Tag Archives: Walnuts

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I rarely make sweets, but I’ve now made these cookies twice in the past three weeks. Twice!  They are so good and I want you to have the recipe. Oddly enough, it’s from Williams-Sonoma. Awesome store, but who knew they also had awesome recipes? Well not me, but I was pleasantly surprised. I bet your wondering how I found it.

I found the recipe by using the search terms ‘oatmeal raisin cookie recipe baking powder’. This is because when I was at the grocery store purchasing the ingredients to make cookies, sans any type of recipe, I assumed I had both baking powder and baking soda at home. To my dismay, only the former was true and I as without baking soda, which is in practically every oatmeal raisin cookie recipe on the internet. Or so I thought… until I found this little gem of a recipe  that only required baking powder, not soda. Hooray!Aren’t you glad you know now?

The first time I made the cookies I followed the recipe exactly and if you can’t tell from above, I loved the way they turned out. I brought them to a work-related event and they got some good reviews. For the second time around, I played with the ingredients slightly. I used almond flour instead of traditional all-purpose flour and I added some chopped walnuts. Flavor wise they came out great once again! Texture wise, I think the use of the almond flour left them a little flat and a little sticky. This was fine for me though, because they were for my consumption only this time!

My ingredients:

Walnuts, almond flour, raisins, rolled oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, brown sugar, an egg, and butter.

The first step is to mix the dry ingredients (flour, oats, raisins, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nuts (if using- I used 1/2 cup) and set them aside.

Next, you want to mix the butter and brown sugar in a separate bowl with an electric mixer.

Why yes, that is an entire stick of butter. Next time I want to try a lower fat substitute, but for now, here’s the real deal.

At this point you want to add the egg and the vanilla extract and continue to mix.

It looks pretty similar to the above photo at this point, just a little creamier.

Next, add the dry ingredients to this bowl and mix with the electric mixer until all the ingredients are combined (about one minute).

Electric mixers rock!

Scoop them out onto the baking sheet (about 12 per sheet).

Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees and let cool on a wire rack. When the cookies are ready, remove with a metal spatula. The recipe suggests cooking one baking sheet at a time.

These cookies have provided great fuel for my morning runs in this sauna they call Maryland. This is a great little oatmeal raisin cookie recipe and I look forward to working from it in the future to make healthier versions. I’ll keep you posted on that!

– Eileen 🙂

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Seared Salmon Salad with Grilled Tomato and Avacado

Summer!

This was another summery grilling inspiration.  I had a hankering for seared salmon and figured to keep it light by having it on a salad with an oil based dressing.  I also decided to spruce up the salad with some methods that I had never tried and some that were truly experimental, but worked out.  This turned out much better than the last post, but we give you the truth here!

First off the primary ingredient, the salmon.

It did have the skin on it and I had an idea of how to get it off.  I have tried to cut it off, but I always feel like I lose so much in the difficult process.

All dressed up and nowhere to go!

I sprinkled a store bought cajun seasoning on the meat side only.

Next was to prep some of the other salad ingredients.  The first was to prep a foil packet of walnuts, sliced garlic, oil, and salt and pepper.

Ready for the grill

I had never roasted walnuts and garlic on the grill like this but it worked out.  This packet went right onto the grill for about 6-8 minutes each side.  The flavors intermingled well and I threw them right on the salad though I know some would be weary to throw the roasted garlic on the salad.  Feel free to discard it or recycle it for another dish, but I think that it worked out well and was not too overpowering.

Post Grill

That was one of the new methods mentioned, the next is also a new method and one that was truly experimental and I was not sure if it would work out.  I sliced 2 tomatoes in half and an avocado in half, sprayed them with a little oil, sprinkled with a little salt and pepper and then……

Whats next?

Probably not a big surprise, but right on the grill face down!

It worked out just fine and I would suggest it and try it again myself!

Maybe a minute or two less next time though

I wasn’t sure how the avocado would fare on the grill and it could have used a minute or two less but I was able to peel away some of the burnt parts sort of like peeling the blistered skin of a roasted red pepper.  I sliced them and added them to the salad.

Back to the salmon.  I was planning to sear it and placed it skin side down first.

Ok, I forgot my plan and put it down meat side for a second.

Once I flipped it after a few minutes, the skin came right off which was the hopeful plan!

Skin came right off. Nice!

Once the salmon was done, I sliced it and put it atop the rest of the salad ingredients.

We used some olive oil and vinegar as a dressing, though much wasn’t needed since there were so many great flavors.

In addition, I threw a little bit of goat cheese on the salad.  The warm salmon and grilled veggies melted it a bit and the creaminess tasted great.  Overall, was a good meal.