White Chocolate Cherry Chunker Cookies

I feel like I have this black cloud hanging over my kitchen this week.
Well, okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic!

But seriously, I can't seem to make anything come out right. I made a stone fruit slump which came out okay but not fantastic...so why would I want to show you something that was just okay? Then last night I made a recipe from Cook's Country called Texas Style Blueberry Cobbler. Again..was just okay. That's not how I like my cobblers ( sorry Cook's Country!) Geez...what's going on?

So today I decided to just make a new cookie recipe...all the while keeping an eye out for that cloud! But finally, success!

These cookies are from the book, "The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread" and they're a wonderful mix of tart dried cherries and sweet white chocolate chips, a great balance and combination of flavors. Oatmeal in there helps add a nice texture. The book says to make them 3.5 ounces, but that's just too big for me so I made mine 2.2 ounces in size and they wound up baking about 3 1/2" in size. Perfect...finally!

Begin by combining your dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

Cream the butter and sugars together...

Then mix the eggs and vanilla and add to the creamed mixture.

Add in the dry mixture and combine just til it's all well mixed together.

Stir in the white chips and dried cherries.

And scoop them onto your baking sheet, then flatten each one slightly. Then bake.

White Chocolate Cherry Chunkers, from "The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread"

Makes a dozen large cookies ( 3.5 oz. size) or more like 18 cookies (2.2 oz. size)

1 2/3 cups ( 8.6 oz.) AP flour
2 1/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 large eggs
1 1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 cup dried tart cherries
3/4 cup white chocolate chunks or chips
1 cup ( 2 sticks or 8 oz.) unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
5/8 cup sugar
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Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment.
1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking soda and salt and whisk.
2. In a small bowl whisk the eggs with the vanilla and set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars til light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl often.
4. Gradually add the egg mixture til it's all combined.
5. On low speed, add the flour mixture in stages. Mix only til everything is well combined, again scraping the sides and bottom of bowl.
6. Add the cherries and chocolate and stir gently to combine.
7. Scoop out the dough and flatten each to a thickness of approx. 1 1/4".
8. Bake 15 to 17 minutes, depending on size. They should be golden brown and baked all the way into the center.
9. Cool on sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

The Best Oatmeal Muffins

This muffin took two days to perfect! It took a bit of research to get it just right so I'm taking the liberty of calling it the best! I found a Southern Living Cookbook this weekend and came upon a recipe for Oatmeal Muffins that sounded good.  I proceeded to make them yesterday...but they turned out, in a word, lousy!
So, I looked through my trusty old Farm Journal Cookbook and, sure enough, there was a recipe for these muffins that was very different from the Southern Living one.

It calls for soaking the oatmeal in buttermilk for an hour before mixing together the batter.
But the book gave instructions to mix the ingredients too much, so I knew that wouldn't work.

Muffin mixing is a delicate art! It requires gentle and brief mixing so the muffins don't come out tough.
Ok, fast forward to today. The final muffin recipe I came up with is a light, not too sweet muffin that you can add just about anything you like. Nuts, chopped apples, granola, berries, raisins or even chocolate chips.

I did swap out half the flour for some whole wheat flour...so they're even a little bit healthy!

After you soak the oatmeal in the buttermilk, add the egg mixture and stir til just combined.

Then add the dry ingredients to the mixture and gently stir, using almost a folding motion. Don't overmix!
it's okay if you still see some streaks of flour. Stop mixing!

Then spoon the batter into your paper liners, sprinkle the tops with raw sugar and either some oats or some granola ( my choice).

I baked 6 jumbo muffins but you can make them the standard size and get 12.
( And, yes, I sprinkled half with granola and half without!).

Oatmeal Muffins ( adapted from a few places...and me)
Makes 12 standard size muffins or 6 jumbo.

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup AP flour ( I used 1/2 cup AP and 1/2 cup whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon ( use less if you don't want a strong flavor)
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Raw or turbinado sugar ( for sprinkling on top),opt.
Oats or granola (for sprinkling on top),opt.
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Line muffin pan with paper liners.
1. Combine oats and buttermilk in a small bowl. Stir and let it sit for an hour.
2. After an hour, preheat oven to 375.
3. Whisk together flour(s), baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, oil, sugar, egg and vanilla.
5. Add the butter/egg mixture to the oatmeal/buttermilk mixture and stir just to combine.
6. Add in the flour mixture and stir gently, just til combined but streaks of flour may remain. Don't overmix!
7. Briefly fold in any add-ins that you want. Again, being careful not to overmix.
8. Sprinkle the tops with the raw sugar and/or granola or oats.
9. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or just til tester comes out clean. Don't overbake.
10. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then take out of pan and cool slightly. These muffins are so good warm!

