Eggnog Oatmeal - Recipe Link

Here is a recipe for eggnog flavored oatmeal over at Simple Inspirations. I haven't tried it yet because I have sadly had to limit my consumption of oatmeal because it really does seem to make me hurt more (how weird is that?). I have not idea why. But, I still would like to eat it regularly if I could, so I'll share this tasty looking recipe with you. :-)  Since it has egg and milk it has more nutrition than plain oatmeal, and the sugar is really quite low in it. Enjoy!

Photo property of Simple Inspirations.

Eggnog Oatmeal Recipe

Worth Repeating - Breakfast Bars

A recipe "Worth Repeating." This was originally published here in Oct. 2010. I would make them now with the GF flour since I learned I have a gluten intolerance. I would like to try making them again with add-ins that I can eat now. It would look a little different, but I'm sure they would still be good. :-)

I got this recipe for breakfast bars from my friend, Beth. I thought they were so delicious I could hardly stop eating them!

 
She made them with the Gluten Free flour as the recipe calls for. I didn’t have any, so I made them with whole wheat, oats and oat flour. I also used a different mixture of nuts and dried fruit. I have included her (slightly altered) recipe and my version as well. Make them to your own taste and family needs. The choice is up to you. :-)
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Gluten Free Breakfast Bars

1 ¼ cup GF flour
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup honey (or agave nectar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup peanuts
¼ cup raisins

In a small bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda.

In a large bowl, combine oil, agave and vanilla. Stir dry ingredients into wet. Mix in nuts and raisins. Grease an 8x8 baking dish with oil. Press the dough into the baking dish, wetting your hands with oil to help pat the dough down evenly if necessary.

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes (or till golden brown). Cool and Serve. Note: They are also good warm (with milk over them if desired), but will be crumbly when served this way.

My version (use same instructions as above):
1/2 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 C. oat flour
1/4 C. old fashioned oats
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 C. oil (grape seed)
1/4 C. honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 C. sliced almonds
1/2 C. peanuts (salted)
1/4 C. raisins
1/3 C. dried cranberries
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It will look something like this in the pan before you bake it.

These turned out really well, though I got mine just a bit too dark. I loved the nutty looking texture with the bits of red cranberry peaking out.

I ate some of it with milk on it like cereal. It was very good this way too! :-)

Berry Fun - Berries and Chocolate for Breakfast

Early summer or late spring is the time for fresh berries. How about making something simple like pancakes or a bowl of oatmeal into something special by adding chocolate chips and fresh berries on top? These are so good you could practically serve them for dessert, but no one will complain of an extra special breakfast. :-) Make sure the pancakes or cereal are very hot when you put the chocolate chips on in order to get that yummy melted chocolate effect. Besides tasting delicious, this is also a very pretty breakfast!

Chocolate No Bake Cookies

 

This is an old family recipe.  My family has eaten a lot of these over the years – for more than one generation.  I love the simple way old recipes are sometimes written.  They get straight to the point and don’t bother with all the “expanded” directions.  Obviously they were written in a day when women were expected to know the basics. :-)

Someone told me that these are also called “Haystacks” or something like that.  Some alterations that have been made in our family over the years include using coconut instead of nuts and using extra dark cocoa powder (pictured above) instead of regular.

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No Bake Cookies

In a heavy sauce pan mix:

2 C. sugar
6 Tbl. cocoa powder
1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. milk

Bring to a rolling boil, stirring often, and remove from heat.

Stir in:

3 C. quick oats
2/3 C. chunky peanut butter OR chopped nuts
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix thoroughly and drop by spoonsful on waxed paper to cool.

Almond Butter Cookies

 

This recipe came about as the result of allowing my almond butter to get too old.  It was near it’s expiration date and we hadn’t even opened the jar yet!  I started with a peanut butter recipe and made a lot of alterations, including doubling the recipe.  You may wish to half it for a single recipe.  You may also use peanut butter in place of the almond butter and then use 2 tsp. of vanilla extract instead of the almond extract.  Enjoy!

