Odds and Ends

The crazy got turned up to eleven here this week. Must be Spring Fever.

When I was looking for topic suggestions, Alisa asked, "How about some fun cookies to make with kids?"

I love cake mix cookies, especially these:


Confetti Cookies

Double Chocolate Chewies


And Bisquick cookies are good.

Happy Memorial Day!

Shuttemup Cookies

Thank you all so much for your travel suggestions. AAA! Consignment store toys! Genius.

We had a very busy weekend of Christmas Cantata and Christmas play and Christmas dinner. Scott and Katherine did their cantata and play parts very well, and I made the easiest chocolate chip cookies in the world to take to the Christmas dinner.

Shuttemup Cookies, adapted from The Compleat I Hate to Cook Book by Peg Bracken
She calls them "the fastest chocolate chip cookie," and she ain't lyin.

Cream together:
1 cup dairy-free margarine
1 cup light brown sugar

Then add:
2 cups flour
1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped (optional)

Mix it, press it into a 9"x13" rectangular pan, and bake it for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. (I use a rimmed cookie sheet.) Cut it into bars while it's still warm. "If you forget, just break it up when it's cool."

Anyone Else?

Centerpiece by Katherine and Gramma

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We celebrated on Saturday with boiled dinner and green cookies. Mmmm....

I answered some questions that were asked during my maternity leave in the last post, and I didn't mean to leave anyone out. So, any questions you'd like me to answer? Fire away.

I'll get you started with a fun fact. The number one search for this blog is "Star Wars birthday party." True story.



Pistachio Pudding Cookies*

1 cup Bisquick baking mix
1 small package instant pistachio pudding
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients until the dough forms a ball. Shape dough into one-inch balls. Place about two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each cookie with a fork, as you would with peanut butter cookies. Bake until the edges are light brown, about eight minutes. Makes about two dozen cookies.

*Most pudding mixes are dairy free, and so is Bisquick. This recipe is from my junior high home ec. class, although I'm sure you could find a million variations of it online.

[Edited to add: Do NOT use sugar-free pudding mix. Just ask Swistle.]

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Have you been to a Christmas pageant yet this holiday season? Did it seem more Herdman than holy at first? Maybe it went something like this:

The children's choir sings while the Angel of the Lord climbs up onto her perch. Mary and Joseph arrive with their baby doll Jesus, who has bright blue eyes and looks decidedly feminine. After cradling her baby and placing Him in the manger, Mary chats quietly with the Angel of the Lord while Joseph tries to strangle himself with his shepherd's crook. The (female) shepherds arrive with their stuffed... goat. The children's choir continues singing and playing chimes as if they are handling martial arts weapons. The wisemen arrive; one of them receives a coy little finger wave from Mary. Joseph, still wrestling with his crook, pays no heed. As the choir continues to sing, Mary plays with pieces of hay while Joseph chews on some. A wiseman picks his nose. The shepherds play restlessly with their shepherd's crooks. At last, the entire cast lines up at the front of the stage to sing "Go Tell it on the Mountain," mumbling the verses but belting out the chorus. Then, in a triumph of mixed media, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive with little candies and trinkets for all of the children and their siblings.

Perhaps there is an almost-two-year old keeping you company in the audience, who claps his hands and yells, "Yay!" after every song. Maybe he calls his sister's name in excitement when Mary comes onstage, and says, "Oh wow!" when Santa appears. Maybe you think about Christmas just two years ago, when he was kicking your ribs like this baby girl is now.

Maybe the evening ends with many congratulations and a few cookies left over from the potluck dinner. I hope so.

Double Chocolate Chewies from The Cake Mix Doctor
(adjusted to be dairy free)

1 package plain, dairy-free devil's food cake mix
1/3 cup water
4 tablespoons dairy-free margarine, melted
1 large egg
1 cup dairy-free semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two cookie sheets. Place the cake mix, water, melted margarine, and egg in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for one minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the speed to medium and beat for one minute more. The dough will be thick. Fold in the chips and nuts.

Drop heaping teaspoons of the dough two inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake the cookies until they have set but are still a little soft in the center, 10-12 minutes. Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheets for one minute. Remove the cookies with a metal spatula to wire racks to cool completely, 20 minutes.

