sweet things

It used to be that every year beginning in October I would begin baking and candy making for the holidays. By the time the festive days arrived I would have a freezer full of sweet delights to fill baskets for family, friends and neighbors. Over the years life got so busy that I no longer was devoted to this yearly tradition. This year I decided to rekindle that creative spark. Not to the point of starting in October, but I have done more baking and candy making this year than for many a year. I guess it's taken me this long to settle into the fact that I now have the time, therefor the inclination to do this.

Aside from the double batch of mints I shared with you the other day, yesterday morning I was busy working on these....

white chocolate wafers made with crushed peppermint candy canes.

and a few peppermint turtles for the little ones.

Plain milk chocolate wafers

and some peanut raisin clusters.

Can't forget the dark chocolate and coconut haystacks.

And today I made chewy oatmeal cookies. Actually I used spelt flakes in place of the oatmeal and cranberries in place of raisins. Oooh, they are so good!

My recipe is almost identical to the one Juli posted over at Barefoot Gypsy blog if you'd like to check it out. Here's mine:

Chewy Spelt (or Oatmeal) Cookies


Cream together:
1 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar (packed)

Mix in:
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

In a separate bowl mix:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt

Add the dry mixture a bit at a time to the wet mix.

When well blended add:
3 cups oats or spelt flakes
1 1/2 - 2 cups raisins or dried cranberries. (I use one 6 ounce package of dried cranberries.)

Drop by well rounded teaspoonful onto lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake for about 10 minutes at 375.

These cookies were just what I needed to satisfy my craving for soft oatmeal cookies, oh yeah.