Chocolate chip oatmeal coconut pecan cookies…

The real name of this cookie is Mrs. Bush’s Cowboy Cookies, which my hubby copied from a newspaper or magazine about five years ago. I decided it was time to try it. After googling for a picture, I found this is Laura Bush’s recipe as seen on Good Morning America. So I’ll give her credit. :)

Anyway, my dad likes cookies and I told him we would celebrate my birthday this week (which is actually Sunday) and one of his favorite desserts is a cookie, so I figured I’d better bake them.

I had to cut the recipe in half and it still filled a gallon-sized Ziploc Freezer Bag, so unless you are feeding a true pack of cowboys, I suggest cutting it as well. I used two eggs because I have no idea how to cut an egg in half. (If you know how, email me and let me know too!)

Here’s the original recipe: (Half measurements in parentheses)
cowboy cookies 004
3 cups flour (1 1/2 cups)
1 T baking powder (1 1/2 tsp.)
1 T baking soda (1 1/2 tsp.)
1 T ground cinnamon (1 1/2 tsp.)
1 tsp. salt (1/2 tsp.)
1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature (3/4 cup)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (3/4 cup)
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar (3/4 cup – I used dark brown)
3 eggs (2)
1 T vanilla (1 1/2 tsp.)
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups)
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (1 1/2 cups – I used quick cooking oats)
2 cups flaked coconut (1 cup – I used unsweetened – get from health food stores)
2 cups chopped pecans (1 cup)

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat butter at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually beat in granulated and brown sugars; beat to combine, about 2 minutes. (I just creamed them both together.) Add eggs one at a time beating after each is added. Beat in vanilla. (I added them both and the vanilla at once.) Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Add chocolate chips, oats, coconut, and pecans and stir into the mixture.

For each cookie, drop 1/4 cup dough (I use a melon ball scooper to measure) onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 17-19 minutes until edges are lightly browned; rotate sheets halfway through. (I baked them 10-12 minutes and they were done and I didn’t rotate the cookie sheet.) Remove to rack to cool. Makes 3 dozen large cookies. Ummm…makes about 3 dozen large cookies at HALF the recipe!

For 6 dozen small cookies, use 2 tablespoons of dough each. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Again – I used the melon scooper, which was about 1/4 cup size because I overfill them and they were still done after 12 minutes. I like a softer cookie, not overdone.

And, as you can probably tell, I don’t follow recipe rules exactly. I’ve learned that sometimes the details matter and sometimes they don’t. For cookies, maybe they would turn out better if I was more exacting, but I doubt anyone will have trouble eating these. :)

Happy baking~

Posted in Recipes on February 10, 2010 |

Abigail’s Fig Cake (Jill’s version)

My pack rat de-cluttering started out well this week, but has since taken a detour as I’ve found that cleaning tends to be exhausting work! Besides, I’ve had research and writing I needed to do and yesterday decided it was time to try out some new recipes. So I baked bread (with a mix in the bread-maker, lest you think I’m overly ambitious – besides, on my own, bread does not rise for me), apple pie (this I usually do quite well), and Abigail’s Fig Cake (a recipe I found in a little book called Healing Foods from the Bible.

Now normally, I can multitask, but there are some things I don’t do well and one is talking on the phone and following a recipe. I’ve had jellos not set due to this unfortunate distraction, and ingredients get miscounted. In this case, I needed to cut a recipe by thirds, which led to my version of Abigail’s Fig Cakes.

It all started when I bought fig preserves instead of real figs. I knew I wanted to make this recipe months ago, so I bought the jar of preserves in anticipation. So I pulled the jar from the cupboard and opened the book to the recipe. Then I put headphones on and attached them to my phone and dialed a friend. So far, so good.

First ingredients were butter and honey. A cup of butter and a half a cup of honey. No problem. I tossed them in the mixer and turned it on waiting for it to get creamy. Next ingredients, fig preserves. Three cups of fig preserves, which meant I should have bought three jars, not one. Oops.

I looked at my butter honey mixture. Too late to separate. But wait, honey butter on toast is a good thing! So I measured it into thirds and saved two-thirds out for later use on toast, leaving one half cup in the mixer. All good.

