For the past couple of years, Lindsay over at Love and Olive Oil and Julie at The Little Kitchen have been putting on a big fabulous internet extravaganza called The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. Basically cookies were in everyone’s faces as bloggers swapped a dozen cookies with three other bloggers then ate the whole three dozen by themselves. I could have swore I read somewhere that we got a pair of pajama jeans for post cookie inhaling.

My contribution for this sugar explosion was something to use up all the brown sugar I’ve been making because I’ve been a brown sugar factory and I feel so Ina about it. You know how she is with chicken stock, that’s me with brown sugar. I’m basically one crisp white shirt and a barn away from being as fabulous as she is.

When I had made all the brown sugar in the world I had two recipes set aside: my one bowl blondies and Joy’s brown sugar cookies. I figured that Joy’s would be easier to ship so I made a double batch, threw in some toffee bits, and sprinkles a little Maldon on top.

OO. WEE.

These babies stay nice and chewy thanks to the brown sugar, are practically screaming MAKE ME INTO AN ICE CREAM SANDWICH, and are perfect for gift giving this year. Joy describes them as chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate chips and that’s totally what they are. We sneak some ginger and cinnamon in there, just enough to be like hey gurl not hey gurl heyy and it makes me think that they’re holiday cookie royalty.

When I sent my batches out to the other bloggers I got them bagged up and taped some keewwt labels on there aaand I gave them some fresh brown sugar because that’s who I am now. Also confetti was involved because duh. Rectangle shaped hole punches FTW!

On top of all this business, I’ve included a printaabbllllle! That tag up there gets printed out, folded and stapled to a clear bag (4x9x2). How easy is that?!

BRB I need to starch my shirt.

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If you follow me on Instagram you’ve been seeing a whole lot of cookie business and this week I posted about brown sugar and people are probably like WHERE IS ALL THE THANKSGIVING?! I’m opting for cookies right now and I’m working on a pie for you last minute people aka my people. Thanksgiving is less than a week away and you probably still need some ideas (I know I do). Luckily for all of us, people have been blogging Thanksgiving recipes like they’re going out of style and I’ve got some of mah faves on this weeks grocery list.

First up, Adrianna is shutting. it. down. with these pies. I mean seriously, that ROSE APPLE PIE will have everyone Ramona Eyesing, it’s a looker. Plus she went ahead and schooled us with pie crust 101. Go learn things! (via A Cozy Kitchen)

Not from a food blogger, but I instantly post-ited this classic dressing recipe from Bon Appètit’s Thanksgiving issue. The 1 1/2 sticks of butter is what did it for me. (via Bon Appètit)

I would totally serve hushpuppies at Thanksgiving and I know nobody would complain. Especially if they were Tracy’s that she laced with sausage and jalapeno. (via Shutterbean)

Joy has some Herb and Gruyere cheese puffs that would be super amazing with turkey or a hunk of cheese. More cheese, always. (via Joy the Baker)

Jessica’s letting us know about the cranberry margarita and her mom’s gravy tips (BOOKMARK IT). ps If you give me a cranberry margarita on Thanksgiving I WILL NEVER LEAVE. (via How Sweet It Is)

I kind of really need Gaby’s spicy green beans on my table. I think they might replace the casserole but don’t tell the half used can of fried onions that. (via What’s Gaby Cooking)

In case you aren’t feeling Joy’s puffs or you want to increase the cheese count (YES) Cindy has some crazy good looking sage and romano biscuits that obviously need to happen with your thanksgiving, orrr maybe make them for breakfast the next morning with all that leftover gravy? I’m just saying… (via Hungry Girl Por Vida)

If you need some help in the appetizer dept Megan totally has a cheese plate how-to that you should check out because it’s full of cheesy goodness and fir dessert she went out and made pumpkin piesicles that I’m still freaking out over. (via Take a Megabite)

Izy also contributes to the appetizer dept. with some maple, vanilla, flax roasted almonds and pecans. If anything you could bag these up and send ‘em home with people. I know I’d take them all in my purse/elastic waist pants when nobody’s looking. (via Top With Cinnamon)

