Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Bars

I pretended it was really spring and almost summer as I made this flavor combo. My Jim loves his strawberry rhubarb pies in the summer, so I hoped these bars would hit the spot.

I made a few small mistakes with the first try.

 

The first try I didn't press the crumb mixture firmly into the pan. I dumped it in and scooted it to the edges, pressing slightly. This made for crumbly bars. They tasted great and we ate most of them but they sure weren't neat. The bottom crust never really came together.

My other mistake was that I used foil to line the pan. The foil stuck horribly to the bars. I may have ingested tiny bits of the foil that just didn't come off. Oh well.

So this second try I hope the bars are much better. They are headed to my work for a friend's 40th birthday surprise!

So I did firmly press the oat mixture into the bottom of the pan. I also used parchment paper to line the pan, and I can tell already that they will cut much easier.

Yay! Great for breakfast or dessert!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Bars.

 

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Coconut Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

I have two parties tomorrow that require treats. Okay, require is a strong word. I signed up to bring treats! That's a lot of baking so I thought I would make cookies. Cookies aren't that hard. Combine dry ingredients, cream butter and sugar(s), fold in other ingredients, bake. They are also fun to make.

The hard part is baking a dozen at a time, many times if you double a recipe like I did. But checking the oven every 10 or so minutes is fine by me.

And if you know me, you know that I adore coconut. This recipe has shredded coconut AND coconut oil. AND oatmeal. And double chocolate (cocoa powder and chips). YUM. I do admit that I'm not getting the full flavor effect... due to my glass of red wine that I've been sipping on... :)

 

So they don't look like my normal fancy cupcakes, but I'm hoping they are an unusual flavor combination and my "fans" won't be disappointed. There was a high expectation of "moist cupcakes" for one of the gatherings. That particular group of people are getting used to disappointment. Sad face.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Coconut Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

 

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Skillet Apple Crisp

I made this deliciousness for Thanksgiving. I was happy to bring leftovers home and enjoy it more and more. My sister sent me this recipe, from Cook's Illustrated. I had to follow the revised instructions since I didn't bake the apple crisp in the cast iron skillet as directed.

I did cook the apples on the stovetop and then transfer the mixture to a 9x13 pan, finishing it off in the oven. I had also never used Golden Delicious apples. I found them to hold their slice well. A great apple crisp apple! Those CI cooks know what they're doing.

I don't think I'm a pecan (or any kind of nut) fan until I love them in a recipe like this. The pecans really, really made the dessert. The topping is out of this world good. It's so good that we've baked apples since this recipe and made small amounts of the topping to bake along with it. SO GOOD.

 

My sister sent me the recipe, via email, but I found a cooking blog with the recipe.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Skillet Apple Crisp.

 

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Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Craisin Cookies

My husband has been making noises about wanting chocolate chip cookies. I hope he will be happy with these cookies, something **I** have been craving. Oatmeal. Yum. And craisins because I have a super sized bag from Sam's Club to use up some time soon. (I use a lot of craisins in my steel cut oatmeal but I'm uncomfortable with keeping this bag around TOO long.)

This recipe is just a recipe that I googled but she says that it's from the inside of the Quaker canister. I figured it would be a pretty basic, comfort-food type of recipe. Yup! Chewy oatmeal cookies with some sweetness and tart fruit. Deeeeeeelicious.

I made the mistake of calling them Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies to my son. He is a purist. Didn't want to try them because of the oatmeal. I even made two cookies without craisins so he wouldn't pick those out. He took one tiny bite and declared them "too crunchy". And they're not! He tasted one tiny bit of edge that was slightly crunchy. Silly kid.

I feel sad thinking he'll never try some of the sweets that I make!

I made half of a batch of cookies, which was about 18 cookies. This is less than the recipe states, so I figured I might have eaten a few cookies worth of dough! JK. I think I made them bigger than I was supposed to?

