Chewy Honey Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies While Walking The Camino de Santiago

 

It feels like Spring in California. The daffodils in my garden are blooming, the fruit trees are blossoming and the sun is out. We are so lucky to enjoy such great temperatures, since most of the East Coast and Midwest are blanketed in several feet of snow. Even though I am dying to get outside, I have to make a batch of cookies to satisfy my sweet tooth. And don’t forget, we all need to incorporate more fiber into our diets, so this recipe with oats does the trick.

These cookies are perfect for your kids lunch box. I even caught my husband eating one even though he doesn’t like chocolate. They are irresistible because you get the burst of raisins in every bite and the chocolate morsels are warm when you eat one still warm from the oven. It’s hard not have chocolate all over your face after eating one of these delicious cookies.

There are so many oatmeal cookie recipes out there, but I promise you this one will be your favorite every time you crave something chocolaty and semi nutritious. The honey brings out a rich caramel flavor and makes this cookie a little chewy. It makes you want another. You might find yourself making a double batch and keeping some wrapped up in the freezer for unexpected company. I have also made ice cream sandwiches with this recipe, dipping the cookie in melted dark chocolate before adding a large scoop of vanilla ice cream in between two cookies.

Yum. I’m going back for another. See if you can resist eating more than one.

When I was in Spain a few months ago, I visited the Museum of Honey in Arzua while walking with friends on the Camino de Santiago. This place is a must see if you are walking the Camino Frances. Thank you Nancy Solomon at Orinda World Travel who organized our trip. We tasted honey, purchased some and bought a few packages of their honey lozenges made with eucalyptus, elderberry and citrus.  I shared these with my hiking friend Beth who probably gave to her grand kids the moment she got home. (And these lozenges came in handy last month when my family was ill with the flu virus.) You will learn everything you ever wanted to know about the life of bees, and modern bee keeping. Check out the slideshow at the bottom of the blog to see more of the bee museum.

After a few days hiking I brought out these home made cookies that I had packed for our group. The women were asking me for the recipe so they could make them for their friends and family when we returned home. It’s that good.

And thank you to Donna Mc Clure, my long time friend who introduced me to this cookie a zillion years ago. I of course have altered it a little over the years to make it my own.

#Museumofhoney #Caminodesantiago Here I am in Arzua Spain after walking the Camino.

If you are into bees, watch the new bee documentary on Netflix called Rotten. It’s all about corruption in the food world and how China has been exporting fake honey to the United States hurting the honey maker businesses of America.

I traded my apricot jam for honey with a guy I went to high school with named Dan West who owns Given Gold Jewelers in Oakland. He had posted his honey on Facebook so I decided I’d give it a try. I think we will be exchanging these delicious specialties forever so I don’t have to worry about getting a fake honey product.

Try this honey oatmeal chocolate chip raisin cookie recipe. You won’t go back to your old standby cookie recipe ever again.

And don’t be shy. Follow my blog for more great recipes.

Teri:)

Chewy Honey Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 C. Unsalted Butter room temp

2 C granulated Sugar

2 T Local Honey

2 Eggs

2 t Vanilla

2 C.  sifted Flour

2 t Maldon Salt

1 t ground cinnamon

1 t ground ginger

½ t ground cloves

1 ½ t Baking Soda

1 1/2 C Quaker Oats (Not quick cooking)

3/4 C Fiber One Cereal

½ C mixed jumbo raisins (found at Trader Joes) soak in almond syrup or extract

½ C shredded or flaked coconut

1 ½ C bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate chips (good quality like Callebeaut or Ghirardelli)

1 C chopped walnuts

Honey Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place softened butter, sugar, honey, and vanilla into the mixer. Cream ingredients on low speed until incorporated. Add 1 egg at a time scraping bowl between mixing.

Sift flour with salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and baking soda until combined. While mixer is on low, add flour mixture, oats, coconut, Fiber One Cereal, chocolate chips, and walnuts until combined.

Scoop whatever size cookie you prefer onto sheet pan lined with paper or onto a silpat, leaving a little space between each cookie.

Bake 10-15 minutes.

The best honey oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookie recipe

Enjoy!

 

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Want to have a “Stoopid” Good Time?

Multigrain Loaf

Last night I attended a garden club meeting in my neighborhood given by my friend M’Lu and her husband Chris. My husband and I have known this couple for over 15 years getting to know them through our son’s scouting events, various elementary and junior high school functions, and dinner parties. The people in the garden club take turns hosting these meetings in their homes and come up with a theme or topic of interest.This particular meeting involved learning about hops, a female flower used primarily as a flavoring in beer. Hops imparts a bitter tangy flavor and balances out the sweetness of the malt in beer. We learned how to grow them, and heard about the history of growing hops in the Bay area. It was interesting information for someone like me who is into gardening, but mostly because I love knowing more about the food and drink that I consume and feed my family.

The best part of the evening was the beer tasting where we all tasted several varieties of beer going from the least hoppy to a very strong beer called #Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Ale. We all were feeling a bit giggly and thought their label was very clever and memorable. I’m not a beer drinker for the most part, but I do like to have an occasional beer w orange, lemon or lime served with spicy Mexican food like fajitas, enchiladas, or tacos. Tacos go over big in my home. My family would eat them every night if given the chance.

