I’ve made popcorn recipes before and they’re very good – both the Birthday Cake Popcorn and the Caramel Marshmallow Popcorn are delicious. So I was pretty confident a recipe that combined peanut butter, which I’ve already professed my love of, and popcorn was going to be great. It did not disappoint.

Peanut Butter Popcorn

• 1 bag plain popcorn, popped (unpopped kernels discarded)
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Pop popcorn and set aside. Combine syrup and sugar in a saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until combined. Add peanut butter and mix until smooth, being careful not to burn the peanut butter. Once smooth remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Dump mixture over popcorn and mix until all pieces are coated. Spread popcorn onto a cookie sheet to cool/harden. Try not to eat it all in one sitting. =)

Bacon has become very trendy lately but that’s okay because bacon is delicious. Deciding to test the theory that bacon makes everything better I set out to make cookies on Saturday. Yes, I said cookies. With bacon. Trust me on this one, you’re gonna want to try this recipe.

Butterscotch Bacon Cookies

•  2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 cups (2 packages) butterscotch chips
• 1 package bacon, cooked and crumbled

Cream together butter and sugar until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Add dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda) and mix until fully combined. Fold in butterscotch chips and bacon.

Drop teaspoon size mounds of dough onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Bake for 12 minutes at 375. Let cookies sit for a few minutes on the sheet before removing to cool completely.

On Monday I woke to a winter wonderland. I’m not sure what’s going on since we just officially passed into spring, but it appears that Mother Nature is being a little bitch this year and wanted to fuck with us a little bit. Yes, I said it, Mother Nature is a bitch.

At 5am on Monday morning I peeked out my window and saw a blanket of white with more of the fluffy stuff falling from the sky. At 6:30am I snapped this picture. That’s a cherry blossom tree behind me but you’d never know it since it’s completely covered.

The government was open – something that is still mind-boggling as DC shuts down at the hint of snow, but on the day when we actually get snow we’re open? What the hell? Even though my office was open I decided to take my own personal snow day.

After having a long lunch with a girlfriend, and then going for a run, I decided to make these cookies. They are ridiculously easy and dangerously good.

Brownie Cookies with Salted Caramel Creme Filling

For the brownie cookie:

• 12 oz chocolate, chopped
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

For the salted caramel creme filling:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup caramel

To make the brownie cookies:

Melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat, gently stirring until melted and smooth. Set aside.

Combine eggs, sugar and vanilla and beat until pale and creamy. Add in flour, baking powder and melted chocolate and mix to combine. Set aside to stand for 10 minutes.

Spoon 1 teaspoon of the mixture onto parchment lined paper lined sheet. Leave ample space as these cookies will spread! Bake for ~10 minutes in 350 degrees or until puffed and cracked. Allow to cool completely on trays. (You may want to drop small spoonfuls of the dough as my cookies got really big!)

To make caramel creme filling:

Cream together butter, sugar, and salt. Add in caramel and beat until combined. Frost the bottom of one cookie and put another on top, making a delicious cookie sandwich.

Recipe adapted from Bakers Royale.

Honestly, it’s not laziness that drives me to do these things. In fact, it fits in quite nicely with my Type A personality. What am I referring to? Well, my love of crockpot recipes of course!

I’ve talked about my love of crockpot recipes before. I’ve even tried making dessert in my crockpot. And really if you think about it, you have to plan in advance to make a crockpot recipe so certainly that appeals to the uber-planner that resides in my brain.

This recipe I found somewhere online, probably on the time-suck that is Pinterest but I can’t honestly remember and I didn’t write it down so sorry whatever blog I’m ripping off. I would totally credit you if I could but apparently I suck at that sometimes. Sorry. Anywho, this recipe is tasty and easy, I’ll definitely be making it again. My recommendation – spoon some of the sauce over the chicken, it’s really good!

Crockpot Italian Chicken

• 2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 package Italian seasoning dressing (the dry packet kind)

Mix together the last three ingredients, pour mixture over chicken in crockpot, ensuring the chicken is completed coated. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Serve over rice if desired.

When I spotted this recipe I knew I had to try it. Not only did it have two delicious things in its name – honey and beer, but it was also a bread recipe that didn’t call for yeast. And I’ve killed yeast on more than one occasion so if there’s a bread recipe that doesn’t call for it I’m excited to try it.

Last week brought cold temps so I decided baking a loaf of bread was just the thing to do.

The bread is delicious, I highly recommend eating a slice slathered with honey, warm from the oven. So good!

Honey Beer Bread

• 3 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 bottle (12 oz) of your favorite beer
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a bread pan with nonstick spray.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in honey and beer. Be careful as the beer will react with the baking powder and fizz up!

Pour half the melted butter into your prepped bread pan. Spread the dough in the pan and top with remaining butter.

Bake until the bread is golden brown on top and a toothpick in the middle comes out clean, 45-60 minutes.