Recipe: Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

March 25, 2013 3 Comments

“You know what I love about cooking? I love that after a day when nothing is sure, and when I say “nothing” I mean nothing, you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. It’s such a comfort.”

I love that quote from the movie Julie and Julia. I feel the same way when I bake. It is such a comfort that if you put butter and sugar and eggs and flour together, it will create something more delicious than you could ever imagine tasting each individual ingredients. It kind of reminds me of 1 Corinthians 12 and the body of Christ. Now who would have thought there would be a biblical lesson to baking? :)

Moving on, today I’d like to share my favorite cookie recipe. And I don’t take the word favorite lightly.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

It tastes like your basic chocolate chip cookie, except the oatmeal makes it a little more dense and not as sweet. I got this recipe from my first wedding shower, when guests were asked to bring their favorite, and I’ve lost count how many times I’ve made it. My recipe card lives in this sweet box the hostesses gave me:

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

I’m not endorsing cookies for breakfast, but if you happen to dip a cookie in your coffee, you may find the greatest combinations.

Chocolate-Chip-Oatmeal-Cookie-Recipe

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Recipe: Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 4 dozen
 

Note: If you like nuts, feel free to add 1½ cups of crushed walnuts.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoons milk
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2¼ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2½ cups old-fashioned oats
  • 1 package (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Cream butter and sugars; add vanilla, milk and eggs.
  3. Mix flour, salt, baking power, and baking soda.
  4. Blend butter mixture with flour mixture and stir in oats and chocolate chips.
  5. Put rounded teaspoons of batter on cookie sheets and bake for 12 minutes.

What is your favorite cookie? Sugar? Peanut butter? Plain chocolate chip? I’d love to hear!
Filed Under: food, recipes

Recipe: Cucumber Salad

February 7, 2013 2 Comments

I’ve been in a cooking rut for about a month. I blame this diet. I can’t have bread, onions, garlic, pasta, soy, dairy, and specific fruits and vegetables. And something else I’m forgetting… oh yes, any type of condiment that you can think of. That leaves me most nights eating a simple piece of meat (normally chicken), a cooked potato (sans anything tasty), and a very boring raw salad.

Cucumber Salad | My Pretty Pennies

I decided I needed to mix it up and bring more flavor to my pallet, so I looked in my cookbooks and came across this cucumber salad recipe. I had forgotten about this beloved salad, but it’s one of our favorites. I normally make it in the summer, since it is nice and cold, but really it’s fine any time of the year.

I’ve tried to make other salads and slaws with a cucumber base, just to test if I could make it better, but each time J and I agree that this recipe is superior. So, I’m going to stop trying other cucumber salads altogether; this will be my tried and true go-to cucumber salad forever.

Cucumber Salad | My Pretty Pennies

It has garlic, sesame seeds and spring onions (all things that I can’t have), but I decided to live on the edge and hope for the best minus those secondary ingredients. And it turned out great! I used garlic powder instead of cloves and omitted the green onions and sesame seeds, and it tastes just fine. I made it twice in the last month and have been munching on it as a snack or side for lunch or dinner, and still am not tired of it.

Sidebar: I’m a big believer in writing in cookbooks. I always like to mark the date I first made the recipe and my initial thoughts right after. It’s so helpful later when you browse through your books! It looks like I made this dish for the first time 4/19/2011, just 10 days after we got married. That was about two days after we got back from our honeymoon! I have such fond memories of those days. :)

Cucumber Salad | My Pretty Pennies

Anyway, on to the recipe. It’s pretty self-explanatory, but I want to emphasize the first phase, when the cucumbers soak in the salt and sugar for 30 minutes. You really shouldn’t skip this step, as I tried it once and it wasn’t nearly as flavorful. Hope you enjoy!

Cucumber Salad Recipe | My Pretty Pennies
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Recipe: Cucumber Salad
Author: 
Recipe type: Salad
Serves: 8-10
 

Ingredients
  • 4 cucumbers
  • 1½ Tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • ½ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
  • Scant 1 tsp red chili flakes
  • 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
  • 6 green spring onions

Instructions
  1. Peel the cucumbers, leaving a few strips of peel if unwaxed. Cut them in half lengthwise, and scoop out any seeds with a spoon. Slice thinly crosswise.
  2. Combine the cucumbers, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Toss the sugar and salt evenly, and let stand for 30 minutes.
  3. Transfer the cucumbers to a colander and rinse and drain well, then squeeze out excess moisture with your hands. The cucumbers will have become soft and pliable but will still be bright green.
  4. In a serving bowl, stir together the vinegar, garlic, chili flakes and sesame seeds. Add the cucumbers and toss to coat. Thinly slice the green onions and sprinkle them over the top.
  5. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, about 2 hours. At this point, the salad can be refrigerated for up to 1 day before serving. Serve cold.

 

Filed Under: food, recipes

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

November 8, 2012 4 Comments

Ok, so I know it’s November and by now you’re so over pumpkin, but I can’t let the season end without sharing this little recipe with y’all. You know, just in case you have the hankering to bring a crowd-pleasing dessert to your Thanksgiving dinner or something.

I like these cookies for three reasons:
1) They’re pumpkin. (Need I go on?)
2) They are cake-like and aren’t super sweet. (But you can make them super sweet by generously drizzling as much icing as your heart desires).
3) They taste oh-so-good dipped in coffee. (Which means cookies are the new breakfast food group. You heard it here first.)

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Adapted from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 can canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla to butter mixture and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet and flatten slightly with a spoon.
3. Bake for 17-20* minutes in the oven. Cook cokies, then drizzle glaze with fork.
4. To make the glaze, combine confectioners’ sugar, milk, melted butter and vanilla. Add milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.

