Brown Sugar Overload

Do you ever have times when it feels like you do 2 things in life? Me too. Recently, it has been work, work, work, and then when I do get a day off I magically turn into a couch potato. I love my job and what I do, so I wouldn't trade all this time for anything.

Because I've been working so much, I haven't posted any new recipes lately. That all ends today. The best part, you ask. I have TWO! Two recipes that are to die for!

The first one....Brown sugar chocolate chunk cookies. I have made this recipe before, and I adore these little delights. The original recipe is from Baking Bites. This one batch of dough makes about 36+ cookies. You will need it to make that much because these won't last long once they come out of the oven.

Ingredients: 

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (pref. kosher salt)
14 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups dark or semisweet chocolate chunks

Mix the liquid ingredients together first. Then, add the salt, baking soda, and brown sugar. Once thoroughly mixed, slowly incorporate the flour. After the wet and dry ingredients are mixed, add the chocolate chunks. I used the entire bag in my dough. You can never have to much chocolate.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. I used two baking sheets to make all of these. So once one batch was finished baking, I could pop another once in the oven. Spray your baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray. I used a spoon for my measurements, and dropped the spoonfulls of dough onto the baking sheets about two inches apart. Bake for twelve minutes or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. 

Once you remove the cookies from the oven, give them a minute to set up and ENJOY!!

Recipe Number 2: Homemade Sweet Potato Mash

I have to admit that with this recipe, I do not have measurements. I truly felt like a cook yesterday because I added ingredients until I had the right taste and texture. 

First, I started with 4 large sweet potatoes. While I washed and sliced the potatoes, I had a pot of water getting ready to boil. I have noticed in the past that when you slice the potatoes, they do not take as long to soften when you boil them. 

Once the potatoes are sliced and the water is boiling. Boil the potatoes until the are soft. Stir occasionally. 

Remove from the stove and drain the water. I then put the potatoes in a giant bowl and grabbed my potato masher and got to work! Can I just say that that tool is the bomb?! I added about a cup of butter and 3 tbsp milk and continued to mash. Once I felt like the potatoes had the consistency I wanted, I added around a cup and a half of brown sugar and 5 tbsp cinnamon. Stir together. Depending on how sweet you want your sweet potato mash, add more brown sugar. 

I took these to Lifegroup last night, and came home with enough for one person. I am so thankful it was a hit because I left the skin on all of the potatoes while I boiled and mashed them. Fiber and nutrients never hurt anyone. I hope you all enjoy!

Next time I plan on adding toasted pecans to the mash. I just might be doing that next week. What else would you have added?