Lunchtime Links for September 17th, 2015

• Brown Eyed Baker: Cinnamon Toast Crunch marshmallow treats.
• The Pioneer Woman: Handheld chicken pot pies.
• I Heart Naptime: Chocolate peanut butter Buckeye cupcakes.
• Warm Vanilla Sugar: Butter Paneer curry.
• Averie Cooks: Pumpkin chocolate chip bread.

French Fry Goodies

It's not quite Friday, but I wanted to share some fun fry-day products that I've come across recently, haha!  I'm not really sure why but I feel like I've seen a number of fry-related products lately, which is all the more ironic considering I don't eat French fries.  Not because I don't like them, mind you, but more because I love them too much and I'm trying to exert some self control with at least one vice.

I saw this shirt at Forever 21, and I thought it was awesome -it also reminded me of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, haha.  But then I realized that I don't really have anywhere that I could (or should?) wear this.

On the other hand, I could DEFINITELY use this insulated lunch bag for my work lunches! I spotted this bag at Target, and found out at the register that it was even cheaper than the marked clearance price - always a fun surprise!  This bag was under $3 and will make my work lunches all the more fun to bring in to the office.  At my store, there were also Chipwich and Burger versions as well, which are also super cute!

Lunchtime Links for September 16th, 2015

• The Kitchn: Stovetop macaroni and cheese.
• My Baking Addiction: Apple peanut butter cupcakes.
• Oh, Sweet Basil: Grilled Greek chicken and corn salad. 
• The Pioneer Woman: Dipped and decorated ice cream cones.
• Crazy for Crust: Frosted Flakes cookies. 

Georgetown Cupcake - Chocolate-dipped Butterscotch Chip Cupcake

This recent secret flavor at Georgetown Cupcake was available when my friends Nothing Mundane made a stop in DC on their tour of the country - it's always nice to have visitors, especially when free cupcakes are involved :o)  Be sure to check out their blog to follow along on their RV journey! 

You can't really tell in the photo, but the cake had a LOT of little butterscotch chips throughout, which added lots of concentrated butterscotch flavor in every bite.  With the sweetness of butterscotch in general, I'm glad they stuck with the thin chocolate ganache as the topping for this one - it may have been a little overwhelming with a standard frosting swirl.  It was a fun weekend with friends in town, capped off by this delicious free cupcake! 

Lunchtime Links for September 15th, 2015

• Oh, Sweet Basil: Ultimate Italian sausage pasta.
• Kirbie's Cravings: No churn matcha cookies and cream ice cream.
• Picky Palate: Garlic toasted spaghetti boats.
• A Spicy Perspective: Brownie bites with Oreo frosting.
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Pesto lasagna roll ups.

Oreo Thins

I have to admit, I was a little skeptical of these new Oreo Thins when I first came across them in the grocery store.  Thin = less Oreo deliciousness to me, or that's what I believed until I actually tried them!  

The crispy Oreo cookies are more like a crunchy biscuit in these, with a thin layer of creme filling inside.  As much as I love regular Oreos, I really enjoyed the crispy texture of these cookies, and they crumbled less than the regular version which is a nice bonus.  Even a skeptic like me loved these - so give them a try if you also like trying different versions of Oreo cookies! 

Lunchtime Links for September 14th, 2015

• Damn Delicious: Baked cream cheese Spaghetti.
• Brown Eyed Baker: Apple cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.
• Cookies & Cups: Rainbow chip brownies.
• The Kitchn: Chicken in orange sauce.
• Dessert for Two: Croissant French toast.

Pumpkin Nutella Muffins

I always keep Nutella and canned pumpkin on hand in my kitchen, so I when I felt like baking last week, I decided to try out this recipe for Pumpkin Nutella muffins from Simply Happenstance.  

The recipe is very easy to follow, and even if you add a little more Nutella than the recipe calls for, the muffins turn out great, haha.  As you can see mine are nowhere near as pretty as the ones on the blog, which is due to me spooning globs of Nutella into the muffin batter and not swirling them.  The pumpkin and Nutella flavors go really well together, and are a fantastic way to celebrate the cooler weather and fall season coming up!   

Lunchtime Links for September 11th, 2015

• Crazy for Crust: Brown butter brownies.
• The Kitchn: One-skillet chicken Alfredo pasta.
• My Baking Addiction: Birthday cake cookies.
• Joy the Baker: Chocolate pudding.
• Dessert for Two: Texas chocolate quarter sheet cake.

Bath and Body Works - We Love Pumpkin Candle

How cute is this layered pumpkin candle from Bath and Body Works??  Of course I have plenty of their regular pumpkin candle variations, but I couldn't resist also getting this layered candle in the store recently (with a coupon, of course).  

From top to bottom, the layers are: 

- Creamy Pumpkin: sweet caramel, spiced pumpkin & rich cream

- Roasted Pumpkin Butter: whipped pumpkin, toasted cinnamon & vanilla butter

- Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin: fresh pumpkin, cinnamon stick & creamy vanilla

I can't wait to burn this candle in the fall and enjoy all of the yummy scents! 

Lunchtime Links for September 10th, 2015

• Creme de la Crumb: Apple recipes.
• Gimme Some Oven: 3 ingredient bacon-wrapped dates.
• Handle the Heat: Homemade fudge rounds.
• A Spicy Perspective: Mini banana cream pies.
• How Sweet It Is: Chocolate peanut butter pretzel ice cream.

Kraft Pumpkin SpiceMallows

I just couldn't resist this bag of pumpkin marshmallows when I came across them in Target recently, and they turned out to be on sale which was a nice extra bonus! 

Kraft makes a variety of Jet Puffed marshmallow flavors throughout the year, and these cute little pumpkins are the perfect way to welcome Fall soon! They smell like pumpkin pie spices even through the sealed bag, haha.  I can't wait to use these in hot chocolate, or for a variation of Rice Krispie Treats! 

Lunchtime Links for September 9th, 2015

• A Kitchen Addiction: Loaded pumpkin blondies.
• Creme de la Crumb: Spicy honey lime chicken wings.
• Brown Eyed Baker: Fall dessert recipes.
• The Kitchn: Sweet corn Risotto.
• Crazy for Crust: Football cookie cake.

Shake Shack - Corn Dog + Banana Pudding Custard

Labor Day weekend often feels like the unofficial end of summer, and for Shake Shack fans it means the last chance to get a Shack corn dog for the year, haha.  I was in the vicinity of one over Labor Day weekend, so of course I had to pop in for lunch.  

As usual, the corn dog was golden brown and crispy on the outside, with a delicious hot dog inside.  I LOVE their batter because it's always so crunchy on the outside! Along with the Shack corn dog, I got a cup of that week's custard - Banana Pudding.  I'll be honest, it looked and tasted mostly like their vanilla custard; but there was a strong banana flavor that would come out after a few bites.  It was a decadently creamy treat, and went perfectly with the Shack corn dog! 

Lunchtime Links for September 8th, 2015

• Kirbie's Cravings: Microwave deep dish flourless peanut butter cookie.
• The Pioneer Woman: Cooking bacon in the oven.
• I Heart Naptime: Pumpkin spice cupcakes.
• Cookies & Cups: Super soft sprinkle pudding cookies.
• Damn Delicious: Guacamole shrimp wonton cups.

Starbucks - Pumpkin Spice Latte

Yes, I am fully aware that it's still summer, but it's so easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of fall foods, haha!  

I was one of the many, many Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte fans that took advantage of the "pre-release" special over this past weekend, and got to enjoy one before they officially come out today.  You may have heard that they changed around the recipe, and I thought it was super delicious! It actually tasted less sweet to me (in a good way) and not so cinnamon-forward as I found them to be in the past.  If you're a fan of pumpkin foods and drinks, be sure to pick some up at Starbucks starting today!   

Lunchtime Links for September 4th, 2015

• Creme de la Crumb: Teriyaki shrimp skewers.
• Love Swah: Single serve peanut butter and Nutella skillet cookie.
• Crazy for Crust: Skinny peanut butter dip.
• The First Year Blog: Chocolate peanut butter cupcakes.
• Cookies & Cups: Butter crunch cookies. 

