What's Cookin' Good Lookin' Review: Natasha's Autumn Bread

Thank you so much for your participation this week. I am so excited to try out some of these new recipes now that hubs is home for a while (as of last night woohoo!). It was hard to make a choice but I went with Natasha's Autumn Bread  because it scared me the most. Baking home made bread? Yikes! But I like a challenge (I'm from Jersey, what can I say?) and went into this recipe with low expectations and high hopes.

Well guess what?

This bread was unbelievably easy to make and ridiculously Amazing. That's right, Amazing with a capital "A."

I followed Natasha's recipe closely and only made two minor tweaks:

- I cut the recipe in half because I wasn't sure how much bread it would make and it sounded like a lot!
- I did not use a pizza peel, but rather a wooden cutting board.

You can find Natasha's whole recipe here, but I've created a photo time line of how things went down, well up...you know, because of the yeast (bad joke):

Mixing the ingredients...

Covered and getting ready to rise for the occasion...

Ready to go into the oven (and a lesson on why not to put your baking stone under the broiler)

Golden and beautiful fresh from the oven...

To quote Despicable Me, "It's so fluffy!!!"

Natasha, you have officially changed my life.

Seriously girls, this bread is incredible and so ridiculously easy to make. You must try it.

Cannot wait to see what you're all cooking up this week!

What's Cookin' Good Lookin' Review: Meg's Peanut Butter Cookies

Hellooo there! Sorry I didn't review yesterday, I was at the movies. I saw 127 Hours in case you're wondering. Definitely not on the same theme as this post, so let's talk cooking.

Thank you to those of you that participated in our recipe exchange this week. To those of you that didn't, can't wait to see your contribution this week! Yes? Yes!!! Kthanks!

Though everything sounded amazing this week, I chose to bake Meg's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. Peanut butter, chocolate, oatmeal, the promise of life changing cookies...need I say more? Truthfully, she had me at peanut butter, ya'll! (why is there no northern phrase for ya'll by the way?)

So, were Meg's cookies life changing? Let's find out:

What I absolutely loved about Meg's cookies first and foremost was that there were super duper simple to make. What's more is that I had all of the ingredients on hand. 

I followed Meg's recipe to a T and made a discovery. Once I got to the point in the recipe where everything was creamed, I found that I had made a delicious fruit dip.

You have no idea the restraint it took not to stick my face in the bowl but Meg's recipe was for cookies, not dip, so I had to continue. After adding the egg and remaining ingredients to the mix, I scooped them on to the baking sheet. Meg got 16 cookies from this batter. I got 13. I like things big, what can I say? After 12 minutes in the oven (bigger takes a little more heat), here's my final result:

My verdict: This recipe produced 13 chewy cookies that taste like peanut butter without being overwhelming. The cookies are delicious and are an absolute must for any peanut butter enthusiast. To sum it up, Meg, your cookies have rocked my world!

Thanks again for your contributions this week. Did anyone else try a recipe? Can't wait to see what you cook up this week. Be sure to tell you friends to come and join the party!