Sally McKenney's Blog, page 160

Vanilla Almond Snack Bars.

Chewy and wholesome snack bars that are sweet ‘n salty, packed with whole foods, and are made without grains or refined sugars. 

Here’s a healthy recipe I made for our camping trip last weekend. Along with these not-so-healthy cookies and these flourless cookies, there wasn’t a homemade treat left by the time we left on Sunday. I personally could not stop snacking on these vanilla almond bars.

By the way, as I type this post– I keep laughing every time I type snack bar. You know that I worked as a waitress at Chili’s years ago, but before that I worked at a snack bar at a swim club in the summertime. Not long after I started, I was dubbed the name “Snack Bar Sally.” Kevin loved learning about that nickname when I ran into friends a few months ago. And he had a heyday when I made these snack bars for the trip.

Snack Bar Sally’s Vanilla Almond Snack Bars, everyone.

I loved these feel-good snack bars. I nearly ate the entire batch myself. I’ve already been brainstorming different flavor variations– maybe even one with coconut? Stay tuned. These vanilla almond snack bars are simple and wholesome with a sweet taste that won’t give you a sugar crash. They’re an easy fruit and nut bar, similar to a KIND bar. They’re grain-free, gluten free, have no refined sugars, and are packed with whole, natural ingredients like almonds, dates, and seeds. Usually I add a little oats to energy/granola bars but I wanted to keep the main ingredients purely nuts and dried fruit.

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Strawberry Cupcakes with Creamy Strawberry Buttercream.

Soft and fluffy strawberry cupcakes with creamy strawberry buttercream frosting. Make them in mini size, too!

Well, hellooooooo beautiful.

I’m currently hypnotized by light pink swirls… or maybe delusional after a weekend roughing it in the woods. Ha! We all had a blast camping, but it’s good to get back to electricity and GASP! fast-speed internet.

You don’t need to get your eyes checked. Those aren’t giant strawberry slices. The above strawberry cupcakes are, in fact, mini size. I made today’s homemade strawberry cupcakes in both regular and mini size. I was merely testing the recipe and instead of baking two batches of standard size cupcakes, I thought it would be more fun to crowd my counter with 16 regular size cupcakes and about 1 million mini cupcakes.

Perhaps I’ve always been delusional?

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Saturday Seven, 15.

(photo)

Greetings from… the great outdoors! I’m camping this weekend with some friends in a woodsy campgrounds in the middle of nowhere. Friends, hiking, dogs, adventures, and most definitely s’mores with leftover PEEPS (

Though it hasn’t always been my favorite activity, I’m actually really excited about this camping trip. There’s nothing like fresh air and sunshine to kick off the spring season. Especially after this incredibly cold winter spent writing inside. I’ve been looking forward to this trip– and we even have another camping trip planned in May. And a trip to sunny Mexico for a little getaway with our friends. Lots of adventures this spring!

Instead of the usual Saturday 7 recipe round-up, today I’m sharing 7 more things about me. I loved reading about all the different things about YOU in the comments, so I decided to post round 2! Starting with…

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Dark Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies.

Soft and chewy with slightly crisp edges, these oatmeal cookies are full of flavor and exploding with dark chocolate. 

Here’s a dessert I made for Easter this past Sunday. Along with pineapple upside-down cake and baskets of candy, the whole table found a treat… or four. These soft and chewy oatmeal cookies are like a bowl full of warm oatmeal sprinkled with brown sugar, cinnamon, and rais… dark chocolate. Loads of dark chocolate.

This recipe is dedicated to all my readers who have picked up an oatmeal “chocolate chip” cookie before only to be completely let down that the chocolate chips aren’t chocolate chips at all. No no. They’re raisins! Disguised as chocolate! No more misleading cookies.

As much as I love them, raisins will never be chocolate.

Oatmeal cookies are my favorite kind. It’s a texture thing. I’m a sucker for their chew. And their crispy edges, moist centers, and brown sugar goodness. I have a couple recipes for oatmeal cookies in my cookie stash. Let’s see… have you tried these oatmeal creme pies yet? Or these milky way oatmeal cookies? (Yes, Milky Ways!) How about my loaded oatmeal cookies? Chances are you have and love all three.

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Homemade Fresh Summer Rolls with Easy Peanut Dipping Sauce.

Homemade Fresh Summer Rolls with Easy Peanut Dipping Sauce are healthy, adaptable, and make a wonderful light dinner, lunch, or appetizer. Here’s exactly how I make them.

If you’re anything like me, you definitely overloaded on jelly beans, cadbury cream eggs, and cake this past weekend. With several Reese’s eggs in the mix too. And bread. So many toasted slices of this irresistible bread.

