Perfect Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's the first day of school here in Newfoundland and also the first day of cookie season in the Parsons household. Both of my kids are in Junior High which is right around the corner from our house, so coming home for lunch with several friends tagging along is a daily occurrence here. Both of my kids are excellent cookie bakers and there are almost always freshly baked cookies available in our counter top cookie jar. Wonder why we have so many kids visit, huh?

These soft, crispy edged, chewy cookies will undoubtedly be made many times during the school year. Have a great school year folks!

Ingredients:

1 &1/3 cups flour

1/2 cup large rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray one cookie sheet with spray oil or line with parchment paper.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together flour, rolled oats, salt, and baking soda.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and combine thoroughly.

Add the flour mixture to the sweetened butter. Mix only enough to incorporate flour. Do not over mix. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough thoroughly. Form cookies by dropping a rounded teaspoon of dough on the prepared cookie sheet two inches apart. Bake until light brown around the edges, about 12-15 minutes, depending on cookie size.

Singapore Style Noodles

Singapore Style Noodles

One of my favorite take-out Chinese food meals is also one that we now make at home. You can add or modify the vegetables and meats to your own tastes. If you don't like shrimp don't add them. Substitute chopped broccoli for the green onions if you like; the recipe will be good no matter how you modify the ingredients which also goes for the chili pepper, add a little or a lot depending on your heat preference.

This delicious dish has quickly become a go-to quick meal at our house and one we all really enjoy.

Serves 6-8

• 1 pound rice vermicelli noodles, cooked and drained

Meats:

• 1/2 pound lightly sautéed shrimp
• 1/2 pound lightly sautéed boneless chicken breast slices
• 1/2 pound lightly sautéed pork tenderloin slices

Vegetables:

• 1 small red pepper, julienned
• 2 small green onions sliced
• 2 cups fresh bean spouts
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1 cup thinly sliced Chinese or Napa cabbage
• 4 tbsp chopped cilantro (optional)

Start by lightly sautéing the shrimp, chicken and pork and set aside.

To a large wok add:

• 4 tbsp peanut oil
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 1/2 small onion, julienned
• 1 minced fresh chili pepper (more or less to taste)

Cook until the onions are softened then add:

• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup Hoisen sauce
• 4 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp Chinese Five Spice Powder
• 2 tbsp yellow curry powder

Simmer until the volume is reduced by about 1/4 then add the meats and vegetables and cook for an additional minute before adding the cooked rice noodles and tossing everything together until the noodles are evenly coated.

Cherry Cream Cheese Blondies

Cherry Cream Cheese Blondies

My kids are very, very fond of a good Blondie and we have made several versions including a version with glace candied cherries. Since we had some ripe fresh cherries on hand, which the kids also love, I decided to try them in a new variation that also includes more chopped cherries in a luscious cream cheese frosting for a very pretty finishing touch. We froze some of these quite successfully too, so no doubt these awesomely delicious blondies will be making it to my Christmas freezer list this year as well.

Sift together

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Melt over low heat

• 3/4 cup butter

Stir in

• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 tsp vanilla extract

Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Pinch the mixture between your fingers to make sure that you cannot feel any sugar granules.

Gradually mix in dry ingredients. Fold in:

• 1 cup chopped fresh cherries (cut in quarters)

Spread the batter into a greased or parchment lined 9x9 baking pan.

Bake for about 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees F (325 F for glass bakeware) or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups icing sugar (powdered sugar)
• 1 tbsp milk; only enough to bring the frosting to a spreadable consistency.

Mix all the ingredients together and beat very well until smooth and fluffy. Add the milk last to get the frosting to the right consistency. Finally fold in:

• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cherries

Spread evenly on top of the cooled blondies before cutting into squares or bars.

Foodie PenPals

I want to tell you about something fun that I discovered.

It's called Foodie PenPals.

Remember having a pen pal in elementary school?

It's kinda like that, except you send a box of yummy goodies instead of writing letters.

Awesome, right?

You send your box of goodies to a new person each month.

This was my first time participating, and I received a box from Alisha Crossley.

Check it out!

 

 I am enjoying all the goodies she sent me, but I have to especially thank Alisha for something.

She introduced me to Biscoff cookies.

I'm in LOVE!!!

I had heard about them, but never bought any and didn't really know what they tasted like.

 So, when I got my box I saw this on the back of the Biscoff package...

...the light bulb went off over my head!

These were those yummy cookies they used to serve on airplanes!

