fort cookie

clever title, right?  a post about forts and about cookies so ... fort cookie. gosh, i'm good.

the kids are off track from school.   makes for some long days but, i'm staying positive and trying to keep them entertained to lessen the "i'm bored" whining as much possible.  

today i said, "go build a fort" then i came down for my run and it was already falling apart so i stepped in.  i have some mad fort building skills. it's all about blanket placement people.  and guards.  you have to have guards (okay, the bear guard was their idea but i made him sit awesome in his guard chair).

they played in their fort all day.

the guard of quite a lot.

the cookie part of my post has to do with the fact that i'm obsessed with finding the perfect cookie recipe and i think i've found it. brooklyn and i have been on the hunt and we baked an amazing batch of cookies on tuesday night.  i was planning to share at some point but i became inspired to do so right now after reading the hungry runner girl post about cookies (she has a great blog by the way.  especially if you're interested in running and candy.  the girl loves her candy!).    

i have this thing where i try super hard not to buy processed snacks/cookies that have artificial ingredients or high fructose corn syrup but the kids (and the husband) should still have some yummy treats to look forward to.  me thinks.  so i make cookies.  a lot.  

you would be impressed with the number of recipes i've tried.  so far, we've narrowed it down to two and this does not include the recipe on the back of the tollhouse chocolate chip bag.  that recipe produces some awesome cookies but, i thought we'd branch out.  mix things up a bit.

the first recipe is just a basic chocolate chip cookie.  so good.  not nutritious but, that's not the point here so we are over it.  

recipe number two comes from the brown eyed baker and they are Amazing.  amazing.  the peanut butter taste is so faint, even my peanut butter loving husband didn't recognize it at first.  he just knew it was an awesome combination of flavor.  

usually, i only struggle to not eat the dough when i make cookies.  i love me some cookie dough.  but these cookies. oh.  i had one in the middle of the night the other night.  bad.  good!

bake some.

copy & paste

from the brown eyed baker

**i doubled this recipe and used natural skippy peanut butter instead of regular peanut butter. i used bobs red mill old fashioned oats instead of instant oats.

Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 16 cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ cup creamy peanut butter

½ cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

½ cup rolled oats

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined. Stir in the oats, and then the chocolate chips.

4. Use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

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