Convention Cookies
Conventions are an excellent place to catch a glimpse of your favorite celebrities, hear the latest gossip on your favorite shows, and buy as much awesome stuff as you possibly can. Conventions are not, however, renowned for their food. While finding an affordable and delicious balanced meal can be difficult when you are away at a con, you can certainly bring along something more exciting than a bag of chips and some stale licorice for snacking. So if you’re going to the The New England Webcomics Weekend 2009 or Lunacon this weekend, here are two of my time tested favorite cookie recipes and an easy no-bake snack.
Amazingly Easy Convention Crunchies
3 cups healthy unsweetened or lightly sweetened crunchy cereal (Kashi, All-Bran, Cheerios, etc.)
1 12oz bag of baking morsels (chocolate, butterscotch, etc.)
In microwave safe container, melt morsels on medium. Stop every 20 seconds to stir. When all chips melt and stir easily, it is ready (microwaves vary).
Put cereal in a large mixing bowl.
Pour melted morsels over cereal and coat as evenly as possible.
Spread mixture on wax paper to cool (about 2 hours)
Break up into cookie-sized pieces and store in airtight container. Refrigerate if desired.
Super Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
3c all purpose flour
2c old fashioned oats
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
3 sticks unsalted butter
1c white granulated sugar
1c brownulated sugar
(if brownulated not available, use 1.5c white and 1/2 c light brown instead)
2tsp butterscotch schnapps or vanilla extract
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chunks
1 bag milk chocolate morsels
1 bag butterscotch baking chips
Heat oven to 360°.
Mix flour, oats, and salt in a large bowl.
Soften the butter butter and blend in the sugars. This can be done by hand or with an electric mixer on low. Add the egg and schnapps. Mix. Fold into dry mixture and combine.
Add the chocolate, kneading with hands. Make sure all of the mix is evenly distributed with the chocolate.
On an ungreased cookie sheet, put tablespoon-sized balls of dough. They will not spread out much, so you only need to put them about half an inch apart.
Bake ten minutes. Cool on wire rack (not on cookie sheet! At least transfer to a plate).
And, of course, after seeing Serenity, I had to come up with this recipe so that we could sing the appropriate song:
Fruity Oaty Bars
½ cup flour
½ cup rolled old-fashioned oats
¼ cup wheat germ
1/3 cup brown sugar
¼ cup melted butter
14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk (this is available organic fro some stores)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup coconut flakes
½ cup raisins, currants, or dried cranberries
½ cup dried apricots, snipped into small pieces
½ cup chopped dates
½ cup chopped nuts (almonds, peanuts, etc.)
1 cup assorted dried fruits, nuts and seeds of your choice (trail mix works well for this)
Preheat oven to 325°.
Line a square 9×9” cake pan with foil so that it comes up over the sides.
Spray the foil with a non-stick cooking spray.
Combine the flour, oats, wheat germ, sugar and butter. Mix well. Sprinkle about half of this mixture into the bottom of the cake pan and pat down.
In a saucepan, bring milk, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice to a boil over medium-low heat. Pour over fruit and nuts in a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly and pour into cake pan over the flattened crumb mixture. Smooth with rubber spatula and sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top. Pat the mixture down gently.
Bake 30-40 minutes. Lift carefully from pan with the foil. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes before cutting into squares. May be eaten while still warm (great with ice cream!) or wrapped in plastic once fully cooled and toted along to your next panel, game session, or con party (best to keep away from fancy masquerade costumes, however).
Enjoy!
