These. Were. Delicious.

For only making one batch, I sure did get a lot of feedback about them- I received a text, a phone call, and an email, all from different people, all saying how amazing the cookies were. Not to mention the in-person comments. Danae said, “these are as good as my grandma’s” (which is saying something, trust me).

^^^ This picture was attached to the email I mentioned above that we received from a friend- “We enjoyed the oatmeal cookie recipe. Put in coconut and chocolate chips. Took picture of Cole and neighbors enjoying them.”

A while back we posted a Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookie recipe, which was an absolute hit. So when Treat of the Month time rolled around, I decided to modify the original recipe a bit. Danae loves oatmeal raisin cookies, so I just added a cup of raisins and some cinnamon.

I didn’t think it was possible, but the modifications almost made the cookies better. The jury’s still out about that declaration though. I guess you’ll just have to try both versions and get back to me with your vote  🙂

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 whole eggs

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3 cups Old Fashioned oats

1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350*. Beat together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each one. Mix together the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in a separate bowl and add it to the creamed mixture in 2 or 3 batches, mixing until just combined. Mix in the oats and raisins until just combined.

Scoop onto a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper spacing them a couple inches apart, and bake them for 12 – 13 minutes. Let them cool slightly on the pan then transfer to a plate or cooling rack.

Using my cookie scoop, I made 3 dozen cookies.

Jordan

When we moved onto our property 15 years ago we had 4 acres of lime trees. What do you even do with that many limes? We have since removed most of them, but we still have an abundance of limes readily available to us. We use limes almost everyday: limeade, margaritas, squeezed into beer and smoothies, juiced for marinade, the list goes on and on.

Well, the other day our neighbor mentioned that she was going to make lime squares. What?!? What an amazing idea- why didn’t I think of that? I love my lemon square recipe, so I just replaced the lemon juice and zest with the lime juice and zest and voila! Lime squares. The crust is so rich and buttery and the perfect compliment to the tangy lime filling.

Lime squares
Ingredients for crust:
1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 t salt

Ingredients for filling:
2 cups sugar
4 T flour
6 T fresh lime juice
Zest from 2 limes, about 1 T
4 eggs, beaten

To make crust, mix 4 ingredients together and press into a greased 8 x 8″ pan. Bake for 25 minutes at 350* or until golden brown. If you like your crust thinner, you can use a larger pan but adjust the cook time.

To make the lime filling, mix the 5 ingredients together and pour over the hot crust. Bake for about 30 minutes more. If you notice the top getting too brown, cover with aluminum foil and continue baking until set. Cool and cut into squares. I like to sprinkle with a bit of powdered sugar just before serving.

Cindy

How is it possible that we have never posted apple pie on our blog? Crazy! Well, we made two apple pies for the big, sad, tragic Super Bowl game and also to celebrate Donald’s 50th birthday.
While they tasted delicious, they weren’t so great to look at. Oh well! You win some, you lose some. Much like the Broncos! 😉

We have made our own crust before and it tastes great, but really, most often we use the Pillsbury pre-made pie crusts. I like the name brand better than the generic brand, it is worth the extra $1.00 to buy the name brand in this case. If you make your own crust – good for you. If you buy the pre-made crust, just leave the box out on the counter while preparing the apples and then unroll the first crust and form into your favorite pie plate. Fill with your favorite pie filling- in this case, apples! Once you have filled the bottom crust, place the top crust over the apples and fold or trim the edges while crimping the two crusts together. Cut a few slits in the top and you are good to go!

Our pie plate is pretty deep, so this recipe may be a bit much if you are using a pie plate that isn’t quite as deep.

Apple Pie Filling
8 cups of peeled and sliced apples. We normally use Granny Smith.
1/2 cup white sugar
2 T tapioca pearls
1 heaping tsp. of cinnamon
1/2 tsp. apple pie spice
1 T butter, to dot over the top of apples, before placing top crust

We normally sprinkle a bit of cinnamon sugar over the top of the top crust just to make it look pretty.

Bake at 375* for about 50 minutes.
We cover the edge of the pie plate with an edge protector, to keep the edges from getting too brown. If you don’t have one, cover the edges with aluminum foil.

Cindy