Cookies...

If there's one thing you can't have too many of...it's a great cookie recipe, especially if it includes chocolate chips!  I McGyver'd these over the weekend.  I took some to my daughter's yesterday when I went to watch the little granddude for a few hours.  She text'd me later telling me 'those cookies are a keeper'.

Then made another batch today to give to Marshall (my oldest) since he was coming over for dinner. I mentioned cookies and fresh walleye from Lake Erie and he was all about joining us!!

Duh...I did not take any photos when I made them.  I thought about it with the first batch, but since it was my 'test' batch, I didn't.  Then today...just forgot.

I did not put in any raisins in either batch.  I knew Marshall didn't want any, so just left them out. Next time I'll make them with maybe 3/4 cup of both chocolate chips and raisins.

Here's the finished product!!  Yep...it was quite tasty.  It's resting on a plate that was my husband's paternal grandmother's.  I love to use our family treasure.  I use the same grandmother's silverware every day.  Why keep those lovelies packed away.

Here you go:

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2
  c. all-purpose flour
• ½
  tsp. baking soda
• ½
  tsp. salt
• 1
  Tbsp. cornstarch
• ¾
  c. butter, melted (1½ sticks) OR softened butter *
• 1
  c. packed brown sugar
• ½
  c. white sugar
• 1
  Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1
  egg
• 1
  egg yolk
• 1½
  c. old-fashioned oats
• 1-½
  c. chocolate chips
• 1
  heaping cup raisins (optional)
  
  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Your cookies turn out so much better with parchment paper. OR use a silpat.
  
  Melt butter and let cool slightly.
  
  Mix flour, baking soda, salt & cornstarch; set aside.
  
  In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in vanilla, egg, and egg yolk for 2-3 minutes until light and creamy.
  
  Mix in the flour mixture until just blended.
  Add the oats and any chocolate chips, nuts,or raisins. Mix until just blended.
  
  Place 1/4 cup balls of dough onto parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 14-16 minutes. Do not over bake. The edges should look brown and the centers still slightly soft. Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
  
  These were PERFECT at 14 min. on convection bake in my oven.
  
  * I made these with melted butter and softened butter.  There was no difference in the taste but the melted butter did bake up to be a prettier cookie.  That said, I don't know that I'd take the time in the future to melt the butter.  But...if I've got Ghee sitting on my counter, I'll try that next time.

Pies...Pies...and MORE Pies

A lot of pies came out of  my kitchen this July 4th holiday.  First there was the 'trial' (blueberry) I did since I was using a new dough recipe (see below).  Hubs won out there!

Then we went to a 4th of July party at a friend's house.  I was given desserts!!  Woohoo!!

There's a Blueberry/red raspberry pie, Blueberry pie and a Brie/black & red raspberry pizza.  I will be posting the Brie pizza recipe soon.

My older son wanted to learn how to make pies so we had a Pie Making 101 class in my kitchen!! Apple is one of his favorites, so that's what he made.  Except for the arrangement of the stars/stripes, he did everything!

Then...we had all the kiddos and the granddude over for a cookout on the 4th.  This one is blueberry and I made homemade vanilla bean ice cream to go with it.  Duh...this is pre-baked since I forgot to snap a photo when I took it out of the oven.

The new pie crust recipe I tried is from THIS class on Craftsy.  You'll have to go there for the recipe (don't want to infringe on Gesine Bullock-Prado's or Craftsy's copyrights).  All I'll say is the recipe is an all butter with a bit of lemon juice mixed with the water.  I got her Craftsy class FREE from a link I found online right before the July 4th weekend. But...if you can get her class on one of their 'sales'...go for it...it's worth it!!  I consider myself an 'advanced' pie maker and I learned some great tips from Gesine.  Just like anything else...whether baking, cooking, knitting, sewing or quilting...you can't have too much knowledge.

In all the pies, I used CLEAR JEL.  It's an amazing product and I purchase it directly from King Arthur Flour.  I also use only King Arthur flours in my kitchen.  I can't say enough about the great quality of their product, whether an ingredient, tool or gadget like a digital scale.