Beer has gotten very popular and trendy with the millennial’s. And I’ve been told that beer sales are on the rise. IPA’s or Indian Pale Ales are showing popularity like Pliny the Younger/Elder brewed by #Russian River Brewing made just an hour North of here in Santa Rosa. I’m a fan of using beer to cook with for braised meats and stews. It lends itself to savory meals making say a beef brisket more satisfying and juicy.

Last week I ventured into fairly new territory by baking a new Martha Stewart Multigrain Bread recipe. I’ve baked breads before, but none quite like this one. I was amazed by all the strange ingredients that I had to go out and find. What an adventure! If you decide to try this recipe yourself, save yourself a lot of time by shopping at Whole Foods if you have one nearby. I searched up and down the aisles for wheat berries finally stumbling upon them in the bulk food section.

Success! I was determined to make this bread and see how I liked it. These days, I am buying healthier varieties of bread staying away from white bread and this recipe looked like a good one.

See for yourself. It takes a bit of gumption to give it a try, but well worth the effort. I substituted beer for most of the water, making it even yummier.

 

Here’s the recipe:

 

Multigrain Bread

 

Ingredients

2 Pkgs Active Dry Yeast

½ C warm H20

2 t granulated sugar

1 12 oz bottle of Corona Beer (or whatever you like)

2 oz  plus 2 T H20

2 T Molasses

1 T Honey

½ C Rolled Oats (plus a little extra to sprinkle on top of loaves)

1 1/3 C cooked Wheat Berries

1 C soaked red bulgur wheat

1/2 C Sunflower seeds

½ C Flax seeds

2 ¾ C Whole Wheat Flour

3 C All Purpose Flour plus extra for kneading.

1 C Rye Flour

2 T Maldon Salt ( my favorite brand of salt to use for baking)

1 whole egg (whip into a small bowl and brush onto loaves before baking)

 

Multigrain dough after being kneaded and placed in a buttered bowl

Dough after resting 1 1/2 hours. Ready to divide, mold and put into loaf pans

Instructions

Place wheat berries in a med size pot, add 3 C H20 and bring to a boil over med high heat. These took quite a while to cook, at least 40 min, so begin with this step. You will have an excess of cooked wheat berries, so measure out 1 1/3 C after they have cooked.

Put 1 C Bulgur into a med size bowl and add 2 C hot water. Let soak until grains are swollen. Drain and set aside. Again, you may have an excess of bulgur after it soaks. You only need 1 cup.

Measure out all the ingredients and bring the butter out of the fridge. By the time all of your ingredients are measured out, the wheat berries should be cooked. Drain water from wheat berries and add the 12 oz. beer to the pot of berries so that the beer is brought to room temperature.

Microwave ½ C water in a small clear bowl until the water is warm to the touch. Not too hot or it will kill the yeast.  Sprinkle in both pkgs of active dry yeast and 2 t sugar. Leave alone to proof for @ 10 minutes.

Strain the beer from the wheat berries into the electric mixer. Add remaining 2 ounces plus 2 T water, honey, molasses, and yeast mixture also. Blend until combined.

Next add to the mixer while on the lowest speed using the dough hook: Bulgur, whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, rye flour, butter, salt, oats, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and wheat berries. Mix until all ingredients are blended continuing to add more flour ½ cup at a time until the dough is soft to the touch and not sticky which will take about 8-10 minutes.

Take dough out of mixer and knead for another 5-7 minutes to develop gluten using extra flour as needed. Place into a large buttered bowl and cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise for @ 1 ½ hrs. Or if you prefer, place in the fridge overnight to rest. The longer the dough proofs, the better the flavor and the easier it will be to digest.

After dough has risen, take out of bowl, and cut dough ball in half to make 2 loaves. I made 1 large loaf 3 smaller loaves. Spray loaf pans with Pam or butter generously. (I used paper to line my loaf pan, but it became too damp when cooling off.)

Roll each half of dough into a rectangle. Then fold over and tuck in sides before placing in loaf pans.

Brush liberally w egg wash and sprinkle with extra oats, sunflower and flax seeds.

Let bread rise again for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. When hot, place loaves in oven and turn down oven temperature to 400 degrees. Bake for 45-65 minutes depending on your oven or bake until it sounds hollow when tapping. Remove beer bread from loaf pans and place onto drying rack.

Serve warm with homemade apricot jam and salted European butter. I also slice and use for toast in the morning and eat with my coffee.

Original recipe was found on Martha Bakes. I changed a few ingredients to make it heartier and healthier. I added beer instead of water for a more “hoppy” taste. And who knows, maybe you and your friends will be inspired to have a beer tasting party like M’Lu’s. We had a “stoopid” good time.

 

Crumb of my multigrain loaf perfect with butter and apricot jam.

 

I hope you will make this bread for yourself and your family. Thanks for reading my blog and following along. I hope I have inspired you to try something new.

Enjoy!

Teri:)