Chocolate Crinkles

I love these chocolate cookies. I recently decided to add dried cranberries and pecans to them and it was a hit!

3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 oz chocolate chips (instead I add dried cranberries and crushed pecans)

3/4 cup powdered sugar for dusting


In a large bowl, mix melted butter with cocoa powder and sugar. In a medium bowl, stir flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using and electric mixer, beat eggs and vanilla into the chocolate mixture. Slowly stir in dry ingredients until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Set oven at 350 degrees. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in powdered sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheets 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on the sheet before transferring them to a rack.

Whole Wheat Tortillas

My kids like these much better than store bought white or wheat tortillas!

5 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. oil
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 2/3 cups warm water
1 Tbsp. soy flour (only if you have it on hand, it's not necessary)

Stir together dry ingredients, then add the oil and water. Mix well and knead lightly. Pinch off walnut sized pieces of dough and roll out very, very thinly on a floured pastry cloth or on a floured board or counter. Aim for a round tortilla, but it really doesn't matter much if they are misshapen. Heat an ungreased griddle or frying pan to very hot and cook on one side until bubbles form, then turn over and cook the other side until brown "freckles" appear. Store in plastic bag. Makes 20 or more.

Steel Cut Oat Breakfast

While I'm on the subject of oats, I might as well post the breakfast I eat almost every morning. I had to pat myself on the back a while back when I read that Oprah herself ate almost the very same breakfast sometimes.

If you've never had steel cut oats, let me tell you that they are vastly superior to rolled oats. To cook steel cut oats, simply measure one cup oats to three cups water and cook on low for about 20 minutes or until tender (no lid on pan).

I use about 1 cup of these cooked oats (you'll have approximately three) to a bowl and then add:

1/8 cup ground flax
1/2 cup milk or soy milk
1 cup thawed mixed berries
1-2 tsp brown sugar

This is excellent nutrition and very yummy!

Blueberry Oat Flour Pancakes

Joseph and I had these at a Bed and Breakfast in September. They were so yummy, I had to try to find a recipe. The only bad thing about this recipe is that the pancakes are very hard to turn. Since I'm not a baker, I don't know what adjustments to make in the recipe (Heidi??)

To make oat flour, just put regular rolled oats in your blender. Blend them on high until they look like flour. With my blender, I had to help it along a little bit.

2 cups oat flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. sugar (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
2 cups milk or water
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
blueberries

Warm pan or griddle to medium with 1 tsp butter or oil. In a medium sized bowl, add dry ingredients together and mix lightly. Next add milk or water; stir. Add oil and 1 egg at a time. Mix thoroughly. Pour 1/2 cup mix at a time into pan.