Posted on by jenniescreativecorner

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Buttermilk

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies w/ buttermilk

I know…I know Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies don’t seem very special or a cookie worth researching and making for a blog but today they are exactly what I needed. It has been a long week where my mind and heart have tried to unite over so very unfamiliar territory. I needed familiar, I needed a cookie that could give me new and old at the same time.

I also needed a cookie that would use up the buttermilk that has been in my fridge since the last baking blog.

I needed reminded of the love in an old classic. This week my grandpa was diagnosed with Stage 3 lung/liver cancer… He is 92. This is very difficult especially finding this out after the loss of my mom less than 9 months ago. It is her dad. When I saw the ingredients of this cookie included buttermilk I instantly thought of him…he loves buttermilk with his meals. My grandpa is a classic in all ways – his love is genuine, his laughter is contagious and his testimony for HIS LORD and Savior is unwavering.

Tonight I dedicate this to you Grandpa!

Great Grandpa

This cookie definitely found me at home in the kitchen. It had all the ingredients I am used to and the directions were as basic as they come with the exception of the BUTTERMILK. I found it very easy to work with though and in all honestly I thought it made mixing the dough easier. They were a huge hit with my family and my cousins kids that were here for the night. This recipe makes a soft cookie and about 3 dozen at that.

Side Note: I don’t use a mixer. I have always and will always mix every thing by hand just as my mom did.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
Mix the baking soda and the buttermilk together and set aside until the end.

Directions:

  • Bake at 350 degrees for 12 – 15 minutes
  • Mix all dry ingredients, except the baking soda in a bowl
  • Mix the butter, brown sugar, white sugar and eggs in a bowl
  • Add vanilla and chocolate chips to the creamed mixture
  • Mix the baking soda and the buttermilk together
  • Mix your dry ingredients with your creamed ingredients alternating it with the buttermilk mixture. Add just a little buttermilk at a time until the the dough is fully mixed.

Thank you again for joining me tonight – Happy Baking!

Posted on by jenniescreativecorner

Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies

Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

Today was definitely a “Sweet” filled Saturday. My friend had requested that I make cupcakes for a 60th Wedding Anniversary Celebration so I made a batch of vanilla and another of chocolate. I will post the recipe for the vanilla “wedding” cupcakes at the end of this blog.

Today’s Featured cookie is the Raspberry Thumbprint Cookie. I chose this cookie for several reasons. I remember having these at my grandma’s house during the holiday’s when I was little but without the glaze on them. I also thought of my mom when I came across them…she loved raspberry. She would often send us to try and find a powdered doughnut with raspberry filling but when our local store failed to have them she would settle for a raspberry pastry. I wish I could go on that search again for her but since I can’t I can try and make something for my family that I know she would have enjoyed.

This cookie takes very little ingredients which is great for your pocket book unless you don’t have raspberry jam or almond extract in the cabinet. These two ingredients alone will cost you about $6.50 unless you find a sale. Make sure you are making these for a loved one because then the cost doesn’t matter..right??!?

The process is easy but does involve several steps. This is not a quick cookie to make so be prepared to spend a couple hours to finish the process… one hour of that is letting it chill in the fridge so you can be busy else where (or take a quick nap like I did LOL) while you are waiting.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

Glaze:

  • 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon milk – or until desired consistency

Directions:

  • Cream the butter and white sugar together
  • Mix in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • Mix in flour
  • Refrigerate dough for 1 hour or until firm
  • Preheat oven to 350 degree
  • Roll dough into 1 1/2 in balls
  • Make a small hole in the center with your thumb or finger
  • Fill the center with the raspberry jam
  • Bake for 14 -18 minutes
  • Mix the ingredients for the glaze and drizzle over warm cookies.

These turned out better than I expected. They are a very pretty cookie if you’re having guest over and want to impress..they will think you spent all day baking just for them! I did hesitate and have to look back at the recipe a couple times though. This recipe unlike most I have ever made does not call for eggs or milk, it also does not take baking powder, baking soda or salt. I really did feel as if I was missing something but the end result suggested otherwise. My family really enjoyed them.

I will definitely make these again and I am looking forward to experimenting with other preserves next time.

