Happy Halloween!

This is our first Halloween in Chicago, and I must say, it has been a good one. Two quick gripes, and then I will move forward. One being, the lack of pumpkin beer available on Halloween. Apparently, the season starts in September and ends early October. What?! That is absurd. Who wouldn't want a nice pumpkin beer on Halloween, or around Thanksgiving for that matter. It is upsetting. Secondly, Halloween baking materials are basically nonexistent the week of Halloween. Unless you buy your Halloween goods before fall even begins, you are out of luck. This system seems illogical, but what can you do?

Moving on, we have visited a pumpkin patch, carved pumpkins, roasted seeds, attended Halloween parties, lost self-control with miniature candy and watched Blackbeard's Ghost. Halloween complete.

(headed to a UChicago Halloween party)

Tonight, I made some simple sugar cookies with a Halloween theme. I followed the recipe from The Craft of Baking. Sugar cookies can be hit or miss, but I enjoyed this recipe. The results were pretty good. There seemed to be a shortage of orange sprinkles this year, or I was too late in getting them (but in actuality right on time), so I made do with green and purple.

Simple Sugar Cookies recipe:
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted (I used bittersweet chocolate because that is what I had, and it worked well)

Mix all ingredients and then split the dough in half and mix in the chocolate with the half in the mixer. Refrigerate for one hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Oreos

The world has been a cruel, cruel place as of late, so what do you do? You make a cookie that brings back fond memories of your childhood. When things were simple and pure. I made some homemade oreos today from this recipe. Smitten Kitchen is one of my favorite blogs, and I have been meaning to make a recipe from the site for some time. This recipe did not disappoint, and was incredibly simple. Keeping in the theme of childhood simplicity. Make sure you have an ample supply of milk on hand.

A Cookie Staple

So, there are a few cookies out there that I could eat all the time round-the-clock. This goes for pizza as well. The best cookie ever invented is the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. There is something about the way the oats taste with the chocolate that is just undeniably good. Sure, some people put raisins in instead, but that is just wrong.

I found this recipe on the side of the oatmeal bag when rummaging around in the cupboards. I love thick rolled oats and these cookies do not disappoint. My policy is: the more oats the better. This recipe is great, too, because there is no flour. I have only seen this brand of oatmeal in the Northwest, but it can be purchased online. The recipe can also be found here. I would highly recommend adding in more oatmeal.

They don't look like much, but they taste great and are quick and easy to make.

Cookies

A couple nights ago I was in the mood for some cookies, and while chocolate chip oatmeal cookies make a regular appearance in apartment 306, I decided to venture outside the norm. These are chocolate puddle cookies from 101 Cookbooks. They are delicious. I cut the recipe in half because they are so sweet and one can go a long way, but they are crunchy and light on the outside and gooey in the middle.