Oatmeal Cookies Deserving of a Pedestal!

LOADED OATMEAL COOKIES

Even though it's only been a day since my first post in revitalizing this blog, I am motivated to write another because I made these cookies last night and they came out great! These are for Russ, my very own, grown adult Cookie Monster! He LOVES oatmeal cookies. 

If you've ever purchased the cylinder of Quaker Oats, you'll notice that under the lid is the recipe for their famous cookies. It's my favorite basic oatmeal cookie and bakes up crispy on the outer edges and soft on the inside. I make these often. So don't throw that lid away! Mine is tucked into my cabinet so any time I want to make them, it's there regardless of what brand of oats I have on hand. 

Below is my adaptation of Quaker's original recipe:

LOADED OATMEAL COOKIES

Makes approximately 4 dozen average sized cookies or 2 dozen large cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Have ungreased cookie sheets ready (or line with parchment).

Ingredients:

14 tablespoons of soft butter (I use unsalted)

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I double the 1tsp. to 2, because I love it)

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups oats - quick or old-fashioned (not steel-cut)

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I use mini)

1/2 cup shredded coconut

Directions: 

In large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter with sugars and vanilla until thoroughly incorporated, scraping the bowl as necessary. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. To this, add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well. Add oats and mix or stir in till evenly distributed. By hand, stir in raisins, dried cranberries, walnuts, chocolate chips, and coconut. This is a workout so use your heaviest wooden spoon and get in there!

I used a spring-loaded ice-cream scoop to make large cookies and fit 6 on a half-sheet baking pan. Then I squished them down a bit to level them out. If you want to make smaller cookies, you'll get a lot out of this batch using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon. (You can also half the recipe if you want. I do that all the time, less of a commitment!) With this batch, I made 16 large cookies and still had a lot of cookie dough left so I froze that for Russ's next visit.

Bake for 12 minutes (+/-) for large cookies or 8-10 minutes for smaller cookies. You want to look for brown edges but still light, moist centers. If it looks wet in the middle, give them another minute or two. Crispy brown outer edges, light, moist centers. Your individual oven will behave differently than mine, so you just have to watch it. They take as long as they take. 

Let cookies rest about 5 minutes or so, and remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

These cookies were so large they didn't fit in my cookie jar, so I put them on a pedestal!

Deserving of a pedestal!

If you'd like to see previous cookie posts from ADK baker, click here: http://adirondackbaker.blogspot.com/search?q=cookies

Brown-Bagging and Quaker's Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

As I was navigating around the grocery store tonight after work (in a post-work walking fog), I thought about what would go well in my brown-bag lunch.  Every Monday I start out with the intention of brown-bagging all week, and by Wednesday or so, for whatever reason, I leave the house with no lunch in hand.  Well, with a daughter's wedding coming up in the fall, and other family weddings and vacations to look forward to, I have to budget my pennies wisely in order to afford all the happy celebrations of 2012.  If I buy my lunch at work, it's always $7.00 or so for something simple and a drink - a bowl of chili,or salad from the salad bar,or soup and a half-sandwich.  Multiply that by 5 work days and you can see that lunch alone can come close to $150/month.  Between now and my daughter's October wedding, that's a lot of money that could be better spent on happy wedding memories.  So, I have resolved to bring my lunch as often as possible, and to avoid the Wednesday through Friday purchased lunch habit.

Anyway, rather than buy granola bars or chips or some other processed lunch add-on for my little brown bag, I decided to go home and make a batch of Quakers Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies -- fresh, wholesome, and full of good things.  I wrote about them way back in 2009, but I'm sure that, if you read that post, you've long forgotten and are open to my bringing these delicious cookies back for a repeat performance.  The recipe is on the inside of the Oatmeal cansiter's lid.  As cookie recipes go, this one is simple.  You cream butter with two sugars, vanilla, and egg.  To that you add the requisite flour, baking soda, salt, and (in this recipe) cinnamon.  The final two ingredients are the stars of the show: old fashioned oatmeal (the real deal) and raisins.  One mixer, one bowl, and you can have cookies in about half an hour.  Not bad when you're looking for instant gratification with not-so-instant oatmeal!

