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Perfect Oatmeal Cookies

Photo by David O. Andersen

There isn't much I wouldn't do for a warm, melty, soft oatmeal cookie. 

My standards for the perfect oatmeal cookie have been set pretty high. I'm a huge fan of the oatmeal Heath bar cookies from Breaking New Grounds in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and I've long considered theirs one of the best.

Using American recipes in Berlin can sometimes be a little tricky. Some ingredients that are staples in the good ole' US of A are hard to find here - if they exist at all. One of those ingredients happens to be brown sugar.

Yes, I hear you, my German friends, "We have brown sugar, you American dummy!" Yes, I know, but it's simply not the same. Brown sugar in America is fine, dense, and damp, in Germany it's almost identical to regular, granulated sugar, however, it is, in fact, brown.

Needless to say, this causes a bit of an issue when your recipe calls for these ingredients. In this case, with oatmeal cookies, that brown sugar is a pretty big deal.

Being the resourceful Boy Scout that I am (or was), I came up with a fix and rewrote myself an American recipe in German. Well, not in German per-say, but with German ingredients that almost makeup for the missing bits of the cookie dough.

So here goes, my German-American Oatmeal Cookie recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of softened butter (225g - you're welcome)*
• 1 cup of regular, German brown sugar (In America? Use the regular stuff and skip the next ingredient.)
• 1 tbs Goldsaft** 
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp Bourbon Vanille Mühle***
• 1 tbs water****
• 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour (type 405 - again, you're welcome)
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups of oat granola, any kind you'd like*****

OPTIONAL:

• 1 cup of chopped walnuts
• 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips*****
• 1 cup of raisins

BAKING INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°c)
2. Blend your butter and sugars until creamy, then beat in the eggs - one at a time.
2. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, vanilla and salt (this combines them nicely). Once they're blended, mix them into your creamy butter/sugar mix.
3. Add that oat granola and either or both of the optional ingredients.
4. I find using a regular spoon works best for placing the dough on the cooking sheet. Stack it high for a thicker cookie, keep it low for a crispier treat.
5. Let everything sit for

Bake the cookies for around 10 minutes (more if you like 'em crispy) and let them cool for 5-10 minutes on the rack. 

TIP: Let the dough sit for 10 minutes or more, it'll make the oats a bit softer in the end.

*I hear you, "Wow, Paula Deen, that's a lot of butter!" And to that I say, you're making gooey cookies, it's somewhat necessary. You're obviously not going to eat them all in one sitting... right?

**To make up for the lack of the moist brown sugar, I added a tablespoon of this business. I'm pretty sure it's the same thing as molasses. Just take it out if you're in the States, or don't, up to you.

***I used this fancy stuff instead of liquid vanilla extract (as it's hard to find here in the DE), it usually comes in a small bottle with a grinder on the top. It's chunks of actual vanilla bean and is pretty potent. Don't go crazy with this stuff, vanilla lovers. If you've got the liquid, use two teaspoons.

****The water makes up for the lack of moisture in the vanilla. If you have the liquid, you don't need the water.

*****Because I'm terrible at German and can't really read packaging in grocery stores, I had a hard time finding quick cooking oats (which is what the recipe called for). I decided to use a granola mixture because I knew it would get soft rather quickly and picked one that was packed with oats. Feel free to explore here. Just remember, if it's super sweet, you might want to take some of the white sugar out of the recipe.

Image of Cookie Monster from Mashable.com

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Arhoj, Matey

Photo by Furnish, from arhoj.com

I greatly appreciate a handmade item and have a deep respect for an artists hard work. From hand knit scarves, to homemade cookies, to great paintings. Something about that personal touch really resonates with me.

About a year ago I was in Århus, Denmark attending the Northside Music Festival. During a little downtime, my husband David and I decided to walk around the downtown area a bit, grab a coffee, do a little window shopping. 

While walking around I stopped and gawked at the windows of a great store called Decorate Shop. I was working at the EU branch of Fab.com at the time and recognized some of the designers so I thought I'd head in to take a look around and to see the products in person.

A portion of my collection, hanging on the wall here at #TheTempelhofProject in Berlin.  Photo by me.

Decorate Shop carries a lot of great designers; Tom Dixon, HAY, and Donna Wilson to name a few. There was one designer, however, that I'd never heard of before. 

Laid out on a table, right in the center of the room, were 20 or more Ghosts by Studio Arhoj. These little guys, all different and hand thrown and painted, really caught my attention. The fantastic colors, haunting eyes and neat size had me from the start.

Designed by Anders Arhoj and Louise Gaarmann for Studio Arhoj, these ghosts have been in production since 2011 and have varied in style and size throughout the years. They're currently measuring in around 9-10 cm and at a cost of around 17€. They're super fun to collect and because of their unique, one of a kind nature, they also make super gifts.

David and I were back up in Århus spending Easter with family this weekend, so I decided to run back in and see what the current offering was. Unfortunately the selection wasn't as large as I'd seen in the past, but I did find a gem! I'm happy to announce that a new (2014) ghost was added to the family today, rounding my set up to ten. I really loved the ombre coloring and the white/blue combo will fit nicely with the rest of the crew.

Anders' Ghosts and other works are sold throughout Europe, and a small selection can be found in the US.

A great shot of the colorful assortment.
Photo by Andreas Stenmann, from arhoj.com

GIF of the day!

Andy Warhol - the flasher!

They say it's your birthday...

My husband recently celebrated his 31st birthday by having friends over to The Tempelhof Project for drinks and snacks.

Of course, turning 31 isn't really a big event, but I wanted to have a little bit of fun.

I pondered getting streamers, but thought it was a bit too much.  I thought about setting the snack table up with confetti and the likes, but didn't want to make things look too 'kiddie'.  I pondered balloons, but couldn't seem to find anything other than pastels (kids) or metallic (New Years Eve) colors... until I spotted these guys.

For only 2.99€ at Karstadt, here in Berlin, I found these lovely guys! They're a thick white latex with random paint (or colored latex?) painted all over.  The effect, when blown up, is a colorful marbleized look, and is great.  Each balloon is painted differently and varies in color.

I didn't buy a ton (you only got about 8 per pack), but just enough to toss them around the house and add a bit of a festive kick, and of course, the traditional banner is up and hanging. 

I think these balloons are great and totally don't mind that they're still floating around the house a week later.