Cake Mix Cookies

I clicked on this blog by accident today. Took it as a sign I should...you know...WRITE something on it! And, I have been planning a post, so...here goes!

Cake mixes are around 500-600 yen each in Japan. $USD? $5-6. So, when I bought one, I always got out my kitchen scale, divided it in half and made at least two desserts out of it. The fact that we have only 3 people in our family, owned only one round cake pan, and had an oven the size of a microwave perhaps also contributed to my thriftiness. Oh, and the fact that I'm not a big cake eater and the fact you maybe should put frosting on it - and powdered sugar is sold by the Tablespoon in Japan, may have been factors as well.

Anyway, when we got to the US and went into our first supermarket, other than being totally overwhelmed, we saw a display for cake mixes. 69 cents each if you bought 4 or more! So, we bought 5. And, though many of the other reasons were solved, we are still a family of 3. And I still don't really eat much cake.

Then I remembered the recipe for Cake Mix Cookies I made a few times in Japan, that a friend taught me in grad school. However, she used a marble cake mix and actually came up with cookies that were marbled! TMW (My new acronym for Too Much Work!)!

So, I started with a lemon cake mix. Purchased at the suggestion of my husband. The first lemon cake mix I have ever bought in my entire life. And I don't think my Mother has ever bought one either. But we needed a treat after hard labor working on this rental, so I whipped up these cookies. They are listed on about 1,000 sites on the Internet, so I will just put it here again!

My father thought I was a genius. My husband kept waiting for the next batch. We ran out of cake mixes. I went to the store in our town. Cake mixes? $2.50! I passed out in the aisle. Finally found a cheaper brand that were 4/$5 and got two! Guess 69 cents WAS a good buy!

Cake Mix Cookies

1 Cake mix - any flavor
1 egg - any color
1/4 cup water - any temperature
1/4 cup oil - any type (that is relatively flavorless, I expect!)
1 cup - any yummy thing in your cupboard (choco chips, nuts, coconut, raisins, quick oatmeal, etc.)

Mix it all well. I let it set a bit. I think the cake mixey taste goes away with a bit of a wait - 10 min. or so.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 min.

NOTE: Yep, guess I divided an egg in half in Japan. Half an egg is about 2 Tbsp!

Gingersnap Granola

Growing up, our breakfasts were pretty standard. To us, anyway. For example, pancakes were NOT a special dish saved for Saturdays and Sundays. We had pancakes ALL THE TIME! When I went to a friend's house and saw they got RAISIN Bran, I was just too jealous. We only had Total. We had hot oatmeal and scrambled eggs often too. But, breakfast was rarely "special." (Sorry, Mom!)

It was in the very early 70's that I was introduced to granola, at a friend's house. Hot and homemade right out of the oven for breakfast! YUM!

The Peanut Butter Granola is the first granola I've ever made. And, boy have I been making it. (Ryu bought some baby chocolate chips to add to it!) But, one day, I suddenly had a hankering for Gingersnap Granola. You know, that hard and crunchy gingersnap cookie? But for BREAKFAST. Not to say I don't eat cookies at breakfast time, but...wouldn't it be great to eat them LEGALLY?

I searched the web over and found a very few number of Gingersnap Granola recipes. But, they gave me a start. I've worked on revamping this recipe, and NONE of the tries has been bad! Well, I guess there IS one bad thing about the recipe. Unlike the Peanut Butter Granola, it is a bit more clumpy. JUST right for eating with one's hands as a snack. I could eat this for every meal and snack all day! Too yummy!

Jun started off calling the granolas I made, "Mama Made It Cornflakes." Now she calls the Peanut Butter Granola - the "White Granola," and the Gingersnap Granola, the "Black Granola."

Gingersnap Granola

2 cups oatmeal - I use the regular old ones.
1 cup of various flours (whole wheat, corn flour, corn meal, crushed up All-Bran Cereal, crushed up Genmai Cereal (a whole rice flake cereal - I crush the cereals in my hubby's coffee grinder!))
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp. ground dried ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt

Mix the above well, and heat your oven to 140 C. Around 250 F.

In a small saucepan, warm the following ingredients:

1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup water
2 Tbsp. molasses (kuro mitsu works great)
1 tsp. vanilla

When the "wet ingredients" are warmed, pour over the oat mixture and mix well with your hands. Squeezing and squishing to mix it all in well. Spread the mixture out as thinly as possible on a baking sheet. Bake for one hour at 140 C. Stir every 15 minutes after the first 30 minutes. When it is done, it will still be soft. This is your chance to carefully break up any big chunks, and let it cool. Then add:

1 cup raisins (I tried almonds in this recipe as well as dried apricots. Jun and Ryu wouldn't touch the "orange things", and the almonds overpowered the ginger, so...I stick with the raisins!

