The Best Oatmeal Cookies!

April mentioned the other day that I should really post more about the baking happening in my kitchen. Right now, it's happening a little too often! We have gone through 4 lbs. of butter in less than three weeks! I'd feel better if I was taking all these baked yummies to others, but we're currently residing in Ohio for the summer where we hardly know people, so we've consoled ourselves with cookies, cakes, breads, brownies, etc.

This is one of our favorite cookies! A few years ago I was on a quest for the perfect oatmeal raisin cookie and I made lots and lots of cookies trying to find the perfect one. I think I ended up combining a few recipes and came up with this. I took them to a Memorial Day picnic and people were literally fighting over them! Make a batch today, your family with love love love you!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

3 eggs beaten

1 c. raisins

1 t. vanilla

1 c. butter

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. sugar

2 ½ c. flour

1 t. salt

2 t. baking soda

2 c. rolled oats (old fashioned, not instant)

1 c. pecans (optional)

Combine 3 eggs, raisins and vanilla, cover and let sit for 1 hour (sounds gross, but it helps soften the raisins). Cream butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add flour, salt and baking soda. Then stir in raisin mixture and oats being careful not to over mix. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

May cooks

We had a birthday this month. 4 years old and she is such a big girl now. Here are some pictures of her birthday bakes.



Flower cupcakes



Butterfly cake




This was my mother's day pick for a dessert. My cute husband made me a no bake rocky road cheesecake. He did a fabulous job. It was super rich. Love that guy!

Here is the recipe from kraft foods.

Rocky Road No-Bake Cheesecake

What You Need!3 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided 2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup milk 2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping 3/4 cup JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows 1/3 cup chopped PLANTERS COCKTAIL Peanuts 1 OREO Pie Crust (6 oz.) Make It!
MICROWAVE 1 of the chocolate squares in small microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min; stir until chocolate is completely melted. Set aside.

BEAT cream cheese, sugar and milk in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add melted chocolate; mix well. Gently stir in whipped topping, marshmallows and peanuts. Coarsely chop remaining 2 chocolate squares; stir into cream cheese mixture. Spoon into crust.

REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until set. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.
Kraft Kitchens TipsSize-WiseSince this indulgent cheesecake makes 10 servings, it is the perfect dessert to serve at your next party. How to Soften Cream CheesePlace completely unwrapped packages of cream cheese on microwaveable plate. Microwave on HIGH 15 to 20 sec. or until slightly softened.

Ed's Caramelitas

I am still not positive who Ed is, but he is a genius. This is a sinful caramel bar. It has caramel, chocolate chips, and nuts sandwhiched between a oat butter cookie mixture. A must have recipe. No human can eat just one (well, maybe our Dad, definitely not me).

Ed's Caramelitas

32 Kraft caramels
10 T heavy cream
¾ c. brown sugar
¾ c. melted butter
1 c. flour
1 c. quick oats
1 t. baking soda
6 oz. chocolate chips
½ c. chopped nuts

1.Melt caramels in cream on double broiler. Set aside.
2. Mix melted butter, brown sugar, oats, flour and soda.
3. Divide mixture in half. Press ½ into well greased 8x11 pan.
4. Bake 10 minutes at 350°.
5. Remove and sprinkle chocolate chips right away, then nuts. Drizzle caramel mixture on top. Top with remaining crumb mixture.
6. Bake 15-20 min at 350°

Let these caramelitas set up for a while before cutting or they will be too gooey to cut into bars. Or you could just grab a fork and dig in….I won't tell anyone.

TWD- Quick Classic Berry Tart

Fresh fruit tarts are one of my all-time favorite desserts so I jumped at the chance to make this! Two weekends ago we had Hasler siblings in town from all over the country to celebrate blessing baby Rosie and baby Eli. At our gathering on Saturday night, I brought Dorie's Quick Classic Berry Tart. It was a huge hit!

I think the title is a bit misleading because I certainly wouldn't call this a quick dessert. I used Dorie's sweet tart dough for the crust and received many compliments as to the flavor and texture of it. Pastry cream comes together quickly, but then has to cool down before the tart can be assembled. Once you have all the parts prepared, it is easy to put them all together and serve. So I guess in that respect it could be considered quick.

I chose to top it with strawberries and blackberries. There is something just perfect about the combination of a crisp, sugary crust, smooth pastry cream and fresh, sweet berries. There wasn't any left when we went home. It was that good. The kids wanted some but I had dubbed this a dessert for the adults. I'm sure the kids would have gobbled it up and loved it, but they wouldn't have appreciated it the way the adults did.

This is a recipe I am sure to make time and time again. It is that good. If you're interested in the complete recipe, check out Cooking With Cristine.

TWD: Burnt Sugar Icecream ....not really

Well....I must say I gave this one a try. Maybe too much of a try. I am sorry to say I am done trying to make this Dorie treat. It sounds incredibly delicious. I was curious to see how it turned out. However for the life of me I could not get the caramel mixture to turn to that nice amber color Dorie speaks of. Very frustrating. I have made homemade caramels before and been successful, but not this time I guess. Sometimes making my TWD the day of doesn't work out so well. I can't take my time as much as I would like. After three batches of what ended up as dry white chunks instead of amber thick liquid I decided my kitchen was a mess my kids have been plopped down in front of the TV for too long while my attempts failed. I think this ice cream session is over and maybe will resume another time. Off to play with my kids or weed in the yard. I hope the other and surely better TWD bakers did much better than me.

For pictures of the real deal which I am sure was spectacular you can visit Becky at Project Domestication.