I poured the fig preserves into the measuring cup. Exactly a cup. Whew! Next ingredient – 5 egg yolks. So I got the carton of eggs from the frig and started separating eggs from the whites in two separate glass dishes.

Somewhere during the conversation with my friend, my mind registered the yolks as whites. It also failed to notice that I needed to cut the eggs by thirds as well. Double oops.

Before I realized my mistake, I had tossed five egg WHITES into the batter.

At this point I paused. Um…what did I just do? I glanced at the recipe again while trying to keep myself focused on our conversation without distraction because I really did want to talk to my friend. But the recipe said I was supposed to beat the egg whites and fold them in last. I had just dumped them in unbeaten – ahead of the yolks, the flour, the yogurt, or the cinnamon, raisins, and nuts. Oh boy…

The rest of the recipe I managed to cut to the right amounts, and since it seemed foolish to toss it out unbaked, I finished adding the ingredients and popped it into the oven. Baking time was supposed to be 90 minutes but given I’d cut the recipe and it only fit into a 9 x 9 pan, I checked it at 60. It could have used 45-50 as the edges were a bit overdone. But overall – the fig cake was a success! I had two pieces, which I should not have done (small pieces), and it tasted like more.

So here is the original along with my version of Abigail’s Fig Cake. Maybe I’ll try the book’s version next time. Then again maybe not…

CIMG0560Abigail’s Fig Cake

1 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
3 cups figs or fig preserves
5 egg yolks, beaten (save whites)
3 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup walnuts
1 cup raisins
1 1/2 T cinnamon
5 egg whites, beaten

Probably fits in 9 x 13 pan – bake at 350 for 60-90 minutes. Check after 60 with toothpick.
Mix as described below

Cream butter and honey together before adding the beaten egg yolks. Stir until smooth. Add flour and yogurt, alternating. Add nuts, raisins, and cinnamon. Fold in beaten egg whites. Pour into greased cake pan. Bake as directed above. Serve with honey.

(Jill’s altered version)

1/3 cup butter
less than 1/4 cup honey
1 cup fig preserves
2-3 egg yolks
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup pecans (because I couldn’t find the walnuts)
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 T cinnamon
5 egg whites

Spray 9 x 9 pan with cooking spray and bake at 350 for about 45-50 minutes.

Cream butter and honey. Add figs, egg whites, egg yolks, flour, and yogurt. Beat until smooth. Add chopped nuts raisins and cinnamon. Pour into greased pan. Bake as directed above.

Enjoy~

Posted in Musings, Recipes on January 13, 2010 |

It’s beginning to taste a lot like chocolate…

Cookies are one of the mainstays at our house during the Christmas holidays. Normally, Randy bakes most of them. It’s the only time of year he enjoys scouting out new recipes and trying his hand at baking. When it comes to Christmas cookies, he bakes better than I do.

But this year, he has a lot on his work plate, so I’ve been making a few of our favorites, with several more to go. This recipe I made last night. They taste like Mounds bars and are probably my favorite chocolate cookie. I took a picture of a picture with my phone camera, thus the glare. Mine never come out looking as good as this, but it’s the taste that counts!

Fudge Meltaways
fudge meltaways
Crust:
1/2 cup butter
1 square unsweetened chocolate (1 oz.)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg, beaten
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup coconut (I use unsweetened, which you have to get at health food stores or fruit markets)
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Middle Layer:
1/4 cup butter
1 T milk or cream
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (I forgot to sift – they still come out fine)
1 tsp. vanilla

Top Layer:
1 1/2 squares unsweetened chocolate (1 1/2 oz.)

Melt 1/2 cup butter and 1 square chocolate in saucepan. Blend granulated sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, egg, crumbs, coconut, and nuts into butter-chocolate mixture. Mix well and press into ungreased pan. (9 x 9 or 11 1/2 x 7 1/2). Refrigerate while you make the middle layer.

Mix 1/4 cup butter, milk, confectioners’ sugar, and 1 tsp. vanilla (beat well until creamy). Spread over crumb crust layer. (A knife works better than a spatula for spreading.) Chill.

Melt 1 1/2 squares chocolate and spread over chilled filling. (You’ll need a spatula to get it all out of the pan.) Chill. Cut before firm. Makes 3 to 4 dozen squares. (I cut them small.) These freeze well.

