Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Done RIGHT

Oatmeal raisin cookies and I have a love hate relationship. Cookie is chewy? Love it. Oatmeal cookie is hard and tastes like the fiber it's actually made of? Hate it. 


This here, listen close, is the perfect oatmeal raisin cookie. It comes from Smitten Kitchen so it shouldn't be any surprise that these cookies are heavenly. They're everything oatmeal, raisins, brown sugar, and hazelnuts wish they could be in a cookie form. They're chewy and so thick and spiced and perfectly crunchy in all the right places. They disappear before they cool. But if you manage to hold onto a few until the next day, they're still as good as straight out of the oven. 


I'm serious. Make these. Ya hear?

Thick, Chewy, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
makes about 2 dozen


Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) butter, softened
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt (I often use a half teaspoon, but I like more salt in my baked goods)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup hazelnuts, chopped & toasted (optional... but highly recommended)


Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).


In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, raisins and toasted hazelnuts, if using them. (Use them!)

At this point you can either chill the dough for a bit in the fridge and then scoop it, or scoop the cookies onto a sheet and then chill the whole tray before baking them. This helps with making them super duper thick and yummy. I think I chilled mine for 30-45 minutes.  


Place cookies two inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes (your baking time will vary, depending on your oven and how cold the cookies were going in), taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Seriously, don't over cook these. Stare at cookies for 3 1/2 minutes waiting for them to cool & then burn your mouth because you can't wait the extra minute and a half. BUT what you really should do is: Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.


ENJOY & eat happy!
xo 

Cheese, Please!

          Oh, how I love cheese!

          -On the Menu-

Delice de Bourgogne, France  

Great Hill Blue *website

Brillat Savarin, France

Manchego, Spain 

La Buche, France

Morbier Fermier, France 

English Type Cheddar *Cellars at Jasper Hill 

Banana Bread

Nothing tastes better in the morning than a warm slice of buttery banana bread and a hot cup of coffee...

A quick and simple recipe that I go to all the time!...

Ingredients

• 2  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1  cup  sugar
• 2  teaspoons  baking powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1  cup  mashed ripe banana (2 to 3 medium)
• 1/2  cup  margarine or butter, softened
• 3  tablespoons  milk
• 2    eggs
• 1  cup  toasted walnuts
• 
  

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 1 cup of the flour, the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add mashed ripe banana, margarine or butter, and milk. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until blended. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs and remaining flour; beat until blended. Stir in walnuts.

2. Pour into two greased 8x4x2-inch loaf pans. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the centers comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool thoroughly on wire racks. Wrap and store overnight, for easier slicing. Makes 2 loaves (32 servings).

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

White Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake

Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 (1 ounce) squares white chocolate
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 package of fresh strawberries
• 1 cup strawberry jam
• 
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Wrap the outside of a 10 inch springform pan with foil. Grease the inside of the pan.
2. Place the cream cheese, sugar, and flour in a mixing bowl and cream until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape bowl.
3. Melt 4 ounces of the white chocolate. With an electric mixer on low speed, mix melted white chocolate into cream cheese mixture. Keeping electric mixer on low, slowly beat in the vanilla and 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Blend well. Pour mixture into the prepared springform pan.
4. Place cheesecake pan in a water bath filled with warm water. Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 50 to 60 minutes, or until center of the cheesecake is just firm. Cool at room temperature for 1 hour. Refrigerate until set before removing from pan.
5. Place strawberries over chilled cheesecake and serve.  We also melted a cup of strawberry jam and poured it over the strawberries, which made it even more delicious!

My favorite strawberry jam-

*Recipe adapted from allrecipes

Joe's pizza parties- A yearly tradition

Homemade dough, an assortment of fresh toppings, and a wood-fired brick oven...pizza that is out of this world!

Firing up!

Finally ready for pizza's...

The man himself-Joe Bucchieri

Fig, Goat Cheese, Spinach, and Sweet Onion Relish

Anxiously awaiting! 

Simple but delicious- Basil and Mozzarella

A favorite- Caramelized Onion 

Mozzarella, Pesto, Red Pepper, Mushroom, and Onion

And for dessert...a White Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake and a Dark Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Cake

"Extravagant and Decadent!"

Berries Berries Berries!

A homemade fresh berry tart from this past Summer...so delicious!  It reminds me of the beautiful pastries we would see in the windows of the pâtisseries in Aix-En-Provence a few years ago when we were all studying there together... 

Recipe: 

1.  Bake the tart shell and let it cool.  If a removable-bottom pan was used, remove the shell from the rim in which it was baked.

2.  Fill the tart shell with pastry cream and smooth over the top.

3.  Garnish the top of the pastry cream, placing berries as close as possible to completely cover the cream.  

*We used strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries, but feel free to use whatever fresh fruit you please!

Baked Tart Shell

• 2 cups flour

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 12 tablespoons very cold butter

• 2 egg yolks

• 2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

1.  Place the flour, salt and sugar in the container of a food processor.  Cut the butter into small pieces and add it.  Add the yolks.  Blend briefly and gradually add the water.  Add only enough water until the dough pulls away from the sides of the container.

2.  Gather the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and chill for one hour.  

3.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400˚F.

4.  Roll out the dough and use it to line a 10-inch tart pan.  Line the dough with foil and fill with dried beans or rice.

5.  Place a baking sheet in the oven.  Place the pastry shell on the baking sheet and bake 20 minutes.  Remove and discard the dried beans or rice and foil.  Reduce the oven heat to 375˚F.

6.  Continue baking until the tart shell is golden brown on the bottom.  Remove and let cool.

Pastry Cream
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.  Blend one cup of the milk and the cream in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
2.  As the mixture is heated, put the egg yolks and sugar into a mixing bowl and beat until pale yellow.  Add the cornstarch to the yolk mixture and beat well.  Add the remaining one-half cup of milk and beat until blended.
3.  When the milk and cream mixture is at the boil, remove from the heat.  Add the yolk mixture, beating rapidly with a wire whisk.
4.  Return to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly with the whisk.  When thickened and at the boil, remove from the heat.  Add the vanilla and let cool, stirring occasionally.


*Adapted from Living Tastefully