S'Mores Granola Bars

Granola bars are my favorite grab and go snack and you really can't get any easier than this recipe. I love the Quaker Chewy S'mores Granola Bars, so I tweaked the recipe to be as s'mores like as possible. I used Kraft mini marshmallows, they taste like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms, or the kind that come in those little packets of hot cocoa, so they were perfect for these bars. The finished product was quite similar to the Quaker bars, but a bit chewier and more chocolaty tasting. Definitely a keeper. 

No bake S'mores Granola Bars

Adapted From laurenslatest.com

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats {not rolled oats!}
1 cup crispy rice cereal
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips, plus more for topping

1/2 cup mini marshmallows, plus more for topping

Mix together Rice Krispies, oats, 1/2 cup marshmallows, and mini chocolate chips (if you want them with less chocolate flavor, leave out the chips till the end). Set aside.

 In a small pot, melt butter, honey, and brown sugar together over medium high heat until it starts to bubble. Reduce heat and cook for another two minutes. Stir in the vanilla. 

Remove from heat and pour over oat/rice mixture. Mix well ensuring that all ingredients are moistened. Line a small jelly roll pan (12x8x1) with aluminum foil.

 Pour mixture into lined pan. Pack it in really tightly or the bars won't set and will fall apart when cooled.  

Sprinkle the top with more chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. Let cool, then cut into bars.

 Have a sweet day! 

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Easter! I'm keepin it brief today! Just a good old fashioned recipe for chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. The recipe has gotten over 2000 favorable reviews on allrecipes.com, it's a definite winner! Have a great week!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

allrecipes.com

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 chopped walnuts

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until light and fluffy. 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, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Don't over mix! Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 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.

Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches

Spring has sprung here in Oregon, we are getting sun about one day a week, which is pretty darn good for the Northwest! Spring makes me happy, and when I'm happy, I bake (and run which is needed due to all the baking!) My most recent baking accomplishment is a carrot cake cookie sandwich. I used Martha Stewart's Carrot Cookie Recipe and sandwiched the cookies together with a cream cheese frosting. Martha's recipe calls for raisins but I left them out as I used up all my raisins making these. I also had no cinnamon so I added in pumpkin pie spice instead, sounds weird but surprisingly worked really well in the cookies! They are super moist and the carrots give a nice subtle flavor, don't worry not too carroty. I even had a veggie hater sample one and he declared them delicious, actually he just ate two more so I declare that they must've been delicious!

Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches

Adapted From Martha Stewart

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots, (about 3 large carrots)

Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe here)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper, and set aside.

Combine sugars and butter; beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until well combined.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice; stir to combine.

Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended.

Mix in oats and carrots. Chill dough in refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour.

Using a 1/2-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Transfer to oven, and bake until browned and crisped, rotating pan halfway through baking to ensure even color, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat baking process with remaining dough.

Once cooled completely, spread cream-cheese filling onto a cookie. Sandwich together with a second cookie.

Repeat with remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Happy Easter!

I will be linking up at Sweet Tooth Friday, Rook #17, Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming, and Weekend Wrap Up at Tater Tots and Jello.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, with Grape Nuts!

Oatmeal raisin cookies are my favorite type of cookie. Yup, that's right! I like them even better than chocolate chip! This recipe is great as it includes Grape-Nuts which gives them crunch! The raisins can be switched out for chocolate chips, m&ms, or other dried fruit. Try to let the cookies cool for at least five minutes before indulging, as the cookies cool they acquire the perfect chewy, moist oatmeal raisiny flavor that will send you straight back to your childhood! Enjoy!

Grape Nut Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

From allrecipies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups quick cooking oats

1 cup Grape-Nuts cereal

A few handfuls raisins

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla.

Combine flour, oats, cereal, raisins, baking soda and baking powder.

Gradually add to creamed mixture. Roll into 3/4-in. balls.

Place 2 in. apart o ungreased baking sheets; flatten with a fork. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool for 3 minutes before removing to wire racks.

Hope your day is filled with happiness!

I am linking up to Full Plate Thursdays, Funky Junk Saturday Night Special and It's A Keeper Thursday.

