Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have you ever looked on a package of dried cranberries and seen this cookie recipe? I did a few years ago and they sounded wonderful so I made them and they are AWESOME! I didn't have white chocolate chips, so I used chocolate.  I love anything oatmeal and then you add cranberries and white or chocolate chips and that is just yummy in my tummy! I'm sure you could sub raisins for the cranberries, but you should try the cranberries, they are so good.
Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies-OceanSpray
2/3C butter, softened(lay out for about 30minutes)
2/3C brown sugar
2 large eggs
11/2C old-fashioned oats
11/2C flour
1tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt
11/4C Craisins
2/3C white or chocolate chips, or chunks
Preheat oven to 375. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate mixing bowl.  Add to the butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each.  Stir in dried craisins and white or chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 10-12minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on wire rack.  Makes around 21/2 dozen cookies

These are so soft and chewy and delicate!

Brownie Covered Oreos

OK, this is just a genious idea! Why in the world didn't I think to do this? Two of my favorite sweets are oreo cookies and brownies....combine the two and it is a pure masterpiece! The blog, Picky Palate had these little jewels and I knew when I saw them I had to make them...how could you go wrong with these two combined? So easy to make and so yummy! Fabulous! And what is even cuter is you can use the seasonal oreos that have colored frosting to make them festive!
Brownie Covered Oreos
1box of your favorite brownie mix
eggs,water, oil as indicated on brownie mix
1package oreos

Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare the brownies according to the box directions.  Generously grease 2 regular size muffin tins.  Drop the oreos in the prepared brownie mix and put into the greased muffin tins, one oreo per muffin cup.  Repeat with the whole package of oreos.  Bake for 12-15minutes, or until the brownie is done.  After removing from the oven, immediately run a knife around the edge of each muffin tin to loosen the brownie batter so the cookies will come out.  After you do this, let the brownies rest a few minutes.  Then take a fork to help the cookie release from the pan.  Try not to eat all of them in one sitting!



Pure Delight!



Monster Cookie Bars

Here is another "goodie" mom made today while she is in town visiting...oh goodness, I can feel the weight attaching itself to my hips!  Three days of nonstop cooking stuff and mom is finally down and resting her back on ice, her back gets to hurting her when she lifts or stands too much....maybe this means that I won't gain 10pounds...only 5!! I'm sure after a bit of resting she will be back at it again! Nothing can stop a loving mommy and grandma from cooking and making her kiddos happy!  This recipe is adapted from my mom's monster cookies and made into bars, so it is a bit easier in the long run.  It comes from the blog You Go Girl, but it has all the same ingredients as my mom's monster cookies, so she was excited to try the bar version.  There is nothing quite like the combination of peanut butter, oatmeal and chocolate....this makes me a very happy girl! Mom doubled this recipe, so my son is taking some to his class at school(they love when his grandma comes to town!) and I have tons to put in the freezer so I can enjoy these long after mom goes home(which I think is the reason she doubled them...so I will think of my mommy every time I eat one!....those mom's know what they are doing!)
Monster Cookie Bars
Cream together: 1/2C soft butter, 1C brown sugar, 1C white sugar
Mix in: 3 eggs, 11/2C creamy peanut butter
Then add: 1tsp vanilla, 2tsp baking soda, 41/2C quick cooking oats
Stir in: 11/2C chocolate chips, 1C mini M&Ms
Spray a 10inch jelly roll pan with Pam. Spread mixture into pan. Bake at 350 for only 15-18minutes, don't overbake them. Bars will set up as they cool.
Use m&m's according to what holiday it is!