Before I made the Fudge Meltaways, I tried my hand at a quick homemade fudge recipe from Kraft Foods. They call it Baker’s Classic Chocolate Fudge, but I used different chocolate. I’ll just call it:

Basic Fudge
BAKERS_ONE_BOWL_57398
2 8 oz. packages (or anything that makes up 16 oz.) Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate (that’s what I used, but you can substitute.)
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup chopped walnuts (you could substitute coconut or other nuts here)
2 tsp. vanilla

Line an 8-inch square pan with wax paper. Microwave chocolate and milk in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 to 3 minutes or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after 2 minutes. (I only needed to cook it for the 2 minutes.) Stir until completely melted. Stir in nuts and vanilla.

Spread over wax paper into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Refrigerate 2 hour or until firm. Use the wax paper to help lift the fudge from the pan. Cut into bite-sized pieces. Good stuff!

Happy baking~

Posted in Musings, Recipes on December 15, 2009 |

Two muffin favorites…

Muffins make good accompaniments to soups and stews during cool fall or cold winter months. I love to experiment with new recipes in this category. Sometimes I latch onto a good one. Sometimes we end up tossing them because they were too dry or lacked flavor. One oatmeal muffin recipe I doctored until it had just the right sweetness. It’s one of my favorites. (See the recipes tab on the side bar and scroll down for this recipe.)

Two more muffin recipes come from two great cookbooks. The first I found in the Chocolate is Cheaper Than Therapy and you don’t need an appointment -  Recipes for the Chocoholic! Isn’t that a great title? This muffin recipe is one of my all-time favorites!

Mocha-Cappuccino-Chocolate-Chip--1Mocha Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

1 T. instant coffee granules
1 T hot water
1 C. butter or margarine, softened
1 1/4 C. sugar
1 egg
3 ripe bananas, peeled
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 C. flour (I mix whole wheat and unbleached white)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 C. chocolate chips (I like the Ghirardelli darker chocolate for this recipe but semi-sweet will do.)

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease fifteen to eighteen muffin cups (or use paper liners) and set aside. In a small bowl, combine instant coffee granules and hot water, mixing until coffee is dissolved. In a blender or food processor or electric mixer, combine butter, sugar, egg, bananas, vanilla and coffee mixture. Blend for 2 minutes. Add flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Blend just until flour disappears. Stir in chocolate chips with a wood spoon (or electric mixer – makes no difference in my opinion.) Spoon mixture into prepared muffin cups. Bake in oven for 25 minutes. Let cool slightly in pans before removing to wire racks. Or if they are in paper liners, let cool in pans, then transfer to sealed container. Freezes well.

This one comes from the Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2002.

cranberry nut muffinsCranberry Nut Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used half white whole wheat and half unbleached white)
1 cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, halved (If they’re fresh, don’t use them if they’re too soft.)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 T. grated orange peel

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, combine the orange juice, milk, butter, and egg; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cranberries, pecans, and orange peel. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 400° for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Or as said above, cool in pans, then remove to sealed containers (like Ziploc bags). Freezes well. Yield: about 1 dozen

Happy munching~

Posted in Recipes on November 15, 2009 |

Everything is coming up apples!

Several weeks ago I bought some apples in order to make Randy an apple pie for his birthday. I didn’t use them all, and my good intentions are to make applesauce one of these days. Ah yes, good intentions…

Then my sweet beloved hubby decided he would help me cut up apples for apple pie mix. With my tendinitis issues, he plans to do most of the work. We slice the apples and prepare the mix for pie ahead of time and freeze them in Ziploc bags for 10-inch pies. Then all I have to do is make the crust and bake them.

Apple Pie Mix:

Cut, peel, thinly slice 8 cups baking apples (Northern Spy, Cortland, Granny Smith, etc.)
Add 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 flour, 1 cup sugar
Mix well. Pour into gallon size freezer bags. Label.

Of course, there is always something that interrupts our best laid plans. This morning, for a split second I thought our life was over when a jet plane flew so low overhead its roar out-blasted the hairdryer and woke Ryan. But it quickly pulled out of its plunge downward and flew off, so the apples were still waiting.

The next interruption was something Randy knew he needed to fix on his car but had been putting off doing. So while he pulled the thing apart this afternoon, I got out my knives and cutting board and set to working with all of these apples. I made a microwaveable apple crisp – very easy and oh, so good! And one batch of apple pie mix. Taking a break before I tackle applesauce.