Click here for the stolen recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Craisin Cookies.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Craisin Cookies

My husband has been making noises about wanting chocolate chip cookies. I hope he will be happy with these cookies, something **I** have been craving. Oatmeal. Yum. And craisins because I have a super sized bag from Sam's Club to use up some time soon. (I use a lot of craisins in my steel cut oatmeal but I'm uncomfortable with keeping this bag around TOO long.)

This recipe is just a recipe that I googled but she says that it's from the inside of the Quaker canister. I figured it would be a pretty basic, comfort-food type of recipe. Yup! Chewy oatmeal cookies with some sweetness and tart fruit. Deeeeeeelicious.

I made the mistake of calling them Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies to my son. He is a purist. Didn't want to try them because of the oatmeal. I even made two cookies without craisins so he wouldn't pick those out. He took one tiny bite and declared them "too crunchy". And they're not! He tasted one tiny bit of edge that was slightly crunchy. Silly kid.

I feel sad thinking he'll never try some of the sweets that I make!

I made half of a batch of cookies, which was about 18 cookies. This is less than the recipe states, so I figured I might have eaten a few cookies worth of dough! JK. I think I made them bigger than I was supposed to?

Click here for the stolen recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Craisin Cookies.

 

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Pumpkin Oatmeal

 

This is just a different version from the other crockpot steel cut oatmeal that I've been making. I think the only difference is that I used less apples, added two cups of canned pumpkin, and upped the amount of cinnamon. Delicious. I always top my bowl of oatmeal with 2 T of sliced almonds and 2 T of craisins.

Double recipe of this:

Click here for the stolen recipe for Overnight, Crockpot Steel Cut Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal.


 

Crockpot Apple Cinnamon Steel-cut Oatmeal

I'm not a big cooked oatmeal fan (I didn't think) but my doctor suggested adding oatmeal to my breakfast line-up because it's packed with protein and will keep me full. I've heard that steel-cut oatmeal is the healthiest but it takes a lot longer to cook. Voila. Crockpot!



I have issues with texture so when I saw this gloppy finished product I was a bit scared. I added a bit of brown sugar, dried cranberries, and sliced almonds. SO much better! It wasn't as gloppy as I thought but rather chewy and hearty.

It was very easy to throw together and I imagine that you can change up the basic recipe as you like. I think adding dried fruit would be great. If I added dried fruit I wouldn't add more liquid, because I think I like my oatmeal on the drier side. If I made it exactly like this again I would decrease the water by 1/2 cup.

I saw on other websites that people didn't like making the oatmeal directly in the crockpot because of the browned bits on the sides (they were preparing the oatmeal in a bowl within the crockpot, like a steam bath). I actually thought those bits added a lot to the flavor and texture. It firmed it up.

The verdict: Did it keep me fuller and not make me break out into the shakes by 10am? I think I need to eat it a few times more and then decide.

It makes 5 1-cup servings and the recipe says it freezes well. I did freeze a few portions but they didn't last long in the freezer. We ate them up pretty quickly! We'll definitely be making this again.

I did need to buy two ingredients that I wouldn't normally have in the house. Each bag cost around $5. The steel cut oatmeal will make 3 crockpot recipes. And then for the ground flaxseed you only need 2 Tablespoons so this bag will last a long time. I should find some other recipes for the flaxseed. I think it's one of those ingredients that I've seen around but I hadn't made the leap to buy it until now. In muffins?

Click here for the stolen recipe for Crockpot Apple Cinnamon Steel-cut Oatmeal.

Oatmeal Ginger Cookies

I love the Cook's Illustrated line of books. I love my Baking Illustrated. I wanted to make some cookies for a staff bbq, but it was a last minute decision so I found a recipe that used the ingredients I had handy. I also wanted something that would be okay at room temperature (or even hot weather) until lunch time. You just can't go wrong with oatmeal cookies too :)


I'm not a fan of raisins so I made the variation of the recipe which was Oatmeal Ginger. Ginger is another favorite in this house of mine. My husband is cuckoo for ginger!


Simple, great cookies!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (and the Oatmeal Ginger variation).