Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

Nothing validates a cookie more then a 13 year old girl (who knows her way around sweets) who eats a couple of the freshly baked cookies you made but doesn’t say much. Then asks to takes a couple home. Then texts you in the middle of the night to ask you to make more cookies because they are the best cookies that she has ever had. That is a true story and even though she woke me out of my well needed slumber, that girl is for sure going to get her own batch of these here, best cookies she has ever had. I guess I am a sucker for a baking complement.

These cookies, they are a chewy, cinnamon apple-y, oatmeal situation. Everything and more you could want out a cookie that just might taste a bit like apple pie. And who doesn’t want to eat apples right now? Especially if you are an apple picker (who isn’t?) Using fresh from the tree apples, they really are the perfect cookie for this time of year.

Ah, fall. It really is the best.

Now to the best cookies a 13 year old girl has ever had!

The stuff. White whole wheat flour, old fashion oats, brown sugar, baking soda and powder, salt, coconut oil, flax eggs, vanilla, a raw sugar and cinnamon mixture, and of course, apples.

Start by taking apples, cutting away seeds and core, and dicing into small little bits, like the size of a chocolate chip.

Now dough. Mix together the wet until combined then add in dry and mix until completely incorporated.

Fold in th apple chunks.

Scoop dough into balls and dip each ball into the raw sugar and cinnamon mixture. Place each cookie on baking sheet and smoosh down a little to help with the spreading. Once baking sheet is full with enough space for cookies to spread while they bake, place into oven.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until tops look baked and not gooey and bottoms are nice deep golden brown.

Lovey baked cookies.

Get them onto a wire rack to cool and to free up the baking sheet for the next batch.

And then cookies. To eat at your very leisure.

Enjoy your apples and Happy FALL!

-C

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Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

makes about 2 dozen

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour

• 2 cups old fashion rolled oats

• 2 tablespoons cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon each baking soda and baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

• 3/4 cups coconut oil melted but not hot

• 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons ground flax seeds and 6 tablespoons warm water)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup turbano (raw) or white sugar mixed with 2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 large or 2 small Macintosh apples (about 1 1/2 cups small diced)

Preheat oven to 350

In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, oil, flax eggs, and vanilla until completely incorporated and there are no big chunks of sugar. Dump in flour, oats, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon and fold into wet until completely combined. Fold in apple chunks until evenly distributed.

Scoop dough into a ball and dip the top into the raw sugar and cinnamon mixture then place on a cookie sheet. Gently smoosh each dough ball down a bit. Once baking sheet is full, with enough room for spreading, place in the oven and bake for 15-17 minutes or until cookies look cooked on top and are golden brown on the bottoms. Once baked, remove from baking sheet (gently) and place on a wire rack to cool.

Then eat. And store left over cookies in a air tight container at room temp for up to a week (if they last that long). Also can be frozen.

Lemon White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was having one of those weeks, a week when I just needed to make some cookies. You know those weeks right? And so cookies were made. White chocolate chip because thats all I had (Or thought I had. I forgot that I dumped all the regular chocolate chips into humongous jar in the pantry) and lemon because it just sounded right and also I had this giant lemon, which is the best part about these cookies. The giant lemon I used was the single lemon that I grew, in my own house, here in Vermont, on my little lemon tree. Crazy right? A $40 dollar lemon (because the plant cost that much), so these are some expansive ass cookies. HAHA.

So I know I make good cookies, but there was something about this flavor combination that had everyone drooling over them. A cookie that is chewy and crisp, but not hard and crunchy. They smell all sweet and citrusy and amazing. Probably the exact perfect cookie that anyone and everyone wants. The littles, they tried to eat them all. Barb, she ate one when she came over then texted me in the middle of the night to ask if I had anymore cookies left. Cameron, the boy (or gigantic man now) stopped over and raved about the cookies and that is saying a lot because that boy is picky. And the mr. of course, was skeptical of the flavor combination at first but that went out the window when he sat down and ate like 4 within minutes. So if you have any doubts, know that these are some good cookies. And also, you don’t need to grow your own lemon for these cookies. A regulate grocery store lemon will be just fine.

To the cookies!

The stuff. White and brown sugar, coconut oil, a flax egg, a lemon, vanilla extract, flour, salt, baking soda, and white chocolate chips.

Simple and straight forward. Grab a big bowl and add in the sugars, coconut oil, flax egg, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix until completely combined. Add in the baking soda, salt, and flour. Mix again until combined.

And don’t forget to to mix in the chocolate chips!

Up close for your pleasure.

Scoop dough onto baking sheets and give them a little tap to flatten the tops. Not too smooshed, just a bit, and toss that pan into the oven to bake.

And would you look at that, baked to perfection.

Place cookies on rack to cool.

And thats it.

