Wednesday, July 16, 2008
a lovely stack of trail mix cookies made from a rainbow of m&ms
we went white water rafting this weekend and i knew we'd need some sort of snack to tide* us over on the drive...plus i figured our friends might enjoy a treat after a long day on the river. i was right. the trip was crazy - everyone but me fell out of the boat (some more than one time!). i even managed to end the day with dry hair. with everyone soggy and exhausted, these trail mix cookies hit the spot.
*i found this especially appropriate given the day's activities!
i searched through many recipes online and used an easy one that made a huge batch (we're hungry folk!), substituting here and there with ingredients i preferred over the originals.
the batter was so pretty i got a little picture heavy...i'm a sucker for rainbow things, what can i say?
trail mix cookies (adapted slightly from the e-how recipe)
1 c sugar
1 c packed brown sugar
1 c natural chunky peanut butter
1 c butter, softened
1/2 c shortening
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 c flour
1 1/2 c quick oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 c m&ms
1 c lightly salted mixed nuts (cashews, walnuts, peanuts, hazelnuts in mine)
3/4 c dried cranberries
1. blend butter and shortening, add peanut butter
2. cream in sugar and brown sugar
3. add vanilla and eggs and mix to combine
4. stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder and oats (don't over mix)
5. mix in m&ms, nuts, and cranberries
6. drop dough in rounded tsp onto a greased cookie sheet (i used non-stick ungreased), flatten slighting with a fork
7. bake at 375F for 10 minutes or until golden, cool 1 minute before transferring to cooling rack
this is obviously an easy recipe that came together quickly and bakes to a crispy, hearty peanut butter cookie with a whole bunch of goodies inside. i made them a bit larger then a rounded tsp - because these weren't for dipping in grandma's tea - and just kept an eye on them baking in my uneven, temperamental oven. even with the larger cookie, i still made out with about 60 of them!
everyone loved the cookies. husband and i had a few on the drive and our friends had some to fuel up before the big rafting trip. just like trail mix, these kept us going until our sandwich and apple lunch midway down the river. i'm not sure if that meal was before or after the rapid of the day - it managed to flip almost 4 boats (i say almost because i was borderline dumped and managed to throw my body onto the high side of our empty raft to maintain my dry yet panicked state) - but we were in need to more snacks post trip and the friends polished off a full bag of trail mix cookie goodness in no time flat.
but you don't have to do extreme things to enjoy these. i brought the leftovers to work and they were gone despite the fact that the most exciting thing in the office involved walking to get a cookie.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comments:
These were soooo yum, I totally need to steal this recipe!
Post a Comment