I actually have a little story true confession about these cookies.  In 1980, just after my daughter Meghan was born, I made a batch of these cookies.  It was January, the dead of winter, and I was at home with a newborn and her two siblings, aged two and three and a half.  When Meghan was napping, Joe, Katie and I baked oatmeal cookies.  They were so delicious.  My husband called during the day and I told him we were baking and he was looking forward to enjoying the cookies when he got home.  Except...we (an adult woman and two tiny children) polished them off before Sesame Street was over! I know, it's hard to believe (maybe not!).  We had some sort of winter gorge-fest on bendy, chewy oatmeal cookies.  I blame it on lack of sunlight, or cabin fever, or some other odd winter phenomenon. To keep our little secret, I had to make an entire new batch of cookies before my husband came home from work.  Our secret was safe, but I can't make these cookies without thinking of that day, and smiling a little bit! (Oh, and we never did that again!).

Quaker Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Oven 350 degrees F
Parchment-lined cookie sheet

1 bar plus 6 tbsp. butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla (I used two!)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats
1 cup raisins (I used a little less)

In large mixer bowl, cream butter with sugars and vanilla.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Add flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Mix well.  Add oats and raisins. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto parchment-lined cookie sheet (not in recipe, but I always use parchment paper).  I use a cookie scoop to get evenly sized cookies, but it's not  necessary.  If you have one, they're great.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.  My cookies were bigger (because of the scoop) so I let mine go for 11 minutes.  Let cool on cookie sheet for a minute or two and then complete cooling on wire rack.  See if you can make them last, at least until after dinner!

Cape Cod Chocolate Chip Cookies!

CAPE COD CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

I wish I could say this recipe evolved from a wonderful experience enjoying these cookies on a vacation on the Cape, but no. This is a recipe I made up in my head and then executed last week for my regular Weekend Platters that I deliver to friends in the area. Happily, it was a success first time out! This is a chocolate chip cookie recipe with the additions – to make it Cape Coddy - of dried cranberries and crushed Cape Cod Potato Chips.

They were a HUGE hit for all who tried them, especially my BF Russ who is a die-hard oatmeal raisin cookie fan (you'd never know his fondness for cookies by looking at him - he's 6'4" and no body fat!). He loved these so much he ate 8 of the remaining large cookies over 3 days this past weekend. He took the last one “to go” when we said good-bye on Sunday 'til the next time. It’s a good thing he did or I would have devoured it the minute he drove away!

Last Weekend's Platter: these cookies, banana bread muffins, blondie bars, and blueberry scones! 

CAPE COD CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Line baking sheets with parchment paper

Have a ¼ cup measure or ice cream scoop ready for portioning out cookies

Ingredients:

(makes about 24, 4-inch cookies) 

12 tablespoons soft unsalted butter, a bar and a half

4 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening (I know, but it is a small amount and provides a necessary light quality)

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

½ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I use vanilla bean paste, pricey but worth it)

2 large eggs

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup semi-sweet or darker chocolate chip morsels

¾ cup dried cranberries (I used a 6 oz. pouch)

1 cup coarsely crushed Cape Cod Potato Chips (regular flavor) – I put chips in a quart-sized zip bag and hit it a few times with a rolling pin to about ½ inch sized pieces so they don’t get lost in the dough.

Directions:

In large mixing bowl, cream together butter and shortening for a minute or two.

Add both sugars and mix very well until light and fluffy.

Add vanilla and mix well.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt.

Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture until well mixed.

Stir in chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and crushed potato chips.

Using a levered ice cream scoop or ¼ cup measure, portion out dough on parchment-lined cookie sheets or baking pans. Leave a couple of inches between cookies, and squash each portion down a bit with a couple of fingers to flatten them out so they bake evenly. I get 8 cookies per standard cookie sheet.  You can reuse the parchment paper for the next batch.

Note: I keep two racks in the center of the oven, one just a few inches above the other. I bake two pans at a time and rotate them with about 3 minutes to go. This may seem a little OCD. If you don’t want to do that, just bake one pan at a time in the center of the oven.

Set timer for 10 minutes and check. What you want to see is a browning beginning around the edges and the middle still looks pale but not wet (see photo above). I always have to add a minute or two but it depends on your oven.

Cool pans on rack for a few minutes and then move cookies to racks to cool completely.  They can then be stored in an air-tight container or zip bags.

June Showers, Baby Cakes, and Cookies!

Here in upstate New York, we won't let the almost certain chance of rain dash our plans. I've heard it said that, here, "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes!"After what seems like rain every day so far for the first two weeks of June, we seem to have turned a corner and the sun came out late Friday afternoon, all day yesterday, and this Sunday morning I woke to bright sunshine streaming through my bedroom window. What a nice surprise, especially after the forecasters advised to get any outdoor plans accomplished on Saturday. I haven't checked the weather for the rest of today, and this cheerful morning sun could go tuck itself behind some clouds later today, but for now, I'm enjoying it!

There's been a bit of baking going on in my kitchen over the past few days, which has been somewhat challenging given that I hurt my elbow the other day. In an attempt to fling a too-heavy bag of trash into the back of my son-in-law's truck (after emptying my refrigerator of out-dated items I'd planned to cook/eat but never did - heavy things like ricotta cheese, etc. -- a huge waste of money!!!) it happened. I didn't realize how heavy the bag actually was and how (apparently) weak my right arm is when the bag didn't quite make it up into the truck and bent my poor elbow back in the wrong direction! So, woe is me but I'm on the mend with good advice from Russ (chiropractor b'friend). Still, there were cookies to finish and a fondant baby to make for my friend Cindy's daughter's baby shower, and there was no way I was going to disappoint them. I tried to switch my brain to using my left hand over my right, and everything worked out fine.

Before the elbow fiasco, in addition to baby feet cookies, there was enough cookie dough left over to make a few chocolate-dipped cookies with toasted coconut. The recipe follows - it's the same sugar cookie recipe I always use, from Alton Brown. The only thing I don't do is refrigerate the dough as he suggests. Instead, I let it rest at room temperature for a few minutes and then roll it out without chilling. It always works very well so I suggest you do the same. Chilling made it too stiff to roll (must be all that butter!).

Baby Cake and Cookies!

And here's the easy recipe for those chocolate-dipped toasted coconut cookies:

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED TOASTED COCONUT COOKIES

Sugar cookie dough - enough for 2 dozen cookies
Melted chocolate (I used 1 cup of Wilton's Dark Chocolate Candy Wafers)
Toasted Coconut - about 1/2 -1 cup (you can save whatever you don't use)

Bake sugar cookies in 2-inch (or whatever size) rounds according to recipe directions. I used a biscuit cutter to make the circles.  Allow to cool on wire rack.

Toast coconut: In pre-heated 350-degree Farenheit oven, on ungreased cookie sheet, toast coconut just until it begins to brown. It took 7 minutes in my oven. Remove from heat.  Put toasted coconut in a bowl.

Melt chocolate.  I melted my chocolate wafers in the microwave for 1 minute. Be careful - the bowl gets hot. Remove from microwave and stir until it's smooth. If using chocolate chips, you can add 1 tablespoon of shortening to the chocolate before you melt it - thins it enough for easier dipping.

Dip one side of cooled cookies into melted chocolate.  Hold over coconut and sprinkle coconut over melted chocolate.  Allow to cool on cookie sheet until chocolate is set (you can pop it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to speed up the process).

Chocolate-dipped Toasted Coconut Cookies!

I hope you all enjoy this beautiful Sunday, and I wish every father, grandfather, and Godfather a wonderful day with those you love.

Enjoy!

Chip Chip Cookies - Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper Potato Chips!

You can't avoid the sweet-salty collision. It's everywhere - in chocolates, caramels, and even baked goods. Today I made Chip Chip cookies, my take on the sweet-salty revolution. This is NOT your grandmother's chocolate chip cookie! It's a chewy cookie with sea salt and cracked pepper potato chips inside and out. I took an old recipe for a not-quite-typical chocolate chip cookie and changed it up even more with the addition of sturdy, kettle-style potato chips.

