Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies

I wanted to name these cookies Sunday Morning Breakfast Cookies but my husband didn't like the name. I loved it until I had a cookie the next day. The flavor just didn't stay the way I wanted it to so that whole Sunday morning feel was kind of gone. That's not to say the cookies weren't good because they are great. They are tasty and healthy which is the best combination you could have. I made these rather plain but they would benefit from some nuts and dried fruit (maybe even a chocolate chip or two).
I developed these cookies when my Dad said he needed a dessert for an activity. I made him some mint chocolate chocolate chip cookies so I didn't want to make something with chocolate to go with them. I wanted something different. We've been experimenting with applesauce chocolate chip cookies but why not try applesauce oatmeal cookies. The end result was great. They are sweeter than I expected them to be and, even with all the cinnamon, not overly spicey. They have great texture and are already on their way to being a family favorite. I dipped the cookies in a glaze made from orange juice and powdered sugar. I found that while the glaze added so much flavor when I first dipped, after the glaze dried all the orange flavor went away. I didn't measure the sugar when I made the glaze so I have no recipe to share for that but I don't really think the cookies need the glaze to taste good.

Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies
2 1/2 cups applesauce
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 TB molasses
2 eggs
2 teas vanilla
2 teas cinnamon
1/4 teas nutmeg
1 teas baking soda
1 1/2 cup flour
5 cups oatmeal
In a large bowl, mix together applesauce and sugar. Add the molasses and beat well before adding in the eggs. Add vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda. Mix until all incorporated. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well. Stir in oatmeal. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Easy Granola

I got this recipe from Food in Jars but I've once again altered the recipe. I was so impressed with the idea of using fruit butter to make granola that I had to try it. The family loves it and my son had to share it with everyone he could. I'm not a granola fan but this was great. We eat it dry but I did try it with milk. I didn't mind it (we've switch powdered milk brands and I don't like the taste).
I doubled this recipe and it took nearly an hour to get it to dry out. You can double it but spread it out really thin using 2 baking sheets if necessary. I had mine too thick. We did break it up and re-cook it on two baking sheets and it came out beautifully. I added a small package of dried cranberries which might have been slightly over a cup of berries.

Easy Granola
2 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cups nuts and/or seeds
1 cup fruit butter
Dried fruit, optional
Mix together. Lay out on a baking sheet. Bake at 325, stirring every ten minutes, until the granola is dry. Add dried fruit.

Make It From Scratch: Instant Oatmeal

One of the best ways to save money is make from scratch items you would purchase for convienence. It may seem like something that is difficult and perhaps more expensive at times but I assure you it is not.
I have put off making instant oatmeal for many reasons but the truth is making things from scratch can be intimidating. It's really easy just to pick it up from the store and I don't mind the generic versions of instant oatmeal. However, I'm kind of picky about the flavor and I would really like to be able to buy the higher quality versions but if I made my own then I could determine the flavor and what is in it. Homemade is so much better because there are less additives, maybe none. Organic/all natural instant oatmeal is expensive and doesn't always taste that good.
So, was instant oatmeal hard to make? NO! The hardest part was grinding up some oatmeal in my bullet-type blender. The rest of the work was dumping ingredients into a zip-lock bag. How did it taste? The flavor was actually pretty good. I think I'll still play with it but I planned on this when I made it. I made a fairly plan oatmeal with the idea that I could add apple butter or dried bananas at my leisure.
The only "problem" was figuring out how much water to oatmeal and whether or not I should have used less whole oats. My oatmeal this morning was a little on the tough side but I actually liked that. It wasn't the pasty texture of store-bought instant oatmeal. If you like that, then grind up more of the oatmeal.

Instant Oatmeal
4 cups rolled oats, blend 1 cup in blender until a fairly fine powder
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup powdered milk
1/3 cup flax meal (opt)
Mix in large zip-lock bag. 1/3 cup of dry mix makes 1 serving of oatmeal. Add up hot water and serve.
I didn't put the amount of water due to personal preference. The recommended amount is 3/4 cup hot water and I thought that sounded like too much.
This recipe is based on the following single serve recipe I found online but forgot to note where.

1/4 cup rolled oats
2 TB powdered oats
1 teas powdered milk
1 teas sugar
1/8 teas salt
Mix and add 3/4 cup hot water. Serve.