Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies (Vegan)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup natural crunchy peanut butter [I used smooth peanut butter because I just can't stand the chunky kind!)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vanilla soy milk (Or vanilla almond milk)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Oven at 350°F. Lightly grease two cookie sheets.

Toss together the flour, oats, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oil, peanut butter, sugars, soy milk, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix. The dough should be very difficult and moist. Using about a 2 tablespoon cookie dough/ice cream scoop, scoop dough onto sheet, flatten some with your hand. You should have about 9 cookies to a sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until cookies have puffed a bit and are lightly browned. Allow to cool for ten minutes (Or until firm enough to transfer) before moving off the cookie sheet.
This recipe make about 2 dozen huge cookies!

**Note-Although this is a vegan recipe, these cookies are amazing! They are very tasty and stayed chewy for the week it took our little family to eat them all. I even felt good giving them to my kids as a snack since they had natural peanut butter and oats in them!

Oatmeal Carrot Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¾ teaspoon salt
1 egg
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup oil
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 toddler sized jar baby food (about 3/4 cup pureed carrots)

Oven at 350. Combine dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl and add to dry. Mix until moistened, being careful not to over mix. Bake 15-18 minutes in muffin cups. Makes 12 muffins.

White Chocolate and Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp orange zest
3 cups quick oats
1 cup white-chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

Oven at 350°F. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter and both sugars in a large bowl with electric mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and orange zest. Beat in flour mixture. Stir in oatmeal one cup at a time. Add chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Drop batter by heaping teaspoonfuls, 1 inch apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool.

**Note-These cookies are a great way to use up the odds and ends in your pantry (oatmeal, dried cranberries, and white chocolate chips) as well as getting something fairly healthy into your kids (or spouse!).

Swiss Apple Muesli

½ cup rolled oats
½ cup milk (or 1/2 cup yogurt, flavor of your choice, or a combination of both to add up to 1/2 cup)
1 apple, chopped
1 tablespoon almonds
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Combine all ingredients-let sit overnight. Makes one serving

Cinnamon-Apple Oatmeal

One serving oatmeal, prepared with milk
1 apple, chopped
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons walnuts

Prepare oatmeal using milk. Add cinnamon while cooking. Meanwhile, put apple in a microwave safe bowl and microwave about 1 minute. Add to cooked oatmeal, adding sugar. Stir to combine and top with walnuts.