What sets this recipe apart from the familiar standard is that the dough is not beaten, it's stirred. I based it on the basic cookie my friend Betsy Cogan made for years. Everything is stirred, old-school. Barely melted butter mixed with more brown sugar than white creates a caramel-y texture, and these cookies are perfectly chewy when baked for 10 minutes (in my oven).

You can see the crushed potato chips on top of the cookies
giving a hint as to what's inside! 

Here's the recipe:

CHIP CHIP COOKIES
Makes 3 dozen large (3- to 4-inch) cookies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit
If you have parchment paper, line a cookie sheet. (I always use parchment paper - it's worth its weight in gold! Cookies bake evenly, and clean up is much simpler. Won't bake without it!)


Ingredients:

1/2 lb. unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups kettle-style potato chips or more to taste - I used Saratoga Chips - Sea Salt and Black Pepper

Directions:

In large mixing bowl, place both sugars and vanilla. Stir.

In small saucepan over low heat, melt butter until it's about 3/4 melted. Turn off heat and allow the residual heat to melt the rest of the butter. These keeps the butter from getting too hot.

Pour melted butter into sugar mixture and stir well.

Add eggs to sugar butter mixture, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.

Place flour, baking soda, and salt over top of mixture in bowl. Toss these dry ingredients lightly with a fork to incorporate, and then stir well into butter/sugar/egg mixture.

Stir in chocolate chips and 1 cup of the potato chips that you have broken in coarse pieces over the batter. Mix well. The other 1/2 cup of the potato chips will be crushed with a rolling pin (or however you'd like to crush them) to sprinkle on top of the cookies before they go in the oven.

Using a cookie scoop or a generous tablespoon, drop batter a few inches apart onto lined cookie sheet. You should get 12-15 cookies per pan. Press down a tiny bit to flatten the tops. Sprinkle crushed potato chips on top.

Bake for 10 minutes OR just until edges begin to brown and middles begin to look dry. Don't let them get brown all over or they'll lose their chewiness.

Remove from oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before moving the cookies to a cooling rack.

And the close-up!
See the potato chips? 

Lemon Drop Cookies

I'm in love with classic lemon drop cookies, also known as Italian lemon cookies, or Anginetti.  One place to find them locally is in Saratoga Springs, at Roma's, on Washington Street. Roma's is the place to pick up a great Italian sub, custom made while you wait (with pickles or those big fat olives).  Roma's also sells all kinds of imported goodies. My friend Sue stops there often to get that long spaghetti with the hole down the center.  It's her husband's favorite.  While she's there, she always picks up a tub of Jordan Almonds and shares them with her friends!  One item that always catches my eye is the pretty little package of Italian lemon drop cookies.  My daughter Meghan used to work at The Jonesville Store and that's where I first had one of Mama Rao's Lemon Drop cookies.  The story is that they are baked fresh in Brooklyn, every day, and shipped right out.

They are wonderful!  With all this talk of lemons, my mouth is watering.  I'm providing here a recipe from Recipezaar.com, so you can make your own lemon drop cookies.  Hope you love them as much as I do!
(Photo credit: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgChUYCuBAIA_ICZcg31h3BNrFZQ-SaTAXRPoYr18fLr7ekq4-eGwGrEQLMI9GL4srlqHBRP83fpz-69qnm3zcuaskaMp985dTYRYVl7Gz0lOOKst8CUR2z6XUWhcUEmeNCC2CaIO-f952l/s400/italianlemoncookies.jpg )

LEMON DROP COOKIES from Recipezaar.com

COOKIE

• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening 
• 3 large eggs 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
• 2 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
• 1/8 teaspoon salt 

FROSTING

• 3 cups confectioner's sugar 
• 1/4 cup water 
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. For cookies, cream together sugar and shortening.
3. Add eggs and lemon extract and beat well.
4. Add flour, baking powder and salt; Mix well.
5. The dough should be soft and sticky.
6. With a small cookie scoop, drop dough onto a slightly greased cookie sheet or baking stone, spacing them about 2-inches apart.
7. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until firm and lightly brown.
8. Remove cookies from cookie sheet and allow to cool completely on wire racks.
9. For frosting, combine confectioners' sugar, water and lemon extract and mix until smooth.
10. Frost the tops of each cookie with a metal spatula.
11. Allow cookies to dry before stacking.
12. Store in an airtight container.
13. ~NOTE~If you want to freeze the cookies, freeze unfrosted and frost once thawed.

