Oatmeal CookieBlog

Picturing Honey-Roasted Peanut Butter Cookies

Here's the recipe for my Honey-Roasted Peanut Butter Cookies in process.

Cream the creamables: butter, dark brown sugar, peanut butter, and white sugar.

Combine the wet ingredients: an egg, vanilla, and milk.

Add the wet ingredients to the creamed creamables. Mix.

Grind the Cap'n Crunch and combine the dry ingredients.

Combine the dry ingredients and add to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Mix again.

Scoop the cookies and flatten them with a fork or spatula.

Drizzle with honey, sprinkle with sea salt, and bake. Salty/sweet, crispy/chewy, yum yum.

Reader Query: Too-Moist Cookies, Creaming Creamables, and Silpats?

Melanie, a reader and real-life recipe user, emailed me the following questions after making my Apple Jack Cookies:

Hi Greg! :)

I tried making the applejack cookies yesterday, they taste great! However, i couldn't get them to be crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Was it because of the apples?

While baking, my mother and I had an argument on how long the butter should be creamed for, or to what consistency. how long do you cream the butter and sugar for? Does it make a difference if it is creamed longer?

I discovered something amazing, silicon baking sheets! These things are amazing! the cookies pop right off the mat!   They're so easy to clean and wash too! but does the oven temperature have to be higher coz i use the mats? when i took the cookies off the mat, i found condensation on it, do you think the mat was the cause of my soft cookies? :o

thanks for listening to all my questions! I was so excited after i found a blog dedicated to making oatmeal cookies, i went out and bought a bag of oatmeal right away! hahah! would be trying golden girls next! wish me luck! :)

Love (all the way form Singapore!)
Melanie

Hi, Melanie. Thanks for writing in! I'll take on your questions one by one:

1) I've found that baking with apples can be a little tricky because the moisture content varies from one piece of fruit to another. The key to getting the right texture when making apple cookies is to keep an eye on the oven...and a finger on the dough. To make sure these cookies are done and not too soft, leave them in the oven until they are nice and evenly browned, the edges are firm, and the tops give some resistance when you poke them with your finger. You might want to let them rest for up to five minutes on the baking sheets before you remove them so that the carry-over heat from the oven can finish up their bottoms.

2) When creaming creamables, you want to be careful not to overbeat. Depending on the temperature/softness of your butter, it should take you only a few minutes to cream together the butter and sugar. If you overbeat the butter and sugar, your creambles will be to airy, which--I've found--leads to a flatter, crispier cookie that spreads out a lot. (Which is fine...if that's what you're looking for.) You'll know your creamables are good to go when when you can't see chunks of butter, and you've got what looks like a paste with even texture. Take a look at my Picturing posts to see what my creamables look like.

3) The condensation you saw on your Silpat is nothing to worry about. I don't think the baking mat was the cause of the too-soft cookies. I think both the condensation and the texture of the cookies means that you've just got to leave the cookies in the oven a little longer...that's all.

I hope this helps. Good luck on the Golden Girls Cookies. And congratulations on buying that big bag of oatmeal! :-)

People-Pleasing Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies

Olivia, a reader and real-life recipe user, had this to say about my Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies:

I'm a HUGE fan of pumpkin cheesecake and made these last night. They are AMAZING! I never would have thought to bake with graham crackers!

Thanks, Olivia! I'm so glad you like them. And kudos to you for taking on a stuffed cookie recipe. The process is a little involved, but it's well worth the labor. As for the graham crackers... Well, I gotta give myself a pat on the back for that one.

Itchin' for a Schnitzel

After running some errands and visiting folks in town, my friend Katie and I stopped by Jacob Wirth to take a load off and to down some German nibbles.

1) A bucket of mini soft pretzels with mustard dippin' sauce. 2) Fried pickles with dill dippin' sauce. Not necessarily German but oh-so tasty. 3) Knockwurst with potatoes and sauerkraut. 4) Wiener schnitzel with Jaegermesiter sauce, dill speatzel, and peas.

Picturing Rene's Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies

Here's the recipe for Rene's Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies in process.

Add all the ingredients to a bowl. Surprise! No eggs.

Combine all the ingredients until the butter and vanilla are evenly distributed. Then grease a pie plate with butter.

Place the combined ingredients in the greased pie plate and press down into a flat, even disk.

Bake, slice into wedges, and let cool. Perfect for dunkin' in tea.

