Chilled Plum Oatmeal Pudding

I enjoy oatmeal for breakfast. I usually make due with a simple packet of oatmeal, but in reality, my favorite is the good, goopy, slow-cooked kind that you have to add milk to. I typically get to enjoy that type when I am traveling and the hotel has it as an option on their buffet, or when I go out to Bob Evans or Panera for breakfast or occasionally at the cafeteria at work. I have pinned a few recipes for overnight oatmeal and crock-pot oatmeal, but haven't yet tried any of them. As I was reading through Martha Stewart Living this weekend (no idea which month), I found a recipe for oatmeal pudding. I thought that this sounded very interesting, as we are big fans of rice pudding. I also liked the idea that this could be a dessert or a breakfast option.

Her recipe indicated it made one serving, so I decided I needed to increase it so that I could make enough for the family to enjoy. I settled on tripling the recipe. I also decided to use unsweetened vanilla almond milk instead of plain. Even so, I had to add vanilla to the mix, because there just really wasn't any flavor outside of the plums that you serve on top. That being said, the oatmeal pudding, with vanilla extract added, is a great back drop for the juicy, tart plums that are made slightly sweet with the addition of maple syrup.

With the recipe tripled, I would say that it easily provides 6 servings if you are serving it as a breakfast, probably more like 12 if you are having it as a dessert. I definitely would make this again, I might even play with the flavors and try an almond extract or a maple extract instead of the vanilla next time I make it or even try sweetening it with a bit of brown sugar or honey. I also think it could be with other fresh fruit - cherries, blackberries, raspberries, etc. - although the tartness of the plum helps contribute to the flavor impact. Guess I will have to make this a bunch to try out all of the other options I have in mind.

Chilled Plum Oatmeal Pudding
Serves: 6

adapted from Martha Stewart Living Magazine

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 pinch coarse salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons maple syrup
3 plums, pitted and chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine oats, 2 1/4 cups of almond milk and 2 1/4 cups of water and salt in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until oats are tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool slightly. Stir in remaining 3/4 cups of almond milk, the vanilla and 1 tbsp of maple syrup. Chill overnight.

Toss plums, 1 tbsp maple syrup and cinnamon in a bowl. Let stand 5 minutes.

Serve oatmeal topped with fruit and juices. Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired.

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Chocolate Butterscotch Chip Pudding Cookies (aka Clean Out the Pantry Cookies)

I really wanted to call these cookies Clean Out the Pantry Cookies, but I'll admit that is not a great name for a cookie. Thing is that is how I made them and since the recipe can be so many flavors, I really struggled with how to define this cookie.

Last weekend, one of the many projects that I tackled was cleaning out the pantry. In the process, I found several partial bags and containers of chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and chocolate chunks. I wanted to find a good recipe that could stand up to that amount of 'chippage'. I started doing some searches for Chocolate Butterscotch cookies, but it seemed that so many required oatmeal - of which I had none. I started to stumble across some cookies that took pudding and since I had also unearthed a couple boxes of instant pudding, it seemed like a great idea to me. I took a little bit of a couple of recipes and merged them. Then, I found myself short on brown sugar and substituted some turbinado sugar - which added an awesome little crunch to the cookies.

4 1/2 c flour
2 pkgs instant pudding (the smaller box)
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 c butter
1/2 c shortening
1 1/2 c sugar
1 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c turbinado sugar
4 eggs
3 tsp vanilla
4 c chips/candy bits

Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside.

Cream together the butter, shortening and sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing to combine after each addition. Add in the vanilla. Add the dry mixture a portion at a time, mixing to incorporate. Stir in the chips/candy.

Drop rounded spoonfuls on your baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 - 12 minutes. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes and then move to a cooling rack.

These cookies were a hit! I allowed my son to have a piece that had broken when I removed it from the pan. I told him it might still be warm. He took a bite and said to me, "know what makes a cookie good?", I said "no" and he said "still warm from the oven".

I actually used 1 package of french vanilla and one package of chocolate pudding. The moisture that the pudding brings and the crunch that the turbinado brings, accompanied by a mix of chocolate and butterscotch was simply wonderful! I will definitely make this recipe often. I think that it might be a great way to use up extra holiday chocolate too - just chop up all those mini-bars for a candy bar cookie. Swapping out the flavors of pudding can completely change the delivery on these cookies too!

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