Reduced Sugar Oatmeal Cherry Cookies

Reduced Sugar Oatmeal Cherry Cookies

Based on the the Oatmeal Cookies: King Arthur Flour recipe.

My Modifications 

12 minute bake at 350

2 egg yolks for 1 egg

1 stick butter - no shortening 

1/4 cup Truvia brown sugar blend for brown sugar 

1/4 cup Sola low cal sweetener for sugar

1 cup Kirkland Whole Dried Tart Montmorency Cherries for raisins 

Air core baking sheet 

Malt vinegar for white vinegar 

Results 

Slightly brown and crisp around the edges at 12 minutes. Holds together well enough, but still a little delicate to handle. Nice moisture. Would probably be too dry without the fruit. A little too sweet, probably due to the sugar added to the cherries - why can’t I find dried cherries or cranberries without added sugar? I’ll reduce the Sola by half next time. 

Here's the original recipe from King Arthur Flour

AT A GLANCE

PREP 12 mins. to 15 mins.

BAKE 12 mins. to 14 mins.

TOTAL 24 mins. to 29 mins.

YIELD 22 cookies without raisins, 24 cookies with raisins.

Crunchy around the edges, softer in the center, these oatmeal cookies feature the nutty taste and nubbly texture of oats. 

Our guarantee: These cookies will be mildly crunchy around the edge, softer in the center, and very mildly spiced; oats are the star. They'll be 1/4" thick and 2 1/2" to 3" wide when scooped in 1 1/4" balls.

4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) unsalted butter

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cider or white vinegar*

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1 1/2 cups rolled oats, quick cooking or old-fashioned

1 cup golden raisins, optional; or Jammy Bits*

*See "tips," below.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets, light-colored preferred.

Beat together the butter, shortening, sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and vinegar until fairly smooth; a few tiny bits of butter may still show.

Beat in the egg, again beating until smooth.

Add the baking soda and flour, beating until well incorporated.

Add the oats (and raisins), stirring to combine.

Drop the dough in 1 1/4" balls onto the prepared baking sheets; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here. If you're measuring, this is about 2 level tablespoons (using a tablespoon measure, not a dinner spoon). Space the cookies 2" apart; they'll spread.

Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, reversing the pans halfway through (top rack to bottom, bottom to top). For softer cookies, bake the lesser amount of time; for crunchier, the longer amount. At 12 minutes, especially if you're baking on a dark pan without parchment, a few of the cookies on the edge should just barely be showing a pale brown around their edges. At 14 minutes, they should be starting to color all over.

Remove the cookies from the oven, and let them cool right on the pan.

Yield: 22 to 24 cookies.

Tips from our bakers

Jammy Bits, sweet, soft little morsels of fruit purée, come in six true-fruit flavors: raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, orange, apricot, and peach.

While it's easier to beat butter that's at cool room temperature, it's not necessary to wait for it to warm up if you've taken it straight from the fridge. You'll just need to beat it a bit longer.

Substitute butter for the vegetable shortening, if desired; the texture of the cookies will be a slight bit cakier.

For round, symmetrical cookies, be sure to leave 2" between them on all sides. This is sufficient room that they won't spread and touch one another.

If your baking sheets are dark/black, shorten the baking time by a minute or so. If you use air-insulated cookie sheets (which we don't recommend), increase the baking time by a couple of minutes.

If you're a fan of salty/sweet, the merest sprinkle of salt (extra-fine preferred) atop the just-baked cookies brings their flavor over the top.

*Why vinegar in a cookie recipe? It helps cut the sweetness and also gives your baking soda a bit of a boost. Mystery solved!

Mystery solved!

1745 Highlander Frock Coat

Here's the frock coat I made inspired by Colum MacKenzie's gathering coat.

