orange oatmeal cookies with cranberries and white chocolate

 

well these cookies sure are a mouthful!

i first saw these cookies at trader joe's, and thought it was an interesting flavor combination, perfect for Christmastime.  then i cursed myself for not coming up with it on my own, but realized-i could totally make these.  suck on that, trader joe's.

 

start by zesting an orange. set aside.

 

then sift together flour, baking powder, and salt

 

add your zest to a large mixing bowl with softened butter, white sugar, and brown sugar

 

beat until light and fluffy

 

add vanilla and eggs

 

beat well.  

at this stage, my roommate pointed out that the mixture looks like cat puke.  i hate cats so i don't know what their puke looks like, but i'll take his word for it.  enjoy that thought.

 

add flour mixture,  mix well

and to really get into the spirit, i highly reccommend a christmas spatula for your bowl scraping needs!

 

add quick oats

 

mix well.

 

finally, add the craisins and white chocolate chips

 

mix until thouroughly combined

the dough is pretty thick here so you'll have to turn the mixer up to really get it going

 

i used a small cookie scoop (2 tsp) to dish out my dough

 

drop on a lightly greased cookie sheet

 

bake at 350 for 11-15 min, until they start to turn golden on top

(these take exactly 11.5 minutes in my mother's oven, and exactly 15 minutes in my oven.  times will vary so watch them!)

orange oatmeal cookies with cranberries & white chocolate

ingredients

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

zest of 1 orange (approx 2-3 tsp)

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder (not soda!)

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups quick oats

1 cup dried cranberries (aka Craisins!)

1 cup white chocolate chips

procedure

preheat oven to 350

cream butter, sugars, and orange zest in a large bowl until light and fluffy

add vanilla & eggs, mix well

in a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. add to creamed mixture, blending thoroughly.

add oats. mix well.

stir in craisins & white chocolate chips. mix well

use a small (2 tsp) cookie scoop to drop onto lightly greased cookie sheets.

bake for 11-15 minutes

cool on wire rack

...stuff your face. wash down with 2% milk.  superb.  enjoy.

peanut butter pie

a blog with peanut butter in the title and this is the first recipe i've posted using it as an ingredient.

FOR SHAME.

to begin, you'll place some chocolate chips and butter in a double boiler to start melting

next you can pulverize some oreos in your food processor - you'll need 2 cups of crumbs

(neato football season oreos!)

stir the chocolate and butter as it melts

when it's all melted, add the oreo crumbs

stir to combine

press into the bottom of a 9-in pie plate and bake at 350 for 10 min

now you can add some peanut butter, cream cheese, and sugar to a large bowl

beat with an electric mixer until well combined

using those same beaters (i didn't even clean mine off), beat some well chilled cream in a separate bowl

beat a few minutes until firm

add about a third of the whipped cream to the PB mixture

and fold it in

you'll notice how the addition of cream has significantly loosened up the mixture

now you can add the remaining whipped cream

and fold it in

scoop the heavenly mixture into the cooled pie crust

and smooth it over with a spatula

refrigerate until firm (3ish hours)

when the pie is cooled, add some chocolate chips and heavy cream to a  double boiler

stir it as it begins to melt

you'll notice the chocolate melting and the mixture darkening

once it's all meled it should be this acorn color

allow to cool to lukewarm (color will darken further) before pouring over the chilled pie

make sure you get it all

it should flood the entire surface of the pie.  refrigerate for about 15 min

optional: now melt a bit of cream and reese's chips in the microwave

microwave in 20-sec intervals, stirring between each

allow to cool for 10 minutes and spoon it into a ziploc

squish it over to one corner and snip a tiny piece off the end

start writing a message or making a pretty design with the drizzle.

my pie happened to be for someone special

(please pardon my peanut butter penmanship)


refrigerate about 15 min to set the drizzle before digging in 

i'll add more pics once we've cut into this one!

peanut butter pie. (adapted from food&wine)

ingredients

crust

2 c oreo crumbs, finely ground (this uses almost an entire package of oreos)

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 stick unsalted butter

pie filling

1 8-oz block cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup(very cold) heavy cream

chocolate topping

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy cream

peanut butter drizzle (optional)

