Really good oatmeal cookies

My husband loves these cookies because of the cinnamon and nutmeg in them. This recipe makes 4 dozen, so I either halve the recipe or freeze half of the cookies.


Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Category: Desserts
Sub Category:
Source:

1 c butter, softened
1 ½ c sugar
1 egg
¼ c water
1 t vanilla
1 ½ c flour
½ t baking soda
½ t salt
½ t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg
3 c quick cooking oats
1 c raisins



1. Cream butter; gradually add sugar, beating well at medium speed until fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add water and vanilla, mixing well.
2. Combine dry ingredients. Add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Stir in oats and raisins.
3. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto un-greased cookie sheets.
4. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned.

Oatmeal Bread

I made this for Christmas morning. I got the recipe out of the newspaper. I have had very good luck with the recipes I have found there.



Oatmeal Spice Bread
Category: Baked Goods
Sub Category: Bread
Source: FW Star Telegram

1 ¼ c boiling water
1 c quick cooking oats
1 stick butter
1 ½ c flour
1 ½ t baking soda
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg
¼ t cloves
1 ½ c brown sugar
2 large eggs

Icing:
1 c powdered sugar
1 T warm water

1 t lemon juice
1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 9x5 loaf pan
2. Pour boiling water over oatmeal and butter. Cover and let stand for 20 min
3. Combine flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in bowl and set aside
4. Put oatmeal mixture in stand mixer and add brown sugar and eggs; mix well. Add flour mixture and mix just until combined.
5. Pour into pan and bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on rack before removing from pan.
6. When loaf is completely cool, combine all icing ingredients and ice loaf.

Another Breakfast Casserole

This is the casserole I made for breakfast on Christmas day. I make this a lot and I actually just made one for MOPS a couple of weeks ago. It is not nearly as healthy as the other Breakfast Casserole I put on here, but it is good. It is a pretty standard sausage and egg casserole, though, so you may have a similar recipe. We really enjoy this one.



Breakfast Casserole
Category: Eggs and Cheese
Sub Category:
Source: Allison

6 slices bread, crust removed
1 lb ground sausage
4 c shredded cheese
6 eggs
1 t salt
1 t dry mustard
2 c half and half

1. Lightly butter each slice of bread. Place bread in 9x13 buttered Pyrex.
2. Brown sausage. Drain and pat with paper towels. Sprinkle sausage over bread. Sprinkle cheese over sausage.
3. Beat eggs. Add salt, dry mustard and half and half. Beat again. Pour egg mixture over cheese. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
4. Remove foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Christmas Cooking

I made my annual Christmas Food Gifts for Jory's office yesterday and it went really well. I used three new recipes and was really pleased with each. They were easy, fairly mess-free and tasted really good. Here they are:


Snickerdoodles
Category: Desserts
Sub Category: Cookies
Source: Southern Living

1 c butter, softened
2 c sugar
2 large eggs
¼ c milk
1 t vanilla
3 ¾ c flour
1 t baking powder
2 t cinnamon
3 T sugar
1 ½ T cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375. Beat butter at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add 2 c sugar, beating well. Add eggs, milk and vanilla beating well.
2. Combine flower, baking powder and 2 tsp cinnamon; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended.
3. Combine 3 T sugar and 1 ½ T cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll dough into 1 ¼ inch balls and roll into sugar mixture. Place on un-greased baking sheets and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass.
4. Bake at 375 for 11-13 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and cool completely (about 30 minutes).


Gingerbread Cookies
Category: Desserts
Sub Category: Cookies
Source: O Magazine

2 c plus 2 T flour
2 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon
2 t ginger
1 t allspice
1 t cloves
½ t fine salt
12 T butter, room temp
¾ c sugar
1 egg
¼ c molasses

1. In large bowl, whisk together flour and next six ingredients.
2. Beat butter and sugar on low until pale and fluffy, 1-2 min.
3. Add egg, vanilla and molasses beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and beat until smooth.
4. Divide dough between two large sheets of parchment paper and roll up snugly to make two 8-inch logs. Refrigerate until firm, about two hours.
5. Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Place about ¼ c sugar in shallow dish. Cut dough logs into ¼ in slices. Dip the top of each slice in sugar and place 1 in apart on baking sheets. Bake until just firm around the edges, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely.

Note: I cut each dough log in half and sliced the cookies from the center. When I got to the ends of the logs (which were smaller than the center), I took all of the leftover dough and rolled them into balls, dipped the balls in sugar and flattened them with a glass. They came out exactly the same as the ones that had been sliced.

