Spiced Oatmeal

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who voted for me in the Manly Cupcake Challenge - I was chosen as the People's Choice! Along with two other final finalists, my recipe will be tested by the amazing bakers at C&C Cakery and a winner will be chosen. Congrats to the other finalists, whose cupcakes looked delicious!


On to the recipe...

This weekend I was fortunate enough to visit my favorite tea store, Sensibiliteas. The owner, Donnalynn recommended a delicious twist on traditional oatmeal, which is laid out below. The beauty is that you can cater it to your taste - want your oatmeal fruitier? Try their Peaches n' Cream spiced black tea. Are you preparing oatmeal for a traditional tea drinker? Perhaps they'd like it made with Earl Grey. The possibilities are endless.

Oatmeal is a nutritious and very very easy to make, as long as you keep an eye on what type of oats you buy. Rolled oats (also called old-fashioned oats) are what I've used here. Steel cut oats, also delicious, would work in this recipe, just be sure to extend your cooking time since they do take a bit longer to complete. More information about oats can be found here.

Original oatmeal recipe adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.

Ingredients (makes 2 servings)

• 2 tsp OR 2 tea bags of your favorite spiced black tea (I used Sensibiliteas' Organic Vanilla Chai)
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 1 cup rolled oats (NOT instant)
• dash of salt
• 1/3 cup of your favorite dried fruit, optional (I used raisins)
• additional toppings, such as cream, maple syrup, brown sugar, or toasted walnuts

Directions

1. Boil water for tea. When water has come to a boil, measure out 2 1/4 cups into a small saucepan.
2. Steep tea in hot water for 3-5 minutes.
3. Remove tea bag from water. Add oats and salt. Cover and bring to a boil.
4. When water comes to a boil, turn heat to low, add dried fruit if using, and cook, covered, for another 5-7 minutes until oatmeal is tender.
5. Remove from heat and serve with any additional desired toppings.

Comments

The hardest thing about writing this entry is that there is no Scratch-n-Sniff on the internet. The smell of the oatmeal simmering in a blend of cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla, and cloves permeated the kitchen, but obviously didn't show up in the photo. If you have any interest in oatmeal, I recommend giving this a try!


**Note: I was not compensated in any way by Sensibiliteas for this post. I am simply a fan of her products!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think the most beautiful, classic cookie ever invented was the one involving oatmeal. I loved oatmeal raisin cookies as a kid, and upgraded my favorite when I began making my own oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. My favorite kind of chips to use are Nestle's white "Swirled" morsels, or what I like to call zebra chips. Each chip was a twist of milk chocolate and white chocolate. They are hard to find but apparently are still made. If you ever find them in the store, be sure to try this recipe using them!

Anytime you use oats in baking, be sure to use real "old fashioned" oats. This means they are not instant, partially cooked (like "quick oats"), or cut in a way to reduce cooking time. You want them to take the full amount of time to cook so they can absorb the proper amount of liquid and leave you with a cookie, rather than a blob. 

I've made this recipe so many times I don't really remember where it came from, but if I had to guess I would probably say that this is my own twist on a recipe found in the The All-American Cookie Book.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 bag chocolate chips, or chips of your choice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Lightly grease two cookie sheets.
3. In a large bowl, mix butter, sugar, and brown sugar until blended.
4. Add vanilla and eggs and mix.
5. In a medium bowl, mix flour and baking soda.
6. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture. Stir well.
7. Add oats. Stir well.
8. Add chocolate chips. Stir well.
9. Roll into golf ball sized balls and place on cookie sheet.
10. Bake 9-12 minutes at 375 degrees. Centers should be slightly soft when taken out of oven.
11. Let cool on rack for at least 5 minutes before eating or packing into containers.

Comments

The trick with baking these is removing them at the perfect time so you get soft, chewy cookies. I usually remove mine at around 10 minutes when the centers still look gooey but the outsides seem almost browned. I kept them in a sealed tupperware container and even a week or so later they were still very moist. This recipe makes about 30-40 cookies at the size specified.