First Day of Spring

I honestly have no idea where I got this recipe, but I'm pretty sure it was vegan when I found it. Slowly I've added all sorts of animal by-products and other assorted ingredients and now I guess it's technically mine.



This is a very hearty fall/winter quickbread that I'm posting about at exactly the wrong time. People will eat it year round, however because it's mild and sweet and a good accompaniment to coffee. I like to coarsely chop the pecans, while the original asked for finely-chopped, but that's just because I like big crunchy things in my breads to add some interest and texture. I think my favorite part of this bread is that it has a crusty outside, which doesn't often happen when it comes to quickbread.



Don't be afraid to give this to a picky eater or someone who especially dislikes oatmeal; after the bread is baked, the quick oats are barely discernible.



Maple Oat Pecan Bread
Makes 2 loaves

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cinnamon
4 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup maple syrup
6 tablespoons (3/8 cup) packed brown sugar
3 cups buttermilk*
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottoms only of two nine-inch bread pans.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk together until blended. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the oil until smooth. Whisk in the maple syrup, brown sugar, and buttermilk. Stir in the oats and pecans.

Add wet ingredients to dry and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Pour into pans, smooth top, and bake until golden-brown and a tester inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean, about 60 minutes.

*To make buttermilk, take 3 cups of milk and add 2 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice to it. Let sour for at least 10 minutes and use in place of buttermilk.

A Baker that Doesn't Bake

My no-bake cookies are pretty awesome. I owe this mostly to the use of peanut butter and old-fashioned oats, as opposed to just cocoa and quick-cooking oats. The PB adds some depth and variety to the flavor and the old-fashioned oats help with thickening the mixture up.



I made these for my cookie boxes for Christmas, and they were well-received. This is a good throwdown cookie recipe, as they only take a few minutes to make and a couple of hours to harden.



Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
Makes 3 dozen cookies

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 2/3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon vanilla exttract

In a medium sauce pan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa powder. Bright to a boil and cook for about 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, oats, and vanilla until completely combined. Add more oats if cookies seem runny.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper and let cool until hardened.

Chewy and Egg-Free

In case you haven't noticed yet, some of my favorite things in cookies include oatmeal, peanut butter, and nuts in general. So, when I stumbled across these Peanut Butter-Oatmeal cookies, I began salivating immediately. Not only do they contain all three of my favorite cookie ingredients, they're also vegan, which is a field of baking that I have been wanting more experience in. Also, I bought a big thing of soy milk and vegan butter to make gb's frosting and now I need to use all of it up as quickly as possible.



I added butterscotch chips to mine because those are my favorite chips, and these cookies were going to be just for me. (Don't worry, I ended up sharing a couple of them.) Unfortunately, the butterscotch was a little more sugary than I remembered and ended up being the lower point of the cookies.



Overall, these cookies were so good. It was my first experience of baking without eggs (with one exception of some brownies), and I was quite impressed. I definitely recommend these if you want a small batch of thick and chewy cookies.



Gigantoid Crunchy Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Cookies
Makes about 1 dozen large cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup natural crunchy peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate or butterscotch chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; lightly grease two cookies sheets. Stir together the flour, oats, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oil, peanut butter, sugars, soy milk, and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix. Stir in chips, if using. The dough should be extremely difficult and moist. Pack a 1/3-cup measuring cup with dough, pop out and roll into a firm ball. Flatten just barely on a prepared cookie sheet, spacing the dough balls well apart.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until cookies have puffed a bit and are lightly-browned. Allow to cool for at least two minutes before moving off the cookie sheet.

Nostalgic and Delicious

The recipe that started me baking at the ripe young age of 8 was one for Oatmeal Raisin Cookies out of a Betty Crocker Cookbook. They're my grandpa's favorite cookies and he always asks for them for trips, special occasions, and just in general.



While my dad likes the raisins in these cookies, I prefer them any other way, either with chocolate chips, nuts, or just plain. My grandpa just likes cookies in general and will eat pretty much whatever I bring him, because he loves me very much and is one of my biggest fans. When I get my bakery, I will make these cookies with walnuts and chocolate chips and call them Triple-B Cookies for my grandpa.



I made this particular version to use up some Reese's Pieces Baking Bits that I bought to try out in cookies. So, these cookies had both peanut butter candy and chocolate chips sprinkled throughout. I wasn't too blown away by the Reese's bits; I would probably make these again with peanut butter as well as chocolate chips.



Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Makes 3 dozen cookies

2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup raisins, chopped nuts or semisweet chocolate chips, if desired

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In large bowl, beat all ingredients except oats, flour and raisins with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in oats, flour and raisins.

On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart.

Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until light brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

Nothing Too Exciting

I made oatmeal-pecan cookies for my grandpa and they weren't that great. I guess that's what I get for straying from my tried-and-true oatmeal cookie recipe.



I won't be making this exact recipe again; it will have to gain something...like charisma. They just didn't have much character to them, honestly. They weren't bad, just boring.



Oatmeal-Pecan Cookies
Makes 2 dozen cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup chocolate or butterscotch chips
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Beat butter and both sugars with an electric mixer in a large bowl on medium until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

On low speed, gradually add flour, cinnamon, baking powder and soda, and salt until completely blended. Stir in oats, pecans, and chocolate chips.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until golden.

Supercalichocalicious

One of the gifts that I received for my birthday was a book of cookie recipes (Cookies by Jill Snider). It is my favorite kind of cookbook - filled with pictures and alterations and easy-to-read instructions. Plus, lots of the cookies seem to include nuts and oatmeal, both of which I really enjoy in cookies.



The other day, I really had a cookie itch and as I rarely get those and have thousands of books filled with cookie recipes, I decided to finally put one to use. So I went through Cookies and finally settled on a cookie that I already had all the ingredients for onhand and that sounded like they would be quite tasty.



I settled on Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies, for obvious reasons. What else can you ask for in a cookie? There are only two things I would change about this recipe if I made it again: I would use extra peanuts and old-fashioned oatmeal.



Speaking of peanut butter, my grandma gave me this really cool device for measuring peanut butter, crisco, and other sticky things that are not particularly enjoyable to clean out of measuring cups. I highly recommend it, but I don't know what it's called.



Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Makes about 4 dozen cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs'
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 cups chocolate-covered peanuts, chopped (I substituted 1 1/4 cup of chocolate chips and 2/3 cup chopped unsalted peanuts)
1/2 cup crisp rice cereal

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, peanut butter, and both sugars until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix.

On low speed, gradually add flour mixture, beating until blended. With a wooden spoon, stir in oats, chocolate (and) peanuts, and cereal.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about two inches apart on cookie sheet. Press flat with a fork dipped in flour (I forgot to do this on the first batch and the second batch, I just pressed it down with my fingers; honestly, I preferred the ones that weren't pressed flat.)

Bake in preheated oven for 11 to 13 minutes or until crisp and golden. Cool for 5 minutes on sheet before transferring to a rack to cool completely.