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It’s April Fools Day! Do any of you “celebrate” it? Have you gotten tricked already?
Let’s share some funny stories about April Fools Day – I’ll start and you can share with me some of yours in the comments below, how about that? :)
- In 2011, I went into my old (meaning previous) manager’s office while he stepped out to get lunch and taped the bottom of his mouse with a mini post-it. It’s one of those laser type mice so if the laser doesn’t have a surface to beam on, it doesn’t work. Anyway, he comes back to his office and I was in one of my coworker’s office, 3 doors down, and you could hear him slamming the mouse on the table, I’m pretty sure trying to get the mouse to move or react to his motions. I couldn’t help it so I went into his office with a big smirk and was like, “hey! whatcha doing?” and he goes “I don’t know why my mouse doesn’t work.” I was like, what do you mean? Was it working earlier? And he said, “yeah, I went to grab lunch and now it won’t work. I tried unplugging it and blowing into the USB cord like those Nintendo games (omg you guys – please tell me you did that with those Nintendo game cartridges when they didn’t work). It barely moves! I might have to call the HelpDesk to get another one or something” Hahahaha at this point I couldn’t hold it in any longer and I was like “flip it over” and he flipped it over and on the bottom where the post-it was covering his laser, it said, “April Fools :) from Julie” – yeah, I pretty much rule. Good thing he has a good sense of humor. Also, I don’t recommend doing this to your boss unless you know he/she would be cool with it, lol – I’m NOT responsible for any job firings. You could do it to your coworkers though ;)
- In 2008, I totally fell for one of Google’s April Fools hoaxes. I fell for the one that was like you could timestamp any email to whatever time you wanted so it would seem that you’d never be late in responding again. LOL
Now I’m excited to read some of yours!! Please share below!
Anyway, what isn’t a joke are these cookies. They’re originally supposed to be oatmeal raisin cookies but I’m really not a fan of raisins. I don’t know why, I LOVE grapes but I just can’t do raisins so I swapped out the raisins for cranberries. This isn’t an ordinary oatmeal raisin cookie though – this one is actually one to remember. Not all oatmeal raisin cookies are memorable. Most are pretty forgettable and taste “ok,” or “yeah, this isn’t bad.” I haven’t ever had a oatmeal raisin cookie that I seriously raved about and wanted more day after day. This oatmeal raisin/cranberry cookie is one of those cookies I want to make over and over again and it’s quite special. There’s something about it that’s addicting. The texture: crunchy edges but SUPER chewy center. I LOVE a good chewy cookie and this one is exceptional. I believe you should toss out your other oatmeal raisin cookie recipes and give this one a try :) I guarantee it’s a keeper! No joke ;)
Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125 g) plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 11 tablespoon (154 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup (165 g) dark brown sugar
- 5 ½ tablespoon (66 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (162 g) old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup (121 g) dried cranberries
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add in the brown sugar and granulated sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract and blend until incorporated. Gently add each egg and beat until well blended.
- Slowly add in the flour mixture and mix until all combined and well-incorporated.
- With the mixer on low speed, stir in the oats and dried cranberries and mix until evenly distributed. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325 °F (163 °C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 10-15 minutes. Then using a large cookie dough scoop, drop the dough in rounds on to the baking sheet, about 2-3 inches apart.
- Bake for 17-18 minutes, or until cookies look just set and the edges are starting to brown. Try not to overbake them – they continue baking a little after you’ve removed them from the oven. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Hi Iknow we’ve all made oatmeal cookies at one time or another, but I’ve never heard of vanillia bean paste. I’m sure its a key ingredient to make those cookies look so delish –
I’d take oatmeal and cranberry over oatmeal and raisins any day! haha I need to save that mouse trick for next year. ;)
I love that you subbed cranberries here! I bet they’re fabulous! Ill have to try that for sure!
Oh, these are so lovely :) I love that you swapped out the raisins.