Stephanie made a fabulous looking quinoa salad with hazelnuts and cranberries that I would like to eat an entire bowl of. It would also be great to help people feel less bad about that stuffing and gravy (via i am a food blog)

IF YOU HAVE VEGETARIANS then I would totally grab some roasted autumn vegetable pot pies from Jon and make a giant one. Because everyone loves pot pie. Fact. (via The Candid Appetite)

If you needed any more dessert Sarah has you covered with maple chocolate pecan pie madness. I’m not crazy about pecan pie but if it tasted kind of like a brownie I’d devour it. (via The Sugar Hit)

And lastly I knowww you need something for the morning after so you should check out Minimalist Baker’s Apple Cinnamon Waffles. BECAUSE THEY’RE APPLE CINNAMON WAFFLES. (via MInimalist Baker)

Now for the music this week we’re gonna cheat a little bit and I’m going to send you over to The Artful Desperado where mah boy Gab put together a gathering playlist  for West Elm that is perfect for your thanksgiving and prevents you from having to resort to Christmas music. Unless it’s Mariah’s All I want for Christmas is You, then that can go on repeat. Your guests will love you for it. Maybe.

I wanna know about other T-Day foods, let me know what you’re up to!

The alternative title for this post was how to: make brown sugar / party trick like a boss / impress the clerk at the grocery store / Suze Orman your sugar situation. Obviously that was too long. Obviously we’re just making brown sugar, EXCEPT WE’RE NOT.

We all have that moment where we go to use brown sugar and we’re out or there’s a slightly open bag that’s birthed a brown sugar brick capable of killing someone and you just can’t bring yourself to put pants on and go to Target to get some more. WE’VE ALL BEEN THERE. Especially the pants part, right? Right. Duh.

Besides pants or no pants moment there’s also the disappointment I’ve found with the brown sugar I’ve been buying lately. Random stones that never go away and just blah tastes plus unnecessariness.  Why you gotta put caramel color in there? Gurl nobody wants a bag of Tan Mom!

Making your own brown sugar is so insanely easy that I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to make it. All you need is some white granulated sugar, unsulfured molasses, and that thing cats do when they knead your thigh but with your own hands. The result is super light and fluffy brown sugar that will make you either want to motorboat it or use it as an impractical pillow.

NOT THAT I DID EITHER ONE OF THOSE THINGS.

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Look at that, Grocery List XXX. Obviously I had to find a sexy pic. Obviously I went with doughnuts. These chocolate doughnuts are just one of the batches I’ve been flooding my Instagram feed with (all of them have been from Ashley’s new book!!) and you guys get the recipe next week when I guest post for Gab over at The Artful Desperado. There might be will be salted caramel instead of that chocolate ganache. So, yeah. Ring that alarm, Beyonce.

Tracy starts off this weeks grocery list with a giant plate of brussel sprouts because it’s not too soon to start thinking about Thanksgiving. Also it’s never too soon  to eat an entire plate of brussel sprouts. (via Shutterbean)

Adrianna is riding the squash train with curry butternut squash soup and grain free pumpkin dog treats. Sometimes Mose is all cute and he just needs like 20 treats. He’d probably take the soup too. (via A Cozy Kitchen)

Megan being the smart cookie that she is went ahead and COMBINED BANANA BREAD AND PUMPKIN BREAD and now my life is complete (via Take a Megabite)

Baked fall flavor continues with Cindy and cupcakes with booze in them because duh. (via Hungry Girl Por Vida)

EVERY SINGLE TIME I look at vegan dirt cake I wish I was eating it. Like I just need it. Totally vegan, totally not dirt. (via Minimalist Baker)

Have you guys been reading Joy’s Baking 101? Get into it. Learn about your baking bidness. There’s cocoa here and powder vs soda here. (via Joy the Baker)

Sarah has no problem showing us the way to carb city with POTATO ON HER PIZZA. Shut it down, stop it. (via The Sugar Hit)

Jon also took a page from that book and shoved potatoes in tacos. They’re vegetarian, and I could eat roughly all of them. And just as insurance: Steven, I know you’ve put mashed potatoes in tacos before. Make them again, kthanx. (via The Candid Appetite)