Store it in a dry place in a zip-lock bag...or whatever!

Rice Krispie Egg Treats

When Tana sent the big box of yummies, there was a hug box of Rice Krispies included. While trying not to hoard them, I have been holding out on using them till I found the perfect idea. And...Easter came! We invited our friends over to celebrate. Their little girl is about six months younger than jun. I wanted to decorate and hide eggs, but...didn't want the mess in my living room of decorating without a kit. So, I decided we would use Rice Krispie treats instead.

I used the standard recipe for

Rice Krispie Treats

and spread them out on a pan a bit larger than recommended, so the Treats were about 1/2 inch thick. I pushed them down pretty firmly, as I wanted a firm cookie-like Treat.

The next morning, I printed off an egg shape from the internet and Ryu used the kitchen scizzors to cut the Rice Krispie Treats into egg shapes. They were the PERFECT size.

I bought a jar with 6 different kinds of sprinkles in it...some time ago. Jun was SO eager to use these sprinkles. I thought the kids could put them on the RK Treats and they would stick. Luckily I tried this out before the party. They didn't stick! But, then I barely moistened the top of the RK Treat with water, and the sprinkles stuck fine and the Treats quickly dried out! They turned out GREAT! See the pic below!

Incidently, I use this same recipe with cornflakes, granola, choco krispies (sold in Japan), and other cereals to make treats. But, having the regular Rice Krispies was a treat as they AREN'T sold here!

Peanut Butter Cookies (With Chocolate Chips)

Ryu didn't grow up on American cookies and cakes. Poor guy! Probably why he was as skinny as a rail when I married him. But he loved my chocolate chip cookies! So, those were the cookies I made. Then, and I don't remember why, he asked for a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie. So, I tried. I added peanut butter to the chocolate chip cookie recipe. Nope. Then I added chocolate chips to the peanut butter cookie recipe. Nope. Ryu was "happy," but I was not satisfied.

Then, a few weeks ago when I was looking for an egg-less peanut butter dessert (and found the lovely recipe for Peanut Butter Shortbread), I also ran across this recipe. And, it is the winner, hands down! I love it. Ryu loves it. Jun? She just likes cookies!

I made the cookies according to the recipe. I bought "coffee sugar" to roll the cookies in, but lost it as soon as I brought it home. Oh well, I'll be making these cookies again! Also, I had a cosmetic debate. REAL peanut butter cookies are rolled into balls and then imprinted with a criss cross of fork tines. These aren't REAL. So, I first dropped some dough into some regular (wet) white sugar and flattened it out gently with the bottom of a glass. Then, I rolled the rest of the dough into balls and rolled them in sugar and flattened them out too. I kind of liked the look of the "dropped" cookies. Kind of rustic. But, Ryu loved the ones I rolled into balls. Something about the uniform size and shape.

This recipe is a keeper! (As long as you have a nice big quantity of peanut butter!! Thanks, Tana!)

Peanut Butter Cookies (With Chocolate Chips)

Scotcharoos

Last fall, our last (and first, I think) overnight visitor of the year, Tammy from Ukraine, practically twisted my arm until I got signed up for Facebook. Already a bit busy with blogs and life, I didn't expect to find it so fun! Blast after blast from the past blew me away during the first few months. One friend from college, that I got reacquainted with, Tana, uses the SAME Cooky Cookbook that my family has ALWAYS used. One note led to another, and...she sent me a wonderful box...

filled with yummy ingredients...

to make these SUPER DUPER yummy bar cookie-like snacks! Please forgive my poor photography, and documented inability to melt chocolate and butterscotch chips! The results were great, in spite of my downfalls! In fact, my hubby, who "doesn't eat much sweets" said that these were too wonderful to be homemade and should need to be purchased in a store! YATTA! (Means "yay" for me!!!)

Jun loved the making of the Scotcharoos...

And, couldn't get enough of that GREAT CEREAL! Sugarless and milk-less, to go with her clothes-less state of dress.

Now, for those who might live in a place where some of these ingredients are hard to come by...like Japan, I'll give you some ideas for substitutions at the end! So, read on!

SCOTCHAROOS

In a saucepan, melt:

1 cup sugar

1 cup Karo syrup

When it reaches a bare boil, remove from heat and add:

1 cup peanut butter

Stir tell melted and blended.

Pour over, and mix into:

6 cups of Rice Crispie cereal

Press firmly into a well buttered jelly-roll pan, with a well buttered spoon/spatula.

