I had a hankering to bake some cookies. I turned to Martha Stewart’s Web site and decided on her recipe for Cowboy Cookies. This recipe packs the flavors of oatmeal, pecans, chocolate, and coconut all in one cookie. I did trade out half the butter for butter-flavored Crisco and also threw in some dried cranberries for the heck of it! The recipe says it yields 5 dozen cookies, but I am a big-cookie lover, so I only got 3 dozen.

I loved the texture of these cookies, the sweet coconut paired with the crunch of the nuts and chewiness of the cranberries was perfect! I ate one and sent the rest to the boyfriend’s workplace where they were gobbled up in no time! Laura Bush also has a recipe for Cowboy Cookies, the only difference I can see in regard to the ingredients is that Bush’s recipe calls for cinnamon. So, if you’re looking for a delicious cookie with a lot of texture, give these a try . . . they will make your day a little more delicious!!!

Cowboy Cookies Adapted from marthastewart.com

Ingredients
Vegetable oil cooking spray
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch chunks (1 cup)
3 ounces (3/4 cup) pecan halves
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat baking sheets with cooking spray, line with parchment, and spray parchment. Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder into a medium bowl.
2. Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium-high until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
3. Reduce speed to low, and slowly add flour mixture, beating until just incorporated. Beat in oats, chocolate, pecans, and coconut until combined. (Dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)
4. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a small spoon, drop dough onto baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart.
5. Bake until edges of cookies begin to brown, 11 to 13 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire rack, and let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks. Let cool. (Cookies can be stored up to 3 days.)

After a wonderful time at the local orchard this past weekend, I found myself wanting to make all things apple. Since I believe I may have over-purchased a bit, I wanted to get to baking. This first delectable apple treat I am going to share is a recipe for caramel apple squares. This recipe combines the delicious tastes of apples, brown sugar, and caramel . . . they will leave you licking your fingers!

I made these last night and the boyfriend took the entire 9×13 pan to work. He said they were gone so quick he did not even get one! Luckily, I had saved two for photo purposes, so he got to taste one of the scrumptious treats after dinner.

I do not not know if I am late to the party, but I need to rave about Honey Crisp Apples . . . they are amazing! I tried them for the first time last year, but to my disappointment came to find out that they are only available during specific times of the year. If you have never tried these and can get your hands on some, DO IT - they are amazing! I used Honey Crisp Apples in this recipe!

Caramel Apple Bars

Adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped apple
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together melted butter, brown sugar, and 1 cup of white sugar with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture until just combined, then stir in the apples and walnuts.
3. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. In a cup or small bowl, stir together the remaining cinnamon and sugar; sprinkle over the top of the bars.
4. Bake for 30-35 minutes in preheated oven; finished bars should spring back when lightly touched. Cool in the pan, and cut into squares.
5. After these cooled I drizzled them with melted Kraft Caramel Bits

Enjoy!

This has to be my favorite dessert ever! I have memories from early childhood making these with my grandmother. When I was no older that eight years old, I remember rolling these babies up in tea towels and slathering on that delicious cream cheese filling. My grandmother and I would make a bunch of these in the early fall and freeze them . . . which is why I think love them right out of the freezer . . . that or I am too impatient to let them thaw.

Whenever I make one of these, people seem so impressed by the presentation, they have the notion that these take forever to make and are the product of a long and tedious process. Contrary to those thoughts, pumpkin rolls are easy to make once you get the hang of it! Aside from the ingredients listed below, make sure you have the following items on hand: tea towels, parchment paper, an off-set spatula, Saran Wrap, aluminum foil, and a bit of patience. I hope you love this as much as I do.

PUMPKIN ROLL

Ingredients

3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup canned pumpkin (not pie mix)
1 cup nuts (optional)

Directions
Mix first 6 ingredients together and set aside. Beat eggs, add sugar, vanilla, then pumpkin. add dry ingredients. Spray a 15×10x1 inch baking pan cookie with Pam and line with parchment paper, also spray parchment paper. Add mixture to pan, spread evenly and bake at 375 degrees for 13-15 minutes or until golden and cake springs back when lightly touched with fingertips.

