Sweet Treats Giveaway Winner

The winner of the Sweet Treats Week giveaway has been announced!

According to random.org, my friend, Ania, is the giveaway winner! Congratulations Ania!

Ania said her favorite sweet treat is banana bread. Banana bread is one of my favorite sweet treats too. Thank you so much for supporting my blog and being a loyal reader from the beginning Ania! Enjoy!!


I hope everyone is enjoying Labor Day with their family and friends! Have a great day!

Parmesan Crusted Zucchini

I know it's September.

And I'm late for the "use up your zucchini" train. Sadly, I forgot all about this recipe, even though I had it as one of the first scheduled at the beginning of the summer. Even if you don't think there's any zucchini left in the bottom of your produce drawer, go check. I'll wait here.

...Did you find any?

If you didn't, kudos to you for not experiencing the abundance-of-zucchini-problem. I find them to be rather cute. Since I don't have a garden, I couldn't help buying some every time I went to the grocery store. They called to me, pleading to be picked up and taken to a good home. I was only doing them a favor.

The first time I made this the hubby and I were blown away. We fought each other for the last bite, running back to the kitchen for what was left in the skillet. This is so incredibly easy to make it shouldn't even be classified as a recipe. Slice up your zucchini into disks, sautee it in a little butter, and sprinkle it with parmesan cheese. We must have had it as a side dish once a week!

Source: Wilde in the Kitchen
Servings: 2

2 Zucchini, sliced into ¼-inch discs
2 tbsp butter
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
¼ cup parmesan cheese

Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add zucchini in one layer. Sprinkle with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Put the lid on and cook for 3 minutes.

Remove the lid and flip with zucchini over. Put the lid on again and cook for 3 more minutes. Sprinkle cheese evenly over the zucchini and cover. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until the cheese is melty and scorched. Serve in a big pile.

What veggie are you looking forward to serving this fall?

The Week Wrap Up 8/29-9/2

Wohooo Happy September!! September begins my favorite time of the year- the back-to-school excitement, pumpkin spiced everything, cooler nights, boots, and scarfs. I know I was talking about not wanting to let go of summer yet (and I still do have a few summer recipes to show you, don't hate me!), but I think I'm ready to slowly bring out my Fall decor. One thing at a time. I've got two apple spice candles out and four pumpkin tealights. See? Baby steps.

So! Tell me, how did you like Sweet Treats Week? I thought it was fun! Hopefully you found something you'd like to bake. Just in case you missed it..

Here's what I shared with you this week:

Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Mocha Almond Crunch Biscotti

Glazed Doughnut Muffins

Honey Peanut Butter Banana Blondies

Here's what I bookmarked:

Banana Chocolate Chip Scones- Tasty Kitchen

Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas- Buns in my Oven

Peanut Butter Cup M&M's- Crazy for Crust

Focaccia with Onion and Rosemary- Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts

That's a wrap! If you haven't entered my giveaway, please check it out! Have a great first weekend of September!

Sweet Treats Week #5: Giveaway Day!

You made it!

To the end of Sweet Treats Week. Don't be sad my friends, there will be plenty more sweet treats in the future. I have to say, I think this turned out pretty well, don't you? We've got cupcakes, biscotti, muffins, and blondies to make. Special thanks again to Rachel and Jen for contributing with their guest posts this week. I know, I know, we're missing cookies, cakes, ice cream, pies, and brownies! A girl can only do so much in a week! Maybe another time.

Alas, I hope you enjoyed it and are ready to bake some sweet treats of your own. I thought I'd help you out by giving you this:

*brownies not included

The winner will receive a Wilton Bite-Size Brownie Squares mold (makes 24 mini brownies) and a 12 piece Wilton Brownie Decorating Set. Can you tell I've got brownies on the brain?

Wohoo! Let's review some rules, shall we?

1. You have until Sunday, September 4th to enter. I'll choose a winner using random.org on Monday morning, September 5th.

2. For one entry, leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite sweet treat is or which sweet treat you liked the best from the week.

3. For a extra entry, follow me on Twitter @thiswomancooks.

4. If you want another entry, "like" me on Facebook.

5. For yet another entry, tweet about this giveaway! You can use this: "I just entered @thiswomancooks brownie decorating kit giveaway! http://www.thiswomancooks.blogspot.com"

6. Finally, become a follower or subscribe to my feed.

Open to U.S. residents only. 

That's five different ways to win! Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry. Good luck!

Sweet Treats Week #4: Honey Peanut Butter Banana Cinnamon Blondies

Hello friends! I hope you've been enjoying Sweet Treats Week here on This Woman Cooks! Cupcakes, biscotti, muffins...I've certainly loved doing a sweet themed week and already have ideas for future themes. Today I've got another guest post for you, from none other than Jen from Beantown Baker. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to hear from Jen- she wanted to do a guest post on my little 'ol blog!? I remember reading Jen's blog before I even had the slightest idea of starting one of my own. I loved her beautiful photos, original recipes, and scrumptious desserts. She's got it all. I hope you will welcome her and take a look at her blog if you haven't before, I promise you'll become a loyal fan.

____________________________________________  

Hi readers! My name is Jen and I blog over at Beantown Baker. As the name implies, I live in Boston with my Hubby and our two cats. I like to bake and Hubby serves as my taste tester. I've done quite a few Week Of... themed weeks myself, so when Christina tweeted about it last week, I encouraged her to give it a shot. So here I am with a contribution to her Week of Sweet Treats.

I was looking through my Google Reader for some inspiration on something sweet to make, and the memory of some very overripe bananas kept popping into my head. They were definitely to the point where I needed to bake something or throw them in the freezer. As I was looking for banana recipes, this one popped out at me. I absolutely LOVE peanut butter and bananas together. Every morning for breakfast I eat a whole wheat bagel thin, topped with peanut butter and sliced banana. It's so delicious and filling.

When I went to my baking cabinet, I was sad to see that I didn't have any peanut butter chips (gotta remember to grab some at the store next time I'm there!) But I did have some cinnamon chips. I love baking with cinnamon chips. They might be one of my favorite ingredients. I decided the cinnamon chips would be a suitable substitution and went to town baking these. In no time flat, I could smell the amazing aroma of peanut butter, cinnamon, and banana coming from the kitchen.

After I took a bite, I was honestly wishing for more peanut butter flavor. I would recommend making these with the peanut butter chips, or reduce the amount of cinnamon chips so the cinnamon doesn't overpower the peanut butter. Hubby couldn't keep his hands off these even though he claims not to like peanut butter in desserts.

Honey Peanut Butter Banana Cinnamon Blondies - adapted from Healthy Food For Living - makes 16 bars
Printable Recipe
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 cup mashed overripe banana (about 3 medium bananas)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup white whole wheat flour (all purpose would work as well)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup peanut butter chips (or 1/3 cup cinnamon chips)
1/4 cup peanut butter (if you aren't using all-natural peanut butter, reduce the honey to 2 Tbsp)

Preheat oven to 350.

Line an 8x8 pan with foil or parchment paper. Spray with baking spread.

Beat together the applesauce, oil, brown sugar, honey, and banana. Add the egg, then vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, basking soda, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just moistened. Fold in the peanut butter and chips. The peanut butter doesn't need to be completely mixed into the batter.

Pour batter into pan and bake 25-28 minutes.

Allow to cool prior to cutting into bars.

Thanks again Jen! It was a pleasure having you! 

Be sure to come back tomorrow, there's a prize involved!