Thinking About Cookies

I'm not ready to commit to a list of definites, but I do have Christmas cookies on my mind.  There are some standards that will likely be made:  gingerbread men (and women), peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses, jam thumbprints -- some rolled in coconut, some in chopped nuts, and filled with my friend Catherine's prize-winning jam -- and sugar cookies (Alton Brown's recipe).  Each year I make that simple fudge with the Marshmallow Fluff and chocolate chips.  One cookie that will definitely be on my Christmas platter is the chocolate crinkle (recipe below).  It's a soft, fudgy ball of a cookie, rolled in confectioners sugar just before it goes in the oven, and once it's baked, the surface is cracked all over - thus the name.  They're very pretty.  Another recipe I'm interested in making is one I saw in a magazine at the checkout counter at the grocery store -- a bar cookie, a Christmas blondie, with walnuts, candied cherries, and almond extract.  It's like a fruitcake cookie only so much more interesting! 

There are other traditional desserts that have come out of my Christmas kitchen over the years, many of which have been popular requests by friends during the holidays.  I make a Grand Marnier pound cake, mini-cheesecakes, pie-crust cookies, and apple jelly. Then there's "reindeer food," a prettier version of trail mix which is a concoction of rice chex, mini-pretzels, M&Ms, various nuts, raisins and dried cranberries, all tossed in a thin coating of melted white chocolate, resulting in a snowy-frosted bowl of colorful goodness which is especially pretty presented in a Mason jar with a Christmas ribbon.   And of course, this year Katie and I will attempt a more elaborate gingerbread house.  We're getting good at that, and it'll be fun putting a new creation together. 

Over the next few weeks, I'll be bringing you my recipes for the cookies and treats mentioned above.  I'll start by reintroducing my recipe for Chocolate Crinkles from last December.  You can find it linked here and also printed below.  In the meantime, I'll look for new recipes that hopefully will be woven into already-established traditions and go on to become family favorites for generations. 

Here's to creating new traditions in your home!

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
(Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Baking)
originally posted on ADK Baker December 17, 2009

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c cocoa
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
4 large eggs
2 c granulated sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 c chocolate chips (I like to use Ghiradelli bittersweet, but any semi-sweet will do)
1/2 c confectioners’ sugar

Melt the butter and chocolate on top of a double boiler, over simmering water, and stir often. Remove and set aside to cool a bit.

In a small bowl, stir together the dry ingredients — flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, granulated sugar, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Beat in the melted chocolate mixture on low speed until blended. Add the dry ingredients and beat until incorporated. The dough will be stiff, but you must persevere: mix in the chocolate chips by hand.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a good long while, at least 2 hours. I sometimes leave the dough in the fridge overnight.

Place rack in center of oven and preheat to 325. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl.

Roll a rounded tablespoon of dough between your palms into a 1 1/2 inch ball, and toss it around in the powdered sugar. Place the cookies about 3 inches apart on the cookie sheet.Bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until the tops are puffed and crinkled and feel firm when lightly touched, about 13-17 mins. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Photo image credit: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkqurzh47E2owg_3wqtr9ksCh4XUrhOSdzyAx_F3XqJoX6HtwMBKWybAWXV2IVpaLu-lr1j9Ba649NLq3TZPJTKf82ZE91LveObWeEyarLY5KwxJ5-zk9deJwMErlqbwk4CerjXKpa0uQM/s1600/merry-christmas-cookies-wallpaper-for-desktops.jpg

Mini-Chip Cookies

Tonight I'm baking mini-chip cookies for my co-workers.  We've had a very busy week, always the case this time of year.  And this is just the beginning.  So...I'm thinking that a batch of home-made chocolate chip cookies is a perfect way to give ourselves a pat on the back and say thank-you to a great group of people.