Needless to say, I went on a very long run yesterday and made veggie-packed summer rolls for dinner. Summer rolls are actually something Kevin and I make on the regular. Last summer, I found myself spending way too much money on pre-made summer rolls at my favorite take-out sushi place that decided it was time to make my own. Following the instructions on the rice paper package, it turns out making these healthy rolls is actually pretty simple. You just need a little practice, instructions, and a trusty knife to sliver a million veggies.

You’ve had these before right? If you haven’t, summer rolls (also known as Vietnamese spring rolls, salad rolls, or rice paper rolls) are basically the uncooked version or flash-fried spring rolls or fried egg rolls. They’re fresh, loaded with vegetables, sometimes shrimp, and I’ve even had them with slices of mango inside–> amazing, amazing.

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Simple Morning Glory Muffins.

These hearty and simple morning glory muffins taste like spiced apple cake and moist carrot cake… combined… for breakfast!

Happy Easter! For a good laugh… and scare… here is something my friend shared with me and I’ve been laughing/having nightmares since.

Creepy, right?

Let’s hop ( !) onto something a little less, uh, frightening.

Kevin and I went to a little bed and breakfast a couple days ago down in northern Virginia to celebrate our 6 month anniversary. We’d been there 3 years ago and loved it, so it was exciting to be back. They had a little wine tasting shindig at their restaurant which (helloooo, free wine!) turned a great night into an even better night. We enjoyed a lot of great food– including a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake– but one of my favorites was this incredibly moist, flavorful morning glory muffin. It was packed with apple, carrot, brown sugar, pecans, and raisins. I realize compared to WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE… it’s a raisin muffin… but there was just something about all its spice, flavor, and that damn moist texture that made the muffin so memorable.

I’m sharing my little copycat version with ya today. Maybe you still need an Easter Sunday treat? If so, start preheating that oven.

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Homemade Cinnamon Swirl Bread.

This simple recipe for homemade cinnamon swirl bread is a family favorite. It’s soft and tender with the most unbelievably gooey cinnamon swirl inside!

There’s no chocolate.

There aren’t any sprinkles.

No cookie dough or cake batter-y things.

Caramel? Nope.

Candy bar chunks? Not today.

No frosting, buttercream, streusel, or glaze.

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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March in Photos.

The month of March came and left in about 20 seconds. And somehow I did all of this.

First, omg. I finished my MANUSCRIPT! I didn’t sleep for about a week.

Above: strawberry buttercreams. Above above: a chocolate full of chocolate.

Both recipes are in my new cookbook, Sally’s Candy Addiction. Pre-sale for the book has officially begun! This you might already know. But what you don’t know is that after I handed in the manuscript, I took a week off from the kitchen, drank champagne for lunch, slept for about 4 days straight, and bought myself some new shoes that scream warm weather. Look at them! I got them in yellow.

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Greek Yogurt Fruit Tart.

Healthy breakfast fruit tart made with a gluten free two ingredient crust, protein packed Greek yogurt, and plenty of fresh fruit.

Greetings from St. Louis! Yesterday was my sister’s bridal shower. Great food, friends, family, greeeeeat mimosas! Sarah lives here with her fiancé, Charlie, and two pups. They’re getting married in Baltimore, (where they met) in June. No, the dogs aren’t coming. Trust me I begged.

Before I hopped on the plane Friday morning, I whipped up this healthy breakfast tart. It’s not a typical tart– there’s no added refined sugar, flour, or butter. And YES! It’s seriously tasty. Especially if you love fresh fruit.

This healthy tart is so simple. One of the easiest dishes you’ll throw together considering how pretty (!!) it is. There’s no baking involved and the whole thing comes together in a snap. Slicing the fruit will take you the longest but hey! If you slice the fruit the night before, you’ll have this ready in about 15 minutes.

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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8 Reasons Why I Blog.

As I enter my 3rd year of blogging full-time (2 years since I quit!), I’m full of gratitude for where this whirlwind of a career has taken me. I’m also inspired to write today’s post. I spent some time updating my posts about blogging this week. I’ve got steps to create food blog, how to write a food blog, food photography, and blogging as a career covered. But today? The reasons why I blog in the first place. If you’re a blogger or not, hopefully you can relate to at least a little of it.

It should come as no shock to you that I love to share my recipes with others. But that isn’t the only reason why I blog. (It was certainly the reason why I started!) As the years pass and I learn more about blogging– and myself– I’ve grown to appreciate the many blessings that blogging brings to me both professionally and personally. This was an unexpected road for me to travel down but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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