Oatmeal White chocolate-walnut cookies

Remember those walnuts on the side of the carrot cake? And in those shortbread cookies? Well I still had some left. And since Whole Foods charged way, way too much (sorry Whole foods- but seriously I'm on a teacher's budget here!) I had to make sure I used them up. And what better way then to throw them into a cookie.

I am actually quite proud of this little cookie. I think because I took the basic recipe from Cook's Illustrated and I adapted it to what I had. The original recipe called for bittersweet chocolate (I had white chocolate on hand), pecans (enter, walnuts!), and dried cherries (maybe, next time cherries) and came out with this cookie.

Someday- probably in a much much distant future- I will write my very own cookbook with my very own recipes. Until then, this is as adventurous as I get recipe-wise.  How sad am I that I actually got nervous that this combination would not work. But I had never seen an oatmeal white chocolate-walnut combination! Or at least never googled it. And I google a lot of recipes. Either way, I had a hankering for oatmeal cookies, with the rest of the ingredients on hand, and at 8:00 p.m. at night there would be no running to the store. White chocolate and walnuts would have to suffice. And suffice they did. Boy, oh boy, these came out good. Move over expensive macadamia nuts! We got a new nut in town that pairs very nicely (perhaps a little too nicely- I had one for breakfast and lunch) with white chocolate. 

On that note...off to the gym.

Oatmeal Cookies with white chocolate and walnuts
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

Makes about 16 large cookies

1 1/4 cups (6 1/4 oz.) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 (3 3/4 ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
6 oz. white chocolate, chopped
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed (10 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2.  Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.  In second medium bowl, stir oats, walnuts, chocolate together.
3.  Using a mixer, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until no sugar lumps remain, about 1 minute, scraping down bowl as needed.  Add egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds.  Gradually add oat-nut mixture, mix until just incorporated (I did this with a spatula and some elbow grease.) Give it one final stir to make sure no flour pockets remain.
4.  Working with 1/4 cup of dough at a time, roll into balls and place 2 1/2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.  Press dough to 1-inch thickness using bottom of a greased measuring cup. (I used the palm of my hand and it worked just fine. And saved me dirtying up another utensil!)  Bake until cookies are medium brown and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will seem underdone, and will appear raw, wet, and shiny in cracks) about 20 to 22 minutes switching and rotating baking sheets half-way through baking.
5. Let cookies cool on baking sheets (always recommended but who am I kidding- I snuck a bite) for 5 minutes; transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool to room temperature.

Walnut Shortbread

I usually get an itch to bake at least once a day (if I'm lucky!). Unfortunately, my pantry doesn't always match my aspirations. A slim pantry doesn't tend to stop me. In fact, I kind of like it. I feel like I've been given a challenge. What can you make with no eggs, no milk, and no chocolate? Ugh...why bother!.. some might say! Not me.  I did have one stick of butter left in the freezer. Thank goodness. At least I had butter! I scoured my cookbooks- my cookie ones mostly- knowing that there had to be a few recipes out there that would scratch my itch with just a few ingredients. And lo and behold, on page 55 of Good Housekeeping Cookies cookbook I found a Walnut Shortbread recipe. 

It called for just four ingredients!
1.Walnuts (I had exactly the 1/2 cup it called for!) 
2. Flour
3. Sugar
4. Butter (exactly 1 stick)


..it's like the Baking Gods were calling for me to make this today! On an 80 degree day no less


Of course, being the baking dweeb that I am I decided to consult my Cook's Illustrated Bible on shortbread.  What did the experts have to say on shortbread?  The CI experts said the all flour recipe tends to create too much gluten resulting in a dry and tough shortbread. Ugh who wants that? They subbed in some oats. Well I didn't have any of that! I did have cake flour though.  The recipe on page 54 used half AP flour and half cake flour to make them "tender as authentic Scottish Shortbread". Now how come the page 55 recipe didn't call for half cake flour? Hmmph. I wanted authentic shortbread just like the next person! The CI experts also said using confectioner's sugar instead of granulated resulted in a better texture.  Well taking all this into consideration, and my pantry, I was able to come up with this modified version of page 55. 


This recipe comes together quickly as well. First start by toasting your walnuts.

Then transfer the walnuts and 1/2 cup of flour to your food processor fitted with the blade. Pulse until the walnuts are finely ground.

Transfer the walnut mixture to a medium sized bowl. Add the remaining flour.

Add in the butter. And mix it in with your hands. So messy but so satisfying!

Mix until it is nice and crumbly. See..I told you totally satisfying!

Now press into a 9-inch square pan. (Or whatever you have on hand. I used 8-inch pan and mine turned out just fine!)

I think this would go great with a cup of tea. If I had any.

Walnut Shortbread
Adapted from Good Housekeeping Favorite Recipes, Cookies!


Ingredients:
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
3/4 cup AP flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 cup sugar (granulated or confectioners- I used confectioner's)
1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick), softened


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast walnuts in a single layer for about 5-7 minutes.  
2. In food processor with knife blade attached, process walnuts with 1/2 cup flour until finely ground.
3. In medium bowl, combine remaining flour, cake flour, sugar, and walnut mixture until blended.
4. With fingertips, blend butter into walnut mixture until well combined and crumbly. With hand, press dough onto bottom of ungreased 9- inch baking pan. (I used an 8- inch baking pan and adjusted my time).
5. Bake until light golden, 25 to 30 minutes. While still warm, cut into 4 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 6 pieces. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
6. When cool, with small metal spatula, carefully remove cookies from pan.

Simple Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

I don't know what it is about bringing a cake to someone's house. Especially a carrot cake. Everyone is always incredibly impressed. I always feel a tad guilty accepting all of the wonderful praise. One, it's not my recipe (thank you again Cook's Illustrated!). Two, it truly is easy to make a cake from scratch. You just have to be willing to invest a little bit more time and elbow grease. This recipe though definitely is a good go to carrot cake recipe. It was moist, full of carrot and spice flavor. I am usually very, very critical of my own baking (even when I am getting all that praise), but this cake I have to admit did deliver. I hate when a carrot cake is really just a glorified spice cake overloaded by a cream cheese icing flavor. Don't get me wrong, I love any good cake. And cream cheese icing? Don't get me started. It is just that when it comes to carrot cake I want a CARROT cake.  This recipe I believe did succeed. Of course, knowing me it will not be the last carrot cake recipe I will try.

To make the cake, I grated all my carrots by hand. Yes, you can definitely use a food processor. I chose to do this by hand. It's a great way to not feel guilty when you have to skip the gym because you just HAD to make a cake.

I also only added toasted walnuts to my cake. Feel free to add pecans, or omit. You can also add pineapple chunks, raisins, or coconut. Me? I am a carrot cake purist! Ok- and it is just easier and cheaper. Personally, the cake was delicious without all the add-ins. To each his own.

Making a cake from scratch is truly satisfying though. And I am truly on a "make everything from scratch" kick (more like a moving train that has no plan of stopping). The more you read box labels (or attempt to because you can't read half of what is on the label!) the more you may be tempted to also bake everything you can from scratch. Even grate your carrots by hand.

Simple Carrot Cake
Originally from Cook's Illustrated


makes one 13 by 9-inch cake- I baked mine in two 9 inch round pans.

you can add walnuts and raisins, both or neither, if you do both, add about ten minutes onto your baking time.


I also added toasted crushed walnuts to the outside of the cake. It looks pretty and also covers up any frosting faux-pas one might have.
Ingredients:2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 pound (6 to 7 medium) carrots, peeled

1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) packed light brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups safflower, canola, or vegetable oil


Directions:
1. for the cake: adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. spray 13 by 9-inch baking pan (or two 9-inch round pans) with nonstick cooking spray. 
2. whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in large bowl; set aside.
3. Grate 6-7 medium carrots by hand. Set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, combine sugars and eggs and mix until frothy and thoroughly combined. While mixer is running, add oil. 
5. Stir in dry ingredients, until no flour remains.
6.If you use a food processor- in food processor fitted with large shredding disk, shred carrots (you should have about 3 cups); transfer carrots to bowl and set aside. Wipe out food processor workbowl and fit with metal blade. process granulated and brown sugars and eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds. with machine running, add oil through feed tube in steady stream. process until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer. scrape mixture into medium bowl. stir in carrots and dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. 
7. Pour into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time. cool cake to room temperature in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours. 


Cream Cheese Frosting
Originally from Annie's Eats


* I ended up making 3 batches of this frosting to frost my cake. I did have a little leftover. But I would prefer that as opposed to not enough. If you make a sheet cake- I would put money on it that one batch would suffice!


8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted


1. Cream together cream cheese and butter.
2. Add vanilla extract.
3. Add sugar (I add a 1/2 cup to a cup at a time- just to avoid a huge mess!) and mix until delcious and creamy!
4. Try to avoid eating it straight from the bowl and allow your cake to cool to frost.