Colds and Cookies

We've been celebrating the change in the weather by coming down with the cold + fever that Katherine brought home from school on Thursday. Daddy ran out to the store for supplies this weekend and came home with *gasp!* sugar cereal (or "dessert cereal" as it's known around here) as a special treat. I felt myself coming down with the cold on Sunday, so I dug out a cereal cookie recipe given to me by a lady from our church. Yesterday I pacified the children with the cookies while I lazed around on the couch. Yes, I know they have no nutritional value, but they got us through the day. Don't judge me.

Confetti Cookies

1 package of dairy-free yellow cake mix
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup water
1 egg
3 cups Fruity Pebbles

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the first four ingredients with a spoon until blended. Stir in the cereal. Drop by the teaspoonful onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

I can envision lots of variations of this recipe with different combinations of cake mixes and cereals.

Peanuts: Cookies and Baby

Here I am! Barely beating the cookie challenge deadline! Whew! I made my favorite four-ingredient cookies, which I wrote about here. But I'll post the recipe again exactly as I made it today.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups dairy-free chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix peanut butter, sugar, and eggs in a bowl with a wooden spoon until blended. Add salt if needed. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until cookie bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

And here's a first photo of Baby Peanut. You know, just because.

O' Henry Bars

O' Henry Bars

1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup dairy-free margarine
4 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup Karo syrup
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
2/3 cup chunky peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the margarine and sugar together. Add the oatmeal, syrup, and vanilla and mix. Pat into a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Cool completely. Melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter together. Spread this mixture on top of the oatmeal layer and let cool. Cut into bars.

Seriously

In between madly cleaning for my in-laws' visit this weekend, I spent yesterday trying to compose a thoughtful post on senseless violence, kissing your kids goodnight, kindergarten registration with an allergic child, and how very hard I try to keep my children safe.

Then Katherine cut her foot on a nail in our living room and we spent the evening in the emergency room. Seriously. Please send my Mother of the Year Award to Sarah at Nowheymama.blogspot.com.
(Katherine is totally fine and doesn't want to talk about it or tell anyone about it, so don't tell her I told you, Ok?)

Clearly we need some chocolate.

Monkey Cookies

3/4 cups shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup mashed banana
1 3/4 cups quick oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cups chocolate chips
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening and sugar together. Mix in the egg and mashed bananas. In a separate bowl, mix together the oats, flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon with a whisk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and blend. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by the teaspoonful onto a greased baking sheet and bake for eight to ten minutes.


P.S. The cooking show I taped is on the air as we speak. It plays, like, three times a day. Why did I agree to wear the white chef's coat? Also, the sound is messed up, which gives people the chance to sit around thinking, "Wonder why I can't hear anything? Man, that chick looks like a blonde Ina Garten, doesn't she?"

Nut Butter Cookies

This is another one of those recipes of which there are several variations in my cookbooks, online, and elsewhere. I don't know who created the original recipe, but, thank you!

Nut Butter Cookies

1 cup nut butter (peanut, almond, cashew)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
Optional: two cups dairy-free chocolate chips, chopped nuts, dried fruit, or a combination
Note: Depending on what type of nut butter is used, 1/4-1/2 t. salt may be needed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix nut butter, sugar, and eggs in a bowl with a wooden spoon until blended. Add salt if needed. Stir in optional ingredients, if desired. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until cookie bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Overnight Oatmeal Cookies

Wow- I never realized how many February babies I know. Happy Birthday, Kathryn! (Or, as she's known in our house, "Big Kathryn.") And, Happy Birthday, Grandad!

The talk at Catherine Newman's blog and Wondertime column has been all about an awesome overnight bread recipe. While you're trying that, how about some overnight oatmeal cookies to go with? Carbs galore!

Overnight Oatmeal Cookies (Dairy Free, Wheat Free)

The night before you bake, mix together:
4 cups quick oats
2 cups light brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
(I like to refrigerate this mixture, but you don't have to.)

The next morning, mix in:
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Drop from a teaspoon onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes and remove promptly from the oven. Let cool just 1-2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then remove to a cooling rack.

If you want to be extra fancy, melt some dairy-free chocolate chips and dip the cooled cookies into the melted chocolate. Let harden on wax paper.