Here's my recipe for mini-chip cookies (I was going to make traditional chocolate chip cookies, but only had a bag of mini chips in my pantry).  These are large cookies, about 3-3.5 inches in diameter.  The recipe makes 3 dozen large cookies or 6 dozen if you use rounded teaspoons rather than tablespoons.



MINI-CHIP COOKIES
Oven 350 degrees F

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper

Ingredients:

2 bars butter, melted
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
12 oz. mini chocolate chips

Directions:

In saucepan, melt butter.  Turn off heat.  Stir in sugars and vanilla extract. Stir well and allow to cool for about 15-20 minutes.  Place butter/sugar mixture in large mixer bowl.  Beat for a minute or two.  Add eggs, one at time, beating well after each addition.  Add flour, baking soda, and salt.  Mix until very well combined.  Stir in mini-chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls (I use a mini-scoop) onto parchment lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 10-12 mintues at 350 degrees F until just beginning to brown around the edges.  Don't overbake.

Remove from oven and allow to cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes.  Transfer cookies to cooking rack.

Makes 3 dozen large or 6 dozen small cookies.

Photo:  my own

Dressed Up for the Holidays: Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Twist of Orange and Cranberry

Yesterday my daughter Katie made what looked like a typical batch of chocolate chip cookies. They were golden brown and loaded with chocolate chips, still warm and chewy when I walked into her house after working all day.  I have to tell you, it was a very welcoming aroma that greeted me when I opened her door.  But there was something different.  I don't know how many of you can resist a warm-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookie, but I can't.  One bite and I knew this was a special cookie.  There was an essence of fresh oranges, and the tang of cranberry.  Combined with chocolate, it was DEVINE!  I thought, "OK, these are going on my cookie platters."  We have an abundance of Florida oranges to eat/juice/use up since Russ brought Katie and me each a case at Thanksgiving (thank you, Russ!).

You can make these cookies with your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe or, as I encourage people to do if they're pressed for time, grab a quality mix like Krusteaz or Pillsbury and save yourself a little time.  That's an especially good idea for busy moms with two little ones like Katie who spends much of her time feeding 7-week old Peter and the rest of it building block towers with Henry.  Still, she found time to not only bake up a batch of cookies but also to make big, red ribbon bows to adorn each post of the 100-foot split rail fence that lines our driveway!  I was holding the baby as she headed into the night with a staple gun and an arm-full of bows.   Maybe it's her legal training, but when Katie wants to get something done, it happens, even when it's as basic as baking a batch of home-made cookies in the middle of a hectic day.

Katie and the boys

I like the idea of simple, standard cookies that most people love all year occupying space on my Christmas cookie platter, like a plump peanut butter cookie studded with a Hershey Kiss, a ginger snap, spritz or a buttery shortbread.  This cookie will keep those favorites very good company.  Add some snowflake-decorated sugar cookies and a gingerbread boy or girl, a few little candy canes, and some chocolates wrapped for the holidays, and you have a beautiful cookie platter to present to your family and friends. 

Orange Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe batter, prepared
1 tablespoon freshly-grated orange rind
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Mix the grated orange rind and cranberries into the chocolate chip cookie dough batter.  Bake the cookies as your original recipe suggests.

Nestle Toll House Oatmeal Scotchies!

I just put the first pan of Nestle's Oatmeal Scotchies cookies in the oven, and already the warm aroma of these classic cookies is wafting through my kitchen!  My plan, this Christmas season, is to post a number of tried-and-oh-so-true recipes that your family would be so happy to enjoy, because they bring with them memories of cookies that many of us remember as favorites.

It's hard to beat Nestle's Toll House's other star, the chocolate chip cookie, but as I was mixing this scotchie batter, I realize why this recipe has also stood the test of time.  This is one delicious cookie dough, before it even thinks of becoming a cookie.  The simple flavorings of vanilla and a bit of cinnamon are all that are needed to accompany the smooth and flavorful butterscotch morsels.  Oatmeal adds body (and whole grains - I used "old fashioned") so this cookies is a well-rounded dessert by any means.  It stands on its own, but would be happy to be in the company of an icy cold glass of milk!

