Peanut Butter Oatmeal Rounds

This is an interesting post (to me anyway)! I started this blog essentially to be able to look back on recipes I've made and understand problems I had, ways I dealt with those problems and how the recipes came out so that I could try to make all my recipes better in the future. Well on my new journey through my favorite cookie recipe book I have come to the third recipe and it is one that I've, not only made before, but posted on! I didn't remember that I had posted on these previously until after I had completed them this time around and I was compelled to look back to see what I had thought before. So, the first time I wrote about these cookies I thought they were absolutely terrible! Of course, to be fair, it appears as though I MAY have added too much flour that time. Anyhow, SOMETHING had to have gone awry last time because now these may just be my favorite cookies. The only thing I purposefully changed about this recipe is that I used mini chips instead of full sized ones. I like the smaller pieces of chocolate because the flavor and meltiness is more evenly distributed instead of the large gooey pieces that tend to overwhelm the other cookie flavors. If you like chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, and oatmeal cookies, these cookies are clearly the end-all be-all. I couldn't find the BH&G authorized recipe online, but if you google the post name with Better Homes and Gardens you *might* just find it somewhere.

Fudge Ecstasies

I have made another batch of cookies. There is a trend here and I will let you in on the secret. I have decided to bake every cookie out of my favorite cookie book, the Better Homes and Gardens Ulimate Cookie Book. I've started at the beginning with the Pumpkin Pecan cookies and although I have already baked a number of the other cookies before I am going to (try) baking straight through from cover to cover. So these are the second cookies in the book, Fudge Ecstasies. Since I am planning on making all of the recipes in the book I no longer feel comfortable posting the full recipes, but whenever possible I will link to the BH and G site that HAS the recipes (although you may have to sign up for free to actually get them). Otherwise, I HIGHLY recommend purchasing the book. If you can find it spiral bound buy that one. I have used mine so much it is coming apart at the seams.

Fudge Ecstasies

These are pretty much exactly what the name implies.  More chocolate than you can shake a stick at! While warm these cookies were pretty much just like eating a ball of melty chocolate with a non-melty exterior. Once cooled they were like fudgey little brownie cookies.  I sometimes don't like the over-the-top chocolatey chocolate desserts, but the use of a portion of unsweetened chocolate in these made them rich and intensely cocoa flavored while still leaving me wanting more after I was done (for better or worse!). While they did not have the chewy texture all my very favorite cookies have, I found them to have much more substance than the Pumpkin Pecan cookies.  All in all a make-again cookie!

Pumpkin Pecan Cookies

Hello! After a long hiatus and a lot of life changes I am back.  Again. Seven days after my last post I FINALLY went into the hospital and gave birth to my fabulous baby boy early the next morning.  Thereafter followed a long break-in period (about 10 months) and then I finally had enough sleep and sanity to start baking again. Of course it has taken me til now to actually get back to the blog. Baby Snugs is doing great now, a big honkin 14 month old boy who can run and eat and all kinds of cool stuff.  So on with the cookies! These ones are from my favorite cookie book (The BHG Ultimate Cookie Book).  I'm actually quite amazed I hadn't made them before given our love here of everything pumpkin.

Pumpkin Pecan Cookies

• 2 c. flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1 c. butter, softened
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 c. canned pumpkin
• 1 c. toasted chopped pecans
• 1 recipe brown sugar frosting

1. Preaheat oven to 375.
2. Stir together first 5 ingredients.
3. In large bowl beat butter on high for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat until combined. Add egg and beat until combined. Stir in pumpkin, pecans, and flour mixture.
4. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Transfer to a wire rack until cool.
6. Frost with brown sugar frosting.

Frosting: Melt 6 tbsp butter with 1/3 cup packed brown sugar over medium heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat and mix in 2 cups powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Stir in enough hot water to make frosting a spreadable consistency.

I took a little liberty with the frosting (it hardened a bit and I didn't feel like reheating it) and piped it on. The cookies were pretty yummy. The frosting was very sweet. The cookies themselves were a cakey kind of cookie. I left the pecans a little on the larger side and their toasty crispness contrasted nicely with the smooth frosting and the pillowy cookies.