Melt:

1/2 pkg. chocolate chips

1/2 pkg. butterscotch chips

Spread over the top. When set, cut and EAT!

Now, I am not sure if Karo syrup and Japan's "gum syrup" are interchangeable. I kind of think that "gum syrup" is too watery. So, if I were doing this with ingredients I could find in Japan, I would take two packages of marshmallows (in the candy section at the super), and melt them with a bit of butter in a deep fry pan When melted, I'd mix in 1/2 cup peanut butter. I'd semi crush a box of cornflakes, and mix it all together. I'd probably use a well buttered round or square cake pan. Then, sighing sadly at the lack of butterscotch chips, I'd buy a few milk-chocolate bars at my local convenience store, melt them, and "frost" the top of the cookies. It wouldn't be exactly the same, but...it'll give you the chocolate peanut butter, crunch, YUM!, without waiting for the next trip home, or without breaking the bank finding the imported ingredients here.

I Did It!

Thank you all so much for your comments on the cakey vs. chewy cookies! I took your (and my) advice and made chewy oatmeal cookies for the first time in years! I am so so happy. Jun is too!

I searched the web for Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. As I read through the comments on the recipe I chose, many people commented that it was the same recipe that is on the Quaker Oatmeal Box top. I checked the box top recipe I have used unsuccessfully, and, yes...it is the same recipe, though the name of the recipe on my box is Vanishing Oatmeal Raising Cookies.

Well, as the copied recipe said they were supposed to be chewy, I took heart and did the following:

1. Made 1/2 batch. (Abigail - I grew up in a household where cookie recipes were always doubled. Here in Japan, I always halve mine. Not because I can't get rid of them, but...the oven size. I can get 9 cookies in mine at a time, but...who wants to bake cookies all day.? I have refrigerated or frozen extra dough, though.) On to the cookies!


2. Actually measured the margarine instead of guesstimating it.


3. Packed the brown sugar in the cup instead of lightly sprinkling it in.


4. Packed the wet white sugar in the cup too.


5. Mixed the sugars and margarine by hand - well, the whole thing by hand, actually!


6. Was shocked that the pack of 6 eggs that Ryu bought are advertised as "various sizes", and chose a smallish/medium egg. Nearly 1/4 cup of egg.


7. Used regular Japanese flour. Hmm, I should take a pic of the bag.


8. Used US Arm and Hammer baking soda


9. Carefully measured the other ingredients and mixed well.


10. Preheated my oven for 170 instead of 180 (Keiko-san, I hope you are preheating your oven when you bake cookies!)


11. Kept peeking at them to see when they got barely brown. (Thanks for the advice, Sue.)


12. Remembered that they will cook for a bit on the pan when they get out, so let them sit for about 2 minutes before removing them to the rack. (I always hit 'start' on my oven while I am doing this, so the oven doesn't cool off between batches.) They came off the pan much better/cleaner than at other times.


13. And, they are CHEWY!!!!!

Here's the recipe. My cookies are flatter and...look chewier.

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Honey Butter

My Dad recently asked my Mom if I remembered EVERYTHING from my childhood. Well, I sure remember a lot. I remember observing, watching, and pondering more than talking. However, my memory may be hazy there!

In my memory of my childhood, we often ate soup. Good old Campbell's soup. And we always had Saltine crackers with our soup. The crackers came in a long wax paperish sleeve. For dessert, on those evenings, my Dad would dump some butter/margarine into his soup bowl, pour a bunch of honey over the top, and mix it all in well. Then, he would butter crackers for each of us and feed them to us as fast as we could eat them - finishing off the "sleeve" of crackers. The honey butter always had a faint hint of soup in it, making it "Dad's Honey Butter!" My Dad was not a cook in those days. This, ice-cream sodas, and root-beer floats are the only things I remember my Dad making when I was a kid. So, it is a very special memory!

Well, the other day I introduced Jun to honey. She was wary at first, but, hearing it was like SUGAR, gave it a try, and was quickly converted. However, honey is sticky and drips and makes a mess. Mama doesn't like messes much. So, after a day or two of sticky, I remembered HONEY BUTTER! I mixed up a batch, and I'm not sure which of us likes it more. Yummm! No crackers yet, but it goes great on hot biscuits or toast! Oh, and it makes me LONG for cornbread!

Recipe? Not really. Just mix some butter/margarine till it is soft, add in as much honey as you like and mix it up. It keeps in the fridge just fine, so make as much as you want! (Remember kids under one should not have honey! :))

Graham Crackers

When I got back from my trip to the US this summer and realized that all the "black syrup" I had from Okinawa (from students) was, in reality, a form of molasses, I wanted to make a quick whole wheat bread using said "molasses". So, I went to the expensive food store to see if they had whole wheat flour. They did, but...it was too expensive for the condition of my wallet that day - so, I bought graham flour instead.

