Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

For my fourth blog post, I decided to create double chocolate oatmeal cookies. The recipe seemed easy enough, so I decided to try out the recipe.

Directions

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup margarine or butter, softened
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 package (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

"Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar margarine, water, vanilla, and egg in 2 1/2 quart bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until almost no indentation remains when touched, 10 to 12 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheet" (Crocker 47).

When I was mixing in the ingredients, the mixture seemed to be very dry and hard to move around. So I decided to try using an electric mixer, which helped greatly. The dough became smoother and easier to stir.

I also substituted the quick cooking oats to a one minute oats for oatmeal. I wasn't sure if it would turn out all right, but I couldn't find the quick cooking oats.

Does anyone know what isle they are in at the grocery store or where I could find them?

As the cookies were baking in the oven, I realized that by the time the timer was over, the cookies were still raw in certain areas. For some reason, when I put the cookies in for 10 to 12 minutes, the cookies would either be raw or over baked. I tried putting less and more cookie dough with both the same and different time frames, just by adding a couple of minutes. I couldn't get the cookies to come out perfectly. They were mostly a little overbaked. My cookies were also kind of dry. I think it has to do with the fact that I substituted the quick cooking oats for the one minute oats for oatmeal.

Overall, despite the recipe looking simple, it turned out to be very complex for me. The cookies were dry and overbaked.

Does anyone know how I could improve the cookies to make sure that they aren't over or under baked and not dry? 

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Raisin Treats - Real Sweet

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Raisin Treats                                                                             ~Neetu Buttar

Today I am going to show you how to make some delicious treats that you can take where ever you go. The reason I decided to make these treats today is because "this formula manages to take a whole bunch of superfoods and turn them into something that walks the line between an energy bar and a ball of cookie dough" (Sever 41). This is such a simple and healthy yet delicious treat that is quite easy to make. This treat can also be made very quickly, if you are in a rush!

First off, I will list the ingredients needed down below:

• dates, tightly packed; 1 c.
• old-fashioned rolled oats; 1 &3/4 c.
• raisins; 3/4 c.
• bittersweet chocolate chips; 1/3 c.
• peanut butter; 2-3 tbsp.
• chia seeds; 1 tsp.
• ground cinnamon; 1/2 tsp.
• pure vanilla extract; 3/4 tsp.
• salt; 1/8 tsp (pinch)                           (Sever 41).

Next off to actually get to making these tasty treats, you are going to need to follow a few directions. "Once you got the dates, oats, and chia seeds in the mix, there are about a million ways to riff on these treats" (Sever 41). This is one reason why I love making these kinds of treats, because you can make these treats to your liking.

1. Place the dates in a bowl full of hot water for about 10 minutes, so they can soften up.
2. Combine all the ingredients in a food processer, and blend until mixture is a consistency of dough. Feel free to add more of any ingredient, when you feel it is necessary.
3. Portion out the small pieces of the dough and roll them into balls.
4. Refrigerate until the treats are nice and firm.                                                        (Sever 41).

End Result:

I think that these chocolate chip oatmeal raisin treats have been one of the best treats I have made so far on my blog. There was a nice texture to the firm dough, so it wasn't so hard or so crumbly. The one thing that I would have added would have been a light chocolate drizzle on top to make it a little bit more sweet. Overall, these treats turned out great and I am for sure going to make them again!

Question: What would you add or take away from this treat to make it the right balance for you?

• Sever, Shauna, and Leigh Beisch. Real Sweet: More than 80 Crave- worthy Treats Made with Natural Sugars . New York: William Morrow, 2015. Print.   

Mrs. Braun's Oateal Cookies - Real Sweet

Mrs. Braun's Oatmeal Cookies                                                                               ~ Neetu Buttar

I am going to be going through the process of some delicious homemade oatmeal cookies that you are absolutely going to love. "If you're looking for a homemade treat that will make you the queen of the playground set or something wholesome to stash in your bag for those midday slumps, look no further" (Sever 63). I chose to continue making cookies in my blog because they are something that everyone would love, as there are endless combinations to what you can make your cookie look like and or taste like.

Starting off, you are going to need some ingredients to make these oatmeal cookies:

• old-fashioned rolled oats; 1 & 1/2c.
• raisins; 1/2c.
• whole wheat pastry flour; 2/3 c.
• baking soda; 1/2 tsp.
• fine sea salt; 1/2 tsp.
• ground cinnamon; 1/2 tsp.
• unsalted butter; 1/2 c.
• sugar; 3/4 c.
• large egg yolks; 2
• large whole egg; 1
• pure vanilla extract; 1 tsp.               (Sever 63).

Now I am going to go over the steps to create these magnificent cookies. " Use the volume of raisins as your guide for swapping in amount of other, similar ingredients" (Sever 63). So if you aren't a big fan of raisins like me, just swap the raisins for chocolate chips, or you could do a little bit of both.

1. Whisk the oats, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium sized bowl.
2. Beat together the butter, sugar, egg yolks, egg and vanilla extract until fluffy in an electric mixer and stir in raisins (or chocolate chips).
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Scoop the cookies with a small ice cream scoop onto the baking sheets.
5. Bake until deeply golden but still soft in the centers (15 minutes).

End Result:

Overall, I think that these oatmeal cookies turned out wonderful and delicious. They were indeed very soft but I think that the one thing I would've changed would be to make the cookie a little bit  sweeter, so maybe adding a bit more sugar in the recipe, but that's just my opinion. I also think that I would've baked it on a lower temperature so everything would be even through out the cookie.

Question: What would you switch out for the raisins and or what would you change about the cookie?

• Sever, Shauna, and Leigh Beisch. Real Sweet: More than 80 Crave-   worthy Treats Made with Natural Sugars. New York: William Morrow, 2015. Print.