Deep Dish Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

December 27, 2013 by Christine Skari

The other day, I went to a cookie exchange at my friend Erin’s house. It’s been a tradition for a couple of years now, and I always look forward to seeing the friends I went to school with for 12 years before heading off to college. Not to mention it’s a mother-daughter event, so we all have a great time laughing at all their antics (too much wine) and grimacing when they unblushingly tell all of our embarrassing stories (again, I blame the wine).

Even though I’ve grown up with these girls, I can’t help but want to show off when it comes to bringing the most extravagant cookies and usually like to experiment with a few showcase cookies that can’t help but look and taste delicious!

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For me, life is all about balance and I truly believe that a completely healthy life depends on both your mental sanity and feeling good in your own skin. Yes, I exercise and eat healthy, but I have absolutely no desire to live a life that consists of restricting and overexercising in the name of your health. If I want to eat a cookie, I’m going to eat it. If I want to take a week off from the gym because I’m not feeling too well, I’m going to do so without any regret whatsoever. I know this sounds a little off tangent for a cookie post, but I sometime feel that “healthy living bloggers” get themselves stuck in a negative place when it comes to food and exercise and try to put forth a perfect picture of their life and body image. While Apple of My Eye usually concentrates on healthier recipes, I don’t want to restrict my site to any one genre. How boring would that be?

Anyways, I bring this up because this recipe has sugar. Lots of sugar. And butter. And caramel. And chocolate chips. Get the picture? It’s deliciously indulgent and the perfect recipe for any party where you really want to bring a dessert that has the “WOW” factor to it!

The cookie recipe I use is from Parents Need to Eat Too, and let me tell ya, it’s the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve ever made. I think I’ve baked at least 30 batches of them over the last couple of years and others really just don’t match up to it. This is definitely one of Kyle’s favorite desserts as well! When they’re baked on a plain cookie sheet, they have a slightly crunchy exterior, but still maintain a softer inside. I can’t even explain them. Think joy and kittens and rainbows and Zac Efron all mixed into one cookie. Yup.

And these Deep Dish Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies? Think of everything I described above, but with a oozy-gooey caramel center surrounded by half-baked cookie dough and a more firm cookie crust. Unreal!

There’s one key rule when it comes to the these cookies, though. DON’T OVER BAKE.

I know it’s super tempting to look into the oven, see an underdone cookie, and set the timer for a few more minutes, but you need to resist. Seriously, apply that willpower of yours because these cookies are a million times better when they are soft in the middle and will finish baking outside of the oven as they cool.

And, without further ado, I present to you: Deep Dish Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Dig in!

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White Chocolate Cranberry Scones

December 22, 2013 by Christine Skari

You know what’s Marvelous in My Monday? These babies.

I’m in a sugar coma.

This morning has been filled with delicious goodness and I’ve been busy in the kitchen baking scones and mountains of cookies for a cookie exchange party tonight. On the menu? Apple pie cookies and deep dish chocolate chip cookies stuffed with caramel (literally a mouthful).

But, back to these guys.

Delicious, light, moist, and with a great texture. These white chocolate cranberry scones are straight from heaven! I mean, c’mon. Just LOOK at that powder sugar drizzle. Liquid gold, I tell ya.

These scones are perfectly sweet and with a great combination of flavors! I love the bit of tartness that the craisins add to the moist scones and the heartiness of the them. Usually, baked goods don’t leave me feeling full and satisfied for long, but these beauties are made with a combination of white and whole wheat flours and oats, making them more substantial!

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Another great things about these white chocolate cranberry scones? They’re made with only three tablespoons of butter in the batch, which gives them the perfect light texture and lighten up a normally calorie and fat laden treat! While I’m most definitely not against treating yourself, any recipe that lightens up a recipe without sacrificing flavor is a winner for me. (Plus, they give you the perfect excuse to eat twice as many.)

I have a major sweet tooth, but I’m one of those people who can’t handle an excess amount of sugar in the morning. Like I mentioned before, these scones have the perfect amount of sweetness which lend themselves to be called a (healthier) treat, but they lack the sugar content to make you feel sick from the sugar buzz.

These taste superb with a cup of coffee or tea and I can’t wait to savor one in the quiet hours of the morning!

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Skinny Spiced Chocolate Crackles

December 16, 2013 by Christine Skari

Some days, nothing will do but a cookie.

These cookies.

They’ve been hiding away in the family recipe book since last Christmas when I made a batch of 60 of them for a cookie exchange, but it’s about time that they resurfaced in all their delectable glory!

I can’t exactly remember from which magazine the recipe was copied down from, so if it strikes you as familiar and you remember the source, please let me know so I can credit the magazine!

Sweet, moist, and with the most tasty kick of spice and flavor, they’ll be one of the main stars on any dessert table and will be one of the most uniquely delicious cookies you’ve ever had! Describing them can be a bit hard, since they have an original flavor all their own. I’ll give it a wild go and compare them to a hybrid fudge brownie and ginger cookie with chunks of half-melted chocolate chips in every bite.

These Skinny Spicy Chocolate Crackles also come together in a flash! They couldn’t be easier to make and you literally just dump all the ingredients into a bowl and mix. While I love spending time in the kitchen, sometimes you just need to GET A COOKIE INTO YOUR MOUTH PRONTO, and I promise these babies won’t disappoint!

And the best part? With only 110 calories each, they are a great way to indulge over the holidays without going overboard! They’re jam packed full of rich chocolate flavor that will satisfy any sweet tooth.

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Hope you love them as much as I do!

Skinny Pumpkin Spice Bread

November 24, 2013 by Christine Skari

Hello all you lovely people!

I know, I know, I’ve been AWOL again lately. I feel like this a reoccurring trend once I hit midterms (I’m on the quarter system instead of the semester system, so this is basically every couple of weeks… le sigh) and it really bums me out that I feel too drained to blog. I miss you guys!

Anyways, one of my favorite ways to de-stress is to cook and bake and am so excited to share this recipe. It’s everything you could want in a good sweet bread: moist, bursting with flavor, and perfectly sweet. I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s the best pumpkin bread I’ve ever had (HAH- take that Starbucks!).

And guess what? It contains no butter, mostly egg whites, and mostly whole wheat flour!

While I wouldn’t say that it has the nutritional stats of a carrot, it’s a great option for a healthier treat that still tastes absolutely delicious and like the real deal. Since I live in an apartment complex with well over 20 friends to share it with, the bread was gone in no time and nobody could even guess that they were enjoying a healthier treat. I promise, it won’t disappoint!

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Note: this recipe makes enough for one loaf and a some muffins. I haven’t yet mastered converting the recipe into two full loaves, but I’m working on it!

Enjoy and let me know how it turns out for ya!

Skinny Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Walnut Streusel

October 8, 2013 by Christine Skari

I know, I know, this makes two pumpkin recipes in less than 3 days. If I keep it up, I’ll be turning bright orange and secreting pumpkin spice from my skin (I actually think the second symptom sounds a-okay).

But, YOU GUYS, there are some recipes you just can’t not share, like these Skinny Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Walnut Streusel. I mean, I just want to eat the name of the recipe itself.

These are everything you’d want a muffin to be: moist, dense, bursting with flavor, and topped with a tasty streusel and drizzle of sweetness. And guess what? All for under 150 calories a pop!

This may be a bold statement, but I think that these muffins, along with my Pumpkin Spice Apple Butter recipe, are two of my favorite pumpkin recipes of all time. For me, they both embody the comforts of Fall and I know that they will be making another appearance soon!

If my testimony isn’t enough, my friends are always glad to help. I’m lucky that I have plenty of willing taste testers around me, and none of them guessed that these little jewels were made with almost all whole wheat flour and only two tbsps of butter! The only comments I got on them involved “OMG these are so good” and even my non-pumpkin loving friend said that they were delicious!

As a matter of fact, the entire batch was eaten in one day.

Trust me, these look as good as they do in the pictures. Beauties!

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I’m also linking up to WIAW to share! Take a look at some other great eats: