Not Your Grandmother's Oatmeal Cookies (aka the "OhMyGod Cookies")

There are two reasons why I call these the "OhMyGod cookies":

1. When you bite into one, the toffee-chocolate-oatmeal deliciousness melts in your mouth and you spurt out "OhMyGod". This has happened spontaneously to several people who have tried them.
2. When you are putting them in a container to take to the event you baked them for, you look down and "OhMyGod" you've accidentally eaten 2 or 4 or 10 or the entire tray. 

True story.

These photos are from the first time I made them. Since then, I have perfected the technique (baking time, how far apart on the tray, how big each drop of dough is--things that are particular to your equipment and oven). My most recent batch was much prettier (they can be very fancy looking cookies), but they were all demolished before I got around to taking photos.

If you didn't already have a reason to make them, here's a few more:

1. They are EASY. 
2. Even though they look like a fancy-pants florentine, they take almost no time at all (15 minutes to mix up the batter and put them on the pan and then 12 minutes to bake).
3. They are made of ingredients that any baker has on hand (butter, flour, oats, sugar, vanilla, eggs).

As usual, they are from my ever-favorite baker Lauren Chattman's book Mom's Big Book of Baking.

Oatmeal Lace Cookies
This recipe is easily doubled....and when doubled easily eaten.

• 1 1/2 c rolled oats (not instant)
• 3/4 c sugar
• 2 tbs all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 sticks butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 egg, beaten lightly

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add the eggs, butter and vanilla. Drop 1/2 tbs or slightly more (I promise they will spread and get big) onto a baking pan covered with parchment paper. Make sure the cookies are 3-4" apart or they will melt together!

Bake at 325º for 12 minutes (or in my always-too-hot oven less than that) until they are golden and crispy looking. As Lauren Chattman says, "Carefully slide the entire parchment paper with the cookies onto a wire rack and let them cool completely."

When they are cool, drizzle melted semisweet chocolate chips on them in a fancy pattern if you like. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Can I stop a moment and wax poetic about chocolate chip cookies? Gooey, salty-sweet, chocolatey melt-in your mouth cookies?  There are a million good recipes, but for me, the original Toll House recipe (the one found on the back of the bag) will always triumph. Maybe it's because they remind me of afternoons baking with family and friends, the scent of them baking emanating throughout the whole house.

On a cold winter afternoon, there is nothing better than a warm chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk. But, with temperatures reaching into the 100s warm cookies are less exciting. But ice cream sandwiches? Yes please!

Make the toll house cookies. Sandwich vanilla ice cream between two cookies, and roll in mini chocolate chips (or nuts). Freeze until ice cream is solid again.

Extra points if you make the ice cream yourself.....

Raspberry Blackberry Coconut Macaroons

As I thought about what to make for Passover this year, I came upon SmittenKitchen's Raspberry Coconut Macaroons.

As usual, I stumbled upon the recipe at 10 pm at night. I looked in the closet--I had an almost full 14 oz bag of coconut. I'll just halve the recipe, I thought. I was pretty sure I had some frozen berries, so I began to throw ingredients in the blender.

After putting in the three egg whites, I realized that I hadn't actually halved the recipe.  Oops!  I didn't have any fresh berries, so ignoring the advice not to use frozen berries, I threw in a small handful of frozen blackberries and raspberries (filling the palm of my hand, but not much more than that). I also used vanilla extract instead of almond. I didn't marble them as Deb suggested (another--"oops, too late!" moment so familiar to the impatient cook), but the pinkish-purple color was pretty anyway.

They took five minutes to make (plus another 30 in the oven), and were so delicious that they begged the question "Why the hell don't I make these more often?!"

The raspberries and blackberries gave a delicious tangy flavor that didn't let the coconut overwhelm the flavor of the macaroon.

I made them again the next day, after going to the grocery store to grab two more bags of coconut. I doubled the recipe and then drizzled chocolate on top.

Here's my version (adapted very slightly) of her recipe:

• 14 oz sweetened, flaked coconut
• 2/3 c sugar
• 3 egg whites (I added an extra half egg white when I doubled the recipe)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• slight dash almond extract (optional--I did it without the first time and they were delicious!)
• small handful frozen raspberries and blackberries (I would say maybe 10-12 berries total?)

