What's That? Another Recipe?!

I know, I know.. Another recipe. I swear that all I do lately is bake - well aside from the usual bum changing and baby feeding. I just had to share this recipe with you though. I am sitting here with a cinnamon-y scented house and wanted to share the love. Believe me, if I could somehow attach this scent to this blog post, I totally would.

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Original recipe found in "1,000 Vegetarian Recipes" cookbook by Carol Gelles

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp of salt (optional)

               2 cups rolled oats (old-fashioned oatmeal) I used quick oats

                  1 cup raisins I used 1 cup of a raisin/semi-sweet chocolate chip mixture

1/2 cup butter or margarine (softened)

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

2 Tbsp water

                                     1 tsp vanilla extract I love me some vanilla and always use a generous splash!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Thoroughly grease (I use the paper that once covered my margarine square and rub it around the cookie sheets) 2 large baking sheets.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Stir in oats and raisins (and chocolate chips); set aside.

3. In a large bowl (I throw it in my mixer), cream the butter or margarine. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, water, and vanilla. Beat in dry ingredients until completely combined.

4. Drop by rounded tablespoons (onto the cookie sheets - obvious but I do like to state the obvious when others don't), leaving about 1 1/2 inches between cookies. Press with fork to flatten slightly (for a chewier consistency I don't flatten them with a fork).

5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until browned on bottom. Cool on racks.

Variation: For crispier cookies, reduce water to 1 Tbsp and use quick-cooking oats (not instant) instead of rolled oats.

So there you have it! If you ever get around to making these cookies, please enjoy! And, take some advice from me and do yourself a favor, whip up a batch without the egg for cookie dough devouring purposes! Yum! This is my life!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe

If you know me, you know how much I love chocolate! I have to get my fix every day or I feel like something is missing from my life. Sometimes I have a hard time finding something and resort to eating a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Sometimes I have a secret stash of chocolate bars from days passed when Turkey Butt was feeling chocolate bar generous. You see, I don't necessarily need a lot of chocolate each day - just enough to satisfy my craving. So if my sweet hubby comes home with a handful of Wunderbar's for me, I may eat one then and stash the rest for another time.

Lately I have been a baking machine so Turkey Butt is sure to keep my pantry stocked with chocolate (and other baking supplies) so that he can eat some baked goodness too. Today I dug into a bag of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I always bake with these and never milk chocolate chips - but that's just me) and whipped up some Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies! Here's the recipe that I use:

Mama's Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup margarine

1 cup white sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp baking soda

4 tsp milk

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups flour

2 or 3 bananas, mashed

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Cream sugar and butter together. Add beaten egg and mix until fluffy. Add mashed bananas, milk and vanilla - beat until well mixed. Sift the baking soda, salt and flour together. Add to the banana mixture and beat only until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.  Grease, spray, or put muffin papers into muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 18 to 20 minutes. Makes 12.

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Yup, that's my recipe! Super easy and super delicious. This time around I used 2 and a half bananas because that was what I had. In the past I've done it with 3 bananas and with 1 and a half bananas. It really doesn't seem to make much of a difference. This time around I also used muffin papers - I sure do hate the clean up afterwords if I don't - and I find that it makes more muffins that way. I got 16 muffins when I made it today. They come out soft, warm and gooey in the centre with a crisp top. And they are so good. But don't take my word for it - after sending the following text message to Turkey Butt (he was on the third floor working out):

Wait, what's that? Banana chocolate chip muffins, warm out of the oven? You don't say!

I immediately heard a thump thump thump as he came running down the two flights of stairs and straight to our kitchen! This is my life!

P.S. Just for fun...

Turkey Butt runs on the treadmill in his tactical vest (which is full of 30lbs of weights from his gym) while wearing his gas mask. He's a little nervous because he has to spend 6 hours in a gas hut during his birthday weekend. Poor guy!

As Promised...

I'm back again - two days in a row is a pretty good deal. Hopefully I can keep this up! It is such a nice release for me to just write out my thoughts and goings on - even if no one reads them.

As promised, I have a recipe to share with everyone. It might just be my favorite recipe and it's not even for a dessert! It's the recipe I use to make Brown Bread in my bread maker. So simple, yet so tasty! As a bit of an explanation for my American reader (Hi, Lisa!) - Brown Bread is an East Coast tradition. A bread made with molasses that is best served with baked beans. Perhaps you knew that already? I just know that when I asked for Brown Bread when I lived in B.C. I was always given Whole Wheat Bread which is SO not the same!

Machine Brown Bread

1 1/4 cup hot water

4 Tbsp molasses

2 Tbsp butter

1Tbsp white sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 rolled oats

3 cups flour

1 Tbsp quick rise yeast

As always with a breadmaker, you put the ingredients in in the order that they're listed on the recipe. When it comes time to add the yeast, I always make a little bowl in the flour with a spoon and pour it into there so it doesn't hit the moisture before it's supposed to. If you have a Sweet Bread setting on your breadmaker, use that. Mine doesn't have that setting so I bake it on the White Bread setting at 1 1/2lbs with a Medium crust. I only do that because I find that the amount of flour in my brown bread recipe is comparable to my machine's 1 1/2lb White Bread recipe. And, as a special touch, I always rub the top crust of my breads with butter or margarine when it is done cooking. The butter melts nicely over the top giving it a yummy flavour and I find it keeps the crust from getting hard. But that's just me!

Anyway, this is my life!