Rene's Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies

Rene, a fellow foodie at my new office, gave me this recipe to try out after I told him I had a strawberry shortcake cookie recipe on The List.

I told him I wanted to use a shortbread cookie base as the "shortcake" and then add dehydrated strawberries and strawberry jam.

He said I should give his oatmeal shortbread cookie a try and then play around with the recipe to incorporate the fruit. I told him I'd of course give it a try!

Buttery, oaty, and just right with a cup of tea. A 1/2 batch would also make a really good crust for a cheesecake or key lime pie. (Hmmm...I'd better write that down!)

Makes eight 1/4"-thick wedges. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Rene's Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies.)

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups oatmeal 1/3 cup sugar 5 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 325º.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, add all the ingredients and mix until well incorporated and the butter is evenly distributed.
   
3. Grease a pie plate with butter.
4. Add the combined ingredients to the greased pie plate and pat down until you form a firm, flat disk of dough.
5. Bake at 325º for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges of the cookie disk are brown. Remove the pie plate from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes.
   
6. When cool, transfer the cookie disk to a cutting board and cut into wedges.
7. Let wedges cool for 30 minutes to firm up and get crispy.

'Tis the Season for Layering Clothes...and Inspiration

When you're waiting in the ER for a CT scan, the strangest things pop into your head...like "What cookie am I going to do this Sunday?" and "Why can't I find a video of that song on YouTube?"

I've written about finding cookie inspiration before. I especially like the story of how I came up with my Sweater Weather Cookies. (If you couldn't tell by now, I really like this recipe.) But it occurred to me that there was something else that contributed to the DNA of that recipe. I know it sounds weird, but the cool, mellow feeling of Yo La Tengo's "Autumn Sweater" played a role in there somewhere. Download the song from iTunes and do some leaf-peeping...before the snow starts to fly. Enjoy!

Honey-Roasted Peanut Cookies

My blog buddy Laurel had a pretty ingenious sweet/salty combination: candy corn and salted peanuts. And she wondered if I could come up with a cookie version of her unconventional combo. Then I saw packs of Nature Valley Sweet & Salty granola bars at the grocery store.

I love sweet/salty stuff, so I was all over this one: sweet honey and salty salt on top of a crispy/chewy peanut butter cookie.

Believe it or not, I've actually attempted a cookie that used whole honey-roasted peanuts in the recipe. Unfortunately, the peanuts dried out during baking and tasted chalky, and the flavor of the honey-roasted coating just kind of faded away. Disappointing all around. So for this cookie, I'm going to build the honey-roasted flavor into the recipe, not rely on coated peanuts themselves to provide the flavor.

I'm picturing my super-tasty peanut butter cookies, drizzled with honey, sprinkled with sea salt, and baked to perfection. And I think those old-school criss-cross fork marks will look cool and provide some nice nooks and crannies for the honey and salt.

OCG TKO

Hey, everybody. Sorry for the recent blog silence. The flu has really knocked me out. But I hope to be up and baking again this weekend.

Reader Query: Candy Corn Cookies? III

My blog buddy Laurel wrote in to add an interesting twist on candy corn cookies:

Here's another thought Greg...I like to eat candy corn with peanuts. It is the perfect sweet and salty combination. Maybe you could add some candy corn to some almost cooked PB cookies. That way they keep their shape and don't melt or let them melt if the cookie consistency is good. Or stuff a PB cookie with candy corn and let them melt inside. Do you think this would work? If it doesn't have enough of the salt flavor, you could top them with some kosher salt like you do with the salted caramel cookies.

Thanks, Laurel! I'll have to try that combo. But you've sparked an idea for a non-candy corn cookie. I'm thinking of a salty/sweet honey-roasted peanut cookie. I know it's off topic, but you can never tell where the ideas will take you. :-)

Email from an Expatriate

Koreen, a new reader, sent me the loveliest email last night:

I recently moved to London from beautiful Los Angeles and while my fiance is away all day I am learning to cook. I have always loved baking (I was nicknamed Betty in high school for Betty Crocker) and when I found your site, I think I found heaven. Thanks!

Hi, Koreen! Thanks so much for writing in. I hope you're adjusting well to life in London and enjoying baking--and this blog. It all sounds very Julie & Julia! For an American take on a British classic, try out a batch of my Lemon & Gooseberry Biscuits.