This batch does not have M&M's, but double the chocolate chips



Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know, another chocolate chip cookie recipe...didn't I just post one last week? I must be on a choc chip cookie kick?? I don't know what it is...there are thousands of recipes for these cookies and every single time I find a new one I can't say no...I have to try it! It stays on my mind until I finally give in and make the new recipe..each new one I find is SO convincing that their recipe is the best and, well, I guess I fall for it! I could have worse bad habits, right?!  Today's recipe comes from the wonderful yummy blog, Mel's Kitchen Cafe  Go check her blog out, she has awesome recipes! She swears these are the perfect chocolate chip cookie and her "go to" recipe, so I had to try them and find out for myself!   I have got to tell you....I can finally rest and not feel obligated to make another chocolate chip cookie recipe I come across....these were AWESOME! PERFECT! I can finally rest on my quest...thank you Mel! These cookies had the perfect amount of salt, the perfect amount of chocolate chips and butter and they were the perfect texture! Next time I will add nuts.....that way my family will stay away from them!
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
from: melskitchencafe.com
21/8C flour
1/2t baking soda
1/2t salt
Mix these three ingredients and set aside.
12T(1 1/2sticks)butter, slightly melted and cooled
1C brown sugar
1/2C sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2t vanilla
2C semi sweet chocolate chips
Mix the butter and sugars until combined. Then add the egg,yolk, and vanilla and mix until the batter has lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Add in the flour mixture along with chocolate chips and stir until combined. Form into tablespoon balls and place on greased cookie sheets.  Frozen balls can be stored up to 2 months. Bake the cookies 10-12minutes or until slightly browned on edges, do not over bake or the cookies will be tough and hard. If baking frozen cookie dough add 1-2minutes to cooking time. Store baked cookies in an airtight container, or freeze baked cookies for up to 2 months.
(when I made this recipe I used my cookie scoop which is bigger than a Tablespoon and I had to cook them 14minutes...they won't look done, but take them out! I let them rest on the cookie sheets a few minutes before transferring them to wax paper. If you are using dark pans, take them out sooner)

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie!   Finally!

Puffy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a wonderful chocolate chip cookie recipe that I found over on the blog: http://bunsinmyoven.com/about/  I know there are too many choc chip cookie recipes out there to even mention, but I made this one for the first time yesterday because the "puffiness" and pure size of them appealed to me. They are AWESOME! They are not one of those cookies you want to give to your kids that will put them in a glass of milk, or they inhale them so fast they don't even appreciate the decadence of them....no, these are the type of cookies that you hide from anyone who won't truly appreciate their gourmet taste and depth of texture. In my house, that means I hide them from my two kids and my husband...SO, guess who gets them all? Yep, momma does! This could be bad!(but oh SO good!).  Does anyone else have those "secret" hiding places around your house where you put chocolate? I have to do this, or my kids and husband find the chocolate and it's gone! Then, when I decide to have a chocolate, I have to make sure they are busy and don't watch where I'm going and I usually end up eating it in the bathroom(with the door locked), or in my bedroom.  I only had to resort to this embaressing practice because my 5yr old daughter has this special talent of always knowing when mom has something sweet in her hands, I could be downstairs and away from her, and she still knows! It really is an amazing gift she has(although annoying too!).  It's the same gift that she has when she knows I just sat down to relax, or I have a few moments of quiet!!! Anyone know about this gift?!!          This is only a half batch and I used a 1/4C measuring cup to measure the scoops and it made 13 cookies.  I believe the original recipe calls for 1/2C measuring cup! You don't want to overbake these cookies, mine took 12minutes and they didn't look done at all, but they did continue to cook after I pulled them out of the oven and they turned out perfect. So, don't be tempted to cook them longer because they don't look done!  Use a good quality chocolate chip, I used Ghirradeli, and if you keep the nuts in them, then use walnuts or pecans.


The cutest Cookie Monster I've ever seen!

 Puffy Chocolate Chip Cookies
from Buns in my Oven blog
8Tbs cold butter, cut into cubes
3/4C brown sugar
1 large egg, cold
1tsp vanilla
1 3/4C flour
1/2t baking powder
1/4t baking soda
1/4t salt
1C semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2C walnuts, or pecans, chopped
Preheat oven to 350 and grease baking sheets, or line with parchment paper. In a bowl, or standup mixer, beat the cold butter and brown sugar for about 1minute, you don't want to cream it or let it get fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla and continue to beat until combined. Mix together the dry ingredients and add them to the butter and sugar mixture. You should have a stiff and somewhat sticky dough. If needed add another T. of flour. Add the chocolate chips and nuts and stir to combine.  Measure out the dough in equal portions, I used a 1/4C and it made 13. Levain Bakery(where this recipe is from) uses 6oz portions!  Place the cookies on the baking sheets and place them in the fridge for 5minutes to get cold again, this helps the cookie from spreading while cooking.  Bake for 11-13minutes or until the slightest brown on the outside. Immediately transfer to a cooling rack. Go to a closet, or hiding place where no kids can find you, and eat them slow enough to really enjoy them!
There is a link party at Little Rays of Sunshine, come join us to view other sweet treats!