Mini-Monsters (Cookies)

There's a recipe from Kraft for Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies. They remind me a lot of Monster Cookies. But I just don't want such a big cookie. So I tweaked this one a bit and used mini-M&M's and you get the big taste of Monster Cookies in a reasonably sized cookie.

Mini-Monsters

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats (quick or old-fashioned)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup mini-M&Ms
1 cup chocolate chips (mini or standard)

Cream sugars, butter, and brown sugar. In another bowl mix flour, oats, baking powder, soda, and salt. Add eggs to butter and sugar mixture one at a time. Gradually add dry ingredients. Mix in M&Ms and chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoons onto cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes, until just starting to brown around the edges. Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Honey Walnut Cookies

So I came across a recipe for Honey Walnut Cookies over on Baking Bites the other day. They looked really good so I just had to try them out. They are good with a rich honey flavor. The only complaint I may have is they have an oily taste to me. I'm thinking I would make them again with butter instead of with vegetable oil (I used canola oil so maybe that's my problem). I made a double batch so the boys didn't revolt when we ran out right away. I think they will be a hit. The real test will be from our niece who believes she doesn't like nuts, although I just keep feeding them to her anyway. I used a #60 portion scoop and got 43 cookies. Other than doubling the recipe, I followed the original directions. This is what I think I'll do next time:

Honey Walnut Cookies

2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts

Cream butter and brown sugar. Add honey and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix to combine. Stir in walnuts. Roll into 1 inch balls or use a portion scoop. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Cool on sheet for 2-3 minutes then remove to wire rack.

Outrageous Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Really they are not exaggerating on this recipe I found over on Cookie Madness. I made some of these today and was quite pleased with the result. I made them bigger than the original recipe. It made 4 dozen cookies. I used a #40 scoop (2 Tbsp.) and yielded 26 cookies. I baked them for about 13 minutes and left them on the sheet for 3-5 minutes to cool. The result was a soft peanut butter cookie with a bit of chocolate. Not too much chocolate and not too much peanut butter. The oatmeal is also barely noticed, but does add a nice little chewiness. Might be good with chunky peanut butter instead of creamy. May have to try that next time. I would say this cookie is definitely a winner.

Outrageous Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (use ¼ if using salted butter)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup rolled oats
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream both sugars and butter. Beat in peanut butter, vanilla and egg. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to batter and stir until incorporated. Stir in oats and chips. Drop by tablespoons on to lightly greased (or parchment lined) cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes.
Let sit on cookie sheet for about 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Cheerio Cookies

Sorry, I'm a bad, bad blogger. Haven't been doing much cooking with recipes. It's been hectic and we've just been pulling things out of the freezer that we made before. Cook up some veggies and call it a meal. I could pretend I'll do better, but it's not likely. But for now here is a recipe for Cheerio Cookies from Cookie Madness. Some of the comments said they were crisp cookies. We tend to like a softer cookie, so I substituted 4 tbsp. shortening for half of the butter. I used a #40 disher to make just over 2 dozen cookies. The cookies turned off chewy with a bit of crunch from the Cheerios. I recommend them highly. So here it is with my modification.

Cheerio Cookies

4 tablespoons butter, room temp.
4 tablespoons shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 1/2 cups Cheerios
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (a little more if you like chocolate)

Cream the butter, shortening, and both sugars with an electric mixer. Stir in the peanut butter, egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together the baking powder, baking soda and salt, then add the flour mixture to the butter mixture; stir until incorporated. Add the oatmeal, cheerios and chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes.