The other day I was doing some surfing and happened upon a message board where they were discussing Oatmeal Cookies. A few years ago when I was at the King Arthur store I bought some Oatmeal Cookies and they were the best I have ever eaten. I had never been a big fan of oatmeal cookies, most seemed too dry to me. That cookie at King Arthur put me on a quest to remake that cookie. I’ve tried many recipes since then and until now none compared. It still isn’t that cookie but it is really good. I baked them yesterday and even today they are soft and moist.

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Whisk together and set aside:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream:
1 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 extra large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons Karo syrup

Stir in:
3 cups oatmeal - I used regular oatmeal and put it in the food processor after measuring it to chop it up a little
1 1/2 cups raisins - soak in boiling water for a couple of minutes, drain and let cool before adding
1/2 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°. Whisk dry ingredients; set aside. Combine wet ingredients with a mixer on low. To cream, increase speed to high and beat until fluffy and the color lightens.

Stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture until no flour is visible. Chop oatmeal in food processor. Now add the oats, raisins and pecans; stir until mixed together.

Fill cookie scoop with dough.

Drop 2-inches apart onto baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray. I put 9 cookies on a half sheet pan.

Bake 11-13 minutes (on center rack), until golden, but still moist beneath cracks on top. Remove from oven; let cookies sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy and Happy Baking!

This is a recipe we have been making forever. I bought a big container of sour cream and need to use it up so I reached for my tried and true favorite recipe. This recipe comes from my mom. I’ll post the picture later when it comes out of the oven. This keeps really well and is very moist.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

1/2 C. Shortening
1/2 C. Butter
1 C. Sugar
3 Eggs
1 C. Sour Cream
1 t. Vanilla
1/2 t. Baking Soda
1 1/2 t. Baking Powder
1/2 t. Salt
2 1/2 C. Flour

Topping:
1/2 C. Walnuts
3/4 C. Brown Sugar
1 t. Cinnamon

Cream together the shortening, butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Blend in eggs, vanilla and add sour cream.

Add baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Mix well.

Mix topping ingredients together in a small bowl.

Pour 1/2 of batter in a greased 9 or 10 inch round deep baking pan. Top with half of the topping and add remaining batter. Sprinkle remaining topping on top of batter.

Bake at 350°F. for about 1 hour, depending on pan used. You can also do this in a 9 x 13 pan. Check at 35 - 40 minutes.

My mom was hungry for vegetable lasagna while I was home so I decided to make it for her and make some for the freezer. It is a fairly easily recipe to make but it does take quite a bit of time due to all of the steps involved.

First you want to make a cream sauce and add monterey jack to it to taste. I made about 10 cups for a 9 x 13 pan and 3 8 x 8 pans.

I also used a head of cauliflower, a bunch of broccoli, a pound of carrots and a large bag of frozen spinach for my vegetable mixture. You want to blanch of the vegetables first and then mix together. I added enough of the cream sauce to bind it together. Set aside.

I then added to a bowl about 30 oz. of cottage cheese, 2 cups of parmesan cheese, 3 eggs, salt and pepper. I seasoned the mixture with some basil.

Boil your lasagna noodles, I used 1 1/2 packages. To assemble the lasagna, layer the noodles, the vegetable mixture, cottage cheese mixture, cream sauce and some additional cheese. I did 3 layers total.

Heat the oven to 350. Bake for at least an hour. Mixture will be bubbly and lightly browned.

I’ll post a single recipe the next time I make it. This is one of those dishes I make without a recipe so I have never written amounts down.