Jana: Oatmeal Pear Cookies

Since Valentine's Day is not right without something sweet, I decided to search for a pear dessert. However, I think we have plans to go out Monday night, so I switched gears and went with "pear cookie." I found a recipe that linked back to the California Pear Advisory Board, so I decided to give it a try.

We pretty much already had all of the ingredients I needed. I just stopped in at the store to get more pears and fresh brown sugar. And, while Rob was out on his bike ride this afternoon, I whipped up a batch. In his hour ride, I was able to get through the whole thing. He walked in the door as I was cleaning the last cookie sheet. He knew something was up, but I just pretended not to know what he was talking about.

The only hiccup I had in the baking process was the fact that it seemed forever before the mixture became creamy and dough-like. In fact, I was already brainstorming of what kind of liquid I would need to add to fix the consistency. Luckily, however, all it needed was a little more time. So... word of warning... just keep mixing.

I think that the cookies are the perfect amount of sweetness, aka not too much. The oats definitely tone it down. The pears add a yummy flavor, but also make the cookies extremely moist.

After they cooled for a bit, I wrapped up several in a cute bag to accompany the other small gifts I put together. And, even created a little tag, based on these that I found over at Twig and Thistle.

Of course, when we got back to the house this evening after a picnic at the park, Rob walked right to the pantry and picked up the bag of extra cookies that I had carefully in the back of the bottom shelf, saying, "where'd we get these cookies from?" I couldn't dangle cookies in front of him, and not let him eat them, so needless to say he ate a plateful for dinner tonight.