Marionberry Oatmeal Cookie Bars

One of my favorite memories from school was when my mom would add a special dessert to my lunch. Usually, my lunch consisted of a turkey sandwich, cucumbers, a banana, apple juice, and a chocolate chip cookie (and ALWAYS a little encouragement note, which really was the best part)... But, once or twice a week my mom would put in an extra special dessert. Cookies are usually my favorite dessert, but after a whole week of chocolate chip cookies, my heart would give a little leap when I opened up my lunch bag and found a surprise. And believe me, if I had opened my lunch to one of these oatmeal cookie bars, I would've been thrilled! Bar cookies are my fave; they are easy, come together quickly, and, in this case, require just one bowl and a wooden spoon. These bars are just the kind of thing my mom would've treated me with, crunchy oatmeal cookie crust covered by homemade marionberry jam, finished off with a crunchy oat topping. Perfect for slipping in a lunch box to brighten a dreary school day!

Marionberry Oatmeal Cookie Bars

From allrecipes.com

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup butter, softened

1.5 cups marionberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease one 9x13 inch pan, and line with buttered (or non-stick sprayed) parchment paper. Combine brown sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats. Rub in the butter using your hands or a pastry blender to form a crumbly mixture.

Press 2 cups of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. If the mixture is too dry, add a bit more butter.

Spread the jam to within 1/4 inch of the edge. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top, and lightly press it into the jam.

Add a couple more dollops of jam to the top if you like.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned.

Allow to cool before cutting into bars.

What was your favorite school day snack? I would love to know!

PS Don't forget to vote in the poll on the side bar!

I will be linking up to Made By You Monday, Mouthwatering Monday, Rook #17, TaterTots and Jello, Under The Table and Dreaming and Tasty Tuesdays.

Leftover Candy Cookies

Valentines is over, but what to do with all the leftover candy? Why, bake it into some cookies of course! Even better, bake it into some oatmeal cookies, cause oatmeal's healthiness cancels out the candy's not quite so healthiness... or at least that's what I tell myself... I chopped up some Double Crisp Hearts and Cookies and Cream Hearts. The cookies baked up thin, with crispy edges and soft gooey centers. They are super easy to make, and the dough can be refrigerated or frozen for bake on demand cookies.

Chocolate Candy Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from Serious Eat's

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• About 10-12 chocolate candies

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Chop candy into smaller chunks. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and oats and stir until blended.

Stir in candy.

Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until edges are light brown, about 16 minutes. Cool on sheets 5 minutes.

Transfer to rack; cool completely.

Not a bad use for leftovers!

Have a lovely weekend!

Easy No Bake Oatmeal Cookies

Update for you all... I have started crafting.... again. When I first moved into my apartment I would craft ALL the time, I love taking something that starts out plain and ordinary and making it into something extraordinary. The only problem is, I started to run out of room for all my projects. I mean how many hurricane vases can fit in a one bedroom? (I have five) However, I really miss it. I miss the feeling of accomplishment you get after finishing a particularly tricky project, I miss the satisfaction that comes from knowing how much money you saved by making over a thrift store find instead of buying something at pottery barn (or Anthropologie, I LOVE Anthropologie!) So, the other day I had an epiphany.. why not craft stuff that I can either give as gifts or rotate in and out of my apartment decor with the different seasons?! All that being said, I may share some of my crafts on here. Don't get me wrong cooking and baking will definitely still be my main focus (nothing can take their place), I just might add a few crafty projects every once in a while.

And speaking of cooking and baking, I have a NO BAKE recipe to share with you all today. It's different from the usual no-bake cookie recipe in that it does not use chocolate OR peanut butter. I know, crazy, right?! I had some dried blueberries that my lovely mother had picked up for me on a recent grocery trip, so I decided to try and make a cookie using these. I found a basic recipe on Cooks.com and changed it up to make it healthier and use the ingredients I had on hand. They turned out pretty well. Really tasty, but if you don't chill them long enough they will fall apart. Make them the night before, chill them over night and you should be good to go. The oats add texture and are the basis for the cookie. I added in oat bran to up the fiber content and stirred in extra coconut in place of nuts. While you could use raisins in these cookies, I highly recommend trying them with blueberries, they give a great fruity flavor that adds to the whole cookie experience :)

No Bake Oatmeal Blueberry Cookies

Adapted from cooks.com

3 cups quick cooking oats

1 1/3 cup flaked coconut

3/4 cup oat bran

3/4 cup dried blueberries (or raisins)

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk (I used rice milk, if you haven't tried it, you should, it's AMAZING)

1 stick butter, cut into pieces

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together first five ingredients.

Cook sugar, milk and butter over medium heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Add the vanilla.

Pour over all other ingredients and stir until well mixed. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper to cool.

Happy Monday!

Linking up to Tasty Tuesdays!