Baking with Brittney :)

So last week, one of my best friends came up to see me and we got to spend some much needed time together! The picture to the left is of us ice skating last semester! Brittney is one of my best friends down at school and she is an amazing woman! She can remember just about anything you tell her about your life (believe me, she remembered my class schedule before I did). She is also an amazingly gifted listener and will make you always feel better about yourself. Among other things, Brittney and I have way too much in common...she one of God's little blessings in my life :) After a sleepover with some necessary Boy Meets World, a movie (The Killers to be exact - great movie), and an hour walk on the beach, Brit and I got to do what we both love to do best....BAKE :)

Oatmeal Cranberry Macadamia Nut White Chocolate Chip Cookies
....sounds like a loaded cookie right? Well they are GREAT...

2/3 cup softened butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups flour (use half whole wheat if you want!)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup dried cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chips
1/3 cup macadamia nuts (or walnuts...), optional

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, mixing well.
4. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl.
5. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition.
6. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.
7. Taste dough to make sure it is good...
8. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets (maybe lined with parchment paper, your decision!).
9. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack....then eat! They are best right out of the oven!



Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Cookies!!

Any fun weekend ends in baking. I love baking...so here is a good recipe for some whole-wheat chocolate chip cookies....yes, whole-wheat!! They are really good and have kind of a "nuttier" flavor. They also have a little bit less sugar than a normal cookie recipe...Here it is!


Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour (or white whole-wheat flour - can be found at like Henry's I think)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (LESS if you are using salted butter!!!)
1 cup softened UNSALTED butter....or salted, but then use less salt...
1 1/4 cup packed dark or light brown sugar (yummm!)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 cups MILK chocolate chips (believe me, you WILL taste the difference)
1 cup walnuts (if you want!)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper (or spray it with Pam!).
3. In a small/medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set it aside for later.
4. In a larger bowl (or stand mixer), beat together the butter and the sugar until smooth.
5. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat in each egg thoroughly!
6. Add vanilla.
7. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture at a time to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Do not beat too much!
8. Remove the bowl from the mixer (if using one) and fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts (if using).
9. Get a spoon and eat some cookie dough :)
10. Drop by tablespoon-fuls onto the cookie sheet and bake in the preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
11. While cookies are baking, eat some more cookie dough :)



If you want, you can place a bunch of dough balls onto a baking sheet and put it into the freezer and then when they are all frozen, transfer them to a plastic bag so that you can have cookies to bake anytime!! These are yummy cookies and trust me, you won't be able to taste the whole wheat in there :)