Rhubarb Bars

I am LoViNg this beautiful weather!  The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and I've finally been able to get my little pond in and plant some shrubs and pretty flowers.  It's just been so relaxing and therapeutic to be enjoying the summer, finally.... nearing the END of June!  But after doing yardwork, I wanted something sweet!  And, thanks to my friend, I have some rhubarb in my freezer!  So I googled rhubarb desserts.  Don't you just love technology? I DO!  I found this recipe on midwestliving.com and changed it just a bit to suit my likings. Oh these are so yummy! I enjoyed them warm right out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.... But then, after they cooled and were cut into bars, they were absolutely delightful! { Please let it be our little secret that I ate two in one sitting!  I can't complain about the image looking back at me in the mirror, and expect anyone to have sympthy if I continue doing this! so.... shhhhhhh! :)} So, not only are they YUMMY, they are a versatile summer dessert!  Enjoy!

Rhubarb Bars
original recipe from midwestliving.com
adapted by From Cupboard to Cupboard
printable recipe

3 cups fresh or frozen, unsweetened, sliced rhubarb
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla


1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup butter, softened (could use shortening)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan; set aside.  For filling; In a medium saucepan, combine rhubarb, 1 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes.  Meanwhile in a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar and 2 Tbsp flour.  Stir into rhubarb mixture.  Cook and stir about 1 minute more until thick.  Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl (I used my KA), combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and baking soda.  Using a pastry blender or two knives (I used my KA), cut in butter til the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in chopped nuts.  Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture.
Press remaining crumb mixture into bottom of prepared pan.  Evenly spread rhubarb mixture on top.  Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.  Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until top is golden. Let cool completely on wire rack before cutting into bars.... {at least if you're serving them as cookies :)}


Happy Cooking!
Teauna

I linked up here!

Soft & Chewy Oatmeal & Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

I have this problem...

I CRAVE, like seriously CRAVE oatmeal cookie dough! I know, I know... weird right? Well, weird or not... it's true! When my brother and I were both still living at home {like forever ago!} we always kept a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough in the freezer.  When we'd get home from school, we'd take it out of the freezer, cut off a big ole' chunk and eat it! It was so yummy, but the part I found funny is that we never made the cookies... just ate the dough!  I never cared for the cookies much because they seemed to go hard fast and just weren't as good as the dough itself! But I have found THE... I mean T.H.E. recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies! Oh boy... they are to die for! They are so moist and chewy and they stay that way for quite some time as long as they're kept in an airtight container! I think they'd freeze real well too!  

Let me warn you, this is not a small batch of cookies, however... the dough is so good! I kept a chunk {hee hee} and threw it in a freezer bag and tossed it in the freezer.  Oh what a delightful treat! So, everyone else enjoyed their cookies and milk as I sat in my corner with my bag of frozen cookie dough. 

Alright, so you get the drift. My craving shall be calmed for awhile. But I'll be making these cookies soon because everyone in this house loved them! They are our new favorite oatmeal cookies!

And because I must give credit where the credit is due... Kris Stena!... THANK YOU! For any of you that love to sew, stop by my besties blog HERE and tell her I said HI! She's amazing and so talented! And has an AMAZING cookie recipe too!  

Instead of using chocolate chips, I used chopped P.B. Cups!  But feel free to "embellish" your cookies as you please:)

Soft & Chewy Oatmeal & Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Adapted from Kris Stena's recipe

printable recipe

1 cup butter

1 cup shortening

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup water

2 tsp vanilla

6 cups flour

6 1/2 - 7 cups oatmeal (I used quick oats)

2 1/2 cups chopped Peanut Butter Cups

Cream shortening, butter, & sugar... add eggs. Beat well. Add salt, soda, powder and vanilla. Beat until combined.  Add water and mix thoroughly. Add flour, oatmeal, and chopped pb cups.  You can add nuts, chocolate chips, raisins etc.... Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven.  I used a small cookie scoop and baked them for 12 minutes.  The larger cookie scoop I baked for 14 minutes.  Bake until browned around the edges.  ENJOY!!

Happy Cooking!

Teauna

 

Banana Muffins with Oatmeal Streusel

Phew! I finally have a break to sit down and post a wonderful recipe that I made earlier this week! What a crazy week it has been, however I have certainly been able to accomplish alot. I have almost finished the kitchen makeover, I have bottled a BUNCH of produce from my garden, no thanks to Mother Nature for freezing everything EARLY this year, and I've started decorating my house for the FALL season! I love fall! One of my favorite things about Fall is that I wake up in the morning to a cool house and I just want to bake something so that the house is warmed up and the kids are able to have a nice hot breakfast to comfort them before school! I know that last week was "Muffin Week", but I'm having a really hard time stopping! I keep finding all these scrumptious looking recipes.... This is one of them!

Who doesn't just STOP when they hear the word "STREUSEL"? I know that it always makes things sound so much better to me! For sure, it makes things look better.... just one more eye-catching dimension! Not only are these muffins eye-catching, they taste AMAZING!!!..... the moisture from the banana with the texture from the whole wheat flour and the subtle spice of cinnamon.....mmmmmm! A great combination of flavors! Can't beat this recipe for a nice warm breakfast!

