Hi Reader!

My daughter moved back to California (YAY!), and we had a visit last week in which she requested oatmeal cookies. She likes her oatmeal cookies with raisin and I wanted chocolate chips, so I made half the batch with raisins and the other half with chocolate chips.

This is, truly, a lovely cookie experience. It had been awhile since I made them so it was a nice reminder. The dough comes together in no time...minutes. The dough also needs zero chill time and freezes LIKE. A. DREAM.

You'll use 3 tablespoons per cookie (so they're big!) and slightly underbake, so they finish baking on the cookie sheet and have a fabulously chewy texture.

I have a stash in my freezer now, which I love a nightly cookie so I'm very happy about that! I also want to make these with brown butter next time...I think it would be A++ if you're looking to put in a wee more effort (if you do this, add in an extra tablespoon of water to make up for the lost moisture when browning the butter).

✨ More Recipes...✨

I made the King Arthur Baking Sourdough Granola last week and loved it!! Here are my tips if you decide to make it:

• CONSIDER: I added in sesame seeds (like, 2 tablespoons-ish)...I love the flavor in granola.
• SALTY SWEET ADDITIONS: Using the sourdough starter lets you get good granola clumps (love), and dramatically cuts back on the sweet and oil component (also love). Because of the decreased sweetness, I sprinkled the granola with some Demerara sugar before baking, which added some nice oomph. I also added flaky sea salt pre-bake, because I love a little salty-sweet situation.
• TECHNIQUE: Spread the granola quite thin on the baking sheet if you like crispy granola (I do). I pressed it down, but it was quite thick in the center of the baking sheet. This yielded a more chewy texture rather than crispy in the center. Pressing it thinner would solve this.

AND, if you love granola and don't have a sourdough starter, I have these recipes: maple oat granola, pecan cherry granola, chocolate banana granola and chai-spiced granola.

Those granola posts are all from about a decade ago and damn are they so fun to read/revisit. What a different time it was to be a food blogger back then!! The recipes aren't even in recipe cards. Please reach out with any questions. I LOVE HOMEMADE GRANOLA.

☕ In Other News...

Instead of making the roasted poblano & cheddar focaccia this past weekend, I made it into a sourdough boule. It was utter perfection! That's it, pictured above!! How many of you are sourdough bakers?!? Hit reply and let me know!

I am currently LOVING Last Seen (Apple) and Audacity (Netflix). *AND* I caught the last half of Broadcast News the other day and I was mesmerized. Holly Hunter's character is so captivating...Albert Brooks is such a lovable asshole...and William Hurt is such the problematic, seductive pretty boy.

It made me a bit nostalgic for 80s and 90s movies. The vibe in them is just so different from what we're seeing now...everything feels either action, mystery, apocalyptic or Marvel comic in nature.

All that said...I am most looking forward to seeing Practical Magic 2 in the movie theater, which is happily none of those things!

Wishing you a beautiful week!!

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​ "Following up on her acclaimed debut, The Cookie Book, writer, photographer, and recipe developer Rebecca Firth tackles cake in her new book. You may have trouble picking which recipe to start with: Chocolate Stout Cake with Champagne Buttercream or a tart, sticky Glazed Tangerine Donut Cake?” ― Epicurious, 25 New Baking Books for Cozy Fall Treats THE CAKE BOOK

​ "Writer, photographer and queen of cookies, Rebecca Firth teases my sweet tooth and I am not mad about it. Love following her and her tempting creations and can't wait to see what she comes up with next." ―Tiffani Thiessen, actress and author of Pull Up a Chair ​ ― Food & Wine, Best Baking Cookbooks to Own Right Now THE COOKIE BOOK