Cookie Swap Results & Plans to Bake an Apple Pie

OK, so the cookie exchange turnout was low - just 3 different kinds of cookies including mine, but one group brought a great-grandmother's recipe for "Maple Peanut Yummies," and they were quite yummy. Maple and peanut butter: tastes you don't really think would go together, but they do!

And 'tis the season - the baking continues. Some friends and I do an annual "holiday feast" on our own since we're still young enough to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with our parents - and because some of us still live with our parents. It started my junior year in my Charter Oak apartment at UConn right before Thanksgiving. We had coupons for turkeys, and all the fixings' ingredients were on sale, so we figured, why not? Then it continued to my friend's real apartment last year, again right before Thanksgiving. This year we were a bit busy, so it's closer to Christmas, but it's the same idea.

I'm making desserts, so I've got the cookies described in the recipe below, and I'm going to bake an apple pie. I really like the Apple Pie by Grandma Ople on allrecipes.com. It has the highest rating and most reviews when you search "apple pie" on the site.

This pie has a lattice crust, which already looks impressive, and because you pour a syrup over the crust and into the pie, the crust has a nice sweet coating. I've made this before, but I doubled the recipe, and I'm not sure if I put quite enough flour in. When I make this pie either tomorrow or Saturday morning, I think I'm going to add a touch more flour or a little cornstarch (depending on my mood) to make sure the syrup is thick enough. I don't want it too thick like molasses, but last time, the pie was really runny and kind of spilled the syrup everywhere as I transported it.

Even with the thin syrup, this pie was delicious. It brought out the flavors of the apples, and my entire family enjoyed it. I also brought some slices to work, and as people who have sliced up a lattice-crusted pie from the pie plate to a container and then from the container to a plate know, it looked like a pile of apples at the end. Despite this, my co-workers thought it was pretty good.

*Above is a picture of the pie I baked.

Cookie Swap at the Bristol Library tonight!

The Children’s Department at the Bristol Public Library is holding its first annual Family Cookie Exchange tonight at 6. I'm covering it for the Bristol Press, but check back here tomorrow because I'm also blogging about my experience participating in it.

Participants are asked to bake two dozen of their favorite cookies, bring the baked cookies to the library with the recipes, and remember to bring an empty container for cookie exchanging, according to a press release. For the occasion, I baked my extra chewy chocolate chip cookies with oatmeal and caramel. A few years ago, I took a chocolate chip cookie recipe and substituted some flour for oatmeal and some chocolate chips for Hershey's caramel kisses. I just typed out the recipe in mass quantity for the swap, and I've included it below. I hope to find some delicious cookies at this swap, and I'm going to blog about my favorite ones.


Here's my recipe:

Extra Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies with Oatmeal and Caramel Kisses

Makes about 3 dozen, takes about an hour.

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp water
2 cups flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 of a 12 oz. package of chocolate chips
1/3 bag of Hershey's caramel kisses

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1. Unwrap the Hershey's kisses, mash them up with a potato masher or big spoon. Set aside for later.
2. Beat butter and sugars together. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and water, blend well.
3. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add in oatmeal. Gradually stir flour/oatmeal mixture into butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and then mashed up Hershey's kisses.
3. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Tip: These cookies are really sticky because of the caramel, so I recommend using parchment paper on the sheets first.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Cool.

This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies. Enjoy!