Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350, rack in the middle position.

2 cups melted unsalted butter (4 sticks)
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs - beaten
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsps vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
4 cups flour ( I used half whole wheat flour and half white flour)
3 cups craisins
3 cups rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a large microwave safe bowl. Add sugars and let cool a bit. Add eggs, baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add flour and mix. Then add cranberries and oats and mix everything up. The dough will be quite stiff.

Drop by teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a sheet.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Remove to rack until cool.

Yield: about 10 dozen depending on cookie size.

This dough freezes well if you roll it in foil and put the rolls in a freezer bag.

This is another recipe from the mystery series I'm reading. I added chocolate chips to half the batch and though I couldn't taste any myself, the rate at which they disappeared makes me confident they were very tasty.

Cinnamon Crisps

Preheat oven to 325 with rack in middle position.

Ingredients
2 cups melted unsalted butter (4 sticks)
2 cups brown sugar (loosely packed)
1 cup white sugar
2 beaten eggs
2 tsps vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp salt
4 1/4 cups flour (I used half whole wheat flour and half white flour)

dough-ball rolling mixture
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. Add the sugars and mix. Let the mixture cool to room temperature while you beat the eggs, and then stir them in. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Mix well. Add flour in incrememnts, mixing after each addition.

Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls. If dough is too sticky, chill for an hour before rollling.

Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl to make the dough-ball rolling mixture. Roll the dough balls in the mixture, then place them on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. Flatten the dough balls with a greased or floured spatula.

Bake at 325 for 10-15 minutes. They should have a touch of gold around the edges. Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then remove the cookies to a rack to finish cooling.

Yield: aproximately 6 dozen, depending on cookie size.

I've been reading a mystery series where the main character owns a bakery. Recipes are sprinkled throughout the book and low and behold I've been on a huge cookie making spree. These were really good.

Buttermilk Oven-Fried Chicken with Coleslaw


Cracker meal gives the coating more crunch; look for it on the baking aisle of your supermarket. If you can't find cracker meal, make your own by pulsing 10 saltine crackers in a food processor until they're finely ground. Or place them in a zip-top plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin.


Yield 4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast half and 3/4 cup slaw)

Ingredients
Coleslaw:
4 cups packaged cabbage-and-carrot coleslaw
3 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds (I used 1/8 tsp celery salt instead)
1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt (I omitted this because of above celery salt)



Chicken:
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
4 (8-ounce) bone-in chicken breast halves, skinned
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cracker meal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter

Preparation
1. To prepare coleslaw, combine first 6 ingredients; toss to coat. Cover and chill.
2. Preheat oven to 425°.
3. To prepare chicken, combine buttermilk and chicken in a shallow dish, turning to coat.
4. Combine flour and cracker meal in a shallow dish. Transfer chicken from buttermilk to a work surface. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Working with one chicken breast half at a time, dredge chicken in flour mixture, shaking off excess; set aside. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken and flour mixture.
5. Melt butter in a large ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan, meat side down; cook 4 minutes or until golden brown. Turn chicken over, and bake at 425° for 32 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°.

This Cooking Light recipe was so good and easy to make - I'll definitely be adding this to our summer meal rotation!