Happy Monday!

Last night Zesty Junior approached me and asked if we could make a special dessert.  Of course I said sure buddy tell me what you are thinking.  Well Dad, remember those butterscotch chips I found in the pantry?  I was thinking we could make a cookie using those because nobody has ever done that before.  Sounds good, I said – let’s get at it.

Before getting right into the batter, I took a spin around the blogsphere for some interesting butterscotch chip cookie recipes.  I came up with a few but none that really blew my mind.  The I stopped over at The Pioneer Woman to see what she had in the cookie department.  Needless to say this was my last stop on the tour.  I stumbled onto her Monster Cookie and fell in love.  I altered it quite a bit from some of the add-ons as I didnt have them on hand and of course we had to use the main star ” butterscotch chips”  but other than that followed her recipe to a “T”.  As they were baking in the oven the whole gang was wondering when they would be ready.

The smell was amazing.  After about 11 minutes I removed them from the oven and let them rest for a minute and then moved them to a cooling rack.  Let’s be honest here….. they did not sit on the cooling rack for more than a minute.  We tossed some on a plate poured 4 glasses of milk and devoured the cookies.  Consensus in the room were 4 thumbs up!  I tested 4 cookies just to make sure they were all good..

Ingredients

• 2 sticks (1/2 Pound) Butter (salted) Softened
• 1/2 Cup White Sugar
• 1-1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 Tbsp.Vanilla Extract
• 1-1/2 Cup All-purpose Flour
• 1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 Tsp. Baking Powder
• 2 Tsp. Kosher Salt
• 1-1/2 Cup Oats (either Quick Or Regular)
• 1/2 Cup Smarties
• 1/2 Cup Butterscotch chips
• 3/4 Cups Chocolate Chips (milk Or Semi-sweet)
• 2-1/4 Cups Rice Krispies

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cream butter with sugars until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat.
3. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and kosher salt. Add to mixing bowl and mix till combined.
4. After that, add in remaining ingredients in whatever quantity you prefer. The chocolate butterscotch additions can be added to your liking.
5. Add Rice Krispies at the very end, mixing until just combined. Do not overmix!
6. Use a spoon to drop balls of dough onto a cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown, then allow to cool on a rack.

Zesty Tip: Don’t overcook this fellas.  One batch I left in a little longer and they crisp up on the bottom pretty quickly.  Unless you like a crunchy cookie – watch out  for these in the oven.  I would go 11 minutes tops.

Alright, well I am a bit behind schedule today.  I have a tonne of things to wrap up before I leave for California tomorrow.  I will see you on Wednesday from sunny Anaheim with another update.  Have a great start to the week and keep smiling.

Take care

zesty

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The finally portion of this post title is for me.  I have been telling myself what feels like years that I am going to make a gluten free cookie to share with you and my family.  Finally the time has come where I did it and I was totally surprised by the results.  Not that I thought they would taste terrible but I was not expecting that they would be this yummy.

To put it in perspective, they lasted 3 hours and 15 minutes.  zesty juniors, Mrs zesty and a couple of zesty in laws popped over after the cookies made their way out of the oven and every one gave the thumbs up.  I had to improvise slightly with the recipe as I found it was a little dry prior to adding the chips.  That is when I went with the yogurt addition.  As I said earlier, the results were very positive.

When I took them out of the oven I was a bit skeptical.  They were very delicate and I thought maybe I made them too thin.  Zesty junior was the first tester and my biggest critic.  His face said it all and as he placed the cookie on the counter and immediately placed “two” thumbs up – I knew we had a winner.

I am not gloating by any stretch but I seriously suggest to try these cookies.  For the recipe, I had put a number of recipes together based on the ingredients I had on hand.  In the end I used this recipe as a guide and modified a few ingredients based on taste and added in the yogurt.

