Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

So over the course of last weekend I did a lot of baking. These were one of my projects. I decided to do an oatmeal cookie, I mean who doesn't love oatmeal cookies? Seriously... I love white chocolate and I love oatmeal and the cranberries give it a nice zing. I scooped the dough with my cookie scooper and just left them that size. The dough went so much further and they were a "few bite" cookie, it made it really nice for portion control :]

 

This is a half recipe. It makes a couple dozen standard-size cookies. (I get more because I make them tinier.) If you’re feeding a crowd, go ahead and double it. I ran out of cookies so I probably should of doubled it, our families can eat!!

What you'll need:

1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) butter, softened
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt (I often use a half teaspoon, but I like more salt in my baked goods)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup cranberries
1 cup white chocolate chips ( I added about 1 1/2)

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, cranberries & white chocolate chips.

At this point you can either chill the dough for a bit in the fridge and then scoop it, or scoop the cookies onto a sheet and then chill the whole tray before baking them. You could also bake them right away, if you’re impatient, but I do find that they end up slightly less thick.

The cookies should be two inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes (your baking time will vary, depending on your oven and how cold the cookies were going in), taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool. Then enjoy!!

Till next time...

Mrs. DeLo

(recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Strawberry Cupcakes

I hope all of you had a wonderful Easter. My family and I had such an amazing day together. We started off our day by going to the Sunrise service down at the pier, it's tradition :] Then J (the hubs) and I went to 8:00 am service. Excellent as usual... Can I just say that this particular Easter was so emotional for me. I mean I have known what a gift Jesus gave to us, but I think this year I just felt it like I never have before. Good Friday was the same thing to me. I mean I just kept thinking about what Jesus went through and why He went through it... for us!! Galatians 2:20-21 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Philippians 3:10-11 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 

So now on to the strawberry cupcakes.... I'm sure I am the only person on the planet who loves strawberry cake but I don't care, they are delish! I thought I should share with the world just how great they are. Since I had a lot to bake this weekend and a lot to do, as usual, I decided to used boxed cake. Yep, I said it, boxed cake! I do substitute some stuff to make it "betta" though, I NEVER use water when the box calls for it. I always use milk or even buttermilk... YUM!!! That makes the batter way better, mucho fluffier. Tastes better too! With strawberry cake comes strawberry frosting. They were soooo berrylicious! If you haven't tried these you must do so. Till next time...

Mrs. DeLo

Izzy and Norma Jean's Adventures

So this past weekend we went to our friends daughter's 1st birthday party. It was so adorable!!! Izzy (the cute little gal) loves loves loves her Giraffe that her daddy gave her, it was appropriately named Norma Jean, haha! She loves that stuffed animal and loves to have it with her always. So I decided I would make her a photo album for all their adventures. I have more pictures that are not on this computer considering I forgot to take them (woops!) so I'll be posting some more in the future but I hope you enjoy these pix of the book...

 I will get some better shots of the album later. But this is the result of one of my favorite cricut cartridges, "Create a Critter". I just love it!!

Till next time...

Mrs. DeLo

Peanut Butta Cookiez

Who doesn't love peanut butter? Honestly... So yesterday was Wednesday which means Mini Church night! It was tremendous as usual. Last Sunday the message was about Cross Culture, everyone said the message was amazing, as I knew it would be. I have to finish listening to the message online, Pastor Paul always has something wonderful to preach about. He puts everything in terms that anyone can understand. I have a feeling that would be a really hard job to do, God really has blessed him with the ability to do that. Well if you are wondering why we missed church (I dislike missing church) it was because we were getting our Mud Run on!

Yep, we got really muddy. So anyways on to the MC snacks... I decided we needed some peanut butter, mainly because I love PB! I emailed my aunt for her peanut butter cookie recipe that I love. She fired back an email with the PB cookie ingredients. Praise the Lord!

Here's what you'll need:
1 3/4 C Flour
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt

Cream together:
1/2C Butter
1/3C Peanut Butter ( I would maybe add a little more, the peanut butter taste could use a stronger flavor)
1/2C Sugar
1/2C Brown Sugar

Add:
1 Egg
1 Tsp Vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Form into PB dough into delish cookie dough balls and place on your baking sheet. I like to do the criss cross look on my cookies and then sprinkle with a little sugar. Cook for 11-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Take out of the oven and let cool... ENJOY!

Till next time...


Mrs. DeLo

The Most Delish Caramel Corn EVER!

So I recently had a request for this recipe so I thought I would give it another post spot :] The infamous caramel corn! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!! It is by far the best caramel corn I have ever ate... it is not that hard to make too. A bit time consuming, but SO worth it. ENJOY!

First things first you want to gather everything you'll need. Baking soda, corn syrup, brown sugar, butter,  pecans and your choice of popcorn. We chose smart pop to try and cut a FEW calories ;) 

Ingredients

• Pecans
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 5 quarts popped popcorn (important, do NOT burn!!)
• 2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

After you gather all your ingredients you are ready to begin... Make sure to follow the directions. 

 Directions

Before we start anything we brown our pecans in the oven at 350 degrees till they are dark. Oven roasted pecans just taste so much better! Spread freshly popped corn in a large shallow sheet pan (similar to one you use to bake a turkey). Preheat oven to 350 degrees if not still hot from browning the pecans. Then spread the pecans all over the popcorn. Combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt in a heavy saucepan (at least 2 quarts size). Place over medium heat stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil until the mixture reaches firm ball stage (248 degrees on a candy thermometer). This will take approx 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in baking soda. Mix in well. This will cause the mixture to become foamy. 

Poor foamy mix over the popcorn evenly then stir it. Place it into the oven for 17 minutes ( I know it's an odd number but it works for us!) then take it out and stir thoroughly. Do that two more times for a total of 51 minutes. After its is done poor out on foil for it to cool then it's ready to serve! Make sure to keep all your carmel corn in an air tight container so it doesn't get stale. Enjoy... I know we sure did :)

Cricut Cake

So I got this AMAZING email today from one of my favorite sites I follow ( I just love coupons)... Hello the Cricut Cake is on sale!!!! You must go to the Cricut website... 

 

I really really really want this item, yep I want not need. But it's a really want. LOL!!! Enjoy can't wait to post some new cupcakes, hopefully this weekend. Till then...

Mrs. DeLo