Pile of cookies, cup of coffee… Do it. Do you.

-C

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Lemon White Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes 2 dozen

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup coconut oil, softened

• 3/4 cup white sugar

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoon warm water)

• 1 Large lemon ( or 1 hefty tablespoon zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice)

• 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips (the vegan ones, if you care)

Preheat oven to 350

Place oil, sugars, vanilla, flax egg, the zest of the lemon, and a tablespoon of lemon juice into a big bowl, Mix together until completely incorporated. Add in a the flour, salt, and baking soda and mix until dough forms then add in the white chocolate chips and mix until combined.

Stoop out dough balls, about 2 tablespoons worth, onto a baking sheet. Make sure to give each ball a good amount of room because these cookies will spread a good bit. Give each dough ball a little press, not completely flat, just a little tap so the tops are not domed and then place cookies into oven to bake. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the cookies are turning slightly golden brown on top and golden brown on the bottom.

Once out of the oven, place cookies on a cooling rack to cool. Be careful because they are really fragile until they cool.

And then eat your cookies.

Store cookies at room tempature in airtight counter for up to a week. OR freeze them for a few months. But they will be gone in days so yeah.

Carrot Sugar Cookies with Orange glaze

These are definitely my favorite shaped cutout cookies I have ever made. I mean seriously, carrot shaped carrot cookies, what could possibly ever be better? Nothing, and that’s truth for you.

Not only are they carrot shaped, they are also carrot flavored. Yup, Carrot shaped, carrot flavored, awesomeness. A little cinnamon added to the cookie for little extra boost of flavor and an orange glaze because it works and orange is good and fresh and springing. All good stuff.

You might be thinking, huh, carrot puree in a cookie, well that doesn’t sound right. But it is, it is right. And you know how I know that these cookies are awesome? Well I packed them up, (2 dozen of them) and took them over to the littles house for an after school treat. When I got there, the two older ones had friends over. I asked them if they wanted a carrot which earned me that look that said “are you serious” but them showed them the cookies. Of course the wanted a carrot so I gave them each one. They ate their cookies then proceeded to beat the shit out of the mr. Then they asked for another cookies and beat the shit out of the mr some more. This when on and on for about a 1/2 hour until all the cookies were gone and the mr was crouched in the corner with a broom trying to defend himself against 4 rulely kids who where slashing at him with light sabers and spraying him in he face with kitchen cleaner. It’s because they wanted more cookies. (and yes, the littles are getting crazy). So yeah, the cookies are good. Ass kicking good.

Anyway, a cookie with some goodness mix into it, shaped into a great shape, that will make everyone smile and happy. You could make them by yourself, make them with your friends, make them with some kids, with some old people. They are the perfect cookie to leave out for the easter bunny(do you leave carrots out for the easter bunny?) or to serve up at any easter party, spring party, or any garden party you might be attending. This cookie is pretty much perfect for any and every occasion that required a cookie. Or a carrot because carrots are always welcome.

To the carrots! I mean, the cookies!

The stuff. Flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, vegan butter, carrot puree, cinnamon, an orange, some powdered sugar, and food coloring.

Into a big bowl the sugar, vegan butter, and carrot puree go.

Beat for a minute or two until completely incorporated.

Add in all the rest of the dry stuff and mix by hand until it turns to dough.

This is the dough it turned into.

Gather the dough and wrap it or place in a plastic bag and stick it Into the fridge for a few hours or overnight. The dough NEEDS to chill.

After you let the dough be, remove from fridge, liberally dust counter, and roll out dough about 1/4 inch thick.

And then it’s time to cut the cookies out. I unfortunately do not have a cookie cutter so I improvised and make 2 carrot cutouts from paper and hand cut each cookie. That worked but took forever so I got crafty and used a fat Christmas tree cookie cutter then just did a little trim and pinch to make it into a cookie. (I am a genius for that). Any way works, and you can also do other shapes too, the cookies don’t change taste in different shapes. (but that would be so cool if they did)

Carefully place cut out cookies onto a baking sheet, giving them a little space because they do spread a tiny bit.

And into the oven to bake they go.

Out in 10 minutes looking all carrot like.

Carrots waiting to cool so they can be glazed.

The glaze. Pretty straight forward. Just zest orange into powdered sugar and juice the orange into the sugar and mix.

Divide glaze and dye one orange and one green

And glaze away. I recommend doing it over a rack and baking sheet to minimize mess because they do drip a bit.

Now just you look at that, carrot shaped carrot sugar cookies .What a sight!

And of course, carrots come in bunches. HA

Enjoy some carrots!

-C

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Carrot Sugar Cookies with Orange glaze

makes about 2 and a half dozen (depending on size)

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour plus more for dusting

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 cup vegan butter

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup carrot puree ( see note about how to make puree)

  For the glaze

• 2 to 3 cups powdered sugar

• on orange

• orange and green food coloring

Note. To make carrot puree, steam a couple carrots until completely soft them blend until smooth.

