Snow Day Cookies!

We had yet another snow day today.  My 14-year-old cousin came over since her school had an early dismissal and we made cookies.  

Actually, she made the cookies and I ate the cookie dough.  She is really good in the kitchen.  And she washes dishes.  

Anyway....Ingredients:

• 2 cups oatmeal
• 1 1/2 cup flour (We used Whole Wheat)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar.
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• We added a few sprinkles of cinnamon

First, we (and by we, I mean she) mixed the oatmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together.

 

Then we used my new hand mixer (well, Christmas-new, so a few months old now) to combine the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and regular sugar.

 When it was all combined, we added the eggs and vanilla, and then the dry mix.

 

  

After it was shaped into balls,

and baked,

 

it turned into a decadent treat!

And don't worry, I didn't make her do all of the work.  I helped out when the computer started acting up.

See?  I help! 

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No-Bake Cookies

We hadn't baked cookies in a really long time, so I was looking for a really cool oatmeal-peanut butter recipe.  I found it!  No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies. Yeah.  They are awesome.  Of course, I had to tweak them!

First, I melted the 2 tablespoons of butter. 

 

Then, I mixed in 1/4 cup milk, a tiny but of salt, and 1/2 cup of brown sugar to the mix and let it all boil.  

 

When it was nice and bubbly...

 

I added in 1 1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter,  and 1 teaspoon vanilla. 

 

 Stirring it took more than a little elbow grease,

 

 but the next step was easy.  I just spooned it out onto some aluminum foil and let it cool in the fridge.  I probably didn't need to refrigerate it, but we wanted to eat them right away.  

 

They tasted SO good and really, for cookies, they aren't that bad for you!

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Clean Out The Fridge

Since we are getting closer to another food shopping trip, we are starting to eat through our current stock. I found my lunch to be a particularly delicious bean salad. Leftover black beans, tomatoes picked from Och's Orchard, some green olives, and some bread that was going stale with grape seed oil, red wine vinegar, and sea salt. After dinner (a version of Beets and Sweets and salmon), we made healthy oatmeal cookies! Based on this recipe, we, of course, added our own twist.


Mix in a bowl:
3/4 cup oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
flax seed (we used about 1/8 cup? Use as much as you want.)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon











In another bowl, mix:
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1 tsp. vanilla















Combine all ingredients and mix up













Make into cookies. John likes them plump and I like them flat, as I'm sure you can see. Totally your choice. We made 12 cookies.




















Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

















Remove and enjoy!

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