Chocolate Oat Squares

You may not want to turn on your oven just yet in this final Summer heat, but read on.  You might just be convinced to get up 30 minutes early in the cool morning to be able to try these... :)

This is one of my favorite desserts.  It's easy to make...which I have done on several occasions when needing a dessert for a crowd.  Besides those with nut allergies of course, I've never run into a person who didn't love the soft, slightly-gooey combination of chocolate and oats.

Plus, it was the first time I was able to use my cool new gadget from my sister - a spoon holder!  I love it and use it often. :)

Click here for the recipe.

White Chocolate-Dipped Cranberry-Oatmeal Cookies

Whew!  Long name.  But turns out not that difficult to make...plus they're pretty!

It's basically a normal cookie recipe made fancy by the dipped look!

When they're almost cool, you can start melting your chocolate.

This isn't really a necessary step but it sure is fun grabbing the heaviest hammer you can find in the garage and breaking the chocolate on the counter.  Don't worry, the counters came out unharmed!

And something I'm newly excited about...printable recipes!  I've had several people ask about them and I've always wanted to provide them but never knew how before.  Turns out, once I finally looked into it, it was extremely easy - using programs I'm already familiar with.

So!  (And I know you're just as excited as I am...) Click here for my very first printable recipe!

Bake-They-Do-Nots

All you need is a little heat!  Oh, and all the ingredients...

I love making these because they're so easy and quick.  No-Bake Cookies have always been a common dessert in our house and of course I am partial to my mother's version of the recipe:

2 c. sugar

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. butter

1/4 c. cocoa (unsweetened)

3 c. quick oats

1 t. vanilla

1/2 c. peanut butter

Boil sugar, milk, butter & cocoa for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in oats, vanilla & peanut butter (quickly).  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper & let cool.

Trust me when I say you can't just eat one - better just pile up a plate like this one!

Here I am about a year ago making the same cookies for the White Elephant Christmas party I threw last year in Peru.  Our Peruvian friends loved it and they did an amazing job at grasping this weird American tradition!

I see there are at least 4 flashlights out on the counter...no surprise...electricity was often taking its own little vacation...  Oh, and, no.  We did not paint the cabinets pink. They came that way!  :)

Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins

I have been unable to cook real meals lately due to so many great people bringing over dinner to our family, but that just means I have been able to bake sweet goodies like crazy!

Here is a recipe I've had for a while that isn't all that sweet but is in muffin form - and actually fairly healthy.  I thought I'd use it since I had more unsweetened applesauce leftover from my Ribbon Pumpkin Bread earlier this week.

1 c. old fashion rolled oats

1 c. non-fat milk

1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce

2 egg whites

1 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

1 T. sugar

Soak the oats in the milk for about an hour.

Combine the oat mixture, applesauce and egg whites; mix until well combined.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Whisk to combine.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine.  Do NOT overmix.  Spoon the mixture into a sprayed muffin tin and sprinkle the sugar on top of the muffins.

Bake at 400F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

They are quite heavy muffins and didn't end up being my favorite, but probably only because they weren't sweet enough hehe.  For the same reason, Husband actually loved them.  So bake a batch for yourself, slather a warm one with butter and let me know what you think!