This Afternoon in the Yummy Department

Lovin' from our oven today.

I made muffins for tomorrow's breakfast. I was trying to find something else besides banana bread to make with ripe bananas, so I searched a short time and found a recipe for "Best Ever Banana Muffins." Oh, my. I tested one just to make sure they really were the "best ever" before I could honestly type this post....and I think they are! Yumm!



Then Jacob baked some cookies. We baked cookies last Monday too, but we were out of vanilla and so our recipe choices were terribly limited. Do you know HOW MANY recipes call for vanilla??? Staggering. We needed cookies for tea time today, cookies for Jacob's den meeting and cookies for a visit to a friend's house tomorrow evening. So with vanilla in the pantry and barely enough sugar (add that to the list), we set about making "Chewy Oatmeal Cookies." My mom cut this recipe out of the Houston Chronicle years ago and I have a copy of her newspaper clipping. I haven't made them in years, but they are oh, so good. Yeah, I tested these too.



Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. each: baking soda and baking powder
1/2 teaspoon each: salt, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup molasses (mild)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped pecans (I omit these and add raisins instead)

Preheat oven to 35o degrees. In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and sugar. Add shortening, molasses, eggs and vanilla; beat until smooth. Stir in oats and pecans (or raisins).

Drop batter by rounded spoonfuls on cookie sheet. Bake 9 to 12 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Hope you enjoy some happy baking this week. There are so many feasts to celebrate this week.