I have been waking up earlier and earlier. This actually happens to me every year around this time when the weather is turning and there seems to be so much to be missed if you’re not up at 8:30am. To some this may seem like sleeping in, but to me, considering my work schedule, believe me, this is a wee early hour.

Inevitably, since Ivan tends to sleep a more reasonable number of hours, I’m sitting around like a child on Christmas morning, anxiously waiting for him to wake up. Also inevitably, since the only thing I can think about in the morning is eating, I end up scouring food blogs, raking through recipes on Epicurious and dreaming up things that will waft to his nose and spring him out of bed!

In fact, most of my cooking happens in the morning. I love getting to the grocery store when everyone has a coffee in hand and the produce has just been stocked the night before. It always seems a little more special. So these muffins were inspired by a box of oat bran found on one of my morning excursions and sure enough, Ivan was a happy camper when he finally got up!

For the Recipe, click here:

Banana Pecan Oat Bran Muffins

Have you ever flipped over a granola or protein bar and been perplexed by the long-winded, 16-letter word ingredients list? Other than LÄRABAR which makes simple, whole food bars, I don’t think anything holds a candle to homemade. And at about $1.50 a piece, my favorite, the Larabar Cashew Cookie Bar seems slightly overpriced for just cashews and dates.

These homemade bars keep really well in the freezer, have a satisfying crunch, and will fill you up for way less money. Just make a batch at the beginning of the week and your snack-time will be a no-brainer.

For the Recipe, click here:

Peanut Butter and Crispy Brown Rice Date Bars

I really did try hard to lay off the sweets this week. I promise. After cheesecake and blondies last week, I thought I could do a week of 100 percent greens and beans, but of course, my strike was unsuccessful.

My problem is that I always have a fully stocked baking cabinet. I’m the girl that immediately upon running out of chocolate chips, restocks. This is because when I have a baking urge, I just do it. Pop off the couch, slip on an apron and bam, I want to be on my way. So, I had white chocolate chips and I had macadamia nuts and I had a craving. So, 1 + 1 + 1 equals these divine cookies.

I am going to say without hesitation that these rank in the top 2 best cookies I have ever made. Seriously. These are pretty ridiculous. I think I had four over the course of the day, and I don’t even feel bad. I’m not even upset that my 4 mile run tomorrow will have to become a 6 miler! Sometimes, it’s just worth it.

For the Recipe, click here:

White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Cookies

So you are probably wondering, what happened to Day 1 of the cookie contest? I figured 5 days of baking would have been a little too much for even my baking-obsessed self, so I opted out of Hershey’s Kiss day.

So, onto Oatmeal. I have seriously looked through about a million oatmeal cookie recipes and it seems to me, the oldie, but goodie recipe under the Quaker Oats lid is the winner hands down. But this is a competition people, so while I would normally be completely content with this standard, I stepped off the edge and created my own! And since I didn’t even USE the Quaker Oats oats, I figured it would have been pretty rude to rip their recipe anyway.

And lo, and behold, my cookies WON! So now you really have a reason to try these out!

Oatmeal Pecan and Sour Cherry Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed

scant 1/4 cup honey

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour (or when not participating in cut-throat competition, whole wheat)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

dash of cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

3 1/4 cups rolled oats

1/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped

1 cup sour dried cherries, roughly chopped

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle, combine butter, sugar, and honey. Beat until fluffy. With mixer still running, add vanilla and eggs one at a time.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the dry mixture to the wet in increments, being careful not to overmix. Stir in oats, pecans and cherries. Place the batter into the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. (I swear this is the KEY to “chewy on the inside, crispy on the outside” cookies. The butter needs to solidify before you bake in order to avoid spreading)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Drop tbsp sized cookies on greased, wax paper lined cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes until the cookies look slightly underdone but golden. Allow to cool completely. (Make sure to cool the baking sheets completely before each batch. Place unused batter in the refrigerator between batches.)