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This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie is Gingerbread Baby Cakes and is hosted by Karen, who has the recipe at her blog.

I was excited to try these because I love gingerbread, and because I had just gotten the awesome ramekins I used for the pot pies a couple of weeks ago. The ramekins worked perfectly for the cakes, and there was just enough batter for all six.

However… no one really liked these 🙁 They smelled amazing while they were baking, and I couldn’t wait for them to cool enough to give them a try. I served them up for dessert night with some whipped cream, and only one kid finished hers (actually, I cut them all in half because each cake was pretty rich).

I really can’t say what it was that put us off. Maybe we’re used to overly-sugared gingerbread cookies? But it just tended too far on the bitter side of things.

I thought it might have been the coffee extract I used in place of the instant espresso powder (I have never been able to find instant espresso powder), but I only used 1-1/2 teaspoons for the whole batch, so I don’t think that was the problem.

Anyway, so I’ve got three cakes left that I can’t stand the thought of tossing. I’m thinking I might freeze them and add them to a batch of homemade ice cream — I think the ice cream could temper the richness of the cakes. I guess we’ll see!

When I was grocery shopping last week I spotted a bag of Hershey’s Cinnamon Chips (this is not a sponsored post) in the baking aisle. I’m a bit wary of Hershey products anymore because their chocolate has gone way downhill over the years, but I figured there was no chocolate in these chips and it would be fun to try something new.

Yesterday I remembered that I had them in the freezer and decided it was time for some experimenting. They were as easy as any other chocolate chip cookie to make, and while I was actually short half a cup of the oatmeal, I think they actually turned out better than if I’d used the full amount the recipe calls for. I did add half a cup of mini chocolate chips, and next time I’m going to try them with some chopped walnuts.

They flattened out a bit more than they normally would have because of the missing oatmeal, and though I’m not usually a fan of flattened, crispy chocolate chip cookies, these are pretty great!

These are perfect for a fall treat, and the cinnamon will make your kitchen smell amazing.

Keep an eye on them in the oven for the first batch of two — they brown up quickly.

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies
adapted from Hershey’s

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 10 oz package Hershey Cinnamon Chips

Heat oven to 350° F.

Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in bowl until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Combine flour, salt and baking soda; add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in oats and cinnamon chips (batter will be stiff). Drop by heaping teaspoons unto ungreased or parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Makes about 4 dozen.

This week I’ve made it my mission to not turn the oven on at all, and so far, so good. However, Wednesday night was posing a problem since it’s dessert night, and the kids would not let me get away with “just have a popsicle” for one more week.

So I went digging through my food board on Pinterest and followed a few links around until I came across a recipe for No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars.

The thing is, the blog that has these posted didn’t credit where they came from originally, which was AllRecipes (it wasn’t that hard to find, and I knew I’d seen it before). So I’m just going to link to it on AllRecipes and keep my opinions about copying recipes but not crediting to myself 😉

These were really easy to make and I didn’t even have to turn on the stove for any of it. I melted the butter in the microwave, and melted the chocolate and peanut there, too.

I also didn’t bother with the separate layer of peanut butter, mostly because I didn’t read ahead and mixed it all up with the chocolate chips. It didn’t seem to hurt it, though.

It does need to sit for an hour in the fridge so make sure you give yourself time, and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before trying to cut it.

These aren’t as good as other peanut butter bars I’ve had (they’re kind of texture-less), but they’re great for not having to heat up the kitchen!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars
adapted from AllRecipes

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used about 15 sheets)
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter or margarine, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners’ sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch pan.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Spread over the prepared crust. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.