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup butter (softened)
• 11/4 Cup  rice flour
• 1/2  Cup white sugar
• 1/2 Cup packed brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp. Plain Yogurt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 Tsp. Baking soda
• 1/2 Tsp. Baking powder
• 1 Bag chocolate chips

Method

1. In a bowl beat butter,flour, sugars, egg, baking soda and powder with an electric mixer until well blended.
2. Add yogurt and mix until thoroughly combined.
3. Add in chocolate chips and mix with a fork.



4. Drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet ( makes about 24 normal size cookies – I made 16 )  I also flattened them down a little so they would be thin and chewy.



5. Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned.
6. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: I added sliced almonds to the second batch and made them slightly larger.  They puffed up slightly higher but still had the soft texture.  The almonds added a nice crunch and texture.  In the future, if no one was looking I would add the almonds every time.

Have a super Wednesday!  I cannot believe the week  is half over already.  Stay tuned on Friday as I announce the final arrangements for the Disney World trip and a very special thanks to a fellow blogger.  Talk to you on Friday.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

I hope you survived Halloween.  In the new house, for our first Halloween we had 5 kids.  Yes you read that right!  Living on a quiet street makes for a quiet Halloween with a lot of “junk food” leftover.

What do you think of that name for a cookie?  Clever?  I think so…. but whatever name you put on these morsels of crunch doesn’t really matter.  Last week, one evening zesty junior and I whipped up a batch of these for so called “dessert”.  We wanted something easy and quick so we could eat even faster.  The ingredient list is pretty simple and we had everything in stock.

They took all of 5 minutes to prepare which is so my style.  Zesty Mother in Law makes a very similar cookie to this and I seem to devour those when I visit – so I had a good idea my taste buds would approve.

Tell me what you think of these.  I decided to go back with some step by step pictures.

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup butter
• 1 Cup White Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla
• 1 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
• Pinch of Salt
• 2 Cups of Rice Krispies ( you can also add rainbow bit rice krispies as I did here in the video)
• 1 Cup Chocolate Chips

Method

1. Preheat the Oven to 350 Degrees and lightly grease two sheet pans
2. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.



3. Beat in egg and vanilla.  Sift over the flour, baking soda and salt; fold in.
4. Add the cereal and chocolate chips.  Stir to mix thoroughly.





Zesty Junior - loves chocolate chips.... leftover stash

5. Drop spoonfuls of the dough on the prepared sheets.



6. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
7. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: For even crunchier cookies add 1/2 cup of walnuts, coarsely chopped with the cereal and chocolate chips.

OK, I have to head to a couple of meetings and if I soon do not stop typing I will be late.  Have a super Monday and I will talk to you mid week for some more fun.

Take care

zesty

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Hi Zesty readers, Megan here from Megan’s Munchies here to share with you another great sweet treat.

While Zesty is off sunning in beautiful Jamaica, I thought I would share one of my favorite cookie recipes with you. Peanut butter and banana sandwiches were a big favorite of mine when I was younger. These peanut butter and banana chocolate chip cookies remind me of the comforting taste of those sandwiches with a little extra chocolate kick.

Everything is better with a little chocolate…right? This recipe is adaptable to several diets. For those with dietary allergies, these cookies have no dairy if you use dairy free chocolate chips from Enjoy Life. For those allergic to peanuts, soy nut butter can be used. I use oat flour when I make these, and they come out very soft and chewy.

If you want a crisper cookie you can use all purpose flour. These cookies are amazing when eaten warm! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• ¼ Cup maple syrup or agave nectar
• ¼ Cup brown sugar
• ¼ Cup canola oil
• ¼ Cup mashed bananas
• ½ Cup peanut butter or soy butter
• 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
• A pinch of salt
• 1 Cup oat flour
• ¼ Cup mini chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together maple syrup/agave nectar, brown sugar, canola oil, peanut butter/soy butter, mashed bananas, and vanilla.
3. Add the flour and salt. Mix to combine.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Roll dough into teaspoon sized balls and place on baking pan.
6. Press down on the balls of dough with a fork.
7. Bake for 15- 20 minutes.
8. Makes 2 dozen cookies.



