Wow. . . it has been months since my last post!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I've been super busy with new school year. College is known for causing bad eating habits. Heck, when you are studying all day and partying all night, you will be hungry all the time. There's a 24 hour BK and food available to you all the time. Good thing I keep my priorities in check. I stay healthy by getting a decent amount of sleep every night, always planning ahead, doing my homework on time, and exercising. I go to the gym frequently throughout the week and I try to stick to healthy food options at the dining halls. Dorm food really isn't that bad. But don't get me wrong. . . it cannot compare to my mother's cooking. I miss everything about our family dinners. Homecooked meals are amazing and I'm always craving them when I walk into the dining hall and the see the familiar cafeteria lines, colored plates, and large pans of interesting foods. However, I can always manage to find something edible. Since I don't want to gain the freshman 15, I try to skip dessert. None of the desserts seem worth it either. I would rather indulge in homemade baked goods. I could really use:
1. Pumpkin Cupcakes with maple cream-cheese frosting
2. Snickerdoodle Cookies
3. Berry Crisp
4. Oatmeal Cookies
5. A slice of fudgy chocolate cake

S'more Cookies

Who doesn't like the classic bonfire dessert. Now you can eat a s'more without the fire in a cookie form!

S'mores Cookies
adapted from Make and Bake

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 dash of cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups miniature chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
2 Hershey bars, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, salt, and dash of cinnamon. In a second larger bowl beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes, and remove from the oven. Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of hershey bar into each cookies. Return to the oven and bake an additional 3-4 minutes until fully cooked. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.

Banana Cream Pie

I'm pretty sure bananas are one of my favorite foods. I've never had a banana cream pie before and it always looks so incredibly delicious. Any banana lover is bound to enjoy this combination of fresh bananas, smooth custard, and homemade whipped cream. Can someone please make this!!!

Here's a recipe:

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
• 4 bananas, sliced

Directions

1. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, and salt. Add milk in gradually while stirring gently. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is bubbly. Keep stirring and cook for about 2 more minutes, and then remove from the burner.
2. Stir a small quantity of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and immediately add egg yolk mixture to the rest of the hot mixture. Cook for 2 more minutes; remember to keep stirring. Remove the mixture from the stove, and add butter and vanilla. Stir until the whole thing has a smooth consistency.
3. Slice bananas into the cooled baked pastry shell. Top with pudding mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes. Chill for an hour.

Blondies

Mmmmm!!!! How good do these blondies look. Blondies are brownies without chocolate. The color comes from lots of brown sugar. They seem so moist and sweet, I want to bite my screen. Here's a recipe:

Blondies
Adapted from How to Cook Everything

8 tablespoons (1 stick, 4 ounces or 113 grams) butter, melted
1 cup (218 grams or 7 3/4 ounces for light; 238 grams or 8 3/8 ounces for dark) brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Pinch salt
1 cup (4 3/8 ounces or 125 grams) all-purpose flour

1. Butter an 8×8 pan
2. Mix melted butter with brown sugar – beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla.
3. Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in any additions (below).
4. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. I always err on the side of caution with baking times — nobody ever complained about a gooey-middled cookie. Cool on rack before cutting them.

Further additions, use one or a combination of:

• 1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts, toasting them first for even better flavor
• 1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon mint extract in addition to or in place of the vanilla
• 1/2 cup mashed bananas
• 1/4 cup bourbon, scotch or other whiskey; increase the flour by one tablespoon
• 2 tablespoons of espresso powder with the vanilla
• Stir 1/2 cup dried fruit, especially dried cherries, into the prepared batter
• Top with a vanilla butter cream or chocolate peanut butter cream frosting

Destined Desserts

I love desserts! Although I live a very healthy lifestyle, I simply cannot refuse a bite (and sometimes more than just a bite) of any homemade dessert. My mother owns a cupcake business called Sweet Home Cupcakes so I'm used to being surrounded by dazzling desserts. However, there are some flavors that she never makes. I watch all these cooking shows like Cupcake Wars and Unique Sweets and my mouth waters over the delicious sugary creations. Because my mother makes cupcakes for a business, she barely experiments with other desserts. So, I have dedicated this blog to all those recipes that get cut out but never baked. Hopefully one day I can make each and every dessert I post on here. But for now, I guess the pictures will do. If anyone decides to make a dessert on my blog, please comment with pictures and your taste rating. Enjoy :)