2 tablespoons reese's chips

2 tablespoons heavy cream

procedure

crust

preheat oven to 350

pulverize almost an entire package of oreos to make 2 cups of crumbs

in a double boiler or microwave, melt chocolate chips and butter together

add crumbs to mixture and stir well

press into 9-inch pie plate and bake for 10 min

filling

beat together cream cheese, peanut butter, and sugar

in a separate bowl, using the same beaters, beat the cream until firm

fold 1/3 into the PB mixture to loosen it

fold the remaining cream into the mixture

spread into cooled pie crust and chill in the refrigerator until firm (3 hours)

chocolate topping

melt chocolate chips and cream in a double boiler or microwave

let stand until lukewarm

pour over chilled pie and refrigerate until firm, approx 15 min

peanut butter drizzle (optional)

melt peanut butter chips and cream in a small bowl

let stand for 10 minutes

spoon into a ziploc baggie

snip a small piece off the corner and squeeze

carrot cake

the first time i made this carrot cake was for easter.  my mom loved it so much she requested it again for mother's day.

wanting to preserve my status as favorite daughter*, i obliged.

by the way, this recipe is dedicated to my awesome pal NELS, who demands i update this blog more frequently.

i will do my best!

 

start by peeling some carrots and chopping off the gross ends

 

i actually hate carrots, so i wanted the shavings as small as possible.

instead of a grater i used a microplane zester.

 

you'll want 2 cups worth of carrot zest.  set aside for now.

 

i also enjoy cocount flavor, but not large chunks.

so i took some sweetened shredded coconut and pulverized it in my mini food processor.

you can set this aside for now, too.

 

now you'll want to sift together some flour...

 

sugar...

 

salt...

 

baking soda...

 

and cinnamon.

 

now sift it into a large bowl.

 

it will be all airy and delightful like a happy cloud

 

now you'll measure a cup and a half of extra virgin olive oil

 

i used the same measuring cup to lightly beat 4 eggs

 

dump the oil and eggs into the dry mixture, then add vanilla

 

now you can throw in your itty bitty cocount chunks

 

your carrot zest,

 

and some drained, crushed pineapple (from the can)

i'm pretty sure i was supposed to mix the dry mixture with the oil and eggs, and then fold in the coconut, carrots, and pineapple.

  but i'm a rebel without a cause so i skipped that step and just mixed it all together at once.

 

now get two 9-in cake pans, flip them upside down and cut out a circle of wax paper, using the bottom of the pan as a guide.

 

butter the crap out of them

 

then place the wax rounds in the bottom

 

and butter the wax.

doesn't my stick of butter kind of look like a superhero with a wrapper cape?

like when we were kids and we would eat blow pops.  those had superhero wrapper capes too.

 

now you can pour half the batter into each pan. 

 

i didn't measure, just eyeballed it  

 

stagger them in the oven like so, and switch their positions halfway thru baking

 

when finished, place on a cooling rack until partially cooled

 

after about an hour of cooling, you can invert the cakes on the cooling rack and remove the pan.

also peel off the wax paper.

 

now we make the cream cheese frosting with 3 blocks of cream cheese and a stick and a half of butter

 

make sure they're room temperature, and beat together

 

add vanilla, and beat

 

now add some powdered sugar, and beat

 

ta-dah, icing.

 

when the cakes are cool, place the first one on the pedestal and ice it

 

first round is iced

 

place the second round on top, and continue icing

 

i never said i was good at icing cakes, mmmkay?

 

now cut yourself a big 'ol slice and enjoy!

carrot cake. (adapted from simply recipes)

cake ingredients

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking soda

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups olive oil

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tbsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded cocount (for smaller bits you can further chop it in a mini food processor like i did)

2 cups finely grated carrots (i used a microplane)

1 cup of drained crushed pineapple

icing ingredients

3 8-oz blocks of cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups confectioners sugar

cake procedure

preheat oven to 350

butter two 9-in round cake pans. add wax paper rounds to the bottom of each pan and butter those as well.

sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl

add remaining ingredients and beat well

pour half the batter into each pan and stagger them on the middle rack in the preheated oven

bake 45-50 minutes, switching the pans' positions halfway thru

cool on a cooling rack for 1 hour before inverting onto the rack to remove the pans and wax paper.

cool completely before icing

icing procedure

in a large mixing bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth

add vanilla, beat

add confectioners sugar, beat well.

as for how to ice your cake- well, you saw the hack job i did.  you're on your own! 

*according to me