Easy Apple Crispimages

Peel, core, and thinly slice 6-7 baking apples (Spy, Cortland, Granny Smith, etc.)
Mix in 1 tsp. cinnamon
Spread in microwaveable 7 x 11 (or thereabout) pan

Topping:
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup flour

Mix together until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of apples. Microwave on high for 7-8 minutes.
Serve plain or with whipped cream or ice cream.

Now back to work…
Enjoy~

Posted in Musings, Recipes on October 31, 2009 |

I love it when a meal turns out well…

Last night I tried another new recipe – this time a combination of a cook book and my own tweaking. It turned out rather good! Here’s the menu – fairly healthy cooking if you don’t count the butter. :)

Honey Grilled Fish

Tilapia steaks

Olive oil

Honey (I used raw honey – it called for honeycomb and that was the closest I came.)

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Brush Tilapia with olive oil and broil 2-4 minutes on the Foreman grill – or broiled in the oven. Brush with honey and broil another minute or two until fish breaks apart and is tender. Serve with vinegar, lemon, or tarter sauce. (I used tarter sauce.)

Tarter Sauce

1 cup mayonaise

2 Tbsp. pickle relish

1 tsp onion powder

Mix and chill and serve. (I’ve made my own tarter sauce for years and this is a great recipe!)

Fried Canned Potatoes

Canned sliced white potatoes

Butter

Put potatoes in fry pan and add butter – I don’t measure – a few tablespoons. Cook on medium to low heat until potatoes turn brown – some will be crispy the longer you cook it.

Fresh Green Beans

Snap and wash enough green beans to feed however many you are serving. Toss in sauce pot, add water. Bring to boil, then simmer until green beans are tender. Dot with butter and serve.

Everything Salad

Mixed greens

Chopped red or other colored pepper

shredded carrots

raspberries

scallions sliced

cucumber diced

sliced almonds

Top with poppyseed dressing.

This was last night’s dinner. Tonight I get a break – carryout Chinese or pizza. Yum! :)

Enjoy~

Tags:
Posted in Musings, Recipes on August 28, 2009 |

Bible Barley Stew With Lentils…

The weather here in Michigan feels more like Fall than August. I planned to sit on the porch as I reread Abigail one last time. This is the final galley edit before it goes to page proofs. So I’m reading with care to make sure I’ve fixed anything my editor caught and some things I caught as well.
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But my stay on the front porch was short lived. The air was chilly with that hint of Fall in the air. Strange how the same temperature can feel differently in various parts of the country. In the Los Angeles suburbs where we stayed the weather remained in the 60s and 70s during our entire week and a half visit. Today was in the 60s, supposed to hit 71 here, but it felt colder. The difference, of course, was the sun. In LA, the sun never stopped shining. In MI, we see a LOT of clouds. Not the cheeriest of days, but at least it wasn’t hot and humid.

Still, the weather made me reach for hot tea over the iced version and instead of leftovers, I tried another new recipe from The Good Book Cookbook published by Revell. It turned out to be quite tasty – I would make it again. Here’s the recipe:

Bible Barley Stew With Lentils
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1/3 cup chopped onions or scallions
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
5 tablespoons butter
5 cups water or stock (I used 4 cups chicken stock and 1 cup water)
1 cup dried lentils, picked over and washed
1/2 cup barley
1/8 tsp rosemary (I used fresh)
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 pound beet greens or spinach (I forgot to add the spinach! But it tasted good anyway.)

In a large soup pot, saute the chopped onion, celery, and carrots in the butter. Add the water or stock, lentils, barley, rosemary, salt, and cumin. Bring to a boil, turn down heat, and cook until lentils and barley are tender, about 1 hour. Remove scum as it forms. (I forgot to do this too, but I honestly didn’t see any scum.) Add greens for the last 15 minutes of cooking. (I had the spinach too! Bummer. It would have added more vitamins.) Oh well…

In case anyone wonders why I’m putting recipes on this page instead of the recipe page of this website, it’s because I can’t update that page on my own. A new website is in the works, when things should make more sense and be in their right order. Then again…considering my life these days, you never know! :)

Enjoy~

Posted in Abigail, Recipes on August 22, 2009 |

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