Cookies and Cream Barley Pudding

I just wanted simple vanilla barley pudding. That's how it started.

I wanted to use up the barley I had cooked the day before. 

So I made some pudding. But it wasn't my intention to throw an "oreo" cookie into the mix. It just kind of...jumped in there when the vanilla didn't quite give it the flavor I was going for. So here it is: 

Uninvited, but certainly not unwelcome.

Cookies and Cream Barley Pudding

Ingredients for 1 serving:
1/2 c. cooked barley
~1/3 c. almond milk (enough to cover barley)
2 tbs cornstarch
1/4 tsp coconut oil
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 crumbled oreo-type cookie (or 2!)

Combine barley and milk in a saucepan and heat thoroughly. Once it is warm, stir in cornstarch and coconut oil. Let simmer/cook until it reaches desired thickness (I simmered it for about 10 minutes). Once at desired thickness, remove from heat and add vanilla and crushed cookie pieces. Let it set for 5 minutes then serve it up or chill it to enjoy it cold!

Cookies and Cream Scones with Mint Glaze

My sister's birthday was last week. To celebrate, I wanted to bake her something!

She has always loved cookies and cream ice cream. But recently she's been into mint cookies and cream ice cream (I think it's Beyer's Grasshopper Pie or something to that effect).

So I thought I'd make her some scones inspired by her favorite ice cream flavor!

So I'm not going to post the recipe for the scones. Because you can find it here: http://bakingbites.com/2010/08/cookies-n-cream-scones/

The only thing I changed was that I subbed some of the white flour for whole wheat flour, and they turned out great!

I also added glaze on top. It's not necessary for tasty scones, but it was delightful this way.

Mint Glaze

Ingredients:
1-2 tbs milk
powdered sugar
peppermint extract

optional-green food color (see note)

So I just make glaze by stirring together powdered sugar and milk until I feel it's at the consistency that I want it. Just as a reminder, a little milk goes a long way when making frosting! Also, it does not need much peppermint extract. I think I used about 1/8 of a teaspoon or less. It can be very strong, but it really depends on how much glaze you're making. Just taste it after adding a little and see if it needs more!

Notes:
- I attempted giving my frosting a slightly green tint by soaking spinach in the milk I was using. The frosting did have a tint of it, but you couldn't tell once it was on the scone. Anyway, it shouldn't take much food coloring, and I think next time I would try harder to make the spinach work--adding more or something!
-What's shown is a 1/2 recipe and I cut it into 6ths, but I believe the recipe called for 4ths. These were plenty big for a normal size--definitely not "mini" scones.