The timer is ringing for the first batch.  Can't wait!

And here they are! (recipe follows)

Nestle Oatmeal Scotchies
Preheat Oven to 375 degrees Farenheit

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract or grated peel of 1 orange (I used vanilla)
3 coups quick or old-fashioned oats
1 2/3 cups (11 oz. package) Nestle Toll House Butterscotch morsels

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Beat butter, granulates sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in oats and morsels.  Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet (I always use parchment paper).  Bake 7-8 minutes* for chewy cookies or 9-10 minutes for crisp cookies.  Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

*NOTE:  I made larger cookies using a scoop, and baked them for a longer time.  Mine took 12-13 minutes to be done.  Watch to make sure they are no longer wet on top but don't start to get too brown on the bottom.  Ovens vary, you need to know how yours will do so start watching at 8 minutes and keep them in there a while longer if you need to, especially if you make bigger cookies like I did.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

And for "just because," here's today's photo of my buddies!

Henry and Pete,  visiting this morning.  

The Pitter Patter...

This weekend finds me making special goodies in celebration of babies.  The first project is for my friend Sue's new grandbaby.  I'm making "baby feet" cookies.  Since the parents have decided not to find out whether their soon-to-be baby is a boy or girl, the cookies are frosted in dusty shades of pink, blue, yellow, and sage green.  I couldn't find a cookie cutter in time, so I made my own template.  Using Alton Brown's sugar cookie recipe (now the only recipe I'll ever use), these cookies came out beautifully.  It was fun to pipe little pads and toes using royal icing.  I got up at 6:30 a.m. to package the cookies in cellophane bags and tied them with pretty ribbons.  I think these cookies will be a hit.

I am also baking a cake for my friend Diane's soon-to-arrive granddaughter.  It's going to be a jungle-themed cake for a baby girl, decorated in pink fondant with a little giraffe peeking out from green leaves at the base of the cake.  That will get decorated tonight, and I'll post a picture of both the cake and the cookies later today. The layers are in the oven right now, and the aroma of the French Vanilla cake with a ribbon of dark chocolate marble is warming up my apartment on this cold morning.  Cookies and cakes are not the only things getting frosted today -- I woke up to 20-degree temperatures and a layer of snow coating the ground outside! (Update: It's now later today, and here are the cookies!).

Also, in the spirit of welcoming babies, I send my best wishes to nephew Rod and  his wife Emily, who welcomed their first baby, a son, yesterday.  They are a distance away, but they just may be receiving a box of "baby feet" cookies soon after they return home with their new little bundle. 

I always think of spring as a time for renewal.  It seems my friends and relatives have taken that notion very seriously!  Congratulations to all!

Photo:  Henry's foot when it was really tiny - almost two years ago

Big Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from Cooks Illustrated

My daughter Katie baked up a batch of these oatmeal-raisin cookies today, and all I can say is: They are incredible!  When it comes to cookies, if there are options, I'm likely to grab a chocolate chip first, but these moist, chewy oatmeal raisin cookies can give a chocolate chip a run for its money.  Cookie for cookie, these might disappear first!


BIG CHEWY OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES

thanks to Cooks Illustrated and Christopher Kimball
makes 16 to 20 large cookies

• 2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened but still firm
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (or a pinch of dried)
• 1/2  teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups raisins (optional)

Adjust oven racks to low and middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl of electric mixer or by hand, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. ed.note: don't skimp on the time mixing the sugar and butter together. longer is better for these cookies. and make sure each egg is incorporated completely before adding the next

Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg together, then stir them into butter-sugar mixture with wooden spoon or large rubber spatula. Stir in oats and optional raisins.

Form dough into sixteen to twenty 2-inch balls, placing each dough round onto one of two parchment paper–covered, large cookie sheets. Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes. (Halfway during baking, turn cookie sheets from front to back and also switch them from top to bottom.) Slide cookies on parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes before serving.

