Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hi everyone! Ashley and I have been super busy this summer. Ashley has moved and gotten a dog! I have gone back to school! There's a lot going on these days, but in case you haven't noticed based on all my previous posts involving chocolate, I'm never too busy to make cookies.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rolled oats, regular or quick
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  

Instructions

First: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put rolled oats in blender or food processor and process until finely ground. Combine ground oats, flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a mixing bowl.

Then: In another bowl, cream butter and sugars together with an electric mixer. Add vanilla, lemon juice and eggs and beat until fluffy.

Next: Stir the flour mixture into egg mixture until blended. Fold in the chocolate chips.  Use a spoon to help scoop round balls and place 2 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets.

Finally: Bake about 11-14 minutes. 

Link to the original recipe.

These were so delicious I forgot to take a picture before serving them. I think it's the oats and cinnamon together. Maybe the lemon juice? I have made these twice and the first time I put the oats through the food processor to make a fine powder out of it.  The second time I left them whole.  This changes the texture of the cookie for sure and mildly changed the taste of it. It somehow was less oat-y tasting when the oats were powdered. 

The only weird thing I experienced was that they didn't flatten as much as I expected. They turned out kind of thick and puffy.  So look out for that when rolling your cookies. You may want to flatten them with a fork or your thumb just a little before baking. Any advice about how to avoid this? I like my cookies less cake like generally. Have you ever tried chocolate chip cookies with cinnamon? With lemon juice? Give these a try and tell us what you think!

Italian Baked Chicken

Wow it has been a while!  I accidentally deleted all of my recipe/food photos, so they will be Instagram photos for a while. [oopsy]

Today I have a recipe for baked Italian chicken, but the REAL star of this dish is the pasta sauce you create at the same time.  This was THE best sauce I've ever eaten [and my uber picky husband loved it too!].

3-4 chicken breasts
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp minced garlic from jar [or 2 cloves minced fresh]
1 can artichoke hearts
1 tbsp olive oil
dash salt & pepper
2 tbsp flour
2 cups shredded mozzarella
basil [a sprinkling is a measurement right?]

Drain the artichokes and combine all of the ingredients except cheese in a 9x13 baking dish.  I baked this dish at 400 degrees for about an hour because I was cooking something else at the same time, but I baked it with a meat thermometer inserted to make sure I took it out at the right time.  My chicken was also really thick.  I kind of hate baking chicken because I never know how long is too long, but I digress.  The true star is the sauce anyway.  When the chicken is done, take out and top each piece with a generous handful of cheese and sprinkle with basil.  I served the chicken and sauce over linguine [which is my new favorite].  You WILL enjoy this dish.

Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Saturday, everyone! I'm taking a break from rearranging our furniture (why I can't I just chill on Saturdays like a normal person?) to tell you about some awesome cookies. The recipe only has a few ingredients...and the best part is: they are gluten-FREE! I haven't been feeling well lately (and by lately I mean in a long time). I decided to cut back on gluten and see what happens. So far I am feeling much better!

For me, one of the hardest things about cutting out gluten is missing out on so many desserts! These cookies were so delicious. I just have to keep them on hand all the time now. You can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar (I only used about 1/2 cup.)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (I chopped up a fair trade chocolate bar.)

Baking Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix everything except chocolate together until well blended.
Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough balls onto cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. I don't like how fat PB cookies stay if you don't smash them down, so during this part of the recipe I used a fork to cross hatch my cookies.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes.

Cool, eat, enjoy.