Vanilla Almond “Wedding” Cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients

Recipe:

  • 1 2/3 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter – melted
  • 1/4 cup yogurt – room temperature
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:

  • Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together
  • Melt butter
  • Whisk in sugar into the butter – mixture will be gritty
  • Whisk in yogurt, milk, vanilla extract and almond extract
  • Slowly mix dry ingredients into the wet mixture until there are no more lumps but don’t over mix
  • Batter will be thick
  • Beat egg whites until thick and foamy – about 3 minutes
  • Fold eggs into the cake batter
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes
Perfect golden brown cupcakes.


Before I go I must give thanks and credit to my son for tonight’s pictures. He did a great job and I appreciate him wanting to help me out. Thanks Collin!

Until next time – Happy Baking!

Posted on by jenniescreativecorner

Schwarz-Weiss Geback

Checkered Cookies

Here we go! My first attempt at a cookie I have never made or seen made before. I decided to try a German Cookie in honor of one of my daughters friends, a foreign exchange student that she met this year. We love talking to her and learning all about the differences that she has encountered while living with her host family in Missouri. She says Germany is a much healthier place to live but she wants to take Sonic back with her. I thought it would be fun to try a snack that would be familiar to her.

Schwarz-Weiss Geback – checkered cookies

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, cold

For the Chocolate Dough:

  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons of milk

Instructions:

  • Combine flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl.
  • Add the eggs and mix.
  • Knead in cold butter.
  • Knead until dough forms.
  • Divide dough in half – set aside one halves.
  • To the remaining half add the ingredients for the chocolate dough; cocoa powder, sugar and milk
  • Knead until a smooth dough forms.
  • Roll out each of the two halves into equal sized rectangles.
  • Lay the chocolate layer on top of the light layer.
  • Roll up the dough from the short side to create a log.

  • Gently press the log together so the layers stick.
  • Cover the log with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease cookie sheet.
  • Once the dough is firm slice the log into 1/8 inch slices.
  • Place cookies onto cookie sheet – bake 10 – 15 minutes or until the cookies start to turn brown.

This process was much different than any other cookie I have made.

First of all starting with the flour really was weird, usually it is added to the mixture at the end.

The second thing I found I wasn’t very fond of was kneading all that butter into the flour. What a mess but some might find this step very relaxing. If I could get over the batter on my hands I would have as well – a little OCD I guess!

The third thing that I hadn’t thought about was the end result – they looked really pretty BUT not knowing the cookie at all I did not know how they were supposed to taste. My family and cousins liked them but said they were a bit dry. Not a lot of flavor in this cookie but an excellent pair with a glass of milk or hot tea, which ever you prefer.

If you have ever made these before and have pointers or can tell me how they tasted to you I would gladly accept your feedback.

Thanks for joining me tonight – Happy Baking!

Posted on by jenniescreativecorner · 2 Comments

Cookies for Charities

Cookies for Charities

“We make a living by what we get….but we make a life by what we give.”

Winston Churchill

I know these are chocolate chip cookies and if you read the introduction to my blog you are probably asking why I am showing a traditional cookie on Saturday Sweets. I had a new cookie that I researched and bought the ingredients for but I am going to save that treat until next week. I really feel first I should give you a bit of background on myself. Let me explain what events have led to all the baking I have done over the years and hence has led me to tire of these cookies. I tire of making the same cookies over and over BUT I never tire of the results they can bring. I worked at FedEx Ground as the Senior Office Administrator for 10 years. About 3 years into my position I became complacent and very weary of the same routine. I started to look into the District Field and found that they had huge resources for Charitable Organizations but as I researched further I found we had nothing in place on the local level. I reached out to some of the district staff and inquired as to what the guidelines would be for me to implement something in Springfield and the surrounding areas. They gave me full rein to run with the project. I found a new lease on life. I was thriving in my position as well as gaining Community Outreach Partners in which we sponsored every year. I was able to get grants for The Discovery Center and Newborns in Need as well as the Bag Ladies but there was always more organizations to help. One of the biggest events we had each year was a pancake breakfast combined with bake sale. Hundreds of treats were made and sold. The biggest seller by far was this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies AND the batch makes 6 dozen. I can’t tell you after spending so many hours in the kitchen on my feet mixing dough how nice it is to have a recipe that will make that many cookies all at once. Make sure to buy butter by the bulk though if you plan to do a bake sale, it will take a lot! 1 Batch sold individually for .50 a piece will raise 36.00 which is great BUT I had people that would request these cookies (still do) and donate 10.00 per dozen. If you do that math…..well you have almost doubled your profits. Do you think I am crazy? Do people really spend 60.00 on cookies? They will if you have a Charity worth partnering with. Have you looked into your local organizations to see who could use your help….you might just find it changes your own perspective on the things that you once found mundane. These cookies won me a paid trip to Kansas City to receive a Bravo Zulu Award for Community Service. WHO knew the possibilities a few chocolate chips and an open heart could bring?!!!