Well, I never made the bread and have been trying to get rid of 1/2 kilo of graham flour, a couple of tablespoons at a time in pancakes, etc. Then, Trisha posted about making whole-wheat crackers with her little ones. Actually, rolling dough out and cutting it out and baking it! I was humbled and inspired to try the honey graham cracker recipe I found and printed off months ago.

Sunday afternoon is my favorite time for baking, so, while Daddy took a much needed nap, Jun and I made graham crackers. Half way through the process, I began to doubt myself. When it got time to roll out the dough, I began to curse myself. When Jun cut our chosen shape out of the MIDDLE of the 1/8 inch thick dough, well, I didn't do anything bad, except, well, kind of scream plaintively. Then, when trying to remove said 1/8 inch thick pieces of dough to the baking pan...well, it wasn't pretty. I did, however, enjoy stabbing the pieces of dough countless times with the tines of a fork. Not sure what that says about me.

I was absolutely shocked at the outcome! They taste like graham crackers! They actually look like the shape they were supposed to look like before they got all ripped up and smudged back together before baking! Wow!

Oh, you need the recipe! Here it is!

Honey Graham Crackers

I made 1/2 batch to try things out. I also substituted "cake margarine" for the butter and shortening, because that is what I have. "Cake margarine" is margarine in bars. I am also clueless as to what graham flour in the States might be like - assuming this recipe is from the States. But, I think mine is really really rough, so it didn't soak up much of the liquid, leaving a very sticky dough. To which I added more flour when I was rolling it out to the dreaded 1/8 inch. With a rolling pin, I might add, proudly. Oh, and I used my pastry blender/knife thingy to cut in the margarine! Just wanted to mention those two wonderful tools I had to wash the dust off before using! LOL! So, anyway, next time I will adjust the ration of graham flour to regular flour - increasing the wheat flour, and decreasing the graham flour a bit. Oh, and the recipe didn't call for salt, but I put 1/4 tsp. in for 1/2 batch.

And, I have lots of graham flour left, so, I guess I will be making these again! Sure beats graham flour in pancakes!

Ryu's Decadent Creamy Cinnamon Toast

When we got married, Ryu was really good at making coffee and Decadent Cinnamon Toast. Well, Jun calls it Cilalaman Toast, but we know what she means!

So, whenever I was under the weather, or we had time on the weekends, he would offer to make me this toast. This, folks is NOT like the Cilalaman Toast I used to make as a child. This is truly decadent!

Take a thick slice of white bread! We use at least the 6-slice per loaf here in Japan. Maybe close to an inch thick? Be sure it is not frozen!

Melt a BIG spoonful of butter in the micro. I'm sure Ryu uses close to 1/4 cup per slice. This is not healthy toast. It is decadent!

Drizzle the melted butter all over the bread. Letting it soak deeply into all the little places melted butter can soak into. The top 1/2 of the bread slice should be saturated with butter.

Sprinkle the bread with a Tablespoon or so of sugar. We use the packets that come with yogurt, but you can use any sugar. Make sure it is spread all the way out to the crust!

Take the cinnamon jar and really really powder that piece of bread up. Until it is nearly black with cinnamon. I heard cinnamon has healthy components. We should be fine from THAT disease - hopefully.

Then put it in the toaster oven or under the broiler, and watch it carefully. Toast it until the sugar on the top has melted, and is bubbling nicely!

Take it out, wait till it cools a bit, and enjoy with a big cup of coffee for a real sugar/caffeine rush! Creamy Cinnamon Toast!

Chocolate Truffles

Valentine's Day is nearly here! In Japan girls and women give chocolates to the boys and men! We don't get much, but those we give to have to give us a return present on March 14th, White Day. So, what goes around comes around!

A few years ago, when one of my students was in 6th grade, we enjoyed cooking together. She found this recipe for Truffles in a girl's magazine and taught me how to make them. Yum! Choose the sweetness or bitterness of the chocolate to fit your, er, umm, the man in your life's taste.

100 gm bar chocolate chopped very finely
10 gm butter chopped into small pieces. Add to bowl with chocolate.
60 cc. cream. Heat to boiling and add to the chocolate. Stir till chocolate melts. Then pour into a flat sheet pan and put in the refridgerator until nearly hard. Then shape into balls and roll in cocoa, powdered sugar, etc. Store in a cool place.

Variation: Truffle Sauce

I increased the amount of cream to 100 cc, and we poured the hot sauce over vanilla ice cream. Yummy.