oatmeal chocolate chip cookies cups

I like following a schedule.  I am glued to my iPhone.  Google Calendar is like my right hand.  They even make refrigerators now with screens that have google in them so that you can keep your calendar, write notes, make grocery lists, and make your life infinitely better.  I don't know who makes it, but I will have this in my house.  Someday.

Sometimes routines are good.  Sometimes, you just cannot bake another. chocolate. chip. cookie.

So after my test batch of these oatmeal chocolate chip little fellas, I just couldn't do it.  I was bored.  So I whipped out my cupcake pan, filled them with fun little wrappers, and pressed that dough right in those things.  I wasn't sure they'd turn out well, but I was pleasantly surprised to yield this:

They're gooey, chewy, and the perfect portion.  Plus they're cute.  And that's all I ever want in my baked goods, anyways.  You know I love oatmeal, and these really aren't overly oat-y, but just add a nice chewy texture to an otherwise so-very-regular-it-makes-your-soul-die kind of cookie.

This is actually a recipe that I've been working on for a long time.  I saw shortening in a chocolate chip cookie recipe a while ago, (thanks, Chrissy!) and I was so intrigued.  I must have stared at this post for days before I tried it.  Shortening!  So bad it should be outlawed.  But it makes the softest, chewiest cookies.   My love for all things brown butter has found its match.  But I just can't choose.  Call me Sophie.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

from yours truly

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, unsalted, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for topping
1 cup old-fashioned oats
2 cups chocolate chips

1. Cream together butter, shortening, and sugars in large bowl until smooth.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each addition.
3. Stir in vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder.  Add flour mixture to butter in three parts, mixing together until just incorporated each time.  Do not overmix.
5. Add oats and chocolate chips and mix to combine.
6. Let dough chill for about an hour (or up to 24) before preheating oven to 350 degrees.
7. Once chilled, line cupcake pans with liners and press about 1 1/2" ball of dough into cupcake mold, or enough to fill the entire cup. (Dough will not rise much.)  Lightly sprinkle tops of cookies with just a bit of kosher salt.
8. Bake for about 12-14 minutes until outer edges are golden brown and inside no longer looks shiny and doughy.

red velvet chocolate chip cookies

Red velvet.  Yeah, that's right.  Red velvet cookies.  I have to admit, I'm not a chocolate cookie fan, but these exceeded my expectations.  Just chocolate-y enough, and semi-cake-like for just the right texture.  I first saw these on my favorite blog, How Sweet It Is, a while ago, but just had the guts to try them last week.  If you're in the mood for a new take on the classic CCC recipe, I'd highly recommend this recipe.

The only modifications I made were replacing most of the flour with cake flour in order to make the cookies a bit more cake-like and soft.  I'm a big fan of soft, chewy cookies, and these seemed to compliment its cake ancestor nicely.  I love the cracks that all of the baking soda makes in them, too!

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies

recipe adapted from Jessica at How Sweet It Is

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon red food coloring
1/2 cup Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy. 
3. Add egg and vanilla and combine until smooth. 
4. Beat in red food coloring. 
5. Stir in cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt until just combined. 
6. Fold in chocolate chips. 
7. Scoop out dough into 1-2 tablespoon balls and set on baking sheet. 
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes until middle begins to crack a little.

simple parisian lemon macarons

I've been known to get a little...excited...about certain things in life.  Coffee, for example.  Nothing gets me excited like an amazing latte or tea or just plain old coffee.  Scones.  Oh, but we've already discussed that.  Regardless of these everpresent obsessions in my life, I've got a new one for you.  Macarons.  No, not those god awful coconut things.  Real. French. Macarons.  I've done my research on what makes them delicious.  Aside from actually sitting on a park bench in Paris overlooking the Rue de la Paix and enjoying a pistachio macaron from a real patisserie, I've been around the macaron block.

So, I finally did it.  Take a second and imagine me as Julie (a la Julie and Julia), and these macarons as boeuf bourguignon.  You now understand why I'm so excited that I finally made these.  I've tried before.  Unsucessfully to say the least.  But these little suckers came out fairly decently for my second try.  Although I did it without a scale (and virtually every recipe demands that you weigh the ingredients), I'd call this one an overall win.  The biggest tool you'll need for this project, however, my friends, is good old fashioned p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e.  But, I assure you, they are well worth the wait.  As are most things in life.

