from the kitchen: chocolate-oatmeal-peanut butter balls of goodness

I wouldn't necessarily call these things cookies- they aren't very cookie-like shaped and they crumble like crazy, but man, are they DELICIOUS! As probably realized by the super creative name I named them, these babies contain oatmeal, peanut butter, and chocolate chips, and I don't think I have to try to explain to you how heavenly that mixture is. PLUS they are gluten free. Oh yeahhhh.

Disclaimer: this recipe makes around 45 LARGE cookies so I advise cutting the recipe in half if you don't want to store half of the recipe in your freezer (which isn't such a bad thing in my book).

Ingredients:
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of white sugar
1 and 1/2 stick of butter
1 and 1/2 cups of creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
4 and 1/2 cups of gluten free oats
3 cups of "extras" (I like chocolate chips, but you can also substitute for nuts)

Directions:
Set oven to 350 degrees
Cream together the sugars and butter
Add in the peanut butter, baking soda, vanilla and mix together
Add the eggs and mix together
Add in the oats and extras, mix together
Start to ball dough into cookies on cookie sheet (the dough might be crumbly but try to pack it tightly)
Cook for 10-15 minutes or until they are lightly brown on the bottom (bake for less time if you want them chewier).
Try not to each 10 of them in a row.

That's it! They are SUPER easy and seriously delicious. Enjoy!

ADVENTURES IN THE KITCHEN: apple pie delight

After apple picking last weekend we had five pounds of baking apples we didn't know what to do with. So, I attempted to bake my first pie. Surprisingly it wasn't that difficult (I think years of watching my parents slave over pies at thanksgiving has haunted me), and even more surprisingly it was delicious!!! It was such a perfect fall desert (which topped off the homemade lasagna I made too! I was feeling very domestic that night) and I can't wait to try other recipes now that I know how easy it is!

I found an easy recipe online and have included some of my own tips so hopefully yours will turn out just as delicious.

Ingredients:
-around 3 pounds of baking apples (approximately 8 cups)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¾ cups white sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons butter
-1 egg yolk
-1 tablespoon milk
- 2 pie crusts

Directions:
- Peel, core, and thinly slice apples.
- preheat oven to 425 degrees
- Pour lemon juice over apples and mix well to coat apples
- Mix sugars, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg together, then mix with apple and lemon mixture until apples are well coated
- Roll out pie crusts and warm until they are room temperature
- place one pie crust into the pie tin, flattening crust along the sides of the tin
- place apple mixture onto the crust, filling nooks and crannies with extra juice and apples
- dice up butter and place on top of the apples
- place second pie crust on top, cut slits to vent
- carefully tuck the top pie crust behind the bottom crust and pinch to close (this will create a pocket for the apples so they don’t boil out of the crust in the oven)
- to add a decorative rim, pinch the crust around the edges every inch or so
- mix milk and egg yolks together then brush over the top of the crust. Do not let the mixture puddle into the crevices of the pie (it will burn)
- place in oven for 15 minutes at 425 degree
- reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for 40 minutes.
- let pie sit for 15 minutes to let juices harden and cool (if you cut into it right away it will be extremely juicy)