Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I am getting better at making up recipes. They are closer and closer to what I want them to be on the first try. Which is good because then I forget what I used in them and have to start all over.

However, occasionally I remember to take my notebook into the kitchen and write things down as I add them. Sometimes I even measure as I add ingredients. 

Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Recipe:

1 c Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 c Cocoa Powder

1 sticks Salted Butter, softened

1 c Sugar

1 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 c Milk

1/2 c Peanut Butter

1 1/2 c Old Fashioned Oats

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Prepare cookie pan with cooking spray or parchment paper.

Combine the flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and mix well. Add vanilla and milk. 

Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture.

Add the peanut butter and mix well.

Add oats and combine.

Drop by large tablespoon onto the prepared cookie pans. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the edges are starting to turn golden. Remove from oven and let cool for 1 minute on the pan before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

These are quite crumbly, but delicious. 

Strawberry Lemonade Ice Cubes

More strawberry uses. 

I was in the trailer the other day, listening to some show that was left on the TV, and heard this suggestion. Instead of drinking flavored drinks like vitamin water, tea or other sugary drinks, add some fruit to water and let it sit overnight. The water takes the flavor from the fruit and tastes pretty amazing. I was using strawberries with a dash of lemon juice, but this can be done with any fruit: oranges, limes, raspberries, peaches, even cucumbers. 

That made me think of ice cubes, who knows why. But I decided that I needed some strawberry ice cubes for water and lemonade and tea. So I filled a couple trays with strawberries, and when that didn’t seem quite enough, I added a bit of lemonade to fill the spaces. They are pretty delicious and won’t water down your drinks. They make it taste better.

Chocolate Banana Peanutbutter Smoothie

Cupcake has been making smoothies lately, with some oat and chia powder that she stole from me. The little thief. She also stole my jars that fit my blender. 

I finally made some more powder, it is time consuming as I make it in my coffee grinder and can only do about a quarter cup at a time. And since I wanted enough for a few weeks it took a while. 

When I finished grinding I made a few smoothies for practice. I found some inspiration from Monica at The Yummy Life. I made an apple pie smoothie, a couple strawberry ones and a chocolate banana peanutbutter one.

They are all pretty amazing and taste slightly of oats, but if the oat and chia powder is put through a sieve it doesn’t have any awkward lumps. 

Chocolate Banana Peanutbutter Smoothie

Ingredients

1 Banana

1/2 c Greek Yogurt

1/4 c Milk

1 1/2 T Agave Nectar or 2 T Honey

2 T Cocoa Powder

2 T P2B or Peanutbutter

1/4 c Oat and Chia Powder

Directions

Break the banana into chunks and put it into a blender (I put mine into a 2 cup narrow mouth jar, they fit my blender blade). Add the yogurt, milk agave, cocoa, peanutbutter and oat and chia powder.  Blend until smooth.

Pour into a sealable container, or leave in the jar, seal with the lid and put in the fridge for 4 hours, or overnight. The chia seeds will soak up much of the moisture, as will the oats, thickening the smoothie. 

Enjoy on the patio, while reading a good book, on the way to work or while doing homework. 

Strawberry Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

I spent several days coming up with anything I could to use my flat of strawberries before they went bad.  

I did two versions of the Strawberry Preserves in hopes that the second batch wouldn’t be soupy, and had to leave before I found out.  

However I also made some ice cubes, drank a lot of strawberry and lemon water, made some cupcakes and a smoothie or two.

The cupcakes turned out quite well, almost muffin-like. They were not overly sweet like many cakes and cupcakes. 

The recipe is based on the Vanilla Bean Cupcake recipe in The Sweet Little Book of Cupcakes. I just added about half a cup of mashed strawberries. They turned the batter a pretty pink color with little bits of red. Although, it definitely could have taken more. 

I will update this with a recipe the next time I get a chance. 

Promise.