Oatmeal Muffins - Part 2

 

Same recipe as Oatmeal Muffins - Part 1 except: 1.) I used vanilla extract instead of maple extract, and 2.) I used miniature semisweet chocolate chips instead of currants. (I think these are even better than the batch with currants. They're both delicious, but obviously my personal palate ranks chocolate above currants.)

Oatmeal Muffins

Adapted from Epicurious (Gourmet – February 1995)

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup plus 2 tsp. all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine oats and buttermilk and let stand 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400° F and butter twelve 1/2-cup muffin tins.

Add egg, vanilla extract, sugar, and butter to oat mixture, stirring until just combined.

Into another large bowl, sift together 1 cup flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and add to oat mixture, stirring until just combined. Put chocolate chips and remaining 2 tsp. flour in a ziptop bag; seal bag and shake to evenly coat chips with flour. Fold chips into muffin batter.

Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin tins. Bake muffins in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins.

 

Oatmeal Muffins - Part 1

Looking in my pantry yesterday, I gazed at a way-too-big canister of old-fashioned oats (that I have been trying to use up forever) and an unopened box of currants (that I haven't even attempted to use) and wondered what I could do with them before I finally gave up and tossed them both in the trash. So, after a little time online, I came across the below recipe for Oatmeal Muffins on Epicurious. I changed only two things from the original recipe: 1.) I used low-fat buttermilk instead of regular buttermilk, and 2.) I added 1 teaspoon of maple extract. (Yet another thing in my pantry I can't seem to use up.) Currants and maple extract give these the taste of your favorite oatmeal raisin cookie or oatmeal raisin pancake recipe in muffin form. (You decide which description you like better.) These muffins are so moist, rich and delicious that there's no need to put anything on them. No butter, cream cheese or jam is necessary. They are simply perfect as is. (How can they not be good with 1 cup of buttermilk and 1 stick of butter?) The recipe for these came from a Gourmet reader's mother's home economics class in Louisiana back in the 1940's. They were delicious then, and they're still delicious now. So delicious that I adapted the same recipe and made another batch. (See the next post.)

Oatmeal Muffins

Adapted from Epicurious (Gourmet – February 1995)

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 teaspoon maple extract
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup dried currants

In a large bowl, combine oats and buttermilk and let stand 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400° F and butter twelve 1/2-cup muffin tins.

Add egg, maple extract, sugar, and butter to oat mixture, stirring until just combined.

Into another large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and add to oat mixture, stirring until just combined. Fold in currants.

Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin tins. Bake muffins in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins.

 

Oatmeal Cookies

I know, I know. Oatmeal cookies don't have the "Wow!!!" appeal that so many other cookies do. In fact, the idea of oatmeal cookies seems a bit boring. However, these aren't just any plain ol' oatmeal cookies. These cookies are thick, toothsome and have the perfect texture. They aren't crunchy, they aren't chewy...they have that perfect "right-in-the-middle-of-crunchy-and-chewy" texture. (Hmmmm...is it the ground oatmeal or the light corn syrup that gives these that much sought-after perfect cookie texture?) The molasses taste from the dark brown sugar really adds a nice flavor, and the fact that these cookies are loaded with big chocolate chips and toasted pecans makes them a perfect 10. This is definitely not your mother's oatmeal cookie recipe. (My mother doesn't have an oatmeal cookies recipe, but maybe yours does.)

I got this recipe from this blog. They halved the original recipe. I halved and tweaked their recipe based on both the amounts of ingredients I had on hand and personal taste preferences.

 












Oatmeal Cookies

Recipe seen on Writing At The Kitchen Table blog
(Adapted from Carole Walter's Great Cookies)
Adapted, tweaked (and perfected???) by Me

2 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
10 tablespoons old-fashioned oats, divided
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1/2 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup Guittard Semisweet Super Cookie Chips (or chocolate chunks)
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted and cooled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a large cookie sheet.

In a food processor fitted with metal blade, process the brown and white sugars and 4 tablespoons of oats until sand-like. (This took about 2 minutes in my mini chopper).

Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in the remaining 6 tablespoons of oats. Set aside.

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, blend the butter with corn syrup on low speed until light. Beat in the processed sugar/oats mixture in two additions. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract; blend well.

Turning the speed up to medium, add the sifted flour in two additions, mixing until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts.

Divide dough into 9 equal pieces and roll into balls or shape into mounds. Place balls/mounds on prepared cookie sheet, leaving about 2-3 inches between each ball/mound. (The cookies will spread slightly during baking).

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies start to turn golden around the edges. Let cool for 2 minutes on cookie sheet then remove with a spatula to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 9 BIG cookies.

 
















Mmmm...right from the oven. Gooey and delicious.

 

Sad and Stressed

That's my boy Kurt today. Sad because his Red Wings suck (I mean, lost). Stressed because he's closing on his townhouse on Friday and driving/moving out to Arizona next week.

(Hey, Atlanta...where's everybody going???)

Since I was on a baking spree in the kitchen today, I figured, "Why not bake a batch of cookies for both Chris and Kurt?" (See the recipe for the cookies I baked for Chris in the previous post.)

(Sorry for all of the cookie recipes with chocolate chips, coconut and almonds recently. I didn't realize how much of these three ingredients I had in my pantry and need to use up before my move to Vancouver in five weeks. FIVE WEEKS!!! Yikes...and Yippee!!!)

Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

Adapted from Epicurious - Gourmet, August 2001

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups packaged finely shredded unsweetened coconut
2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks (I used chocolate chips)
3/4 cup almonds with skins, toasted, cooled, and chopped

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Beat together butter and sugars in a bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add eggs and beat until just blended, then beat in vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Add flour and mix at low speed until just blended. Stir in oats, coconut, chocolate, and almonds.

Arrange 1/4-cup mounds of cookie dough about 3 inches apart on 2 lightly buttered large baking sheets (about 8 cookies per sheet), then gently pat down each mound to about 1/2 inch thick. Bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position and rotating pans halfway through baking, until golden, 15 to 18 minutes total.

Cool cookies on sheets 1 minute, then transfer with a spatula to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies in same manner.

Makes about 24 large cookies.

 

Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

"What is 'tired', Alex?" Yes, that's the correct $200 answer in the category, "How does Mindy feel today?" At this time and in this moment, "tired" is the answer to everything in the aforementioned category. There is simply too much I have to do in the next few weeks (38 things on my to-do list so far); however, I always seem to find enough time to bake something for somebody. After all, I'm on a mission to use up all the baking ingredients in my pantry, and since I have friends willing to eat whatever I make, it's a win-win situation. I prep and bake and they sit back and nosh. Seems fair. (Well, not really, but...)

I baked these cookies this afternoon for my friend Kurt. I had a whole canister of oats to use up as well as partial bags of both semisweet chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. There is no source for this recipe because I just "winged" the recipe for my Wings fan friend. (Yeah, I know. Not funny.) Once you've baked as many batches of cookies as I have, you can (usually) just throw together the standard amount of ingredients (give or take a 1/4 cup or so) and bake a decent batch of (edible) cookies. Alas, these cookies turned out fantastic. They're thick and toothsome with just the right amount of sweetness and hints of chocolate and peanut butter. They're not too sweet, not too rich...just perfect cookies with a slightly crunchy exterior and a chewy interior.

Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup plus 2 T. all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

In large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla extract.

In medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt; mix into butter mixture. Fold in oats, chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.

At this point, cover bowl of dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Ten minutes prior to baking the cookies, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll dough into balls and place onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. (I baked the cookies in two batches of 12.) Bake for 12-14 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 24 cookies

 

Toffee-Peanut Butter Rounds

I made these cookies Friday night for my brother and my friend Kurt. I took a few bites of one, and I must say that I loved this cookie. They are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside....the perfect cookie combination if you ask me. The dark brown sugar adds a nice but subtle molasses taste to these cookies and also compliments the presence of the peanut butter chips. You could use all light brown sugar if that's all you have on hand, but definitely use dark brown sugar if you have it in your pantry. I used Plugra butter, too. Any kind of butter you have on hand is fine, but I think all cookies and baked goodies taste better with the higher-quality European butters like Plugra (and Lurpak). Use candy bars instead of the pre-packaged toffee bits. You will want bigger chunks of candy in these cookies than the pre-packaged toffee bits offer. Please let me know your thoughts on these cookies if you try them. Enjoy!!!

Toffee-Peanut Butter Rounds

Source: Adapted from Good Housekeeping 2002 Annual Recipes

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats, uncooked
1 cup peanut butter chips
4 chocolate-covered toffee candy bars (1.4 oz. each), coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat melted butter and eggs until blended. Add granulated sugar, light brown sugar and dark brown sugar. Mix well until thoroughly combined. Beat in flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Stir in oats, peanut butter chips and toffee.

At this point, cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes before proceeding. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F while dough is chilling.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased large cookie sheet. Bake cookies 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough. Store cookies in tightly covered container at room temperature up to 1 week, or in freezer up to 3 months.

Yield: Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies

Note: I got 44 cookies.

Breakfast for Dinner

Coconut milk, cinnamon and quick oats are just three of the numerous ingredients in my pantry that need to be used up before I move to Vancouver in three months. Since I was seeking an easy-to-make dinner tonight, I thought I would make this recipe that I've had in my "to try" pile for almost a year. And since I missed breakfast this morning due to staying up too late last night and the time change one hour ahead, I figured, "Why not have breakfast for dinner?" And so I did.

This oatmeal is creamy, delicious and requires only a short amount of time to prepare. I adapted a few amounts of the ingredients and cut the original recipe yield in half. If you need six servings to feed a crowd, just double the amounts below. Note my ingredient changes in parentheses, too.

Horizons Breakfast Oatmeal

Source: Gourmet Magazine - April 2006
Adapted from Horizons at the Ritz-Carlton, Montego Bay

Serves 3

Substituting coconut milk for part of the regular milk gives this oatmeal an undercurrent of tropical flavor.

2 cups whole milk (I used 1%)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk, shaken and well-stirred
2 T. packed light brown sugar
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups instant oats (I used quick oats)
1 1/2 tsp. unsalted butter

Bring milk, coconut milk, brown sugar, cinnamon stick and salt to a boil in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan, stirring. Reduce heat to moderate, then stir in oats and return to a boil. Cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in butter, then remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes (oatmeal will thicken as it stands). Remove cinnamon stick and stir oatmeal before serving. (Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar for extra sweetness.)

The reason you will see so many recipes in the next few months that have cinnamon as an ingredient: