Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have you even been to the Great Harvest Bread Co.?  When I was a little girl, my mom and I used to stop there for a special treat – to get a loaf of their honey wheat bread, and a giant oatmeal cookie. 

This recipe reminds me of that cookie – especially hot right out of the oven. 

I add chocolate chips to my cookie because, who doesn’t love chocolate chips?  But, you can easily leave the chips out, or add raisins instead. 

Give these cookies a try if you are looking for a good recipe – and be sure to freeze dough balls of these, since I think they are best when they are right out of the oven. 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies – Adapted from Colette John

Ingredients

• 1 C butter
• 1 C sugar
• 1 C brown sugar
• 2 well beaten eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 C white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 C all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 1/2 C oatmeal
• 1 C chocolate chips

Note - If you double the recipe, use 1 1/2 C butter!

Directions

Cream together the softened butter and sugars. 

Add the eggs and vanilla. 

Next, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones & mix until well combined. 

Stir in the oatmeal – either by hand, or with the mixer. 

Then, add the chocolate chips.  I find these easier to stir in by hand. 

Refrigerate dough for 1 hour, covered.

Then, scoop onto a lightly greased cookie sheet, or baking mat. 

Bake 8-10 minutes at 350, until cookies look slightly browned on the outside edges.  Allow cookies to sit on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes and the transfer to a cooling rack. 

Store in an airtight container. 

Makes about 4 dozen with small cookie scoop. 

Cake Batter Ice Cream

This post doesn’t really need an introduction.  Cake batter + ice cream = delicious. 

Cake Batter Ice Cream – Adapted from Sherry

Ingredients

• 1 C whipping cream
• 2 C half & half
• 1/2 C milk
• 1/2 C sugar
• 3/4 C dry cake batter mix
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions

In a large measuring cup (we use a 4 C container), combine together 1 C cream, 2 C half & half along with 1/2 C milk and 1/2 C sugar.  Stir in the vanilla.  Then, whisk in the dry cake mix. 

Stir the mix until well blended.  Then, pour into your ice cream maker.  Make according to manufacturers directions. 

Serve right away if you desire a soft-serve consistency, or let harden to a hard-scoop consistency in your freezer for 2-3 hours before serving. 

My favorite way to enjoy this ice cream is with a delicious raspberry sauce, or in an ice cream cake!

Chocolate Fudge Oat Bars

For a little birthday treat to myself, I bring you these bars…

Fudgy and oaty and boy, they are the best!

Chocolate Fudge Oat Bars – Finding Joy in My Kitchen

Ingredients

• 2 C white whole wheat flour
• 2 C oats {quick or regular, or a combination}
• 3/4 C brown sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 C + 2-3 T butter, melted
• 1ish C dark chocolate chips
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk

Directions

Begin by combining the 2 C white whole wheat flour and 2 C oats in a large bowl.  Add the 3/4 C brown sugar, 1 tsp. baking soda and 1/2 tsp. salt and mix well. 

Meanwhile, melt 1 stick (1/2 C) + 2ish T of butter in a microwave safe bowl. 

Stir the melted butter into the oat flour mixture until the mixture is clumpy. 

Reserve 1 heaping cup of mixture. 

Then, press the remaining oat butter mixture into a lightly greased 9x13 glass baking dish. 

In the same bowl you melted the butter in earlier, add the remaining 1 T butter and 1 can sweetened condensed milk.  Add in 1 C dark chocolate chips.  Melt in 30-second intervals in the microwave until the chocolate chips are melted.  Stir after each interval. 

Pour the melted chocolate mixture over the top of the crust.  Spread out so it covers the entire crust. 

Then, gently sprinkle the remaining 1 C oat mixture over the fudge layer.  Press the layer lightly with your hands so that the topping sinks into the crust.  You’ll want to work quickly through this step because the fudge mixture sets quickly. 

Bake at 350 for 20ish minutes until the top is light brown. 

Allow the bars to cool completely before cutting to serve. 

This is an extra special treat – one I’m glad to say we’ll make every special occasion we can! 

Linked to: These Chicks Cooked

Thick & Chewy Sugar Cookies

If you are looking for a treat for Valentine’s Day – these sugar cookies are sure to please your honey. 

Thick, chewy & delicious.  Pretty sure these cookies are my new favorite. 

The best part about these sugar cookies, is that we had success making them with white whole wheat flour! 

We used Eagle Mills whole wheat flour blend with Ultragrain and no one knew they were eating a sugar cookie made with whole wheat flour. 

Thick & Chewy Sugar Cookies – Adapted from What Megan’s Making

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 C white whole wheat flour
• 2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 3/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 – 3/4 C butter, room temperature
• 3/4 C sugar
• 1egg + 1 egg white
• 3 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 C powdered sugar
• 1 T butter, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. milk + more as needed
• 5-12 drops red food coloring

Directions

Begin by creaming the 1/2 C butter (1 stick) together with 3/4 C sugar.  Note, you may wish to increase the butter to 3/4 C. 

Beat for about 3 minutes, until butter and sugar are nicely creamed together.  Then, beat in the egg and egg white, and the vanilla. 

Meanwhile, combine the 2 1/4 C white whole wheat flour (we used Eagle Mills with Ultragrain) with 2 1/4 tsp. baking powder & 3/8 tsp. salt.  Sift these together until well blended.  Add to your mixer and mix until combined. 

Chill the dough, covered, for 1 hour.  Then, remove the dough from the refrigerator and shape the dough into balls.  You’ll want the balls to be about 1/4 C of dough in size. 

Place the dough balls on a lightly greased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet covered with a baking mat.  Then, gently flatten the dough balls using a flat-bottomed glass, so they are about 1 inch in thickness. 

Bake the cookies at 350 for 10-12 minutes until the edges are just set – you do not want to over bake these guys!

Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. 

By the end, you should have 18-24 cookies. 

While cookies are cooling, combine 1 C powdered sugar with 1 T butter, softened and 1 tsp. vanilla.  Stir together, adding milk 1 tsp. at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. 

Add in drops of red food coloring, stirring after each addition to achieve your desired shade of pink.  Of course, you don’t need to add any food coloring – you could add red and pink sprinkles to the top of the icing and decorate them that way. 

When your cookies are cool, go ahead and frost them.

Allow the cookies to sit on the counter or wire rack for a while until the frosting is set enough to package the cookies. 

Store them in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.  These may also be frozen. 

 

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Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Caramelitas

These are Frog Prince’s favorite dessert. 

I’d say they aren’t half bad either. 

But, I’m warning you… they are highly addictive. 

The original recipe is present on this blog from when I first started making these for Frog Prince.  But, since them we’ve tried many different versions – one that uses applesauce and is considered the healthiest of our trials.  And, this version – a happy medium. 

This one uses white whole wheat flour, our homemade caramel sauce, reduces the amount of sugar & butter, but still makes a darn good bar, if I do say so myself. 

Caramelitas – From the Flatten Family

Ingredients

• 2 C white whole wheat flour
• 2 C oats {quick or regular, or a combination}
• 3/4 C brown sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 C butter, melted
• 1ish C dark chocolate chips
• 1 recipe caramel sauce

Directions

Begin by mixing together 2 C white whole wheat flour, 2 C oats, 3/4 C brown sugar, 1 tsp. baking soda and 1/2 tsp. salt in a large bowl.  Blend until these dry ingredients are stirred together.  Then, add in the 3/4 C melted butter. 

Using a fork or spatula, stir until the butter is incorporated.  Then, press just about 3/4 of the mixture into a 9x13 pan lined with parchment paper. 

Bake the crust at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top.

Combine together the ingredients for making the caramel sauce (1/4 C butter, 1/8 C whipping cream and 1/4 C brown sugar), and prepare according to directions.  Then, pour the caramel sauce over the top of the crust. 

Cover the top with the remaining 1/4 of the oat, butter & flour mixture. 

Return the pan to the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until the top begins to brown slightly. 

As good as the bars look and smell when you pull them out of the oven, do not try eating one right away.  They are way too gooey and won’t hold up well.  Although, your stomach probably won’t mind!  When the bars have cooled (2-3 hours), remove the parchment paper from the pan and place the bars on a cutting board.  Slice into 32+ bars. 

Serve & enjoy!  Store leftovers in an airtight container {and, hide them!}.

Linked to: Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday 2