Everything Oatmeal Cookies

It was my baby brother's birthday this month and he initially wanted me to make cake pops.  So of course I asked my sister-in-law what type of cake I should make but she suggested I make him cookies instead.  Apparently he had liked the oatmeal cookies that I made for my sister-in-law post-baby last month and had asked her to make him cookies recently.  She has no time to bake cookies with a new baby and suggested I do it for him instead haha.  Since I am such a great big sister, I made these Everything Oatmeal Cookies because I figured he likes almost everything!  I added dried cranberries, chocolate chips and walnuts in these oatmeal cookies.  I even included plain greek yogurt just because I have been including it in all my baked goods lately.  Overall I think these Everything Oatmeal Cookies were awesome.  I think my brother and sister-in-law both scarfed up these cookies quickly too LOL!  

Buddy wanted some cookies too...but I told him they were for his Uncle.  He looks a little disappointed, but I told him to wait until his 11th birthday next month!  Hopefully he will be feeling better by then, lately he hasn't been doing well on his thyroid meds so currently he is on a short trial without the meds to see if there's a change and we'll go from there...sigh...I clearly love my dogs :)

 

Everything Oatmeal Cookies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

½ cup or 1 stick butter, room temperature

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon plain greek yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

¾ cup whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour)

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup chocolate chips

1 ½ cup oats

½ cup walnuts, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a stand mixer, beat together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until creamy.  

Next, beat in egg, vanilla and yogurt.  

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

Slowly, stir flour mixture into butter mixture.

Next, stir in oats, dried cranberries, and walnuts.

Scoop cookies by teaspoon onto baking sheet about 2 inches apart.   (You can make them bigger but I preferred them to be bite-sized.)

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.  

The cookies will be golden at the edges with a soft center.  Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Christmas Bark

This is one of my favorite holiday desserts and I have made it every Christmas for the last few years.  I first got this recipe from a coworker who made it for our holiday work luncheons.  I had no idea that it was made out of crackers when I first tasted this Christmas Bark.  I ended up using saltines and leftover matzos.  You can feel free to top with nuts such as pecans, almonds, or walnuts.  I like topping with crushed candy canes to give the peppermint taste for the holidays.  FYI - I placed candy canes in a plastic bagged and crushed them with a hammer, easy!  You should definitely make this if you like toffee because that is what this Christmas Bark tastes like.  I can't stop eating this Christmas Bark but I better so that I can share with my family and friends.  Enjoy!

P.S. I finally added Disqus to my blog to make commenting easier, so feel free to leave comments :)

 

Christmas Bark

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 to 2 sleeves of saltine crackers (and/or matzos crackers)

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups chocolate chips

crushed candy canes (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line baking sheets (jelly roll pans with sides is best) with foil or parchment paper.  If using foil, spray lightly with non-stick spray.

Arrange crackers in one layer to completely cover baking sheet/pan.

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, add butter and brown sugar.  Bring to a boil for 3 minutes.

Pour butter sugar mixture immediately over the crackers.

Bake for 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips on top.  Let sit 5 minutes to allow chocolate to melt.  Spread melted chocolate with a spatula.

Sprinkle crushed candy canes on top of chocolate.  

Allow to cool to completely before breaking into pieces.  You may also refrigerate it to cool overnight. 

Store in airtight container.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

I cannot get enough of pumpkin these days, and I have already made pumpkin cupcakes.  Since I made banana bread earlier, I adapted the recipe for this pumpkin chocolate chip bread.  This bread is moist, delicious and full of pumpkiny goodness!  Is pumpkiny even a word? LOL  This pumpkin chocolate chip bread is perfect for breakfast and I had a slice today with my morning latte.  I also shared the bread with some of my coworkers and everyone enjoyed it.  It is nice that I get to share my baked goods at work because I should not be eating it all myself!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

¾ cup pumpkin

4 tablespoons butter, melted (I microwave in a bowl for about 45 seconds.)

½ cup white sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 ½ cup flour

½ cup chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together baking soda, salt, flour and cinnamon.

In another bowl, combine pumpkin, butter, sugars, egg and vanilla.

Combine the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into greased loaf pan.  Bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

One Bowl Banana Bread

This one bowl banana bread recipe is my go-to recipe for years now.  It is so easy to make and turns out delicious each time.  Cleanup is a breeze since you only need to use one bowl and I just mix everything by hand.  I honestly don't even remember where I got this recipe from but I still have it written on a piece of note paper that I keep in my recipes box.  I have used this same recipe to make muffins too, you would just reduce the bake time to about 15 to 20 minutes.  Enjoy!

One Bowl Banana Bread

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 cup butter, melted (I microwave in a bowl for about 45 seconds.)

¾ cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1 ½ cup flour

½ cup chocolate chips (Optional but I almost always add it in!)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, mash peeled bananas with a fork.

Mix in butter, sugar, egg and vanilla.  

Next, add in baking soda, salt and flour.

Stir in chocolate chips if adding.

Pour batter into greased loaf pan.  Bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Eggless Waffles

Easy like Sunday morning...with Eggless Waffles!  I finally received my waffle plates for my Cuisinart Griddler.  I have been wanting to make my own waffles for awhile now and I finally caved in and bought the waffle plates.  Its actually great since I don't need another appliance to make waffles, I just have to switch out the plates.  I was finally ready to make waffles but then realized I had no eggs.  Major fail on my part!  I realized I didn't get to go to the farmers market last Tuesday due to torrential rain and I usually buy my eggs from an Amish farmer.  So instead I did some online research and realized there were plenty of recipes for waffles with no eggs.  These Eggless Waffles turned out great and I couldn't even taste a difference. 

  

Eggless Waffles

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons sugar

2 cups milk (I used organic lowfat 1% milk.)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 tablespoons melted butter

Optional Ingredients

2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips (I added this to half the batter.)

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder and sugar.

Add in the remaining ingredients - milk, vegetable oil, water, vanilla and melted butter.

Whisk together until batter is mixed, it will be slightly lumpy. (Optional ingredient, add in chocolate chips last.)

Spray waffle maker with non-stick spray.  Once heated and ready, I used a ¼ measuring cup of batter for each waffle.  Let cook for about 3 to 4 minutes depending on your waffle maker instructions.

Serve warm with butter and/or maple syrup.

 Mmm.....I love Sunday morning waffles!

Buddy likes to sleep in on Sundays...or everyday!

Chocolate Bundt Cake

This chocolate bundt cake was scrumptious especially with my homemade chocolate sauce.  I served this cake for dessert this weekend and I was told it was the "best chocolate cake".  He must be right since he ate 2 slices!  This cake was moist and chocolatey.  You wouldn't think there was greek yogurt in the cake either.  What made this cake extra special was the homemade chocolate sauce, and it was simple to make.  If you love chocolate, you will love this cake, enjoy!

Chocolate Bundt Cake

Printable Recipe

Ingredients for Cake

1 package devils food cake mix

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 cup greek yogurt, plain

¼ cup coconut oil

½ cup vegetable oil

3 eggs, beaten

½ cup water

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions for Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease and flour a bundt pan (or other baking pan).  

In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, mix together the cake mix, cocoa powder, coconut oil, vegetable oil, eggs, and water.  

Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour cake batter into bundt pan.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool cake in pan for about 10 minutes.

Invert cake onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

 Drizzle cake with chocolate sauce.