Celebrate National Pumpkin Cheesecake (Cookie) Day

Happy National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day, everybody!

To celebrate, why not bake up a batch of my Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies?

Reader Query: Meal Replacement Bars?

JS5981 wrote in to ask a question about meal replacement bars:

Hey Cookieguy, I don't know how long it's been around but I've been noticing in the news lately that there's something called the "cookie diet". They say it consists of 5 high protein cookies which are to be eaten throughout the day when you're hungry. Which got me to thinking, have you ever tried to make a trail mix style cookie or a dense "clif bar" style cookie that you could use as a meal replacement?

Hey...that's a pretty good idea! I'll have to do some research on what high-protein stuff would have to go into a meal replacement bar. Nuts, certainly. But I wonder what else... Stay tuned!

Have Boxes, Will Ship

Nothing says howdy and takes away the rainy-weather blues like a mailbox full of goodies.

So, instead of testing a new recipe on Sunday, I baked up a double batch of my Sweater Weather Cookies and sent some care packages down to New York.

All it takes is a box and some postage to make someone's day.

Rainy Day DJ III

All of New England is pretty much swallowed up in a nasty, windy rainstorm today. Time for another rainy song--"Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" by Travis.

The List...Updated

Here’s the most up-to-date list.

S’mores Cherry-Vanilla Crispies Chocolate Malted Good Ol’ Peanut Butter White Chocolate Macaroons Dark Earl Grey Caramel-Espresso Eleven Madison Hawaii Cookies Coffee Cake Fourth of July Grasshopper Elvis Dulce de Leche Chocolate & Salted Caramel Shirley Temple Golden Girls Juliana Skiffle PB & J(onnie) Mocha Mint Rosh Hashanah ChocAlmScotch Sweater Weather Cookies Peanut Butter Cup Hot(ter) Chocolate Almond Brickle Fluffernutter XXX Cranberry Cookies Almond Joy Mulled Apple Cider Yuletides (Peppermint Bark) Eggnog Cookies Sin-a-Buns Lime in the Coconut Fake-Out-Eos Raspberry-Chocolate Fondue The Girl Scouts Are...Jealous

Heeeere's Johnnycake! Do You Like Pina Coladas? Va-Va-Vanilla Rocky Road Hazelnut Coffee Florida Cookies German Chocolate Cake California Cookies Raspberry Graham...Crunch Scarborough Fair Better...Oatmeal Raisin Inside-Out Peanut Butter Cups Apple Jack Cookies Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies Raspberry in the Coconut Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies Chocolate & Chipotle Cookies Orange in the Coconut Chocolate & Sea Salt Cookies Lavender & Lemon Lovelies Redheads Chocolate Orange...Coconut Cranberry Crunch Cookies Cranberry in the Coconut Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies Boston Cream Pie Cookies Toffee Figgy Pudding Cookies Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies Flat, Crunchy Choc. Chip Orange & Mint Cookies Stuffed Date Nut Cookies Red Bean-Stuffed Green Tea Maraschino Cherry Cookies Wine & Chocolate Cookies Almond Butter & Raspberry Rum Raisinet Cookies

Coconut Rum Raisinet Cookies Spicy Valentine's Heart Cookies Mojito Cookies Black Sesame Cookies Irish Breakfast Scone Cookies St. Patrick's Day Cookies Hot Cross Bun Cookies Chocolate Lime...Coconut Copycat Compost Cookie Strawberry-Rhubarb Cookies Meyer Lemon & Thyme XXX Strawberry Cookies Lemon in the Coconut Strawberry Shortcake Cookies Peaches & Cream Cookies Lemonade & Iced Tea Cookies Neapolitan Cookies Blueberry & Lemon Cookies XXX Cherry + Chocolate Cookies Ambrosia Cookies Caramel Apple Bars Lemon & Gooseberry Biscuits Parmesan & Black Olive Cookies Beach Plum Thumbprint Cookies Margarita Cookies Rose Water Cookies Stuffed Carrot Cake Cookies Halloween Pinwheel Cookies Nutella Cookies Goat Cheese Cookies Peanut Butter & Apple Cookies Oatmeal Cannoli Cookies

These Peanut Butter Cups Runneth Over with Blog-Love

Maureen, a reader and (now!) real-life recipe user, wrote in to say she tackled one of my stuffed cookies first:

I stumbled across your blog several weeks ago and have been salivating over your recipes... well, I finally jumped in and made a batch last night.  I decided to go with the Peanut Butter Cup, even though I was a little intimidated by the idea of stuffing the cookies.  Oh my goodness!  These are the best cookies ever, and everyone that tried one (that was at least 10 people today) said the exact same thing.  My roommate said "these are like heaven bundled in heavenliness."  I think she likes them :)

Anyway, I just wanted to drop you a line and say thank you.  I will certainly be attempting more in the near future!