Puppy Chow
Category: Desserts
Sub Category:
Source:

½ c Peanut butter
¼ c butter
1 c chocolate chips
½ t vanilla
9 c Crispix cereal, any flavor
1 ½ c powdered sugar

1. Combine peanut butter, butter and chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl
2. Microwave for one minute. Stir to blend all ingredients thoroughly. Add vanilla and stir well.
3. Put Crispix in very large bowl
4. Pour chocolate over cereal tossing evenly and making sure all cereal is coated.
5. Sprinkle evenly with powdered sugar tossing to cover each piece of cereal.

Note: I recommend doing this recipe in batches - make 1/2 or 1/3 of the recipe at a time. I did a full recipe the first time and had a hard time mixing all of the cereal and toppings. I did a third the second time and it was very easy and much neater. Also, I used Chex cereal and it worked fine.

Cranberry Coffee Cake

I made this coffee cake for Sunday School this week. This is one of our favorite things and it is always a hit. Sweet Meghan made it for Jory and me when we visited her over a year ago. I HAD to have the recipe and have made it plenty since.

Cranberry Coffee Cake
Category: Baked Goods
Sub Category:
Source: Meg Scully

2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
½ t salt
½ c butter
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 (16 oz) can whole cranberry sauce
1 t almond extract

Glaze:
¾ c powdered sugar
2 T warm water
¼ t almond extract
¼ t vanilla

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs one at a time. Add almond extract
3. Add dry ingredients, alternating with the sour cream
4. Grease and flour bundt pan. Pour 1/3 of batter into pan. Spread ½ can cranberry sauce. Continue with 1/3 batter, ½ cranberry sauce, and end with last 1/3 of batter on top
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes
6. Combine all glaze ingredients and drizzle over cooled cake.

Lasagna

I have several lasagna recipes and, while they are all good, none of them are great and they are all somewhat cumbersome to make. I tried a new recipe from Southern Living this weekend and was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to make. It was also really good. Jory took one bite and said, "This is good. This is really good." It is a very thick lasagna, so you eat smaller pieces and the pan lasts a bit longer. I would give two caveats about this lasagna: (1) it has a lot of basil in it. I like basil, but if you don't this might not be for you and (2) it has a lot of sauce. Some people don't like really saucy lasagnas, so this wouldn't be for them. For everyone else, this is great!

Beefy Lasagna
Category: Main Dishes
Sub Category: Beef
Source: Southern Living
12 Lasagna noodles
24 oz 4% small curd cottage cheese
16 oz ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ c refrigerated pesto
1 t salt
2 ½ c shredded mozzarella, divided
1 lb lean ground beef
½ c finely chopped onion
2 24 oz jars tomato & basil pasta sauce

1. Preheat oven to 375. Prepare noodles according to package.

2. Stir together cottage cheese and next 4 ingredients. Stir in 1 c mozzarella.

3. Cook ground beef and onion in large skillet over med-high, stirring often, 6-7 minutes or until meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Stir in pasta sauce.

4. Layer 1 cup beef mixture, 3 noodles and 2 ½ c cottage cheese mixture in lightly greased 13x9 in baking dish. Top with 3 noodles, 2 c beef mixture and 3 more noodles. Top with remaining cottage cheese mixture, 3 noodles and beef mixture. Sprinkle with remaining 1 ½ c mozzarella.

5. Bake, covered, at 375 for 40-45 minutes. Uncover and bake 20 minutes or until cheese is browned. Let stand 10-15 min before serving.

Note: I used dried minced onion instead of chopping 1/2 c of onion and it worked fine.

Pumpkin Bread

Yesterday there was a recipe for Tim Byres' (a Dallas chef) family Holiday Pumpkin Bread in the Fort Worth Star Telegram. It looked good and easy, so I thought I would make it for Jory to have when he got in from the airport. It was good and easy and Jory and I made a serious dent in it before going to bed. Luckily, it makes A LOT of bread. This would be great for gifts if you have mini loaf pans.

Pumpkin Bread
Category: Baked Goods
Sub Category:
Source:

2 2/3 c flour
3 c sugar
2 t baking soda
½ t baking powder
2 t salt
1 t nutmeg
1 t cinnamon
1 t allspice
1 t cloves
4 eggs
2 c pumpkin puree
1 c vegetable oil
2/3 c water

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine all dry ingredients in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, then add pumpkin until well mixed. Add oil and water and mix well.

2. Grease and flour two loaf pans. Pour batter into the pans.

3. Bake at 350 for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.