Carob Oatmeal Bars

Here's another dog-friendly recipe. Carob is dog-safe "chocolate." Yes, people eat it ~ I found it in the health food section at HyVee. I also cut the bars smaller than it says and used a smaller rectangle pan instead of square to get more treats.

Ingredients
~ 1/4 cup vegetable oil
~ 1/4 cup honey
~ 2 eggs
~ 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
~ 1/4 cup water
~ 1 cup whole wheat flour
~ 1/2 tsp baking powder
~ 2 cups quick-cooking oats, uncooked
~ 1/4 cup carob chips

In a medium bowl, mix all the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture, and mix well. Pour the batter into a greased 9 inch square baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. The bars are done when toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and cut into 2 inch squares.

Peanut Butter Apple Cookies

This is a dog-safe recipe. Last year, my mom got me a cook book for dogs called Doggy Desserts. No, I don't make treats very often, but when I do, the dogs love them! People can eat them too, but they are pretty bland.

I'm giving these to all the puppies in our lives!

Ingredients
~ 1 apple, chopped, with skin and core removed
~ 1/3 cup vegetable oil
~ 1/4 cup all natural peanut butter, no salt or sugar added (I used Smucker's Organic)
~ 1/4 cup honey
~ 1 egg
~ 2 cup whole wheat flour
~ 1/2 cup water

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients. With a teaspoon, drop spoonfuls of dough onto a baking sheet, 1 inch apart. Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes. When done, the cookies should be firm to touch. Turn the oven off, and leave the cookies in for 1-2 hours to harden (I didn't do this part because I wanted them to be a little softer).

Chocolate Turtle Cookies

Okay, so I think this was my favorite of the 4. The caramel melted really nicely ~ a couple melted a little onto the pan ~ and the cookies were so soft and moist!!! Definitely gonna be making more of these! You definitely need to plan more time to chill though. I gave it 45 minutes and it wasn't enough. I did it anyways, and it was messy. So, maybe a couple hours would be better. Oh, and I used the back of a spatula to get the caramel flat (it was easier than using my hand and "kneading" it).

POINTS® Value: 2
Servings: 24
Preparation Time: 18 min
Cooking Time: 10 min


Ingredients
1 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa
2/3 cup(s) sugar
1/4 cup(s) reduced-calorie margarine
1/4 cup(s) fat-free cream cheese
1 large egg white(s)
2 tbsp fat-free skim milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 spray(s) cooking spray
24 piece(s) caramel candies
24 pieces pecan halves
Instructions

* Combine flour and cocoa in a small bowl; set aside. Beat together sugar, margarine, cream cheese, egg white, milk and vanilla extract in a large bowl; add flour mixture and blend well. Chill dough at least 30 minutes, or until firm.

* Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.

* Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place on baking sheets about 1 to 2 inches apart. Press a caramel into each cookie and flatten; top each caramel with a pecan half. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Yields 1 cookie per serving.

Lemon Cookie Snaps

Here is recipe 3. These were pretty good ~ I'm not a huge fan of lemon, but David and my dad are. So, I decided to make them. They were easy and moist. There was also a note at the bottom of the recipe ~ you can change the flavor by changing the juice and zest to the citrus of your choice.

POINTS® Value: 3
Servings: 15
Preparation Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 12 min

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp table salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup(s) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup(s) sugar
2 large egg yolk(s)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest, finely chopped
1/4 cup(s) reduced-fat sour cream
2 spray(s) cooking spray, flour-variety recommended
Instructions

* In a small bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder; set aside.

* In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy; add egg yolks and combine thoroughly. Add lemon juice and zest; beat well. Add sour cream and a small amount of flour mixture; beat to combine. Add rest of flour mixture and mix thoroughly. Turn dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

* Preheat oven to 375ºF. Coat 2 cookie sheets with cooking spray.

* Tear off heaping tablespoons of dough and roll into balls; place about 2-inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Press each ball down with palm of your hand to flatten. Press tines of a fork across cookies in one direction to make lines. Press tines of a fork across cookies in opposite direction to make a cross-hatch pattern.

