date butterscotch oatmeal cookies

For whatever odd reason, I decided to make cookies tonight.  I really did not have the time or energy but ... oh well!  My boss at work brought back date vanilla chip oatmeal cookies from his last boondogle.  They called it a class but it was in Death Valley, one of my favorite places.  Boondogle.  

I made these with both white chocolate and butterscotch chips.  We decided we liked the butterscotch best even if I think both are good.  These are simple simple.  I based them on an old Laurel's Kitchen recipe.  They would be great in a lunch box.  Or for breakfast with tea.

date butterscotch oatmeal cookies

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 egg yolks (because I needed to use them, equivalent to about one medium egg)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup pecan meal

3/4 cup oat flour (which was supposed to be a quick oat but we will not discuss small hands and the Ninja.  How long can that machine run?)

16 dates, chopped up into small pieces

1/2 cup butterscotch chips.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream the butter and sugar together.  Mix in the egg and vanilla.  Mix in the salt, baking soda and all the flours.  If you actually have quick oats, mix them in here.  Mix in the chips.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden.

Might definitely be breakfast.....

carob walnut cookies

We occasionally walk down to the coffee shop in our neighborhood.  There my Beloved got introduced to carob in some of the cookies there.  I will admit that I am not very fond of carob.  My Mom tried to pass it off as chocolate to us when I was small and it just does not work that way for me.  It has its own flavor.  My Beloved does not have those type of bad connotations, so he likes it.

I put together some walnut and carob cookies for him.  His comment was "that's a cookie!"  He keeps munching them.  Small Mister seems to like them a lot as well.  He fell asleep with one in each hand last night.

walnut and carob cookies

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup millet flour

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup arrowroot flour

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 to 1/2 cup carob chips

sugar for rolling the cookies in if you wish.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cover baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.

Cream the sugar and butter together.  Mix in vanilla.  Mix in the flours.  Mix in the walnuts and carob chips.  The dough may look more like bits then real dough.  It will press together.

Roll a teaspoon of the dough into a ball.  Roll in sugar if you wish.  Put on the baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

That's a cookie according to my Beloved!

blackberries with mascarpone and goat cheese mousse

It has been a day.  I have felt like I was run over by a very large truck all day.  Then I could not seem to breathe, but then I was not the only one (we figure the weather blew something in).  But the last bit that really put me over the edge was that I started to have nose bleeds.  

How did I deal with this?  I came home and slept.  Then I cooked.  Everything for dinner was something new.  It really was not that hard but it did help that I started part of it this morning in the crockpot.  I just prefer well cooked lentils.  

I let my Beloved chose what I blogged about today.  He chose the dessert.  Light but satisfying.  Creamy.  Cheesey.  Blackberries.  It was not a lot of work, even by hand, except Small Mister wanted to help me beat the whipping cream and sugar together.  That did not work very well.  It all came together in the end.  It helped that I kept letting him taste as I go so I could stir.  Small Mister was the one I was thinking about but both males are official tasters at this point in my life.

I did this with blackberries but I think it would be good with any berry or maybe even cherries.  Oooo.... bing cherries.... Too bad they are out of season.

blackberries with mascarpone and goat cheese mousse

Note:  adapted from Tartelette, I read the recipe once and decided to go from there.

1 cup blackberries

2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup goat cheese

1/4 cup mascarpone cheese

Put the blackberries in a bowl and sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons of sugar.  I find blackberries tart.  If you do not, feel free to change the amount of sugar you use.

In a medium bowl, mix the goat cheese and mascarpone cheese together until smooth.  In yet another bowl, put the 1/2 cup sugar and heavy whipping cream in.  Beat together until thick.  Mix into the cheese mixture.  Refrigerate if not serving immediately.

When you are ready to serve, scoop the mousse into bowls.  Top with blackberries.  

Eat with a spoon. Scrape the bowl clean.  i am not being facetious.

hot chocolate brownie

On my list, there always seems to be chocolate.  Whether it is my shopping list or food to make list, there is a chocolate.  We do like our chocolate around here.  But then you could say the same about cinnamon and vanilla.  

I was wondering around the web and saw a recipe for a cinnamon brownie.  It got me thinking about an ice cream I made years ago.  Hot chocolate ice cream.  I add ground chili pepper to my hot chocolate often so you can see where this is going.  The first serving of that ice cream made everyone sweat.  My Beloved ate it a month later and it had mellowed so the flavor was there without all the sweat.  

I decided to do that with these brownies.  I did make these so they did not cause sweat.  Just like always, these did not last long but I found the added spices made them taste richer. 

hot chocolate brownie

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

2 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 large egg

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

A pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

a pinch ground chipolte pepper

a pinch ground ancho pepper

2 tablespoons almond flour

Preheat 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Butter and flour an 8 inch pan.

Melt 3/4 cup chocolate and butter in a saucepan until chocolate is melted.  

Mix in the sugar, vanilla, egg, salt, cinnamon, ancho, chipolte, and flour.

Pour into pan.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of chocolate chips.

Bake for 17 to 20 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

I thought these were quiet lovely with tea.  But what is not lovely with tea?

By the way, it is a new picture but it is hard to tell.  You have to taste.

peanut butter chocolate cookies

A few nights ago, I was asked for something sweet.  I had seen a recipe for peanut butter chocolate cookies on pinterest.  I decided to modify my chocolate cinnamon pine nut cookies to be something similar. I would have liked to have some peanuts to add but I did not have any in the house.  Next time.  I only baked a few because we did not eat them all at once.

The lovely flavors help the tireds.  I fell asleep very early last night and felt like I could have gone to bed even earlier when I woke up.  Small Mister has been very active too which does not help my energy.  I feel like I could sleep for a week without an alarm going off and it would help!

Until then, there are things like chocolate and peanut butter.  Large cups of tea.  Skateboarding.  Surfing, if it was not summer.  No surf.

peanut butter chocolate cookies

4 ounces butter

4 ounces chunky peanut butter

150 grams brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

40 grams cocoa

50 grams almond flour

50 grams millet flour

50 grams sorghum flour

50 grams arrowroot flour

40 grams of chopped peanuts, if you have them

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cover you baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream sugar, butter, peanut butter, and vanilla together.  Mix in cocoa.  Mix in the flours.  Mix in the peanuts.

Drop by spoonful on the baking sheets.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Have a few with tea to relax.  Or grab a handful to go long boarding.  Or maybe surfing.  

I am thinking about building a long board deck for skating.  One more thing to the list.  Oh well.  This is why I get so tired.  Too much I wish to do in the number of hours in the day.  I laugh at myself.