Hi, Maureen. Thanks for writing in! I'm so glad you and your real-life cookie tasters liked them. (They are pretty really good!)  :-)

Wow...I've got to hand it to you. My stuffed cookies are among my most popular, but the assembly process can be a little intimidating. Good on you for taking such a big cookie-making leap! I can't wait to hear how other recipes turn out for you.

Picturing Halloween Pinwheel Cookies II

Part 2 of 2: the assembly phase. See Picturing Halloween Pinwheel Cookies I for the dough-making phase.

Refrigerate the dough balls for about 10-15 minutes so that they firm up.

Roll each dough ball out to a 1/8-1/4"-thick sheet. Stack the layers.

Roll the stacked layers into a log. Wrap in plastic wrap and smooth any lumps or unevenness. Place the log in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to firm up. Use a serrated knife to cut 1/4"-thick disks from the log. Bake.

Picturing Halloween Pinwheel Cookies I

Here's the recipe for my Halloween Pinwheel Cookies in process.

Part 1 of 2: the dough-making phase. Except for a few flavor- and color-specific tweaks, the ingredients for each layer are the same.

The process is also the same. (Note: You will have to make each layer individually.) Cream together the butter and white sugar. Combine the wet ingredients and add to the creamed creamables. Grind the oatmeal. Combine the dry ingredients, add to the combined creamables and wet ingredients, and mix to combine.

Vanilla Layer: vanilla, finely ground Nilla Wafer cookies, and yellow food coloring.

Orange Layer: orange extract and red and yellow food coloring.

Chocolate Layer: cocoa powder and black food coloring.

See Picturing Halloween Pinwheel Cookies II for the assembly phase.

Halloween Pinwheel Cookies

Makes 2 dozen cookies. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Halloween Pinwheel Cookies.)

Vanilla Layer

Creamables	3 tablespoons butter 1/3 cup white sugar
Wet Ingredients	1 tablespoon scrambled egg 1  teaspoon vanilla 1/8 teaspoon yellow food coloring
Dry Ingredients	1/2 cup finely ground oatmeal 1/4 cup flour 1/4 cup finely ground Nilla Wafer cookies 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Orange Layer

Creamables	3 tablespoons butter 1/3 cup white sugar
Wet Ingredients	1 tablespoon scrambled egg 1  teaspoon orange extract 1/8 teaspoon yellow food coloring 1/8 teaspoon red food coloring
Dry Ingredients	1/2 cup finely ground oatmeal 1/2 cup flour 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Chocolate Layer

Creamables	3 tablespoons butter 1/3 cup white sugar
Wet Ingredients	1 tablespoon scrambled egg 1  teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon black food coloring
Dry Ingredients	1/2 cup finely ground oatmeal 1/4 cup flour 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Repeat Steps 1-4 for each of the three layers of dough.

1. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and then add to the creamables. Mix together until smooth.
3. In another bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until chilled and firm.
   

--------------------

5. Roll out each chilled dough ball into a 1/8-1/4"-thick sheet.
6. Stack the three layers of rolled-out dough on top of a piece of plastic wrap.
7. Roll the stack onto itself to create a cookie dough log and wrap with the plastic wrap. Smooth out the log until it is even and cylindrical.
8. Place the dough log in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to firm up.
9. Preheat oven to 350º.
10. Remove the dough log from the freezer. Using a serrated knife, cut 1/4"-thick disks from the log.
11. Place the dough slices about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
12. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

Reader Query: Nutella Cookies?

I've been getting lots of reader queries and comments about new cookies and new ingredients. Bird, who agrees with my friend Katie about doing a goat cheese cookie, also asked this:

Any thought to adding Nutella to your recipes?

That's a great idea, Bird! There must be something in the air because I saw a Nutella commercial for the first time the other night, and--of course--I thought about making a Nutella cookie. Great minds thing alike, I guess.

