Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Last night my Big (Lauren Difiglia) and my G-big (Megan Nolan) and I made a pot-luck dinner together. Lauren made the apps, Megan made the din and I, of course, was in charge of the dessert. Picking out a dessert for these two was definitely a challenge because 1. they have never actually tried any of my culinary confections before, so obviously I had to impress and 2. Megan is one of those truly unfortunate people that doesn't like chocolate OR most things with dairy (aka cheesecake and all things amazing). So basically there wasn't a lot of options to choose from. Fortunately I've been wanting to try out an oatmeal raisin cookie recipe anyway because I recently discovered I actually love them now (unlike back in the day - too healthy for my chubby, candy addicted self) AND it also happens to be the favorite cookie of 3 - maybe 4 - of my 6 uncles, one of which being my godfather. Thus, these cookies seemed like the perfect solution. And they were! Granted I felt lame just making cookies (again), but they were delicious nonetheless and will definitely become a new staple in my cookie portfolio.
(another thing to make note of, my roommate even loves them - and she doesn't even like raisins soo....kind of a big deal.) 


This recipe is adapted from one I found in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook - Martha's had coconut, which is just gross in my opinion. I can't stand coconut though, so I'm probably not the best judge. Feel free to add 1 cup of coconut if you're into that, but I definitely don't think its necessary.

Ingredients 

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/3 cup maple syrup (the recipe calls for pure grade B syrup aka the fancy stuff but I had Aunt Jemima so…)

1 large egg (room temp)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup raisins

Directions

1.      Preheat the oven to 325˚

2.      With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy

3.      Add the maple syrup and mix until combined

4.      Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until lighter and fluffier

5.      In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. With the mixer on the lowest setting, gradually add the dry ingredients in 3 increments. Immediately after the dry ingredients are incorporated, stop. You don’t want to over mix otherwise you will get tough, rock-like cookies.

6.      With a rubber spatula, fold in the oats and raisins until combined. 

7. 7. Scoop the dough with an ice cream scoop, making sure there are at least two inches apart on the cookie sheet. 

8.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. (I baked them for 16 – shocking I know. Rarely do I bake a cookie for more than 12, but these actually did need a little extra time to brown properly) 
 

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Brownie Sundae

For the longest time, brownies were the one thing I refused to make homemade. Brownies from the box are just so perfectly delicious and all of the homemade brownies I have ever tasted didn't even come close to the box. But out of the blue, I felt an overwhelming urge to bake brownies - homemade - not from a box. And as an added bonus, I just happened to have all of the necessary ingredients (which is actually extremely rare these days). I probably did at least an hours worth of research for the most appealing recipe, and let me tell you, when 1,086 people think a recipe is amazing, 9.999 times out of 10, they are right!

Yet even with so many killer reviews, I still had my doubts. I always thought that perfect sheen on top of brownies - you know that glossy, flaky layer - was only achievable if you used a box. Well I was wrong. so so so very wrong. These are probably the best brownies I have ever had. They are melt in your mouth, fudgy perfection and can be eaten in an endless amount of ways.

One bite and ahhh ...chocolatey brownie bliss...

Houses of Hope Cookies

ZTA and Little Pink Houses of Hope 

This Sunday, ZTA hosted our first ever Little Pink Houses of Hop tailgate to raise money for Breast Cancer Education and Awareness. I decided to bake my favorite sugar cookies in the shape of little pink houses! Clever right? (not really) I couldn't for the life of me find a house shaped cookie cutter though so I had to free hand every single one (which took for ev er). The good thing about not having one boring shaped cookie cutter though is that I was able to make all kinds of different houses like shotguns, mansions, average-joes, apartments, houses with shingles, houses without singles, door on the side houses, door in the middle houses, trailers (that one was probably my fav) yadda yadda.

I just forgot that every other time I made these cookies in the past it was over a major holiday…when I didn't have any school or work...and not to mention a plethora of counter space. YIKES! But as stressful as they were, I still had fun making them. And when you see the finished products assembled on a plate, all that hard work becomes worthwhile - and the most important part, it was for a good cause!