I made these cookies aaaages ago, but I misplaced the recipe about as soon as I did. This is not really a good excuse for not posting them as I obtained the oatmeal cookie recipe from my mother, and theoretically could have asked for it again at any time in the intervening, oh, 8 months or so. No matter, I have finally asked for it again, she provided it, so here we are.

These are a very soft oatmeal cookie. You could use semi-sweet chocolate chips, or butterscotch chips… But I had bought a bag of dark chocolate chips at the grocery store and was stumped about how to use them. I, of course, took the question to facebook and the overwhelming response was “Oatmeal Cookies.” Now, I know there are a lot of oatmeal cookie recipes out there, but as soon as I decided that I was going to make them, I knew these were the only ones that would do.

I took them to work, and to roller derby practice, and they received rave reviews all around. So next time I buy a bag of dark chocolate chips when they are on sale, I know exactly what I’ll be making with them.

Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
Source: Mom’s recipe box

1 cup sugar
1 cup shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 cup sour milk
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cup flour
2 cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 12 oz. bag chocolate chips

Cream together the first 3 ingredients, then stir in the following three ingredients. Add the flour and oatmeal, one cup at a time, alternating each one. Stir in the cinnamon, followed by the chocolate chips. Bake 10-12 minutes.

Note: When I first made these, I was really nervous because the dough was a whole lot “stickier” than a traditional cookie dough. They turned out perfectly though!

Or as one of my friends called them, “Inception Cookies.” Cause they are cookies within a cookie. See?

Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies blew up all over the blogosphere awhile back when Jenny at Picky Palate posted the original giant cookie way back in January. Having been on Weight Watchers for quite some time at that point, and not really being able to justify what was essentially three cookies in one, I never made them.

Recently, however, she posted a new version of the cookie… with MINI oreos. I was sold! They were a little time consuming, as any stuffed cookie tends to be, but not particularly difficult. I had some trouble with the dough sticking to my fingers, but a damp paper towel to wipe them off every couple of cookies was good enough to solve that problem.

Jenny recommends using a melon baller to place a scoop of cookie dough on top and bottom of the oreo, but this was NOT working for me. What I did was use my usual cookie scoop and then just pushed the oreo into the center of the dough. Then I pinched the dough closed around it and rolled into a ball.

As usual, these cookies received rave reviews from everyone I shared them with… in this case, a couple of my coworkers and a roller derby viewing party!

Mini Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Source: Picky Palate

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag chocolate chips (I used mini chocolate chips!)
1 bag mini Oreo cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined. Using a melon baller, or teaspoon, take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of a mini Oreo Cookie. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough. Place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake cookies 8-10 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

It is no secret that I am not a fan of pork. Please do not try and feed me a pork chop. I don’t want to be ungrateful or rude, but I really don’t want to eat it. There is one exception to my nose-wrinkling (potentially unwarranted, I will admit) distaste for pork — barbecue pulled pork sandwiches. Mmm yummy.

I’d never made it myself before, but I’d heard that it was super simple in the crock pot. I was browsing Pinterest a couple of weeks ago when I saw a picture of 4 ingredients with the caption “Easiest and Best Pulled Pork Sandwiches Ever.” Alright, you got me. I was a little nervous because I’d never cooked pork before (see earlier note of dislike), but I needn’t have worried because it really was super simple. Even if you include my agonizing in the grocery store over what to buy. “The recipe said pork butt! Nothing here is labeled pork butt! Tenderloin? Shoulder roast? Boston something? WHAT DO I BUY?” Ahem. (I bought what was on sale, haha!)

I got my pork home, patted it down with Lawry’s seasoned salt and finagled it into my slightly-smaller-around-than-my-chunk-of-pork slow cooker. Poured some Diet Pepsi and BBQ sauce over the top and walked away. Several hours later, I came back and pulled the pork out to shred. The recipe suggested putting it back in the juices, which I did for a little while because I wasn’t ready to eat it yet, but that’s not really the way I like my pulled pork. I like mine extra saucy, not pulled from the juices with a little BBQ sauce poured on your sandwich. So when I was ready to eat, I removed it and kept only the tiniest bit of juices and instead mixed up the whole batch with some of the Sweet Baby Rays that was left. Served up on a kaiser bun with some potato salad on the side, delicious!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Source: Sweet and Savory Food

Pork butt
1 can Diet Pepsi
1/2 bottle Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce
Lawry’s Seasoning Salt

Generally coat pork butt with Lawry’s seasoning salt, don’t be afraid to cover it all! Place in crock pot and pour in soda and barbecue sauce. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours. If you have a larger piece of meat, it will probably take longer. After 4 hours or so, take two forks and shred the meat into bite size chunks. Let it sit in the juice to soak up all that flavor. It can stay on warm in crock pot while serving, and can easily be reheated the next day. Serve on a kaiser roll and add more barbecue sauce if needed.

I like my pulled pork really saucy, so I discarded most of the juices and mixed it all up with some of the remaining BBQ sauce.