Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I hate raisins. I love chocolate chips. So, logically, MY oatmeal cookies have chocolate chips. NOM!

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups uncooked oats
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream butter and sugars.
3. Add eggs and vanilla.
4. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
5. Stir in oats and chips.
6. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet (I always use a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool on tray and then move to wire racks.

I got 3 dozen of the above sized cookies (about a tablespoon of dough) from this recipe.

Breakfast Cookies

An interesting cookie with the consistency of an oatmeal cookie. The basic cookie is moist and flavorful. I like the corn flakes in them. I'd probably skip the bacon next time though (gasp!). While the bacon wasn't bad, per se, I just didn't feel like it was necessary. I'd drop the bacon and add a smidge of salt to compensate in the future. But even as is, this is a worthwhile cookie. This recipe only yielded me 18 cookies.

INGREDIENTS

- 1 c flour, sifted - 1/4 tsp baking soda - 3/4 c white or brown sugar              (I used 1/2 c white & 1/4 c brown) - 1/2 c bacon crumbles, not artificial bacon bits

- 1/2 c butter - 1 egg (can use egg substitute) - 2 c corn flakes

DIRECTIONS

1.   Mix flour, baking soda and sugar.

2.   Stir in bacon crumbles.

3.   Mix in butter and egg.

4.   Stir in cereal. Blend well but do not beat.

5.   Drop by tspful on ungreased cookie sheet.

6.   Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Cool slightly before removing.

Cinnamon Vanilla Cupcakes with Cookie Butter Frosting

Perhaps you are not familiar with Speculoos Cookie Butter. It's ok. I was not acquainted with it until recently. Tales of it's addictive goodness were being spread (haha, get it, "spread" - because it's a spread...oh, nevermind) among a few of my fellow Facebook foodie lovers. The word on Cookie Butter is that it's a seasonal item available at Trader Joe's. My pusher, I mean, "good friend," bought me a jar. That's how they get you hooked: the first taste is always free (or so I've heard). Cookie Butter is a spread with the consistency of peanut butter but made from ground up gingerbread cookies and elven magic. It's like the Nutella of Christmas. Hell, Nutella is also the Nutella of Christmas. But this really does remind me a non-chocolate, non-hazelnut Nutella (trust me, if you tried it you'd understand exactly what I mean). Naturally, this stuff begs to be made into a frosting.

A luscious, finger licking frosting.

Enter the holiday party season. My contribution to the pot luck table: Cinnamon Vanilla Cupcakes with Cookie Butter frosting. NOM.

CINNAMON VANILLA CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Cream the butter in a stand mixer until smooth and light. Add sugar and continue to mix until fully incorporated and fluffy.
2. Add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition. In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Preheat oven to 350° degrees F.
4. Combine milk and vanilla. Add portions of the flour mixture and milk mixture to the electric mixer, alternating, starting and ending with flour. Pour evenly into cupcake pans lined with paper liners, about ½ – ¾ full.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cupcakes spring back to the touch. (Mine didn't take nearly this long to bake, so as always, be mindful that your oven times will vary.)

 COOKIE BUTTER FROSTING

Ingredients:

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup Speculoos Cookie Butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:

• Place the confectioners' sugar, Cookie Butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

I may or may not have licked leftover Cookie Butter from the piping tip after I was done frosting the cupcakes. I mean, not that I would DO such a thing....

Ready to party! Happy holidays!

(Note: The pink cupcakes are Cherry-Almond Vanilla with Cherry-Almond Buttercream Frosting, posted right 'thar.)

Cinnamon Sugar Palmiers

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 lb puff pastry (1 sheet store bought)
• 1 egg, beaten

Preparation:

Preheat an oven to 400F.

Stir together the sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter until it forms a paste.

Roll the pastry dough into a large rectangle, about 15-inches by 12-inches. Using a pastry brush or spoon, spread the cinnamon sugar paste in a thin, even layer over the dough. Starting at the long ends of the rectangle, loosely roll each side inward until they meet in the middle. To hold difficult pastry together, brush it with the egg, if needed.

Slice the pastry crosswise into 1/4-inch palmiers – they’ll look like little scrolls - and arrange them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake them for 12-15 minutes, until they puff and turn golden brown.

Remove them from the baking sheet and serve warm or at room temperature.

I drizzled some melted chocolate on mine. I'd probably skip that step or paint the chocolate over them next time.