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Chocolate Oat Cookies: and a visit to NYC

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Chocolate Oat Cookies~A stack of dishes.comI needed me a fix. I needed some grit and grime and short attention spans. I needed to walk briskly down sidewalks that required stealth navigation, and I needed the outrageous roar of the subway. I needed a dose of NYC.

Not desiring or requiring anything particular as a gift for my upcoming birthday, I requested a ticket to take me back to the concrete canyons, so that I could spend a long weekend hanging with my kids, and getting my fix on.

My beautiful wife joyfully indulged me.

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I love both of these sentiments!

We spent our time walking the streets like tourists, an act I never fully enjoyed as a full time citizen. We wandered flea markets, perused specialty stores, nibbled and drank. My “kids” are all in their 20’s now- beautiful grown adults. It was a marvel simply to move with them, observe them taking in the world as whole people. We laughed and told stories, walked with arms linked or around waists, and took it all in together. Of course I still felt like mother duck parading along with my littles in tow, and what a delicious feeling that is. [Read more…] about Chocolate Oat Cookies: and a visit to NYC

I Made You Oatmeal Love Cookies…

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I made you oatmeal cookies today. I left out the raisins, because you don’t like raisins. Instead I added extra walnuts, because I know those are your favorite.

I made you oatmeal cookies today, because I’ve had to sit at my computer a lot as I push to get my projects done. You came all the way to see me, and even though you knew I would have a lot of work to do, it’s still no fun when the one you love is so close, yet so far.

I made you oatmeal cookies today, because it was gray and drizzly outside and you were feeling a little blue. You had hoped to walk the streets of my big noisy city, and the day turned out to be the worst day for it. You went out anyway and braved the chilly wetness- which made it a long and unpleasant day.

I made you oatmeal cookies today, because I wanted you to come home to sweetness, and warm kitchen smells, and your favorite treat-

I made you oatmeal love cookies today, because I want you to feel cared for, and for me, one of the ways I show you that, is with the movements of my hands, and my steady pace in my kitchen, and the laying out treats onto plates- because one of my greatest expressions of my heart is food.

And because,

I love you.

Oatmeal Love Cookies
 
I make my cookies with canola oil, rather than butter. Aside from the convenience, I find the cookies aren’t much different, and I appreciate the lower saturated fat. They are a crispy cookie when cooked to the fullest. If you like a little cake-y-ness, bake until juuuust golden. Also feel free to add in traditional raisins if you like. My love does not like raisins, no she do not, but yours might.
 
makes approximately 30 cookies
 
1.5 c all purpose flour
.5 t salt
.5 t baking powder
1 t ground cinnamon
16 T canola oil
1.75 c sugar
2 T molasses
2 large eggs
3 c rolled oats (not instant)
1 c chopped walnuts
 
 
 
Preheat oven to 350˚
In a large mixing bowl combine thoroughly the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon.
 
In a separate bowl, combine the oil, sugar, molasses and eggs and mix thoroughly to a thick slurry.
 
Add the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until mostly incorporated, then add in the oats  and walnuts, and stir smooth.
 
Scoop out enough dough to pat into a 2″ disk and place on a lined baking sheet at least 1.5″ apart. The cookies do not spread.
 
Bake in the middle of the oven until golden and crisp, about 15 minutes.
 
 

Before the Rush- Healthy Pumpkin Cookies for Thanksgiving Breakfast

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Earlier this year I resolutely put my foot down about not preparing Thanksgiving dinner. I have since had to pick that foot right back up. My initial reaction was to groan- but it did not take long for me to get excited about pulling together a meal for my dear ones.

The challenge really is to host 8 adults in my teeny NYC apartment with my teeny NYC apartment kitchen. It will work. I’ll borrow chairs, rearrange my office and use my desk (which is a dining table), and have a “barn raising” of a holiday table. There is space in my living room/dining room/kitchen to set up the table in advance- but then there would be a literal elephant in the room which we can do without for the entire evening.

Nah, we’ll hang around my coffee table, the kitchen is open to the entire place (thankfully) and we can commune and visit and cook together. When the bird is ready, I’ll enlist everyone’s help to pull in the table, set china and linens and start the feast.  I’m sure the Indians kept house in just this way when the Pilgrims arrived. The family huddled around the fire, while the women bustled about- something like that… Anyway, it’s what I’ve got. I’m lucky, my family all likes each other.

I know that the internet is groaning with cranberry sauce recipes, pumpkin pie, turkey etc- Nothing wrong with any of that. It’s just that breakfast that morning tends to get lost in the sauce. It’s tricky right? You’re hungry and all, but you know you’ve got some serious eats heading your way soon- and you don’t want to get in trouble for opening the fridge too many times…

Enter my healthy pumpkin oat cookies. At the ready for all lazy wakers. Just get that coffee going, set out the plate and there you go. All holiday like with it’s pumpkin and spice, and hearty and healthy to get the day off to a good start. You can make them in advance too. They freeze nicely so you don’t need to be mixing and baking first thing.

Happy Thanksgiving all. Much to be grateful for these days- and still so many that need grace and support.

Keep those home fires burning.

Healthy Pumpkin Oat Breakfast Cookies
You can add into this an array of different things. Switch the nuts for raisins or dried cranberries etc.
 
Makes 12-14 cookies
 
.5c canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 large egg
1t vanilla
3T vegetable oil
2T molasses
.5c white sugar
.75c white flour
1.5c rolled oats
.25t baking powder
1.5t baking soda
.5t salt
1.5t ground cinnamon
.25t ground nutmeg
1c toasted walnuts
 
 
 
Preheat oven to 350˚ and prepare 2 cookie sheets.
 
In a medium sized bowl combine the pumpkin, egg, vanilla, oil, molasses and sugar. Stir to combine.
 
In a larger bowl sift together the flour, bp, bs, salt and spices. Add the oats and stir.
 
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir well. It will make a stiff batter. Gently add the nuts.
 
Drop large spoonfuls of the batter onto the baking sheet and spread into a flat-ish disk. 
 
I had some leftover pumpkin seeds that I put on top, but you can omit these.
 
Bake in the center of the oven for approximately 12 minutes. Test by gently pressing on the cookies. They should feel firm to the touch.
 
Allow to cool before diving in.