Simple Pairisian Lemon Macarons 

macaron recipe adapted from bon apetit; buttercream from yours truly

For the macarons:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup (lightly packed) sifted almond flour [I made this from scratch: see note below]
1/2 cup (scant) egg whites (from about 3 large eggs), aged 24-48 hours

2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar

1. Line 2 large baking sheets with silpat or parchment. 
2. Sift powdered sugar and almond flour into large bowl. 
3. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites, sugar, and pinch of salt in medium bowl until medium peaks form. 
4. Add egg white mixture to almond mixture; fold to incorporate. 
5. Fill pastry bag fitted with 1/4-inch-diameter plain pastry tip with batter (batter will be thin and will drip from bag). Pipe batter in 11/4-inch rounds on baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart (cookies will spread slightly). Let rest on sheets at room temperature 20 minutes.
6. Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 375°F. Bake cookies 5 minutes. 
7. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Continue to bake cookies until puffed and golden on top, about 10 minutes, reversing sheets after 5 minutes. 
8. Cool cookies on sheets on rack. Carefully peel cookies from parchment. 

For the lemon buttercream:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest

1. Beat all ingredients together on stand mixer until smooth, about 4 minutes.
2. Assemble cookies by piping dime-sized ball of frosting onto one cookie and gently place equal shaped cookie on top.
3. Let cookies rest at room temperature for about 45 minutes to harden before serving.

To make almond flour:
1-2 cups natural raw almonds

1. Blanch almonds in boiling water for 30 seconds, just until the skins begin to prune.
2. Remove from water, strain, and place on paper towel to dry.
3. Grasp almond between your thumb and forefinger at the pointy tip of the almond and squeeze gently.  The almond should slide right out.
4. Repeat until all almonds are skinned. Discard skins.
5. Place almonds in food processor and ground them for about 4-5 minutes.  You want your flour to be as fine as possible.
6. Remove flour from food processor and sift into a large bowl.  There will be grounds that will not filter through the sifter; take these and place back in food processor and grind again.  Do not keep any large bits that don't sift through the sifter. 

Makes approximately 24 macarons.

blueberry brown oat cookies

Its pretty well known that I love cookies.  But do you also know how much I love blueberries?  And because summer is creeping up slowly, my obsession is only going to become even more prevalent.  Beware.  I'll put blueberries on anything.  Protein shakes, pancakes, toast, cereal...you name it, if I've got blueberries, they'll be in my every meal.

So when I randomly picked up the blueberry version of Craisins the other night at the grocery store (don't ask why, I couldn't tell you) I have been thinking about these things ever since.  Scones?  Been there.  Muffins?  Not the biggest muffin fan.  Cookies?  Hmm...I'm intrigued.  Could I finally have a chance to try my hand at a whole wheat cookie and make it a hearty little bugger?

Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have ourselves a kitchen success.  Pretty good sendoff to this treacherous kitchen, if you ask me.  The combination of the whole wheat flour, cinnamon, oats, and brown butter make this a very tasty little thing.  And oddly enough, since I ran out of granulated sugar, I only used brown sugar [hence the name - I'm quite clever, I know.]  But honestly, I think it really enhances the nuttiness of the brown butter and the overall heartiness of the cookie.  Adding walnuts would probably also be a great idea; I just didn't feel like it at the time.  But please let me know if you do!

Blueberry Brown Oat Cookies

recipe from yours truly


1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oats
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Brown butter in medium saucepan, about 7 minutes, until foam is gone and brown specks appear.
3. Place brown sugar in a large mixing bowl, and once butter is browned, immediately pour over sugar.  Let butter cool into sugar for about 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, combine flours, oats, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a small mixing bowl and mix well.
5. Once butter is cooled, add egg and beat until well incorporated.  Add vanilla.
6. Add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring thoroughly but not too much, until just incorporated. Add the other half of flour mixture, following same technique. Dough should be sticky and not at all runny—if it is, add more all-purpose flour, one tablespoon at a time, until dough is thick and drier.
7. Gently stir in blueberries and walnuts, if desired, until well distributed, and place in the refrigerator to cool, about 10 minutes.
8. Spoon dough onto a parchment-paper lined baking sheet, about 1 inch in diameter and somewhat rounded. Bake for approximately 8 minutes, or until cookies appear brown on edges and small bubbles appear in the middle.

Makes about one dozen cookies. Recipe is easily doubled.

chocolate chip whoopies

It's a bird!  A plane!  Actually, my friends, it is I.  Back from the blogging hiatus to bring you a few wonderful treats upon which to feast your eyes.  And then, hopefully, your tummies.  


Yesterday was Katie's birthday.  And for months I've been plotting planning the perfect baked good to create for this occasion.  This isn't just any birthday, folks.  It's the big 2-5.  And it's Katie Peters.  Perhaps you recall the depths of our baking history, 20 years in the making.   So you understand: this had to put the good in baked good.

Let me take you back to 1998 for a second.  I don't remember how many times Katie and I stopped at Mrs. Field's during our million and a half mall trips and feasted on these beautiful creations: two chocolate chip cookies sandwiched between a good solid inch of white sprinkled frosting.  Pure heaven in dessert form, if you ask me.  So after high school, college, and the disappearance of preteen metabolism, these little suckers have existed only in our memories.  Until now.

I graduated the term "cookie sandwich" that Katie and I have used to refer to these treats for years to a much more mature "Chocolate Chip Whoopies" as you can tell that they play on the whoopie pie form, yet don't fully embody the term enough to dub it as such.  So, there you have it: kinda whoopie, kinda sandwich, but mostly just bliss.  The cookie is my own recipe, and since I've been dying to try the "best frosting ever" that has been raved about by one of my favorite bloggers, I used that as the filling.  The frosting is not overly sweet, and definitely unique in that it uses flour (gasp!) and no powdered sugar.  It doesn't mirror the Mrs. Field's frosting precisely, but it still was a hit.  I'll be trying it again on my next batch of cupcakes.  Or just when I feel the need.  The need for frosting.

Chocolate Chip Whoopies
cookie recipe from yours truly; frosting from Missy Dew on tasty kitchen

Cookies:
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups cake flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
2 sticks butter
1 ¼ cup light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
¾ package Gihardelli 60% cacao chips

1. Cut butter into small chunks and place in saucepan. Heat over medium heat until completely melted, and continue to stir until butter becomes somewhat clear and brown-ish colored (about 5-8 minutes.) 
2. Remove from heat and add to sugar mixture (do not stir or mix together) and allow to come to room temperature – put in fridge for about 10 minutes. 
3. Meanwhile, prepare dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 
4. Once sugar/butter mixture is completely cooled, beat together until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. 
5. Add flour mixture to butter and sugar mixture, one cup at a time, until just combined. 
6. Once all ingredients are combined, mix in chocolate chips. 
7. Spoon dough into desired size and roll together in hands to ensure uniform size and baking shape. It is imperative that the cookies be uniform in shape and size. 
8. Bake cookies on parchment paper-lined cookie sheet for approximately 12 minutes, until holes/cracks appear in middle of cookie and border becomes golden brown. 
9. Let cookies cool completely for one hour before assembling whoopies. 

Frosting:
5 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated (not powdered!) sugar

1. In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. (This won't take long - you want it about as thick as brownie batter.) 
2. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature completely. Stir in vanilla. 
3. While mixture is cooling, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy - until all of the graininess of the sugar is gone. 
4. Add the cooled flour/milk/vanilla mixture and beat completely until it resembles the texture of whipped cream.

Assembly:

1. Make sure your cookies are completely cool. I know I already said this. But seriously, they better not be warm in the least! 
2. Match cookies up with the one that most closely resembles its size and shape. In other words, find its whoopie soul mate. Flip one of each of the pairs so that the flat edge is facing up. 
3. Fill pastry bag with frosting, using the star attachment. Holding the bag at a 45 degree angle and about 1/2" away from the cookie, outline the outer edge of the flipped cookie and complete the outline. Fill in the rest of the cookie with circles with decreasing size until cookie is completely frosted. 
4. Gently place the other half of the whoopie on top of the frosted half and let sit until the temptation overcomes you. Enjoy.

brown butter peanut butter cookies

Ever since this little experiment, I have a problem. No, not that I decided not to bake with chocolate chips anymore. Nor do I let the butter in my fridge talk me into anything anymore. I am obsessed with browning butter. Yes, you heard me. Browning butter. (I also get an odd amount of joy from creaming butter by hand, so it's really a win-win no matter which route I choose.)  But browning butter? It's wildly convenient. It's fun to do. Oh yeah, and it makes some uniquely delicious baked goods. 

