Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

I have been on a big cookie baking kick lately.  I made the good ol' stand by peanut butter.  I tried my hand at shortbread for the first time.  I did not like them.  Others said they were fine.

Finally I decided to make some yummy oatmeal cookies.  I opened up my cabinets to grab the ingredients and something caught my eye.  Hmmm...  I wondered if I could change some of the basic ingredients and still get a yummy cookie.  

I could.  And I did.  Now this may have been done before, but I've not seen it anywhere so I present to you...

My secret ingredient?  Instant oatmeal.  Apples & cinnamon flavor.

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 375F degrees.  Prepare your favorite cookie sheet.  I like to line mine with parchment paper.  Non-stick and easy clean up.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter with granulated and brown sugars until combined.  Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure to to beat well.  Side note:  I like to make sure my eggs are room temperature when I bake with them.

In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture.

Mix together the apple & cinnamon packets and the sliced almonds.  

Gradually add to mixture in mixer/bowl.  Side note:  At this point I change to a dough hook, but I could have just used a spoon to mix them in.

Drop the dough by heaping tablespoons about 2 inches apart.  

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove to cooling rack. 

I got about 60-ish cookies from this batch, but of course the amount you get will depend on the size you start with.  I didn't do specific measurements, just winged it.  They are so delicious right out of the oven.  There is almost nothing better than a fresh out of the oven cookie!

Printer friendly version can be found here!

Whip It

Yeah, so I just got a KitchenAid stand mixer for Mother's Day.  I've made three things.  Bread, cookies, and...

WHIPPED CREAM.

Oh my dear lord.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some Cool Whip, but I don't love what is actually in it.  Things like vegetable oils, corn syrup, and sorbitan monostearate (I don't even know what that is...).  A quick trip through the ever faithful Pinterest showed me I could make my own with far less chemicals and little effort.

Here's how you do it...

• heavy whipping cream
• powdered sugar (a friend told me she uses regular sugar and has never had a problem)
• vanilla extract 

Yes, that's all you need.  I have used plain vanilla extract and I've used a combo flavoring I have (it's imitation! *gasp*) that is vanilla, nut, and butter.  I've been toying with the idea of doing a peppermint one... haven't gotten that brave yet.

I'm sure you can do this with a hand mixer as well, but having a stand mixer is so awesome!  Fair warning only vague measurements are being used.

1) Pour a cup or so (depends on how much whipped cream you need) into the mixer.  On my mixer I turned it up to 8.  Not super sonic fast, but fast.  Mix for a couple of minutes until you have soft-ish peaks and the cream kind of coats the whisk.

2) Add sugar.  I add a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, but you can adjust to your liking.  You'll also add in a teaspoon or so of vanilla or whatever flavoring you choose.  Then turn the mixer back on and whip for a few more minutes until you notice that it is becoming more stiff.

M'mmmm.... whipped cream....

I really have nothing to put this on.  I just had about half a carton of whipping cream left in the fridge that was about to go bad.  I like to put a few spoonfuls in my morning coffee.  D-e-l-c-ious.

Now go forth and make the world a little sweeter!

Oatmeal Cookies for Boobies!

I've breastfed all my children, although I had to return to my un-pump friendly job with my first daughter and was only able to breastfeed her for a few months. I was so much younger and did not really have many resources available. Now there is an abundance of information from books to websites to groups on Facebook. One thing I've found helpful is recipes to help maintain or boost a mother's milk supply. So far we are doing just fine, but it never hurts to know a few tricks should the need arise.

The easiest thing I thought I could do was take some Fenugreek. I bought a bottle at the local Rite-Aid for $9. There are a few issues I have with taking this though. For starters, it is not a small capsule. I've always had problems swallowing pills so this was inconvenient. According to tons of websites/groups, for fenugreek to be effective you are supposed to take three pills, three times a day. Holy pills, Batman! That is way more pills than I would be comfortable taking in a 24 hour period. Though you can take less if... your sweat starts to smell like maple syrup. Oh and your pee too! If you make it to this milestone then apparently you are taking the correct amount of fenugreek to help boost milk production. While smelling like maple syrup is not a bad side affect, I am still not able to move passed taking nine pills a day.

