Blondies

Blondies are an interesting treat, they are almost like brownies but blonde. You would think that at first the chocolate element is what makes these bars taste good, but when you try these it will change you opinion completly. Blondies are like very, very chewy cookies that are made into bars and cut into squares. They are probably just as good as any brownie recipe, if anything better. 

I have been making these for the longest time. I was first introduced to the idea of blondies from watching the Nancy Drew movie. This was one of my favourite movies growing up. In one part of the movie Nancy talked about lemon bars and blondies that her friend Hannah had made for her. (How cool that I share a name with this character!) I first experimented with blondies was when I was hanging out with my cousin Olivia. We always have so much fun together in the kitchen, and being a fellow fan of Nancy Drew we made blondies. From then on I love making blondies, as it always reminds me of one of my favourite movies.

Yields: 24 bars
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes 


Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Directions 
1. Preheat oven to 300F and spray a 9 x 13-inch pan with cooking spray.

2. In bowl of electric stand mixer, combine butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir on medium for 1 minute. In a separate bowl combine all the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low for 15 seconds. Add in chocolate chip and continue stirring until the ingredients are well combine.

3. Press dough into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool in pan before removing. Cut into 24 squares.

Adapted from KitchenAid Best-Loved Recipes by Lou Weber

Study Time Smartie Cookies

These will bring out the smarty pants in you! Chewy cookies really hit the spot when you are studying. As a student myself, I would like to dedicate this recipe to all the students who stay up late studying. These cookies might as well be called energy bars cause they definitely have the power to get you through those draining study sessions.   

   

This recipe made about five dozen cookies and to be honest... between me and my mom, they were finished in about one and a half days. That is just how good they were. These are the cookies that one dreams about floating alongside sugar plums on Christmas Eve! So congratulations on finding this recipe, I will warn you though... they won't last long!

Yields: 5 dozen
Prep time: 10 minutes 
Bake time: 8 minutes

Ingredients 

• ⅔ cup melted butter
• 2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons hot water
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 2⅓ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 package of smarties (about 200 grams)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F and line two sheets with parchment paper.

2. Beat melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, hot water and vanilla until very smooth (2-3 minutes).

3. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add all the dry ingredients to the butter, sugar, eggs, water and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in the smarties and roll 1 inch balls of dough with 12 cookies per sheet.

4. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Happy studying! 

Inspired by: http://hiddenponies.com/2011/02/cookie-monsters/

Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie

Smoothies are so yummy and this will definitely hit the spot when you are hungry after a long day or when you have finished a workout. It is my go to snack between meals or on a hot summer day.

I have been making these smoothies for ever, when ever I go out for a run I always whip up one of these when I come back. They make you feel like you just have eaten a big slice of banana bread. And not only is this a heathy treat, but it is super simple as well!

Yields: 2 servings

Prep time: 1 minute

Total time: 2 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 banana
• 1  cup milk
• 6 ice cubes
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter

Directions

1. Put all of the ingredients in the blender.

2. Shut the lid on top and blend for 1 minute. 

3. Serve into 2 glasses and enjoy!

The Perfect Banana Bread

To find a good banana bread recipe is like finding a diamond in a hay stack. It takes a lot of experimenting to find the perfect one. This is by far the best banana bread I have ever made.

For me banana bread is a summer thing. I would eat it a lot when my family would go to our cottage in the summer and in the morning we would have this for breakfast. But I think that banana bread should be a year round thing. Especially after I tried this recipe! 

Yields: 1 loaf

Prep time: 8 minutes

Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
4 bananas crushed
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and then line with parchment paper.  

2. Cream together butter and sugar with your electric mixer. Use a blender to mash the banana if it isn't fully ripe yet. Add eggs, vanilla and banana. Mix until combined.

3. In separate bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Turn mixer to low and gradually mix in dry ingredients. Try not to over mix or it will make the loaf tough.

4. Pour into lined loaf pan and bake for 70 minutes or until a knife or skewer comes out dry. Cool completely and serve.  

Originally from food.com 

Peanut Butter Cookies

If you are looking for a fast cookie that never fails to impress then you have found it. Peanut butter cookies can sometimes be too hard but these ones are just right! 

 This weekend I didn't have as much homework as I usually do, so I planned to meet up with two friends to go to the art gallery! I woke up late and only had an hour to get ready, but I still really wanted to bake something to take along for the drive. Since I only had an hour before they came to pick me up, I decided to try these cookies out. They were super fast and both of my friends ended up asking me for the recipe because they both liked them so much. I am not sure which was better, the cookies or the art show. 

Yields: 4 dozen

Prep time: 10 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Put the peanut butter and butter in the bowl of your electric mixer. Beat until smooth on medium for about 1 Minute. Stop and scrape bowl. Add the sugars, egg and vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for 1 minute. Stop and scrap bowl.

3. Turn the mixer on to stir and add the rest of the dry ingredients into the mixture. Turn back to medium-low and mix for 30 seconds.

4. Roll the cookie dough into 1-inch balls. Place 12 balls on a sheet at a time. Press down the cookies with your thumb or a fork. (I used a fork.)

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown. Remove the cookies from the sheet immediately and let them cool.

This recipe is originally from the KitchenAid Best-Loved Recipes cookbook.

Welcome to the kiss cookbook blog

some of my favourite cookbooks.

Some people like to eat dessert, some people like to make desserts, some people like to make and eat their desserts. I happen to fall under the last category and if you’re like me then you will love this cookbook blog. I’m not embarrassed to consider myself a beginner when it comes to baking. Now that I have reached an age where I can be more independent in the kitchen, I have developed a sweet tooth and a love for baking.

As I have learned, when you can find a recipe that tastes great and happens to be simple too, you have found the perfect recipe. This blog is all about the marriage of simple recipes and that have a great taste. That's right. Welcome to desserts central.

 There is a natural attraction to doing things that are simple. Simplicity is easier when you are a beginner and for desserts, if it tastes good and it's simple then you have a winner. This cookbook blog is made for people who love to bake but don’t necessarily have the time to go crazy, or to go shopping for unusual ingredients. If there is one thing I have learned when it comes to making desserts, it is this: the simpler the better.

The reason for my title "kiss" is because of the well-known acronym; Keep It Simple Stupid. However, in my case, I like to see it as "keeping it super simple". I have always admired this acronym and while I was coming up with a name I realized that KISS applies to baking almost as much as it applies to life itself. Over my past years of experience with baking, this is one of the most important lessons I have learned. When you try to get all fancy and ambitious with recipes, things can get messy. So I thought it would be fantastic if I could make a cookbook with recipes that are easy, and taste good too!

A painting I did a while ago.