Twelve Treats of Christmas!

THE SEMESTER IS OVER!!!

It was daunting at first, but school has turned out to be awesome. Thanks to my wonderful hubby and supportive family I stuck through it all, and I'm absolutely loving my program. I can't wait to be a speech-language pathologist!! While I'm a little sad not to have classes for the next five weeks, I'm excited at the thought of waking up and lounging about with no urgent need for papers or power points to be made. I'm interviewing today for a sitting job over break, so that will hopefully go well and I'll have something to occupy my time. 

Christmas celebrations can officially commence! (Buy one, get one free holiday drinks at Starbucks today through Sunday helps, too!)

Hubby and I thought of a really fun tradition to start around the holidays: the twelve treats of Christmas! It's probably late to get twelve baked goods in before we leave for PA in a week, but I'll do my best. Maybe I'll count recently baked treats. Or even throw in some savory treats, too. Either way, we'll get to twelve somehow!

First treat of Christmas: Oatmeal cranberry cookies

My husband was a big fan of the oatmeal cherry cookies I made for my sister-in-law's shower, so we decided to pull that recipe out for the holidays. We substituted cherries for dried cranberries since that's what we had hanging around our pantry. I really loved this batch as I've realized I'm a huge fan of oats in baked yummies. In this particular cookie, there were so many oats that the toastiness came off as a peanut butter-y taste, and for anyone who knows me, that is a HUGE selling point. I also substituted 1/2 cup of butter for margarine. The recipe called for two sticks of butter, but that seemed excessive. There was an option of subbing apple butter for the butter, but mine is from scratch, not processed. We figured it wouldn't work as well, so I stuck with just subbing margarine. But it was a cool thought.

Action shot. Woo!

This recipe was really easy, and Hubby helped me make them. We were so happy with the oat-filled batter, we almost didn't throw in the cranberries. The recipe called for honey as well, but I didn't think it needed the added sugar. I was right, they were delicious without it. So I highly recommend omitting the honey if you make these!



My cookie scooper was so much fun with this batter since it held together really well and slipped right out of the scoop.



An amusing anecdote to leave you with. There was a tiny bit of dough left over, and my husband thought it would be a really great idea to slap it between the cookies that were ready to bake. I give you...the "pile of **** cookie".

Really? YUCK. 

This picture doesn't do these cookies justice. The chewy, oaty texture was sooooooo to-die for. These are now high on my must-have list for the holidays!

Chewy Cherry-Oatmeal Cookies courtesy of:

Martha Stewart

Makes 4 dozen. (Ours made almost 3 dozen since I made larger cookies)

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used half all-purpose, half whole-wheat)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, or 1 cup apple butter (I used 1 stick butter, 1/2 cup maragarine)
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey (Omit!)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups Quaker Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
• 1 cup dried cherries (We used dried cranberries, but throw in your own dried fruit of choice!)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt; set aside. Place butter, sugar, and honey in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat to combine. With the mixer on low, gradually add reserved flour mixture and beat until incorporated. Stir in oats and cherries.
3. Drop 1 tablespoon of dough at a time about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake until lightly golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.