This is the space I usually reserve for my thoughts. This blog is basically my journal. For the past 12 years, every week, I use this space to write down what/how I’m feeling, or what’s happening in the Kid’s lives, or my thoughts on the current state of affairs. I can’t do that right now. The world feels so… Fragile.
This past week there was a hockey game. The final match in the 4 Nations Face Off between the top 2 teams, Canada and USA. This would be an exciting game at any time, but in this particular moment in history, this game felt bigger and more monumental than any game that I could ever recall.
As the president of the United States continuously tries to normalize the idea of annexing Canada, I have never been more proud of Canada and my fellow Canadians! I’ve seen people from every province, every race, every religion, and every political party, condemn these words of war.
I’ve seen massive boycotts on American products, people changing their vacation plans to keep their hard earned dollars in our local economy, and Canadians using their voices to BOO the American national anthem, peacefully protesting the US government’s unjust tariffs and the fact that they are vocally calling for our annexation. We sang our anthem loudly and proudly and drowned out any and all of the voices of the people that think that the complete disrespect of their president’s words against a sovereign nation, is acceptable. We also sold out of Canadian flags across the entire country, taking back our national emblem from the so called “freedom convoy” that had appropriated it over the last few years. I am so proud to be Canadian and even though Gretzky isn’t, I will ALWAYS be Team Canada.
Our Christmas baking is officially gone. There are no more sugar cookies, no more gingerbread men, and all of the shortbread? Yeah, that’s gone too. It’s sad enough that the holidays are over, but when the holiday baking comes to an end, well, that’s just downright cruel! So I restocked our freezer with lots of baked goodies that are perfect for late winter treats.
I love a good pecan pie during the holiday season but this year, we didn’t make any. So to rectify that we made these Butter Pecan Cookies. I felt like this was a sophisticated cookie, lol it was tasty and melted in my mouth and was a fantastic alternative after all the holiday sugar cookies.
A few months ago, I baked copycat Costco poppyseed muffins, and I was craving that flavour again. This Almond Poppyseed Loaf was incredibly easy to whip up, was moist, flavourful, and delicious, satisfying all my Costco cravings.
Another baked treat that I love is from our local bakery, Cobbs. They make these white chocolate raspberry scones that are to die for! I was really looking for a treat that would taste like those, and I found it in these White Chocolate Raspberry Muffins. The raspberries are a burst of flavour, reminding me that spring isn’t too far away!
Ninja really wanted chocolate chip cookies but he wanted them, right away lol chocolate chip cookies, usually require chilling and that just did not fit into our plans, so I made these Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies that can be ready in no time, don’t require any chilling and taste oh so good!
Another Christmas treat that I didn’t get this year were snickerdoodles. I actually find snickerdoodle cookies to be quite difficult to make. So, I found this easy recipe for Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars that was so much easier and tasted just as good! If you love that sweet, cinnamon, soft, snickerdoodle flavour, you will love these bars.
This Giant Double Chocolate Cookie is amazeballs. It’s like a giant chocolate pillow with crispy edges and a soft gooey gooey chewy center… And made entirely for one person! If you are craving chocolate, you need to make this cookie ASAP!
Butter Pecan Cookies
3
dozen10
minutes12
minutes3-24
hoursIngredients
1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped
1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
In a 300°F oven, toast the chopped pecans on a large silicone mat-lined baking sheet for 15 minutes. Stir twice during this time. Turn oven off and set pecans aside.
In a large bowl using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat on medium high speed until fluffy and light in color. Beat in eggs and vanilla on high speed. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt together until combined. On low speed, slowly mix into the wet ingredients until combined.
Add the toasted chopped pecans, mix on low for about 5-10 seconds until evenly distributed. Cover dough tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory for this cookie dough.
Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes—if the cookie dough chilled longer than 3 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheets with a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
Scoop and roll balls of dough, about 1 tablespoon of dough each, into balls.
Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes, until slightly golden brown around the edges. The baked cookies will look extremely soft in the centres when you remove them from the oven. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Mix butter and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix in eggs, one at a time, then mix in extracts. Alternately add milk and flour mixture, stirring in between additions, until batter is combined. Stir in poppy seeds.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 20 minutes in pan, then carefully remove to a rack to finish cooling.
Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Set aside.
In a different bowl, whisk the eggs until smooth, then blend in the melted butter, milk, and vanilla until well combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula just until combined (do not overmix).
Gently fold in the raspberries and white chocolate chips.
Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the oven to 350°F and continue to bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl. Set to the side.
Place butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat until well combined.
Add egg & vanilla to butter mixture and beat just until combined. DO NOT OVER MIX!
Set your mixer speed to 2 or low and slowly add the flour mixture. As soon as this is combined, turn off the mixture. DO NOT OVERMIX.
Add chocolate chips to dough and hand combine.
Roll your cookies into 1.5 inch balls and place on your parchment lined baking sheet.
Place in oven for 10 minutes. Cookies may not look fully cooked when you pull them out. Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars
12
servings10
minutes20
minutes20
minutesIngredients
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Topping
¼ cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Directions
Preheat the oven to a temperature of 350°F. Prepare a 9x13 inch baking pan by greasing it thoroughly.Preheat the oven to a temperature of 350°F. Prepare a 9x13 inch baking pan by greasing it thoroughly.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the melted butter with both the sugars. Stir continuously until the mixture achieves a uniform consistency.
Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla, ensuring each ingredient is well-incorporated before proceeding.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Gradually mix the dry mixture into the wet ingredients, stirring steadily until a batter forms.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, and spread uniformly across the base.
For the topping, mix the sugar and cinnamon in a small dish. Evenly distribute this mixture on top of the batter.
Place in the oven and bake for a duration of 25 minutes. It won't looked fully cooked but they are. Let them cool for a minimum of 30 minutes prior to slicing and serving.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons beaten egg (crack an egg, beat it, then use 2 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips + 1 tablespoon, divided
Directions
Mix butter, sugar, and brown sugar together with a fork until creamed. Stir in the beaten egg and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix to combine. Fold in 1/4 cup chocolate chips.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place dough in the refrigerator as oven preheats, even if it’s for only a few minutes.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Spoon the dough in the centre of the baking sheet and mold into a tall ball or mound using a spoon. Dot the top of the cookie with 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips.
Bake for 18–22 minutes, or until the edges appear set. The cookie will look super soft in the center, but will firm up as it cools.
Cool the cookie on the baking sheet for 5–10 minutes before eating.
Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #417 Doomsday Portends. This week, we get together after a week off to discuss: oarfish, Pistachio Martini, Valentine’s dinner, sound on, painting the bathroom, maggots, 4 Nations Face Off, SOW, political punk, and a concert.
This week, SBean baked cupcakes for the EAs at her school, I went to counselling, Oliver is living his best life, SBean had student led conferences at her school, HBear and Ninja met up with my Sis & Fam for dinner and then went to the Mother Mother concert, I planned the menu for March and the Kids picked a new colour for their bathroom! Apparently lime pop isn’t a good colour for a teenagers bathroom and the colour of TS’s TTPD Bolter edition is.
4 thoughts on “Team Canada & Late Winter Baking”
From a fellow Canadian – No comment regarding our “neighbors”
Just love all the wonderful baking and recipes you have here. Thank you for sharing and participating at SSPS 349. See you at #350
Thank you so much and thank you for your link party! I have been finding SO many great blogs there! See you next week!
Kristin, I’m not sure if my comment went through, but your post is being featured at the Crazy Little Lovebirds party this week! I even baked the white chocolate raspberry muffins. They turned out amazing! Thank you for sharing that recipe with us. I shared it on my Instagram story and included a link to your wonderful post. Thank you for being a part of the party each week. Love your blog ♡
Thank you So much for your support. I’m so glad you liked the muffins, those were a treat for me and I loved them too! Thanks for sharing, see you next week!