Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hey everyone! Occasionally I will post a recipe for something unhealthy..... I know it isn't the theme of my blog but I enjoy baking with old school recipes that sometimes call for ingredients that aren't favorable to a nutritious diet. That being said, I bake like this once in a blue moon! I spotted a bag of mint chocolate chip morsels right after the holidays and knew immediately that I'd make cookies for my fiancé because he LOVES mint chocolate combinations (which I do not- so these are just for him! <3)

I am not sure if these chocolate morsels are always available and if not you can use regular chocolate chips. This recipes makes a tasty cookie.

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp melted butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup mint chocolate chips

1) Preheat oven to 350F.
2) In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Stir so it mixes well.
3) In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream sugar, butter, egg and vanilla until fluffy.
4) While mixer is on, slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until well combined.
5) Fold in chocolate chips.
6) Scoop out desired amounts of batter onto a greased cookie sheet.
7) Bake for about 13 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned.
8) Let cool on a rack.
9) Enjoy!

Tips
- Ways to make these lighter: use wheat flour instead of white flour, use egg beaters instead of eggs, substitute apple sauce for oil.
- You can also use a silpat instead of greasing a pan.

Enjoy!

Nutella Oat Pancakes with peanut butter, banana and Nutella drizzle

Happy Sunday everyone! This recipe was inspired by my friend Matt! He went to a diner in Philadelphia that had a similar style pancake recipe on the menu. In the photo he posted on facebook there was more nutella and PB on the pancakes. I personally love the bready taste of pancakes so I didn't try to overwhelm them with the toppings, but add as much as you prefer based on your preferences. Here we go!

There are 2 ways to make these pancakes, the short-cut route or the from scratch way. I went a little half and half. I really like the pancake mixes from the New Hope Mills and I used the Oat Bran mix for this recipe.

Ingredients
2 cups Oat Bran pancake mix
1 3/4 cups cold water
1/4 cup egg beaters (or 1 egg)
4 tbsp Nutella
1 1/2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp skim milk
1/2 banana

Add pancake mix, water and egg in a large bowl. Mix in 2 tbsp nutella and mix until batter turns a light brown.

Cook pancakes on medium heat until both sides are browned.

In a small saucepan add the remaining nutella with 1 tbsp milk. Warm on very low heat and stir continuously to remove lumps and prevent from burning.

Cut the banana into slices and layer on top of pancakes.

Using a large spoon, drizzle the warmed nutella over the pancakes.

Top with peanut butter and enjoy!


Tips
- When making pancakes, cover cooked pancakes with a pot lid to keep pancakes moist and warm.
- You can top this recipe with maple syrup, but taste it first because it is already deliciously sweet!
- If you want to make your pancakes from scratch, here is a good recipe . Just add in the Nutella.

- You can use any pancake mix and add in the additional ingredients.

This should be posted as TheUnhealthyAngel

Happy first day of Spring! I spent some QT with my boyfriend today. We drove around and spent time in the beautiful sunshine. To top it off we got rootbeer floats at a local drive-in restaurant. I asked for diet root beer but they didn't have any. I don't even want to know how many calories were in it but it was good! I only drank half because I got full.
So this is a sign that warm weather is on its way! Beware of "summer foods" that are calorie rich and nutrient deficient. Ill be blogging much more frequently!
Have a delicious first day of Spring!
~TheHealthyAngel