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • 4 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 cups butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups backed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

  • Bake 350 degrees
  • Bake for 10 – 12 minutes

Tips:

  1. Substitute 1/2 of the butter with shortening – makes an even better cookie.
  2. Cream together the eggs, butter, shortening, sugars, pudding and vanilla THEN add the chocolate chips. It makes it so much easier to mix then if you wait until after adding the flour mixture.
  3. When baking watch the oven like a hawk DON’T over bake. You will know the cookie is done when it no longer looks glossy on top. You can let them brown a little but don’t take that to the extreme. They are best when they are soft in the middle.
  4. Enjoy these cookies straight out of the oven or microwave for a few seconds so you get the true crisp outside with cookie dough taste inside.
  5. NEVER BUY STORE BOUGHT COOKIES AGAIN!

Happy Baking and pick wisely whom you want to share a smile with this week. These are sure to warm anyone’s heart….at least their tummies.

Posted on by jenniescreativecorner

Cookies Galore

Saturday has come and gone and Sunday is just about to vanish as well. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I sit here thinking about all the events that took place this December and wonder where the last 22 days have gone. It has been a busy season filled with friends and family but it still feels a little empty. I started this blog about a week ago and fantasized about the page “Saturday Sweets”…it was perfect timing as our families tradition is to bake just a few days before Christmas. Yesterday we all set aside time to meet in the kitchen to make those favored treats. We talked, we laughed and we remembered where each recipe came from, most of them were my mom’s. We lost my mom in May and this is our first Christmas with out her. With every sugar cookie I make I miss her more. She taught me how to make the dough, roll it out , cut it into each Holidays shape and to ice them with love. She used to get so aggravated at us when she spent all day baking and within a matter a minutes from being home from school the dish that once held the delectable desserts was empty. We couldn’t help ourselves though she was an excellent baker. She was a perfectionist and it was revealed in the taste of her cookies. Presentation was everything. I learned my love of baking from her. I find the task very comforting for it is the one thing that I can do that I know what the end result will be. No matter how inadequate I feel in life a perfect cookie makes me feel a little more accomplished. To see the smiles on my kids faces when the house is filled with an aroma of fresh baked cookies makes me wonder if it is exactly how my mom felt when she saw our reactions to her baking. I miss her but I am so thankful to be able to pass on to my two the love that she had for not just baking but for life. She would love that we were all spending time together this Christmas. My favorite gift I ever received from my mom was a small recipe book with her handwritten recipes tucked inside. Its not just a recipe book, its a small part of her. I love to see her handwritten words as I follow each step. I often wonder if I don’t memorize the recipes on purpose just so I can have that part of her with me each time.

I did however tell you that you would learn the do’s and don’ts from Jennie’s Corner and I have a huge don’t for you!!! We made chocolate dipped peanut butter crackers and Oreo’s. I wanted to keep the two separate but once you dip them in chocolate they look very much alike. I decided to decorate the Oreo’s with chocolate sprinkles and keep the PB Crackers plain. It was the perfect idea and I felt so organized. I had a system! Each treat had its own section on the wax paper. I started to get tired and tried to simplify the task by using both hands simultaneously. I dipped the Oreo with my right hand and had sprinkles in the left so I could quickly add them before the chocolate dried. It was going great UNTIL I knocked the open bottle of sprinkles with my arm and they rolled out everywhere. You would have thought they were magnetic!! My plain PB Crackers were the pulling force. All the sudden I had no clue which ones were which. After my loud gasp and my son running to the kitchen I decided to call them “Surprise Treats”… they will taste the same but you just won’t know what you are getting until you take that first bite.

To my family from your’s Merry Christmas and Happy Baking!!!!