Crisp Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies

With some free time on my hands I've decided to give some new recipes a try. In the coming week (or weeks ... depends how much time I have on my hands!) I'm finally going to delve into recipe testing some new items for myself. I have grand dreams of infusing butter with tea and seeing what that will bring me.

In the meantime ... I had to try out a new recipe I came across in my reading. If you check my blog at all, or know me, you've probably realized that I borrow recipes from a lot of other bloggers. Some are better than others. This one ... the crisp salted oatmeal white chocolate cookies ... is like crack. Seriously. I was skeptical. I have some variations I'd love to try , but that will probably wait until after I get through this tea phase I've been dying to try.

This recipe compliments itself rather nicely with the combination of white chocolate & salt. The cookies are, in fact, somewhat crispy ... which is just lovely. They're easy and quick, I mean, what more could you want in a cookie? If you need something to whip up to take to your Memorial Day party tomorrow I would say whip a batch of these up and you won't be sorry!!

Crisp Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies
(yes, the name is long but descriptive!)
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 12 - 15 minutes
Yields: 24 good size cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 6 ounces good-quality white chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 tsp seasalt
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and table salt in a medium bowl.
   
2. Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula, then add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Scrape down bowl again. Add flour mixture gradually and mix until just incorporated and smooth. Gradually add oats and mix until well incorporated. Fold in the chopped up white chocolate until well incorporated.
   
3. Divide dough into 24 equal portions, each about 2 tablespoons. Roll between palms into balls, then place on lined baking sheets about 2 1/2 inches apart. Gently press down each ball to about 3/4-inch thickness.
4. Sprinkle a flake or two of sea salt on each cookie
5. Bake until cookies are deep golden brown, about 13 to 16 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack to cool.

These are great dipped in your cup of coffee, with a cup of tea of just by themselves.

Enjoy!!

Toffee Cookies

Who loves toffee? I do! I do!

So, these have quickly become a favorite of mine ... and many people I know. It's a very simple cookie (really just a variation of a chocolate chip cookie), but somehow seems more ... exotic with the addition of toffee rather than the standard chocolate chip.

About a year ago I had much debate as to the best type of coffee to use for this venture and I made two batches, which we had to taste test. I know, a terrible job, right? So I tried both Heath & Score bars. They're pretty much the same, when put in a cookie. I think I liked the Heath slightly better for these purposes, because it has a slightly thicker layer of chocolate which melts nicely into the cookie. Any chocolate covered toffee bar should work nicely.

Okay, without further ado...


Delicious Toffee Cookies

Prep Time: about 10 minutes
From ingredients to plate: about 1 hour 15 minutes
Yields: 3 1/2 - 4 dzn cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups unsifted flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter at room temperature
  
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 to 5 toffee bars chopped into small pieces (I use either Heath or Score, though you could use a toffee bar without any chocolate coating)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
   
2. Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside.
   
3. In large mixer bowl, cream butter with sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in toffee bits.
   
4. Drop 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie onto ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake at 375ºF for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!!

In case you want some mediocre cake quickly....

....so, I keep finding recipes for this 5 minute cake that you can make in the microwave. And after pondering cake all morning, I had to try it. Just think about it ... cake. Cake. Don't you want some cake now?

I knew that no good could come from this. Really, there were only two outcome options: a) The cake is bad to edible. b) The cake would be amazing and I'd have an unlimited supply of chocolate cake readily available at my hands within 5 minutes and I would grow to be as large as a house.

As it turns out, I feel like the answer is a) The cake is bad to edible. Now...I would go as far as to say that it was bad. It was ... okay. Forgettable. The texture isn't really what I like in terms of a cake. And it's not very chocolate-y. But, it's fantastic for cake if you need cake NOW THIS VERY MINUTE. If you can wait an hour I'd recommend making a real cake. Or if you don't want a lot of cake, make a pan of brownies. I know it's not the same, but you'll be happier.

All that said, I might play with the recipe and tweak it some, but really....as I made it today it's not worth it for me to have again. If you have a better recipe for a five-minute microwave cake, please let me know!

Coffee Cup Chocolate Cake

Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 3 minutes + 1 minute for cooling
Total time: 6 minutes
Makes: 1 coffee cup of chocolate cake

Ingredients

• 4 TBS all-purpose flour
• 4 TBS sugar
• 2 TBS cocoa powder
• 1 Egg, lightly beaten
• 4 TBS milk
• 2 TBS oil
• Splash of vanilla
• 2 tbsp nuts or chocolate chips (optional)

Recipe

1. In a COFFEE CUP, mix together flour, sugar & cocoa powder
2. Mix egg with the dry ingredients
   
3. Mix milk, oil & vanilla with dry ingredients thoroughly
4. Add nuts, chips, etc. if you are going to add them.
5. Microwave on HIGH for 3 minutes, then let stand for 1 minute.