Banana Muffins with Oatmeal Streusel

adapted by From Cupboard to Cupboard

printable recipe

Muffins:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 bananas)

3/4 cup milk

3 Tablespoons oil (I used Canola)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

Streusel:

6 Tablespoons rolled oats

5 Tablespoons flour

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 Tablespoons butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. To prepare muffins, combine flours, brown sugar, baking powder, ground cinnamon & salt in a large bowl. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine banana, milk, oil, vanilla, & egg in a bowl; stir well. Add to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Place 12 muffin cup liners in muffin cups. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups. They are pretty full! To prepare streusel, combine oats and remaining streusel ingredients in a small bowl. Blend with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle streusel over batter. Bake at 375 degrees for 22 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans immediately; place on a wire rack.

Happy Cooking!

Teauna

**Oatmeal Nut Pie**

Thank you for stopping by! Please visit my new blog HERE!  The recipe for Oatmeal Nut Pie is there and it's printable!  
I can't wait to have you follow me there.

*OATMEAL CAKE*

I have been baking my little heart out for the past few days... I now am finally getting some time to post a recipe. This is my dad's FAVORITE kind of cake. So, as a family we always got it this time of year for his birthday. Maybe that's why I was craving it :-) His birthday is on the 15th... so maybe we'll be having one then too. This is a very easy recipe and it's great for potlucks too! Not just your average cake, and I love everyone's response when you tell them it's "Oatmeal Cake"...

1 1/2 c boiling water
1 c quick cooking oats
1/2 c butter
1 c brown sugar
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Pour boiling water over oats-mix well. Cream butter and sugars. Beat in eggs. Stir in soaked oatmeal. Sift dry ingredients. Add to oatmeal mixture. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Cool in pan and spread with topping.

Combine:
6 T butter
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 c coconut
1 c chopped walnuts
1/4 c evaporated milk

Heat in saucepan until bubbly. Stir in 1/4 tsp vanilla. Spread on cake. Put in oven under broiler until bubbly.

Happy Cooking

*Teauna*

**OATMEAL APPLESAUCE COOKIES**

The kids and I have been juicing apples and making applesauce this weekend. We had a great neighbor that brought us 2 huge boxes of apples. As we were putting the apples through the strainer, the kids had a BRILLIANT idea! "How about we make applesauce cookies with the fresh applesauce Mom!".So, we did! I have made this recipe since I was a little girl in my Mom's kitchen. It always feels good when I'm able to make them in my kitchen with my kids! These cookies stay moist and yummy for quite a while as long as you keep them in an airtight container. They also freeze well! FYI: because these cookies are so moist, you will want to put wax or parchment paper between layers of cookies in an airtight container so they do not stick together! :-)

Cream together:
2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening

Add to first mix:
2 eggs
2 cups applesauce
1 tsp soda

Add to above mix:
3 1/2 cups flour, sifted
2 tsp nutmeg
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 cups oatmeal

Add to above:
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup chocolate chips (I like using mini semi-sweet chocolate chips)
Can add 1 cup uncooked raisins if desired

Bake at 375 for 12 minutes on lightly greased cookie sheets...

Happy Cooking
*Teauna*

FALL SPICE OATMEAL COOKIES

My kids suggested that I make some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for them to take hunting with them. Of course, I like to make them "season-worthy" . Because I love the spices that sum up fall I decided to see what I could do with them... This is the recipe I came up with.

Cream Together:

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

Add:

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Then add:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 3/4 cups quick-cooking oats

Then add 1 pkg mini semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoonfulls on greased cookie sheets. Flatten slightly. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Let cool in pan then remove to wire rack. These will stay soft as long as they are stored in an airtight container. If they do start to get hard, place a piece of bread in the container with them and they will soften right back up!

This recipe made 5 dozen with my small cookie scoop!

*Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies*

At least once a week I like to give my kids the opportunity to pick out a kid-friendly recipe and I simply supervise as they make it. While I was baking pumpkin sheetcakes, they were wanting to help in the kitchen and there was really nothing for them do, so I asked them what they wanted to make. To my surprise, they both answered "NO-BAKE COOKIES MOM!" They must have been talking about it before they made their way into the kitchen to bug me :-). So I looked thru my recipes and found one with peanut butter. Might as well try and add the goodness into the goodies as much as possible, huh?! Here it is!

In a large pot, add:

4 cups sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup milk

1 cup butter

bring this mixture to a boil, stirring constantly so it won't scorch. Once it is boiling, boil for 1 minute. Take off heat and add:

2 tsp vanilla

2 pinches of salt

1 cup peanut butter

6 cups quick oats ( I used old fashioned oats because that's what I had! They work fine)

Stir well to combine all ingredients. Drop on waxed paper by teaspoonfulls. I have a small cookie scoop and the kids take turns dropping them on the waxed paper. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

We got about 4 dozen cookies! I know that some never made it to the waxed paper! :-) This is a great project for the kids. So, go......make some memories in your kitchen!

Happy Cooking!

*Teauna*