You all know I love to bake and I've been incredibly inspired this fall to try some new recipes. Just in the past several weeks I've whipped up these yummy treats:
Apple Cake in an Iron SkilletPumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese FrostingChocolate Chip Cookies [using bread flour]
Spiced Applesauce Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese FrostingThey were all great! [In case you're curious, my favorite of the bunch was the Apple Cake in an Iron Skillet and Lee's were the Pumpkin Cupcakes.]
Yesterday afternoon I was struck with a hankering to bake but didn't have a recipe in mind. I was stuck with creating something with ingredients I already had on hand and wanted to find a recipe where I didn't have to wait for the butter & eggs to come to room temperature. I scoured my favorite baking blogs, websites, and cookbooks and came up empty handed. I was about to give up when I decided to go through a stack of recipes I printed off but have yet to try. Towards the bottom of the stack I came across a recipe for Tahiti Blondies that I found
here quite awhile ago. Lo and behold it called for melted butter and I had everything but the white chocolate chips on hand. I decided to substitute additional semi-sweet chocolate for the white chocolate and got to baking. I was a little nervous given I've never baked anything from the blog where I found it but by the time I put it in the oven I was fairly confident it would come out, at the very least, ok.
Ok is a serious understatment!! This is one of the most dangerously delicious treats I've made in quite some time and it was so EASY! I love that it doesn't require room temperature butter & eggs because that means that as long as I have the ingredients on hand, this treat is never more than an hour or so from our bellies! See what I mean about it being dangerous?
Here is the recipe as I made it:
Tahiti Blondiesadapted from
this recipe1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
4 tsp vanilla [I used
Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla]
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 1/2 cup shredded coconut [I used sweetened]
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips [I used Jacques Torres
chocolate discs, chopped]
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9 x 13 baking dish with parchment paper
2. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl stir together brown sugar and melted butter until combined. Add eggs and vanilla to the mixture and mix well. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined.
4. Fold in pecans, cocount, and chocolate. Mix until well combined but try not to over mix. Pour batter into prepared baking pan and smooth out with spatula.
5. Bake for about 25-28 minutes, or until the top is a light golden brown. DO NOT OVERBAKE! Cool to room temperature before cutting. [We dug in before it was completely cool and while it wasn't easy to cut, it tasted amazing because it was all gooey.]
This is something I'm not great at [I'm so not a "morning person"] but am trying to working on. Too many blessings and things to be grateful for to be grumpy to start off the day. I wonder if happy mornings make for happy days. I'm willing to bet there's something to be said for it. 
I love this shirt. I can already see it as my go-to outfit during the holidays. I'd feel so Mrs. Clause-esque while running Christmas errands, baking cookies, delivering treats, and wrapping gifts. It's so fun + festive in an "I'm not trying to be festive" sort of way. Love it!! Why, yes, I do believe this needs to make its way into my closet. And the sooner the better so I can greet the holiday season appropriately attired come December 1. Good thing we'll be near an Anthropologie before too long. Maybe I can convince my Santa that his "Mrs" deserves an early holiday treat. Fingers crossed...
We had the opportunity to attend the Louisiana Tech/Boise State game last night so yesterday I ran to Academy to pick up some appropriate apparel [go Bulldogs!] Imagine my surprise when I walked in and was met with Christmas music. Yep, you read that right...Christmas music! Now don't get me wrong, I'm already in serious Christmas planning mode - our photo cards have been ordered, I'm on the hunt for the perfect wrapping paper, and sites are being bookmarked as gift ideas for family + friends. 
Needless to say I was quite smitten with these adorable Thanksgiving cards I ran across on Etsy tonight. What a great way to brighten someone's day! Even if you're among the majority that don't send out cards for Thanksgiving that doesn't mean you shouldn't let those that matter to you the most know. Since I don't know everyone who reads this little blog and, therefore, can't send out how I feel I'll let you in on a secret...
I really am. You faithfully read my random thoughts, indulge me by looking at my pictures, don't judge when I post about calendar after calendar, and some of you even leave sweet comments. Thank you all for making me a small part of your day and I hope I can, at least sometimes, bring a little smile to your face because knowing you're out there brings one to mine!
Saddle Stitch Studio {$24}
Page by Paige {$10}
Amy Marcella {$25}
Halloween is, admittedly, not my favorite holiday. Although I've gotten more into it the past two years due to my volunteering with the Halloween parade at the hospital, I still don't look forward to it. I'm know, I'm such a party pooper.