I started with J.P. Ryan's 1750’s Coat with Military Variations for the Officer or Enlisted Man. I used the civilian coat cut a bit shorter than the length of the enlisted coat. The shorter length is made for riding horseback (unlikely in reality) and also to give enough room for my great kilt. I like the instructions provided with the pattern and the illustrations are good. It would be nice if there were videos to go with it, but I figured it out eventually.

As this is my first coat, I didn't want to spend a lot of money, so I used a 50/50 wool blend Melton fabric and cotton lining. The buttons are inexpensive ones found online from China. Instead of horsehair interfacing, I used a medium weight synthetic. I also saved money by using polyester buttonhole thread instead of silk twist and waxed cord instead of gimp. There is also none of the lace found on Colin's coat. The next coat will be tartan with silk or linen for the lining.

Machine stitched where it can be hidden and by hand wherever visible. The buttonholes are cut with a chisel and hand stitched with gimp cord and heavy polyester thread.

The buttons are pushed through holes for the button shaft made with an awl and held in place with twill tape. The tape is threaded through the shafts and sewn at each end inside the coat, between the outer layer and the lining.

Updated OS X instructions for creating a floppy disk image

My old post for making a floppy disk image didn't work as described when I tried it recently. Here's an update.

The hdiutil command can be used to create the image.

$ hdiutil create -layout NONE -fs MS-DOS -sectors 2880 floppy

Then use hdid to output the name of the device file created.

$ hdid -nomount ./floppy.dmg

Use the output from hdid to create a mount point and mount the image.

$ mkdir /Volumes/mnt
$ mount -t msdos /dev/disk2 /Volumes/mnt

Now you can copy your files to the disk image. Use the usual disk "eject" to unmount if you like.

State of the 'Stache: Five Months Later...

I've been pretty busy with a new job and our recent adventure into Steampunk (more about that later). The beard and moustache are coming along.

The 'stache requires quite a quantity of wax. I've settled on the dark version of Firehouse wax. The middle of the road as it were.

Switched from my barber to our friend who styles my wife's hair. She has more experience with long hair. Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm growing my hair long enough to queue and club. I'd like to venture into 18th century reenacting. In a kilt of course.

Well, here's the current look. The photo was taken at the second annual Gears, Beards, and Beers a Steampunk themed Beard & Moustache Competition hosted by Capital Steam and the Jackson Beard & Moustache Club (more about that later). On my left is my sister Lori and on my right is my wife Stacey.

I made the double breasted jacket from a modified McCall's Men's Civil War Costumes pattern M4745. I'll post construction instructions later.

State of the 'Stache: The curl

The mustache is finally long enough to attempt a curl. A "tacky" mustache wax is essential. Firehouse* sets in just a minute.

Next week I'll see my barber to shape the beard.

* Turn your sound volume down before visiting the Firehouse website. The 90's called, they want their "play audio on load" web page back.

State of the 'Stache: November 22, 2014

The "State of the 'Stache" is a series of posts exploring the current state of my beard and mustache as I attempt to create something worthy of a Steampunk outfit. 

I'll describe the products I use and any challenges as they present themselves. 

Yes, probably not the most exciting blog series but, it's my blog after all. 

The beard and mustache

Stacey and I are attending a Steampunk event in the spring. Along with preparing our wardrobe, I've decided to grow out my beard and mustache. I've always had a full beard, but usually have it clipped short each time I visit the barber. 

I knew with the longer hair I'd need some help controlling the beast. If there's one thing the Miller family is good at, it's growing hair. 

I checked a few websites and asked a good friend of mine with a handlebar mustache for advice. I decided to use Firehouse Mustache Wax. 

Not knowing how much hold I would need I started with their "Light" style. It proved to be unable to control my gray bristles. However, the "Tacky" was up to the task. 

I usually keep my hair short but with the full beard my barber suggested I keep it longer. I find that my longer greying hair requires conditioner too. I thought about beard balm or oil but decided to start with some inexpensive hair conditioner. 

The 'stach and beard are coming along. Not sure how long I'll let it grow.