Peanut Butter Blondies

This is a recipe that I decided to make at the last minute when I found out I was having lunch with a vegan friend.  I chose it because I had all of the ingredients on hand, it was a bar cookie which is less work than scooping out individual portions, and it was described as appealing to people who like really peanut buttery desserts.  I had no expectations and just hoped they would turn out reasonably good.  I ended up getting such a huge reaction from my friends and actually had several people describe these as one of the best desserts they’ve ever had.

This recipe got me excited about Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar again.  When I first got the book I had really high hopes since I’m such a fan of the authors’ cupcake cookbook.  The first cookie recipe I tried from it was great, but the second really wasn’t very good.  After my success with this recipe I’m going to put the cookbook back in more regular rotation.

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Ooey Gooey Lemon Bars

It’s been rainy and dreary here in New York.  I know I shouldn’t complain since we haven’t had any rain all summer, but it’s still disappointing when you have three days off from work and were hoping to go to a water park.  The upside is that baking is much more pleasant when it’s 70º instead of 90º degrees.  And what better way to brighten a cloudy day than lemon bars.  These bars are both very tart and very sweet, and the vibrant yellow color brings some cheer to a damp day. Read the rest of this entry »