Naturally, then, when a friend asks for peanut butter cookies, I invent a recipe that uses brown butter. Maybe I have too much pride, but I feel like anything can use brown butter (at least, it won't hurt to try it...well, maybe on second thought, it might hurt your waistline.) Regardless, I was pretty pleased with the outcome of this recipe.

The cookies came out moist, and with a great nutty flavor. What better combination than the nutty flavor from the browned butter and actual peanut butter? I read a few recipes/blogs that said that natural peanut butter (we all know the devil on my shoulder is Natural Jif) is bad to bake with, but I think Natural Jif is a safe choice. It's the only "natural" peanut butter that doesn't have the oil sediment on top of it, so the joke's on you, Jif. Although, I'm not complaining, because I personally find salty/oily peanut butter repulsive.


Okay, I'm getting off the topic here.  Cookies.  Right.  Make these.

Brown Butter Peanut Butter Cookies

from yours truly

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 ½ tsp baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ tsp salt

½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed light brown sugar

½ teaspoon honey
¼ cup milk
1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 egg

1. In a large bowl, mix brown sugar and granulated sugar. Brown the butter in a medium saucepan and add to the sugars. Set aside and allow mixture to cool for about ten minutes.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Once butter is cooled, add peanut butter and honey and beat on medium speed just until smooth. Beat in egg. Mix in milk.
4. Add the flour mixture and mix just until dough comes together.
5. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least two hours or up to overnight.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
7. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Flatten by pressing down with a fork, while holding sides of cookie in order to maintain circular shape. Press fork into cookie again in a perpendicular angle to first indentation, forming a crosshatch pattern.
8. Bake until cookies begin to brown around edges, but centers still look somewhat doughy, about 9-10 minutes.
9. Immediately upon removing from oven, sprinkle sugar on tops of cookies and let cool on baking sheets until firm enough to handle, then transfer to a wire rack.

Makes about 40 cookies.

gingerbread latte cookies

I adore coffee.  I adore cookies.  So it should really come as no shock when I name my cookie creations after the wonderful creations that my happy places create.  These little holiday treats?  Those came from good old 'bou.  But these?  These come from the mecca.  The institution.  The 'bucks.

Why am I calling these Gingerbread Latte Cookies?  Simple, really.  They're gingerbread-like, but they are suuuuuper moist and soft.  (Can you also tell that I despise hard cookies?)  I found this recipe on Two Peas and their Pod and knew that I had to work with it - it's not often that I find others share my utility in moist, soft, chewy cookies.  They even added white chocolate chunks to them (which is also one of my favorites, and come to think of it, Caribou's gingerbread latte is white mocha...hmm...), but I decided just to work with the base of the recipe.

The spices all work together nicely - and I think the allspice is key.  Just make sure to cook these little things for a while - they end up very moist and soft even with a longer baking time.  I think I've learned that adding canola oil to cookies and muffins make them extremely doughy, which I think is why you need to bake them longer (and also why my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies were an epic fail.)  Leaving the cookies on the baking sheet after they have finished baking for at least five minutes definitely proved to also be key, too - it allows them to continue to bake and harden a bit while the pan cools.  I also love rolling the dough balls in sugar before baking!  Fun to do and it definitely cuts down on the spice in the cookie.  All in all, this recipe is most certainly a keeper!

Gingerbread Latte Cookies

Adapted slightly from Two Peas and their Pod

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup molasses

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon allspice

2 large eggs

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chunks, optional

1/4 cup granulated sugar for rolling dough

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Cream together butter an sugar until smooth and creamy.
3. Beat in molasses, canola oil, vanilla, baking soda, salt, and spies. Mix until well combined.
4. Add eggs one at a time and beat until smooth. Slowly add in flour. Stir in white chocolate chunks if desired.
5. Form dough into 1/2" dough balls and roll in sugar. Place on lined baking sheets and bake for about 10-12 minutes. Cookies will be very doughy, but let cool on baking sheet for five minutes to allow to harden. Transfer to wire rack and cool completely.

chocolate iced christmas sugar cookies

You know that song in The Hangover that plays once the guys start trying to figure out what happened the night before?  The super catchy one that makes you just want to bob your head left to right?  Yeah, the one that's super vulgar and nasty, but nonetheless, catchy.  Well, it was stuck in my head the whole time I was making these cookies.  And I couldn't help but come up with my own little tune.

