Sunday, October 11, 2009

Festive Fall Food

This week was a busy one for me... seeing that I've been out of work for a month, a week of full-on waitressing was killer. Yesterday I finally had the whole day off and of course, I spent most of it in the kitchen.

Every day I get the Martha Stewart "daily cookie" email, and I am pretty sure I've never actually made it - until yesterday. I was looking for something different to make, and Martha provided! The daily cookie was carrot cake cookies and they were so simple and cute. The batch turned out great both in taste and appearance. 17 little carrot cookie duos with cream cheese frosting smashed inside - an ode to a favorite fall cake.


But one sweet recipe wasn't enough for my morning. My other recipe was a take on a cereal granola bar. I don't even remember where I found the recipe, but my mom has been wanting to get rid of some of the cereal in the cabinet that's been sitting for a while, so I took the Smart Start Healthy Heart flakes, mixed it with sunflower seeds and a handful of butterscotch chips as the granola base. Next came a boiling concoction of brown sugar, corn syrup, cinnamon and craisins. Finally peanut butter ws mixed into the bowl and ta-dah - a no-bake success - and transporable with my dad to Cananda :)

Oatberry Anniversary! 10-02!



Two years ago, I invented a cookie - oatberry yogurt cookies - and they've been super successful ever since. In honor of my yummy invention, I always make sure to bake a batch on the anniversary - October 2nd. I try to make them a few times a year, but I mak it a point to celebrate with 'em on the 2nd.

This year, I decided that in addition to the tradiational cookie recipe, I would develop a healthified version. Now, my original recipe is actually pretty healthy, just a little higher in calories and fat than my mom wanted for her cookies. The originals are full of oats, vanilla yogurt and blueberries - and the new ones kept the same base flavors. To make it a little lighter I swapped some butter and oil for a little more yogurt and a few tablespoons of unsweetened applesauce. Also, I swapped the all-purpose flour for half whole wheat, and lessened the sugar count.

Result: a new wheat-ier oatberry! I was so pleased that the swaps worked, and the new cookie is pretty delicious too... but nothing can beat the original's blueberry muffin-like amazingness. Nothing beats a classic :)