I’ve got a nice pair of pumpkins (pause) that need to be turned into puree. Show me the way, Jessica. (via How Sweet it Is)

Nicole’s birthday is today (HAPPY B-DAY GURL!!) and she made this babe of a cake that has jam for filling. I just happen to have some pumpkin butter burning a hole in my fridge that I would love to see in cake. (via Dula Notes)

Stephanie made up the most simple beautiful awesome looking sliders. + there’s arugula and obsessed doesn’t even begin to describe my current affair with that leafy green. (via I am a food blog)

I have yet to actually make any sort of milk from nuts but Autumn just unleashed pistachio milk and I go apeshit for pistachios so obviously this is first on the list. (via Autumn Makes and Does)

Izy went and made BEBE SIZED PUMPKIN PANCAKES and shot them in moody gorgeous fall light. I have to write in caps at some point so she instantly knows it’s me when she gets the pingback. I just got Ramonaeyes for her. (via Top With Cinnamon)

Have I ever made a Boston Cream Pie before? No. Does Shauna make me want to make one? Yes. Could I eat one all by myself? Absolutely. (via Piece of Cake)

And caboosing this whole train is something to drink from Erika. It’s called a caramel peartini and I’d like enough to make me do crazy things. (via Southern Souffle)

For music this week we’re listening to one of my current obsessions: Lorde. Her new album just came out and it’s one of my new go-to’s for a work soundtrack. The cinematography for her Royals video is sexy enough that I just had to put it on Grocery List XXX.

This one’s for all you pumpkin lovers out there. Full on pumpkin everything when fall hits kind of lovers. I’m definitely part of that tribe, having already slammed my face into baked donuts, pancakes, quick bread, and this magical business.

For those of you not familiar with this spread it’s pretty much pumpkin pie filling that you can eat for breakfast without people judging you aka fall’s answer to summer preserves. I tried a couple different recipes with crazy ingredients, but the one I ended up working with was straight up the simplest. No need to get too crazy.

The thing I love about this stuff is that it takes just a few ingredients that you probably already have in your cupboard and elevates them to an impressive level in just 20 minutes + cooling time. You can seriously put this stuff on whatever you want: peanut butter sandwiches, your face, your dog’s face, cream cheese, ice cream, yogurt, or S’MORES.

Pumpkin happens to go very well with chocolate so I figured let’s sandwich that between a graham cracker and a marshmallow and make dreams come true. This was also my first trip to the land of oven s’mores and now I’m hooked like whoa. LOOK AT THAT TOASTY ACTION. The chocolate got melted, the marshmallow’s all gooey. Just, just go and make this right now.

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HI I MADE YOU DOUGHNUTS AND THEY’RE AWESOME.

They’re celebratory doughnuts because my gurl Ashley over at The Edible Perspective decided to write a cookbook ALL ABOUT DOUGHNUTS (RAMONAEYES LIKE WHOA) and she asked if I’d like to be a part of the the blog book tour. Obviously I said yes. Doughnuts are my favorite food group.

The special thing about this book? All of the doughnuts are baked and they’re gluten free. Seriously, DOUGHNUTS FOR EVERYONE. There’s even some vegan recipes in the back! There’s also a ballpark estimate of a million different recipes. Crazy doughnuts I would have never thought of like Boston Cream, TIRAMISU, Strawberry Cheesecake, Baklava, and the bad boys I made for you today.

Seriously you guys. Peanut butter doughnuts with a chocolate peanut butter glaze and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. I just, I can’t. Not only do they taste fabulous but they look great. LOOK AT THEM. Did I make those doughnuts my new phone background? I don’t know, maybe. YES. YES I DID. That glaze is still a little fresh, but once it sets it pretty much turns into a ganache. Think chocolate peanut butter truffle filling ON A DONUT. Insert that confetti emoji. Then eat like seven of these.

Not only do I have these awesome donuts for you today, but Ashley’s super awesome enough to give away a copy of her book and a set of measuring spoons! Also add to that my volunteer as tribute in the form of a doughnut pan. This means that one lucky bebe is gonna win the book, some measuring spoons, and a doughnut pan so they can get their gluten free baked doughnut game ON.

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