Oat and Orange Scones

I never tire of scones. The varieties are endless, sweet or savory. This oat and orange scone is made with whole wheat pastry flour, which was challenging to find around these parts. I've never seen it in any of my local markets so I called Whole Foods and, sure enough, they had it. Gotta love that store!

Whole wheat pastry flour is lighter than whole wheat flour and it makes these scones light and quite delicate, which is a good thing. They have a nice subtle nutty flavor.

I halved the recipe and I did make a change in the original recipe. I used half and half instead of buttermilk. I make almost all my scones with half and half but because these don't have an egg in the recipe I thought the scones needed a little more fat.

One thing to always remember when making scones is to have your butter and milk or cream very cold.

Once you add in the half and half, gently stir the mixture with a fork, using almost a folding motion.
This insures that you will get a light scone.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and shape into a round or rectangle shape.
Then, using a bench scrape or large knife, cut the dough into 8 to 10 triangles ( for half the recipe), depending on what size you want.

At this point you can bake them all or freeze some for another time.
For the ones you're going to bake right away, brush the tops with half and half then sprinkle with raw sugar and a little more oats, if you like.

Oat and Orange Scones ( adapted from 101 Cookbooks)

Makes 12 to16 large size scones. ( I tend to make my scones small so this recipe would yield 16 to 20 for a smaller size scone.)

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup turbinado sugar ( I used cane sugar)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt ( this is my addition)
2 sticks unsalted very cold butter, cut into small cubes
Zest of an orange
2 cups oats ( I thought this was too much oats so I used a little less)
2/3 cup dried currants
1 cup cold buttermilk ( I used cold half and half), you may need a little more if the dough seems dry
1/4 cup raw sugar ( for sprinkling on tops)
1/4 cup buttermilk or half and half ( to brush on tops)
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Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. In a food processor or large mixing bowl, add together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pulse or stir to combine.
2. Add in the butter and orange zest, pulsing a few times if using a food processor, (blend in with your fingers if mixing by hand), til mixture consistency resembles small and large peas.
3. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl ( if using a food processor) and stir in the oats and currants.
4. Pour the buttermilk (or half and half) over the dry mixture and gently stir with a fork, using more of a folding motion. Add a little more milk if the mixture seemd too dry.
5. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and using floured hands, shape into a round or rectangle, patting the top to approx. 1 1/4" thickness. Using a bench scrape or large knife, cut the dough into triangles.
6. Transfer the sections onto your parchment lined baking sheet and brush the tops with buttermilk or (half and half) and sprinkle with raw sugar and a little more oats, if you like.
7. Bake the scones 15 to 18 minutes, depending on the size. The bottoms should be golden and they should feel firm when gently pressed in the center. You can also check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean with no crumbs clinging, then they're done.

Thin Oatmeal Currant Cookies

I don't know what's going on with me and oatmeal cookies lately but I seem to have a need to try out different recipes! There were these...then these...then I took a break and now these! I have to say these thin oatmeal cookies are just the best. They're crunchy on the edges and chewy in the middle and they have just the right amount of sweetness. The original recipe called for dates but I loved the idea of using currants. Because the cookies are thin, I think the small size of the currants is perfect. Raisins would be too big and clunky!

And because they're thin...oh the possibilities! Ice cream sandwich cookies, or how about oatmeal cream pie cookies? But even plain they're great.

Begin by combining the dry ingredients.

Then cream the butter one minute.

Add in the sugars and cream 3 minutes.

Then add the oats and currants to the dry ingredients...

And stir into the creamed mixture.

Once that's all mixed together, scoop the dough onto your parchment lined baking sheet and flatten each cookie with either the back of a wet spoon or your wet fingers (my choice).

Bake for between 11 and 13 minutes. Mine took about 13 minutes but you want them to be browned along the edges but still a little moist in the centers.

Thin Oatmeal Currant Cookies ( adapted from "lookimadethat.com")
Makes about 36 cookies, depending on size

8 oz. unsalted butter, room temp.
1 cup brown sugar (I used light brown)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temp.
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cup AP flour (5.7 oz.)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
3 cups rolled oats
6 oz. dried currants ( or chopped dates)
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Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.
2. Add the currants ( or chopped dates, breaking up the clumps) and oats. Set aside.
3. Cream butter one minute, then add in the sugars and cream 3 minutes.
4. Add in the eggs and vanilla and cream 2 minutes.
5. Add in the dry mixture and stir til well combined.
6. Scoop dough, about 1 1/2" size balls, onto baking sheet spacing about 2" apart. Flatten each ball with either the back of a wet spoon or your wet fingers ( my choice).
7. Bake for between 11 and 13 minutes, depending on your oven. You want the edges to be browned and the centers to be still a little moist.
8. Cool on the sheet for  2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Oatmeal Currant Cookies

The L.A. Times has a wonderful list of recipes from bakeries and readers in the Los Angeles area and I thought I'd try a few of them, beginning with this cookie.

It's a little different in that it's made with pastry flour which is a type of soft wheat flour, a low protein flour, with reduced gluten and the texture is finer than all purpose flour. I went to several supermarkets but since I couldn't find pastry flour anywhere, I decided to make my own from a recipe I found online, combining all purpose and cake flour.

The cookies have a nice chewiness, but if you bake them too long, I found they get too crunchy. Now if you like your oatmeal cookies crunchy, then you can bake them longer, but if not, bake them for less time and remove them from the baking sheet once they come out of the oven.

The cookies call for currants, which we love, but, you can always just use raisins. And it has a hefty amount of cinnamon which gives them a great flavor.

I also found the cookie tasted a little too sweet so I'd cut down on the sugar a bit. But then, maybe it's just me...I've been on a diet the past three weeks and everything tastes too sweet to me!

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugars together for about 5 minutes.

Then add the eggs, one at a time, and beat in the vanilla.

Beat in the flour mixture a little at a time.

Then add in the oats and currants just briefly.

Stir the mixture well til it's all incorporated.

Place heaping small scoopfuls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, then flatten each to about a 1/2" thickness.

The cookies will spread a bit when baked.

Oatmeal Currant Cookies ( from the Corner Bakery Cafe, posted in The LA Times)

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

3 1/2 cups (1 lb.) pastry flour (recipe below to make your own)

4 tsp. baking soda

3 tbsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3 sticks unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups plus 1 tsp. granulated sugar ( I decreased this amount to 1 cup total)

2 1/3 cups brown sugar ( I used light brown)

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

Scant 4 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1 cup currants ( or raisins)

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Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and set aside.

2. Cream butter and sugars til light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

3. Add in the eggs, one at a time til fully incorporated.

4. Beat in vanilla.

5. Beat in flour mixture, one spoonful at a time. (I just gradually added it in).

6. On low speed, mix in oats and currants briefly, then finish mixing with a sturdy spatula or wooden spoon to be sure it's all well combined.

7. Scoop generous amounts of dough, about 2 tablespoonfuls, onto baking sheet spacing 3" apart.

Flatten each to about 1/2" thickness.

8. Bake for approx. 14 minutes, til the edges are set and the center still looks a little moist.

**The original recipe says to bake 18 to 20 minutes, but this would have burnt my cookies.**

Oven temeratures vary so it would be best to test one or two first.

Cool cookies on the baking sheet for crunchier cookies.

Remove cookies from baking sheet for softer cookies.

To make pastry flour:

I used Joy of Baking's recipe. To make 2 cups of pastry flour, combine 1 1/3 cups ( 185 g) AP flour with 2/3 cup (90g) cake flour. ( Yes, you have 1/2 cup extra if you double this recipe!)

Breakfast Cookie

You know how frustrating it is when you try to make something and it just doesn't turn out the way you'd like. Well, that happened to me this morning. Actually, truth be told, I did make this cookie and it came out fine but I wasn't paying attention, I guess, and I couldn't remember what I did right! More frustration!
So 4 batches later..I finally got it right!
I wanted to make a kind of breakfast cookie. You know, a healthy cookie you could grab in the morning if you're in a hurry, like a granola bar. And because I wanted to make it kind of on the healthy side I needed to include some healthy stuff! Like ground flax, wheat germ and sesame seeds ( are they considered healthy?)hmm.
I based the cookie from this one and tweeked from there, adding some of this and omitting some of that. And I can honestly say I'm happy with the results. The cookie is nice and thick and hefty and it's soft but I added walnuts to give it some crunch. I also included spices that I think should go into an oatmeal cookie.
As for the add ins. You could use or not use whatever you like. If you don't like raisins, you could use some chopped dried apricots. If you don't like walnuts ( but there again, they are the healthy nut), you could use pecans or even almonds.
I even kind of lost count as to how many the recipe actually makes. I made each cookie 2.9 oz.. so they're big. I think I got about 16 cookies but, obviously, if you make them smaller you'll get more! But I think they should be big. It's breakfast, after all!


See this photo below? I took the picture before I had my epiphany! I figured out if you use a large cookie scoop they're too formed and they'll come out looking like hockey pucks so... just scoop them out with a large spoon and plop them onto your baking sheet, gently forming them with your fingers.

Breakfast Cookies

1 cup AP flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
Pinch cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sesame seeds
2 tbsp. ground flax seeds
2 tbsp. wheat germ
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
14 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup walnuts ( or any other nut you like)
1/2 cup raisins ( or dried chopped apricots)
Maybe some chocolate chips??

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. In a medium bowl, combine the first 12 ingredients ( from the flour up to and including the wheat germ). Set aside.
2. In small bowl, beat eggs and vanilla.
3. In mixer bowl, mix melted butter, oil and both sugars.
4. On low speed, stir egg mixture into butter/sugar mixture til smooth.
5. Stir in flour mixture.
6. Stir in the nuts, dried cranberries and raisins ( or whatever you choose to use).
7. Drop dough by well rounded tablespoonfuls and form gently with your fingers if they don't stay together. If you want them a little less thick, you can very gently flatten each one just a little but they will spread on their own.
8. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or til they begin to darken around the edges. The centers should still be slightly moist, but the baking times depend on the size of your cookie. Start checking after about 13 minutes.
9. Cool on the baking sheet about 10 minutes, then gently move to cool completely on wire rack.

Orange Cranberry Cake

The all time favorite kind of cake in our house has always been this type of loaf cake to eat with afternoon or late night tea. This recipe is really a winner, combining the flavors of orange and cranberry with some oatmeal in the batter giving a little crunch with every bite! And speaking of crunch, adding some nuts such as walnuts or pecans would be great, too! And a cake like this is always better in a day or two..if it lasts that long! For a lower fat version you could try substituting yogurt for some of the butter.
I found a supplement type booklet today from Better Homes and Gardens called, " All-Time Favorite 2010 Cookbook" and this cake looked like the perfect one to try.
The original recipe calls for using a 10 " tube pan but I wanted to use a loaf pan. Because I thought there might be too much batter for the pan, I also made some muffins with the extra batter. And, of course, the muffins would cool alot quicker than the loaf cake..meaning I could eat them alot sooner!
This cake has a wonderful flavor and texture and the glaze just brings out the orange even more. It's easy to put together so give it a try.

Start by stirring the oatmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

In your mixer bowl, add the softened butter and beat about a minute. Then add the sugar and beat another minute til combined.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

It has a nice yellow color.

Throw your cranberries into a food processor and pulse to chop into small pieces.

Warning!: Cover your ears if you're using frozen crans..Yikes , it's loud!

Once the cranberries have been pulsed, throw in 2 tablespoons of sugar and mix a little.

Set this aside a minute or two.

Meanwhile, go back to the batter and add the flour alternately with the milk.

First some flour...

Then some milk... til it's all combined.

Next, grate 2 teaspoons of orange zest into the batter and give a stir to combine.

Fold your chopped cranberry mixture into the batter.

Spoon cake batter into your prepared pan...

And some into your prepared muffin pan! I used one of my muffin pans and made only 4.

Bake in a 350 oven. The original recipe says to bake 50 to 60 minutes. My muffins took, maybe about 30 minutes. The loaf took about 45 minutes to one hour. Do the toothpick test to be sure.

Let the cake ( or muffins) cool in the pan about 20 minutes. Take them out of the pan to cool completely before putting on the glaze.

To make the glaze, put 1 cup of confectioners sugar into a small mixing bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon of orange zest ( or more if you're like me and think more is better!). Then add 2 to 3 teaspoons of orange juice to make drizzling consistence. ( I used my orange for the juice, rather than OJ from the bottle).

Stir the mixture til you get a nice thin smooth glaze.

Pour over the cooled cake or muffins.

Then reward yourself for a job well done! Make yourself a cup of tea and have a big slice!!

Orange Cranberry Cake

2 1/4 cups AP flour

1 1/2 cups rolled oats ( I used old fashioned)

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup butter, softened ( I used unsalted)

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup milk

2 cups fresh cranberries, chopped ( Iused frozen crans and didn't bother to thaw them.)

2 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. finely shredded orange peel

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. orange zest

2 to 3 tsp. orange juice.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 10 " tube pan. ( Or a 5" x 9" loaf pan or muffin pan)

1. In bowl, stir together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2. In large mixer bowl, beat softened butter about a minute, then add sugar and beat another minute.

3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

4. Add flour alternately with milk, beating on low speed after each addition.

5. Grate 2 teaspoons of orange zest into batter.

6. Chop cranberries in food processor and toss with 2 tbsp. sugar.

7. Fold berries into batter and spoon batter into prepared pans.

8. Bake 50 to 60 minutes for tube pan or til toothpick comes out clean. Bake about 45 minutes to one hour for loaf pan and about 30 minutes for muffins).

Let the cake or muffins cool in the pan about 20 minutes.

Then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack before glazing.

9. Make the glaze by placing the confectioners sugar into a small mixing bowl.

10. Add 1/2 tsp. of orange zest and 2 to 3 tsp. of orange juice and stir to make a smooth thin consistency. Spoon over cooled cake.