*The original recipe said to take them out after 15 minutes, but I find that to be way too early. You may want to check them early, just in case my oven is wonky! 

Filed Under: food, recipes

Recipe: Penne Pasta with Italian Sausage and Spinach

September 12, 2012 1 Comment

I have a handful of tried-and-true recipes, but love to make at least three new things a month to increase my cooking repertoire and add to my collection of well-loved recipes. Here is the newest added to that list.

This recipe is from the Williams Sonoma Entertaining Cookbook. I’ve had the book forever but never made anything because it was a little too… Williams Sonoma. Expensive ingredients. Recipes that take hours to make. Photos with models who wear cuffed sleeves to a brunch in the Hamptons. Not really my style.

But I noticed the recipe as I was browsing my cookbooks looking to use some of the ingredients I had on hand. There are a lot of penne pasta recipes out there, and I’ve tried a lot of them. Most of the ones I’ve tried are fairly average. Tasty and a great weeknight meal, but nothing to write home about.

Well, write home about this recipe.

It was really good. J even said it tasted like something he’d order in a restaurant. It’s easy enough to make after work, fancy enough to serve when company is over, and simple enough to find most of the ingredients in your pantry.

Penne Pasta with Italian Sausage and Spinach

Ingredients:

  • Coarse salt, to taste
  • 1 lb. penne
  • 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 lb. sweet Italian chicken sausage, casings removed (Original called for pork sausage)
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup dry red wine
  • 6 oz. baby spinach leaves
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes (Original called for 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped but I had diced tomatoes on hand)
  • 2 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed
  • 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (I added a little bit more for extra kick)
  • 1/2 cup crushed seasoned croutons
  • 1/2 cup shaved pecorino romano cheese, plus more for serving (I used fresh parmesan instead)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream, warmed
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Bring a large pot three-fourths full of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta, stir well and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes, or according to the package instructions.

Meanwhile, in a large fry pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Crumble the sausage into the pan and sauté until lightly browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a warmed large bowl.

Return the pan to medium-high heat, add the garlic and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes to release its flavor. Pour in the red wine and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up the browned bits from the pan bottom. Transfer the garlic and the pan juices to the bowl with the sausage. Add the spinach, tomatoes, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes and croutons to the bowl and cover to keep warm.

Drain the pasta, reserving about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Immediately transfer the pasta to the bowl with the other ingredients and toss, adding the 1/2 cup cheese, the cream and the reserved cooking water.

Season the pasta with salt and black pepper. Serve immediately, passing additional cheese at the table. Serves 6.

Filed Under: recipes

Watermelon Cookies Recipe

July 6, 2012 5 Comments

Watermelon Cookies were a summer staple growing up. My mom found the recipe in Southern Living when we were in elementary school and each year my mom, sisters and I gathered in the kitchen to make watermelon-shaped cookies. The best part about this recipe is you can make it all from scratch or just go to the store and grab pre-made dough and icing and you’re time is cut in half (I usually end up taking the latter route).

This 4th of July I made them and a few people on Twitter and Instagram asked for the recipe. I have posted it on here a few years ago, but it’s certainly worth resurrecting again for any new readers. They’re easy, yummy and a crowd-pleaser that has people asking, “Do they really taste like watermelon?” :)

Ingredients:
Sugar cookie dough
Red & green food coloring
Chocolate chips
White icing
Flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Mix sugar cookie dough together, or buy pre-made dough. Dye it red. Sprinkle flour down to avoid sticking and roll out the dough. Cut circles out and then split the circle into halves. Place on a cookie sheet and put three or four chocolate chips in the dough (for seeds!). Bake at 350-degrees for about 10 minutes. Take out to cool. Dye icing green and dip the rounded part of the cookie in the icing then place on plate to harden.

Filed Under: recipes

Wellness Wednesday :: Dutch Oven Bread Recipe

May 30, 2012 4 Comments

There’s something about baking your own bread that makes you feel like your life is put together. Sure it may not be — it’s been days since you washed your hair, your house is a disaster, and you haven’t exercised in over a month because you got sick and then lazy — but you baked homemade bread. Bread. From scratch. And it turned out really good.

If you can bake bread, you can do anything. At least that’s my philosophy.

I found this recipe originally from Posie Gets Cozy and decided to try it Monday when I had nothing better to do than watch dough rise for 8 hours. (Naw, I kid, I let it rise in peace overnight. But I did over-check it periodically just to be sure it was doing its thing.) I’ve made bread before, but it’s always been the high-maintenance kind where you have to schedule feeding times every other day and once you finally get to baking it you have three other starters with new feeding schedules to take care of. Stressful!

This recipe, however, was pretty low key. Just three ingredients (four if you add a pinch of sugar, which I did) and although it does take a while from start to finish, I only spent maybe 30 minutes actually preparing it before it went in the oven. And it turned out delicious! The perfect crusty bread to munch on as a snack, toast with jam, or companion to any savory meal.

No-Knead Dutch Oven Bread
adapted from Mother Earth News

1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (white, whole wheat or a combination)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar (optional)
Cornmeal or wheat bran for dusting

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour, salt and sugar, stirring until blended. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at least 8 hours, preferably 12 to 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. (I always stick my bowl in the microwave so it’s out of my way and a dry, warm spot.)

2. The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your fingers, gently shape it into a ball. Generously coat a clean dish towel with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal. Put the seam side of the dough down on the towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another towel and let rise for about 1 to 2 hours. When it’s ready, the dough will have doubled in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. Once the dough is ready, heat oven to 475 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up. The dough will lose its shape a bit in the process, but that’s OK. Give the pan a firm shake or two to help distribute the dough evenly, but don’t worry if it’s not perfect; it will straighten out as it bakes.

5. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned. Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a rack before slicing.

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