Harry Potter Kids Party: Invitations (#1)

Harry Potter Party for Kids

I love planning my birthday kids parties. The decorations, games, cake, food, and loot bags all get detailed attention. See our son's Plants vs Zombies party as one example and our daughter's Hawaiian party as another example of fun times! This year my daughter is turning 11 and she is also a huge Harry Potter fan. As any Harry Potter fan knows, Harry was 11 when he received his acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was desperately hoping for the same! All I could do was give her a HP birthday party and hope that would be enough!

I fully admit I go overboard with planning my kids parties. Take my advice and plan exactly what you will need...that way you won't end up with enough candy to open a real Honeydukes or wonder what you're gonna do with thirteen 'quidditch' brooms lol. Now, I'm not saying everything I do for the party was totally authentic by any means but everything was in the spirit of Harry Potter.

When planning a Harry Potter party my advice is to use what's already out there! Lots of people have had great parties and are willing to share what worked and what didn't. You can easily find Harry Potter inspired invitations, decorations, food and other ideas on the Internet.

Over my next few posts, I'll take you through some of the things we did including:

• invites
• decorations
• cake
• games
• food
• loot bags

We'll start at the beginning with our invites.

Invitations

There are many great invites made by other party planners out there. I borrowed ideas, words and ideas from a few and came up with ours. I printed them on blank cards from Michael's that came with envelopes.

Here's the invite wording:

Dear Miss (name here),

We are pleased to inform you that you have been invited to attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where we will be having a special birthday celebration for (birthday name here).

Term begins (insert time). Please make your way to (address here) in a Muggle mode of transportation and in Muggle attire to avoid suspicion. You will find your ticket attached. Please present it at time of boarding. 


We await your owl post response by no later than (insert date). 

If you have trouble acquiring an owl, you may respond by Muggle phone or email.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress

P.S. Term will end at approximately (insert time here).


You can find Minerva's signature here.  

Inserted into each envelope was a ticket for the Hogwarts Express. You can find them here.

Originally, we were going to deliver them attached to owl balloons but we ran out of time. Instead we placed a puffy owl sticker on each one.

The kids loved the invitations and most even remembered to bring their tickets!

Here are some great sites for templates and ideas:
http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2013/01/printable-hogwarts-acceptance-letters.html
http://thebestbirthday.com/party-ideas/harry-potter-party/
http://notsoidlehands.com/2014/08/harry-potter-birthday-invitations-and-authentic-acceptance-letter-and-party-part-1.html

Our next post will cover decorations!

Peach Cinnamon Ginger Freezer jam

I'm on a bit of a freezer jam kick! When I think of homemade jam I think of berries - raspberry, blueberry and strawberry. But every once in awhile I crave something different, like this peach freezer jam with cinnamon and ginger.
Chop the peaches quite small but don't completely puree - you can use your food processor for this or a knife.

My kids love this with yogurt for breakfast and with ice cream for dessert!

Ingredients

4 cups well chopped peaches (about 6 large peaches)
1 package freezer pectin
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1-1/2 cups sugar

Instructions

In a large bowl, whisk sugar, zest and pectin.

Add pureed peaches and stir for 3 minutes.

Divide among five 1-cup jars.

Let sit for thirty minutes to thicken.

Cover and refrigerate (3 weeks) or freeze (up to a year).

Here are some of my favorite freezer jams you can find on Within the Kitchen:

Strawberry Rhubarb Freezer Jam

Strawberry Vanilla Freezer jam

And my most popular jam recipe:

Raspberry Lime Freezer jam

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Homemade freezer jam is so easy. More importantly, it tastes so much better than store bought jam. The zest in this jam really brightens the strawberries. It's great with peanut butter sandwiches, or fresh buttermilk biscuits. It also makes a fantastic ice cream sundae topping!!

Ingredients

2 lbs strawberries
1 package freezer pectin
zest of one large lemon
1-1/2 cups sugar

Instructions

Rinse and hull strawberries.
Place in food processor and pulse until crushed.
In another bowl, whisk sugar, zest and pectin.
Add strawberries and stir for 3 minutes.
Divide among five 1-cup jars.
Let sit for thirty minutes to thicken.
Cover and refrigerate or freeze.

Here are some of my favorite freezer jams you can find on Within the Kitchen:
Strawberry Rhubarb Freezer Jam
Strawberry Vanilla Freezer jam

And my most popular jam recipe:
Raspberry Lime Freezer jam

Old Fashioned Banana Bread

There are lots of fancy modern banana breads out there. I'm sure they are all delicious but sometimes you just want something that reminds you of an afternoon spent in the kitchen with your Mom or Grandma or maybe those special care packages your family would send you when you went off to college. I'm guessing they weren't the fancy banana breads but just plain, basic stuff with the occasional chocolate chip thrown in. If you are yearning for a slice of THAT banana bread, try this. It's delicious, simple and will take you back to the excitement of opening those care packages or your Grandma's kitchen.

