Well, hi there!

I’m Kathrina and this is my first blog post.

Well, my first blog post that made it to prime time, anyway.

I’ve got so much I love to do that I figured I should put it all down somewhere. That somewhere is this here blog.  The 75 dog-eared, doodled upon notebooks just weren’t sufficient anymore.  So here I am, in the blog-o-verse, writing and sharing and jumping into the fray that is the blog world.

To start things off, I made cookies.  And not just any cookies, mind you, but serious, in-your-face, New Year’s Resolution obliterating, cookies.  To add to the completely improper nature of this cookie, it’s a knock-off of the Double Tree Hotel cookie. You know, that disc of warm, nutty, chocolaty, melty goodness they hand you when they give you the room key? Yes…it is that cookie.  So let’s get down to that very cookie:

“Hotel Cookies”

1/2 c. rolled oats

2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1/4 t. cinnamon

1 c. butter, softened

3/4 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. granulated sugar

1 1/2 t. vanilla extract (use the real stuff)

1/2 t. fresh lemon juice

2 eggs

2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 c. milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine and powdery.  Mix oats, flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.  Se aside.

Cream together butter, sugars, vanilla and lemon juice in a stand mixer or with an electric mixer until they are well combined.  Add eggs, one at a time, until well combined.  Add in the flour mixture and mix until almost mixed in.  Add chocolate chips and nuts and mix by hand just until everything is mixed through.

Place rounded, golf ball-sized mounds of dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until browned around the edges, but soft in the middle.  Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack.

Store any uneaten cookies (HA!) in a tightly sealed container.  For a little afternoon treat, reheat cookies one at a time in a microwave for 8-10 seconds. It’s like getting them warm from the oven again!

Also, please don’t blame me when you eat an embarrassing amount of cookies.  It happens. I, too, consumed more cookies than I should have.

Maybe we can start a support group.

I’ll bring cookies.