Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Meet Mr. Pie Plate (A.K.A. Chris).

He likes skiing, playing the cello, being extreme (check out the avalanche conditions) and me! He also loves chocolate. I have never met anyone in my life who likes chocolate as much as he does. Ever! I think it might be one of his food groups! Now, if I had a little more energy, I would whip up a pyramid of food according to my husband, and it would be awesome, but alas, I taught middle school children all day and am a little tired. I digress...

So Mr. Pie Plate loves chocolate and I love fruit! Sometimes, we disagree on dessert choices, but these cookies are a wonderful combination of the two. They also can be made with all chocolate chips if you have cranberry-phobic people in the house.

The recipe is loosely based on Hillary Clinton's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, which look very good but I can't justify using a cup of vegetable shortening in one batch.

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

½ Cup Butter
½ Cup Sugar
1 Cup Packed Dark Brown Sugar
½ Cup Applesauce
2 Eggs
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 ½ Cup All Purpose Flour
½ Teaspoon Salt
1 Tsp. baking soda
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 Cup chocolate Chips
½ Dried Cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream together the first three ingredients.

3. Add the applesauce, eggs and vanilla.

4. Then add the flour, salt, baking soda and oats.

5. When all is combined, add the chocolate chips and cranberries and mix until combined.

6. Drop by tablespoon on to an un-greased cookie sheet or Silpat.

7. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden.

8. Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet, than move to a plate.

9. Eat the delicious cookies!

Peach Jam Giveaway Results!

Thanks to all who participated, those jams all sound so delicious and you have all inspired me to make more jam!  I used Random.org to "choose" the winner, and the lucky winner is #5, HiLesha!  She loves blueberry jam!  Congrats to HiLesha, and I am so glad so many people participated in the giveaway! 

I love fruit!  No matter what the season, I love fruit.  My favorite fruit changes depending on what fruit is in season.  Right now I'm loving peaches!  I've gone peach picking at Bishop's Orchard twice in the last month, once with my sister and once with my friend Jac (who took these photos)!







The peaches are glorious right now!  They are the most beautiful color and so sweet! I've been eating a least two a day and I have enough peaches in the freezer for two peach crisps or pies.  We'll be able to have a little bit of summer when it's not so beautiful out! 

I've also made four batches of peach jam.  I am in love with this jam and have had it on toast every morning for the past week!  It also has a nice lemon flavor, which I adore.  Since I have 39 jars of peach jam in my basement, and Wednesday was the first day of school (my students are the best, by the way), I'm giving away one 4 ounce jar of my peach jam. 

The Giveaway:
To enter this giveaway, answer the following question in the Comments section of this post:

What is your favorite type of jam? 

One entry per person please.  The giveaway will close Wednesday at noon, EST! The winner will be randomly selected and announced Wednesday night.  Have a lovely weekend and Happy Labor Day!