Nutella, a hazelnut-chocolate spread, is the European equivalent of American peanut butter. In other words, it's pretty tasty stuff. Stay tuned for some stuffed and nonstuffed recipes coming soon.

Rainy Day DJ II

A rainy song for another rainy(ish) day--"Like the Weather" by 10,000 Maniacs. "What a cold and rainy day. Where on earth is the sun hid away?"

10,000 Maniacs |MTV Music

Reader Query: Candy Corn Cookies? II

I've been thinking a lot about Carrie's candy corn cookie query lately, trying to figure out how to get the best result.

At first, I thought I'd make one batch of dough, split the dough into thirds, tint two of the thirds with food coloring, roll out the thirds into bands, join the bands together, and then use a triangle cookie cutter to make 2D approximations of candy corn.

But then I realized I'd end up with triangular cookies with inverted colors on the tops and bottoms and that only half of the cookies would be correct. Hmmm...what a pickle.

Now I'm leaning toward doing a multicolored rolled cookie that you slice instead of cut out or scoop. Oh...why not Indian corn? You know...candy corn with a chocolate layer at the bottom? Back to the drawing board.

Reader Query: Goat Cheese Cookies?

My friend Katie is really into my savory cookie recipes (see here and here), and she recently asked me this:

What about a goat cheese cookie?

Hmmm. My first thought was that Mumma wouldn't be caught dead within 50 miles of such a creation. You see, she absolutely abhors anything goat. (Blame it on a pet goat and a crafty mother who had a funnel and an empty milk bottle.)

But the more I thought about the idea, the more I liked it. Goat cheese is one of those ingredients that could go savory or sweet. I love goat cheese in my salad, and cheesecake made with goat cheese is really good.

I'm thinking goat cheese, dried cranberries, and almonds would work well together in a cookie. Just consider it: creamy, salty/tangy cheese + chewy, sweet/tart cranberries + crunchy, savory nuts. It's a combo that hits every flavor and mouthfeel receptor. Stay tuned to see what I come up with!

Picturing Peanut Butter and Apple Cookies

Here's the recipe for my Peanut Butter and Apple Cookies in process.

Cream the creamables: butter, dark brown sugar, white sugar, and peanut butter.

Combine the wet ingredients: an egg and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the creamed creamables. Mix.

Peel and roughly chop the apples.

Combine the dry ingredients and add to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Mix again.

Scoop and bake. Light, tasty, and arguably healthy.

Peanut Butter and Apple Cookies

Amdanda K. helped inspire this recipe because her blog-love for my peanut butter cookie recipe is what got me thinking about new PB flavor combinations. Thanks, Amanda!

Sure...peanut butter and chocolate and peanut butter and jelly are classics, but there are others, right? Of course! There's peanut butter and celery (with raisins), but that combo doesn't seem very suited for cookiedom. (But maybe it is if you ever find yourself in this situation.)

Peanut butter and apple is a flavor combo that's perfectly suited for cookies...and the season.

I used my standard recipe for peanut butter cookies but made three adjustments. The first was to swap chopped apples for the peanut butter chips. The second was to add 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients. (Because what's a baked apple product without cinnamon?) The third was to increase the vanilla by 1/2 teaspoon to help accentuate the apples and cinnamon.

The result is a mighty tasty, practically healthy cookie.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Peanut Butter and Apple Cookies.)

Creamables	1 stick butter 1 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter 2 tablespoons white sugar
Wet Ingredients	1 egg 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Dry Ingredients	1 3/4 cups oatmeal 1 1/2 cups roughly chopped apples 1 cup ground Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch 3/4 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and then add to the creamables. Mix together until smooth.
4. In another large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
5. Shape dough into balls--about 2 tablespoons each.
6. Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
7. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

Really Better Than Grandma's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Yvette tried my Better Than Grandma's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies recently and wrote in to say this:

You know I have made many many oatmeal raisin cookies...but these cookies after they came out of oven I think me and the hubby ate a whole dozen!!!! Great job...love your recipes....keep it up...I look forward to reading your blog.

Thanks, Yvette! It is really hard to resist a good oatmeal raisin cookie. And this is a good oatmeal raisin cookie. I usually prefer my cookies cool, but these are exceptional straight from the oven. Serving them warm with some vanilla ice cream would be heaven in a bowl...or on a plate.

Rainy Day DJ

It's raining. It's pouring. The old man is snoring. I hope it's sunny where you are, but if it's not, maybe this happy little ditty--XTC's "Ballet for a Rainy Day"--will brighten your day.

