oven and you'll do just fine!

Vanilla Almond Granola

Let me start off by saying, mine did not turn out like the original. At all. Still, this vanilla almond granola is delicious and would make a great treat for cereal, trail mix, etc. I found the original post from MyGlutenFreeKitchen (they used gluten-free oats but I used old-fashioned). Along with 4 cups of oats, you'll need:


* 1 cup of sliced or slivered almonds (you can buy them pre-sliced)
* 1/3 cup of packed brown sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon of salt
* 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
* 1/3 cup of butter or vegetable oil
* 1/4 cup of honey
* 2 Tablespoons of sugar
* 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract (not imitation extract)

Start by preheating your oven to 300 degrees and laying parchment paper down on 2 cookie sheets.

Combine the oats, almonds, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, honey, and sugar. Whisk together until the sugar has completely dissolved. After about 30 seconds, remove the pan from the heat and add your vanilla.

Pour the butter/honey/sugar/vanilla mixture into the bowl of oats and stir thoroughly. Pour the oats onto your cookie sheets and bake. Now the original post says to bake for 25-30 minutes but after 20 minutes, my almonds were burning so I took them out. Be sure to stir them a couple times on the pans while they're in the oven so they're all baked evenly.

Now this is where my granola didn't follow orders... while it's cooling, it's supposed to clump up. If you stir often while it's cooling, it'll supposedly form smaller clumps. Mine didn't clump at all so I decided to add pretzel sticks, peanuts, and chocolate chips to make it trail mix. Perhaps you'll have better luck with the clumping but either way, it's still delicious!

TOTAL COSTS: About $25

$1.99 for oats

$3.99 for almonds

$.99 for salt

$4.79 for cinnamon

$.99 for butter

$4.29 for honey

$2.69 for sugar

$4.99 for vanilla

I made my own brown sugar - see my instructions here

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 1 hour

20 minutes to prep

20 minutes to bake

20 minutes to cool

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 3 out of 5

When I think of granola, I think of clumps of oats. I managed to get maybe 3 or 4 clumps in the entire batch. Perhaps it requires more of the butter/honey/sugar/vanilla mixture, maybe less time stirring while in the oven or while it's cooling, maybe less time in the oven, it's hard to say. There are a lot of different variables here so be prepared to do a little trial and error!