Gifts | I Can Cook That

Mother’s Day Gift Idea: Homemade Body Scrubs

So this is kind of a random blog post for me, but I have been experimenting with homemade body scrubs as a Mother’s Day present for my mom and I thought I’d share them so that others can make them at home too! They are super simple, plus they are made mostly from ingredients you can find in your pantry!

To snazz them up for gift giving, use some ribbons or tissue paper. Be sure to add labels so that the recipient knows what’s inside!

I’d suggest using organic ingredients when you can, just to keep mind of potential adverse reactions. I found organic sugar, olive oil, and coconut oil at Essene in Queen Village (Philadelphia) but I’m sure Whole Foods has a selection as well.

These body scrubs are completely customizable. You just need an ingredient that works as an exfoliant (sugar, salt, coffee grounds, oatmeal, etc.) and then an oil to moisturize (olive, almond, coconut, walnut, etc. — these are sometimes referred to as “carrier oils”) To make them smell amazing, add a little bit of essential oils, which can be found at specialty shops or online. A favorite local store of mine is Herbiary. You can even add food coloring if you’d like the color to pop. Here are a few of the ones I made this week to give you some inspiration:

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Marble Peanut Butter & Dark Chocolate Cookies

This time of year, I love finding recipes that incorporate candy bars. I tend to have an influx of candy in my house so I might as well use it to make awesome baked goods right? I received a couple of Equal Exchange Candy Bars recently and couldn’t stop snacking on them!

Equal Exchange is the nation’s leading Fair Trade brand of coffee, chocolate and tea. They recently launched a new line of organic, fairly traded candy bars with flavors including milk chocolate peanut butter, milk chocolate crisp with puffed rice and quinoa, and dark chocolate fruit and nut with raisins and almonds.

The milk chocolate crisp lives up to its name, the puffed rice and quinoa added a nice crunch to the milk chocolate. The dark chocolate fruit and nut is the perfect mix of chocolately goodness, nuts, and fruit. The website describes it perfectly as trail mix in candy bar form. My favorite of the three though was the milk chocolate peanut butter bar a perfect and classic combination for a reason! I decided to use the chocolate peanut butter bars in a cookie but wanted to find a cookie that sort of resembled the chocolate bar itself.

I adapted this cookie recipe for Marble Peanut Butter & Dark Chocolate Cookies from a Bakergirl recipe for Marbled Peanut Butter & Chocolate Snickers cookies.

Ingredients:

Peanut Butter Dough

2 cups creamy peanut butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Chocolate Dough

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Equal Exchange Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter bars
3/4 cup peanut butter chips

Photo courtesy of Equal Exchange

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Banana Berry Pecan Granola Bars

There are so many fantastic food bloggers out there. One food blog I regularly check is Cookin’ Canuck. Dara makes the most appealing looking recipes and her photos are always stunning. She has also cooked her way healthy and has a wonderful post about her journey. Dara has a great recipe for Low Fat Granola Bars with Bananas, Dried Cranberries, and Pecans that I just had to try. I switched it ever so slightly, but you can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup pecan pieces
3 ripe bananas
2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons honey (to make vegan, substitute agave nectar)
3/4 cup dried berries (I used Trader Joe’s Golden Berry Blend)
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 tbsp whole flax seeds
1/2 tsp salt

“Irish Potatoes”

I am Irish, on my father’s side. So, more appropriately, I’m Irish American (among other things). Even more specifically, I am Irish Philadelphian. (Yes, I may have made that phrase up. But there are a bunch of us so I think the phrase should exist.)

Now I’m sure you were very interested in what my heritage is, but there is a reason I’m telling you this. Philadelphia has this… candy? dessert? … we will go with “treat”… called an Irish Potato.

It’s cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and coconut rolled into a little ball and coated in cinnamon. So it ends up looking kind of like a potato, hence the name.

I’m under the impression this treat is essentially a Philadelphia-only thing. Friends from New York and D.C. both look at me like I’m crazy when I bring these up. But they are delicious and an integral part of every St. Patrick’s Day for me, so I needed to share them!

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
2 cups sweetened coconut, lightly packed
1 teaspoon cocoa powder (optional)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Salted Caramel Brownies

Hurricane Irene has forced me to stay indoors for most of today, which means I’ve resorted to cooking/baking to keep me occupied. Today’s creation is another Cooking Light recipe for Salted Caramel Brownies.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons butter
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon bakery emulsion
Cooking spray

Topping:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons evaporated fat-free milk, divided
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 ounce dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
1/8 teaspoon coarse sea salt