It’s hard to see the spinkles in this photo, but they’re there, I swear. The kids are super excited about them.

*We’ve been out of vanilla for a while, so I keep subbing in various zests. These cookies are lovely with orange, but I’d bet they’d be great with lemon, almond or vanilla.

Chewy Oatmeal Cutouts from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking via Shiny Cooking

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, room temp
• 2 Tsp orange zest (or lemon, or vanilla extract, or 1/2 tsp almond extract)1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 c (10 oz)flour (could probably replace more of it with whole wheat)
• 1/2 cup (2 1/4 oz) of regular or white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oats (4 oz) lightly ground in the blender (blending makes the cookies much easier to cut and give them a finer texture)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/ tsp salt
• egg white for egg wash, if desired

Cream butter, sugar and zest (if using) until light and fluffy, scraping down occasionally to make sure butter and sugar are fully incorporated (3 min.). Beat in extract (if using) eggs one at a time (1 min.) again, scraping down for full incorporation.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture and beat at a low speed until dough forms a ball. Press dough into 2 disks, wrap in a cereal bag (or cellophane or whatnot)  and refrigerate at least a half hour, 1 or more is better. Preheat oven to 350*. Roll out one disk a scant 1/4 inch thick and cut into desired shapes. Transfer cookies to baking sheets (I put silpat on mine, but I’m not sure it’s necessary). If desired, whisk egg white with 1 tsp of water. Brush a thin coat of egg wash on the cookies and decorate as desired (SPRINKLES!!!!). Bake for 9-11 minutes. Gather scraps and re-refridgerate. Repeat rolling process for second disk. Re-roll scraps, and repeat cut-out process, or cut into diamonds. Remember, rolling cookie dough more than twice may result in tough cookies.

Reading a recipe for “Chewy Walnut Trail Bars” on another blog I felt invigorated to try again, so I checked out a few other new recipes, and decided on my tweaks. 3 batches later**, I feel very confident of what has become our go-to granola bar. This recipe is definitely not too sweet, and, if you have a food processor, very easy to make. It’s still a little crumbly (I’ve been meaning to add an egg to the goo, but haven’t yet [editor's note: tried the egg and the bars become cakey... not what I was looking for]), a little bit spicy, and has plenty of room for improvisation.

I’d like to make a version replacing all the nuts with seeds (maybe a few more oats) for my little friend who can’t do the nut thing. I’m also thinking about an oat free version for my family and friends who can’t do gluten. *And of course, you mix up the fruit, seeds, nuts and chocolate as you please. Cherries are my favorite, but they’re pretty pricey as dried fruit goes (the subtitle of this blog does include the word frugal). I usually go for golden raisins, but for some reason in this case I like black raisins better. I can imagine chopped apricots and some pistachios would be lovely, maybe with a 1/4 tsp of cardamom. Replacing some of the seeds with some coconut would also be nice (perhaps replace ¼cup of the nuts with 1/3 cup coconut).

Mostly, I like the trick of the pulverized dates: super sweet and super sticky all in one place. My third time making it, I made a double batch so we could have some extra to give to a friend who will hopefully be in labor any time now. She’s had them a few times at our house and she’s a big fan. They really seem like a perfect pregnancy/labor food**.

(**Since writing this a month ago [oops!] we have made MANY more batches, including some for more for our super-mom friend, as that baby a took while to decide it was time to come out.)

Cook House Granola Bars

(liberally adapted from http://www.walnutinfo.com/public/recipeInfo.aspx?id=14 via DinnerwithJulie)

Preheat oven to 325*. Line a small jelly roll pan (mine is about 9×15, but I have found I like to use my large cake pan better) with parchment, greased aluminum foil, or a sheet of silpat.

In the food processor, pulse several times until there’s a mix of large chunks and some nut meal/flour:

• 1 ½ cups nuts (I’ve done almond/walnut mix and almonds by themselves)

In a medium mixing bowl mix together:

• Nuts from processor
• 3 cups oats (not instant)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ginger
• ½ tsp kosher salt (¼ tsp table salt)
• 1 tsp baking soda

Stir in:

• *1 cup sunflower seeds (pumpkin seeds/pepitas would certainly be welcome)
• *¼ cup sesame seeds
• *½ cup chocolate chips
• *½ cup dried cherries

In food processor pulse until finely chopped:

• ½ cup pitted dates, packed

While running pour in and process until smooth:

• ½ cup of neutral oil (canola, etc.) (1/4 cup apple sauce and 1/4 cup oil work ok, but not great, here)
• 1 tbl water (only if not using apple sauce)

While running pour in and process until smooth:

• ½ cup honey (use the oil measuring cup so it doesn’t stick)

Fold date mixture into oat mixture, stir until evenly distributed. Pat firmly into pan, making sure the mixture is level. Bake until golden, 25-28 min. Some say cool completely before cutting, others say cut while barely warm. Keep for 2 weeks (only if hidden!) in an airtight container or in the freezer for several months.

If you do an experiment (on cutting temperature or otherwise), let me know how it goes!