Recipe: Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies

This past Sunday, our furnace decided that it needed a day off. Fortunately, the weather was near perfect, so the furnace wasn't really needed. Unfortunately, the HVAC tech couldn't come out until Monday afternoon.  The high temperature on Monday occurred early morning, and the temperatures were supposed to fall the rest of the day.  So Monday morning was the perfect time to turn on the oven, bake some treats, and hopefully heat up the kitchen a bit.

I still have half of a refrigerator crisper drawer full of apples from our apple picking trip earlier this fall. So of course, I've been on the lookout for recipes using apples. Last week, I saw a few links to Caramel Apple cookies, which sounded delicious!  And even better, I was able to find caramel bits in my grocery store's new expanded bulk section - score!  Caramel bits are like chocolate chips, except they're made of caramel.  And they are much easier to use than chopping up a bunch of caramel candies.

After comparing a few recipes, I decided to use Cooking Light's recipe for Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies as my inspiration and make a few adaptations.  These cookies full of chewy oatmeal, softened apple, melted caramel.  Even NerdDad with his "cookies need chocolate" stance agreed they were pretty good.

Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
3/4 cup finely chopped, peeled apple pieces (use a baking apple like Granny Smith or Winesap so the pieces don't get too mushy!)
3/4 cup caramel bits or 16 small soft caramel candies, chopped

Pour the oats into a food processor and pulse 5 or 6 times, or until only half the oats are still whole.  While this step is optional, doing softens the texture of the cookie and allows the apples to stand out more.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine processed oats, flour, powder, soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat sugars and butter with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and egg and beat until mixture is smooth.  Gradually add the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined.  Gently stir in the apple pieces and caramel bits.

Drop dough by 2 teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets.  Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.  Cool on pans 5 minutes.  Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Makes 3-4 dozen. 

Recipe: Pesto Chicken Grilled Cheese

After trying out a new recipe for Seasoned Chicken, I wanted to find a quick way to try out some of the chicken that I just made.  I found some sliced provolone cheese in the refrigerator and decided to do a spin on grilled cheese. The result was a Pesto Chicken Grilled Cheese, and it was amazing!

I started by shredding one of the Seasoned Chicken tenders.  I wanted to slice it, but grabbed the wrong knife, and ended up with shredded.  Oh well!  I pulled out a couple pieces of bread, two slices of provolone cheese, a bit of margarine (you could use butter too), and a cube of frozen homemade pesto (you could also use store-bought). 

  

Heat up a griddle or skillet with just a bit of cooking spray.  Butter one side of each piece of bread, and place the first piece of bread on the griddle, butter side down.  Top the bread with about half a tablespoon of pesto.

 

Next, assemble the sandwich.  Layer on a slice of cheese, then the shredded chicken, another slice of cheese, and finally, the other piece of bread, butter side up.

 

After a few minutes, flip the whole sandwich.  The bread should be toasted and lightly browned.  Cook for another few minutes to toast the other side.

 

This sandwich has the gooey goodness of grilled cheese, is hearty enough to stand as a meal because of the chicken, and  has amazing flavor from the pesto.  It reminded me of something that I would typically order at a deli.  Yum!

Recipe: Seasoned Chicken

I often use Pinterest to find new recipes.  However, I have a hard time actually following the recipe exactly.  While I'm sure the original recipes are just fine, I like to use the recipes I find as inspiration or a jumping off point, not as a rulebook.  I've been cooking for over ten years now, and have tried enough recipes to guess what might work (and have learned a lot about what doesn't!).  If you are new to cooking, or trying a new style or kind of dish, then certainly follow the directions!  But after a few tries, be confident enough to make a few changes or try a shortcut.

When my daughter was born almost two years ago, I started trying out more freezer meals.  I could spend an afternoon cooking, and then not feel so rushed once I got home from work.  And for a while, I kept cooked cubed or shredded chicken in the freezer, so I was ready when I came across a casserole, pasta dish, or salad that called for cooked chicken.  But this chicken never tasted very good, so I stopped.  But when I came across a link to The Perfect Chicken, I realized that of course that chicken wouldn't taste good; I never seasoned it!  I had mistakenly thought that I shouldn't season it since I didn't know what dish I would be using it in.  But the recipe for Perfect Chicken uses spices that are common enough to most dishes and aren't overpowering, so the chicken could still be used in whatever I need it for.

The recipe makes a simple spice rub using salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder and garlic powder.  I quickly through together a batch.  

 

I had purchased a package of fresh chicken tenders earlier this week for another dinner, and after seeing this recipe, intentionally put a few of the tenders back in the refrigerator so that I could try out this recipe.  The recipe made plenty for the four tenders that I had, and probably would have been enough for another four. 

 

I browned the tenders on the stovetop as instructed in the recipe.  Because I was using tenders instead of full chicken breasts, I decided I could finish cooking on the stovetop, instead of baking as instructed, because the tenders were thin enough to cook through without getting dried out.  I simply lowered the heat and added a lid to keep the moisture in. 

 

This was a quick way to add more flavor to plain boneless, skinless chicken.  The spice rub came together in less than a minute, browning the chicken took about five minutes, and then I let the chicken sit unattended and covered on low for about ten minutes to finish cooking.  I haven't tried freezing this yet, but will soon.  The chicken looked so good, I immediately looked for a way to use it and came up with a Pesto Chicken Grilled Cheese.   

Do you have an easy spice rub recipe for chicken?