Oatmeal Cookies

I really love baking - and I especially love eating baked goods - so I've been trying to do it more often. I didn't bake at all last semester because I didn't have the supplies. Baking pans and dishes, flours, sugar, spices...where do you start? It wasn't until I moved out that I realized how convenient a stocked pantry is. I've been slowly collecting pans and dishes, and when I got groceries I decided to shell out and get all the baking supplies I need. The first thing I want to make were these delicious oatmeal cookies we used to make at home. I'm not a fan of most oatmeal cookies but these ones are just delicious! Thankfully my sister convinced our parents to scan the recipe and send it our way.



Here's the recipe, from the More-with-Less Cookbook:

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes

Cream together:
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
3 eggs

Beat well. Sift together:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice

Add to creamed mixture alternately with:
1/2 cup milk

Stir in:
2 cups rolled oats

This is where you stir in any "add ins" you might want. The recipe calls for chopped dates, coconut, and walnuts, but growing up my mom always made it with raisins. I, of course, add chocolate chips. (Fair warning: I added a whole bag of chocolate chips, which overpowered the subtle cinnamon flavour. Next time I'll add no more than 1 cup).



The recipe is said to make 6 dozen, but I found that is only make 4 dozen. (Only should be in scare-quotes, 4 dozen is more than enough!) This would change with the size you make your cookies, but I'm pretty happy with the size these ones are.

These cookies are great anytime, but I especially love them for breakfast. (What? Chocolate's a breakfast food!)

Do you have a favourite oatmeal cookies recipe?

Happy (belated) Canada day!

I know that this post is a few days late, but blogspot has been eating my posts and it's really frustrating. Here's hoping it works this time around!

Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians, and happy 4th of July to all you American folk. I hope you're having a great long weekend!

I had to work on Canada Day and, while I would have preferred spending the day wandering around downtown or relaxing at the legislative grounds, it was still a lovely day. We barbecued burgers for supper and I made a very special dessert.



I've wanted to make a Canadian flag strawberry shortcake since I saw it in a cooking magazine as a child and I'm so glad I finally did!



I followed this recipe from the Food Network's website, but made a few changes. Most notably, I used Greek yogurt with honey instead of sour cream and a half cup of margarine instead of the butter/margarine mixture. It was delicious, but the cake seemed a bit dense, especially for a shortcake. The density of a cake is the trickiest part, in my opinion, and although it wasn't perfect i was very happy with how it turned out. My parents enjoyed it too!



The recipe actually called for baking powder, not baking soda, and thankfully I realised that before it was too late. Whew!

After dessert we headed to the high level bridge to watch the fireworks. They were incredible!



What a perfect way to top off a lovely day. I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend yourselves!