Raspberry Oatmeal Jammies/Copycat Franz Bakery Raspberry Oatmeal Cookies

The only packaged cookie I have ever liked other than Oreos or some of the Pepperidge Farm ones is these lightly cinnamon flavored, raspberry jam filled oatmeal cookies from Franz Bakery.  I would buy about a pack a year, so it wasn't exactly a common indulgence.  One day, it occurred to me to try to make them, I did a Google search, and ta da!  Oatmeal Jammies from the blog Bake or Break!  I made them immediately, with a few fiddly little changes to the ingredient list and preparation.

Boy, are these good!  Undoubtedly better than the packaged ones.  They are chewy around the edges but soft in the middle, are a little caramelized from the dark brown sugar, have way more raspberry jam than the packaged ones, and have that perfect little hint of cinnamon. They're best the day they're made because the chewiness dissipates and the jam may start getting a wee bit soggy, but they're tasty regardless a couple of days later.

I've only made these once, but can tell they for sure will be made many more times.  Next time I'm going to experiment with adding a teaspoon of baking powder just to see if they'll puff up a bit more, but really, they're pretty perfect as is!

Raspberry Oatmeal Jammies

1 C salted butter, softened
1 C dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3 C old fashioned oats
about 1/2 C raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

Cream together butter and sugars until fluffy, then beat in eggs and vanilla extract.  In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and cinnamon.  Mix into butter-sugar mixture in 3 additions.  Add oats and mix just until everything is completely combined.

Make walnut sized dough balls and place them 2 1/2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets- this dough spreads come.  Use your thumb to make an indentation in each dough ball.  Don't press too hard because you want a cookie layer thick enough under the jam that the jam won't seep through!  You can kind of shore up the dough around the indentation to keep the jam contained.

Spoon about a teaspoon of jam into each thumbprint.

Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, about 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven.  They are a bit fragile, so let them cool for 20 minutes or so before moving them to cooling racks.

Yield:  About 2 dozen cookies

Copycat Lofthouse Soft Sugar Cookies

This was a completely impromptu recipe that I made the night before Valentine's Day.  I took a nap in the afternoon, and woke up wanting to make Lofthouse style cookies to take to work for the kiddos to enjoy.  Truly I have no idea why this occurred to me, I've only had Lofthouse cookies (or crack cookies, as my husband calls them) a few times, and not for years.  Regardless, I quickly found a recipe (a slight variation on this one from Back to Her Roots) and whipped it up.  The cookies turned out great.  Very similar to Lofthouse, but I think better!  Note that I don't always say that about homemade things- for instance, Twinkies have a charm all their own that can't be replicated at home- but these ones are better.  They're thick and pillowy, but not dense, and the cookies themselves are not overly sweet.  The frosting adds plenty of sweetness, though, and the almond extract just really makes them special.  They have a lot of kid appeal, too.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Copycat Lofthouse Soft Sugar Cookies

 

for cookies:

2 sticks salted butter, softened

1 C sour cream

1 3/4 C sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

6 C flour

 

for frosting:

2 sticks salted butter, softened

4 C powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

5 Tbsp cream

food coloring

sprinkles

 

Preheat oven to 400 and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

 

Beat together softened butter and sour cream until smooth and creamy.  Beat in sugar, extracts, and eggs, then add baking powder, baking soda, and flour.  Mix just until well combined.

 

Roll dough into golf ball sized dough balls and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.  Grease the bottom of a drinking glass with butter and flatten the dough balls to 1/4 inch thick.  Bake until cookies are set and barely, ever so slightly beginning to think about turning golden (but mostly white), about 7-9 minutes (mine took 9).  

 

When cookies have cooled, prepare frosting.  Beat together butter and powdered sugar until smooth and thick, then add extracts, cream, and desired amount of food coloring.  Beat for a couple of minutes, until thick and fluffy.

 

Spread frosting on top of cookies and top with desired sprinkles.  I suggest you frost a few cookies at a time, and add sprinkles as you go, pressing them down lightly so they adhere.

 

Let frosting set on top before storing in a covered container.

 

Yield: 48 cookies

Copycat Frito Lay Bean Dip

This is just a really tasty, easy, and CHEAP recipe for bean dip.  We think it's better than the canned stuff from Frito Lay.  It has more flavor, as well as a definite spicy kick.  You could also make two batches of this for the price of one tiny can of bean dip!  I found the recipe over at Food.com and it's basically perfect exactly as written.

Copycat Frito Lay Bean Dip

1 can refried beans (check the ingredients if you want to make your dip vegetarian or vegan!)
2-5 jarred jalapeno slices (depending on how spicy you want it)
1 Tbsp brine from the jar of jalapeno slices
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Blend all ingredients in a food processor, or alternatively, place everything in a smallish bowl and blend it with an immersion blender until smooth.  Serve with corn chips or tortilla chips, or you can make a quick lunch by spreading some on a flour tortilla, sprinkling with a bit of shredded cheddar, and rolling it up.

Yield: About 8 servings