Oatmeal Caramel Butterscotch Cookies

I know, I know, just throw in the kitchen sink right? These cookies do have what seems like quite a few ingredients but I swear they're SO yummy!! For some reason I'm on a huge butterscotch kick right now so rather than continuing to eat all the chips out of the bag, I decided it was time I use some in a recipe! The caramel was my twist on the classic Oatmeal Scotchies recipe and I think it really works! I shared these with some friends over the weekend and they were a huge crowd pleaser so try whipping these up for your next pitch in.

OATMEAL CARAMEL BUTTERSCOTCH COOKIES

What you need for the cookies:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 granulated sugar
3/4 brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup prepared caramel topping (I used Hershey's from a jar)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 bag butterscotch chips (I used Nestle brand)

To make the cookies:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Beat your butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add in your eggs, one at a time and beat until well combined. Mix in the vanilla extract and prepared caramel sauce.

3. In a separate bowl, mix your flour, salt, baking soda and oats. 

4. Slowly add the flour mixture to your wet ingredients and mix until well combined. I did this in three batches. Finally, stir in the butterscotch chips. 

5. Place 1 inch balls of cookie dough on your prepared baking sheet and bake 10-12 minutes until edges are golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

ENJOY!!

Crunch Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Time for another yummy no-bake recipe! 
 
CRUNCHY CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

What you need for the PB Cups:
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup Rice Krispie
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cup milk chocolate bark (this is 6 large squares or half of a package) chopped into pieces
1 Tablespoon shortening

To make the PB Cups:
1. Line a mini muffin tin with papers (you could also use a regular size tin if you want bigger portions).
2. In a microwave safe bowl, melt your butter & peanut butter together at 30 second intervals and stir until smooth.  (This took a total of about a minute for me)

3. Add the graham cracker crumbs, Rice Krispies and powdered sugar and mix until combined.

4. Distribute the mixture evenly in the prepared muffin cups. Pop in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to set up the PB layer.(I had to do this in batches because I only have two mini muffin tins.)

5. After the peanut butter has chilled, combine the chocolate and shortening in a microwave safe bowl and heat in 30 second intervals until it is smooth. I then transferred mine over to a pourable Pyrex measuring cup and poured chocolate on top of each cup.  

6. Finally, pop them back in the fridge until firm, at least 30 minutes. 
Keep them stored in a covered container in the fridge for up to two weeks.  
This made about 52 mini cups; it would probably make about 20 large cups.

ENJOY! 

Granola Bars

Good Morning!! In preparation for our overnight Relay for Life walk this evening, I've been making us some snacks to keep us fueled up! I've already got a trail mix bagged up but decided I also wanted to try my hand at some granola bars, too. I looked at about a dozen recipes before deciding to just mix up my own batch...probably not the best of ideas since I got more of a square than a bar and some of it crumbled into just plain granola. Oops! However, I will say that the flavor profile is really, really good! With the crumbling in mind, I've updated the recipe below to make yours a bit more stable and sticky. I think adding some extra peanut butter and whatever syrup you choose will most definitely help. Just use this recipe as a base and swap in what you have on hand or other flavors that your family loves! A yummy, healthy way to keep your family fueled all week long!

HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS

What you need for the bars:
1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds or other chopped nuts (I used cashews)
2 cups dried fruit, chopped (I used 1 cup raisins and 1 cup figs)
2 cups rolled quick oats
2 cups rice or other grain cereal (I used Rice Krispies)
3/4 cup creamy or crunch natural peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup corn syrup or honey (I used 1/4 cup pure maple syrup and 1/4 cup natural honey since the original recipe called for 1/2 cup...in hindsight the maple syrup may have been too thin for this and corn syrup may help hold things together better.)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To make the bars:
1. Preheat your oven to 275 degrees F.
2. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray or grease.
3. Mix all of the dry ingredients (nuts, fruit, oats and cereal) in a large bowl. 4. Be sure to chop your nuts and/or fruit if needed.

5. In a small sauce pan, heat the peanut butter, brown sugar, and syrup/honey.

6. Stir until bubbling and hot. Take off the heat and mix in the teaspoon of vanilla.  

7. Pour peanut butter mixture over your dry ingredients and mix until combined. 

8. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes until golden brown.

After baking.

8. Let cool about an hour and then cut into bars or squares. Store in an airtight container for about 2 weeks.

I got about half of it to break into squares or chunks.

Some more of the chunks... 

The rest I just bagged up and will use for grab and go snacking!

Hope the revised version works for you! ENJOY!!

Mac 'n Cheese

Hi Everyone! Happy April! Looks like Teddy is making friends while we're gone at work!! We had this little visitor several times over the weekend and they are so cute!! Just sit there staring at one another- neither of them meows or hisses, just checking one another out. :) I think this means that Teddy really needs a little sister around here! ;)

                      We don't even know if his little friend is a girl or a boy but we call it               Butterscotch.... pretty appropriate for a cooking blog, huh?

Anyway, after we got these pics, I got busy in the kitchen with my famous mac 'n cheese recipe. I've made this for numerous occasions and events and have gotten positive feedback every time. The cheese can be switched up every time and so can the spices. Make it spicy, make it smokey, make it any way you like it!! Once you get the roux part down, all you need to do is add the cheeses and spices that suit your mood or party. Have fun and be creative!

MAC 'N CHEESE

What you need for the Mac 'n Cheese:

Kosher salt

Vegetable Oil

1 lb box of elbow macaroni

1 quart (4 cups) of milk

1 cup (1 stick) of butter

1/2 cup of flour

4 cups of Gruyere or another mild cheese (like swiss), shredded

2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon (we like ours spicy) of cayenne pepper

Optional- 1 cup of bread crumbs or crushed up potato chips

To make the Mac 'n Cheese:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Boil a large pot of water with a drizzle of oil and some kosher salt. Add the macaroni and cook according to package directions, about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.

3. Pour your milk into a sauce pan and turn on low heat; do not bring to a boil but keep the milk on the heat long enough to warm.

4. Melt 6 tablespoons of your butter in a large pot. Add your 1/2 cup of flour and mix well until combined.

5. Cook about 4-5 minutes until brown and to cook off the flour taste.

6. Slowly add the milk to your roux mixture and keep mixing about 3-4 minutes until the mixture has become thick and smooth.

7. Turn heat to low and slowly add in your shredded cheese; keep mixing until melted and smooth. Continue this process until all of your cheese has been incorporated.

8. Once cheese mixture is smooth, remove from heat and mix in your cracked black pepper, cayenne pepper and nutmeg (I mixed mine in a bowl first and then poured it all in). 

9. Add your macaroni to the cheese and mix until combined. (NOTE: I usually take out some of the cheese sauce because there is always too much. I save this in the fridge or freeze it for another time.)

10. Transfer to a baking dish and top with bread crumbs or crushed up potato chips. Bake in your preheated oven about 20-25 minutes until bubbly and crispy on top!

I topped with a little extra parmesan- yummy!

ENJOY!