Place sugar, vegan butter, and carrot puree into a big bowl. Beat with a beater until light and fluffy. Add in the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and mix by hand until completely incorporated and mixture tunes into dough. Gather dough into a disk and wrap in plastic or place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

Once dough has chilled enough and you are ready to go, preheat the oven to 350.

Place dough on a flour dusted counter and roll out about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out the cookies with a cutter or by hand and place on a baking sheet. Bake cookies for 10-11 minutes or until just starting to turn slightly brown around the edges. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Once cookies are all baked and cooling, make the glaze. Place powered sugar into a big bowl, zest in the orange then add in the juice od half the orange. Mix completely and check consistency. You want it to be slightly running but not liquid, but also not to stiff. Add more juice or more sugar to get it right. Once it is the right consistency, separate into 2 bowls. Dye one green and one orange. Now glaze you cookies. A knife or small spatula works best and yes, the glaze drips a little so do it over a baking sheet, but after about 10 minutes the glaze hardens.

And then you have carrot cookies and all is good. Now go eat a carrot cookie!

Store uneaten cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. They can be frozen too.

Pretzel And Potato Chip Chocolate Chunk Cookies

What with all the holiday and family get togethers we have had over here at my house the past few week, we have had quite a few bags of chips and pretzels left over. Always almost empty… Always dumped into the compost because I mean, I am not so keen on seeing bags of little bits of chips and pretzels in the pantry that I know will never get eaten. Plus it is not like I am saving carrots or grapes or anything I would eat, it’s junk food. But still. I hate the food waste. That is why I made these cookies. To not waste food. And because we had people coming over to the house for dinner and I cannot not have something for dessert. That would be just wrong. And lastly because I am pretty sure that chips and pretzel pieces only make a plain chocolate chunk cookie into an amazing sweet and salty cookie that will just blow your mind.

And I was right. I made the cookies, I feed them to the mr, the sister, friends and all the littles and they just couldn’t get enough.

Current thought. I am sitting here typing and have come to the conclusion that I should start a bakery that makes cookies out of people almost empty bags of chips, like a Cheeto dust cookie, or a peanut butter Funyun cookie or chocolate chocolate chip Dorito cookie.

Yes. this is a good idea. Oh man, I am a genius.

But back to theeese cookies. Start with these. I’ll let you know when I open the storefront to Garbage Cookies (that is what I'll call the place) You can stand in line for the peanut butter Funyun cookies. I have a feeling about that flavor. Until then…

To the cookies!

The stuff. The small bowl has flour, baking powder and baking soda. The big bowl has brown and white sugar. Then you need oil, almond milk, vanilla, chocolate chunks, some pretzels and some plain salted potatoes chips.

Start with the wet. Mix the oil, the milk, and the vanilla into the sugars until completely smooth

Whisk together the dry stuff.

Dump dry into wet.

And mix until its a cookie dough. Now here is the thing, you need to stick the dough in the fridge for a couple hours and if you mix in the chips and pretzels now, well I think that might make them extrealemy soggy, so hold off. For now, cover dough and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

When the time comes for baking, grab the mix ins and with whatever method you chose, crush the chips and pretzels into small bits. (avoid turning into a dust, you want bits)

All salty and crumbly and ready to go

Grab the dough from fridge and dump in the stuff that needs to go in (crushed chips and pretzels and chocolate chunks).

Mix until incorporated.

Scoop dough into balls and place on a baking sheet.

Into the oven and out they come all golden brown and smelling like yes and mmmmmm.

Get those cookies on a wire rack to cool and to free up the baking sheet to keep baking.

Look at this proud cookie. Chips, pretzels, and chocolate chunks all on display.

Now is when you get yourself a plate, pile it up high, and eat.

Remember, sharing is caring so maybe share a cookie or two. (but like you don’t HAVE to)

Stay happy this weekend.

-C

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Pretzel And Potato Chip Chocolate Chunk Cookies

makes about 2 dozen cookies

• 2 cup all purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1/2 cup canola oil

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 6 tablespoons plant milk

• 1/2 cup crushed potato chip

• 1/2 cup crushed pretzels pieces

• 3/4 cup chocolate chunks or chips

In a large bowl, mix together the sugars, oil, milk, and vanilla until completely combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda. Dump the dry into the wet and mix until the dough comes together. Gather the dough together in the bowl and cover with plastic and stick in the fridge to rest for at least 2 hour and up to a day.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350

Right before you take the dough from fridge, get your chocolate chunks, pretzels, and chips out. If the chips and pretzels are not already in little bits, place them in a bag (just use the chip bag if you have it) and smash with a heavy object until you turn the chips and pretzels into bits. Be carful that you don’t turn it all into a dust, look for small bits. Pull dough from fridge and mix the stuff in. Scoop out balls of dough and place on baking sheets. Bake cookies in oven for 11-12 minutes or until lightly browed. Remove from oven and immediately transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

And now you eat.

Store uneaten cookie in a airtight container for up to a week or freeze them but I doubt you will have too. The cookies went fast.

Sunday Happy

I am good. You good? Hopefully not super crazy and feeling stressed about holiday stuff? Don’t let it get you. It is suppose to be fun and happy so take a few minutes and just do you. No stress.

Monday was the mr’s actual birthday and we celebrated by taking a day trip out to the North East Kingdom to explore and see some nature. Got lunch, checked out a cool hardware store, blasted the heat in the car, and drank a lot of coffee. Came home and made lasagna and went to bed kind of early. I was a nice end to his birthday week. Until next time.

The rest of the week was up and down. We were suppose to go the PA to visit Dad this weekend with Meg but the plans got canceled when someone (Justin) got the flu. We ran around trying to get a bunch of stuff done, stressing out, but then once we knew we weren't going, well we still have been running around trying to get a bunch of stuff done. Or better yet, running around yes, but also a couple of those day we spent siting around for hours (HOURS!!!!!) on hold trying to figure out our heath insurances. That was the worst. I don’t know how many times I almost threw my phone against the wall (many). All part of being an adult right? Blah. The waiting time did give me a chance to tackle the Christmas cards I have been working on for a few weeks now so that was good.

What else.. I woke up the other night to pee, tried to get out of bed but got caught in the blankets and fell, almost smashing my head against the radiator. The mr freaked, turned on the light and found me just lying there. It was a rough fall and I am still feeling it all over. On a different note, I finally got a new broom which might just be the highlight of my week. It was actually a 2 pack with a dustpan and sweeps like a champ. The old broom was so bad that I stopped using it because I swear sweeping with it just left a streak of more dirt. Yeah for new broom!

Yesterday was a blast. The first annual cookie house contraction day (now a annual tradition). I would say gingerbread house, but I used sugar cookies instead because I know the littles and it was the right thing to do. I woke up early, baked off all the pieces, gathered a ton of candy and had people bring some too, and off we went. Miley, Judah, So, Alex, Coco, and Barb, plus me, the mr, and Megan. Enough to build a village. Got everyone well fed before construction (Mac and cheese and pb and J) and got to work. Construction might not have gone as smoothly as I hopped (canned frosting doesn’t work as well as the sugar glue I made) but we figured it out. And once the houses were up, it was one big plume of sugar. Frosting and candy everywhere. There was so much sugar that I swear I was getting contact sugar high from all the littles. But the houses, they were coming out so awesome. I was truly impressed. Most of the houses stayed upright, but there were a couple the might have had a little too much candy (definitely Miley’s) and had the roof collapse. All good though because she just starting to eat it and well, yeah. After the doses of sugar the littles ran circles around the house, and then left. I stayed and spent the rest of the day scraping sugar off of every surface in the house wishing that I had bought a steam mop with that broom. (I used to have one and it broke but it was amazing and that is all I want for Christmas now)

Today the mr and I are commuted to finishing all the Christmas cards, getting them addressed, and sending them out TOMORROW. I plan on going to the gym and grocery store this morning but then hunkering down for the rest of the day, listening to Christmas music and getting them done. They need to be done. We are way late on sending them out this year. Oops.

Internet from the week.

-Santa Is Nothing but Stress for Families Who Don’t Believe in Him. I remember when I stopped believing in Santa.. sad day. And now with all the littles, some believe and some don’t. it is hard to keep their little mouths shut.

-Not everything needs to come in pill form. See the diverse ingredients in traditional Chinese apothecaries

-How freaking badass. Horse-Riding Librarians Were the Great Depression’s Bookmobiles

-Why People Wait 10 Days to Do Something That Takes 10 Minutes. I never ever procrastinate cleaning. It’s just not worth it. And I am crazy.

-How best to harness the power of garlic in your everyday cooking. So many ways to use one simple ingredient and it can turn any dish from one thing to another.

-Never!!!! I Bought My Live Christmas Tree on Amazon — Here's How It Went.

-Google's 10 Most Searched Foods in 2018. Keto is a big deal huh? Me, I for sure googled romaine a few times.

-Why is the night sky dark? It’s all about the stars.

-If I have kids, wooden blocks are all I will have for toys, well those and a basket of river rocks and lots and lots of art supplies. But no plastic and NOTHING that needs to be plugged into anything or needs batteries. How Melissa & Doug captured the toy market, one wooden block at a time

-It’s Time to Stop Calling Foods ‘Crack. Agreed

Pictures from the week