Cookie Quest - Raisinless Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I have a killer Oatmeal Raisin cookie recipe from my mom. I don't know where she got it, but I do know that it's a recipe for deliciousness. I've altered them endlessly over the years - subbing out the raisins in favor of various dried fruits, nuts, and chocolate - always with success. I'm now married to a man who does not like raisins (or any other dried fruit), so when I decided to make these cookies the other day I knew I'd have to switch it up. Also, I'm out of raisins and I was determined to make cookies with only ingredients I already had on hand.

Bet you wish you were here now.

Oatmeal Batter Bread

My mom sent me a whole bunch of batter bread recipes this week - thanks, Mom! Batter breads are kind of a cross between a quick bread and a yeast bread - they use yeast, but they come together really quickly, require no kneading, and usually only have one short rise rather than the standard two. So they're pretty easy, and relatively quick to make. I made a dill one a few weeks ago from James Beard's Beard on Bread, and it was delicious. But that's neither here nor there. The selection of recipes that Mom sent had four recipes, including one for a beer bread that is essentially just beer and flour. I was torn between making that one and the one that I ended up making, but decided to go the oatmeal route since I am planning on using the bread for my lunch this week and beer bread seems like it would be a better soup bread than lunch bread. Anyway.

Oatmeal bread - yum!

Bridal Shower Bites - Aunt Linda's Granola

So it's been a while...
 I was so touched when I received this:

BB Bars

As I think I said in my welcome post to this blog, my cooking and baking styles are pretty different.  When cooking, I generally throw a bunch of stuff together and hope for the best.  I rarely follow a recipe, except if I'm making something elaborate or something new.  In baking, it's the opposite.  I follow recipes, even the ones I have memorized, and I rarely make up something new.  This recipe, though, is something I made up a few years ago when I wanted to satisfy my simultaneous cravings for peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and oatmeal cookies all at once.  Clearly I was in graduate school at the time.  My roommates served as guinea pigs as I tinkered with this recipe over and over again until I finally came up with a version that is the ultimate comfort cookie.  And there's oatmeal in them, so you know they're good for you.

These cookies are practically health food!