Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Some friends of our recently had an adorable baby boy, so last week I took them a homemade meal.  On my friends Pinterest, I found this recipe for Lemon Crinkle Cookies so I made them for her.  I'm not a lemon person, but these are so good! Absolutely perfect summer cookie!

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 tsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour
powdered sugar to roll

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream together butter and sugar.  Whip in vanilla, egg, zest, and juice.  Scrape down sides of the bowl.  Add in dry ingredients and mix until combined.
Roll dough into balls and roll in powdered sugar.  (Add lemon zest to the top if you like!)
Bake for 9-11 minutes, until cookie has "crinkled".

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

I love pinterest.  It's amazing and I just love it.  I love all the recipes and I love to make new things.  I made these last week and my hubby loved them and asked me to make more last night. So that's on the list of things to do today.  It's nice and cold and drizzly and a perfect day to bake :) Recipe adapted from here.

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1 cup sugar
1 cup pure pumpkin
1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 egg
2/3 cup craisins

Directions:
Heat over to 375 degrees. 
Mix together sugar, pumpkin, almond milk, brown sugar, butter and egg.  In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, ginger, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and cloves together.  Add into sugar mixture.  Mix in cranberries by hand.
Spoon into muffin tin with or without liners (if not using liners, lightly coat with cooking spray).  These can also be made in a large muffin tin (that's what I did!).
Bake for 25 minutes or until muffin tops spring back.  Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Gingersnap Cookies

I love fall.  I love the colors, I love the cool weather, and I love the flavors of fall! I whipped up these bad boys a few weeks back and my husband has asked for them weekly ever since.  Luckily the dough freezes really well so I have a supple in the freezer for whenever he asks :) He claims they are the best cookies I make.  They are also super soft! I'm eating some right now that I made about 5 days ago and they still taste amazing!

You can find my regular gingersnap recipe here.

Pumpkin Spice Gingersnaps
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. baking soda
2 1/2 cups flower
1/2 cup pure pumpkin (not the filling)
Sugar (optional)

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. 
Cream together butter and sugar.  Add egg and molasses and mix until combined. Mix in cinnamon, ginger, salt, pumpkin pie spice, cloves, and baking soda.  Slowly add in flower.  Add in pure pumpkin and mix well.
Roll dough into 1 inch balls and coat in sugar.  Bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes, turning half way through. Let the cookies stand for a minute or two before moving them to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Circus Nursery

We did the baby's room in a neutral theme for a few reasons. The first being that we didn't know what we were having.  The second being that we only have a two bedroom house, so if there were more kids someday, it would need to be neutral for them to share :) And last but not least, $! I didn't want to paint the room blue/pink to have to change it to a neutral color later. 
I wanted a circus nursery before I even got pregnant.  Ikea had the cutest nursery decor, and I was dying to get it.  Before we announced our pregnancy, my BFF and I took a trip to Ikea just to buy the goods.  I was so stinkin excited! There are a few things that I have that aren't pictured like a circus tent, a play mat, puppets, and sheets for when she is older.  I love the way her room turned out! It's so cute!

Baby Shower

5 months later I am finally getting around to posting my baby shower pictures! Life's been a little crazy since then :) I loved my shower, it was so fun! It was so fun to plan and decorate! I started planning pretty much right when I found out I was pregnant.  I told everyone it was way more fun to plan the baby shower than it was my own wedding.  So much time and so many options! And that's right after I discovered Pinterest. Thank God for Pinterest!  You can see my inspiration here.  I wish I had more time and money to do more cuteness, but I loved the way it turned out...simple.