Oatmeal Lizzies

 Like a cheap pair of underwear, this is a cookie that sneaks up on you. At first, the pleasant taste and crunchy texture seem far from addicting, but like those potato chips in the yellow bag, you can't stop with just one. Ask Mr. O-P whom I had to direct to step away from the cookie plate after consuming nearly half a dozen. Yes, I can hear crunching from the other room.

I don't know the source of this recipe. I'd emailed it to my mother twelve years ago with the not-so-subtle suggestion that she make them. She printed out the recipe and put it in her recipe box which is where it remained until I stumbled upon it yesterday.

It goes together easily. I mixed everything in a stand mixer, didn't bother to chill the dough, and used my beloved cookie scoop to plop hunks of dough onto the greased cookie sheets. I managed to make and bake them while dinner was cooking. These will make a nice addition to the holiday cookie tray.

Oatmeal Lizzies

1 c. shortening (I used Crisco)

1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. butter flavoring
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. quick oatmeal
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. Heath Bits O' Brickle
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease cookie sheets; set aside.

Cream sugars and Crisco. Add milk, flavorings, and eggs. Slowly add flour, salt, and soda. Stir in oatmeal, chips, and pecans, blending to incorporate. Chill 20 minutes (or not).

Shape into 1-inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake 12-15 minutes until lightly browned. Cool on racks and store in air-tight container. Makes 4 1/2 dozen.

This post is linked to:

Thursday Favorite Things

Full Plate Thursday

Create It Thursday 

Chewy Toffee Almond Bars

 Some recipes just come to me from out of the blue.  Like this one. I opened the cabinet door behind which I keep the baking supplies, and a bag of Heath Brickle Bits fell out of the cabinet and conked me on the head. I have got to get organized. 

As I picked it up (and unrolled the already opened end, sampling some of the crunchy deliciousness) I happened to glance at the back of the bag and saw two recipes. One looked like a simple variation on the chocolate chip cookie substituting the Brickle Bits for the chocolate chips, and then I saw this one. 

Crunchy almonds, chewy coconut, and toffee, oh, yes!  With company coming to watch baseball tonight, I figured I'd give them a try. I like a thicker bar cookie, so made them in a 9" x 9" pan rather than the called for 9" x 13." I think my version gives a far better crust-to-filling-to-topping ratio. I tend to do this a lot. Every time I do, the old pizza joke comes to mind. You know the one, where the pizza maker asks the customer if he wants his pizza sliced into six or eight pieces. To which the customer replies, "You'd better make it six, I don't think I can eat eight pieces." I delude myself in this same way. A 9" x 13" pan of cookies seems so daunting, whereas a 9" x 9" pan seems perfectly doable. 

The perfect combination of crunchy and chewy, these got thumbs up from all tasters tonight. Methinks a drizzle of chocolate would make these just about perfect.

This post is linked to:

On the Menu Monday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Sweets for a Saturday

Sugar and Spice

Sunday Sweeties

Chewy Toffee Almond Bars

Ever since hitting on such great success with the mushroom soup recipe that I found on the package of Monterrey mushrooms, I find myself stalking packaging these days.  Today the people at Hershey’s enticed me with this recipe on the back of the Bits ‘O Brickle Toffee Bits bag and suddenly I had to make them. You’re probably wondering why a frantic woman like me would stop what she’s doing to make cookies.  Honestly, I don’t know.   Perhaps it’s some form of brain damage. What I do know is that these cookies are addicting!  I don’t know if it is the caramel deliciousness, the chewy texture, the nutty goodness, or the shortbread crust, but I think, given enough spare time (that, thankfully, I did not have), I could have polished off the pan of them all by myself. 


Gather your ingredients...

Here's the recipe, try them for yourself, and don't say I didn't warn you!

Irresistable, no?

This post is linked to:

Foodie Friday

Sunday's Best Party

Sweets for a Saturday

Themed Baker's Sunday