2024 Cookie Hop

I'm a huge fan of cookie baking all year round, but the holiday season really amps up the delight. Sitting around a fire, sipping hot tea and munching on some baked goods? Yes please!

Here is one of my holiday favorites, the Oatmeal Butterscotch Bars from America's Test Kitchen. They are easy to make, which is a bonus, but they do take two hours to rest. The wait is worth it though! 

And what is better than a fire, a warm beverage and a cookie? A book to go with it! Please enjoy a free e-copy of "Hand in Handpies," a short story originally published in the Paper Lantern Writers anthology Beneath a Midwinter Moon. It features Bess Abbott as a young girl, who stumbles across a warm fire on the eve of the Frost Fair in Georgian England, and how that changes her life forever. It's a sweet story full of love--for found family.

Just pop Hand in Handpies into your cart and check out. Shopify and Bookfunnel will do the rest.

9x13 pan

1 1/4 cups (6.25 ounces) AP flour

2 cups (6 ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup (4.5 ounces) butterscotch chips

16 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 cup (7 ounces) dark brown sugar

2 tsps vanilla extract

1 large egg

For the glaze:

1/4 cup (1 1/2 ounces) butterscotch chips

2 Tbsp dark brown sugar

1 Tbsp water

1/8 tsp salt

Set oven to 350 F. Use two sheets of foil to line your 9x13 pan, one lengthwise and one crosswise. Grease the foil. 

Whisk flour, oats, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl. Put butterscotch chips in a large bowl as you melt butter in a 12 inch skillet over medium high heat. Swirl the butter in the skillet constantly until the butter is browned and you smell a nutty aroma, which can take anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes. Then pour the browned butter ontot eh butterscotch chips to dissolve. Whisk until smooth. Then, whisk in sugar until dissolved, then whisk in vanilla and egg until combined. Swap out to a spatula and fold in flour mixture in two additions. Put all into the greased pan, spreading evenly. Bake until edges are golden brown and a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 17-19 minutes. Try to remember to rotate the pan halfway through for an even bake. Cool the pan on a wire rack afterwards, if you can. While it is cooling, make the glaze! 

Put the butterscotch chips in a small bowl. Bring sugar, water, and salt to simmer in a small saucepan. Pour the hot sugar mixture over butterscotch chips and whisk until smooth. Drizzle glaze over warm bars and let cool about 11/2 to 2 hours. 

After that, lift the bars out of the pan using the foil and let it cool completely. ATK recommends slicing this up into 36 bars. I say it can be as little as 2. 

And now, onto the next site in the Cookie Hop! Reminder of how to play the game:

Go to each author's site, match their name to their cookie, E-mail your completed list to Heather@HeatherMcCollum.com with “Historical Romance Authors are Sweet” in the subject line. Good luck!, and enter to win a $150 gift card to your choice of site! The odds are good, so go play! You have until the end of December 15th.