I can never wait for it to cool! So good with butter!

Ingredients

4 cups all purpose flour (preferably unbleached)
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 cups mashed overripe bananas
2 teaspoons vanilla

Instructions

1. Grease two 9x5 loaf pans and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a very large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
4. In another bowl, combine eggs, milk, sour cream, sugar, butter, vanilla and bananas.
5. Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir until JUST combined.
6. Place half (4 cups) in each loaf pan.
7. Bake for 65 to 70 minutes until nicely brown and toothpick comes out clean.

Wheetabix #mybixmix

As a Mom of two kids aged 9 &10, I try to make sure they eat well. This is especially true at breakfast. I think a great tasting and nutritious breakfast sets them up and fills them up for all of the activities throughout their day including their ability to focus at school.

My kids are old enough to make their own breakfast, so I try to make sure there are lots of healthy options for them. Our kitchen is usually stocked with items such as:

• lots of cut/washed fruit - berries, pineapple, melons are favorites
• milk
• whole grain breads
• yogourt
• cereals - whole grain
• homemade muffins filled with fibre, fruit etc

So it seemed like a no brainer when Wheetabix asked me to join them in their #mybixmix challenge. They wanted to see how Canadians could mix up their meals with Wheetabix and how it affected our energy and hunger pangs as the day went on. 

The kids loved the challenge! We ate Wheetabix like crackers with peanut butter, crumbled over yogurt, with milk (warm and cold), and even in smoothies! The kids liked it best when then they crumbled it over their yogurt and berries - they love they extra crunch it provided.

We also found that it kept us feeling satiated for most of the morning.

So next time you're in the cereal aisle pick a box of Wheetabix up and mix your bix! Check out your social media foods for #mybixmix for other awesome ideas!

Please note: I was compensated for this post but opinions are my own!

Dragon Fruit Sorbet

Ingredients

2 ripe dragon fruit
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 lemon, juiced

Instructions

1. Scoop out inside of dragon fruit into blender.
2. Add other ingredients.
3. Puree until liquid.
4. Pour into loaf pan and place in freezer.
5. Stir every hour or so until frozen. Takes about 4 hours.
6. Serve.

Easy No Bake Cheesecake Cups

Shaved chocolate and a cool martini glass finishes off this easy dessert!

As much as I love creating desserts from scratch, there are times when I don't have time to make a complicated dessert...you know, when you are making a big dinner for family or perhaps making so many other dishes you don't have oven space for a dessert. And of course, sometimes you just want a sweet bite of something that doesn't take much time!

Layers!

This dessert is perfect anytime you don't have the desire to bake or the time! It may not be "gourmet" but it's delicious! Kids love helping create with this dessert so put them to work!

The chocolate version above has Cool Whip mixed into the cheesecake mixture but the berry version doesn't. It's up to you whether you want to use it...I find it gives a little bit lighter feel and taste. Also, in the chocolate version I just used chocolate condensed milk - that way I don't have to add the additional step of melting chocolate. And in the berry versions, I just split the mixture in half and added my favorite jams to flavour and colour.

Use a pastry bag and icing tip to pipe cheesecake mixture and cool whip for a neater dessert.

If desired you could make one big dessert in a pie plate or baking dish, but I like making individual desserts and layering the cheesecake mixture, cool whip and graham crumbs!

Blueberries top this blueberry jam version.

Makes about 8 (but depends how big your dishes are!)

Ingredients

1 can condensed milk (14 oz)- plain, chocolate or even caramel flavoured
1 bar cream cheese (8oz), room temperature
2 tbsp jam, your favorite flavour
juice of one lemon (for berry flavours) or 2 tbsp strong coffee (if making chocolate mocha flavor)

1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2-3 tbsp melted butter

2 cups cool whip if adding to mixture
2 cups cool whip for layers and topping

Instructions

1. Add condensed milk and cream cheese to large mixing bowl and beat until smooth, about 5 minutes.
2. Add lemon juice (or coffee) and mix.
3. Add jam and mix. (if using more than one type jam, divide mixture first)
4. If using cool whip, add 2 cups and gently fold into mixture.
5. In another bowl, combine melted butter and graham crumbs.

Set 8 smaller sized ramekins or cute glasses on work station. Add layers of graham crumbs, cool whip and cheesecake. You could add in other fun stuff - caramel sauce marshmallows, chocolate chips... whatever you have on hand.

Caramel, graham cracker crumbs, chocolate cheesecake mix and marshmallows
make this a pumped up s'more version of dessert!

Chocolate Banana Muffins with Avocado

This is a simple way to make use of overripe bananas and avocados. Feel free to add chocolate chips (1/2-1 cup) for even more chocolate flavor. If chocolate isn't your thing, you can also omit the cocoa and add an additional 1/4 cup of flour (I'd also add 1 tsp cinnamon).

Ingredients

3/4 c overripe banana (2 medium)
1/4 c very ripe avocado (1/2 small)
2 eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt
3-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 - 3/4 c flour
1/4 c cocoa

12 banana chips (optional)

Instructions

1. Spray 12 muffins tins with nonstick spray.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (if using nonstick or dark colored pan reduce heat to 375 degrees.)
3. In large bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla.
4. Stir in banana and avocado.
5. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder.
6. Add flour mixture to liquid ingredients. Stir very gently until just combined.
7. Place approximately 1/4 cup of batter into each tin.
8. If using, place one banana chip on each muffin.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
10. Cool five minutes and remove from tins onto cooling rack.

Broccoli Farro Salad

This salad is easy to make. I make it for dinner and take lefts overs for lunch. I've only recently started adding farro to our shopping list but I love it! It makes the dish more substantial and adding whole grains is always a plus to any meal. There are many different kinds of farro and some are quicker to cook than others. I use Trader Joe's 10 minute farro but what ever you use just follow the package's directions. You can even make it ahead or make more than you will use so you have left overs!

If you can't find farro, you can substitute something else - rice, barley, bulgar wheat, quinoa etc.

Here's another farro recipe that I like: Farro & Vegetable Salad

Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked farro, cooled
2 large heads broccoli, chopped into small florets
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 cup reduced fat mayo
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp chipotle sauce
1/2 tsp smoked paprika powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp white vinegar
1/4 cup crumbled bacon (optional)
1 tsp diced red jalapeno pepper (optional)

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, combine mayo, sugar, spices, and vinegar.
2. In a large bowl add broccoli, farro, onion, and sunflower seeds.
3. Add dressing and combine.
4. Sprinkle with bacon and jalapeno, if using.

Serve.


PS: Do you live in Canada and have foodies in your life looking to try new, delicious Canada products? Check out www.foodiepages.ca. I've found a tonne of great new items on their such as Wendell creamed honey. They also have monthly tasting boxes if you can't decide on one thing! #Foodie Pages CHEF’S BOX Challenge

Basil Pesto

The Busboy (Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld)

(Jerry, George, and Elaine are all eating at an Italian restaurant. George hasn't eaten anything)

GEORGE: Why do I get pesto? Why do I think I'll like it? I keep trying to like it, like I have to like it.
JERRY: Who said you have to like it?
GEORGE: Everybody likes pesto. You walk into a restaurant, that's all you hear - pesto, pesto, pesto.
JERRY: I don't like pesto.
GEORGE: Where was pesto 10 years ago?

LOL. Classic. But seriously, who doesn't love pesto? So fresh, so green, so delicious!

Can you ever have too much basil?

Ingredients

200 g basil leaves ( a big colander full or three small bunches), ends cut off but I keep the stems on
200 g toasted pine nuts
60 ml extra virgin olive oil
200 g Parmesan cheese, grated
1 clove garlic
1 lemon, juiced

Instructions

1. In a large blender, place pine nuts, basil, garlic and lemon juice.
2. Puree for 1 minute or until ingredients are roughly blended.
3. Slowly, add oil while blender is on medium setting.
4. Add cheese.
5. If too thick add a bit more oil.
6. Blend until almost smooth or to desired consistency.
7. Will last for a few of days in refrigerator.
8. If adding to pasta, make sure you include a couple of tablespoons of pasta water when adding pesto to pasta.

or pine nuts?

Mango Tango Berry Smoothie

Smoothies in the morning are an easy way to grab a nutritious cup of fruits and veggies especially for people who don't like a big breakfast.

This one is easy peasy. And it doesn't have anything but fruit in it - no dairy. Throw in a handful of frozen mango, fresh or frozen strawberries, pineapple and a 2 peeled oranges. I add 1/2 c  water (more if needed). Blend away and it's done! It honestly tastes like spring feels - clean, fresh, pure and refreshing. If you want you can add some hemp hearts for added nutrition.

