Terrible, Everyday Things That Are Painfully Awkward
1. You know that moment when you’re walking down the office hallway and you see someone from a few yards away, and you don’t know when to properly recognize them? Â Do you recognize them with a smile and a polite ‘hello’/head nod when you’re still a large distance away? Â Or do you casually pretend to look at the walls around you/watch your feet as you walk/stride with purpose until there’s a reasonable distance between you two and you can make contact? Â And what if you go to make contact now that they’re close and they thought you blew them off, so when you look up to say hi or head-nod to them, their head is down and they just breeze by? Â Like OMG I DIDN’T WANT TO BLOW YOU OFF BUT THE DISTANCE WAS QUESTIONABLE.
2. Or when you email your boss/a coworker/someone in your general vicinity and then realize you need go to to the printer/go to the bathroom/walk past them for some other reason and they haven’t yet responded, so you hope that they aren’t sitting there thinking you’re pacing around their cube, waiting for a response. Â So you purposefully walk in a completely different direction, totally out of your way to get to your destination so they won’t think you’re a stalker.
3. When your younger sister convinces you to go to the store where the guy you hit on works and tells you it’s a good idea to walk in and buy some gummy bears when really this is a terrible idea.  So you walk in and buy your gummy bears and he sees you and you make small talk and the second you leave you realize you look like a desperate, psychotic asshat and NEVER want to step foot in that grocery store again, but like, they carry the soup you like and never eating it again would be a travesty, so there’s that awkward game of “I wonder if they’ll be working” or weird shuffle you have to do to avoid them when you’re really going for soup and trying not to look like a freak.
4. You’re in a social setting telling a story and the person/people you’re talking to start another conversation in the middle of your story and so you just stand there debating whether or not to continue your story when they clearly aren’t listening, or whether to awkwardly and abruptly end your story and have them be like “oh, so you were saying?” a few seconds later and you have to repeat the entire thing like you didn’t notice that they were totally, rudely ignoring you.  My stories are important, jerkface.
5. “How are you?” “Good, and you?” “I’m great, and you?” “I am… about to go crawl into a hole of embarrassment.”
6. Aaaaand one of the most awkward things ever: being sung ‘Happy Birthday.’  I looooooooaaaaathe this with every fiber of my being.  WHAT THE HELLLLL am I supposed to do while people are awkwardly singing me Happy Birthday?!  Sit there?  Smile like a total tool?  Sing along?  Clap?  GAAAAAHHHH I hate it.  And every time I have to sing it to someone else, I feel their pain and don’t want to sing so I don’t have to be witness to the awkwardness, but don’t want them to look at me and think that I’m the jerk who isn’t wishing them a good birthday.
7. Gingerly taking a bite of a jelly donut (or something filled) and thinking because you ate it delicately, everything will be contained, but rather everything explodes everywhere and you’re stuck with this now-deflated thing in your mouth and the contents all over your pants/the floor/not in your mouth.
8. And on that note, eating jelly donuts by themselves. Â Don’t you know the new, tastiest way to eat them is stuffed inside of a cookie bar?! Â It’s what the cool, non-awkward kids are doing nowadays.
So guess what happens when you have six jelly donuts leftover, two packages of oatmeal & brown sugar cookie dough in the fridge and a craving for something scrumptious? Â These Oatmeal Cookie Peanut Butter & Jelly Donut Bars! Â They couldn’t be simpler to make and they are seriously one of the best.things.ever — no joke. Â One of my new favorites! Â They’re a must-make — it would be awkward not to.
- 2 pkg refrigerated oatmeal & brown sugar cookie dough (like the Pillsbury Simply brand kind -- just plain oatmeal with no nuts/raisins/chips), softened to room temperature
- 1 cup peanut butter chips
- 6 prepared jelly donuts, gently cut in half
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8" baking pan with foil, extending the sides of the foil over the edges of the pan. Mist the foil lightly with cooking spray; set aside.
- Press ONE (1) package of the cookie dough evenly onto the bottom of the prepared pan. I like to rip off parts of the cookie dough portions, flatten them out with the heels of my hands, and then press them together like a puzzle to make sure it fits in there evenly. Sprinkle with the peanut butter chips.
- Arrange the jelly donut halves along the cookie dough layer, keeping them as close together as possible while trying to fill up all the space.
- Press the remaining cookie dough into a single plane and top the jelly donuts. You can use my "puzzle" method, or just roll out the entire cookie dough into a sheet and tuck to fit -- whichever you find easiest. Bake the bars for approx. 20-25 minutes or until the center appears set and is golden brown. Cool completely.
- Before cutting into bars, dust lightly with powdered sugar, if you'd like. Serve with a big glass of milk!
