Heathy Resolutions

If you made a New Year's resolution to eat healthier, homemade cranberry and almond granola served over yogurt and fresh blueberries is a delicious and antioxidant-filled way to start your day. 

It’s so easy to make I usually bake small batches (about 1/2 pound) so I can have fresh granola but the recipe may easily be doubled for a larger batch. Feel free to experiment with your favorite combinations of dried fruit and nuts. If you prefer a sweeter granola, you may use pure maple syrup, preferably Grade B, instead of honey.

1 cup old-fashioned oats

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup raw sliced almonds

Pinch nutmeg

Pinch salt

2 tablespoons butter 

1/8 cup brown sugar

1/8 cup honey

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup raw desiccated coconut 

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix oats, cinnamon, nuts, nutmeg, salt; pour into a 8x8-inch Pyrex dish and set aside.

In  small saucepan, melt the butter with brown sugar and honey. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla; pour over the oats and use a spoon to thoroughly coat oat mixture. 

Bake for 17 minutes. Stir in the coconut, being sure to move the granola from the edges of the pan to the center, and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir again before baking for an additional 5 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and let cool completely in the pan. Stir in the dried fruit. The granola can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one month. 

The Most Expensive Cookie Ever

My niece’s birthday is coming up and I wanted to bake her some cookies to add to the care package I’m sending her.  Taylor, like her aunt, has expensive taste so I thought she might like the $250 Nieman-Marcus cookies. 

If you're not familiar with the story, legend has it that a women had lunch at Nieman-Marcus and loved the cookie so much she asked to buy the recipe. When she received her monthly statement she had been charged a whopping $250 for the recipe. The woman was so upset about the exorbitant cost she decided to send the recipe to everybody she knew. 

The $250 Cookie
Adapted Maida Heatter’s version of this infamous cookie
Yield: About 48 cookies

 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups old-fashioned (not instant) oatmeal

4 ounces milk chocolate 

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 packed cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

12 ounces (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) walnuts, in medium-pieces

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Chop the milk chocolate into medium-sized pieces and place, along with the oatmeal, into a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse for about 25 seconds, until the oatmeal and chocolate are almost powdered. Set aside.

In a large bowl of a standing mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add both the sugars and the vanilla and beat until mixed. Beat in the eggs. Then add the sifted ingredients and the oatmeal mixture on low speed, scraping the bowl as necessary and beating only until mixed.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts (it will be a stiff mixture.)

Using a medium sized cookie scoop, place dough about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets (the dough will stay together better if you pack it tightly into the scoop).

Bake two sheets at a time for about 14 minutes, reversing the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking to ensure even browning.

When the cookies are lightly colored and are just firm to the touch, remove the sheets from oven. Let the cookies stand on sheets about one minute before transferring them to a rack to cool.

And, in case you're wondering, I'm not sure if the recipe was worth $250 but they are pretty darn good. (I managed to eat four of them before I even finished my morning coffee.) If you like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, you will love these. They aren’t too sweet and are crispy on the outside with a soft, moist center.  

The Secret's in the Corn Flakes

Growing up, my father would make the most amazing chocolate chip cookies using crushed up corn flakes. I had forgotten how much I loved his cookies until I bit into a chocolate chip cookie from Cafe Borrone and the subtle crunch brought me back to my childhood.

After a month and several attempts, I came up with a recipe that was the perfect combination of the texture of my father’s cookies and the flavors of Borrone’s cookies*. It’s also a very versatile cookie recipe: I often substitute half the semi-sweet chocolate chips with either milk chocolate or butterscotch chips, and sometimes add 1 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts.  In a pinch, I’ve even substituted Rice Krispies for corn flakes.  

I refrigerate the dough for 24 hours before baking so they are extra soft and fluffy. Because the recipe makes about 40 cookies, I usually bake half the dough and then pre-scoop and freeze the other half in a tupperware container with wax paper in between each layer of dough.  

1 egg 

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup vegetable oil

4 cups flour 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

3 teaspoons baking soda 

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 cup corn flakes, crushed

1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a small bowl, whisk the egg, vanilla, and oil and set aside. 

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, salt, and baking soda.  In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy.  

Add half the flour mixture and half the egg mixture to the butter and beat for about 15 seconds. Add the remaining flour and egg mixtures and beat until just combined.  Using a silicone or wooden spoon, fold in the cornflakes, oatmeal, coconut, and chocolate chips.

Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Scoop with a medium-sized cookie scoop and place on parchment-lined cookie sheet, about 1 1/2 inches apart.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes, or until golden brown.  Cool on a cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes then transfer to rack to cool.  


*For a cookie that taste like Cafe Borrone's, use half milk chocolate chips, half semi-sweet chocolate chips and add 1 cup of chopped pecans.