Oatie Cookies with about a million varieties (ish)

When it comes to biscuits, these oat based cookies really deliver! My mum originally discovered these in an American cook book that we bought way back in 1993 when we were in California. Just one of the 365 great cookie and brownie recipes the book promised, these are have become a firm favourite amongst family and friends alike. The base for these is really versatile and lots of things can be added or substituted to make sure that these suit your own taste. The basis I have used for this recipe is dark choc chip, with a slight hint of coffee, however if you scan down you’ll see some of my suggestions for what could be used instead. And the other good thing about these is that that can ready in less than half an hour to provide a great companion to that morning coffee you crave!

These are the coconut and white choc, with a few chilli and ginger I made for work. 

Ingredients (to make between 24 and 28, 2-3 inch cookies):

4 oz of butter, softened

2 oz granulated sugar

2 oz dark brown sugar

1 egg

½ teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 tablespoon of coffee liqueur or 1 tablespoon of instant coffee (cold)

3 oz flour

6 oz rolled oats

½ baking soda

½ teaspoon of salt

6 oz of choc chips.

Method:

Preheat oven to 150 C if using a fan oven like me, or 180 C if using a conventional oven.

Add the butter and sugar to a large bowl and mix well. Add the egg and continue to stir thoroughly. Following this, add the vanilla and coffee.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until it forms quite a thick cookie dough of a dropping consistency.

Drop the dough onto a greased cookie sheet 2-3 inches apart (I usually reckon 8-9 cookies per tray) and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Variations:

Now this is where these cookies come into their own! To strip this back to the bare bones, follow the recipe up to where you add the choc chips and coffee. Instead of this, why not try:

Removing a handful of oats and adding a handful of desiccated coconut and 6 ounces of white choc chips and mixing in to the cookie dough?

Adding a teaspoon of ground ginger and ½ a teaspoon of cinnamon (perfect for a festive variation!) Or maybe omit the cinnamon and add a good pinch of ground chilli for a warm afterglow.

Otherwise try my mum’s favourite: cinnamon and raisin. Or why not try white choc chunks and dried cranberries?

My most recent creation was with dark choc chips with a couple of teaspoons of grated orange zest and a tablespoon of orange liqueur.

And here they are! Choc and orange awesomeness!

The list is endless! Let me know what you try!

Cool Quesadillas

So you remember the Cool Summer Chilli I posted about? Well I had some left over (which freezes really well by the way!) so I whipped up these super quick Quesadillas. These are great for a mid-week dinner as they are ready in minutes!

Ingredients:

Flour tortillas

Leftover chilli

Cheese (mozzarella is best, but cheddar also works fine)

Butter or margarine

Method:

Heat a large, flat frying pan.

Lightly butter one side of the tortillas and lay in the pan. Cover one half of the tortilla with the chilli mix and top with a sprinkle of cheese.

Fold the other half of the tortilla over and press down onto the chilli. Head this through for about 4 minutes on a relatively high heat then turn over once golden brown and crisp. Repeat on the other side. Serve straight from the pan.

Serving suggestion:

I usually serve this with a light salad of rocket and watercress which was the plan for tonight, but my fridge was on the blink and my salad crisped a little bit too much...

If you want to jazz it up a bit more, top with a squirt of a hot sauce (Nando’s is good, although I hate to be a corporate sell out; maybe a homemade chilli sauce should be a summer project...) and a good spoon full of sour cream to offset the heat. 

Rocky Road (for Amy)

Rocky Road is a firm favourite in the City Kitchen, and what’s great about this is that it doesn't involve any oven time and is so simple anyone could make it! I spent a long time pondering what would be the first recipe on this new blog, but eventually arrived at Rocky Road after a conversation with my friend Amy (aka ‘Bridge’). Amy is someone who has been in the Country Boy Kitchen many times over the years and knows my cooking style as well as anyone. She suggested Rocky Road to premier on my blog after I sent her this rather delicious picture of my creation. So after the ‘rocky road’ of the last year, here it is, recipe 1: Rocky Road.

Ingredients:

100 grams of butter or margarine

250 grams of chocolate (I used dark choc, 50% cocoa, but it works just as well with milk choc)

200 grams of rich tea biscuits (digestives work just as well, but they will be slightly more crumbly once set)

Roughly half a bag of Pink and White Marshmallows

Method:

In a large saucepan melt the butter and the chocolate, stirring until they have formed a thick liquid.

Remove from the heat and leave to cool for approximately 10 minutes. Once cooled crumble the rich tea biscuits into the chocolate mixture and stir in. After this, roughly chop the marshmallows (scissors will do fine) and add to the mixture, stirring until everything is covered with the chocolate.

Line a rectangular tin with baking paper and roughly dollop the mixture in, making sure that it reaches the edges. Don’t try and flatten this down; leave it looking rough and textured.

Leave on the side until completely cool, then chill in the fridge to set (this usually takes a couple of hours to make sure it’s fully hardened.)

Cut into squares and enjoy!

Variations:

Now, if like me, you like raisins or sultanas, you can create a slightly chewier version by adding a handful of these when you are mixing in the ingredients.

For a more grown up palette, add half a teaspoon of chilli flakes (yup, you heard right) which will undercut the sweetness and add a warm after-taste. This variation is great for after dinner treat or a snack served with an espresso. If you do add the chilli, I would recommend cutting into smaller squares, rather than the more conventional bar shape.