The last few weeks have been pretty busy around here; last weekend I traveled to St. Louis to watch my high school robotics team compete at the international level. I met some new friends, reconnected with old ones, and was reminded about the inspiring power of engineering all over the world. I met some students from the Philippines who had created a machine which used food waste to generate methane and power street lamps for their town. I found new friends who helped me navigate an entirely new city, and I explored that city as much as I could within a short amount of time.
Team 346 aiming high in competition!
At the request of every person in St. Louis, we made a special trip to the City Museum. It’s like a giant adult jungle gym; I highly recommend a visit!
My team performed very well – I couldn’t be any more proud of them. They finished 7th in their division, out of 75 teams, and carried themselves well through the semi-finals of the division. The students and mentors worked so hard this year, and they developed a truly world-class robot. Even though we didn’t take home the championship, just having the opportunity to compete at the World Championship is an experience that I know the whole team will never forget!
Just hanging out after a match!
Meanwhile, on the food side of my life, I haven’t been cooking much lately. I have a bulletin board on my wall filled with ideas and inspiration for recipes, but none have graced the dinner table yet. Thankfully, I have another cookie recipe already up my sleeve. This recipe is not mine to claim, it comes from a blog called Baked in Arizona, and it has quickly worked its way into my heart as one of my favorite cookie recipes.
These cookies are round, thick and chewy, just like I like them!
I’ve always loved oatmeal cookies (call me crazy, I know) but these cookies really take the flavor up a notch, with the addition of craisins and white chocolate chips. It’s an easy recipe to throw together and leaves very little clean up in its wake. So get out your mixing bowl and prepare for a tasty treat!
First, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two large baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper. Then, in a large bowl or with your handy-dandy stand mixer, combine the sugars and butter. Next, add the egg and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt. Add the to the creamed butter and sugar, and mix well to combine.
The base batter will look very grainy, this is normal
Fold in the oats, craisins and chocolate chips until well incorporated.
Gently fold in the oats, craisins and white chocolate chips to the batter
Once combined, begin scooping out dough into 1” balls and placing onto the baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges of the cookies just begin to brown. The cookies should still remain mounded, as this allows them to stay moist and chewy even after cooling off.
Use silpats or parchment sheets to keep your cookies from burning or sticking!
Once the cookies are out of the oven, let them rest on the baking sheets for about 10 minutes. They will be too gooey to move to a wire rack right away! Instead, move the entire silpat or parchment sheet to the wire rack, so you can use the baking sheet for your next batch! After 15 minutes or so, you should be able to move the cookies off of their non-stick surface and onto the rack for final cooling.
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup flour
- 1 ½ cup quick oats
- ¾ cup craisins
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two large baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the sugars and butter until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla and mix again until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and flour. Then, add to the sugar mixture.
- Once the flour mixture is well incorporated, used your hands or a sturdy spatula to fold in the oats, craisins and chocolate chips.
- Use a cookie scoop to form the dough into balls about 1” in diameter. Place cookie balls on the baking sheets about 2” apart.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges have just browned slightly. The cookies should begin to melt but still be fairly mound-shaped. This will ensure that the cookies remain gooey and soft in the middle even after they have cooled off!
- Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes. Then, remove cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy!
WOW, nice site. Your cookies last night were great. Thank You!
glad you enjoyed them!