Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip & Pecan Cookies

Oatmeal cookies are a classic, a proverbial favorite with both kids and adults and a cookie that everyone needs to have in their baking repertoire.

These cookies were fantastic! There were soft and chewy and chock-full of chocolate chips, spices and nuts. If you prefer different ingredients these are great cookies to make substitutions. You could add raisins, dried cranberries, walnuts or white chocolate chips. Add your favorite ingredients! These classic cookies prove that sometimes basic is best. Enjoy!


Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip & Pecan Cookies
Adapted from: Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
1 cup quick-cooking oats
2 cups chopped pecans
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment or a nonstick baking mat.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla, and beat until well mixed, about three minutes. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove in a separate bowl.

Add half of the flour mixture to the butter with the mixer on low speed. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the second half. Stir in the oats, pecans and chocolate chips. Drop the dough, by the tablespoon, onto the cookie sheet and bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on a rack. Store at room temperature in a cookie jar or other airtight container.

Lemon Raspberry Bars

Raspberry and lemon. Two ingredients that just go together and haven't failed me yet. Going along with my "bake with berries or anything that is in season" theme, I knew I had to try these and oh!my!goodness!me! these are tasty morsels.

These bars have a thick graham cracker crust and are topped with a creamy lemon raspberry filling. The fresh raspberries add a hint of tartness to the luscious lemon filling. Top this with a dollop of whip cream and some additional fresh raspberries and you are in for a treat!


Lemon Raspberry Bars
Adapted from: Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients

For the crust
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
6 tablespoons salted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
Zest of one lemon

For the filling
2 large egg yolks
1-14 oz. can fat free sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
6 ounces fresh raspberries

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spray a 8 by 8 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar, and lemon zest. Stir until graham cracker crumbs are moist. Press crumbs into the prepared pan, pressing the crust mixture one inch up the side of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

Once the crust is cool, combine the egg yolks and condensed milk until well mixed. Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir until mixture begins to slightly thicken.  Gently fold in the raspberries. Fold carefully so you don’t break the raspberries.

Pour the lemon raspberry filling evenly over the graham cracker crust.  Bake for 15 minutes, or until just set.

Cool to room temperature, then chill for at least one hour before serving. Cut into bars and serve. Keep bars in the refrigerator-up to five days.

*Note-use fresh raspberries and make sure you gently fold the berries into the lemon filling or you will have pink bars.

BlackBerry Pie Muffins

It's no secret that I love crumb toppings and muffins tops. Edible muffin tops, of course. Not the unnecessary spillage over my waistline that occurs with all of these treats ;)

If the opportunity presents itself I will likely add a streusel or crumb topping to any baked good. The additional butter and sugar has yet to disappoint me. These muffins were no exception and are likely the reason I was drawn to this recipe.

On top of having delicious tops (pardon the pun) these tender muffins were bursting with fresh, delicious, tart blackberries.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I love baking with all of the fresh fruit the summer season provides. Blackberries are a great source of antioxidants. Did you know you’re more likely to stay younger, healthier, and live longer with lots of blackberries? Thus, no need to justify why you eat one or twelve of these... they're benefiting your youthfulness!

Will I make these moist, fabulous, large muffin top pie tasting delights again? Absolutely! Especially if there is the chance that I could live one day longer and look that much younger!


Blackberry Pie Muffins
Adapted from: The Hazel Bloom

Ingredients

Topping
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Muffins
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
12 ounces fresh blackberries, cut in half

Directions

Heat your oven to 350° F, and line 12 muffin cups with liners (or grease the cups).

In a small bowl, mix together the topping ingredients until crumbly. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg and then stir in the sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, along with the buttermilk, and stir just until moistened. Add the blackberries and stir until well incorporated.

Fill your muffin cups almost to the top with the batter. Sprinkle the topping evenly over each cupcake. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, until they're golden brown and the tops spring back when you poke at 'em. (I look mine out at 23 minutes).

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Guess what?!

I finally joined the 21st century.

In the spirit of improvement I am embracing change. A little slow, I know.

I'm now on Twitter, Bloglovin' & Reader and I'm feeling totally cool and ultra tech savvy.

While I was running in circles around my living room, out of sheer joy and excitement of what I had accomplished, my darling husband informed me that I'm not really that tech savvy (although he did say I'm pretty cool). I, however, am choosing to bask in and savor this moment (and the last bite of this red velvet cupcake).

So follow me on Bloglovin' and add me to Twitter! Help me on my newest quest to be 21st century-est!

:: #clueless ::

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Nectarine and Strawberry Crisp

I hope you’re enjoying your summer! We’ve been enjoying some ridiculous amounts of glorious sunshine here in Vancouver so we’ve been busy BBQing, beaching and picnicking! With all of the delicious fruit in season, I’m trying my best to put a healthy twist on summer… thus, I give you the fruit crisp.

I love crisps of any kind. Apple in the fall, strawberry rhubarb in the spring, and any combo of fresh fruit in the summer. They're quick and easy to put together. The hardest part of making a crisp is waiting for it to come out of the oven!

This is a basic crisp recipe. You can use any combination of fruit that you'd like or have on hand. I used nectarines and strawberries and paired it with an addictive crumb topping. Naturally, it was absolutely delicious and with all that fruit, dare I say, it is verging on healthy.

Serve warm and top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.


Nectarine and Strawberry Fruit Crisp
Adapted from: Food Woolf

Ingredients

½ cup pecans
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
a pinch of salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 ripe nectarines, pitted and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup strawberries
¼ cup sugar
3 tablespoons unbleached flour
zest of one lemon, chopped fine

Directions

Preheat oven to 375° F.

For the Topping
Chop the pecans to a medium to fine consistency. Combine the flour, the sugars, the salt and spice in a mixing bowl. Add the chilled butter in pieces and mix with your fingers until it becomes mealy. Add the nuts and mix until the flour mixture holds together when squeezed. Put aside.

For the Crisp
Mix the fruit in a medium-sized bowl and then add the sugar. Taste and adjust for sweetness (don’t over sugar the fruit). Dust the flour over the mixture and stir gently. Spoon the topping into a small cooking dish that is just big enough to hold the fruit. Mound a small amount in the center of the dish. Then, gently add the crisp mixture on top. Lightly push the crumble on top of the fruit mixture.

Place a cookie sheet on the middle rack of the oven (to catch any overflow juices) and put the crisp dish on top. Bake in the oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the fruit juices are thickened and bubbling. The delicious smell of baked fruit will help you know when it’s close to being ready. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!