Super Fluffy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had a major sweet tooth today and was feeling adventurous, so I whipped these together out of my head. As you can see, I was going for insanely sweet, and I would say that this did it. An unexpected benefit was that these turned out absolutely deliciously FLUFFY... which is kind of a rare thing for gluten-free cookies. My husband agreed they were phenomenal.

Super Fluffy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 c creamy peanut butterr
1 c sugar
1 c flour (I used Pamela's GF all-purpose flour, but regular flour will work too.)
1/2 c oats
1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. vanilla
1/4 c melted butter
2 eggs
1/2 c choc. chips (or desired amount)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together all the dry ingredients. Add the peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and two eggs and vigorously fold in the wet ingredients until the dough is blended and slightly sticky, but moldable. Form small balls of dough and space evenly on a foiled cookie sheet. DO NOT flatten the cookie balls, this is part of what makes them fluffy. I put the first dozen in the oven as dough balls and they turned out super fluffy. I made the mistake of flattening the second sheet of cookies and they turned out ok, but not nearly as light and fluffy. They don't spread much, so don't get panicky watching them bake. Bake them for 13-16 minutes watching closely so they don't crisp too much. Serve warm. Yields about 24 cookies.

Ratings from the Experts*: 10, 10, 10... for sure. Will definitely make these again!

Glazed Pumpkin Pecan Muffins

I've had a sweet tooth all week and yogurt doesn't seem to be cutting it, so I went on search of a decent looking recipe. This is actually a hybrid of many recipes, but all in all it turned out really good even though I didn't know exactly what I was going to do when I started.

Glazed Pumpkin Pecan Muffins
1- 15 oz. can pumpkin
1 box yellow or spiced cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow cake)
1 T cinnamon
2 t. cloves
2 t. nutmeg
3 T chopped pecans

For glaze:
1 1/4 c powdered sugar
3 T milk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a muffin pan and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients: cake mix, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, pecans. Once well-mixed, start folding in the entire can of pumpkin until all of the pumpkin is mixed in and the whole mixture is entirely moist.  Spoon by heaping tablespoonfuls into the muffin cups until they are about 2/3 full. Bake in oven for 20-25 min.
Once muffins are done, allow them to cool completely before beginning glaze.

Easiest thing to do is use a measuring cup to measure out the powdered sugar, keep it in the measuring cup, then add a T of milk at a time, mixing well with a fork until the sugar mixture has become a thick, creamy glaze. Drizzle generously over the muffins and then all all the muffins to sit in the fridge for about 20 mins to allow the glaze to set. Devour.

Ratings from the Expert*: 8.75? I couldn't quite give it a 9 since I didn't exactly whip my glaze thick enough. It didn't set quite as well, but I think I really just didn't whisk enough. 2 muffins are already gone. They are delicious. And gorgeous to boot.