Valentine's Bakes: Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

This weekend I kicked off  my Valentine's bakes with these easy, Peanut Butter Blossom cookies. 

I made these last year after seeing a post on Instagram about these pink, and perfectly Valentines-ie Reese's Peanut Butter cup. 

In lieu of the traditional Hersey's Kiss, these peanut butter cups make for an even more of a treat!

When I was at the grocery store I noticed heart shaped and white Reese's so I grab a bag of each. 
I followed the New York Times recipe below but replaced the Hershey Kisses with Peanut Butter Cups! This year I also added heart sprinkles to the center. 

I love how these little cookies turned out even more than last years batch!

INGREDIENTS

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

4 ounces (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

½ cup smooth peanut butter (or other creamy nut butter)

½ cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling

½ cup light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tablespoon milk, half-and-half, oat milk or nut milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 package of the mini Peanut Butter Cups of your choice ( I used REESE'S Blossom-Top Miniature Peanut Butter Cups, REESE'S Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Hearts, and REESE'S Miniatures White Creme Peanut Butter Cups)

Heart Sprinkles if you're extra like me

PREPARATION

Step 1

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, peanut butter, ½ cup granulated sugar and light brown sugar. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat until well blended. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing thoroughly. If the dough is very soft, refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Step 2

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray, oil or line a cookie sheet with nonstick liner and set aside. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. ** I deviate here and use a mini cupcake pan**

Step 3

Bake until very light brown and puffed, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and lightly press a candy kiss **peanut butter cup**  into center of each cookie, allowing it to crack slightly. Return to oven until light golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from oven, cool completely and store in an airtight container.

I dropped a sprinkle on top  when the chocolate melted enough for it to stick. For me it doesn't seem to take the full 13 minutes to be done so  keep an eye of your cookies! 

And that's it! Quick, easy and delicious- which is great because they tend to get gobbled up fast!

Whimsical Wednesday

Novelty lovers rejoice! It looks like we have some exciting new pieces heading our way soon (and it's  not another heart bag)! 

Today Nordstrom dropped some new preorders, including the cutest shaggy dog bag! This was surprise-to-me piece because I don't remember seeing it at fashion week. Oh how I miss the days of the not-so-secret lookbooks!

I'm excited for Spring and Resort 23!

A Heart Obsessed Valentines Gift Guide: 2023 edition

 

Unless you're new around here, it should come as no surprise that I love Valentine's Day and all the heart products that come out during the season. Truthfully the day itself is usually pretty low key around here- but even so I still love to celebrate the season and eagerly await seeing my favorite brands drop there  Valentine's merchandise. 

And this year I have yet to be disappointed! Here are a  few of my favorites finds so far!

Clothing:

1. Kiel James Patrick Heart Cable Knit Sweater- I have last year’s Valentine’s sweater and absolutely love it. I just preorder this year’s version!

2. Kiel James Patrick Sweetheart Socks- I got these last year and love wearing them with my duck boots.

3. Lilly Pulitzer Nelle Dress - Borealis Blue Lovesick Jacquard- Lilly has a whole Valentine’s capsule! I’m loving the color and silhouette of this dress. *note these are not on Corporate’s website yet so check in with your favorite Signature store! 

4. Lilly Pulitzer Keane Cardigan - Mandevilla Baby Hearts Jacquard- It’s been raining SO much here and there’s nothing I want more than a cute, comfy sweater to snuggle up in. 

5. Kate Spade Overlapping Hearts Sweater- While black might not be a traditional Valentine’s color; I really like how the hearts pop on this black sweater. 

Accessories:

1. Kate Spade Amour 3d Heart Crossbody- Is it even Valentine’s Day if Kate Spade does not release a heart shaped bag? 

2. Kate Spade Heart Of Hearts Studs- If you’re looking for a cute, small pair of festive earrings these studs are adorable. 

3. Canvas Style Heart Sprinkle Donut Enamel Drop Earrings in Pink- If you’re looking to go even bigger with your look you NEED these heart donut earrings! I’m a smaller earring person myself but I LOVE these!

4. Lele Sadoughi Mother of Pearl Sweetheart Sunglasses- I have at least 3 pairs of heart shaped glasses including these! They can be paired with just about everything.

5. Lele Sadoughi Diva Pink Beret- Bonjour, Paris! I just watched the third season of Emily in Paris and could totally see her sporting this beret.