Ingredients

1/2 cup frozen mango
1 c strawberries
2 medium orange, peeled
1/2 cup pineapple
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp hemp seeds (optional)

Instructions

Blend everything together for 1 minute or desired consistently is reached.

Other smoothies you should try:
Green Goodness
Avocado Strawberry Smoothie
Blueberry Mango Smoothie
Blueberry Banana Tofu Smoothie
Pomegranate and Kale Smoothie
Strawberry Muesli Smoothie
Detox Lemon Spinach Smoothie
Cranberry Orange Antioxidant Smoothie
Chocolate Avocado Smoothie

Orange Spiced Tea Poppy Seed Loaf with OJ Glaze

I drink coffee. A lot of coffee. For the most part, I only drink tea if I'm feeling sick or my mom is in town. But baking with tea is something different - I love it. I didn't really think about it until I attended the IFBC 2014 in Seattle last September. There, I attended a session led by Cindi Bigelow, President & CEO of Bigelow Tea. I learned an amazing amount of facts and information about tea. We also tasted amazing baked goods with tea as a main ingredient. This what inspired this loaf. Bonus: My kids loved it!

Brush with tea glaze - poke holes in top of loaf to ensure maximum tea flavour.

Brush or pour the glaze on the loaf once loaf has cooled.

Let sit for at least 30 minutes to dry slightly.

Ingredients

Tea:

3 bags orange and spice tea

1 -1/4 c  boiling water

Loaf:

1½ cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

3 Tbsp poppyseeds

3/4 cup plain yogurt

¼ c steeped orange and spice tea

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp orange zest

½ tsp vanilla

½ cup vegetable oil

Orange Tea Syrup:

1 cup orange and spice tea

1 cup granulated sugar

Glaze:

1 cup icing sugar

1 Tbsp orange juice

1 tsp pure orange flavoring (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with baking spray.

Tea

1. Steep 3 tea bags in boiled water.
2. Let steep 10 minutes.
3. Discards tea bags and let tea cool.

Syrup

1. Make orange syrup by placing 1 cup tea and 1 cup sugar in blender. Blend for 1 minute.
2. Set aside. Can be made ahead of time.

Loaf

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt and tea.
3. Add eggs and whisk until combined.
4. Add sugar, zest, vanilla and vegetable oil and whisk until combined.
5. Add in dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
7. Let cool 10 minutes in the pan.
8. Poke holes over top of loaf.
9. Brush syrup over orange poppy seed loaf.
10. Wait 10 minutes and brush with more syrup. (you’ll have extra syrup – just refrigerate for future use)
11. Cool loaf completely.
12. Create glaze by whisking together icing sugar, orange juice and orange flavoring.
13. Gently pour glaze over loaf, let set till crust forms on glaze, about 30 minutes.

Mini M&M Chip Cookies

Ever get intense, give it to me now, craving for chocolate chip cookies? I do. And there is nothing more frustrating when all I have is cold hard butter instead of the room temperature version most recipes call for. This recipe avoids the problem by using melted butter! The cookies are crispy and perfectly sweet. Mmmm craving satisfied.

I used mini m&m's but you could substitute regular or mini chocolate chips.

Ingredients

2-2/3 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 c granulated sugar
2/3 c melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp hot water
1 package (about 2 cups) mini m&ms or chips
2 eggs

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until well mixed.
3. Add eggs and beat for 30 seconds until incorporated.
4. Mix in vanilla and water.
5. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 
6. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
7. Using 1-inch cookie scoop, place on ungreased baking pan.
8. Bake for 8 minutes.
9. Cool on pan for 5 minutes and remove to cooking rack.
10. Repeat with remaining batter.

Drunken Beef and Potato Stew

Vancouver rarely gets really cold. Usually our winters are mild and rainy with a few periods of snow thrown in over the season. This year, however, has been colder than usual...and I'm not complaining because it has also been sunnier than usual...I'll take sunny & cold over mild  & rainy anytime!

And let's face it, cold weather is perfect for cooking up soups and stews. Stew is exactly where my mind went to when I was trying to decide on a recipe to create for The Little Potato Company. Have you heard of them? If not, you've probably seen them...they're in lots of grocery stores across Canada...even Costco. They produce over a dozen potato products and take their work very seriously to give their customers the perfect little potato. I also love that they give back to the community by donating over 25,000 pounds of potatoes to food banks every year!

Here, I used their Blushing Belle potatoes. According to The Little Potato Company, they were "...originally bred in Germany by one of the oldest breeding companies in Europe, Blushing Belle is extremely versatile, and adapts well to a variety of cooking methods. Named after its blushing red skin and buttery yellow flesh, Blushing Belle delivers a soft, light texture with mild, delicate flavour. Excellent roasted or mashed."

Image from The Little Potato Company

I used them in this recipe because they hold up well under long heat. In other words, they won't turn to mush before they make it to your plate. I also added big pieces of carrot and celery and lots of garlic! Oh and did I mention the wine? Yup, a whole bottle of dry red wine goes into this stew!

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 lbs beef stew meat
3 c dry red wine (1 bottle)
3 cups beef stock
1/3 c flour
1.5 lbs baby red potatoes
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 large leek, chopped
2 large shallots, chopped
4 large carrots, peeled and chopped into large chunks
4 stalks celery, chopped
6 gloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 inch piece of ginger, grated
1/2 c tomato paste
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. On medium high heat, add vegetable oil to large sautee pan.
3. Brown beef by placing pieces of beef in large dutch oven or other bakable pot - don't crowd the meat! Work in batches if necessary.
4. Turn beef until all sides are browned.
5. Remove beef from pan and place in large mixing bowl.
6. If needed, add another tablespoon of oil to pot and add onions, leeks and shallots. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir often so they don't burn.
7. Add garlic to onions and cook for 1 minute.
8. Remove and place onions/garlic mixture into beef bowl.
9. Add tomato paste to pot and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. This will deepen the flavour of the tomato paste.
10. Add 1 cup of wine to pan and mix with paste. Stir and get all the bits stuck on the bottom of the pan off of the pan.
11. Bring to simmer.
12. Add the beef and onions back into the pan.
13. In a small bowl stir flour salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and cumin.
14. Sprinkle flour mixture over the beef and combine.
15. Add Worcestershire sauce, ginger, 2 cups wine, and stock to the pot.
16. Bring the pot to a simmer.
17. Add carrots, potatoes, and celery.
18. Cover and place pot in oven.
19. Cook for 3 hours, until beef is incredibly tender.
20. Remove from oven.
21. If it is not thick enough, mix cornstarch with cold water in a small dish until cornstarch is dissolved.
22. Add to stew and stir in.
23. Place back in oven for another 15 minutes.
24. Remove from oven.
25. Serve.

Note: As with most beef stews, this dish tastes even better the next day!

Feta Olive Pesto Spread

We're about to embark on that time of year when snowflakes fall on nose and eyelashes, bells jingle, and family and friends come home for the holidays! All of this means more parties, get togethers and nights filled with the angst of trying to decide what to feed all of these people!

This spreadable feta-olive pesto spread is perfect - if you take some shortcuts, it's super easy and fast to put together and if you take the long way it's still not that hard. It will definitely impress your guests if you serve it like we did - in individual serving cups (sake cups) with little bread sticks!

I use Macedonian feta - it is soft, creamy and mild tasting.When I'm not interested in making it from scratch, I head to my local Greek grocery store and buy some of their delicious olive pesto. I only need about 2 tablespoons of olive pesto per cup of feta. I throw the pesto and feta in a food processor and pulse until it comes together. If you don't like olives you could add traditional pesto instead. A mild goat cheese would work too!

If you want to make it from scratch, you can make the pesto ahead of time. It's also good on pasta!

Olive Pesto

Ingredients

1 tbsp sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
1/2 c kalamata olives, no pits

Instructions

1. Add tomatoes, cheese, garlic and pine nuts to food processor. Pulse until combined but chunky.
2. Add olives and olive oil.
3. Pulse until combined. You want it to have texture - that is, not too smooth.

Refrigerate.

Feta-olive pesto spread

Ingredients

1 c Macedonian feta
2 tbsp olive pesto

Instructions

Combine and pulse feta and pesto until combined.

Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are soft, cakey, chocolately and with just a whisper of coconut flavor. They are possibly my favorite chocolate chip cookie. I used coconut oil because I didn't have any butter on hand. I wasn't sure I would like it since I don't use coconut oil often but taking this risk paid off! And when they are still warm and gooey, omg, they are nirvana on your tongue!

Makes approx 4 dozen cookies.

Ingredients

2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp hot water
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
2-2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Mix the espresso powder and hot water in a small bowl.
3. Beat together the oil, sugar, eggs, hot water and coffee until well combined.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
5. Add the flour mixture to the oil mixture and stir to combine.
6. Stir in the chips.
7. Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, place batter onto ungreased cookie sheet.
8. Bake for 8-9 minutes.
9. They will be slightly cracked and shiny.
10. Cool for two minutes and then move to a cooling rack. As they cool, the cookies lose the shiny look and will flatten a bit.
11. If you think they are too flat, place the batter in the fridge for 20 minutes or so.