In this recipe, Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies, there are plentiful amounts of butterscotch chips and nutty toasted walnuts to keep your taste buds busy. I was going to use half spectrum organic shortening, but decided to use all butter for a more rich flavor. I tend to like the texture of a cookie better when we use about half of each, but I thought we would see how they came out without changing it. As with most all butter doughs, I did refrigerate it for around 2 hours before I scooped out the cookies. I played around with the flour and used half all-purpose flour and half white whole-wheat without noticing any flavor or texture changes. The cookies have a more chewy outer ring with the center being more soft - but not cakey. Rolled oats helped to keep them chewy with walnuts adding pockets of crunch. They do have a fairly substantial butterscotch flavor which we were pleasantly surprised with. I liked the addition of fresh nutmeg and allspice to add depth to the cookie, but you probably wouldn't guess that they were in there.
For dinner tonight, I made a hearty Rosemary Chicken Noodle Soup. Though it is an extra step, one of the first things I liked about this recipe is precooking the whole-wheat egg noodles and only adding them right at the end so they don't absorb too much broth and become mushy. This way, if you are going to have leftovers, you can keep the noodles separate and add them when you re-heat the soup. Water, broth, onions, celery and dried rosemary are combined and become the poaching liquid to gently cook a combination of boneless chicken breasts and thighs. This liquid then becomes the base of the soup as you add shredded carrots (quick cooking!) and mushrooms. After just a couple minutes, the carrots should be tender and you add back the chicken, fresh parsley and spinach. If you will be serving the entire dish, you add all of the noodles to re-warm them and stir in lemon juice to brighten the flavors. Since the noodles have been kept separate, the broth portion will be on the thin side. This healthy soup is very filling with generous portions of chicken and noodles - I also think there is room to change up the vegetables if you like. I kept our noodles separate and since they are coated with a bit of oil, they won't be all stuck together when Jeff takes a handful to reheat with the soup for lunch tomorrow.
Do Jeff's co-workers understand how incredibly lucky they are? I recently discovered your blog via FarmGirl Fare, and tonight made your Garlic/Roasted Tomato Soup -- perfect for a cold, rainy evening. I'm looking forward to trying many, many more of your recipes. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteI ususally make Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies for Christmas, but my recipe has never had nuts in it. I will have to give these a try this year.
ReplyDeleteRenee - Thanks! I do have fun each week making something new for Jeff to bring in!
ReplyDeleteLinda - I never used to be a fun of nuts in baked goods, but have grown to love them!