Cinnamon Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Want to hear a joke about cinnamon?
It's pretty dry.

Playing around with cookie recipes is somehow just asking for trouble...trouble to your waist line.

Moving past that silly fact, homemade cookies are so wonderful to make.  Among the obvious deliciousness reasons to eat and share, they also make your house smell good.

I adore cinnamon.  The spice that gently tops my latte each morning just makes everything feel more fancy and decadent (perhaps, I just adore lattes...).  Yesterday, I though I would try out some cinnamon chocolate chip cookies, kind of like traditional Mexican hot chocolate, except in the cookie form.  I threw in some oatmeal too (cause, why not).

Here's what you need: 
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2-2 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (or whatever flavor chips you desire)
Parchment paper
Cookie sheet

Pinata Cookies

Did you hear the joke about the pinata?
Yeah, I didn't either.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  

Yesterday we had horrible, gross, rainy, yucky, no good, very bad weather.  Trying not to get too stir crazy, we decided to try our hand at some Pinata Cookies.  These cute cookies are filled with mini M&M's chocolate candies!  How freakin' fun are these?  I never heard of them before a year or so ago, when my husband's mother showed me this super adorable Mexican-style treat.  

Make sure you have plenty of time to devote to these, perhaps a helper, and some extra arm muscles (mine are still tired....).  Although, they take forever, the result is absolutely worth it.  They even make noise when you shake them.

You can make your own sugar cookie dough (like I did) or save some time with store  bought.  I think the homemade dough tastes better, but whatever you are feelin' up to.  

Here's what you need:

For the sugar cookie dough:

1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature

2 cups of sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla

5 cups of flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

For the Pinata Cookies:

a variety of food coloring

1 loaf pan

plastic wrap/tin foil

a burro cookie cutter (see additional post for how to make your own)

a small square cookie cutter (see additional post for how to make your own)

1 16oz container of vanilla frosting (or make your own)

Mini M&M's

Silpat mat (optional, but makes life easier)

pastry cutter (optional, but makes it easier)

Pineapple Greek Yogurt Cookies

What do you get if you cross a Christmas Tree and an apple?
A pineapple.

Earlier, we were out running errands and drove past a Barnes and Noble bookstore.  "Ooooo", I said to my husband.  "Barnes and Noble....books....coffee...mmm, coffee...hmmm....lattes with cinnamon...." and off I went.  He chuckled at the "inner workings" of my mind.  This happens all the time, I see something that then reminds me of something else and etc. etc.  It is the 'give a mouse a cookie' story over and over again at our house.

We got back home from errands and all I wanted was a nap...but per usual, there was stuff to get done.  I made a strong cup of tea and sat down to catch up on emails.  While drinking my tea, I quickly thought of how wonderful it would be to have some cookies to go with it...and thus, the Pineapple Greek Yogurt Cookie was born.

Here's what you need (makes about 30 cookies):
1 20oz can of sliced pineapple, that you will then dice up
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of sugar, plus 1/3 cup of sugar
2 cups of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
6 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter
2/3 cup of plain greek yogurt

Oatmeal Crazy'n Pecan Cookies

What kind of keys do kids like to carry?
Cook-ies.

My absolute favorite dessert to eat is vanilla creme brulee.

My favorite dessert to make is cookies.  More specifically, Oatmeal Crazy'n Pecan Cookies.  These are super easy to make (yay), healthy-ish (well, they are cookies), and taste really good with coffee (don't judge).

Here's what you need: 
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup crazy'ns, or raisins, or whatever you're feelin' like -ins
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of baking soda
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup chopped pecans
Parchment paper
Cookie Sheet
Cookie Rack
Cookie Jar