Blueberries & Cream Oatmeal Cookies

March 12, 2013 By 21 Comments

I have a ton laundry to do! It’s a never ending chore in this house. How two people create such a mass amount of dirty clothes is beyond me, but I have several piles of sorted clothes on the basement floor to prove it. I’m a gigantic procrastinator. I always have been, so until I’m out of undies, the clothes will remain unwashed.

Instead of hauling my booty downstairs to do the laundry, I’m going to sit here and chat with you guys about cookies, which is way better than folding socks.

I adore oatmeal cookies, with their nutty flavor and chewy texture, who could resist? Not this gal. I wanted to create what I consider to be the perfect oatmeal cookie recipe. One that’s chewy on the inside and crunchy on the outside. This recipe is everything I ever wanted in an oatmeal cookie.

Blueberries & Cream Oatmeal Cookies | www.themessybakerblog.com-6592

I found dried blueberries at Costco the other day, so I decided to impart the flavors of spring into my newly created oatmeal cookie recipe. I added a generous helping of dried blueberries and white chocolate chips to mix. I also boosted the vanilla extract to give the cookies a creamy flavor and sprinkled in some lemon zest to brighten them up. They’re amazing!

Blueberries & Cream Oatmeal Cookies | www.themessybakerblog.com-6600

I tested these cookies by baking them directly after mixing up the batter and after chilling them in the refrigerator for an hour. I found that both versions of the cookie taste and bake up equally the same. So, if you’re having a major cookie craving, go ahead and bake away.

Blueberries & Cream Oatmeal Cookies | www.themessybakerblog.com-6594

These cookies were instantly gobbled up by family and friends. Every single person fell in love with them and proceeded to shove cookie after cookie into their faces.

Blueberries & Cream Oatmeal Cookies | www.themessybakerblog.com-6610

Serve with a big ol’ cup of cold milk, and you have yourself a delicious snack. Enjoy!

5.0 from 3 reviews

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Blueberries & Cream Oatmeal Cookies
Author: 
Recipe type: Cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

 

Ingredients
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, at room-temperature
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • ¼ tsp. kosher salt
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 1½ cups old-fashioned oats
  • ½ cup white chocolate chips
  • ¾ cup dried blueberries

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment or silicon mats.
  2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, lemon zest, and oats. Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer attached with a paddle, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the egg until incorporated. Whisk in vanilla extract.
  4. Turn the mixer down to a low speed and slowly add the flour mixture in two batches, scraping down the bowl after each addition.
  5. Fold in the blueberries and white chocolate chips.
  6. Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto the parchment or silicon lined baking sheets, leaving 3 inches between each dough ball.
  7. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until lightly golden brown in color. Do not over bake or you risk the cookies being crunchy and not chewy. Cool the cookies on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  8. **Note: The dough can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator for up to five days in an airtight container.

 

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Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies

November 15, 2012 By 24 Comments

Because Squirrel and I ate our way through Frankenstorm and consumed an entire 9-by-13 casserole dish of chicken pot pie (didn’t want that baby going to waste in case the electricity went out), I felt it was time to create and eat something healthy. So, naturally, I made cookies.

Healthy snacking cookies. They’re full of whole wheat flour, oats, cranberries, pecans, greek yogurt, and a sprinkling of white chocolate chips. Any time I’m in the mood for a snack, I reach for one two (don’t want the other hand to get jealous) of these hearty cookies.

No cookie remorse happening at the last bite of these cookies.

In this house, I have to sneak healthy ingredients into the recipes I make. If my husband doesn’t know that the food is healthy, you won’t hear a peep out of him. He’ll eat it as if nothing ever happened. My theory is what my husband doesn’t know won’t hurt him. So I sneak a few veggies, whole wheat, and yogurt into some dishes. He can’t eat meat all the time (or could he).

He ate these cookies and was none the wiser. He even said they were really good. Ha! I tricked him. My husband is proof that healthy can be delicious. Indulge all you want, honey, they’re good for you (insert evil laugh here).

Go ahead, have two. Enjoy!

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies
Author: 
Recipe type: Cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

 

Ingredients
  • 1½ cups whole wheat flour
  • 1½ cups old-fashioned oats
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • ⅓ cup unsalted butter, at room-temperature
  • ⅓ cup greek yogurt
  • 2 eggs
  • ⅔ cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. lemon zest
  • ½ cup pecans, toasted
  • ½ cup dried cranberries
  • ½ cup white chocolate chips

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
  2. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the yogurt and whisk to combine. Add the eggs one a time, mixing well after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla and lemon zest.
  4. Fold in the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined.
  5. Fold in the pecans, cranberries, and white chocolate chips.
  6. Using a cookie scoop or teaspoon, scoop the dough onto the baking sheets.
  7. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
  8. Eat 10 because they’re healthy!

 

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#MuffinMonday | Brown Butter Orange Pumpkin Muffins

September 24, 2012 By 26 Comments

Happy Monday, all!

It’s time for another #MuffinMonday. I was extremely excited when I received this week’s recipe, an orange pumpkin muffin. You know how I feel about pumpkin, and I’ll take any excuse to bake with it.

At first glance, I wasn’t sure how I was going to change this recipe to make it my own. Quite frankly, the muffin recipe sounded perfect with its combination of orange and pumpkin, so I was a tad stumped. I kept coming back to it, and then it hit me. Why not add some brown butter and maybe a sprinkling of white chocolate chips and toasted pecans? That’s just what I did, and they turned out beautifully.