Photo of Katie's cookies by me, Jeannie (still trying to figure out my new camera!)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I spoke with someone today with enthusiasm about my new blog, and he said “Most blogs last a month.” Then I told him that I have a plan. I’m going to post regularly for an initial period of six months. That’s the commitment I’ve made to myself. From there, if I still love it (which I will) I’ll keep going.

Finding inspiration to write regularly can be challenging. Here I am, just a month into this, and there are almost thirty postings under my belt. My boyfriend Russ commented that I write my blog like I write letters (we used to write real letters to each other in the early days of our long-distance couple-hood. It was nice.). He said it’s like reading “letters to the Universe.” I love that. Not so much that it’s a romantic notion (it is) but that he realizes that this energy is sent out to anyone who might enjoy reading it. He gets it, and I hope my blog’s so-far few (and hopefully soon, more) readers will get that, too.

I realize I need a hook. Something that grabs and holds you for a while. Yesterday’s brownies a la Katharine Hepburn brought in some new readers. Yea! Lest you wonder if I’m running out of enticements, don’t you worry. There’s more up my flour-dusted sleeve! A lot more.

Knowing your (or your bff’s) weakness for chocolate, I’m bringing out my best – CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES! This is my recipe, inspired by the Toll-House original but adapted over the years, from the days when these came right out of the oven the moment my kids got off the school bus. Yeah, I know, I was June Clever-ish back in the day, except I didn’t wear a house dress, my house was never as neat as hers, and Ward was no where in sight! I was no perfect house-wife, and for their later school years I wasn’t a wife, and soon after that, I didn’t have a house! Regardless of the situation, our home was always a little bit messy, but my kids have nice memories of home-baked chocolate chip cookies!

There’s no need to buy pre-made cookie dough with all the artificial who-knows-what and now, with recent recalls due to strange organisms, you’re better off with the real deal. These are easy to mix up, and you can even form the cookies and then freeze the little nuggets in a zip-bag for that instant fix at a later date. Almost as good as the manufactured thing!

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

2 bars butter, softened
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (or 1 ¼ c. a.p. flour with 1 cup oat flour* or whole wheat flour)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
12 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks

Add-ins if desired: ½ cup chopped walnuts, white chocolate chips, raisins or craisins

*oat flour can be made by whirling oatmeal in a blender until it's a flour consistency.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Beat butter with vanilla and sugars until light and fluffy. (If you don’t have a mixer, you can melt the butter, let it cool a bit, and stir in the sugars and vanilla. It makes a more caramel-type cookie). To the butter/sugar mixture, beat in eggs, one at a time. In a separate bowl, mix flour with baking soda and salt and blend into butter mixture. Stir in chocolate and any other add-ins.

Roll into 1-inch balls and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Flatten just a bit with two fingers, not too much. A little squish. Bake until just beginning to brown at the edge, somewhere between 9 and 11 minutes depending on your oven and whether you like them bendy or crispy. You can tell they’re done when the center of the cookie loses its gloss. Don’t let them get too brown.

Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes. Finish cooling on rack or paper towels. Depending on size, makes about 3 dozen.

Fill the cookie jar. Bake more cookies. Repeat.

Bonus: Freeze eight (or more) of the cookies. When frozen, take two at a time and fill with softened vanilla ice cream so that there’s about an inch of ice cream between the cookies. STOP! You can’t eat them yet. Wrap these up and freeze again until the ice cream is hard, at least a few hours or overnight. BEST ice-cream sandwich ever!

Next blog: Getting ready for the 4th of July: An impressive Ice Cream Cake anyone can make!

Photo credit: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://img4.southernliving.com/i/2009/02/chocolate-delights/chocolate-chip-cookies-l.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.southernliving.com/food/holidays-occasions/five-star-chocolate-delights-00400000039619/page13.html&usg=__JSnEkB9dpjFLZZKWMYAicogsH7o=&h=400&w=400&sz=42&hl=en&start=39&tbnid=XL1Tp091RfkElM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchocolate%2Bchip%2Bcookies%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D20