Tag: chocolate chips

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

chewy-oatmeal-cookies

 

When life gets hectic, I turn to baking. Baking calms my mind and soothes my soul.

Big changes for the Melton household are underway! My head is spinning with all of the adjustments that we are experiencing. After 33 years with different jobs in the same department, Greg has taken a new job. Same company but new department and new responsibilities.  He’s excited about the challenges and looks forward to doing something new. I suppose I always fear the unknown.

 Our oldest child, Wes, has a job that he starts this week! A real, full-time, paying job! He worked a lot during college. Sometimes for no pay, but always with a goal in mind. A paying job is wonderful news, especially for our bank account.

Then there’s Savannah, our baby; she will begin her junior year of college in a few weeks. She is moving out again in just two weeks. She has been busy painting furniture, making Pinterest projects, and shopping for things she’ll need out on her own.

So, with all of that being said, I recently baked. I have been cooking low-carb for several weeks now, so baking these ooey, gooey, chewy oatmeal cookies was a treat! I love a good oatmeal cookie, and these are the best. Baked in a convection oven they bake in about 5 to 7 minutes. These cookies will spread while cooking to a thin, flat cookie.  Lightly brown the edges of the cookies, leaving the middle soft. They should look slightly undercooked in the center when you remove them from the oven. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet and they will firm up as they cool.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
 
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Serves: about 36 cookies
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Ingredients
  • 1½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
  • ½ c. granulated sugar
  • 1 lg. egg
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 3 c. old-fashioned oats
  • 1 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • ½ tsp. kosher salt
  • 2 tbsp. whole milk
  • ½ c. dried cherries
  • ½ c. chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. With an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing until well combined. Stir in oats, flour, baking soda, and salt until well blended. Stir in milk, dried cherries, and chocolate chips.
  3. Place 1 tablespoon (slightly rounded, not flat, not heaping) mounds of dough 2-inches apart on the parchment-lined baking sheets. These cookies do spread while baking, so do not place too close together on your baking sheet.
  4. Bake for 10 minutes (or 5 to 7 in convection oven), or until cooked have browned lighted on the edges but are still soft in the middle.
  5. Let the cookies cool completely at room temperature on the pan.

Peanut Butter Fingers

peanut butter fingers

 

My fascination with cooking came at an early age. It developed when I would watch my mother, grandmothers, and aunts cook and share recipes over the years.

Both sides of my family, the Glovers and the Boltons, were large families. We lived on the same dirt road as many of my Bolton family members and would visit my Glover grandparents house almost every Sunday afternoon, along with many other family members. I was never without a cousin to play with, and I cherish those memories. What I wouldn’t give for one more lazy Sunday afternoon at Ma and Pa’s house or a hot summer day on that old dirt road picking grapes off Bo and Papa’s grapevines.

When I was a little girl, Ma gave me an old Pillsbury Bake Off Cookie cookbook. The book is almost as old as I am, dated 1967. I didn’t spend a lot of time cooking when I was growing up. When I was old enough to help out around the house, my duties were dusting, washing dishes, and vacuuming. However, there was one recipe that Mama would let me cook, and I made it often. At some point Mama even allowed me to start making it without her help. That recipe came from that old 1967 cookbook that Ma had given me, and it was for Peanut Butter Fingers.

Until recently, I had not baked the tasty treats in years. The old cookbook has my childhood handwriting in it, and the page with the Peanut Butter Fingers recipe is worn and has vanilla extract stains on it. Just flipping through the book takes me back…way back!

The peanut butter fingers are chewy with a frosting of melted semi-sweet chocolate chips and then topped with a sweet peanutty drizzle. It’s best to bake these in a 7 x 11-inch pan because baked in a 9 x 13-inch pan they tend to be a little dry. Watch closely and do not overbake.

 

Peanut Butter Fingers
 
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Ingredients
  • ½ c. butter, softened
  • ½ c. creamy peanut butter
  • ½ c. sugar
  • ½ c. firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 c. all-purpose flour
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 c. rolled oats (I used old-fashioned but original recipe calls for quick-cooking)
  • 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • Drizzle:
  • ½ c. sifted confectioners' sugar
  • ¼ c. creamy peanut butter
  • 2 to 4 tbsp. milk
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 7 x 11-inch baking pan and set aside.
  2. In a large mixer bowl beat butter until creamy. Add peanut butter and sugars, mix until combines. Add egg and mix well. Combine flour, soda, and salt, and mix into creamed mixture. Add oats and vanilla and mix until you have coarse crumbs. Press mixture into prepared pan.
  3. Bake at 350° F for 20 to 25 minutes. Watch closely because overbaking will cause the peanut butter fingers to dry out.
  4. Sprinkle immediately with chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes. Spread evenly.
  5. Mix confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, and milk with a whisk or fork until smooth. Drizzle over the top.

 

Japanese Chocolate Pie

Japanese Chocolate Pie

I love coconut!  However, I’m the only person in our house that likes it.  Therefore, I never make recipes with coconut in them.  That is, until recently when I was craving a pie that my mother made often when I was growing up.  It’s a Japanese Chocolate Pie, made with chocolate, pecans, and coconut.  I mean, what could be better than that?  I gave in to the craving and made myself a pie.  Yes, I hate to admit that I made a whole pie for myself, but I did.  It was a delicious as I remember and I don’t regret it one bit!

I used an already pie crust to save time and I thought it worked just fine.  Watch the pie crust closely, my crust was a little brown before I realized it and covered it with foil.

AAA Amye Signature for blog

Japanese Chocolate Pie
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • ½ c. flaked coconut
  • ½ c. chopped pecans
  • ½ c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • ½ tbsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Melt the butter and stir in the chocolate chips, stirring until the chips melt. Add the sugar, eggs, pecans, coconut and vanilla. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350°F about 45 minutes or until firm.