6. Kiel James Patrick Ocean Heart Necklace- For the ocean and pearl lover in your life. According to their website each pearl is handpicked and no two are the same!

Kitchen:

1. Le Creuset L'Amour Collection Demi Tea Kettle- We’re not tea drinkers which is the only reason I have been able to resist this new addition to Le Creuset’s L’Amour collection. 

2. Le Creuset L'Amour Mugs- The L’Amour collction must have been pretty popular because they added two new mug colors this year! 

3. Laduree Macarons- When in doubt- macarons! 

😻Ahhhhh! ALL the heart eyes for these finds!😻 

Revisiting my 2022 resolutions and setting my 2023 intentions

"Happy New Year! Did you make any New Year's Resolutions?"

I don't know about you but if I had a dollar for every time I heard that this week I'd be on my way to starbies to get a venti pink drink!

That being said, I do think it's worth a revisit to my 2022 resolutions to see what I was able to accomplish and what changes I'd like to make going forward!

My 2022 Resolutions:

1. As soon as Harvest approached I went MIA on here 🙃 So a goal this year is to not do that 🤣 I’m hoping to post at least once a month and that it will give me some accountability.

WIN: For the most part I did keep up posting at least once a month on here. Harvest did have me a little brain dead but I did find my way back so I'm going to take this as a WIN.

2023: Definitely going to keep this as an intention!

    2. Work on our house 😑 We have some house projects that have stalled out once Covid hit and we ran into inflation and chain supply issues. This year I’m hoping we can get some of these projects finished.

WIP: Sometimes our house feels like an uphill battle. We didn't get many projects done as maybe I was hoping but Rome wasn't built overnight

2023: My intention for our house in 2023 is to downsize and declutter AND get some projects done. It's no secret I'm a packrat collector- I blame my dad 🙃 But I'm setting this declutter intention as well as a be more mindful of my purchases. Do I really need it? Or is this an impulse buy?

    3. Work on a healthier lifestyle. This is a double edged sword- both fitness wise and food wise. I am definitely an emotional eater, with a major sweet tooth so I have definitely landed myself in the pandemic 15 club 😵‍💫 I am lucky to have the fitness tools available to me and need   to make a habit of using them! 

    

WIN! And this truly does feel like a win. While it was a little rocky there mid year (hello vacation brain), I ended the year strong. I've really changed my habits and have stayed pretty disciplined. 

2023: This is definitely an intention for 2023. I'm on this road for the long haul! 

    4. Read more! I LOVE a good book but hate having to find “the next one”. I loaded up my bookshelf and am ready to start diving in. 

WIN: I beat this goal into the ground, finishing my year at 53 books! 

2023: I do want to keep up on reading but I'm not sure if I want to set a specific number of books to read this year. I do feel like some books were more rushed towards the end. And some series I devoured and got bored of at the end. I think I'm going to set this intention as "read more- but slow down and enjoy it"!

  5. Make time for hobbies! 

WIP: Unless we're including reading (which sort of could count) I feel like I might have missed the mark on this one a little bit. I definitely have more WIP needlepoint canvases than actual finished canvases.

2023: My intention for this year is to be more... well, intentional, with my time. I want to spend less time on my phone mindlessly scrolling and making better use of my time. I think it's pretty easy to let time slip away that way. 

    6. Go on more hikes and adventures! We’ve got some new friends around here and I can’t wait to hit the trails with them! 

 MISS: So this is sadly a big miss in our book. We did start  off 2022 with a few hikes  but then fell off the bandwagon. Hikes used to be so easy for us with our our late dog. Now they require a little more work and patience with our "new" shelter dogs.

2023: Setting the intention to get back on the trails and train these dogs a little bit each time. **FYI- don't you worry, these dogs are getting daily walks and exercise, just not on the trails quite yet. 

    7. Go on vacay!! Please be kind to us Covid  🙏

WIN: So, so happy we took a proper vacation this year. 

2023: Would absolutely love to get another vacation this year but logistically with a newer dog this might be a little tricky and too big of an ask of grandma and grandpa. We'll see. At the very least I'm totally trying to fit in a girls trip with my bestie in WA!

    8. The rest? Who knows! Let’s just hope 2022 will be a step in a better direction than the past few years!

WIN:  I think we can all breath a sigh of relief that this year was little kinder to us than the previous couple of years!

2023: My intention is to manifest an even better year this year!

Cheers to a New Year and a fresh start!

Happy New Year!

 

And just like that it's 2023! 

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy New Year!