Solution? COOKIES!!! Oatmeal chocolate chip lactation cookies. You can find recipes everywhere. You can even order cookies from places like Milk Makers and Yummy Mummy. For me, ordering cookies seemed a little too pricey. I am a stay at home mom so there was not any reason why I could not bake my own.  I adapted a recipe that I found in various different places around the web.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Lactation Cookies
Print it here!

Ingredients for 2 dozen, ingredients to make 4.5 dozen in (parentheses)

- 1/2 cup butter (1 cup), softened
- 1/2 cup sugar (1 cup)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (1 cup), firmly packed
- 1 7/8 Tbls water (4 Tbls)
- 1 Tbls milled flax seed (2 Tbls)
- 1 egg (2 eggs)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (1 teaspoon)
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (2 cups) or regular flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (1 teaspoon)
- 1 1/2 cups oats (3 cups), NOT quick oats
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (1 cup)
- 4 to 6 capsules of 610mg fenugreek capsules (8 to 10 capsules), opened OR
- 1 to 1 7/8 Tbls brewer's yeast (2 to 4 Tbls)

To make:
-Preheat oven to 350F.
-Mix the flax seed and water then let sit for 3-5 minutes.
-Beat together the butter and both sugars, then add eggs, mix well.
-Add flax seed mixture and vanilla to the butter/sugar mix, beat well.
-In a separate bowl, mix together flour, fengreek OR yeast, baking soda, and salt, mix well.
-Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture.
-Stir in oats and chocolate chips.
-Scoop onto baking sheet, bake for 12 minutes.

To start out, I only made two dozen because I wanted to try them before I made 54 cookies.  I could not find brewer's yeast.  It was extremely elusive so I used my fenugreek instead.  It gives an added maple flavor.  Since they are capsules and not pills they are easily opened and dumped into the mixture.  I only added the amounts for the brewer's yeast in case you can find it in your area.

I know it is not the healthiest recipe on the block, but IT IS A COOKIE!  Both brewer's yeast and fenugreek tend to be a bit bitter so all that sugar covers it up nicely.  You only need to eat one or two a day to help with your milk supply.  A bonus is that you can just omit the fenugreek and everyone can eat them!  And they are so very good!  It was hard to only eat a couple.  The recipe can be changed up to add things like raisins, nuts, or even peanut butter chips.  The options are really endless.  This totally beats taking a million pills everyday!

No Bake Oatmeal Cookies

A super simple, easy to make, staple in any household, is the No Bake Oatmeal Cookies.  Since the temperature in my neck of the woods has been right about ... HELL... we don't want to be cranking up ye olde stove to heat the house up.  Easy answer... no bake cookies!

Print Friendly Version
What you need:

½ cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup milk
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking oats

How to make 'em:

1. Add the butter, sugar, milk and cocoa powder to a 4-quart saucepan.
2. Bring to a rolling boil and let boil for 1 minute.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth, then stir in the oats.
5. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto wax paper-lined baking sheets.
6. Let cool until set.

The whole process takes about an hour. You'll get about 3 dozen cookies from this recipe. Depending on how big you make 'em!

Homemade Girl Scout Cookies: Samoa Bars!

Samoa Bars
via Baking Bites
Print it here!

Cookie Base:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt


First, make the crust.

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.

Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepapred pan and press into an even layer.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

Topping:
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.

Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.

When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping).

Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.

Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 30 bar cookies.

She also has recipes for "regular" Samoas, Do-Si-Do's, Tagalongs, and Thin Mints!!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Brown Sugar Cookies

Since the dreaded lovely Valentine's Day is upon us, I had to add a holiday appropriate recipe, right?

                             Image via Wikipedia

Whole Wheat Chocolate Brown Sugar Cookies
Via Joy the Baker
Printable version

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg

Directions:

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

n a medium bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fit with a paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugars. Beat until well incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl. Add the egg. Beat on medium speed until mixture is glossy and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Stop mixer and add the dry ingredients all at once. Mix on low speed until all of the flour is incorporated Stop mixer and finish incorporating ingredients with a spatula. Spoon batter out onto a sheet of waxed paper, and form loosely into a log. Roll and seal cookie dough and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Once chilled, divide dough in half and place one half on a lightly floured counter surface. Lightly flour a rolling pin and roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Use a heart shaped (or whatever) cookie cutter to cut out cookies and place dough on prepared baking sheet. Very lightly brush cookies with water and sprinkle with granulated or turbinado sugar.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven, allow to rest on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Roll and cut cookies, re-rolling the dough once or twice, until all cookies are cut and baked.

