Top 11 of 2011!

I can’t believe it’s been nearly a year since Bake Your Day was born.  What a great year it’s been, too.  While I have a long way to go, I have improved so much since the beginning.  I have learned so much and met a lot of wonderful people who have truly become my friends.  I am very much looking forward to 2012 and what it will bring but I thought I would recap some of my favorite posts from 2011.  I hope you enjoy!

Snickers Cheesecake

Spiced Apple Cider Blondies

Creamy Avocado Pasta with Roasted Grape Tomatoes

Almond-Cranberry Scones

Strawberry-Almond Cupcakes

White Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Spinach Lemon Orzo Soup

Corn & Black Bean Salsa

Homemade Peanut Butter

Quinoa-Black Bean Burgers

French Cookies

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your loved ones. May this year bring you many blessings and joy!

XO ~ Cassie

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Roasted Chickpeas [Two Ways]

I happened to stumble upon Martha Stewart’s Spicy Roasted Chickpeas a while back and just haven’t been able to get them out of my mind!  I recently mentioned that I’m a snack person.  I love snacks…salty, sweet, spicy, sour.  You name it, if it’s a snack, I want it!  And most of you replied that you love snacks too so I didn’t think that you would mind these.  And it doesn’t help at all that chickpeas actually have some nutrition packed in.  They are low fat, and high in fiber and protein which makes them a (mostly) guilt-free snack.

When roasted, they become crispy and crunchy and they make a perfect party snack.  I chose to do a honey-cinnamon version for the sweet and a Greek-cayenne version for the spicy.  Both were good but the spicy ones were definitely my favorite.  I used Cavender’s Greek seasoning.  If you don’t use this stuff, I’m suggesting you go and get some, and do it fast.  This stuff is great for seasoning veggies, chicken, even popcorn.  Especially when you just need some quick, simple flavor.  I really loved it on the chickpeas, it added a salty flavor next to the spicy of the cayenne.  Snack perfection!

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Wednesday Ramblings

Christmas is less than four full days away.  This means that I have lists to check off.  I’m quite a list person, I really love making lists; they keep me sane and on task.  I make lists of things to buy, lists of things to do, lists of things to bake and cook.  While lists are mostly helpful, they can cloud the reason we are doing all of those things in the first place, particularly for me, during this time of year.

Side note: I just realized that “list” is one of those words that, when you say or look at over and over again, it becomes a totally different word.  Anyway…

All morning I have been thinking about which stores I need to visit and things that I need to accomplish on each day leading up to Sunday.  Stopping for just a moment to browse Pinterest, (terrible, I know!) I found this:

(Source)

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Gingerbread Donuts

You might remember that I recently purchased my first doughnut pan.  I asked all of you whether it was doughnut or donut and most people said donut, so that’s what I’m sticking with.  Much easier for my fingers to type out!

I.can’t.stop.baking. doughnuts.  Someone come and take this pan away from me!  They are so good and much healthier than their fried counterparts.  They are soft and fluffy and just sweet enough.  And ’tis the season of gingerbread and I thought that classic holiday flavors would make a great donut.

Sure enough, the ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg shine and the added crunch of the turbinado sugar sprinkled on top is perfect.  These will be a big hit on Christmas morning…especially since they are so quick to mix up and you can throw them in the oven while gifts are being torn into!

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