Oatmeal Cookies with Pecans and Mini Chocolate Chips

As I was deciding what cookie to bake and send to the troops I thought about what would best remind them of home. I asked Jim what his favorite cookie was. His answer? He actually told me Milano Cookies. As in Pepperidge Farms Milano cookies. I like those too but I was referring to the homemade varietal. After a quick search I actually found a recipe for a Milano copy cat recipe that I will make for Jim later. But for the troops, I thought who doesn’t LOVE oatmeal cookies? I like mine without raisins. I like all my foods without raisins. Eew, raisins in food…yuck-o. Instead, I used mini chocolate chips to sweeten the deal.

Here is what you need to make Oatmeal cookies the way I like them:

1 cup shortening (you can use butter too, I used a butter flavored shortening)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs well beaten
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
3 cups oats (I used Old Fashioned Oats, the instant kind would not work here.)
3/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts, or no nuts)
3/4 cup chocolate chips (I used the mini chocolate chips)

Like I said earlier, this is one cup of Crisco that is butter flavored. Mom, would now be a good time to share with the world how you used to use this as moisturizer when your skin was REALLY dry?

I'm using a borrowed mixer, one day I shall have my very own. One cup of crisco (or butter).

One cup packed brown sugar.

1 cup granulated sugar.

Then we "cream" the mixture. I turned the mixer on medium for about a minute or two. It looks thoroughly mixed here.

Add two eggs. It is best practice to crack your eggs in a separate bowl just in case one is bad you don't ruin the entire mixture. These look like great eggs, so into the mixer they go.

One Tablespoon of vanilla (I like this mexican vanilla).

Then blend this really well, it is all creamy after about 2 minutes on medium high.

I'm using a whole wheat flour because that is what I had on hand. I like to sift the dry ingredients together first. I sifted right onto a sheet of parchment paper...it makes pouring in the mixer SO much easier.

Once the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon are sifted together, just fold the parchment paper like a Tex-Mex taco and transport to the mixer.

This makes funneling into the mixer SO MUCH EASIER. I'm all about making things easy!

Here is a good handful of pecans.

Simply chopped with my chef knife.

My favorite secret ingredient - mini chocolate chips.

I mixed the chocolate chips in.

The last thing to do is mix in the oats.

Here is what it looks like when done.

I scraped down the bowl and then licked the spoon. C'mon, you do it too!

Using rounded Tablespoons I formed a dozen balls on my baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 13 minutes.

Move to a wire rack to cool. This recipe makes three dozen cookies.

These smell delightful! I hope someone serving in our military will get these and be reminded of home. I hope they know how many people here at home are thinking about them and praying for their safe return. I'm proud of our troops and very honored to be participating in Baking GALS.

Texas Spicy Pecans

I have been holding on to this spicy pecan recipe for at least a year. The Fall Football party last weekend seemed like the perfect time to give it a shot since I was trying to come up with easy make ahead dishes that I could set out for people to nibble on. If you like bold and spicy flavors, this is for you! Jim and I agreed it was way too spicy for our taste, but fortunately our friend Chris loved them so I sent a large bag home with him.

Here is the list of spices that go into this Texas Spicy Pecan recipe:
1 tbsp Ground Ginger
1 tbsp Ground Thyme
1 tbsp Ground Basil
1 tbsp Granulated Garlic
1 tbsp Ground Coriander
1 tbsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tbsp Ground Allspice
2 tbsp Cayenne
2 tbsp Ground White Pepper
2 tbsp Ground Black Pepper
2 tbsp Ancho Chile Powder
2 tbsp Granulated Onion
2 tbsp Ground Cumin
2 tbsp Hot Chile Powder
2 tbsp Dark Chile Powder
1/2 C Lawry's Seasoned Salt
½ C Mexican Light Brown Unrefined Sugar

Talk about a potent blend of spices! Grind any spices that are not in powder form (corriander) and sift everything together.

And you also need: 1/2 C Pure Maple Syrup

and 2 pounds of Pecan Halves.

Pour maple syrup into a heavy stainless pot and bring syrup to a boil. Then pour in pecan halves and stir steadily until syrup passes soft ball stage and adheres to pecans. I wasn't sure what soft ball stage was so I just stirred and watched for the syrup to form a thick coating. (And when I say thick, this is actually thin - if you think about 1/2 cup of syrup and two pounds of pecans, it is going to be a thin layer)

I lightly brushed vegetable oil in this glass bowl, then poured half the pecans inside.

Next I topped the pecans with half the spice blend.

Add the rest of the sticky pecans and pour the rest of the spices on top, stir to coat evenly.

Spread in a single layer (as best you can) on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake 250 degrees for 30 minutes.

After 15 minutes I pulled the pecans out and tossed them around, then put them back in for the last 15 minutes.

I don't think I'm going to make these again unless requested by Chris. I think I will make up my own recipe for the spices in the future. I liked the maple syrup and the pecans, but how about simply tossing in cinnamon, sugar and maybe a pinch of nutmeg and maybe a pinch of cayenne too. That would be good, right? I will post an update when I experiment with this recipe.