* Bake until edges of cookies turn golden, about 9 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and leave on cookie sheets for 1 or 2 minutes; remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Yields 2 cookies per serving.

Crackle Spice Drops

Here is the second cookie I made. These don't really spread, so you can put them pretty close together. And they are so moist and yummy!

POINTS® Value: 1
Servings: 36 (I think I about doubled the size, so closer to 2 points and only 20 cookies or so)
Preparation Time: 18 min
Cooking Time: 8 min

Ingredients
1/2 cup(s) reduced-calorie margarine, soft
1/2 cup(s) unpacked brown sugar
1 large egg(s)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp table salt
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup(s) powdered sugar

Instructions

* Preheat oven to 375°F.

* In a mixing bowl, on medium speed, beat margarine with brown sugar until creamy. Add egg and vanilla extract; beat until light and fluffy. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt and spice.

* Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into powdered sugar to coat. Place onto baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 7 to 8 minutes. Yields 1 cookie per serving.

Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

This is the first recipe I've made for our Christmas Cookie Baskets. Everybody is getting 2-3 different kinds of cookies or bars, so be prepared for a bunch of recipes. This one is yummy, but I cooked the first batch for 14 minutes on accident and they were a little over-done. Still chewy and soft, but you could kind of taste the over-cooked-ness (and yes, this is a word!).

POINTS® Value: 2
Servings: 36
Preparation Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 12 min

Ingredients
3/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp table salt
3/4 cup(s) butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup(s) sugar
3/4 cup(s) packed light brown sugar
2 large egg(s)
2 1/2 cup(s) uncooked oatmeal
1/2 cup(s) dried cherries
Instructions

* Preheat oven to 350ºF.

* Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in a small bowl; set aside.

* Place room temperature butter into bowl of a mixer and mix with a paddle attachment until smooth, or beat with an electric mixer. Slowly pour granulated sugar in an even stream into butter and mix on high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Pour in brown sugar, mix until incorporated and then scrape mixture down from sides of bowl.

* Slowly beat in each egg one at a time until incorporated. Slowly beat in flour mixture until incorporated.

* Scrape mixture down from sides of bowl and stir in oatmeal and then dried cherries.

* Scoop rounded teaspoonfuls of dough onto a nonstick sheet pan, a pan lined with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat about 1 1/2 inches apart.

* Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until edges are set. Cool completely. Either serve cookies or stack between sheets of waxed paper in an air-tight container and freeze for up to two weeks before serving. Yields about 1 cookie per serving.

David's Birthday

Yesterday was David's birthday and I told him that everything we did was up to him. We did have to feed the new puppies, but other than that, it was his day. He picked to go to Kobe Steakhouse because he had heard that it was good food and fun. I've been there, so suggested we invite my dad and his family. He was game, so I made those phone calls. We went to Jeanne's to feed the puppies - they are getting bigger every day - and hung out for a while.

Even though it was colder than shit and windy, David decided we should still do the festival. We went to Durham Western Heritage Museum, Joslyn Art Museum, and the Children's Museum. We spent the most time at Durham, and caught the trolley between each place. We were going to stop at the Police Department's Horse Barn, but David was worried about it being cold.

We ran a few errands ~ a little Christmas shopping and then let the dogs out before we picked his parents up for dinner. We fed the puppies again, and then made our way out west.

We got to Kobe and had to wait a little because my dad was running late. We had so much fun. We were celebrating David and his dad, Dave's, birthday (Dave's is the day before David's). They both got chocolate cheesecake for dessert, so they shared - super yummy (tasted like Cheesecake Factory).

We went back to his parents for cake and ice cream. I fed the puppies again - Desi isn't wanting to feed as much so we're having to bribe her and then supplement with formula.

David said he had one of the best birthday's. It was nice to give him an awesome day, and except for dinner and Christmas shopping, it cost us absolutely nothing!