Cookies for Breakfast, Cookies All Day Long!

What kind of cookie is good for breakfast?! Our Rum Kissed Raisin cookie is full of oatmeal, coconut, rum-soaked-raisins, local butter, and local eggs. And as Megan reminded me, "eggs are for breakfast!" Oatmeal doesn't need to be served only in a bowl.

So here's the story on our Rum-Kissed Raisin cookies. . . . Megan developed the recipe for this little oatmeal cookie, and in it she specifies: "Heat rum and raisins on the stove until simmering. Turn off the heat, cover and soak the raisins for half an hour until they plump up." But one day while I was preparing cookies, I heated the rum/raisins and instead of draining them after 30 minutes, I walked away and ate lunch. So. . . .after 60 minutes of bathing in a pot of warm rum, the raisins had softened and easily released their rummy juices into the cookie dough.  Upon first realizing my flub, Megan reminded what Bob Ross says, "We don't make mistakes; we have happy accidents."

Now these cookies truly deserve the name "Rum Kissed," whereas before they were simply "Rum Pecked". Come grab a kiss from these two birds, oh and some cookies!

Sgt. Pepper's Strawberry Fields Muffin!

We are continuing to spotlight each of our items for your salivary and literary enjoyment!

(Megan is sitting across from me and played me animated clips of a cartoon character called Gir, who she says I reminder her of, and I can see the resemblance.)

Today we're spotlighting the Sgt. Pepper's Strawberry Fields Muffin! It's a strawberry, black pepper, walnut muffin, and oh boy is it delicious!

This vegan muffin's base is built of spelt flour, grade B maple syrup, canola oil, walnuts, and soy milk. A dollop of strawberry jam is nestled in the center of the muffin and also adorns the top of the muffin. The slight heat of the black pepper is balanced to sweet perfection by the jam.

We first tried this muffin with fresh strawberries rather than jam, but the fruit sank and made the muffin wet. At a 2010 muffin tasting, one of Megan's friends (unfortunately we can't recall who, but we're looking for our notes from that event so that we can give the person their congratulatory due!) suggested we add a dollop of strawberry jam to the center and the top rather than using fresh fruit. Splendid!

At that same tasting, while taking suggestions for names, we went with a name that Megan's brother Jason came up with; "Muffin 51" because it's alien! While we loved this name, it didn't give an apt description of what you'd get in the muffin, so my friend Richard suggested the "Sgt. Pepper's Strawberry Fields" muffin - clever AND descriptive.

We love this muffin. Our friend Joni loves this muffin. Richard, who named the muffin, loves this muffin. Don't fear the black pepper, strawberry, walnut muffin. . .love the muffin. . .love it!

Here it is, stop in and taste the Sgt. Pepper!