Cheery Cherry & Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

It's hard to beat the original recipe for oatmeal cookies. You know the one, the recipe printed on the Quaker Oats box. There's a reason that recipe still appears on the iconic, tubular container - it's darned good! Nonetheless, a recipe's honored, classic status doesn't mean it can't be tweaked a little, added to and messed with, just for fun. 

These cookies were baked to share with the guys working on the construction project at the house. Shipyard workers have enjoyed my home-baked cookies, so why not a construction crew? This batch of oatmeal cookies incorporated dried cherries and white chocolate chips for an unexpected taste treat. Good decision! While these may not have been the prettiest cookies ever seen in my kitchen, they were delicious and well-received by the crew. It's a good sign when not even a crumb remains on the platter. Now I'd better come up with another cookie inspiration for next week.

A cookie scoop helps to shape cookies of uniform size, and to keep your fingers from turning into sticky blobs... unless you need an excuse to nibble raw cookie dough.  

Cookies on the left were dropped from a cookie scoop and baked, the ones on the right were flattened with a fork prior to baking. The taste and texture remained the same, only the appearance was altered.

Cheery Cherry & Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

based on the classic Quaker Oats recipe 

Yield: approx 3 1/2 dozen

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups rolled oats (not instant)

1 cup dried cherries (or cranberries)

1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Use a large bowl and beat butter and both sugars until creamy (you can do this by hand but a stand mixer makes it much easier). 
3. Add eggs and vanilla and mix to thoroughly incorporate. 
4. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; add to the butter mix and combine well. 
5. Add oats, cherries and chips; stir in to mix well.
6. Use a cookie scoop to form balls or drop dough by generous, rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased or silpat-covered cookie sheets.
7. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Take care not to over bake to medium-brown or the cookies will be too dry when cooled.
8. Let the cookies rest for a few minutes on the cookie sheets to firm up a bit, then use a flat spatula to remove to a wire rack. Cool completely before storing, tightly covered. The cookies will keep for several days and are reported to freeze well (but they never last long enough to freeze in my kitchen or galley!)

Shamrock Schnapps Bundt Cake

March is full of Irish and pseudo-Irish icons, an abundance of shamrocks, shillelaghs, leprechauns with pots of gold, penny whistles, even green beer. Green beer? Ugh, that does not sound appealing, not even a little bit, not even to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Ah, but green Schnapps is something else again. The bottle's label reads Shamrock Schnapps but the reality is it's green-colored peppermint Schnapps. Colored or not, it is a delicious beverage and even a sip tastes like a party in your mouth. 

"Slainte!"

Shamrock Schnapps was a perfect choice to flavor a bundt cake in honor of the annual March 17 event. A trial run was definitely called for, bring on the Shamrock Bundt Cake! 

Mint extract could substitute for the schnapps... I suppose.

The bottled liquid was notable for it's vivid greenness and the strong, heavy scent of mint assaulting the senses. Used as an ingredient the brilliant emerald green color faded away and the aroma was tamed, but the flavor asserted its presence in the baked cake as well as in the thin finishing glaze. So, taste... analyze ingredient mix... taste again... assess color and texture... taste again... add some whipped cream... repeat process. Yum, we just kept on tasting. The Shamrock Schnapps added an amazing flavor boost to this ordinary bundt cake, a two-thumbs-up winner.

The sample cake was so delicious it nearly disappeared, poof!, before I could wait for daylight and play around with assorted props for some festive shots. I could have baked a second test cake just for photos, perhaps used a chocolate cake mix for a different effect, but truly my waistline doesn't need another sample. Ah, but the taste... hmmmmm, maybe a few little mini cakes to shoot and then freeze immediately. Or I could be patient and wait until St. Patrick's Day... or maybe not.   

Shamrock Schnapps Bundt Cake

1 box cake mix (I used yellow only because I had it stocked)

3-ounce package instant no-cook pudding (I used vanilla)

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup Shamrock Schnaps

1/2 cup water

4 eggs

Mix all ingredient together, pour into a prepared pan and bake in a preheated oven as directed on cake package for tube pan or bundt cake.

Glaze

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup Shamrock Schnapps

Bring butter, water and sugar to boil. Remove from heat to add Schnapps (it's a safety issue). Pour the glaze over cake while it's still warm from the oven; spoon about half over the cake while still rests in pan. Then invert the cake onto a large, flat plate and add the rest of the glaze.