I've been a bit disconnected lately - figuratively and literally. We came home from Labor Day weekend to find we had no internet. After CenturyLink finally was able to come out (15 days later) - they realized they had cut our outside wire thinking it wasn't being used and hooked up a new customer. It only took them another 3 days to fix that. And I'm one of the few people in this world that does not have a smartphone - yep, I still got me a flip phone. So no instagram or facebook or social media for me. Hence, I have no pictures of these cookies.
Furthermore, I have now been working full time for a month; it blows. So finding time to make cookies is a challenge. So I repeat, disconnected in all realms of life.
#257 Chocolate Oatmeal stars
Still baking cookies for my co-worker who won cookies for a year at the school's silent auction this spring. This month's cookie: Chocolate oatmeal stars, except I didn't have a star shaped cookie cutter so he got Chocolate Oatmeal Mickeys. I thought they'd be great, but in reality, kind of hard and crunchy. Sorry David. Next month's will be better, I promise - however my Mike (husband) is getting a bit exasperated that I keep giving away all the five smiley face cookies.
#258 Chocolate Pinwheels
I found a way to win over my students for the entire year - bake them cookies. We have a strict no food policy at my school, unless it is somehow related to the curriculum. Well.... - we're doing getting to know you activities and "Who I am" activities. So, acrostic name poems (where you use the letters of your name to tell about who you are). I teach 2nd grade ELL and 2nd graders need a lot of modeling and practice - so COOKIE acrostic poem as a group. What did we get:
C- chocolatey crunchy cookie
O - oh so good
O - oval shaped
K - kitchen made
I - I love it, I like it, I gotta have it
E - everyone wants more.
#259 Cereal Cookie Bars
Thank god - 3 day weekend. That's all I have to say about that. The bar - so-so - like a fancy rice krispie bar.
#260 Honey Maple Cookies
So these sound great -and I've been waiting for the fall season to make them - but they're not as amazing as I thought they would be. They flattened out too much and are very soft - with the maple syrup already in it along with honey - it tastes like a chocolate chip pancake with the syrup baked in.
#261 Peanut Butter Chippers
It's been a bit of a rough start as far as the school year goes - not the students - they're great. As you read from batch 258, I already one those kiddos over. No, our enrollment is down this year and the district came in and informed us that they were cutting 1 EL teacher from our school and moving them to a high school in the city (on the opposite side of the city and a school that growing up - was my rival). Unfortunately, the way our district works - the person with the lowest seniority gets moved, which is me - by about a week - unless of course someone volunteers to be transferred. Over the course of 12 days from when we were first informed, to the following week where the district was considering just cutting .5 (which would mean I would go back to 1/2 time - yay), to the district deciding nope, they're transferring 1, to each EL staff member getting to decide if they want to take the position; it's finally over. One of my co-workers decided to take the position. It was 12 days of torture for me, but I'm so thankful that I get to stay where I am. So I made these 5 smiley face batch of cookies for her. Here's the amazing recipe - Thanks Pat Doerflinger from Missouri for submitting the recipe to this cookbook.
6 tbs butter, softened
1/4 cup peanut butter -- do not use generic or reduced -fat - seriously - it's a cookie - do it right
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips
In a small bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 11-14 minutes until golden brown. Remove to wire racks.
