Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies {my favorite cookie EVER}

Hello world! I hope everyone had a very joyous Christmas and a happy New Year. During the Christmas season I made Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. To me the holiday equals baking season. I made several batches of these delicious Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. A few times I added both chocolate chips and crushed Andes Mints. I love them. I love going to Olive Garden and getting them when they give you your receipt after paying the check. These cookies came out soft and chewy every time. They are my go oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. 

These cookies are hands down my favorite cookie. I could eat a whole batch by myself. So let that be your warning, they are addicting. Bake and eat at your own risk. Don't let my poor photography shy you away from such a life changing, yummy cookie. 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Radiant Dust 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or some other chip)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 11-12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 
4. Eat up and enjoy. (My favorite is to eat them while they are still slightly warm. I also love to dip them in almond milk.)

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. Until next time.

Peace, love, bake on.

                                    Andrea  

Christmas Cupcakes.

It has been a very busy Christmas season. I meant to put up a new post several days ago, but time got away from me. 

Let me first say, Merry Christmas! I hope you and your family have a very blessed Christmas. 

Now, its the day before Christmas, aka Christmas Eve, and you are thinking to yourself, "What can I make for dessert that's festive, creative, and easy to make?" Well, I believe I have the answer for you. Cupcakes. 

Make any cupcake you like and any frosting you like. After piping the frosting on, decorate like this (below). 

You may be wondering what "this" is. All I did was melt some almond bark, put in a sandwich baggie with a small corner tip cut off, and then wrote words with it.  It's really that simple. 

Everyone who saw these cupcakes were amazed. They couldn't figure out how I did it. I basked in the glory of stumping some people. Not only, these cupcakes are festive, and it looks as though I put immense work into them but in all reality, it was pretty simple. 

To make these you will need:

• Frosted cupcakes
• Chocolate to melt (almond bark, chocolate chip, Wilton melties)
• Sandwich baggie, with a small tip cut off in one corner.
• Wax paper

Directions:

1. Melt chocolate in a bowl in the microwave. Place a sheet of wax paper on cookie sheet (That's what I do so that it can easily be moved).
2. After chocolate has melted, spoon some chocolate in the sandwich baggie. 
3. Now carefully, with the baggie like you were piping frosting, write words on the wax paper. 
4. Allow to cool (you may put it in the freezer or the fridge so that it will harden quicker or to store)
5. Carefully remove from wax paper, and place gently on top of frosted cupcake.
6. Enjoy and be amazed. 
   
   
   
   

           

Have a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to comment or email me. 

Peace, love, bake on.

               Andrea 

Thanksgiving Oreo Turkeys

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It's so festive, and little pressure is placed upon the holiday. I could go on my soap box and talk about how Black Friday is no longer on Black Friday, but has instead intruded on a holiday where we reflect on the blessings that have been bestowed upon us and are thankful for what we have and the people that surround us. But I won't go take that step onto my soap box, I will, however,  talk about about turkeys.

Thanksgiving has long centered around the family table that is topped with a roasted turkey, a side of stuffing, and a slice of pumpkin pie. That's the way it is, and that's the way I like it. Because of this magnificent fact it is so easy to be festive on Thanksgiving. I can put pumpkin in anything, and everyone's cool with that. I can make food to look like turkeys, and that makes everyone more festive. And that is exactly what I did. 

I try to do this every year. Last year, I made cupcakes, and I made them into a big turkey shape.

One of my brothers and one of my sisters wanted a pic with the cupcake turkey. 

This year I decided to use OREOS as my medium for creating my turkey. 

These Oreo turkeys are fairly easy to make. I put each Oreo on a sucker stick (which can be found at Walmart or other craft stores). I used candy corn as the feathers, and M&Ms as the eyes. For the beak, I used frosting that I dyed orange.

Thanksgiving OREO Turkeys:

Ingredients:

Oreos

Sucker sticks

White almond bark or white chocolate

Chocolate chips (semi sweet or you can use almond bark)

Frosting

Frosting dyes (red and orange)

M & Ms

Candy corn

Directions: 

1. Melt some white almond bark in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl (about 2 squares).
2. Gently twist each of the Oreos apart, so that the cream stays on part of the cookie and the other is clean. 
3. Put melted melted chocolate in a baggie with a small tip clipped at one end. Squeeze a small amount of chocolate onto the cream side of the Oreo. 
4. Next, place a sucker stick on the small amount of the chocolate that is on the cream side of the Oreo. Add the top back onto the Oreo. Repeat until all of Oreos have been done. 
5. Next, melt the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave. 
6. Dip the pointy end of the candy corn in to the chocolate. Then put in between the two cookie halves of the Oreo. I put 4-5 pieces of candy corn on each Oreo.
7. After all of the Oreos have candy corn on them, place in the freezer or fridge so that the chocolate can harden up (In the freezer for about 15-20 minutes).
8. For the eyes, you will need more white chocolate or just remelt the leftovers the  from previous steps. Using the same bag as before, pipe two small circle dollops on the Oreo (This makes the white of the eye). Then place an M&M on each of the dollops. Repeat for rest of Oreos.
9. Next, dye half of the frosting orange, place in a sandwich baggie with tip cut off. Pipe the beaks on the Oreos. (I basically did a squiggle; I started the squiggle bigger at one end and then taper off; refer to picture).
10. To make the snood (the red thing that hangs off a turkey's beak), dye the other half of the frosting red. Using a sandwich baggie with the tip cut of, pipe the snood on the larger side of the beak (I made a little line on the larger side of the beak).
11. Place in freezer or fridge to allow the chocolate to solidify if it hasn't already. 
12. Share with the family and friends!

I'm sorry if the directions are thoroughly confusing. It was sometimes hard ot explain what I was doing. If you have any questions please feel free to email me or contact me. Have a Happy & Blessed Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving,

                              Andrea