Starbucks started a new theme for some of their baked goods, specifically their new Outrageous Oatmeal Cookie. The focus is on healthy and natural ingredients. So we tried one of their new cookies. It was very good and we noticed a recipe card on the counter so that anyone could make them at home.

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Blend together oats, flour, raisins, cranberries, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg, cinnamon and vanilla; beat until combined. Gradually add oat mixture; beat until combined.

Combine raisins for topping in separate bowl and set aside. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto two baking sheets. Place one mounded teaspoon of raisins on top of dough. 

Bake until cookies are golden brown but still soft, 12 - 16 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on sheets; transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake is a very easy cake to make, especially if you happen to have a fresh pineapple around. But even if you working with either crushed or sliced pineapple from a can it won't make much difference to the outcome.

This is a dish completely done in a 10 inch cast iron skillet and since it is upside down the topping, which is prepared first can be made any way you want it.

We decided to cut round slices from our fresh pineapple, using a vodka glass to cut out the core from each slice. But if you were using crushed pineapple it would actually be more even then using slices.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 cup ground cornmeal
• 4 ounces unsalted butter
• 8 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1 cup
• 5 - 6 slices pineapple, or 1 can crushed pineapple
• 6 maraschino cherries
• 3 tablespoons juice from canned pineapple
• 3 whole eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In hot milk add the cornmeal and let soak for 30 minutes. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the brown sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. Remove the skillet from the heat and place the slices of pineapple in the pan. Arrange them in a circle, or if crushed everywhere. Place some cherries around the pineapple. Drizzle pineapple juice over top.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the sugar to the eggs and whisk to combine. Add the canola oil and whisk. Add the cornmeal and milk mixture to the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Add this to the flour and stir just until combined. Pour the batter over the fruit in the skillet and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes in the skillet. Set a platter on top of the skillet and carefully invert the cake. Serve.

Rhubarb

Avoid using the tops of the stalk as they can be toxic in larger amounts.

Note: the price is for in-season

Peeling rhubarb

When using rhubarb you should cut off the ends and peel the first fibrous layer from the stalk.

We were in the mood for a rich coffee cake that was not too difficult to make and could be done without a stand mixer. If you can avoid a stand mixer there is less cleanup and you don't have to worry about having butter come to room temperature.

The recipe was adapted from America's Test Kitchen. Many of their recipes are easy and come out very well, but we made a few modifications on their idea with the buttermilk. Their recipe called for 1 3/4 cups buttermilk, but we substituted 1 cup buttermilk and added 1 cup of sour cream. The result was very moist and more forgiving if you cook it too long.

Method

Topping

In a small work bowl add the sugars, cinnamon, cooled melted butter and stir until it looks like wet sand. Then add the chopped walnuts. Set aside.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and place the rack in the middle.

Cake

Prepare a 9 x 13 inch baking dish by spraying it with a nonstick cooking spray.

In a large work bowl add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Whisk to work out any lumps.

In the microwave, or sauce pan melt 7 tablespoons of butter, then cool.

In another work bowl add 1 cup buttermilk, 1 cup sour cream, sugars, cooled melted butter and eggs. Whisk until smooth.

Then add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold in until the batter is smooth.

Pour batter into the prepared 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.

Then place the dish on a cooling rack for 10 - 20 minutes.

We like to cut the cake up and place at least half in the freezer. It will last at least a month that way.

We rarely use vanilla beans because they are either way too expensive or hard to find. Our local "health food store" sometimes sells them for $7 each.

So when we found three of them in a bottle at a discount store we decided to give them a try. It was only $5 so it would not be a big loss if they turned out bad.

Getting the Vanilla Out

The first thing to do it to use a paring knife and split them down the middle and then scrape the seeds out. The top photo shows what the seeds look like.

Vanilla Sugar 

The pods, once scraped are great to use for vanilla sugar. Just place them right inside the sugar. It lasts a long time and adds a lot of flavor to any dessert.

Cooking with Vanilla Beans

When planning to make a dessert that calls for vanilla, say for ice cream or pastry cream just replace the usual 1 teaspoon of vanilla with the scrapings of half a vanilla bean.