Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I've made chocolate chip cookies with whole wheat flour before and they were... well, yucky. They were dry and tasted of whole wheat flour.

Then I found this recipe, it's from a cookbook called The Frog Commissary Cookbook. The only change I made to the recipe was that I used whole wheat flour instead of white. The cookies are chewy and crunchy, what a perfect cookie. They also have oatmeal in them, the old fashioned whole oats kind. You can just pretend the butter and sugar aren't in there. I've ditched the Tollhouse recipe for this one, these cookies taste so much better.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
(from The Frog Commissary Cookbook)
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour (I use Whole Wheat and no one can tell!)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups oats (rolled or "quick," but not "instant")
2 cups chocolate chips (about 12-oz.)


Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars until mixture is light in color. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the milk and the vanilla extract.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Either by hand or with the mixer on low speed, gradually beat the flour in to the sugar mixture until just incorporated.
Stir in the oats and chocolate chips by hand.
Drop 1-inch balls of dough onto the cookie sheet, placing about 1 1/2 inches apart so they have room to spread.
Bake at 350F for 10-13 minutes, until golden brown at the edges and light golden at the center.
Cool on baking sheet for at least 1-2 minutes before transfering to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 4 dozen.

How does your garden grow?

The Square Foot Gardens are doing great! The small 4 foot x 4 foot box holds a lot.

Box 2 contains:

2 Zucchini Squash
2 Dwarf Marigolds
2 Dianthus flowers
1 Gerbera Daisy
11 Green Onions ( we planted 16)
2 Sweet red Pepper plants
4 cucumbers
1 Big Boy Tomato
1 Grape Tomato


Box 1 contains:

2 Dwarf Marigolds
1 Green Pepper
2 Diantthus
1 red pepper
4 basil plants
4 squash plants (we just planted those last weekend)
12 green onions
2 sunflowers ( one is huge and one got mangled by a football!)

Overdue!

I'm overdue, for a hair cut that is. My last cut was in Feb. I checked my calendar two weeks ago, noticed an open space and called the salon. My stylist broke her foot and is out until the beginning of June! The person making the appointment was very nice and offered to book me with another stylist, I politely declined. Alli has been cutting my hair for almost two years now and I like her, she can make my hair do things that I never thought was possible. She was the third person in the salon to cut my hair and I've never even considered anyone else since. So, I'll continue looking ratty and overgrown until June. Get well soon Alli, my hair needs you!

Silver update

Wow, my hair is not pixie length anymore! Woo Hoo! I like my naturally silver highlights and I can't imagine myself as a red head anymore. I'm sure there are people who think I'm nuts, but I'm enjoying being dye-free! I'm liking my hair, I'd forgotten what my hair feels like without all the harsh chemicals. Oh yeah, I have lots of red shirts now! I could never wear red before, it totally clashed with my red/orange hair.

He loves my buns!

Hamburger buns that is!

I try to keep at least 8 to 12 of these in the freezer. Four of these fit nicely in a gallon sized Ziploc freezer bag. They thaw nicely on the counter, when I remember to take them out in the morning before dinner. I make these from a King Arthur Whole Wheat Dinner Roll recipe found here. They are very yummy as dinner rolls too, especially if you brush melted butter on them just as they come out of the oven. My daughter will ask for a dinner roll for her snack instead of a cookie, she loves them that much. My former neighbor Little B used to love them too. The only change I make to the recipe is that I use no white flour, I use all whole wheat and they come out nice and soft. The recipe makes 8 nice sized hamburger buns baked on a cookie sheet or 16 dinner rolls baked in a 9 X 13 pan. Just slice the buns with a bread knife when you are ready to use them.

Pizza Night!

Friday nights are pizza night, there would be a rebellion in my house if we had something different for dinner. I thought I'd share my favorite whole wheat crust.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

1 2/3 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp salt
4 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/4 tsp yeast

I use the dough cycle on the bread machine. When they cycle is complete I divide the dough into 2 pieces and place them in plastic bags and stick them in the fridge. They can keep a couple of days in the fridge. I take them out about 30 minutes before I'm ready to use them and let them sit on the counter so they get room temperature.

Each half of the dough will make a 16" pizza. I roll my dough and then place on a cornmeal sprinkled pizza peel to assemble. Once assembled, the key is to place them in the oven on a pizza stone that has been preheated to 450 degrees. Bake for 10 minutes.

I can't wait for the basil to grow in my garden, the kids love fresh basil on homemade pizza too. If I can remember I'll try to take a pic of one tonight when it's all baked and yummy!