I loved those cookies! Needless to say, they are almost gone. And I will be finding more.

Foodie Penpals was created by Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean.

Would you like to participate?

Here are some specifics:

• On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.

• You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 

• The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!

• Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 

• Foodie Penpals is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. 

 

If you’re interested in participating for September, just CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

It's time to start Fall baking!

One of my favorite recipes to make this time of year is pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

I decided to make that recipe even better by turning it into cupcakes...

because then you get to put frosting on top!

Pumpkin and chocolate compliment each other so well...
if you haven't tried the combination before, you might be surprised.

And the fluffy pumpkin cream cheese frosting is the perfect topping...Delish!

I gave one of these cupcakes to my husband, and asked if he had any comments.
"Make more!", he replied.

This recipe makes about 32 cupcakes,
so whip some up and share them with your neighbors!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

adapted from Ryan Bakes

6031598

Ingredients

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon EACH of nutmeg, cloves and ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 c. milk + 1/2 tablespoon vinegar)
• 1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
• 6 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

To Make The Cupcakes

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, baking powder and salt together until well blended; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat sugar, vegetable oil, buttermilk, pumpkin, eggs and vanilla on low speed until combined. Gradually add flour mixture and beat until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill each paper liner 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

To Make The Frosting

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar and beat until smooth. Add pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well. This frosting is very soft, so you may want to refrigerate it before you frost your cupcakes. After frosting, garnish cupcakes with mini chocolate chips if desired.

Powered by Recipage

Enjoy!

Want another yummy pumpkin & chocolate recipe?
Check out my Chocolate Pumpkin Cake with Cornelli Lace!

I share my recipes & tutorials at these fun link parties.

This post was featured!

Foolproof Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Foolproof Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Good morning from a rainy Orlando as tropical storm Isaac passes by. We might spend the day at the house today; heck, I might do some cooking in Florida on this vacation after all.

Before we left home, Olivia was on a bit of a cookie kick and we have a couple of other recipes coming up soon but today we feature a gorgeous little chocolate treat that we hadn't made in quite some time. This cookie is soft and very chocolatey and is also very eye-catching when set out as part of a party spread; they always seem to disappear first for some reason.

The recipe is very straightforward but does require that the dough be well chilled. The combination of using two sugars to roll the dough balls in is the secret to getting the perfect crackle appearance every time. The Dough can also be frozen in advance to use later. Just let it thaw in the fridge before using it.

Makes 4 to 5 dozen cookies.

1 1/3 cups dark chocolate chips (or semi-sweet)
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup icing sugar (i.e. powdered sugar)

Sift together and set aside: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler and let cool almost to room temperature.

Cream, butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, then fold in the melted chocolate. Add the dry ingredients in three additions alternately with the milk in two additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.

This dough needs to be well chilled. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for several hours. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls. Roll the balls, first in granulated sugar, then in powdered sugar. Place the balls about 2 1/2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes at 350 degrees F until the surface crackles. Cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Lemony Spaghetti Squash with Butter and Parmesan Recipe (Vegetarian and Gluten-free)

Every now and then I crave spaghetti squash as an alternative to pasta. It's taken me some attempts to perfect this recipe, but I think I have it now. It really needs butter. I've tried using olive oil and salt in lieu of butter and it's just not the same. The lemon and parmesan really add nice flavor to the squash, too. This is a great gluten-free side dish that goes especially well with hearty sausage (veggie or otherwise).

Lemony Spaghetti Squash with Butter and Parmesan Recipe

1 medium spaghetti squash
2 tbsp butter
1 large lemon
1/3 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese
Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put 1/4 inch of water in the bottom of a rectangular 9x12 pan. Cut the squash in half from the stem to the bottom. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and pulp from the middle of the squash halves. Place them in the pan shell side up, and the flat parts on the bottom. Cover the pan with a large piece of aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. In the meantime, cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice out into a small bowl, being sure to remove any seeds.

After removing the pan from the oven, be very careful taking the aluminum foil off as a bunch of hot steam will be released from the pan. Drain out the water and use a fork to help you turn the squash halves right side up (they will be very hot). Get a medium bowl ready. Use a fork to shred out the squash from the shells and add the squash to the mixing bowl. Discard the shells. Add the butter, the lemon juice, and the parmesan and mix thoroughly. Pepper to taste, and sprinkle some additional parmesan cheese on top before serving. Serves 4+ as a side dish.