The muffin by itself is amazing, but top it with an orange glaze, and it’s over-the-top delicious!

The flavor of this muffin is extraordinary. Imagine an extremely moist muffin studded with the perfect amount of white chocolate chips and toasted pecans. When you take the first bite, you get the warm flavor from the pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon, then the subtle sweetness of the orange forms on your palate as you continue to devour the muffin. And, if all of those flavors weren’t enough, you’re hit with the nutty flavor of the brown butter and toasted pecans, then, to top it all off, the sweet orange glaze adds a burst of orange flavor.

Like I said, this is one scrumptious muffin.

Enjoy!

 

Brown Butter Orange Pumpkin Muffins

Dry:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Wet:
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tsp. orange zest
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tbs. orange juice
1 tsp. orange zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 muffin tins with paper baking cups.

In a small saucepan, add the unsalted butter and let simmer until it becomes brown and gives off a nutty scent, about 5-8 minutes. Take off the heat and let cool.

In a medium-sized bowl, add all of the dry ingredients and whisk to combine.

In a large bowl, add both sugars and eggs. Whisk to combine. Drizzle in cooled brown butter and whisk to combine. Add the pumpkin, orange juice, and orange zest, whisk to combine. Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips and pecans. Spoon batter into prepared tins, filling each cup 2/3 of the way full.

Bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Drizzle with glaze.

For the glaze: In a small bowl, add powdered sugar, orange juice, and orange zest. Whisk until smooth.

 

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Chocolate Cookies Two Ways

March 27, 2012 By 33 Comments

Today was a rough day- and I mean rough! It was also my first day back to school after a week off for spring break. It’s tough going back after a week of freedom, relaxation, and baking. I really had to force myself to get out of bed and trudge off to school. What was waiting for me at school was not my definition of fun. My eight o’ clock class provided me with a cranky professor who yelled at me for smiling- yes, smiling! Since when did smiling become a punishable crime? I was then taken to his office and reprimanded for interrupting the class with my smiling. I’m 27, I don’t need reprimanding. I have a million projects, papers, and homework assignments piled on my desk (which at the moment is my bed since we’re renovating the upstairs) waiting to be attended to. Then, to top the day off, I came home to the trash can knocked over with trash spilling out onto the floor and littered throughout the house. Thank you, dog! like I don’t have enough to deal with already without you creating a mess for me to clean up.

Needless to say, I needed comfort- fast! I can’t think of a better way to get comfort than through food. On that note, I whipped up a batch of cookies pronto. This day called for some heavy artillery, so I pulled out the strong stuff. Chocolate! Nothing else would do. Thanks to my new Joy the Baker cookbook, I found the perfect cookie recipe. Chocolate brownie cookies. Yum!

I wrapped the cookies as if I were giving myself a present to cheer me up. Lame. I know. Hey, whatever works. I’d like to thank Jessica from A Kitchen Addiction and Shelley from Piggy In Polka Dots for lifting my wounded spirit today. Both of them gave me the gift of The Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you so much, Jessica and Shelley. Go check out Jessica’s site; she has a lot of lovin’ from the oven happening over there. I’d really like to dig into her carrot cake cupcakes and chewy banana mini-chip cookies. Go check out Shelley’s site for some creative gift ideas. Shelley’s dipped and sprinkled easter egg cookies look amazing and would be the perfect gift to give for Easter. She also has some amazing chocolate dipped pretzel rods that look down right delicious.

 I’m not going to lie, I ate a few, okay six, cookies as I was photographing them. Like I said, rough day. These cookies are everything a cookie should be. And by that I mean crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. These cookies are the whole shebang! The crackly crust is just beautiful, not to mention delicious. These cookies are packed with some good stuff, too. Toasted almonds and white chocolate are peppered throughout the chocolatey goodness. Soul soothing.

Here’s one of the cookies I proceeded to eat after photographing. You can’t just put a broken cookie back in the container. Actually, it’s against the rules. Really, it is. Don’t believe me? Google it.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better. Boom! I surprise you with an ice cream filled chocolate brownie cookie. Now, I’m not telling you what to do, but the ice cream takes these cookies over the top. Totally do it. Add the ice cream. Trust me, you won’t regret it. I added mint chocolate chip, but you can add whatever flavor you like. Ahh, this day just took a turn for the better. It’s smooth sailing from here because I’m in cookie heaven, and nothing can bother you when your sittin’ pretty in cookie heaven.

Just in case you’re unfamiliar, this is what cookie heaven looks like. Enjoy!

Recipe:

adapted from Joy the Baker

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3 tbs. unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. instant espresso powder (this enhances the chocolatey goodness without making the cookies taste like coffee)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup almonds, toasted and chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degress F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Simmer 2 inches of water in a medium saucepan. Place semisweet chocolate and butter in a medium  heatproof bowl and place the bowl over, but not touching, the simmering water. Melt the chocolate and butter together until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, espresso powder, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the sugar mixture and whisk until combined. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture, folding until the flour disappears into the chocolate mixture. Stir in the white chocolate chips and toasted almonds. Refrigerate mixture for at least an hour before baking. This helps the mixture set up so the cookies don’t become too flat when baked.

Using a cookie scoop or a teaspoon, dollop the batter onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 11 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before placing them on a cooling rack. Eat cookies by the fist full, or fill completely cooled cookies with your favorite ice cream for ice cream sandwiches. Enjoy!

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