What do you say when your friend asks for cookies?

You say thank you. Thank you for giving me a way to update my blog.

What do you do when you actually don't have the white chocolate you thought you had to make the frosting that you're-so-proud-you-thought-of-yourself-and-can't-wait-to-share? (I took some syllabic liberties here with that verse.)

Make milk chocolate frosting instead and dip those suckers in it.

What do you do when you get tired of making the cookies the same way?

You make little cookie sandwiches. And tell yourself you're a genius for creating homemade Milanos.

What's your friend say when you bring her the cookies in the morning?

...well, stay tuned.

Chocolate Iced Christmas Sugar Cookies

Adapted from Bake at 350

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 c sugar

2 sticks unsalted butter, cold

1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon pure almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine the flour and baking powder, set aside. 
3. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined.  The dough will be crumbly, so knead it together with your hands as you scoop it out of the bowl for rolling.
4. Roll onto a floured surface and cut into shapes. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets (I recommend freezing the cut out shape on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before baking) and bake for 10-12 minutes.Let sit a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Chocolate frosting:

from yours truly

1/4 cup milk chocolate chips (I used Guittard)

2 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Place chocolate, milk, and vanilla in microwave safe bowl or over a double boiler and melt, careful not to burn.  Stir until no lumps remain.
2. Add powdered sugar until frosting becomes less runny but still pliable.
3. Frost cookies once cooled, and let cookies set overnight before packaging.

mint condition brownie cookies

It's Thanksgiving!  Time to give thanks, and how better than to bake an extraordinary amount of goodies with your sister?  Inspired by one of mine and my sister's old favorite spots, Caribou Coffee, these cookies combine dark chocolate and peppermint for a perfectly moist and fulfilling cookie.  I believe Erin's exact words were that next to her favorite flour-less chocolate cake, "these are the best things to come out of this kitchen."

Score one for team Melissa and Erin.

Want to know another great thing?  These are really easy and fun to make.  First, you combine dark chocolate chips, brown sugar, butter, and a teeny bit of water, and melt this over a double boiler.

You may or may not decide to make a little snack out of what yields from this.  I'll let you decide if you can resist.

Next, you just combine this with the egg, peppermint extract, and then gradually add in the flour mixture.  The dough becomes quite thick, but not to worry - they won't be dense or dry in the least.  Let the dough chill for an hour in the fridge before baking, and then roll them into even-sized golf balls.  Look how beautifully cracked the cookies become!

Then, top them with whole Andes mints.  We bought the chopped baking pieces, but this became a little messy.  I think just cutting the regular sized mints in half would be perfect.  But these were still so pretty.  Festive, if you will.

Mint Condition Brownie Cookies 
Adapted from Lovin' From the Oven

3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
12 ounces dark chocolate chips, or whole bar coarsely chopped
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
Andes candies

1. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside.
2. In a double boiler, combine butter, sugar, chocolate, and water - heat until melted and smooth.
3. Pour into a large mixing bowl and let stand until cool (about 10 minutes).
4. After your chocolate mixture has cooled, add the eggs (one at a time) and beat with an electric mixture on high speed. Mix in your extract. Finally, slowly mix in the flour mixture and stir until well-blended.
5. Chill batter for at least one hour.
6. After chilled, heat oven to 350°F.   Roll the dough into walnut/golf ball-sized balls. Place two inches apart on baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes.
7. Right after you've taken your baked cookies out of the oven, place a mint chocolate candy. Allow to melt slightly and spread with a spoon.

revisiting old friends

Remember this guy?  Yeah, I eat him almost every day.  Well, a version of him every day.  My rationale is that he only constitutes about 350 calories, and the protein and complex carbs that he packs into his pretty self keeps me full until lunch, so why not try perfecting this recipe by modifying it every morning until I get it just right?

