chocolate oatmeal crispies

Do you like your cookie crispy or soft? Do you like it with lots of texture, chock-full of add-ins, or are you a minimalist— just a chocolate chip, thank you! Does it depend on what kind of cookie you're having?  I am a cookie fiend and love them all sorts of ways, but I think my favorite cookie has a combination of crisp on the edges and then soft towards the middle.

This chocolate cookie, as the name implies, is crisp, through and through. It makes no apologies and stands proud with its crunchy, crumbly, meringue-like snap. The chocolate flavor is just enough (add chocolate chips if you want more) and complements the coconut and oatmeal beautifully. It's a perfect afternoon snacking cookie, eaten with a large glass of milk.

thanks a latte...

Today was the last day of school. Summer is officially beginning for us. Woohoo!

The Son brought in some chocolate chip cookies for his class, and we made this ultra-easy, thank-you card for his teacher. Isn't it sweet?

When I found the free printable on Skip to My Lou, I knew it'd come in handy this week.

chicken fried steak

Answer: Fried anything.

Question to The Husband: "What is your favorite food?"

morton's carrot cake

I am always on the lookout for a good carrot cake recipe. My favorite up to now has been the Silver Palate one (a future post!), but using the almighty Google, I found this winner. Served at Morton's Steakhouse and based on its CEO's mother's recipe, this dessert stands out because buttermilk is used two-fold. First, in the cake batter and

second, cooked with butter for a glaze, which makes the cake extra moist.

quintuple chocolate brownies {bwd}

Chocoholics, rejoice! This delectable brownie, chock-full with FIVE chocolates, will surely satiate that mid-afternoon (or for me- early morning) craving for a chocolatey treat.

Did you try guessing the five chocolates going into this recipe?  I'm sure you were right with these answers:

unsweetened cocoa powder

unsweetened chocolate

bittersweet chocolate

milk chocolate chips

white chocolate

rosemary apricot bars

These bars, from the Baked Boys, are a not-too-sweet, lovely grown-up tea cookie. I normally shudder at the thought shy away from throwing an herb into a cookie, but after reading a raving (in a good way, not lunatical) post by David Lebovitz, I wanted to try it out. I've always loved apricots, fresh or dried, and apricot bars. I've also always wondered why there seemed to be a weird residue left in the saucepan after cooking and plumping them up.

It has to do with added sulfur, used in order to preserve the bright orange color which we associate with the apricot. In this recipe, the pastry chefs ask specifically to use unsulfured apricots, which I found at Trader Joe's.