Oatmeal Cookies

Last fall I got the urge for some oatmeal cookies. I searched through a bunch of recipes and found one that I liked. Of course I modified it. The cookies tasted all right, but the texture was not at all what I was looking for. The cookies turned out flat and lacey and fell apart easily. I wanted a nice chewy cookie. I ended up with a bunch of crumbly cookies that were easily mushed into a cookie ball. I decided this week to try to modify the recipe to get a more stable cookie. I only had enough ingredients for a half batch on Tuesday, but they turned out great (and are already gone). I made a full batch today and they turned out really well. So, here's my recipe for "sort of healthy" oatmeal cookies.

Oatmeal Cookies

1 c. butter, softened

1 c. dark brown sugar

1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1 scoop whey powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

3 c. oats

1 c. raisins (or dried cranberrys or dried cherries)

1. Cream the butter until light and fluffy.

2. Cream in the sugars and vanilla until smooth.

3. Beat in eggs.

4. Add dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

5. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

6. Bake for 12 minutes, or until slightly golden.

7. Let cookies cool at least 4 minutes before removing from cookie sheets.

8. Store in airtight container after completely cooled.

These were good with the dried cherries and I just tried one with raisins. It was just as good. It was interesting to see that the brown sugar I just bought was a lot lighter than the one I had in the cabinet. Oh yes, this recipe makes 3 dozen. It's going to be a challenge not to eat them all! I'll send a bunch to work with Ross and take some to the neighbors.

The Wedding

Well, so much has gone on since my last post, but I'm not going to try and cover it all. We went to Austin last Friday for Aaron and Sujata's wedding. On Friday we had County Line for lunch and then went to Amy's downtown. I had rum raisin and bourbon custard. Oh, the bourbon was so good. Then we went to a little get together that Aaron and Sujata were having. I got mehndi done on my hands and Ross played games with the guys. We got to see the sari ceremony and then got some sleep. On the day of the wedding one of Sujata's aunties helped me with my sari and it looked so nice. We had a pretty good time. On the way out of town we stopped at Amy's again (like we always do). Ross had mexican vanilla and I had sweet cream with strawberries cause nothing else sounded as good as the bourbon custard. I'm now trying to recover from all my travelling. I have a few days to rest before my birthday party, which I really need to get to work planning....

My hands with mehndi.

Start of sari ceremony.

Joey and the bride before the wedding.

The groom leaving the building.

Me in my maroon sari.