We had 4 pounds of strawberries in the fridge, and they were starting to look sad, so my mom found a recipe for healthy strawberry oatmeal bars. This is not that recipe. The healthy version called for almond butter and apple butter, neither of which we had, so I began to look around for a recipe that called for real butter and more than 1 Tablespoon of sugar. I mean really. (In case you’re a healthier eater than me, here’s the recipe).

The recipe that I ended up making does have real butter, and an acceptable quantity of sugar, and you could tell. It was really yummy. I ate one of the bars with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it was amazing. Using the fresh strawberries instead of the typical fruit preserves made a huge difference- the bars tasted so fresh. Even though hulling and dicing 2 pounds of strawberries is a little time-consuming, it is so worth it.

We made it with a little less than the 2/3 of a cup of sugar that’s called for in the strawberry filling, and the bars turned out a little tart, so if your strawberries aren’t very sweet, I would use the whole 2/3 of a cup.

Preheat oven to 325*. Grease a 9″x13″ baking pan and set aside. In a large bowl, stir together strawberries and sugar and let sit for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes…

add lemon juice and cornstarch and stir to combine.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix oats, flour, cinnamon, butter, vanilla and sugar on low speed  until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix on high speed for an additional minute or so.

Press 2/3 of the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

Spread the strawberry filling evenly over the top of the crust.

Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture over the top of the filling, creating a crumb-like topping.

Bake for 45-48 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients:

Filling-

4 cups strawberries (about 2 pounds), washed, hulled and diced

around 2/3 cup sugar, depending on the sweetness of your strawberries

juice from 1/2 lemon (about 4 tsp.)

1/3 cup corn starch

Crust/topping-

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup butter

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325*. Grease a 9″x13″ baking pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together strawberries and sugar and let sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add lemon juice and cornstarch and stir to combine.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix oats, flour, cinnamon, butter, vanilla and sugar on low speed  until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix on high speed for an additional minute or so.

Press 2/3 of the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Spread the strawberry filling evenly over the top of the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture over the top of the filling, creating a crumb-like topping.

Bake for 45-48 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

Jordan

I have made this chocolate chip recipe countless times and it never fails to amaze me. It’s so incredibly easy and the finished product is always delicious.

One of the main reasons that I make this recipe so much is Travis’ fondness of cookies. You’re probably saying to yourself that that’s not very surprising, because everyone’s fond of cookies, right? While everyone may be fond of cookies, not everyone loves cookies like  Travis does.

I can always count on him asking me to bake cookies. Normally at 8:30 at night, when the last thing I want to be doing is baking. When I do bake for him though, these are always the cookies he requests. We’ve tried others, but they don’t quite match up.

I took the batch that I made for the demo pictures to the beach for my Tuesday night Biblestudy (I know. That’s Southern California living right there), and I left the Ziplock bag of cookies on my towel, under my sweatshirt, while we swam. When we got back to our stuff, we stumbled upon  the seagulls enjoying my fresh-baked treasures. I think my heart skipped a beat, and not in a good way. We had to throw away the whole bag, fearing some bird transmitted disease. Apparently everyone really does love my chocolate chip cookies 😦

This is so true, especially in our household. I think I’m the only one in our family who actually likes to eat raisins straight out of the bag, but all of us agree that chocolate chip cookies beat oatmeal raisin any day of the week- I can practically feel all you oatmeal raisin lovers cringing right now.

Preheat oven to 350*. Cream butter and sugar.

Mix in eggs and vanilla. Then, add flour, baking soda, and salt, mixing well.

Stir in chocolate chips.

And now, for the best part…

Every time I make cookies, my family hovers in the kitchen, pretending to be busy, until I announce that the dough is done.

This has to be one of the most dangerous things that you could possibly leave out on the counter for any period of time-

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, and using cookie scoop, scoop dough onto cookie sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes and remove to cooling rack.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks of butter)

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla

3 cups flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350*. Cream butter and sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Then, add flour, baking soda, and salt, mixing well. Stir in chocolate chips. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, and using cookie scoop, scoop cookie dough onto cookies sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes and remove to cooling rack.

Jordan

Donald and I went to Catalina a few weekends back with another couple. We had a great time. Before we left we did a little research online and found a bakery that claimed to have the best cinnamon rolls EVER! So of course, we had to try them. Shortly after we arrived on the island we found the bakery and discovered that they were out of cinnamon rolls but were making more. We decided to wait until the next morning and get a hot out of the oven cinnamon roll to enjoy with our coffee. We were down at the bakery at 5:30 in the morning, anxious to dig in.

What a huge disappointment! While the cinnamon roll was decent, it was not the Best Cinnamon Roll EVER! So I decided to come home and make my own! This recipe was relatively easy and I LOVED the frosting. It was super simple, and had a rich flavor without being too heavy. I mixed the dough in my KitchenAid and then changed to the dough hook and had the mixer do all the kneading too!

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside.

In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg.

Add 2 cups of flour…

and mix until smooth.

Add yeast mixture.

Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle.

Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes, or you could also keep it in the mixer, and use the dough hook to knead it.

Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours. When doubled in size, punch down dough.

Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle.

Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon…

and sprinkle over buttered dough.

Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired.

Beginning at the 15-inch side, roll up dough and pinch edge together to seal.

Cut into 12 to 15 slices. Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan…

and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned.

Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency.

Spread over slightly cooled rolls.

Yum! The Hallelujah chorus must be playing somewhere right now in honor of this moment.

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients-
Dough:
1/4-ounce package yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup scalded milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
1/2 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
3/4 cup sugar, plus more for pan – I used brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins, walnuts, or pecans, optional
Glaze:
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 6 tablespoons hot water
Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired. Beginning at the 15-inch side, roll up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices.

Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned.

Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.