The other day I was tempted at the checkout by the latest issue of “Everyday Food.” I used to have a subscription but then I forgot to renew and now I only get the magazine, well, when I’m tempted at the checkout.

This month, there’s a big tostada on the cover. Okay, you are coming home with me! But inside, there was an article on baking mix (recipe below) and all the wonderful things you can bake with it. One of these things is Oatmeal Blondies, which I made. They turned out really good. The whole pan was gone in a day and a half.

The only challenging part was that I got halfway through making the recipe and realized that I didn’t have enough oatmeal. I had about a 1/2 cup and I needed 3/4 cup (well, the recipe says 1 cup, with a 1/4 of that for the top. I was going to use walnuts, so really, I was only short about 1/4 cup).

After sighing, and looking around and not wanting to go out I…..I…..used a packet of Trader Joe’s Blueberry Instant Oatmeal for the missing 1/4 cup.

::ducks::

Yeah, that’s what I said! And it turned out fine. Now, I’m not recommending you do the same, but in an emergency, we do what we have to do. I’ll make these again the right way but I think I’ll add some dried blueberries because, uh, the blueberry flavor was really tasty!

Baking Mix
I halved this from the original
3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tbsp salt

Mix it all together. Done. Store what you don’t use in an airtight container.

Oatmeal Blondies
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups baking mix
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped roughly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a little non-stick spray in an 8-inch square baking pan (you can also butter the dish as in the original recipe (OR). Line bottom and sides with a strip of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang. Now, you can butter the paper as the OR says or you can use non-stick spray or you can forget to do either like I did. For me, it was fine with just the paper, as I was all about not following the OR too much.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, and beat until combined. With mixer on low, gradually add Baking Mix; mix just until combined. Mix in 3/4 cup oats. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Press batter down into pan. The OR said to spread. My mix was all crumbly — perhaps it was the blueberry flavoring? It didn’t spread — it pressed. Sprinkle with walnuts, pressing gently to adhere. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pan 30 minutes.

Using overhang, transfer blondies (still on paper) to a wire rack to cool completely. Place on a cutting board (peel off paper); using a serrated knife, cut into 9 (OR says 16 — ha!) squares. Store blondies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 2 months. You will eat them all within 2 days, don’t worry.

Monday night, the WCC round-up* will be up but for now…it’s cookies. I altered a recipe I found at the Whole Foods web site to include matcha (powdered green tea). Where can you get matcha? Try here!

I rolled them out and used my new, cool Halloween cookie cutters for some great shapes — a bat, a ghost, cat, jack o’lantern and a witch boot. But, you could also just roll the dough into two logs, chill and slice into rounds. That would work just fine too.

I really liked the fact that this recipe calls for brown sugar. I think that it held up to the green tea taste really well.

Green Tea Halloween Sugar Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp matcha
1/2 tsp non-aluminum baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
2-3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp granulated sugar

In large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in egg until well blended.

In a separate bowl combine flour, matcha, baking powder and salt; then, with mixer at low speed, beat into butter mixture to blend well. If mixture is a little dry, add 2-3 tablespoons milk until it comes together. Form dough into two balls. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least an hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface and cut into shapes using cookie cutters. Sprinkle unbaked cookies with a little granulated sugar.

Place about 1–1/2 inches apart on ungreased, parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake 10–12 minutes. Cool on wire rack and store in an airtight container. Or use shot glasses and stand the up on your dining room table for a photo…

* If there are any stragglers, you have until 4PM PST, to get me your entry.

As the title suggests, this is a recipe by Ina Garten. I saw her make them last week and immediately went to see if we had all of the components on hand. We did, except for some peanuts. No problem though, as we had some trail mix in the fridge. Trail mix with peanuts! Just sorted some out of there and I was good to go.

When I made these, I did a half recipe of what’s listed below. I found that the half size fit well in a square, brownie-shaped pan. Use really good jam — we used this homemade stuff we get at the open produce market on Hawthorne. I forget the name right now, as we just always call it Produce Pete’s — but I know that’s not it. But there’s a “P” in there somewehere.

Barefoot Contessa’s Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups (18 ounces) creamy peanut butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (18 ounces) raspberry jam or other jam
2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.

Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or offset spatula. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don’t worry if all the jam isn’t covered; it will spread in the oven.

Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown.

Cool and cut into squares.

This recipe is from Bon Appétit magazine and makes a great Summer dessert. I thought the filling maybe needed a bit more ooomph — next time, I may add a teaspoon or two of orange or lemon liqueur. Of course, this might also be because I used “light” cream cheese. Perhaps that was a mistake. Next time? Bring on the fat.

