Everything But the Kitchen Sink Cookies

My little family and I recently relocated to Colorado.

Moving is the worst. Seriously. I never need to do it again. But the biggest thing that made it worth it? The kitchen.

Oh and the views. The views are amazing.

(That's 2 apples and a cherry tree in the backyard AND to the right we have some amazing views of Mesa Verde!)

And the little fox that comes to visit our backyard at the same time every night. Or the deer that make their way through our backyard. Or the fact that the cool crisp mountains are just a 10 minute drive away. I could go on and on.

The first thing I did (with the help of my MIL) when we moved in was put together the kitchen. Today I was itching to make (and eat!) some cookies. I'm calling these the "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" cookies since I just threw in a bunch of bags of leftovers I had in the pantry. You could easily sub or leave out whatever add-ins you like. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• ½ cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 ½ cups flour (¼ cup added for higher altitude)
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups sweet add-ins (I used a mixture of dark chocolate, semi-sweet and butterscotch chips. Others you could try: milk chocolate chips, raisins, dried fruit, toffee bits, caramel bits, M&M's, etc...)
• 1 cup nuts (I used toasted pecans, again, you could use whatever nuts you prefer, or leave them out)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In your food processor, pulse the oats until semi-fine. Set aside. In your stand up mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until well blended. Add the cinnamon, vanilla, eggs and lemon juice. Mix well. Slowly add the oats, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Fold in the nuts and sweet add-ins. Scoop out onto cookie sheets and bake 10-12 minutes or until golden.

Yields: 50 cookies (using a medium cookie scoop).

Red Velvet White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

 

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 5 heaping Tablespoons cocoa powder
• ½ - 1 teaspoon red food gel (if using liquid food dye use 1 Tablespoon)
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or spray with cooking oil and set aside. In the bowl of your stand-up mixer: beat the butter, both sugars, cocoa powder and red food gel until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Slowly add the flour, baking soda, salt, chips and nuts. Using a medium size cookie scoop, scoop out cookie dough. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until set. Cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 4 dozen cookies.