Laura Bush's Texas Governor's Mansion Cowboy Cookies

These are Preston's favorite cookie, so in honor of his birthday, I am posting them today. The recipe makes a ton, and I get tired of scooping cookie dough and rotating sheets fairly quickly, so I usually freeze part of the dough in a log. Beware, though - the frozen cookie dough is really good. I've frozen it before and we haven't gotten around to ever baking the cookies because we ate all the dough frozen. Don't be like me. You shouldn't let your kids eat raw cookie dough and you shouldn't either. But you should make these cookies. They are crisp on the edges and chewy inside.

Laura Bush's Texas Governor's Mansion Cowboy Cookies

Recipe from Parent's Magazine

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1T baking soda
1T cinnamon
1 t salt
1.5 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened
1.5 cups granualated sugar
1.5 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 T vanilla
2-3 cups chocolate chips
3 cups rolled oats
2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
2 cups chopped pecans, optional (I always opt out)


Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.

In a very large bowl, beat butter until smooth and creamy. Add in sugars and cream. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Add vanilla.

Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Add chocolate chips, oats, and coconut and stir until combined.

Drop by 2 tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving plenty of room around each one.I usually do eight per sheet. They spread a lot, so you may want to mound the dough up higher. Bake at 350 for 11-13 minutes. Let cool a few minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely. Package some up and send them to Preston because I don't make them very often since they use 3 sticks of butter and 3 cups of sugar.

Chocolate Oatmeal

Try changing up your oatmeal routine with this chocolate banana sweetened version. Now that I'm in my 30's, I can't eat coffee cake and cinnamon rolls for breakfast anymore. I need something lower in sugar and more filling. This fits the bill perfectly and Lauren and Andrew gobble it up, even sans sugar. Sometimes I put some peanut butter on top and it tastes *just* like a no-bake cookie (without the butter and sugar, you know). 

Chocolate Banana Sweetened Oatmeal

-I find that two servings (1 cup oats, 2 cups liquid, and 2 bananas) makes just enough for myself and two kids.

from Tastefully Gluten Free

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1 - 1.5 T cocoa powder

1 ripe banana, mashed

2 T coconut flakes (optional)

Combine the oats, milk, and water in a saucepan and turn to high heat. When it begins the bubble, stir in the cocoa powder and reduce heat to medium. Stir in banana and coconut when almost done cooking and serve with desired toppings (more coconut flakes, peanut butter, etc).

Popsicles

Popsicles are a refreshing treat in the summer heat, and these homemade ones can't be beat!

Really though, these are naturally sweetened, have no artificial colors or flavors and are still cheap. And tasty.  You could totally have one for breakfast. It's basically a frozen smoothie. I always forget to take pictures of stuff, so I'll try to remember the next time I make some.

I have two sets of popsicle molds. Some cheap ones from Ikea (in pink) and a set from Amazon that is similar, but not identical, to these. I prefer the latter, but really any old popsicle mold will do just fine.


Banana Fudge Pops

from Real Food Real Deals (I like a lot of her recipes)

2 cups sliced ripe bananas (about 2 large bananas)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
2 T maple syrup
1/2 t vanilla

Blend everything until smooth, then pour into popsicle molds and freeze.




Strawberry Mango Lime Popsicles

from Cupcakes and Kale Chips

half of one mango
1 cup of strawberries
1/4 cup lime juice
1-2 T honey or maple syrup


Blend everything until smooth, then pour into popsicle molds and freeze.

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

I don't usually crave chocolate. I frequently crave ice cream and occasionally, especially, if I haven't been eating well, I get a hankering for a big salad with meat on top. But I don't usually crave chocolate.  A couple weeks ago, however, I got a very specific desire to make double chocolate banana muffins. I knew I had seen the recipe before, and I even thought it was a Taste of Home recipe. A quick internet search found it, and oh, it did not disappoint. Craving fulfilled in a big way. I have made these twice in the past week.

By the way, my low carb diet is not going very well.


Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

1.5 cups flour (I use one cup white whole wheat and 1/2 cup all purpose)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 scant cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 and 1/3 cup mashed banana (from 4-5 bananas)
1/3 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup mini chocolate chips


Mix dry ingredient together. In a separate bowl, mix banana, egg and oil and add to dry ingredients, mixing just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill lightly greased muffin cups and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know how I like my chocolate chip cookies - like Grandma's. Soft and chewy and chippity and perfect. But my chocolate chip cookies don't taste like Grandmas. I usually get one of two results: 1 - Doughy, cakey blobs, or 2 - completely flat crunchy cookies that I have to cut apart before removing from the sheet. Grandma must have a secret ingredient (love?).

Anyway, when I feel like making cookies I don't make chocolate chip. Until today. These cookies from Joan at Allrecipes are just the way I like them. They are not traditional chocolate chip cookies, but they are delicious and chocolatey and peanut buttery. And isn't that what everyone really wants?

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oat Cookies (or in Joan's words, Outrageous CC Cookies)

1 stick butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter (use natural!)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oats
1 cup semisweets

Cream butter and sugars, add peanut butter, vanilla, and egg and mix well. Mix flour, baking soda and salt separately, then add to wet ingredients. Stir in oats and chocolate chips. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. A plus with these cookies is that they are quite filling due to the peanut butter and the oats. Two or three and I don't want any more (that's rare!), at least not for an hour or so.... Happy eating!

Helpful Hint: If you want cookies, but don't want to spend hours in a hot kitchen rolling cookies, you can mix up the dough, make just one sheet (or however many) and freeze the rest of the dough. Just double wrap it in Saran Wrap and it will keep for quite a while (not that it ever lasts very long in our house...). To use later, defrost in the refrigerator, or slice while frozen and cook a minute or so longer (but watch it carefully). I like doing this because I can control how many cookies are available to us at one time. And, of course, the next time I want cookies, I don't have to dirty any bowls or do any mixing!

Peanut Butter Balls

Photograph courtesy of The Pioneer Woman

Time for something sweet. These are similar to buckeyes, but I daresay perhaps a slight bit healthier. Plus, it always seems like recipes for buckeyes have some weird ingredient like parrafin wax. This is pretty straightforward. Recipe fron Parents magazine.

Mix 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/3 cup honey, and 1 cup powdered milk in a bowl. Roll into 20 1-inch balls. Melt 6 oz dark chocolate (or whatever you have or like) and dip balls in chocolate. Refrigerate until chocolate hardens. Vow never to make again because you just ate half a cup of peanut butter, a third a cup of honey and one cup powdered milk in one day. Repeat.