My friend Karen made these for me for Christmas and I really really really love them.  The original recipe is from Smitten Kitchen (a favorite blog of ours).  That recipe has some room for customizing, giving you options for fruit, nut and sweetener additions.  I have made them more than a few times now and THIS is my favorite combination.  I cut them up into bars and individually wrap them and freeze them- this way I have no excuse to not eat breakfast.

You will need:
1 2/3 cups oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup oat flour (to make this I grind oatmeal in a food processory or krupps coffee grinder)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
5 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp corn syrup
1 Tbsp water

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease an 8x8 or 9x9 pan and line with parchment (This is for removing and cutting them later).  Toss together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  

Put the rest of the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and heat until butter, pb and coconut oil are melted.  Add wet ingredients to dry and stir well to combine.  Press firmly into your prepared pan and bake about 40-45 minutes or until the top is nicely browned.  

Cool completely in pan, then use parchment paper to lift out bar onto cutting board to cool even further.  Using a large serated knife and a sawing motion, carefully cut them into bars so they dont crumble.  (if you are having trouble, it may be helpful to refridgerate first).  Sooooo yummy!    

If you like ginger snap flavor you'll love these chewy gems!  I found this recipe and had a few ingredient sub's since I didn't have the right molasses they called for nor oil, and then proceeded to read it wrong and added the white sugar to the cookie mix instead of saving it for rolling the dough balls in before baking!  Argh!  I was cursing because I finally get around to baking (I'm still learning to manage my time with a 2 month old and a 2 year old) and then I totally fudged it up!  However, this story has a "sweet" ending.  They're great!  Not so great if you're like me trying to lose baby weight, but this is a keeper recipe in my book.

 You'll Need:
2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 large egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 T butter, melted
1/3 cup + 1 T. blackstrap molasses (but I used a brand called Grandma's "robust")
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar+1/2 cup sugar separate for rolling the dough balls in just before baking (I used Sugar in the Raw that is large crystal sugar but you can use regular granulated sugar)

To Make:
Preheat oven to 375F.  In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.

Using a mixer with paddle attachment, mix together the egg, oil, butter, molasses, brown sugar and granulated sugar (this was my mistake) at medium speed.  Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix at low speed to incorporate, scraping down the bowl as needed.  Don't over-mix.

Place the extra 1/2 c. of sugar in a bowl and roll 1 1/2" balls of dough in the sugar until completely covered. 

Then arrange 2 inches apart on the un-greased baking sheet.  Use parchment paper if you have it for easy clean up.  Bake for 8 minutes.   

They'll look a little puffy but cracked on top when removed from the oven.  Leave them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing carefully and letting cool the rest of the time on a wire rack.  Store in an airtight container up to 5 days, but I don't think they'll last that long!

*Note about blackstrap molasses: this makes the cookie darker and gives richer flavor than regular molasses, and supposedly full of vitamins and minerals!

I saw this recipe in the latest Cook's Illustrated and only decided to make them because my husband LOVES peanut butter.  But to my surprise I ate almost all of them because they were so good!  

Funny story, I made the cookies and was plating them to serve for some company when I realized there was 3 Tbs of butter sitting on the counter...I forgot to add it to the recipe!  The great part is the cookies were awesome without it - makes you wonder what you could leave out that could make your recipes a little healthier!  So if anyone makes them WITH the butter please let me know if they are like to-die-for so I know whether or not to skip it next time. 

To make the cookies, you will need:
1 1/4 cups raw peanuts, toasted and cooled (I toasted them in a skillet for a few minutes on medium heat)
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbs unsalted butter, melted (optional, apparently, because I forgot this and they still turned out great!)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I recommend JIFF)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tbs milk (I used 2%)
1 egg

To make the filling, you will need:
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3 Tbs unsalted butter
1 cup confectioners sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 350F.  Roast/toast your peanuts in the oven or in a skillet and let them cool.  Once they are cool, stick them in the food processor for a couple pulses until they are finely chopped.

Mix the flour, baking soda and salt together.  In another bowl, mix the butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg and milk.  Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and stir until combined.  Stir in the peanuts until evenly combined. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and use a tablespoon to scoop the dough into balls on the baking sheet, then wet your fingers and flatten each dough ball to about 2 inches wide.  Bake the cookies until golden, about 15 minutes then cool on a wire rack.  They will be crispy and thin - don't worry!  This will taste perfect with the creamy filling.

The Cook's Illustrated recipe said to let the cookies cool completely before putting the filling on, but I wonder how it would be if you didn't wait until they were totally cool because my cookies did not necessarily STAY in a sandwich when I packed them up later...just a thought.