To get the crust nicely padded into the tart pan, I usually use a shot glass to help flatten the bottom and press the sides up. This works very well. I forget where I learned that tip but I did not make it up myself.

Use ripe, tasty nectarines for this — you will not be sorry.

Crust
25 gingersnap cookies, coarsely broken (about 6 ounces; about 2 1/4 cups pieces)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling
1 8-ounce container mascarpone cheese
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp grated lemon peel
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp finely chopped crystallized ginger
Optional: 1-2 tsp of your favorite citrusy liqueur (Grand Marnier? Limoncello?)

Topping
4 to 5 small nectarines, halved, pitted, cut into thin slices
1/4 cup peach jam, warmed
2 tbsp finely chopped crystallized ginger

For crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Finely grind gingersnaps in processor. Add butter and blend until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press mixture over bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Use a shot glass for a nice, even surface!

Bake crust until color darkens, pressing sides with back of spoon if beginning to slide, about 8 minutes. Cool completely.

For filling:
Beat first 6 ingredients in medium bowl until smooth. Beat in crystallized ginger. Liqueur? Spread filling in prepared crust. Cover loosely and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

For topping:
Overlap nectarine slices atop filling in concentric circles. Don’t feel bad if you get lazy by the time you get to the center. I did.

Brush with jam. Sprinkle with chopped crystallized ginger. Remove sides of tart pan by putting the tart on a can or jar and pulling the rim down. Serve, or refrigerate up to 6 hours.

***

I have read a bunch of great books lately. I thought I would share:

Spin

The Last Chinese Chef

One Thousand White Women

This month’s Sugar High Friday is hosted by Coconut Chutney and the theme is edible flowers. Hey — it’s a great time to break into my stash of dried lavender! In case anyone has trouble finding dried lavender, I usually buy it at Cost Plus, where it comes in nicely sized bags in the spices section. You can also use fresh lavender flowers, of course.

This recipe by Gale Gand, another person I wish still had a show on the Food Network.

Be warned — these are very addictive. The only problem I had is that the dough was way too dry and I had to add a little milk. So, I guess the lesson here is just have a little milk on hand in case your dough needs a bit more moisture.

Lavender Shortbread
8 tbsp (1 stick) cool unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp dried lavender flowers
Optional (if needed) 2-3 tbsp milk

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter until soft in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add 1/4 cup sugar and mix until incorporated.

Stir together the flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix at low speed just until the ingredients are almost incorporated, then add the lavender, and mix until the dough starts to come together.

This is where my dough did not come together. Just way too crumbly and floury. I added about 2 tablespoons of milk and it came together just fine.

Flour a work surface, turn the dough onto it, and knead it 5 to 10 times, to bring the dough together and smooth it out. I opted to press the dough into a 8 X 8 inch baking pan (lined with parchment), rather than rolling the dough out and then placing it on the pan. I think I made the right decision. I used my fingers to press it down and then smoothed it out with the bottom of a metal measuring cup.

Prick the shortbread all over with a fork to prevent any buckling or shrinking. Sprinkle the surface evenly with 1 tablespoon of the remaining sugar. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, deflate the dough if needed, by knocking the pan once against the oven rack then rotate the pan to ensure even cooking and a flat surface. You know, my finished surface was not entirely flat (probably because I pressed) but I am fine with that — it just looks homemade and rustic!

Bake 10 to 15 minutes more, until golden all over and very lightly browned. As soon as it comes out of the oven, sprinkle the surface evenly with the remaining tablespoon of sugar.

Let cool about 5 minutes. Using a very sharp knife, cut into 3 rows by 5 rows making about 1 1/2-inch by 3-inch bars. Let cool completely in the pan. Now, since the shortbread was on parchment, I actually lifted it out to cut the bars, then I replaced them back in the pan and let the shortbread finish cooling that way. After it is colled, it’ll store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Thanks again to Coconut Chutney for hosting this month’s event!

These were a holiday experiment that turned out very well — so well that I plan on making another batch very soon. You see, I am always looking for uses for my huge, 3.5 foot tall, 4 foot round rosemary plant outside. So, aside from rosemary being my favorite herb, it is also the herb that I have the most of. Just like spinach, I like to sneak rosemary into many, many things.

How about cookies?

Rosemary-Brown Sugar Shortbread
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour (+ more for rolling)
2 tbsp chopped, fresh rosemary leaves

Beat the butter until creamy, then add the sugars and beat about 1 more minute. Add egg and mix. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time and mix until just combined. Now, comes the chopped rosemary. Mix it in and stop. The dough may look a little crumbly, but it will come together.

Turn out onto a floured board and roll to 1/4″ thickness. (I always roll mine a little thin — try to stop yourself before you do this). Use a 2-inch biscuit cutter and create small circles. Mine had fancy-pantsy scalloped edges.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 325 until the edges get a little golden.