Kind Words for Cool-Weather Cookies

My blog buddy Amelia wrote in to share some kind words about my Sweater Weather Cookies:

Hi Greg, I baked these yesterday and they were a hit with the fam! BTW, I love the SW cookie name!

Hi there, Amelia. Thanks! I'm glad you and the family liked these guys. I have to admit that I was really, really happy with this recipe. They turned out just how I wanted them to! Yay fall. :-)

Reader Query: Carrot Cake Cookies?

Leeleemarie asked the following question about The List:

OMG!! Just thought of this one...Carrot Cake Oatmeal cookies! What do you think?

Hi, Leeleemarie. It's funny you should ask that question. I've been thinking of doing a stuffed carrot cake cookie for a while now, but I haven't settled on how to get the carrots into the cookies. Shredded carrots? Finely ground carrots? Carrot juice?

My stuffed cookies are always a hit, so it's a no-brainer to fill the cookies with the cream cheese and pecan frosting instead of spreading it on top.

I've got some thinking and investigating to do, but don't worry: I'll have a recipe up sometime soon, I hope. And I've added this one to The List.

Reader Query: Revising Recipes?

Greenbean, a reader and real-life recipe user, wrote in to ask about my process for developing, tweaking, and finalizing my recipes:

Hey OCG!

I love how you describe how you develop your recipes. You make it sound so easy. Is it really this easy? How many attempts does it usually take for you to settle on a recipe?

Hi, Greenbean! Thanks for writing in. That's a great question.

I've been pretty good with getting the flavors and textures of my cookies to match my expectations. But there have been a few times when the recipes I thought up just didn't work. (Check out some of my failures here, here, and here.)

I usually get the recipe right on the first test. I've been baking cookies for so long now that I've got a pretty good feel for the measurements. I've learned that some ingredients are tricky and unpredictable, though: apples, for example, because moisture and sweetness levels can vary from one piece of fruit to another. So sometimes I get a cookie that's slightly cakier than I expected but that still tastes great.

I think the key thing is to have fun and not take the process too seriously. If a batch of cookies comes out wrong or just plain inedible, I toss out the cookies along with the recipe, analyze what went wrong, and start over. In baking, as in life, you learn from your mistakes.

Too sweet? Cut back on the sugar or rethink another ingredient that brings too much sweetness to the party. Too flat? Rethink the wet ingredients. Bland? Pump up the flavorings or add them to each step of the recipe--creamables, wet ingredients, and dry ingredients. Too plump? Either increase the wet ingredients or, if the taste is just right, add a smooshing step while baking to make the cookies a little flatter.

It really is just about improvising and making corrections as needed as you go along. Believe me. I've made some humdingers. Just check out my Oops! postings.

Picturing Sweater Weather (Orange, Tea, and Cinnamon) Cookies

Here's the recipe for my Sweater Weather Cookies in process.

Cream the creamables: butter and dark brown sugar.

Combine the wet ingredients. An egg; vanilla, orange zest, juice, and extract; and the contents of six Mandarin Orange Spice tea bags.

Add the combined wet ingredients to the combined creambles. Mix.

Combine the dry ingredients and add to the wet ingredients/creamables mixture. Mix

Scoop, bake, and enjoy. Smells so good!

The List...Updated

Here’s the most up-to-date list.

S’mores Cherry-Vanilla Crispies Chocolate Malted Good Ol’ Peanut Butter White Chocolate Macaroons Dark Earl Grey Caramel-Espresso Eleven Madison Hawaii Cookies Coffee Cake Fourth of July Grasshopper Elvis Dulce de Leche Chocolate & Salted Caramel Shirley Temple Golden Girls Juliana Skiffle PB & J(onnie) Mocha Mint Rosh Hashanah ChocAlmScotch Sweater Weather Cookies Peanut Butter Cup Hot(ter) Chocolate Almond Brickle Fluffernutter XXX Cranberry Cookies Almond Joy Mulled Apple Cider Yuletides (Peppermint Bark) Eggnog Cookies Sin-a-Buns Lime in the Coconut Fake-Out-Eos Raspberry-Chocolate Fondue The Girl Scouts Are...Jealous

