It is just a road map.........

I like to bake and cook but I rarely follow a recipe. I think one time I heard Paula Deen say that "a recipe is like a road map". You can take the interstate (and follow the recipe exactly), but if you take a few detours the trip may just be a lot more interesting and that makes the recipe fit your family.

So when I cook I make some detours here and there. Some of the detours are simple - for instance I do not like bell peppers, so I either leave them out or I substitute hot peppers. Sometimes I come up with something that my family thinks is a real winner. Only once or twice have a made something so inedible that they would not eat it and even them it was not wasted as we fed it to the pigs or the chickens.

A recent winner with my family and friends is Sweet Potato Cookies. They started out as an oatmeal spice cookie recipe from a friend but some additions and deletions they have been reinvented to be Sweet Potato Cookies.

Sweet Potato Cookies

¾ Cup butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup finely shredded sweet potato, uncooked
4 Tablespoons orange juice concentrate
2 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups oatmeal
1 cup flaked coconut (I make it a generous cup!)
1 cup chopped pecans

In a large mixing bowl cream butter and sugars. Beat in the egg, sweet potato and orange juice concentrate. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Slowly add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Mix in the coconut and pecans until just combined.

Drop by the spoonful 2 inches apart onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until firm. Cool on racks.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do. If you make some detours of your own I would love to hear about them.

Carol - Wyomingmom