Oatmeal Cookies II

If you will believe it, I haven't just been lazy about posting oatmeal cookies. It actually took me a month of obsessive oatmeal cookie making to arrive at this recipe. Creating an oatmeal cookie for my dream bakery was way more difficult than I anticipated...in part because I struggled to define my "perfect" oatmeal cookie, but also because of the increased number of variables to consider, adjust and change, especially compared to a basic shortbread or sugar cookie.

Rolled Sugar Cookies

Like shortbread, sugar cookies were a staple I thought I should be able to make using local sugar. This time, I stopped counting after trial batch number 6. While a nice tasting cookie was quickly achieved...a nice texture, not so much.

Pecan Shortbread

To somewhat resolve my inner conflict over the sugary food related things I do at work, I've decided that I'd really like to establish my own repertoire of basic recipes, made with local sugars...perhaps to appear in my imaginary bakery. I really enjoy working on recipes and testing my knowledge of baking theory to adapt them. Shortbread was a delicious and simple place to start. And pecan sandies are among James' favourite cookies.

Raw Hazelnut & Cacao Nib Refrigerator Cookies

As winter approaches, I am becoming less strict about my adherence to a raw diet. However, I have found I prefer many raw recipes to their unraw counterparts—I am maintaining my switch to cashew yogurt and nut milk, and zucchini hummus is just so delicious, and much easier to make than chickpea hummus. I really did miss tea, though.

Sugar Cookies

Another Christmas has come and gone....boooo. It went by too quickly—I never had a chance to fully prepare. Next year, I resolve to avoid committing to too many big projects, so I have more time to realize the excitement of the season...definitely no more giant, sugary, baking trays.

Honey, Orange and Almond Shortbread Cookies

For the past 3 years, I have hosted a Christmas party, specifically intended to bring together friends whom I have missed all year, mostly due to busy university schedules and physical distance. I also do it because I love everything about the process—making the invitations, receiving the RSVPs, searching for recipes, seeing friends and, of course, making the food.

What...is your quest?

I have been charged by Dad with a sacred quest...to seek a perfect, dunkable peanut butter cookie recipe.

Dad's commandments:

• they shall be crispy on the outside, and chewy in the middle
• they shall bend and not snap
• they shall be dry enough to soak up his milk
• they shall not crumble under the weight of his milk
• they shall be sweet enough to avoid the sentence: "it would taste good with some sugar."

Peanut Butter & Jam Thumbprint Cookies

I actually made these cookies over Reading Week, put just kept putting off posting them until now...I kind of hoped I would have a chance make them a second time before I posted, but it doesn't look like I'll have time before the end of school. Anyways, I'll just post them now and add edits if I find anything different when I make them again.

Over Reading Week, my mom and I went to Bulk Barn so I could get the ingredients to make my dad these peanut butter cookies. I have posted about these cookies before, but they are really so good that my previous post really doesn't do them justice.

Oatmeal Cookies

James is coming to visit me in a couple of weeks and I like to use his visits as an excuse to bake. I always think "finally, I'll have someone to eat the product other than myself" and avoid the dangers of living and baking alone.

Strawberry Topped Thumbprint Cookies

I've only been home for reading week since Friday but I was already feeling a bit useless and uninspired this afternoon. So, I thought my time would be best spent baking something and basking in a home full of ingredients and mouths to feed. I decided on these Thumbprint Jam Cookies that I bookmarked long ago.

Cookie Time

I have a couple of cookie recipes that I have tried over the last few months and thought I might as well just group them together into one big cookie post.

Peanut Butter Cookies

I've made these peanut butter cookies a couple of times and they are delicious...especially the dough, oh my god. I always use spelt flour and substitute the olive oil for softened coconut oil. You can just barely taste the coconut and I really love it. I have tried making this recipe with both smooth and chunky peanut butter, and find I prefer smooth. I like soft, chewy peanut butter cookies. I have also tried to substitute the maple syrup for honey, but found they didn't turn out as sweet and delicious, so I will stick to maple syrup, or a combination of the two. Finally, I always refrigerate them for a couple of hours before baking them. I find it makes them more manageable to roll and squish them, and they spread less.

Unfortunately, I never thought to take many pictures of the first couple of times I made them. For some reason, I did take pictures of my lastest batches, where I've been making them in a rush and they haven't turned out as nicely. As you can see, I crammed a few too many on a cookie sheet this time, trying to save time. I also halved the recipe (it makes a lot of cookies) but spaced out part way through and added the normal amount of salt and baking soda. I also kind of forgot about them and left the dough in my fridge for three or four days...whoopsydaisy! Anyways, when I finally got around the baking them, they spread a lot more than usual and were very chewy--I just so happen to love chewy peanut butter cookies and probably ate like 6 of them in one go. Unfortunately, I am not sure which of my many mistakes made that happen...