Sprinkle tea towel generously with powdered sugar and invert cake onto towel. Gently remove parchment paper and roll cake and tea towel together. Place seam side down, cool completely.

CREAM CHEESE FILLING

8 ounces cream cheese
5 tbsp. softened butter
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Directions
Beat together the cream cheese and butter until thoroughly combined, add in vanilla and powdered sugar. Unroll cake and evenly spread the cream cheese frosting onto the cooled cake. Re-roll the cake, wrap in plastic wrap and then in foil. Refrigerate overnight or freeze.

Fall is in the air and that means it’s time for some spiced-up baking, filled with the warm flavors and aromas of nutmeg and cinnamon.

I do not know what my problem is, but it seems as though I cannot consume my bananas before they hit that nasty, brown, spotted stage. Maybe I subconsciously let them turn that way so I have an excuse to bake. Well, whatever the reason, I had some bananas to use up, so I hit up allrecipes.com, dug into my recipe box, and made one of my favorite Banana Bread recipes. I had all of the ingredients on hand, so I whipped this baby up in no time, making some very simple revisions.

The recipe is super easy and yields a deliciously moist banana bread. I added some cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla to impart a touch of fall. This bread is great toasted, slathered with whipped butter, and served with a piping-hot cup of coffee or tea. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do!

Spiced-Up Banana Bread

Adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs, vanilla, and mashed bananas until well blended.
3. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture, just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

-Jamie mybakingaddiction

In recent weeks I have made made Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops, Chocolate Chunkers, Chunky Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters, and now Spiced Oatmeal Raisin cookies. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and adapted it slightly. In my opinion, this is the perfect oatmeal raisin cookie. The recipe is very easy to prepare, the flavor is amazing, and the soft, chewy texture is to die for.

The original recipe calls for cinnamon as well as ground cloves. I did not have any ground cloves on hand, plus I am not a huge fan of the clove flavor; I find it to be a tad overbearing. So, I upped the cinnamon to 1 1/2 teaspoons and subbed 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg for the cloves. I also soaked my raisins in hot water to rehydrate them a bit. The spices added to this cookie got me excited for fall baking!

Spiced Oatmeal Cookies (Adapted from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter, butter-flavored shortening, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
• Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground cloves (or nutmeg), and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins.
• Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely.
• Store in airtight container.

Enjoy!

Let me first say that I am so honored to be writing for the Well-Fed Network and I am really excited for my first post! Due to Labor Day, I had a lot of time on my hands this past weekend and did a lot of baking. I was inspired by this month’s Daring Bakers challenge and decided to try my hand at making pâte à choux. In case you are not familiar with pâte à choux, it is basically a pastry dough used to make cream puffs and eclairs. I followed Alton Brown’s recipe exactly as written, and it worked out wonderfully.

I used a pastry bag fitted with a round tip and piped the eclairs and cream puffs onto parchment paper and baked according to the directions. The dough held it’s shape after it was baked and the inside was nice and hollow and ready to be filled with a delicious pastry cream. The pastry cream recipe was given to me by a friend and is from the cookbook Baking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America. I then melted some bittersweet chocolate and thinly piped it over the eclairs and cream puffs. Although I thought the recipe might be a bit difficult and require way too much time, it was quite easy and really worth the effort because they truly were absolutely delicious!
Enjoy!

Sweet or Savory Pate a Choux 

Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown.

1 cup water
3/4 stick butter (6 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon sugar plus 1/8 teaspoon salt (for sweet)
1 teaspoon salt (for savory)
5 3/4 ounces flour
1 cup eggs, about 4 large eggs and 2 whites

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Boil water, butter, and salt or sugar. Add flour and remove from heat. Work mixture together and return to heat. Continue working the mixture until all flour is incorporated and dough forms a ball. Transfer mixture into bowl of a standing mixer and let cool for 3 or 4 minutes. With mixer on stir or lowest speed add eggs, 1 at a time, making sure the first egg is completely incorporated before continuing. Once all eggs have been added and the mixture is smooth put dough into piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe immediately into golfball-size shapes, 2 inches apart onto parchment lined sheet pans. Cook for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees F and bake for 10 more minutes or until golden brown. Once they are removed from the oven pierce with a paring knife immediately to release steam.

Photo by me.