In Other News…It’s so Little and Cute!

I finally leapt into 2007 and bought an ipod. An ipod nano.

A super-spiffy red, 8GB ipod nano. Oh and hey, $10 of the purchase price went into the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. And in keeping with the spirit of the food blog, her name is roma-tomato.

Right now she has the unabridged audio book of Wuthering Heights (never read it, will try listening to it), Mark Lanegan, Area, Belle & Sebastian, Counting Crows, The Cure, the Decemberists, Elliott Smith, Iron & Wine, Kate Bush, Sufjan Stevens, Unbunny and the White Stripes.

Would have had Jolie Holland too, but jwa riped that CD as .oogs instead of .mp3s. But regardless, there’s so very much room left on roma! Yay!

Tomorrow: Super Foods Friday is green.

This month’s Sugar High Friday is hosted by Habeas Brulee and the theme is a great one — sugar art. Of course, with it being the holidays and everything, I kind of took the lazy way out and made cookies decorated with sparkly sugar. These are very much like chocolate shortbread and are very good. I actually found them to be even tastier the day after baking.

The recipe is from the book, Christmas Cookies, edited by Susan Hernandez Ray. I received it a couple of months ago when I accidentally forgot to decline the monthly selection at the Good Cook’s Book Club. Oops.

Chocolate Star Cookies
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups AP flour
1 cup Dutch process cocoa
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
8 ounces white chocolate chips
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, combining well. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until blended.

Combine the flour and next three ingredients and gradually add to the butter mixture at low speed. Divide dough in half and wrap each potion in plastic wrap. Chill at least one hour.

Roll one portion at a time to 1/4 inch thickness on a floured surface. Cut with a 4-inch star cookie cutter and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. I used both a star cookie cutter and a small gingerbread man cutter. Feel free to use your cookies cutters of choice.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks and cool completely. Next, place chocolate chips in a small double boiler (or a heat-proof bowl over simmering water) and melt. Stir until smooth and use a spoon to drizzle over cooled cookies. I’ve found that a good way to do this is to place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet, so that all the extra drizzled chocolate falls through the rack and onto the cookie sheet. I believe I got that idea from Alton Brown and the chocolate eclair episode.

Sprinkle the granulated sugar on top of the warmed chocolate and let set.

Enjoy with milk. Although — watch out for falling gingerbread man heads.

Thanks again to Habeas Brulee for hosting this month’s event!

It’s a good thing they are damn tasty. I’m participating in a “cookie exchange” at work for Friday and there are nine bakers involved. That means 10 dozen cookies — one for each person making cookies and one for the “table”. When I signed up, I was told six to seven people typically participate. Riiiight. Oh well, it’ll be fun.

To get a jump start, I’ve measured out all of my dry ingredients and have that stored in freezer bags, as well as my chopped white chocolate, diced apricots and almonds. I’m all ready to go except for the eggs, vanilla, butter and almond extract.

I found this recipe on the Food Network site, easily influenced by the promise of an easy recipe. Well, aside from being easy these are absolutely delicious. I’m even going to make a few extra so that we have some at home. I kept it pretty much the same, except for adding the almonds. I also decreased the apricots a bit, (now there are equal ratios of fruit to chocolate). The recipe says this makes around 24 cookies but they’d have to be pretty small cookies. I’d say it’s more around 15 - 18 cookies.

White Chocolate, Apricot & Almond Cookies
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 oz dried apricots, coarsely chopped
4 oz white chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 oz slivered almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until blended. Beat in the egg and vanilla and almond extracts until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix until combined.

Next, mix in the apricots and white chocolate. Drop the batter by heaping tablespoons onto parchment lined cookie sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.

Bake until the edges are lightly brown, about 10 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

The plan is to make four dozen tomorrow night, three dozen Wednesday night and the last three dozen Thursday night. Then I just have to wrap them up all pretty-like and I’ll be ready to go on Friday morning!

Some nights, you just want a cookie. Or two. That is all.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter cookie recipe borrowed liberally from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook — an older edition. The standby. Ol’ Red & White.
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cups AP flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar + more for rolling cookie balls in
1/2 cup backed brown sugar (or honey)
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl (or using a standing mixer), beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.

Add 1/2 cup flour, the sugars, the egg, baking soda, baking powder, and vanilla. Beat until combined. Beat in remaining flour and chocolate chips.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll each ball in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Flatten cookies by crisscrossing with the times of a fork.

Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack and eat with milk.

Coming next week: Hoping to go to Pok Pok Saturday (with my camera). Uses for leftover turkey. Butternut Squash Gnocchi. More cookies!