Heeeere's Johnnycake! Do You Like Pina Coladas? Va-Va-Vanilla Rocky Road Hazelnut Coffee Florida Cookies German Chocolate Cake California Cookies Raspberry Graham...Crunch Scarborough Fair Better...Oatmeal Raisin Inside-Out Peanut Butter Cups Apple Jack Cookies Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies Raspberry in the Coconut Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies Chocolate & Chipotle Cookies Orange in the Coconut Chocolate & Sea Salt Cookies Lavender & Lemon Lovelies Redheads Chocolate Orange...Coconut Cranberry Crunch Cookies Cranberry in the Coconut Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies Boston Cream Pie Cookies Toffee Figgy Pudding Cookies Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies Flat, Crunchy Choc. Chip Orange & Mint Cookies Stuffed Date Nut Cookies Red Bean-Stuffed Green Tea Maraschino Cherry Cookies Wine & Chocolate Cookies Almond Butter & Raspberry Rum Raisinet Cookies

Coconut Rum Raisinet Cookies Spicy Valentine's Heart Cookies Mojito Cookies Black Sesame Cookies Irish Breakfast Scone Cookies St. Patrick's Day Cookies Hot Cross Bun Cookies Chocolate Lime...Coconut Copycat Compost Cookie Strawberry-Rhubarb Cookies Meyer Lemon & Thyme XXX Strawberry Cookies Lemon in the Coconut Strawberry Shortcake Cookies Peaches & Cream Cookies Lemonade & Iced Tea Cookies Neapolitan Cookies Blueberry & Lemon Cookies XXX Cherry + Chocolate Cookies Ambrosia Cookies Caramel Apple Bars Lemon & Gooseberry Biscuits Parmesan & Black Olive Cookies Beach Plum Thumbprint Cookies Margarita Cookies Rose Water Cookies Stuffed Carrot Cake Cookies

Sweater Weather (Orange, Tea, and Cinnamon) Cookies

'Tis the season for wool sweaters! And Sweater Weather Cookies.

As you know, I love fall. I came up with this recipe specifically for this sliver of time on the calendar.

Oranges probably don't spring to mind when you think of fall. (Ba-dum-dum.) After all, this is apple-picking season. But for me, the smell and taste of orange and spice instantly fill my head with images of low-angled sunlight filtered through golden leaves fluttering gently on a crisp breeze that carries the scent of the season's first wood-burning fire. Ah, yes. I do love this season.

My main concern when developing this cookie was to balance the orange and spice flavors. I knew I was going to use my old trick of tripling the citrus--zest, juice, and extract--to infuse the cookies with flavor, but I knew I had to be careful. Too much orange would make these cookies taste as though you were biting into a glass of Tang. The same is true with the spice. Too much cinnamon or clove would taste as though you had just swallowed a mouthful of potpourri.

To solve the problem of overdoing the orange, I used 1/4 cup of orange juice, 1 tablespoon of orange zest, and 1/4 teaspoon of orange extract. It's the perfect amount to flavor the cookies.

For the spice, I hit the pantry and dug out a few secret ingredients. The first was Celestial Seasonings Mandarin Orange Spice tea. Simply empty the contents of six Mandarin Orange Spice tea bags into your wet ingredients. The second secret ingredient was King Arthur cinnamon chips. A cup of these in the dry ingredients does the trick.

Believe me. These cookies taste as good as they smell. Orangey, spicy, bright, slightly smokey, and autumnal. Delicious.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Sweater Weather Cookies.)

Creamables	1 stick butter 1 cup dark brown sugar
Wet Ingredients	1 egg 1/4 cup orange juice 1 tablespoon vanilla t tablespoon orange zest 1 tablespoon milk 1/4 teaspoon orange extract 6 Mandarin Orange Spice tea bags
Dry Ingredients	3 cups oatmeal 1 1/4 cup flour 1 cup cinnamon chips 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
3. In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients and whisk together until smooth.
4. Add the combined wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix together until well incorporated.
5. In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed.
6. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
7. Shape dough into balls--about 2 tablespoons each.
8. Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
9. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

Poll Roundup XXI

It's no trick. According to my What's Your Favorite Halloween Candy? poll, Reese's cups are readers' favorite treat. I can't argue with that!

But poor Necco wafers. At 0% They get no respect. Or maybe it's just because people outside of New England don't know about this candy. They're thin and round--about the size of a quarter--and taste just like those conversation hearts you get around Valentine's Day.

Thanks to all who voted. Voting still remains open, so feel free to weigh in.