Almond Butter Cookies

2 C. butter
2 C. almond butter
2 2/3 firmly packed brown sugar
2 – 3 tsp. almond extract
6 eggs
3/4 C. white whole wheat
1 C. oats
4 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 C. chocolate chips
1 C. coconut flakes

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, almond butter and sugar.  Add almond extract.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add whole wheat, oats, salt and baking soda, mixing well.  Add all-purpose flour gradually mixing till is well combined.  Shape into 1 inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. (I recommend lining it with parchment.)  Dough should be slightly sticky, so you may need to flour your hands.  Flatten with a fork.  Bake at 375F for 7-8 minutes or until golden.  Remove to wire racks and cool.  Store in air tight container.

Yield:  This makes a large batch.  I did not count them.  You can half the recipe for a single batch.

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These cookies kept well in the cupboard in a sealed container. They seemed to me to stay fresh longer than the average chocolate chip cookie.

Also, I pressed some of the cookie balls onto squares of parchment and stored them in the freezer.  The dough froze well, but I recommend bringing the cookies completely to room temperature before baking them.  This does not take long if you set them out on the cookie sheet preparatory to baking.

Me in my new-this-year cotton apron. :-)

Leftover Oatmeal Cookies

I had quite a bit of leftover oatmeal recently, but I wasn’t that keen on making Cooked Oatmeal Cake.  The thought crossed my mind that there should be a recipe for making cookies from cooked oatmeal, so I looked it up online and sure enough there was!  It looked good, though, as usual with a few changes. ;-)  (I reduced the sugar already, in case you like to do that with cookie recipes.) 
Most of my family here enjoyed these quite well.  Ahem!  There was one dissenter who takes exception to raisins in his cookies, but that makes more for the rest of us, right?  My husband liked them at any rate, and after all, that’s what counts for me. ;-)

2 C. brown sugar
1 C. butter
3 eggs
2 C. cooked oatmeal
2 C. all purpose flour
2 C. white whole wheat (or regular whole wheat)
[Note: You can use 4 cups of all purpose flour.]
3 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. vanilla
3 C. chocolate chips
1 C. coconut
1 C. raisins
Cream sugar, butter, eggs and cooked oatmeal.  Mix in the flour, baking soda and salt; then the coconut, chocolate chips and raisins.  Scoop onto baking sheets by tablespoonsful about 1 – 1 1/2 inches apart and flatten slightly. Bake at 375F for 10-15 minutes or until cookies are set and starting to brown slightly.  Allow to cool on baking sheet about 5 minutes before removing to racks.
(I put mine on parchment, so I had no trouble with them sticking.  I don’t know if the baking sheets need to be greased.  The original recipe said nothing about it, but it was a little short on instructions.)
These cookies freeze well.

No Bake Chocolate Caramel Butterscotch Cookies

These are some of my favorite cookies, really they are more candy than cookie. To quote the modern expression, they are “seriously good”. I have liked them for years, but I never was able to make them well – until now! For the first time recently they turned out for me. This is a milestone in my life. :-)
Thus, I would like to dedicate this post to:
- Mom, because she had the recipe first, and could only make them somewhat better than I could.
- my sister who could make them quite well every time.
- my brother, who after tasting my new version of these cookies, declared they were 1/8th of an inch from being as good as cheese cake (high praise from him). He nearly went delirious when I suggested using them as topping on cheese cake.
- my sister in-law who wanted the recipe so she can make these for my brother.
- Sarah P., who never made good biscuits till her 10th wedding anniversary when she finally stopped following the recipe. That memory helped me break out of this recipe and finally get them to turn out, after years of futile efforts that ended in either dry crumbs or gooey “spoon cookies”.
:-)
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This is the original recipe, which may turn out just fine for you if you have my sister’s touch. :-)
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No Bake Caramel Cookies
Combine in sauce pan:
2 C. sugar
3/4 C butter
2/3 C. evaporated milk
Bring to a rolling boil, stirring frequently.
Remove from heat and add:
1 4 oz. pkg. instant butterscotch pudding mix (may be 3.5 oz.)
3 1/2 C. quick-cooking rolled oats
Mix thoroughly. Cool 15 minutes. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper-lined tray.
Makes 5 doz. cookies
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This is the way I made them when they finally turned out for me, and the ones which my brother about swooned over. ;-)



No Bake Chocolate Caramel Butterscotch Cookies
3/4 C. of butter
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 3.5 oz. pkg. cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix
3 1/2 cups mixed quick-cooking rolled oats, old fashioned rolled oats and unsweetened coconut
2-3 handfuls of bittersweet chocolate chips (optional)
Place butter in heavy sauce pan and heat over lowish heat till almost completely melted, stirring often. Add sweetened condensed milk and bring to a rolling boil over medium heat stirring constantly. (This is important as it will start burning quite easily.)
Remove from heat. Add butterscotch pudding mix and stir well. Add oats and coconut and mix well. Allow to cool about 5-8 minutes. Add chocolate chips and stir briefly. Do Not stir them in well or they will completely melt and your cookies will be something a little different – the butterscotch will not be as distinct of a flavor.
Drop on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet by teaspoonfuls. Allow to cool completely before serving. I recommend putting them in the refrigerator or freezer for a while, especially in warm weather.
Store in frig in a sealed container with waxed paper between layers. I put some in the freezer, but I don’t know how they will turn out when thawed. Probably they will be fine.
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If you try my version of this recipe please let me know how it turns out for you. I’m hoping this may be a more foolproof method that will turn out well with more consistency, at least for those of us who don’t have the “magic touch”. :-)

Cooked Oatmeal Cake

[After I’d created this post I looked at the calendar and discovered that today is National Cereal Day.  How appropriate is that?! :-) ]
I hate wasting leftovers.  I always feel like I’m throwing away money!  Here’s a great way to use leftover cooked oatmeal.  If you don’t usually have leftovers and would like to make this cake, then make some extra next time! :-)

Cooked Oatmeal Cake

1 1/2 C. cooked oatmeal
1 C. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 stick butter (1/2 C.)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
1 1/3 C. flour
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat.  Mix in oatmeal.  Add and mix in soda, cinnamon and flour.  Pour into a greased 9x13 cake pan.  Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes.
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Mom and I made this together recently with some leftover oatmeal that my husband had cooked.  He’d put in dried cherries, so we reduced to the sugar (to the amount given above) and it came out really well.  We also omitted the cinnamon and put some almond flavoring in instead.  Then at the last minute we added chocolate chips!  It was really good, and not too sweet.  We substituted white whole wheat for part of the flour as well, but I don’t remember the proportions we used.
Anyway, this is a quick and easy cake, a nice way to eat leftover oatmeal, and quite versatile!  Use it for breakfast, for coffee cake, for dessert, tea, lunches, or just for a healthier sweet snack.  Try your own variations too.  As you can see in the picture, the batch I’d made there had raisins or cranberries in the oatmeal.

Baked Oatmeal: Breakfast or Dessert? You decide.

I made this last Saturday and we really enjoyed it.  It's like eating a crumbled up oatmeal cookie! Delicious with milk/cream or without!  I altered the recipe since I don't have quick oats on hand, but I'll include both recipes. I think mine tasted better, personally. ;-) It's gotta be better with chocolate!

Baked Oatmeal

1 1/2 C. old fashioned oats

1 Tbl. whole wheat flour

1/4 C. white sugar

1/4 C. brown sugar

1/2 C. + 1 Tbl. milk

1/4 C. butter, melted

1 egg

1 tsp. baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tsp. vanilla

2/3 chocolate chips

Pecan or walnut pieces

Combine the all ingredients except the nuts and chocolate chips. Mix well. (I suggest stirring in the melted butter before adding the milk, if the milk is cold.)  Stir in chocolate chips.  Spread evenly in a greased 9x13x2 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with nuts.  Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or till edges are golden brown. Serve immediately in bowls. Top with warm milk. Add fresh fruit and brown sugar if desired. (Makes 6 smallish servings, or 4 larger ones.)

Other changes you could make to this recipe - swap out the chocolate chips for dried cranberries, blueberries or raisins. If they are very dry I'd recommend soaking them in warm water for 5 minutes before mixing them into the batter. Also, you could add cinnamon, especially with raisins.

The Original recipe was something like this....

1 1/2 C. quick-cooking oats

1/2 C. sugar

1/2 C. milk

1/4 C. butter, melted

1 egg

1 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine the all ingredients. Mix well. Spread evenly in a greased 9x13x2 inch baking pan.  Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or till edges are golden brown. Serve immediately in bowls. Top with warm milk.  Add fresh fruit and brown sugar if desired.  (Makes 6 smallish servings, or 4 larger ones.)