Peanut Butter Cookies & Banana Pops

I've been feeling poorly as of late, which makes me feel sad for the kids who think I'm in labour every time I take a deep breath. "Is the baby coming?" is something I hear quite often around here (even from my husband). I decided to make my little guys a treat since it's been a few weeks that I've made any cookies or cakes. Shoppers Drug Mart had their organic peanut butter on sale, so you might have guessed....

Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies

Preheat oven to 400F

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl (if you're lucky, a stand mixer bowl) combine:

1 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix until smooth, and then slowly add dry ingredients. Bake in your preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, JUST until golden brown. You want the inside to be a little soft and chewy when these bad boys cool down. Enjoy.

Banana Pops

With the weather being so nice, my kids are always outside playing and don't really like to sit down to finish meals, snacks, etc. A great healthy snack for kids (or adults) running around like crazy is banana pops.....

You'll need:

Shish Kebab skewers

Granola (preferably homemade)

Yogurt

Bananas

- maybe some choc chips or dried cranberries

If you know you want to try this, look for straighter bananas at the grocery store as they're WAY easier to deal with for this snack.

Skewer the banana. You may freeze the banana at this point if it's really hot! (Only takes two hours for the banana to get good and cold/frozen.

Dip in Yogurt. You could either dip it right into the container of yogurt, or put some yogurt in an appropriate sized dish depending on how much you need and your views on contaminating the bacteria in the yogurt.

Roll in Granola. You may need to sprinkle some on with your hand for the inside curve part.

If you want to make it a bit fancy, throw on a FEW chocolate chips or some dried cranberries and you've got a delicious, kid friendly treat that is sure to please even the pickiest of eaters.

*This is also a good snack for kids parties, because the kids can enjoy "fun" food without all the sugar typically associated with "fun" food. *