First I played around with the sugar content - this was tricky.  For a while I would use 1/2 a teaspoon of brown sugar, and 1/2 a teaspoon of regular refined white sugar.  But one morning as I was searching for more vanilla, I knocked over the box of TruVia that I totally forgot was sitting in my cupboard and thought, if this can work, I've really got something.  So I did.  And I won't go back.  The 0 calorie, all natural sweetener (not to mention no sucralose/aspartame) is the perfect sugar substitute. I also suppose that topping the pancake with my new favorite topping, my Dad's blueberry jam, cancels this out, but honestly?  Holy blueberry goodness - I do love anything blueberry, but this stuff just blows any other pancake topping out of the water. I am not a huge syrup fan [you may notice maple syrup next to the jam...haven't been able to stop myself from having the jam yet, but someday I'll get to it!], but I love unordinary pancake toppings, so I highly suggest going out and getting yourself some blueberry jam, or maybe even some pumpkin butter.  Mmm.

Then I had a far less grand epiphany: maybe I should see what it would be like with an egg white.  It's weird that the recipe doesn't have eggs, right? No. What yielded from this addition was the most rubbery, dense, yet moist pancake I've ever eaten in my life.  I would not serve this to my worst enemy.

After these two contrasting experiments and a wide range of others (the addition of cloves was also one of my prouder moments, and I finally got around to substituting the oil for unsweetened applesauce - good thinking on my part again), I think I've finally got something good to share.  Here is my totally revised recipe for my Whole Wheat Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancake:

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Cinnamon Pancake [for one]
Adapted slightly from Joy the Baker


1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 packets TruVia or PureVia stevia extract sugar
1/3 cup whole gain oats [you can use Quaker, steel cut, whatever...I really like Country Choice Organic Multi Grain Hot Cereal from TJ's]
2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup skim milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and sugar.  Sift until well mixed, about three-four times.  
2. Add in oats and walnuts and stir to combine.  
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the milk, vanilla, applesauce, and lemon juice.  Add to dry ingredient mixture and stir to combine with three-four swift strokes (you do not want to over-mix.)
4. Pour batter into griddle or non-stick frying pan, using the back of your spoon to spread the batter across the pan (the batter is quite thick.)
5. Cook on low-medium heat for about four minutes on the first side, and two on the second.
6. Top with sliced bananas, blueberry jam, pumpkin butter, maple syrup, or honey.

Coffee pairing: Depending on your topping, the coffee selection can vary. If you are topping it with pumpkin butter, I'd highly suggest my favorite roast from Einstein (do I need to explain its amazing-ness again?)  Otherwise, another great coffee is the Honduran Marcala blend that you can obtain here.  A great morning coffee that is light, slightly sweet, and has hints of fruit with a slight depth of chocolate that compliments the hearty pancake well.
_________________________________________________________________


I don't stop there, though.  I'd like to leave you with a photo montage of my second attempt at Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.  They were even better the second time around, and my doubts about the addition of chocolate chips was quickly squashed.  Consider my recipe officially revised.

Perfect cracks, perfect texture, and the nutty, caramel-y flavor that the brown butter adds is a work of art. I'll never go back to my old recipe again!  In case you forgot, here's the recipe:


Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Yours Truly

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups cake flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

2 sticks butter

1 ¼ cup light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

¾ package Gihardelli milk chocolate chips and ½ package regular M&Ms

OR 1 package Gihardelli 60% cacao chips

1. Cut up butter into small chunks and place in saucepan.  Heat over medium heat until completely melted, and continue to stir until butter becomes somewhat clear and brown-ish colored (about 5-8 minutes.)
2. Remove from heat and add to sugar mixture (do not stir or mix together) and allow to come to room temperature – put in fridge for about 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, prepare dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 
4. Once sugar/butter mixture is completely cooled, beat together until fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla.  
5. Add flour mixture to butter and sugar mixture, one cup at a time, until just combined.  
6. Once all ingredients are combined, mix in M&Ms and chocolate chips.
7. Spoon dough into desired size and roll together in hands to ensure uniform size and baking shape. Bake cookies on parchment paper-lined cookie sheet for approximately 12 minutes, until holes/cracks appear in middle of cookie and border becomes golden brown.

I die.

Coffee pairing: Mocha Java blend from Caribou Coffee.  This chocolate-y smooth dark roast is one of my all time favorite coffees, and it brews wonderfully at home.  I always try to keep some in the cupboard!