Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Pancakes

I love pancakes, but the mister is a pancake purist.  When he sees me pull more than one bowl out of the cupboard and move the box of Bisquick aside in favor of a variety of ingredients, he starts to panic.  I assured him this morning that plain pancakes would be his if he just indulged me momentarily while I tried a revised version of a recipe that I spotted in the December issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine.  He eyeballed the ingredients, shrugged and said that he’d try what I was having.  As it turned out, he was very glad he did.

The December issue of Rachael’s magazine featured a rather unique variety of pancakes.  Trying to get more whole grains into my diet, the oatmeal pancake caught my eye.  It was an altered version of the recipe in the magazine for “Classic Pancakes” (pictured below), that I further altered with excellent results.

Their recipe, simply called Oatmeal Raisin pancakes (also pictured below), I turned into Oatmeal Raisin Cookie pancakes, by adding a sprinkling of chopped pecans and a pinch of cinnamon (two ingredients that are musts in my oatmeal cookies).  These two ingredients made all the difference.

  

They really did taste like oatmeal raisin cookies.  Your kids (if not your husband) will love them!

Apple Cider Floats

Autumn would not be autumn without a chill in the air, the rustling sound of fallen leaves, the smoky scent of a wood fire, and the comforting taste of apple cider.  I drink it warm and cold...and sometimes with a healthy shot of Laird's Applejack for a soothing evening warmer.  I've used it in recipes, as a base for syrup, and to flavor caramel sauce, but this version that I found in the October 2011 issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray was new to me, so naturally, I had to try it.

The comforting warmth of the cinnamon-spiked cider along with the cold ice cream and caramel drizzle made for one delicious imbibe, I can tell you.  Personally, I think it would have been perfection with that shot of Apple Jack, but hey, that's just me.  This family friendly version should please all of the apple lovers in your house, so do give it a try.  It is one of the best ways to drink apple cider that I've found.

Apple Cider Floats

Everyday with Rachael Ray

2 cups apple cider

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup vanilla ice cream

1 tablespoon caramel sauce

Grated nutmeg

In a small sauce pan, heat cider with cinnamon stick.  Pour cider into two float glasses.  Top with ice cream, caramel sauce, and a grating of nutmeg.

Serves 2.

This post is linked to:

Your Recipe...My Kitchen
Tasty Tuesdays
Tuesdays at the Table
Delicious Dishes
Tasty Tuesday
Made From Scratch Tuesday
Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday
Real Food Wednesday
Tuesday's Tasty Tidbits
Totally Tasty Tuesdays
Crazy Sweet Tuesdays

CAST PARTY WEDNESDAY

Foodie Friday

Pumpkin Pie Cocoa

I spent a good bit of time the past couple of days "whipping up" (and yes, I did use the term facetiously here) the meal we enjoyed for dinner tonight, and that graces the cover of the October 2011 issue of Bon Appetit.  It is a good one (stay tuned later in the week for the results and step-by-step tutorial), but it took up so much time that I thought I deserved a break.  

So I decided to enjoy the beautiful day, put my feet up, and peruse the latest issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray (I do seem to have a one-track mind, don't I?).  Craving something pumpkin (as I tend to do this time of the year), this recipe leapt off the page at me, and sent me right back into the kitchen.  Pumpkin and chocolate (for those of you know don't know) is an excellent combination. It was nearly a year ago when I first acquainted you with this combo in the recipe for Harvest Pumpkin Loaf. Now here I am again acquainting you with yet another and, people, this one is DECADENT! I groaned when I took my first sip, that's how good it is. Since I only wanted to make one cup I cut the recipe in half.  I used Williams-Sonoma's Sweet Ground Chocolate instead of hot cocoa mix (pricey but well worth it), and added a pinch of pumpkin pie spice to the whipped cream.

Try it.  Go ahead.  I'm sure you deserve it.

Pumpkin Pie Cocoa

2 1/4 cups low-fat milk
1/2 cup hot cocoa mix
3 tbsp. canned pure pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup whipped cream

In a saucepan, whisk milk, cocoa mix, pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice; heat until steaming. Pour into mugs and top with whipped cream.

This post is linked to:

Dr. Laura’s Tasty Tuesdays
Tuesdays at the Table
Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays
Tasty Tuesdays with Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Tasty Tuesday

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Tarragon Chicken

You know me and cooking magazines -- I'm crazy about them!  So I had to try something from the new Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine that appeared in my mailbox on Wednesday.  

The word "Crockpot" leapt at me from the cover, most probably because it was 104 degrees at the time and a Crockpot seemed the only way to go.  As it turned out, it was.  I don't think I've ever had a tastier, more tender chicken than the one in this recipe.  Making the sauce outside of the Crockpot ensured a dish far more elegant that what is usually, umm, "crocked," and doing a bit of advanced prep (gathering, cleaning, and chopping herbs, zesting and juicing a lemon), made this a very easy meal.  There's a lot more to love in this issue, and I'll let you know as I test each recipe, but trust me on this one, it is, as Rachael would say, "Yum-o!"

This post is linked to:
Simply Delish Saturday
Savory Sunday

For a subscription to Everyday with Rachael Ray, click the image below: