Oatmeal Lace Cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• 6 Tablespoon all-purpose, unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter and sugar until light yellow and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and cream until well combined. Add flour, salt, and oatmeal and mix well. Spray parchment paper with oil spray. Drop by teaspoon onto parchment lined cookie sheets. These cookies should be very flat and delicate so do not spoon more than a teaspoon of dough on your cookie sheet. Leave at least 3 inches between the cookies because they will spread out.

Bake 9-11 minutes until edges are golden brown, but not too dark. Let cool completely until edges are completely set. Using a thin spatula, lift off cookies off the sheets. Store in an airtight containers or freeze, if you have any left!

Applesauce Spice Cake

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground allspice
• 1 cup butter or margarine, at room temperature
• 1 and one-half cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 and one-half cups applesauce
• 4 eggs
• One-half cup milk
• 1 cup dark raisins

Spiced Frosting

• 1 cup butter or margarine at room temperature
• One-half cup heavy cream
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• One-half tsp. ground cinnamon
• One-half tsp ground allspice
• One-fourth tsp ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 9” cake pans. Combine first six ingredients and set aside. In a mixing bowl with electric mixer on high speed, beat one cup butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in applesauce, then eggs, one at a time until well combined. Stir in flour mixture, in thirds, alternating with milk. Stir in raisins. Pour batter into pans and bake 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Cool on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely.

Frosting: Set electric mixer on high speed and beat 1 cup butter and heavy cream until creamy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar and spices until smooth. Spread between layers and over top and sides of cake.

Walnut-Apple Cake

• 1 and one-half cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 and one-fourth tsp. cinnamon
• one-half tsp. salt
• 3 cups apples, peeled, cored and diced
• One-half cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 9” x 13” cake pan. Combine oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients together and add to the oil mixture and blend well. Stir in apples and nuts and poured into prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack before serving. Serve with fresh whipped cream or ice cream and maybe even a drizzle of caramel over the top!

One-Cup Cookies

As the name implies, you use 1 cup of most of the ingredients. Plus, you can add and delete the extra goodies as you want.

1. 1 cup brown sugar, packed
2. 1 cup white sugar
3. 1 cup butter, softened
4. 2 eggs
5. 1 cup peanut butter (if using crunchy don’t add nuts later)
6. 1 cup old-fashioned oats
7. 1 1/2 cups flour
8. 1 teaspoon baking soda
9. 1 teaspoon baking powder

INGREDIENTS TO ADD: Pick and choose from this list.

• 1 cup coconut
• 1 cup dried cranberries (raisins, blueberries, or other dried fruit)
• 1 cup chocolate chips (or M&M’s)
• 1 cup chopped nuts or seeds
• 1/4 cup wheat germ

Preheat oven to 350. Cream the butter and sugars, then beat in the eggs. Add peanut butter, then the oats. Combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder together and then add into the batter, mixing well. Add your extra ingredients according to what you like. Mix well.

Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, about 2” apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are golden but middles are still slightly gooey looking. This will be different for every oven! The bottom of the cookies will be a light brown but the tops will look like they are not done. It’s okay – take them out now. Let them sit on the cookie sheet for 3-5 minutes and they will continue cook and the tops will firm up. Transfer them to a cooling rack. If you wait for the tops to look done, the cookies will be very hard. Store in a sealed container. Yield about 6 dozen depending on the size of your spoonfuls.

Ukrainian Christmas Honey Cake (makes two)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. You will need two loaf pans that are prepared with non-stick spray or greased and floured.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup honey
• 3 cups cake flour, sifted
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup raisins

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix well after each egg yolk is added. Add the sour cream and honey, mixing well.

In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until they form still peaks. Sift together the dry ingredients: cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Working with the dry ingredient mixture and the egg whites, alternate folding them into the batter in the large mixing bowl. Fold in the walnuts and raisings. Pour the batter into the loaf pans. Bake for about an hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. The cake is served warm. Makes about 12 slices, so they are fairly thick when sliced.

Strawberry Cake with Frosting

• 1 box white cake mix
• 1 box (3 oz) strawberry flavored gelatin
• one-half cup water
• 3 T. flour
• 1 cup cooking oil
• 3 large eggs
• one-half cup strawberries, mashed

Frosting:

• 1 pound powdered sugar
• one-half cup (one stick) butter
• one-half cup mashed strawberries

Directions: Mix all cake ingredients together except the eggs. Then add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg. Continue to beat with mixer at least 4 minutes more. Pour batter into three well-greased 8” round cake pans or one 9” x 13” cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, longer for the 9” x 13” size (until toothpick in center comes out clean and not gooey). Cool cake before frosting.

For frosting, beat all ingredients with mixer until fluffy and smooth. Spread between layers, on top and sides of cake. This cake and frosting freeze well.