Cookies will last, in an airtight container at room temperature, for up to five days.

Sunday's Recipe Share

Russian Tea Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
3/4 cups of chopped walnuts

Begin by adding the butter, vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar to a mixing bowl. Mix well until it is nice an creamy. To another bowl, combine the salt and flour, and gradually add this to the butter mixture. When everything is combined, fold in the walnuts. Roll these into about 1-2 inch balls, depending on your preference, and place on an ungreased baking sheet, in a preheated 350 degree oven, for approximately 10 minutes. They should be firm, but not golden brown. Carefully remove them from the pan, let them cool down for a few minutes, then with the remaining cup of powdered sugar, roll the balls to coat.

via The Comfort is Always Here

Recipe found at Simple Recipes.

Sunday's Recipe Share

Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen 3-inch cookies. Recipe from Bake at 350.

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, cold
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 batch royal icing

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flour and baking powder, set aside. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl, especially the bottom.

The dough will be crumbly, so knead it together with your hands as you scoop it out of the bowl for rolling.

On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4" thick sheet, and cut into desired shapes. Place shapes on parchment or silpat lined baking sheets. Place entire baking sheet in the freezer for 5 minutes (this step is important in helping the cookies keep their shapes nice and clean). Remove and bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until edges are just barely starting to turn golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely prior to decorating.

I found the recipe found here: Love and Olive Oil » Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookies

Breakfast Cookies

via simplerecipes.tumblr.com

Cookies and breakfast aren't two words you normally see in the same sentence. These cookies look so good that I couldn't pass up sharing the recipe!




Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1 1/2 cups of white whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 1/4 cup of whole oats (not the quick kind)
3 cups of Cheerios cereal
1 cup of walnuts
1/2 cup of raisins
1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips (the higher the cacao content, the better)
How-to:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cream butter& sugar. Add egg & vanilla and then the peanut butter.
3. Sift in the flour, baking soda & salt.
4. Add oats and stir very well. Add water.
5. Add the cereal. Your batter will be very difficult to stir. That’s good.
6. Add walnuts, then the raisins and finally the chocolate chips.
7. Your gonna get dirty now. Form golf-ball sized balls out of your dough with your hands and place them on a cookie sheet.
8. Flatten your golf-balls with the palm of your head, not too much. Think hockey puck.
9. Bake for approximately 12 minutes.
Enjoy!

Posted via web from shinypeas's posterous

COMMENTS

Recipe of the Week

This week I thought I'd do a little something for the upcoming holiday. Everyone loves cookies and everyone loves Paula Deen....with the exception of Cam, who can't watch her cook on TV because the lady never washes her hands and licks her fingers a lot... BUT she uses lots and lots of butter so I see no problem with the lack of hand washing... I know this makes no sense to you, but butter + the "south" = It must be good. So, ok... here is Miss Deen's recipe for Gingerbread Boys & Girls taken from her Christmas with Paula Deen book.

Let's get started...

Cookie Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 molasses
• 3 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 & a half teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Icing Ingredients:

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Food coloring as desired

1. Using an electric mixer at low speed, cream the sugar and butter until thoroughly combined. Add the eggs and molasses and mix until combined. Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and combine with a spoon or spatula. Remove the dough from the bowl and wrap in plastic wrap; place in the refrigerator until firm, about 1 hour.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes, until pliable. Take about 1/2 cup of dough at a time and roll onto a floured work surface until about 1/8 inch think. Cut out with gingerbread boy and girl cookie cutters. You can re-roll the scraps.
3. Using a spatula, transfer the cookies from the work surface to the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, until just beginning to brown at the edges. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
4. To make the icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar and milk. Divide the mixture into thirds; leave one third white, color one third green, and color the final third red. Decorate by piping eyes, mouths, buttons, and bow ties.

Makes 18 to 24 cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutters.

Christmas with Paula Deen pg. 72 -73