I know that a better approach to meal (and treat) planning would be to make just one thing each day, or to pick a single day to stock my freezer for the entire week...but I am in full-on winter hibernation mode, so I am instead cooking or baking a lot only when I feel warm enough to move around the kitchen!
For Valentine's day/yet another long weekend off of school, I decided to go all out and roll chocolates for my wonderful family and neighbors. For awhile, I felt very much like Lucille Ball in the I Love Lucy episode where she fills in on a candy line and turns into a gooey mess (with her mouth full of chocolate--not a bad problem). Still, I had a great time decorating coconut chocolate truffles after the rolling part was done! Download your printable recipe at the link below the photo. They are so quick to make that you'll be able to have them as an after-dinner treat even if you get started mid-afternoon.
Feeling ambitious, I'm linking up to the 2018 #freefromfridays pre-Valentine's post and aiming to repeat my taste-tester gifts in 2018!
This post wasn't actually supposed to be about the pretty truffles, though. It started out as a tale of baking mishaps. This year, Lent for Catholics started just before Valentine's day, and my older daughter decided to give up cookies. Naturally, we needed to make batches and batches of cookies the weekend before Lent to fill up on Fat Tuesday! I decided to combine two of our favorite cookie recipes: sugar oatmeal cookies and Gram's chocolate chip cookies. Not as easy as I'd hoped. Cookie chemistry is forgiving mostly in that a cookie tastes pretty good even when it looks flat and awful. Lucky for us, that was the case here. For all of you baking experimenters out there, here's the first-try oatmeal chocolate chunk cookie recipe. Give it your own interpretation and see if you can improve it; we're waiting until after Easter to tweak ours!
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Then, mix 1/2 cup each of white and brown sugar in a large bowl (I like to use a wooden spoon). Stir in 3/4 cup canola oil. In a small bowl, combine 2 Tbsp each of water and unsweetened applesauce with 1 Tbsp of cornstarch (or your thickener of choice, like tapioca, to avoid corn). Add the cornstarch mixture to the large bowl and stir. With a whisk, add 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1-1/4 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt to the batter. Stir in 1/4 to 1/3 cup (your preference) chocolate chunks. This time, we tried something new: the Enjoy Life Dairy-Free Chocolate Chunks. I loved that the chunks were different sizes! Last, stir in 3/4 cup rolled oats (not instant) and 1-3/4 cup flour. On a pan lightly greased or lined with parchment or silicone mat, place tablespoon-sized rounded cookie dough approximately 1 to 2 inches apart. Bake each tray individually for 8 to 9 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack immediately. This recipe makes approximately 3 dozen cookies...flat, but tasty, cookies.
7 Comments
Livvie
2/14/2016 04:43:13 pm
Super awesome! YUM!!!
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Nicole
10/21/2017 08:10:59 pm
I would love to see how you decorate them if you go for it this xmas!
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10/18/2017 10:07:41 am
Most of my baking successes come out of baking mishaps...that's the beauty of baking! These look divine AND I can eat them too ...double win! #CookBlogShare
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Nicole
10/19/2017 06:24:47 am
It sure it, Rebecca! I won't even get started on how my dinners evolve from what was planned. ;-)
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10/21/2017 11:37:38 am
I find that some of my favourite recipes have come about by accident. These look and sound so good, perfect for Christmas (and Valentines, birthdays, treats!) Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
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Nicole
10/21/2017 08:11:56 pm
So true :) I use that as my justification for experimenting instead of sticking to a recipe! So happy to be a new part of #CookBlogShare
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Hi, I'm Nicole. ABOUT THE BLOG An apothecary is a person or a place. Either one implies healing and relates to pharmacy in its truest sense, as a source of treatment and advice. This blog is my way of uniting my pharmacy training with my efforts to provide a healthy and safe lifestyle for my family. In true apothecary form, I research and prescribe alternative ingredients that work just right in each specific recipe, and I would like to share the results with anyone who needs help making their own family’s kitchen allergy safe and heart healthy. Categories
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I made the 2017 Top-40 Food Allergy blogs!
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