Well, it has been quite a while, hasn’t it? Sorry for the hiatus, but life is funny like that sometimes. Things are starting to calm down again, so I *should* be updating more regularly. Once again, my apologies.
Theses cookies are great–they’ve got a little bit of everything (hence the name) but without being too sweet. All of the flavors work together nicely and none of them over power one another.
The Everything Cookie Clusters
Yield: 2 dozen
Ingredients:
- 1/2 stick salted butter, room temp
- 1/2 c peanut butter
- 1/2 c sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 c flour
- 1 c oats
- 1/2 c raisins
- 1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter, peanut butter, sugar, and eggs.
2) Mix in cinnamon, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir well. Hand stir in oats, raisins, and chocolate chips.
3) Spoon onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cookies will start to brown slightly, but not much. Lightly lift up the cookies and if the bottoms are completely cooked, then so is the rest of the cookie. It only took me 10 minutes though, so it really shouldn’t take much longer than that (unless you have a weird oven).
These are quite tasty. They remind me of a Reese’s cup in cookie form, which is why I guess I like them so much (Reese’s are my favorite!). They’re fun to make too, but the dough tends to dry out if you handle it too much, so work quickly! Also, the peanut butter part needs to chill for about a half hour before you use it, so make it up a little before you make the chocolate part.
Chocolate-Peanut Butter Surprise! Cookies
Yield: about 2 dozen
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 stick salted butter, soft
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 egg white
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 and 1/4 cup flour (you might need a little more)
- 3/4 cup baking cocoa
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Directions:
1) In a small bowl, combine peanut butter and powdered sugar. It will be crumbly. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for about 20-30 minutes.
2) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a different bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg white and vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda and gradually add to butter mixture.
3) Roll chocolate dough into balls that are about 1 and 1/2 or 2 inches big. Flatten. Roll smaller balls of the peanut butter mixture and place in the center of each chocolate circle. Fold chocolate up and around the peanut butter, sealing all edges. Flatten the dough once more using the bottom of a glass, until it is about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 10 minutes.
Anything chocolate is ok by me. I say eat these warm and thank me later.
Fudgey Brownies
Yield: about 18 brownies
Ingredients:
- 2 sticks salted butter, melted
- 1 cup baking cocoa
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 and 1/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. After butter has melted, remove it from the heat and stir in cocoa until completely mixed. Set aside.
2) In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until creamy. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Mix into egg mixture until well incorporated. Stir in vanilla and chocolate mixture.
3) Pour batter into a 13×9x2 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until completely cooked all the way through. Wait a few minutes to cool just enough so you can cut the brownies without them falling apart. Enjoy warm, perhaps with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Chocolate mousse is divine. It’s nice having such an easy recipe so that you can whip it up for a party but it looks like something you spent hours on. The longest part of this recipe is the chilling. Trust me, this mousse turns out so yummy and velvety, it’s worth making at least once. Oh and if you check the instructions at the very bottom, I snuck in a how-to-make-your-own-butter recipe too by accident.
Super Simple Chocolate Mousse
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 4 tablespoons water
- 3 egg yolks
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons sugar
Directions:
1) Melt chocolate with water in a small saucepan, stirring until completely smooth. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, lightly beat egg yolks. Pour about 1/3 of the chocolate into the eggs and beat. Return all to pan and return to heat, stirring constantly until slightly thickened. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and let cool.
2) In a separate bowl, whip cream on high until thickened. Add sugar and continue to whip on high until soft peaks form. DO NOT over beat, or else it will turn into butter. I’m not kidding, you can make butter another time by just whipping some cream and adding salt. Fold in cooled chocolate and stir lightly, but make sure chocolate is evenly spread throughout. Cover and chill for several hours in refrigerator, until set.
This is a family favorite. The spices smell (and taste) so wonderful together and kind of remind me of Christmas. I’ve been toying with the idea of just making these cookies without oatmeal and see how they are as a spice cookie. I’d probably have to add a little more spice and another 1/2 to 1 cup of flour to keep them from getting runny. Hmmm. If anyone tries that before I do, do tell me how it turns out. I’m so very curious…
Well anyway, I added some extra ingredients to these cookies but you certainly don’t have to–they’re fantastic with just oatmeal. My dad likes nuts in his cookies so I added pecans to this batch. And some chocolate for good measure. 
Spiced Oatmeal Cookies
Yield: about 2 dozen (I make big cookies)
Ingredients:
- 1 stick salted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 and 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats, raw
- This time around I added about 1 cup chocolate chips and nuts, each. You certainly don’t have to as the recipe doesn’t call for it but you’re welcome to follow suit if you wish.
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, mix butter and sugars together until creamy. Add salt, vanilla, and eggs. Mix well.
2) In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and spices. Slowly pour flour mixture into butter mixture, while mixing on a medium setting, until completely incorporated.
3) Stir in oats. This would also be when you can stir in any nuts or chocolate, if you wish to go that route. The first time around though, you might want to just see how the cookies are plain. Spoiler alert: they’re awesome. Spoon dough onto cookie sheets and bake 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees, until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.