Ever Evolving Food Blog

Hello Everyone! I have had this blog for years now, and as my personal life has changed, so have my tastes and eating habits...for the better!! I am now a fully plant-based eater, so my newer recipes will reflect this lifestyle and way of eating.

All of my old recipes will remain on my food blog, of course, so there will be a mixture of the old and the new for everyone to look through and choose. You can always play around with any recipe out there and make it your own, whether it's plant-based or not. There are always other options!
Thanks SO much for following! Happy Eating!

What's Cooking With Melissa

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Thursday, November 21, 2013

Chocolate Chip, M&M Cookies

I like to make chocolate chip, M&M cookies for my students and family. They are colorful and yummy and fairly easy to make.  A little trick I've learned over the years is to take them out of the oven when they are still plump and soft.  They finish baking when you pull them out, so that way they aren't too hard from being in the oven too long.  Perfect!



Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup mini M&Ms

Directions:
Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.  In a large bowl, mix the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy.  Add the eggs one at a time until well mixed.  Slowly mix in the flour mixture.  Mix until well blended.  Stir in the chocolate chips and M&Ms.  Roll into balls and place on a greased baking sheet.  Bake at 375 for 10-11 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool and serve.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Lemon Bars

Lemon bars are so light and fresh!  You don't get them often, but they are so good.  With that little bit of powdered sugar on top, it just makes it all the better.  The best thing about lemon bars is that you can cut them to any size you want.... big, small, or somewhere in between!



Ingredients:
Crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
Grated peel of 1 lemon
Powdered sugar

Directions:
Combine all crust ingredients in a small bowl.  Beat 2-3 minutes until mixture is crumbly.  Press onto the bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

Combine all filling ingredients except powdered sugar in a small bowl. Beat until well mixed.
Pour filling over hot crust. Continue baking 15-18 minutes or until filling is set. 
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cool completely. Cut into bars. Sprinkle with powdered sugar again.  
Makes about 16 bars.