Grandpas are Nice*: Toasted Walnut Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

*Or what happens when you Google "oatmeal, butterscotch, walnut"

I have a thing for old men: grumpy, dirty, or otherwise. Butterscotch reminds me of them and, more specifically, grandfathers. I've been lucky enough to have 4, though I've only known 3 (my paternal grandfather died when Dad was 17, but that's a story for another time).

My maternal grandfather was a barrel-chested, tall, jolly sort. When not in the yard making slip-and-slides out of tarp and cinder blocks for his older grandchildren, he was in the woodshop making toys for the younger ones. Though he bore no physical resemblance to one, I will always associate him with the Muppets; he often fell asleep on the living room floor--feet up on the davenport--while watching Sesame Street. I used to do my homework in the kitchen; his snoring adding a little something to the sing-a-longs. I think he smelled like butterscotch.

Grandpa Bob, my stepmom's dad, was similarly jovial and kind. And better still, generous with the butterscotch candies he kept in his pants-pocket.

Dick married my paternal grandmother before I was born. He had a tough act to follow and though we always knew he was not our "real" grandfather, he surely acted the part: silly jokes, awkward tickles, stories about nothing. A kindly chap who liked a bit of cribbage and a bit of booze. Nothing wrong with that.


Toasted Walnut Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
*1 c all purp flour
*1 teas baking powder
*3/8 teas baking soda
*1/2 teas salt
*3/8 teas grated nutmeg
*Tiny pinch teaspoon allspice
*8 T butter, room temperature
*1/2 c brown sugar, packed
*1/4 c gran sugar
*1 egg
*1 1/4 teas vanilla
*3/4 c rolled oats
*1 c butterscotch chips
*1/3 c chopped walnuts, toasted and cooled
*1/2 c coconut

*I doubled the recipe and added toasted coconut. To toast the walnuts and coconut, set oven to 400F. Spread walnuts and coconut on pan with 1+" sides. Bake for 5 minutes, check, stir, etc. You want the coconut brown, but not too dark. Let cool before adding to cookie dough.

-Preheat oven to 375F.
-In small-medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and allspice.
-In mixing bowl, beat butter on HIGH 'til smooth. Add brown sugar, beat until incorporated before adding granulated sugar. Beat 'til combined. Add egg, then vanilla.
-Add the flour in two additions, beating on LOW-MED each time, until combined. Scrape the bowl with spatula.
-Add oats, then butterscotch chips, and toasted walnuts and coconut.


-Drop on cookie sheet, 3" apart.
-Bake for 9-12 minutes, or until brown on the edges.

The finished cookie, both salty and sweet, was washed down with a glass of milk. It was almost as good as the best awkward tickle/hug my grandpas ever gave me. Definitely as good as, or better than, a Werther's.

Cream in the Fridge, Dream in My Heart: Peanut Butter Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Improvisation in the kitchen, like anywhere else, is delightful!
This recipe was born last year as a way to salvage some barely over-baked peanut butter cookies. PB cookies are often crunchy, and a little dry, especially when overdone. To remedy that, and to revel in my love for peanut butter-chocolatey goodness, I started experimenting with chocolate frosting--visions of sandwich cookies dancing in my head--with the hope that the moisture from the frosting would soften the cookies and mask some of the nearly-burnt bitterness. It worked! The "best value" sandwich cookies were one of our top sellers at bake sales in part because, like most things I make, they eat like a meal.

This go-round (for a Memorial Day picnic), I decided to add oatmeal...because oats make everything better. Oatmeal is pretty much the embodiment of my baking philosophy: something delicious and also - just a little - good for you, something that sticks to your ribs long after the taste has left your tongue.

For the peanut butter-oatmeal cookies, I used the Better Homes and Gardens' recipe, with the addition of extra peanut butter. I didn't measure it out, just scooped extra. I made a double batch; the recipe below is for a regular batch.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
3/4 c butter, softened
1/2 c peanut butter
1 c granulated sugar
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 teas baking powder
1/2 teas baking soda
2 eggs
1 teas vanilla
1 1/4 c all-purp flour
2 c rolled oats
1 c chopped cocktail peanuts or semisweet chocolate pieces (I left these out)

*Preheat oven to 375.
*In large mixing bowl, beat butter and peanut butter on med-high till smooth (about 30 seconds).

*Add sugars, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat until combined, scraping bowl.
*Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.
*Beat/Stir in flour.
*Stir in oats (and peanuts, if you're including them)

*Drop by rounded teaspoons on ungreased baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.



Chocolate Ganache
12 oz Heavy Cream
12 oz Bitter or Semisweet chocolate chips, or chopped (most recipes call for bittersweet, but semisweet chips will do)

{Ganache is funny. It sounds fancy in that Francophilic way, but it's actually one of the easiest, most versatile, and most delicious chocolate-thingies you can make. You can use it as the base for truffles or for icing cakes, and it sounds so sophisticated. Though I eschew sophistication, most often cause it seems artificial, and wish we just called ganache "chocolate yumminess," cause that's what it is.}

*Simmer cream in saucepan.
*Remove from heat. Add chocolate chips. Allow chocolate to soften for a minute or two.

*Stir with wooden spoon/whisk until combined. Let cool to room temperature before using.


Assembly:
I often let the ganache cool in the fridge, then spread about a 1/2-1 Tables on the side of one cookie, before smooshing a similarly sized cookie on top of it. I love these cookies, perhaps because, like love, they make my pulse race and my tummy tremble. Yay!