Pulse the coconut in the Cuisinart for a minute or so.  Add the sugar and pulse again until mixed together. Pour in the egg whites, vanilla extract, almond extract (if using), and salt. Pulse again, and then lastly add the berries.  Mix together; the batter will be pretty wet, but it holds together! Bake at 325º for 25-30 minutes, until the tops are tinged with golden brown and look a bit drier.

Drizzle with melted semisweet chocolate chips--this makes the macaroons look almost like fancy truffles!

Poppy Seed Hamantaschen

 I've always loved the Jewish holiday Purim, as it falls around my birthday (today!) every year. It celebrates the story of how Queen Esther saved the Jews from Haman, who wanted to kill them all.


The holiday is kind of like a Jewish halloween, and children dress up in costumes. People give candy and cookies to their friends (and the old tradition is that the adults are supposed to get so drunk that they can't tell the difference between Mordechai (Esther's husband, the good king) and Haman.
My favorite part about Purim is hamantaschen, traditional cookies that are shaped into triangles, the supposed shape of Haman's hat.

The recipe for the dough (which at the moment I am not going to post) was passed onto my mother by an 84 year-old Jewish woman from our synagogue. Happily, I can say that she agreed to give me the recipe! She is a wonderful baker, and the dough is absolutely perfect. These, and I can say this with confidence, are the best hamantaschen I have ever had (and the local bakery was selling the cookies for $1.20 apiece!). 


The cookies can be filled with any sort of jam (raspberry is delicious), chocolate chips, prune filling, or poppy seed.


Pearl's Hamantaschen

• 3/4 c sugar
• 2 c flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 c shortening
• 1 egg
• 2 tbs orange juice

Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl*. Work in the shortening, and add the egg and orange juice. Chill for a few hours in the refrigerator. Roll between waxed paper (I only used one piece of wax paper below, not above, though she says it makes them thinner) and cut into circles to be filled (see below for filling).

*This is simplified easily: put the dry ingredients in a Cuisinart, and add the egg and orange juice and pulse until combined (like making pastry dough). Chill and bake as above.

Poppy seed hamantaschen are my favorite, so I filled all of mine with the following filling. I adapted the recipe from an old cookbook of my mom's (which I now can't remember the name of).

Poppy seed Filling

• 1 c poppy seeds
• 1/3 c raisins, chopped into tiny pieces
• 2 tbs (at least) orange peel, chopped into tiny pieces (you can zest the orange, but I like to slice off the skin and chop it into tiny pieces---it gives the texture more depth)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 c water 
• 1/4 c honey
• 1/4 c sugar

         Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook on medium to medium-high heat, stirring frequently.  It is done when it has thickened, around 10 minutes. Let cool.

Roll out the dough (which has been chilled) as thinly as possible on a floured surface, and cut into circles (I used a biscuit cookie cutter). Don't do all the dough at once, but small sections of it. Keep the rest in the fridge while you roll out each section. Fill with a little bit of filling (it depends on how big your circles are!) and wet the outside of the circle with a little bit of water (dip your finger in a little cup of water and run it around the edge of the circle). Then, pinch the corners together.

Bake at 375º for 13-15 minutes.

Valentines Day Cookies, Part I

As some of you know, I teach 4 and 5-year-old preschoolers.  In preschool, Valentines Day is a pretty big holiday--we've been celebrating it a week already with heart stencils, pink sparkly play dough, and doily crafts. As the big day is tomorrow, I decided to do a two day cookie baking project.  


I made the cookie dough last night, and brought it into the classroom this morning.  After the dough warmed up enough, the kids were able to roll it out and use cookie cutters (just like play dough).  We made some plain hearts for tomorrow (we're going to decorate them with royal icing and sprinkles), but then did some fancy ones for snack today.  We made some mini pink hearts, and then multicolored hearts-inside-hearts.

The recipe is from one of my favorite bakers, Lauren Chattman---the dough, quite literally, takes 5 minutes to make!

Heart-in-Heart Cookies 

• 2 sticks butter
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour

Cream the butter and the sugar, then add the egg yolk and the vanilla.  Mix in the flour until you form a ball of dough (I ended up using my hands at the end). Divide the dough into three balls (add food coloring to one or two if you choose), and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.  Bake for around 8 minutes in a 375º oven.

To make the heart-in-heart cookies, cut a small heart out of a larger heart in two different colors of dough. Switch the middles, and then press gently together so they stick.