Best Oatmeal Cookies

The first thing that qualifies these cookies as the best is that there is not one nasty raisin in them. The second thing that qualifies them as the best is chocolate. Raisin lovers, you can leave now. Sorry. 

I'm too tired to type the recipe so here it is:

I use a regular size ice cream scoop. They are big cookies. 

Sometimes I flatten them a bit, this time I did not. 

Bake two pans at a time and rotate after 6 minutes. 

They won't look at all done on top but carefully peek underneath with a spatula...or a cheese slicer. My kids grew up thinking this was really a spatula, I just like it for lifting cookies! Anyway, you'll see that the bottom is golden. I let them cool right on the pan because they will be too soft to move. They are so good. 

Baking season, the best season

I am part of a rare group in New England that loves for summer to end. Summer is great for a while but I enjoy fall so much more, mostly because I love to bake and cook (indoors). In the oven today...

Apple Blueberry Cake

This is a super easy cake that I make quite a bit, changing the topping and the additional fruit other than apple.

You'll need:

4-5 apples peeled and rough chopped

1 cup blueberries (I only had half cup)

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups flour

1 1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla (I made that vanilla, more on that later)

oat topping:

3 tbs butter cut up

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

Pre heat oven to 375. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, beat eggs, add vanilla, vegetable oil and  chopped apples and whole blueberries. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients with a spoon until just combined, don't over mix. Make topping by cutting butter into sugar and oats.

Pour batter into an ungreased 9x13 pan and drop crumbled topping over the top.

Bake at 375 for 50 minutes, let cool 30 minutes before serving.

Today's tip:

Do you compost? I do. I am a way better composter than a gardener... in my defense, it's so much easier to decompose veggies than grow them. Anyway, it can be a hassle trying to deal with the scraps if you do a lot of cooking and cant keep running out to the compost bin. I keep a plastic pitcher on the counter and line it with whatever plastic bag I have. I usually try to use a bag that veggies came in (celery, carrots, etc) so I feel less guilty about all the plastic.

 I keep that on the counter while I cook and when I am done I just twist it up and throw it in the freezer. Freezing does a couple of things; it saves you from having to run to your compost bin all the time, it keeps gnats from swarming in your kitchen and I think the frozen scraps breakdown much faster in the bin than fresh scraps. I have no scientific evidence to prove this theory, but I believe it.

Crafty preview:

Besides trying to fill up my etsy shop, I have a bunch of baby gifts to make. That pile of yarn will hopefully be a newborn hat this week.

Death by baking

If spring doesn't arrive soon, my family may die from homemade baked goods! By the looks of it, Spring is taking its time. 

When it's cold out, I cook and I bake and then I bake something else. I typically work 7 days a week for weeks at a time but I had the ENTIRE WEEKEND OFF. It was glorious and dangerous at the same time. Yesterday I baked these unbelievably good oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. 

This wouldn't be so bad if I didn't try to kill my family with these potatoes for dinner. 

They were delicious. I tried to make them less deadly by using smaller potatoes, using less cheese and bacon 

Oh and burning the parsley by forgetting that they were under the broiler. 

Oh, and the day before I made this apple pie that was declared as "the best pie ever" by three family members. 

Crumb topped Apple pie with homemade crust, two types of Apple and a brown sugar and oat crumb topping. 

It really was quite good. 

Here's a double tip for bakers, although maybe everyone does this already, I don't know. 

I store my flour in a lock-tight plastic bin and dedicate an entire set of measuring cups to this bin. I never have to search for or dirty a separate cup for flour. Also, because I have a ridiculously small counter area, I open my silverware drawer and place my flour bin on it while I'm working. I do this with Baking sheets as well when I need a little extra space. 

Double chocolate banana cake

This cake tastes way more "unhealthy" than it could be or is. The amount of banana in it allows you to cut back on the fat you add and you can hide some whole wheat flour in here as well. 

Here's what you need: 

4-5 over ripened bananas 

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup softened butter

1 1/2 cups of flour (ap and/or whole wheat)

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup cocoa powder

I cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 and generously grease a bundt pan. 

Mash banana with baking soda and set aside. 

Cream butter and sugar with a mixer and add eggs. 

Add the flour, salt mixture a little at a time until blended. Add banana, vanilla, and cocoa powder and mix just until blended. 

Stir in chocolate chips and pour into greased bundt pan. 

Bake for 55 minutes. Let cool a bit and invert onto a plate.

 At this point you can sprinkle with confectioners sugar or a decadent chocolate ganache.  

Birthday soup

It's my bff's birthday; aka "The Ogre", aka The wine guy at www.wineschool101.com, aka Chris

Anyway, food is a big part of our friendship so it isn't at all strange that I gave him a beautiful pot filled with beautiful soup as a gift. 

It's just my basic chicken soup with thyme but the dumplings in it are amazing. I can't take credit for them, it's  a recipe from America's Test Kitchen

What's a birthday without a treat? I made a batch of these chocolate peanut butter cookies too:

There is no way to make them look pretty  but they are so,so good. Here is a link to the recipe, they are no bake! http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/desserts/article/no-bake-chocolate-peanut-butter-cookies

 Happy birthday my friend!

Baking weather

If it's really cold and it's going to snow again, baking is happening. 

This morning I made a batch of blueberry and jam muffins. It's a pretty basic muffin recipe with the addition of homemade peach blueberry jam that I made last summer. 

1 3/4 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

2tsp baking powder 

1/4 tsp salt

I egg

3/4 cup buttermilk 

1/4 cup canola oil 

Zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp vanilla 

3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries 

Topping:

3tbs flour

3 tbs brown sugar

2 tbs butter

12 generous tsp of homemade jam

Heat oven to 400 and line a muffin pan with paper cups. 

Blend dry ingredients in a large bowl and wet ingredients in a smaller bowl. Combine wet into dry by gently folding. You want lumps, lumps make muffins...muffins. 

Very gently fold berries into mixture. 

Divide batter evenly into paper cups. Add a generous teaspoon of jam to the center of each muffin cup by making an indentation with the back of the spoon. 

Next cut the butter into the flour and brown sugar until crumbly and sprinkle over the tops. 

Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden. 

Snowed in Saturday!

It's no secret, I love to be snowed in with nowhere to go! I don't typically make breakfast for the family because mornings are too crazy but today they get a treat. I am currently obsessed with these fancy parchment cups and lucky for me, my bff at http://wineschool101.blogspot.com/?m=1 , aka "The Ogre", gifted me with a few boxes for Christmas!

So today we have:

Pumpkin Muffins

Preheat oven to 350 and line a muffin tin with paper liners

1.5 cups flour

1tsp baking soda

1.5 cups sugar

1tsp cinnamon 

1/2 tsp each nutmeg and cloves 

1/2 tsp salt

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl

And in a smaller bowl mix together

2 eggs

1/4 cup Apple cider

Half can of pumpkin

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Now prepare the topping:

1/2 stick cold butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour. Cut butter in to dry ingredients until it is a coarse crumble. 

Gently fold wet ingredients into dry just until it is incorporated. Scoop batter evenly into 12 muffin cups, sprinkle with topping. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. 

Happy snow day!