oatmeal cinnamon crisps.

So, it appears I made an error in my previous post. The peanut butter cookies did not come from Desserts 4 Today, but from a book I picked up at Ross, simply titled Baking. I'll look up the details on that book later. When I realized this, I went back to Desserts 4 today and picked a recipe to try. I chose the oatmeal cinnamon crisps because there were four ingredients, I love oatmeal cookies, and I love cinnamon. The recipe consists of butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and oats. The end. Isn't that crazy?!

The crisps are not cookies. Something I realized as I watched them bake in the oven. They are really fragile. They break apart very easily. However, they are so freakin tasty! I originally made one batch (12) and after I scarfed down four of them in 2 minutes, I decided to make a second batch. Even now, two days later, I eat one every type I walk past the kitchen table, where I've placed them for easy access.

I know I said the peanut butter cookies were easy, but these were EASIER. Four ingredients! About 10 minutes of baking time! Crunchy cinnamon oat treats! I can easily see myself making these with my nephews (ages 10, 8, and 4) with no issues. I think I might give that a try next weekend, actually.

Abigail Johnson Dodge's Desserts 4 Today hits bookstores on September 7, 2010.

Hello (and Cookies) !

So. My first post... what to say, what to say. Well, I guess I'll start off by saying HI! Then follow that up with a note that this site is a work in progress. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with it, but I know I'll be doing book reviews. Will I review every book I read? I don't know. If I do that, I'll probably have less time to read. And we do not want that.

I'm thinking of sharing my baking trials and tribulations here, too. Why, you might ask. Because I bake and cook from books. So it fits. :c)

Speaking of which, I'm currently in the process of reviewing a book called Desserts 4 Today, set to hit shelves in August or September (I'm not sure which). Last night, I baked the Peanut Butter Cookies. The recipe was easy to follow. It was my first time working with brown sugar and rolled oats. (That sentence probably tells you what I novice I am.) The mix came out right, but a problem occurred when actually baking them.

You see, I made the "drops" far too large. I ended up with pancake sized cookies. I mean, these bad boys were HUGE! One cookie was the size of my hand with my fingers outstretched. I plan to make them again (as soon as I hit the store for more sugar) and actually put a small drop of batter (dough? mix?) onto the cookie sheet - as instructed. I'm going to try to make two recipes form each section of the book and do a full review of it for the website that allowed me the opportunity to get it early.

Clearly, you'll all be able to learn about my... experiments, we'll call them, during the process.