To make your filling, microwave the peanut butter and butter until melted and warm. Stir in the confectioners sugar and mix well.  Put about a tablespoon of filling in between two cookies and let the filling set for a few minutes before eating.  TAAAAASTY!!

If you make these and either use the butter or put the filling on them when warm please let me know how it turns out!   

Happy Valentine's Day!!  If you want to make a delicious sweet for your sweet, this is the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe I have ever made!  They are way better, in my opinion, then the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag.  I owe this fabulous recipe to Martha...she has like a million recipes for chocolate chip cookies on her website but I think this kills them all!  They are super thin and crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside - absolutely perfect!

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 large egg plus 1 egg white
12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

To Make:
Mix the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. 

Add vanilla and eggs to the butter/sugar mixture and beat on low for 1 minute.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until combined.  And finally add your chips.

And yes, it looks just like any other chocolate cookie dough...but just you wait!

Place your dough balls 2 inches apart on a baking sheet (preferably on top of parchment paper) because they spread a lot and get pretty large and thin.

Bake at 375F for about 10 minutes (this totally depends on your oven and how thin your batter turns out - so keep an eye on them so they don't burn!)

Take cookies out when they are golden brown, let them sit on the cookie sheet for a minute or two then cool completely on a wire rack.

Enjoy!!

Miranda and I have been looking for the perfect oatmeal raisin cookie recipe for a while now...and I think we may have found it!  We took the Cook's Illustrated recipe for "Big Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies" and changed the amount of granulated and brown sugars to get the perfect crispy and chewiness.  I think the key to being chewy is more brown sugar...I should have known, I LOVE brown sugar!  Anyways, we hope you like them as much as we do!

What you'll need:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups raisins
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
3 cups rolled oats
*You could use 1 3/4 cups brown sugar and only 1/4 cup granulated sugar for even chewier...but this combo makes them crunchy AND chewy!

What you need to do:
Pre-heat oven to 350.  In an electric mixer, cream your butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.  

In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and cinnamon together.

Add dry to wet ingredients, mixing until just combined.  Add oats and then raisins.  

Form dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet, leaving space in between because they will flatten out a bit.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.  Enjoy!!!

I bought two sugar pumpkins from a farm the other day (we were there doing what any Michigander would be doing in the Fall - playing in a corn maze) and I made Miranda's absolutely wonderful pumpkin cupcakes and still had half of the pumpkin puree left so I made pumpkin cookies for a Halloween party.  They were super moist and cake-like and the chocolate drizzle was surprisingly a great compliment to the pumpkin flavor.  I hope you enjoy!  

You will need:
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1-15oz. can pumpkin puree, OR two cups of homemade pumpkin puree
3/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375F. In a small bowl, mix together all your spices (these spices combined make "pumpkin pie spice," which you could use instead, if you have it).  I am obsessed with my 1/8 teaspoon, it is so stinkin' tiny and adorable. Don't judge me for my hot pink nails, they were part of my Halloween costume!

In a separate, larger bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin-pie spice, and salt; set aside. (You can see the toasted pumpkin seeds I was snacking on while cooking...I roasted them at 350 for an hour with a little olive oil, salt and cumin - tasty!)

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy.  Add the egg and beat until smooth. Turn your mixer to low speed and alternately add flour mixture and pumpkin puree (add a little flour, then a little pumpkin and keep going until it's all been added.)  Keep in mind these cookies are cake-like, so don't over mix them!

Use a tablespoon to scoop dough and place on a cookie sheet (space them about 1.5 inches apart).  Bake them for 8 minutes then rotate the pan, then bake for 8 minutes more (or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.)

After taking your cookies out of the oven, transfer them to a wire rack or a sheet of foil.  

While they are cooling, start melting your chocolate.  To do this, you boil a small pot of water, and place a heat safe bowl inside that pot of water.  Put your chocolate chips in the heat safe bowl and stir until they are melted.  The key to melting chocolate is to remove it from the heat when the chocolate is smooth and shiny looking, if it starts to look dull and dry, then you are overcooking it.  

Wait a few minutes after removing the chocolate from the heat.  Then use a spatula to put the chocolate into a plastic baggy.  Cut a small hole by snipping one of the bottom corners of the baggy (you are making a make-shift icing bag).  

Squeeze the chocolate out of the hole you cut and decorate the cookies however you would like.  I just did a simple zig-zag.  

To set the chocolate, place the cookies in the fridge for about 10-20 minutes.  Remove and enjoy!