Oh, the weather outside is frightful...Yes, that's snow you see in this photo! We had quite a snow overnight -- maybe 4 inches or so are on the ground. And no, that's not a reason for a snow day! The roads are mostly clear.
Whenever it snows, I feel like baking. Today I decided to make cookies that combined oatmeal and peanut butter -- with chocolate chips thrown in for good measure.
I hunted on the Internet for the kind of recipe and found this one, on Allrecipes.com. This recipe is a good example of what I love and hate about that Web site. I love that there are reviews and ratings. But what is annoying is that people will rate a recipe (good or bad) based on making a lot of changes to the recipe! Here's an example:
This is my favorite cookie recipe on allrecipes.com.... I have taken suggestions: Add 1tsp Van., use 1 1/2 c. flour, use 2 c. oatmeal, 1c. chunky PB and 1/2 c. creamy. They also taste incredible with white chocolate chips added.That cook sure did make a lot of changes to his/her favorite recipe! In the world of cooking contests, if you've made three or four changes to a recipe, it is considered to be a different recipe. I did make several changes and boy, were they yummy -- chewy, peanut buttery, chocolaty -- the boys will love them with hot chocolate when they get home from school!
This time of year there are lots of blogging events related to holiday baking. This one is going to Joelen's Culinary Adventures for her holiday cookie swap blogging adventure! Check her blog sometime after December 7 for lots of other cookie ideas!
Since I did make several changes to the original recipe, here's my version:
Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Rah Cha Chow recipe
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, cream together shortening, margarine, brown sugar, white sugar, and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until just combined.
Drop 1/4 cup ice cream scoopfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 17 to 19 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown on the edges. Don't over-bake. Let cool for two minutes on the cookie sheet, then put on cooling racks to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container.