As I said before, these bars are one of my new favorites because they combine two of my favorite treats: donuts & cookies! Â While combining the two may sound like a total sugar-bomb, the two actually complement each other scrumptiously and offers plenty of contrasting flavors so it doesn’t just taste like a mouthful of sweet. Â I love the tartness of the jelly that bursts from the center of the bar and the saltiness from those heavenly pockets of peanut butter. Â And the oatmeal cookie “bread” to this unique sandwich is perfect — warm, comforting, and with a great, chewy texture. Â I’ve been dreaming of these since I made them and can’t wait to make them again!!
Have a scrumptious day!!
xo, Hayley
Megan - The Emotional Baker says
You are so funny. I can especially relate to the appropriate timing of when to say hi. AND these bars? Wow! I could never come up with these combinations!
Annabelle says
if you haven’t read this, it’s about to make your DAY:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/27-painfully-awkward-things-that-never-stop-being-awkward
also, the grocery store thing. so unfortunately true. there are now two grocery stores at home i can’t even be in the parking lot of without getting anxiety! what is life!?
Sarah M. says
It’s like I wish you had a YouTube channel where you made the treats and then told the story because I’m sure your storytelling skills are in par with your baking skills.
Holly Waterfall says
I’m fairly certain I have been in every single one of these awkward situations before. The walking down the hall one is a daily. There’s a long stretch of hallway between our office and bathrooms, and it’s serious torture having to figure out what to do with yourself for that long period of time until it’s acceptable to say hi.
Also, getting your story interrupted?! OOOOH i hate that! It just makes you feel like a dummy. But people do it all.the.time.
I agree with the above comment.. make a youtube channel. you would rock it!!
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
There’s so much going on here but I love it.
Nicole @ Young, Broke and Hungry says
You need your own late night t.v show…that is all.
Renee @ Tortillas and Honey says
These look lovely! Also, I totally know the conundrum about when you’re supposed to say hi or acknowledge someone in the hall!!!! We have the longest hall at my office and I never know if I’m supposed to say hi as soon I as see someone all the way yonder! Glad I’m now the only one that has those thoughts, haha. Great post!
Liz says
These do sound amazing Hayley! You come up with some awesome creations! 🙂
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
#1 OMG, every damn day at the gym, with my trainer. He’s normally working with someone so i’m all, do I say hi? Do I ignore him? But then does he think I’m ignoring him? Is that rude?
Seriously, it’s stressful to go to the gym. I need a donut bar.
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
I very very very much relate to the first 5 awkward thingsssssssssssss! ugh omg omigoodness. ugh ugh ugh. but I totally love being sang too. Even though I know it’s a bit awkward but I still love it! 😛
Red @ Adventures of a Hungry Redhead says
OMG, #4!! This is one reason I hate dinners with large groups! I chose to sulk and not finish my story until someone acknowledges that it was interrupted and asks me to continue and if that doesn’t happen I’m going to shove one of these works of art into my face.
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says
Cookies, Pb&J, and donuts all in one dessert. I’ll take 10 please.
Gloria // Simply Gloria says
Okay, I can totally relate to #1 every single day! I may spoil my boys by picking them up from school so they do not have to eat school lunch… And, as I wait in the huge hall for them to come out, the other teaches walk past me looking very awkward as I stare at them waiting for the moment for when I can smile and greet them. Sometimes, they pretend they don’t see me.
Anywho… you are so creative with this delectable sweet treat! Love it!
Renee @ Awesome on $20 says
Okay, first, these look ridiculous, and I think you’re mad, and I love you. Second, I think you should just pretend like everything you do is awesomely perfect, then just act like everybody else thinks so too. They’ll be confused and follow along, then before you know it, you’ll rule the world.
Julie @ Table for Two says
bahahaha those painfully awkward moments you just described are perfection. I must agree with the hallway walk awkwardness..I just want to look down at my feet but then I’m like I don’t want to seem anti-social so then I look up and give a half smile that looks probably like a smirk and then it’s just weirddddd…I’ll just take a pan of these lovely bars and call it a day.. 🙂
Jennifer @ Not Your Momma's Cookie says
#1. For sure. I’m usually in the “look away until you’re close enough to speak” camp. Or hopefully I’m carrying some papers and can look at them since they are SO important 🙂
These bars sound amazing!
Elizabeth @ Confessions of a Baking Queen says
How about working in a restaurant for 6 years, and regulars come in say to you “Oh you must be new here” and I respond “No actually, I am the manager, worked here for 6 years now and you order a Boddingtons, cup of chowder, two piece fish n chips and there is a 50 % chance you’ll want sticky toffee pudding” then I get “oh……” AWKWARD! LOL Sometimes I just go along with me being new because I can’t be bothered to make people feel retarded. Or when I listen to customers tell there friend “we’ve been coming here for over 30 years now” and I awkwardly ignore it knowing our 20th anniversary was just in April… oh I could go on customer service industry provides so many awkward moments. Secretly looove them all though 😉 And I bet you would find me awkwardly hunched over in the corner devouring the whole pan of these! LOL