An afternoon of baking

Jeff's students will have their graduation ceremony tomorrow so I spent this afternoon baking for the after-grad party. I made about 70 Caramel-cup cookies that my sister, Pauline, showed me how to make last fall. See the two cookies without the caramel cups? I have no idea what happened to those chocolates, really. It has nothing to do with me.

Here's a top-down view of the caramel cookies, crispy oatmeal and sesame seed squares, and basic chocolate-chip cookies. It takes forever for the caramel cookies to cool off enough to pack away into containers. The gooey caramel stays warm for a very long time, m-m-m. 

Here's the recipe for the squares:

Oats and Seeds Bars

(from Robin Hood Home Baking cookbook)

• Preheat oven to 375 F

• Grease a 15 x 10 inch jelly roll pan

¾ cup butter

1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar

1 ½ tsp vanilla

2 ¼ cups Robin Hood or Old Mill oats

½ cup sesame seeds

¼ cup flaxseeds (I leave them out­—I’m not a big fan of flaxseeds even though I know they are good for you! Instead I use a little more rolled oats and sesame seeds.)

¾ tsp baking powder

1.     Melt butter in a large pan. Stir in brown sugar and vanilla. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for about 2 minutes or until mixture is bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in oats, sesame seeds, flaxseeds and baking powder. Mix well. Using the back of a spoon, press mixture firmly into prepared pan.

2.     Bake for 7 – 12 minutes or until just golden. (Keep an eye on the squares. To me, it almost looks like they are breathing as they rise and fall in the pan.) Cool completely, then cut or break into pieces.

Enjoy!

Judy Ann