It’s so quick and yummy. We eat so much of it that we’ve started making it every other week. Having it ready to go makes breakfast a breeze on busy mornings. Oh heck, who am I kidding, it makes it easy on lazy mornings too!

A lot of granola recipes call for old fashioned rolled oats. However, I feel like you have to cook them a lot longer or they stay too chewy. I like mine super crunchy and really fast. Using the 1 minute oats guarantees a quick and crunchy texture.

To get started preheat the oven to 350. Next, pour the oats, and nuts on a large baking sheet and set it aside. Grab a medium sized sauce pan and pour in the vegetable oil and butter. Once the butter melts a bit, add in the brown sugar and cinnamon. Warm on low to medium heat until the brown sugar is dissolved.

Once the sugar is dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla. Give everything a good stir and then pour it over the oat and nut mixture. Stir until everything is combined.

Pop the sheet pan in the oven and let the mixture cook for about 30 mins. Make sure that you stir every 10 mins so that everything has a chance to get nice and toasty.

The possibilities are endless using this recipe as a base. If you decide to add dried nuts or chunks of chocolate, add them once the granola has cooled.

My favorite way to eat granola is sprinkled over blueberry yogurt. Side note, I was not a fan of blueberry yogurt until trying the one from Brown Cow. It’s gelatin free and the cream top is ah-mazing! Give it a try…

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Quick Granola with Pecans & Slivered Almonds

Crunchy, sweet and nutty with a hint of cinnamon. A perfect topping for yogurt or a peach crumble.

Author Lala & Zo

Ingredients

• 3 cups 1 minute oats
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350
• Pour the oats, pecans and almonds on a jellyroll pan or large baking sheet. Set aside. 
• In a medium sized sauce pan, add the vegetable oil, butter, cinnamon and brown sugar. Cook on medium to low heat until the brown sugar is dissolved. 
• Remove from heat and add the vanilla, stir to combine. Pour the sugar mixture over the oat and nut mixture and stir until coated.
• Spread in an even layer and bake for 30 mins. Making sure to stir the mixture in 10 minute intervals.
• Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container. 

Notes

Feel free to use any mixture of nuts you like. Adding dried fruit is really good too.

The post Quick Granola with Pecans & Slivered Almonds appeared first on Lala & Zo.

Fortnite, have you heard of it? If not, it’s all the rage right now with the kiddies. This is my take on V-Bucks as frosted cookies. My nephew turned 9 and really likes the game, so that’s what I made for him. I used my old standby rolled sugar cookie recipe and iced them. I’m not a pro at frosting cookies, the icing can be so finicky! I needed the frosting to harden, so that the cookies were stackable. After mixing my icing, I frosted a tester cookie and waited to do the others until I was able to see how it would firm up.

Looking at this picture, I wish I would’ve gone a little thicker on the icing. I was too afraid of running out of icing though! Next time, I will double it. Lesson learned!

Every Christmas, I bake cookies in every shape and the whole family comes over to decorate them. Not only do they turn out looking great, they taste really good too! Here’s a kickback photo from this past Christmas. See what I mean about how I decorate cookies, Ha!

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Rolled Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the softened butter, sugar, vanilla and eggs. Mix until light and fluffy, scraping down sides of the bowl after about 1 min.
• In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Add half of the dry ingredient mixture to the butter mixture and mix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add remaining dry ingredients. Mix well.
• Pat dough into a large flat circle, wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate at least 30 mins.
• On a floured surface or between 2 sheets of parchment paper, roll the dough out to at least 1/2 an inch in thickness. 
• Cut into desired shapes and place on cookie sheet.
• Refrigerate cookie shapes for at least 30 mins prior to baking.
• Bake at 375 for 8-10 mins. Cookies will still appear pale and only slightly golden on sides. Let cool completely before frosting.

Notes

This makes a soft, sticky dough. That's why refrigerating the dough before rolling is key. If you're still having trouble rolling with flour, place the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to roll. 

The post Frosted Sugar Cookies-Buttery Soft Cut-Outs appeared first on Lala & Zo.

I found this cake recipe about five years ago when I was looking for a vegetarian chocolate cake, this one goes even further by being vegan. The best part is you can’t even tell! Everyone who eats it gives rave reviews and asks for the recipe. I’ve always added instant coffee granules to my chocolate cake/brownies, as I feel it really amps up the chocolate flavor. I’ve not made the frosting that goes with it, so if you do, let me know what you think. I added a link to it in the recipe below.

*The cake itself is vegan, however the frosting and chopped up Snickers are not. I haven’t attempted a vegan frosting yet, but plan to soon.

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Chocolate Cake

Rich and deliciously chocolatey! 

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 1/2 tbsp instant coffee granules
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350
• Grease baking vessel of choice.
• Add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, coffee granules, baking soda and salt to a large bowl and whisk to mix.
• Add in the water, oil and vanilla. Mix well.
• Pour batter into pan or pans. Baking time will depend on the choice of pan you chose. A 9x13 takes 30-35 minutes and 2- 9 inch rounds take 20-25 minutes in my oven. Make sure you don't over cook.
• The original recipe calls for sprinkling 1 1/2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips over the batter just before baking.
  

