Vanilla Oatmeal Cookies with White Chocolate

Writing a food blog comes with benefits.  Food, invitations, packages in the mail... it's all good.  What I've come to value most though, are the relationships I've formed with readers and bloggers all over the world.  This post is dedicated to two of my special blog friends, Jean, from Lemons and Anchovies, and Christiane, from Taking on Magazines.

First off, without Jean and a random instagram post a few months back this post would not have happened.  Perusing Instagram one evening I stumbled across a photo of a few cookbooks she was catching up on.  The one entitled "Pure Vanilla" jumped right off the page and immediately into my Amazon cart... all in the name of research, of course.  Many thanks to Jean for increasing my cookbook collection with her fabulous recommendation!

Arriving in the mail a few days later, Pure Vanilla: Irresistible Recipes and Essential Techniques, by Shauna Sever, proved indeed to be purely exceptional and too good not to share.

Filled with an eye opening history of vanilla along with interesting vanilla lore, this book boasts gorgeous photos of many of its recipes making one want to run immediately to the kitchen and prepare each and every one of them.  With chapters covering Breakfasts, Cakes and Pies, Cookies and Bars, Candies and Confections, Custards and Creams and last but not least Drinks, just about all areas of vanilla use are featured.  Recipe after recipe caught my eye, but it was the Salted Vanilla Chip Oatmeal Cookies that sent me to the kitchen.

Here's where my friend Christiane comes in.  Believe it or not, Christiane is not a fan of chocolate.  I know, I know... who doesn't like chocolate?  But since her blog pumps out fabulous recipe after fabulous recipe (even though most don't include chocolate) combined with the fact that she is extraordinarily witty, super supportive and ever so nice, I've let the chocolate thing slide.

Once Liv tasted these beyond awesome Vanilla Oatmeal Cookies she said, "Hey Mom, I bet the lady who doesn't like chocolate would love these!".  And I think she's right.  As such, these Vanilla Dreams are dedicated across the country to Christiane, who I wish lived a little closer so we could actually share a plate with Jean over a cup of coffee.

Quinoa Oatmeal Cookies - Food Photography on Black

Just when I think I'm getting a better grip on this whole food photography thing, my Food Styling and Photography Group, The Inspired Plate, throws up a new styling challenge, and I realize my grip isn't quite as tight as I had thought.  Months ago our first challenge included Photography on White.  As that is my preferred food photography style, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and didn't struggle much for inspiration.

As such, when this month's challenge of Photography on Black came around I figured,  "I shoot on white, how different can it be to shoot on black?".  After days of shooting, re-shooting, and re-shooting again, I can honestly say that shooting on black is hugely different than shooting on white, and brings with it a whole new set of "issues" for the photographer to deal with.

Reflections and light became my largest obstacles in trying to capture a decent image.  In some cases, the black background took on a fairly unattractive bluish hue, while different lighting directions brought fairly bright reflections washing any drama out of the scene.

Without the luxury of professional lighting, I am almost wholly dependent on natural light.  As luck would have it, our San Diego June Gloom (only now it is in October) brought 3 days of grey, hot and humid weather, and while I loved the 80º plus temps, my photo shoots on black remained dull and somewhat lifeless with the murky light.

Finally, my beloved sun once again showed its lovely face, and as it set into our smooth Pacific it cast a beautiful golden glow over my house.  Throwing my newly made black board (it's a simple plywood square spray painted with chalkboard paint) up with my bread machine behind it for support, the cookies set up fairly quickly on a piece of donated burlap (many thanks to Captain Greg - you may remember our Gelato making neighbor?) and I was on my way.

Over the years my personal food styling technique has evolved as much out of necessity as it has out of preference.  Simplicity, for me, keeps the focus on the food, and it also works well with my fairly small store of food styling props.  As much as I would love shelves of colorful fabrics, stacks of dishes and bowls, and collections of eclectic props, I have learned to heavily rely on my basics, plus a few food ingredients.

With our Oatmeal Cookies featuring cranberries, white chocolate chips and a touch of heart healthy quinoa, these ingredients served as my props for the first and second shots.  A simple glass of milk added a bit of elevation, and a remnant square of red fabric added color to another cookie shot.

As the sun set lower and lower, the back lighting reflecting off of the black had me playing with the white chocolate chips and my son laughing at me saying, "Really... you are really taking pictures of chocolate chips??", as he snagged a few while walking by.

Though I'm not sure I'm totally sold on the black background or my ability to make it look appealing, I am positively sold on these Quinoa Oatmeal Cookies.

Improving the nutrition in the treats, a touch of quinoa flour added protein and no one noticed a thing.  I took advantage of my recent batch of Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice and tossed in the white chips and cranberries for a change.

Liv's girlfriends devoured a bag of the cookies at lunch, and comments of, "Mrs. Kelly, you are the best mom ever!  Can you make those cookies again?" were music to my ears.

The real test, however, was my husband.  With Oatmeal Raisin his all time favorite cookie, I wasn't sure if he would notice the different recipe.  As he arrived home from work, a couple of cookies quickly found their way into his hands, but a comment of, "These are awesome, but different, huh?" stopped me in my tracks.  Fearing he could taste the quinoa (he's not a huge fan) I paused, and then breathed a sigh of relief as he continued, "I like the cranberries in place of the raisins.  Good job."

Whew.  Extraordinarily successful cookies along with successful enough photos and a new title of "Best Mom Ever"? ... I'm a happy girl.

For more stunning Photography on Black follow our Inspired Plate Blog Circle... next up we travel across the country to the fabulous Tiffany Dahle from Peanut Blossom.

And... did you know The Inspired Plate Team now has a Facebook Page?  Join us for more food photography and styling challenges and let us inspire you!

Oatmeal Cookies with White Chocolate and Apricots

Frequently after a cookie post here on Liv Life I will get an email, Facebook comment or even an actual phone call saying, "I sure wish I had one of those this afternoon!".  Dad enjoys his sweets.  But unlike anyone else I know, he has amazing willpower.  He is happy with just one cookie.  Sometimes even just a half.

While I'm lucky have have him and Mom live only some 20 minutes away, that twenty minutes is sometimes just far enough to make cookie sharing difficult as I make my daily driving rounds some 20 minutes the other direction.  Yesterday, however, we planned ahead, and celebrating with an early Father's Day dinner I had a fresh batch of Martha Stewart's sweet yet slightly tart Apricot/White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies ready and waiting.

Already filled with heart healthy oatmeal, we swapped a little of the all-purpose flour with a dose of fiber-rich spelt flour, and even added a tablespoon or two of flax meal.  And as if that is not enough, I had just a couple of tablespoons of flaked coconut left if my jar, so we tossed that into the mix to bring a slight tropical flavor to the package.

Admitted cookie dough lover's, Liv and I deem it necessary to try every dough we make (take caution as cookie dough does contain raw eggs), and I have to say that Martha hit this cookie dough out of the park.  Sweet, oaty and utterly irresistible, I think I liked the dough ever so slightly more than the cookie, however the cookie was crowned positively enchanting as Liv and I taste tested warm and cold versions... for review purposes, of course.

Dad, these beauties are for you!!  Thanks for being the best dad ever, and now that school is out and I'm not driving so much, let's make that 20 minutes not so far.

Happy Father's Day!

 XOXO

White Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Cups

Re-entering life after 12 days in Italy has been a bit difficult.  Ok... it's been a lot difficult.  Having been ultimately spoiled in Rome and then on our cruise I'm having great difficulty finding motivation to get back into the kitchen let alone gear up for the holidays that are racing towards us.

With the realization that Thanksgiving is indeed next week, not next month, a bag of white chocolate chips was just the encouragement I needed to get back into the kitchen.  Definitely Thanksgiving themed, the warm flavors of fall are all wrapped up in the hard white chocolate shell, making stopping at just two (or three...) not an easy feat.

Discovering these little gems last year at Healthy Food for Living, I have now proclaimed then Thanksgiving Tradition.  Filled with pumpkin, pumpkin pie spices, crushed graham crackers (you can make your own here) and a dose of cream cheese for good measure, the cups are sweet yet ever so slightly spicy and with a touch of creaminess from the cream cheese and white chocolate.

A bit of a project to create, but totally worth the time, the cups are decorated simply with a sprinkle of jimmies.  Since I've discovered the art of chocolate cup making I am now the proud owner of several silicone molds, square and round.  I've found the white chocolate preferable to work with when painting the molds with the melted chocolates where a quick stint in the freezer has them set in about 15 minutes and then carefully popped out of the mold.

Once the molds are completed the filling is spooned inside, smoothed, then topped with more white chocolate and then the jimmies for decoration.

I'm not sure if it is the combination of the pumpkin and spices with the white chocolate that makes these cups so good, but whatever it is, they are positively irresistible.