making cookies

we had a bunch of rain earlier this week, so on wednesday we decided to spend our afternoon making yummy cookies. these are the same cookies I've blogged about before - I found the recipe on the back of the graham cracker box and they don't call for eggs or any other ingredients that need to be cooked before being consumed. this is a key feature for me. the kids can play with the ingredients all they want, tasting as we go along, and I don't have to be paranoid about it. (well, I prob wouldn't be anyways, I always ate raw batter, but blake is not a fan of that approach).

the cookies are good. not freakin' amazing, but still quite good. if you want to make them yourself, here's how. if you don't want to make them yourself, here are cute pics of my kids :)

1) gather all your stuff before kids wake up from their nap. you'll need:

• graham crackers (enough to make 1.5 cups when crushed)
• 1/2 c flour
• 3/4 c oatmeal (optional)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 14 oz sweetened condensed milk (the cookies end up very sweet. unsweetened condensed milk might work fine too, although I haven't tried it)
• 1/2 c melted/softened butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 c chocolate chips
• 1 c walnuts (optional)
• 1 c coconut (optional)
• baking sheet
• 2 mixing bowls
• plastic ziplock bag
• rolling pin
• measuring cups to measure out all the above
• lots of spoons for mixing and tasting
• change of clothes for all involved (children and parents)

2) put some graham crackers in the plastic bag. in our house this looked like this: kaylee put one in, and then they decided that eating them was more fun.

3) roll the rolling pin over the graham crackers to crush them. theoretically this would be fun for kids to do, but mine were too busy eating. make enough for 1 cup if you're using oatmeal too, or 1.5 cups if you're skipping the oatmeal.

4) pour it in the bowl.

5) sample, to make sure it still tastes like graham crackers.

6) add in the rest of the dry ingredients (flour, oatmeal, baking powder). be sure to sample and stir as you go along. since I was adding oatmeal I reduced the flour a little bit too. I've found this works for most cookies (I like oatmeal in my cookies, so I just added it in myself, that's not part of the original recipe).

7) mix the wet ingredients in the second bowl (melted butter, condensed milk, vanilla). be sure to sample this mixture too. so delicious! mix 'em up good, and then...

8) add to the dry ingredients. stir and sample again. multiple times. this stuff is really good now. savor it, and ponder its delicious-ness.

9) add the good stuff (ie chocolate chips, nuts and coconut if you want). continue sampling!

10) lastly, we introduce the change of clothes. or at least, strip them down. condensed milk is getting everywhere and it is sticky! the floor has a nice layer of oats and flour... even kaylee's eyelid had a nice sticky bit of cookie on it.

11) drop by spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet, and it's in to the oven.

12) bake for 12-15 mins @ 350 or until lightly browned.

13) check on your other child. he's found the leftover batter.

14) wait, check on your first child. she's taken up table top dancing.

15) back the second child, he's eaten most of the remaining batter now, but he is willing to share...

16) entertain them with trying to find bunnies and birds in the back yard. clean up all that sticky condensed milk.

17) eat those delicious cookies. perhaps you might have spaced them out a bit more, but they're delicious anyway.