Nestle Toll House + Pretzel Cookies

Happy Friday! What better way to celebrate than with delicious cookies! I recently bought a "college dorm" gift bag at Whole Foods because it was a great deal for a bag full of items that I use.  Included in the gift bag was a big bag of pretzel sticks, which I thought would be perfect in a chocolate chip cookie!  

I used the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of the bag of chocolate chips, halved the original recipe since I don't need FIVE DOZEN cookies haha, and added a generous bowl-ful of crushed pretzel sticks to the dough.  I made sure that the pretzel sticks were small enough to get distributed evenly in the dough, but large enough that you can still see them.  These cookies turned out great, and the pretzel pieces added a lot of texture and a slight salty taste to the sweet cookies. They were a big hit at work and I would definitely make these again! 

Lunchtime Links for September 3rd, 2015

• Damn Delicious: Pork ginger potstickers.
• Crazy for Crust: 3 ingredient Nutella truffles.
• Oh, Sweet Basil: Teriyaki chicken salad.
• Gimme Some Oven: Banana bread.
• Creme de la Crumb: Chocolate mousse brownies.

Georgetown Cupcake - September Flavors

There are four delicious special cupcake flavors available at Georgetown Cupcake this month!  As you can see I have blogged about each of them before, and they are all great. There's something for everyone with this lineup, so be sure to check them out while they're available in September!

Caramel Apple: Fresh apple cupcake with a caramel core topped with a vanilla cream cheese frosting and a caramel star drizzle

Caramel Cheesecake: Caramel cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, topped with a caramel frosting and caramel star drizzle

Banana Chocolate Chip: Fresh banana cupcake studded with Callebaut chocolate chips and topped with a whipped Callebaut chocolate ganache frosting and a yellow fondant flower

Double Butterscotch Chip: Butterscotch cupcake studded with butterscotch chips and topped with a butterscotch buttercream frosting and a butterscotch star drizzle

Lunchtime Links for September 2nd, 2015

• Warm Vanilla Sugar: Nutella swirled Belgian waffles.
• The Comfort of Cooking: Soft banana Snickerdoodles.
• Averie Cooks: Peanut butter apple banana bread.
• Joy the Baker: Toasted marshmallow ice cream cake with salted caramel.
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Peanut butter, banana, and honey muffins.

Shake Shack - September Custard Calendar

Happy September everyone! Here's the custard flavor lineup at Shake Shack this month:

09/01 - 09/06: Banana Pudding
09/07 - 09/13: Peanut Butter & Jelly
09/14 - 09/20: Red Velvet
09/21 - 09/27: Mint Chocolate Fudge
09/28 - 09/30: Pumpkin Pie

Lunchtime Links for September 1st, 2015

• Gimme Some Oven: Broccoli cheese soup.
• Joy the Baker: Milk chocolate cookies and cream cookies.
• How Sweet It Is: Whipped Mexican grilled corn dip.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Grilled cheese doughnuts.
• Handle the Heat: Nutella brownies.

Pumpkin Spice Latte M&Ms

It was only a matter of time before these would come into the world, haha.  There have been Pumpkin Spice M&Ms before, but these are specifically Pumpkin Spice Latte flavored - no doubt that other companies are catching on to the wild frenzy of the seasonal Starbucks drink.   I found these at Target by the cash registers,  and not in the regular candy aisle with the rest of the M&Ms.  The M&Ms are a bigger version of the regular round M&Ms, but not quite the egg shape of the peanut M&M.  

I have to say, these are pretty tasty! The smell definitely reminds me of instant coffee granules - which I use quite often when baking brownies, so it's a familiar scent to me.  That addition of coffee definitely helps to add some layers of flavor, compared to the previous Pumpkin Spice M&Ms.  As I've found with other limited edition flavors, the "special" flavor can get a little overwhelming after a while, so I would recommend snacking on these in smaller doses than you would regular M&Ms, haha.  Overall I'm pretty impressed by these, and anyone that also loves Pumpkin Spice Lattes should give these a try!