9. ENJOY!

If you enjoyed this recipe pay Megan a visit over at her blog.  If you like desserts, you will find tons of great dessert and cookie recipes for all your cravings!  Thanks again Megan for a great post.

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Contest Winners

Thursday is here! I almost can’t believe it! Well our Grill Charm giveaway has completed and the results are in. After a strong response to my giveaway post for 2 sets of Grill Charms™ we officially have our winners.   The random number generator popped out 33 and 45 which corresponds to:

tobi1128           and          sharon

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who participated. It was a lot of fun seeing all the comments, link backs as well as new subscribers. Stay tuned for another giveaway in a few weeks!

For those of you who entered and didn’t win, feel free to head over to Grill Charms and purchase a set of your own.  For all the zesty followers they are offering a discount of $5.00 if you put “grilling” in the coupon code.

Thanks so much Grill Charms.  Now on with another Valentine’s Day Treat.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

The oats in these sweet treats are just what you need to revive yourself when you are feeling sluggish.  Have some ready when the kids get home from school.  Despite being a pretty basic cookie, in polls around the world, these treats are still considered a favorite for a lot of people.  I really do like the combination of the hearty oatmeal flavor coupled with the sweetness of the chocolate.

Whenever you have some free time on your hands – give this recipe a try.

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup Butter
• 3/4 Cup White Sugar
• 1 Large Egg
• 1/4 Tsp. Vanilla
• 1/2 Cup All Purpose White Flour
• 1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 3/4 Tsp. Baking Soda
• Pinch of Salt
• 1/4 Cup Rolled Oats
• 1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Place butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat until fluffy.









3. Beat in egg and vanilla.



4. Sift in both flours, baking soda and salt.



5. Add rolled oats and chocolate chips.  Stir well.



6. Shape into balls (once in balls, I gave them a little push down with a fork ) and place on non-greased cookie sheet.  Cookies will spread during baking, so allow plenty of space.





7. Place cookies in oven and bake for 12-14 minutes.
8. Transfer to rack to cool.



9. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: This is really the best tip I can give you for baking cookies.  Ovens vary so much in heat, and heat distribution that you cannot trust the cooking times allotted in the recipe.  Your best way to judge if the cookie is ready to come out of the oven is your sense of smell.  If you prefer a soft chewy cookie err on the side of under cooking as they will continue to cook once you remove them.

Question of the day: Do you prefer to have your cookies soft and chewy or hard and crunchy?  I am mostly a soft and chewy fan depending on the cookie of course.

Congrats again to the winners - I am so excited to offer giveaways for you.  Stay tuned for another great giveaway in the very near future.

Have a great Thursday

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Thanksgiving Monday here in Canada and we had our turkey dinners both on Saturday and Sunday – which left today for baking and cooking. This is my kind of holiday!

The morning started off with some homemade chocolate chip cookies. Can you really beat the plain chocolate chip cookie? I am a huge cookie fan in general… but there are times where you just want a plain old fashion chewy chocolate chip cookie.

Follow along below and you can whip these yummy morsels up in no time.  This recipe is taken from the back of the Hershey’s chocolate chips so I really am not taking any credit for it besides… baking them

Ingredients

• 2/3 Cup Melted Butter
• 2 Cups Lightly Packed Brown Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Tbsp Hot Water
• 2 2/3 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 Tsp Salt
• 1 Package (270g) Chocolate Chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add melted butter, brown sugar, eggs and hot water and mix well.



3. Stir in the remaining dry ingredients.



4. Add the chocolate chips and mix thoroughly.







5. Drop from spoon onto ungreased cookie sheet



6. Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown on the bottom.

As always, I like to ask all my readers a question so I can learn more about the world of food. So tell me, what is your favorite cookie?
Hope you have a great Monday…

Zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty