Sweets

I've made two fabulous treats lately, which is a strange thing to do when trying to lose weight. Maybe my willpower will become stronger the more frequently I test it? Probably not. But I do enjoy making treats, and sometimes the occasion calls for it. On Thursday we were invited over to watch the Cougs and were asked to bring the treat. So being died in the wool blue, through and through. We all donned our BYU apparel, and I whipped up some BYU mint brownies. It probably sounds silly to anyone who hasn't attended BYU, but yes, there is an official BYU mint brownie. If you've been to an event catered by BYU then you've probably seen these delicious morsels and most likely devoured them. BYU even has its very own carbonated beverage called Y Sparkle that is also delicious, but the brownies are definitely the shining star. You can find the brownie recipe here. I made it without nuts because there's always someone in every group who hates nuts in brownies or cookies (I was proved right when it turned out our host was himself a nut-hater.) It doesn't include a chocolate frosting recipe, so I used the frosting from this recipe but used less milk. These brownies take a bit of time since you have to wait for then to cool and then frost twice, but they were dih-vine.

Now that I'm teaching the 12 and 13-year-olds in Sunday, I am making treats every Saturday to bring to class. You may say I'm pandering...and you'd be right, but I'm not too worried about it. Every single kid in my class is polite, appreciative, and participates. Seriously. I figured this calling was my turn to receive my comeuppance having been fairly hard on Sunday School teachers in my adolescence, but no! Huzzah! To my credit, I do follow the lesson outline, and to their credit, they're just better kids than I was. So I don't mind in the least rewarding them. This past Sunday, I made toasty coconut macaroons from the fabulous Alton Brown. But Dave has improved his recipe by suggesting we top each cookie with a round of melted chocolate and then allow them to cool. Inspired! As a caviat, I will add that you really do need to use parchment paper or a silicon baking mat because the egg white will stick like crazy even if you use PAM.

Try these recipes out if you dare. You may need to get the surplus out of the house as quickly as possible. Indulgence AND generosity! What a perfect pairing.