Notes

Adapted from Chinese Grandma at https://chinesegrandma.com/2010/10/best-chocolate-cake/ 

* used vegetable oil, added instant coffee granules and left out chocolate chips 

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Old-Fashioned-Chocolate-Cake-with-Cocoa-Frosting-755

Also, here’s a snap of the cake I got for my born day last month. It’s the strawberries and cream flavor from Nothin’ Bundt Cakes. It was very good, however my absolute favorite from them is the lemon flavor. So. Good! You can buy the cakes already decorated, but instead Zoe decorated it with some things from the dollar spot at Target. She did a great job, I definitely felt the love!

The post Vegan Chocolate Cake With Peanut Butter Frosting & Candy Topping appeared first on Lala & Zo.

Who doesn’t love a good cookie? I know I sure do. I made this batch for Zoe when she was stressing during finals week, they cheered her right up! This time I used chocolate chips, but this base will work with any ingredients you choose to mix in. They will always turn out buttery, soft and delicious.We’ve used it for chocolate chip, snickerdoodle and many other variations. Throw in whatever your heart desires, just make these cookies!

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The Best Cookie Base

Buttery, soft and delicious. 

Author Leslie

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, salted softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup your choice of mix-in

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter, sugars, vanilla, and eggs. Mix until fully combined.
• In another bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk together. 
• Add 1 cup of the dry mixture to the wet mixture mixing in-between until the dry ingredients are gone. Do not over mix this time, turn the mixer off as soon as you no longer see flour!
• By hand, stir in 1 cup total of your choice of mix-ins. (chocolate or peanut butter chips, nuts, coconut, candy bits or rolled in a cinnamon sugar mix are all equally delish) I've also made base only cookies and they are weirdly my favorite, HA!
• Roll cookies into balls the size of a cutie and do not flatten. Place on un-greased cookie sheets.
• Bake for 12-15 mins. Cookies will be slightly golden. It's okay if they look a bit underdone, promise! Cool on cookie sheet for another 10 minutes.

Recipe doubles and triples wonderfully. Also, extra cookies can be stored in an airtight container and frozen! Lay one out for about 10 mins to come to room temp or pop in the microwave for 10 seconds if you're impatient like me.

The post The Best Cookie Base appeared first on Lala & Zo.

Creamy, smooth and decadent! This cheesecake is a classic that comes out perfectly every time! Many shy away from making cheesecake, thinking that it’s difficult to master, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s really more of a waiting game. Don’t worry though, this beauty has been tamed! It’s truly a favorite around these parts.

I’ve made variations of this recipe for pumpkin and chocolate versions, which are great as well. I kinda winged them though, I’ll try to get recipes posted ASAP. My plan for next time is a turtle topping. What could go wrong with topping this beauty with pecans, caramel and chocolate fudge?! Nothing, that’s what I say! Never mind, making sure I’d still fit in my jeans could potentially become a problem HA!

I love it plain, but my family loves it topped with a strawberry drizzle, either way you can’t go wrong. Well, unless you don’t make it! So get to it! ;o)

We hope this becomes one of your favorites!

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Perfect NY Style Cheesecake

Author Leslie

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Filling

• 2 lbs (4 blocks) cream cheese, room temp
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla

Strawberry Drizzle

• 1 pint strawberries
• 1/4 cup sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325
• Lightly coat the bottom of a springform pan with cooking spray

Crust

• Add crust ingredients to a small bowl, mix with a fork until all crumbs are coated with the butter.
• Pour crumbs into springform pan and press down firmly using your hands. Wrap pan tightly in foil so water does not seep in while baking in water bath. Place in refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Filling

• In a stand mixer, mix cream cheese and sugar until fluffy and smooth. Add eggs and mix for 1 minute. Scrape bowl down with spatula. Add Sour cream, heavy cream and vanilla and mix another minute. Scrape sides of bowl again and mix for one last minute.
• Pour filling into prepared pan and smooth the top. 
• Make water bath by placing foil wrapped springform pan in a large roasting pan. Add boiling water to roasting pan until it comes up halfway. Make sure you pour slowly so you don't get any water into the actual cheesecake pan! 
• Carefully place in oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, turn the oven off and let the cheesecake rest in the oven with the door cracked for another 30 minutes. 
• Make sure to not over bake! The cheesecake should jiggle a bit and will firm up as it cools down.
• Remove from oven and let cool on counter for another hour. Place in refrigerator and let cool for at least 6 hours.
• Serve each slice plain or with topped with strawberry drizzle.

Strawberry Drizzle

• Rinse strawberries and chop the green parts off.
• Add strawberries, and sugar to blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
  

I prefer crust only on the bottom of my cheesecake. If you like one that comes up the sides, double the recipe for the crust and press it around the side of the pan.

The post New York Style Cheesecake/ Perfect & Easy appeared first on Lala & Zo.