Not a healthy oatmeal cookie but a healthier oatmeal cookie

Hearty Whole Wheat Cookies
Taste of Home Baking Classics Copyright 2008

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups packed brown sugar
3 eggs
3 tablespoons half-and-half cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package (12 ounces) miniature semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups coarsely chopped peanuts I omitted these

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the cream and vanilla.

In a blender or food processor, process oats until finely ground. Combine oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and peanuts.

Drop by tablespoonfuls 1-1/2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets (I used a cookie scoop). Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Yield: 6 dozen.
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I know many people are on the lookout for healthy oatmeal cookies and while this recipe certainly isn't healthy, it's healthier than many traditional recipes since it uses all whole wheat flour. However, all that butter and sugar probably nullifies the benefits of the whole wheat.

These baked up nice and even. I like when cookies have a nice uniform shape. They were tasty too. The whole wheat flavor wasn't overpowering. It was there but in a nice way. They're very soft - not chewy. This is a nice cookie.

If you want a truly healthy oatmeal cookie, try this recipe. It has a better balance of carbs and healthy fats.

TGIF! It's been a hectic week. I can't believe that it will be March next week.

Enjoy the weekend.

My annual attempt at making doughnuts

Mashed Potato Doughnuts
Taste of Home Baking Classics Copyright 2008


1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1 cup warm buttermilk (110° to 115°)
1-1/2 cups warm mashed potatoes (without added milk and butter)
3 eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 cups sugar, divided
4 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 cups all-purpose flour
Oil for deep-fat frying
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm buttermilk. Add the potatoes, eggs and butter. Add 2 cups sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Do not knead. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Turn onto a floured surface; divide into fourths. Roll each portion to 1/2-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 3-in. doughnut cutter.

In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375°. Fry doughnuts, a few at a time, until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon; roll doughnuts in cinnamon-sugar while warm.

Yield: about 2 dozen.
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I traditionally make doughnuts for my coworkers on the Tuesday before Lent. This year I mixed up this dough after work on Monday and then went to lie down while it spent the 2 hours it required in the fridge. I never got up. I was down for the count. The next evening, when I felt a bit better, I did roll out the dough and made about 20 doughnuts before tossing more than half the dough. I'm perplexed about that since the recipe is only supposed to make 2 dozen and I probably could have made more than double that but I didn't need all of those doughnuts.

These weren't bad. I made them the night before I brought them to work so they lost their crispness by then, but they had nice flavor. I had to add a LOT of extra flour to the recipe and the dough sat that extra day so I'm not sure if these turned out like they were supposed to but they definitely weren't my worst doughnut attempt. My coworkers liked them.

I'm feeling better now but I'm still pressed for time the rest of the week so we'll see how it goes.

Question of the Week: Did you do anything to celebrate the Tuesday before Lent? Did you eat pancakes? Doughnuts?

When things go from bad to worse

I got hit with a nasty case of mastitis and I'm slowly recovering. At least I got some rest.

I've got a slew of recipes I'll post about as soon as I can.

It might be a slow week

I have a lot of material lined up but I lack the time and energy to create the posts. The baby is getting more teeth which has been a real treat of course. He's also moving around like the Energizer Bunny and he hates to stop to take a nap. Oh, what a fun weekend!

Not what I expected but still great

Nuevo Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Sweeter Side of Amy’s Bread Copyright 2008

2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1 large egg
Yolk of l large egg
1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla
¾ cup softened unsalted butter I used salted butter
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 1/8 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Position one rack in the top third of the oven, one rack in the bottom third of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the cookie sheets with baking parchment.
2. In a bowl, add the flour, baking soda, salt and ginger and whisk together. In a separate bowl, add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and whisk together.
3. In another bowl, using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, the sugar and molasses on medium speed for 2 minutes or until light and fluffy, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl frequently. Gradually add the egg mixture until everything is well-combined.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in stages. Mix only until everything is just combined, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl frequently. Add the chocolate chips and continue mixing at a low speed until the are evenly distributed (or fold in manually if you’re not using a mixer with a paddle attachment). Fold in nuts if using.
5. Scoop out big balls of dough placing 6 balls on each prepared cookie sheet, Each ball of dough should weigh approx. 3 ounces (about ½ cup). Do not flatten the dough balls. Bake cookies about 18 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through the baking time. They will spread a lot (A LOT!) and be golden brown and just set when down.
6. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes then transfer to a rack to cook completely before storing.
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These cookies didn't turn out like I expected them to and I'm not sure why. I'm 99% positive that I didn't mess up the ingredients. The only change I made was using salted butter instead of unsalted. That shouldn't have affected the structure of the cookie.

They looked fine when I rotated the cookie sheets but when they were done they had all run into each other and they were thinner and more chewy looking than the picture in the cookbook and other pictures I've seen of these cookies from Amy's Bread. I never actually had a cookie from Amy's bread in my hand but I expected these to be thicker, not as chewy.

The only possible issue was my oven which is old and might not be regulating the temperature properly anymore.

Anyway, they were actually pretty great. They were very chewy and had a great caramel flavor. I even liked them better the older they got. I really liked what that bit of molasses added to this cookie but I'm sure that the ginger did much of anything.

It's still not what I was looking for in a 'big' chocolate chip cookie. Does anyone remember those Springwater Cookies they used to sell for fundraisers in the 80s? That's what I want.

Question of the Day: What kind of food products were sold for fundraisers in your school? Gertrude Hawk peanut butter eggs (3 to a pack) were the biggest sellers in our school. Big candy bars were sold too. When I was younger, my sister sold Krispy Kreme donuts for a fundraiser and they came warm and it was one of the best food experiences of my life (that was way before the big Krispy Kreme explosion of a few years ago).