#BloggerCLUE ~ Oatmeal Peanut Butter Date Cookies

Welcome to June reveal day for the the C.L.U.E. Bloggers (CLUE = Cook, Learn, Undertake, Eat).  Blogger C.L.U.E. is a group of like minded food bloggers who get an assignment each month of another member's blog; our mission (should we choose to accept it) is to take the theme for the month and find any recipe on our assigned blog that fits. Make the recipe, photograph the recipe, and share it with you on reveal day! For this month I had the fun task of finding a "Picnic Food" recipe from Christy's Blog "Confessions of a Culinary Diva". Want to take a moment to drool? Just pop over to Christy's Pinterest page... mmm....

Back to picnic recipes! Where to start, where to start... I could search for a summery pasta salad, a great picnic sandwich, a refreshing drink to share, a perfect appetizer, tasty cookies... the options are endless!

I started browsing through Christy's recipes and narrowed it down to a Lobster Roll (who wouldn't want to pull that out of a picnic basket and chow down??!), Guacamole for a delicious appetizer / chip dip, an Irish Seafood Cocktail, some White Chocolate Dipped Strawberries, Croquants, Winter's Dream Cookies, Strawberry Shortcake, Peppadew Dip, Oatmeal Peanut Butter Date Cookies, or a Hatch Chile Cheeseburger! I looked through all the dishes I'd saved and opted for a cookie - a perfect picnic treat anytime, anywhere. Serve a platter at home for a get together potluck / picnic, pack them up in the picnic basket and enjoy them in the car on the way somewhere, at the pool, park, or beach - cookies are perfect, portable picnic food. Not to mention, I've been craving homemade cookies for awhile now. I usually whip a batch up at least once a month or so, but haven't done that the past few months and I needed a cookie, or two, or three to fix that.

My cookies ended up with a slightly strange aftertaste through no fault of the recipe. My adorable 20-month old baking assistant dumped an almost full box of baking soda into the flour and oats when I was in the midst of prepping my ingredients. Instead of dumping it all, I pulled out all the baking soda I could get then doubled the dry ingredients. I think there was still too much baking soda though. Otherwise we loved the texture and contents of these cookies!! I skipped the peanuts because I didn't have them, but next time would definitely add chopped nuts and a handful or two of chocolate chips as well - yumm!

Come see ALL the delicious Picnic-Inspired recipes shared by all the Clue Bloggers today:

• (Almost) Nancy's Chopped Salad w/ Oregano Vinaigrette by Heather from girlichef
• Apple Chips by Lauren from Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Barbecue Chicken Salad w/ Smoky Barbecue Vinaigrette by Kate from Kate's Kitchen
• California Quinoa Greek Salad;by Christiane from Taking on Magazines
• Carrot Cake Cookies by Kathy from Bakeaway with Me
• Chicken Salad w/ Peanut Dressing by Azmina from Lawyer Loves Lunch
• Chicken Waldorf Salad by Aly from Cooking in Stilettos
• Duck with Pear Wraps + Limeade with Chia Seeds by Kelli from Kelli's Kitchen
• Fried Apple Pies by Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Green Bean & Corn Salad by Alice from A Mama, Baby and Shar-pei in the Kitchen
• Loaded Baked Potato Salad by Lea Ann from Cooking on the Ranch
• Oatmeal Peanut Butter Date Cookies by Rebekah from Making Miracles
• Olive Sables by Lisa from Authentic Suburban Gourmet
• Puff Pastry Antipasto Squares by Anna from annaDishes
• Smoky Pimento Cheese Spread by Debra from Eliot's Eats
• Sweet and Spicy Barbecue Baked Beans + Chickenburger Roll-in-a-Basket by Kathy from A Spoonful of Thyme
• Thomas Keller's Chocolate Chip Cookies by Kim from Liv Life
• Tuscan Bean Salad by Stacy from Food Lust People Love
• Watermelon Feta Salad by Jean from Lemons and Anchovies
• White Bean, Bacon and Rosemary Salad by Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Date Cookies from Christy Majors at Confessions of a Culinary Diva

Ingredients

3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp salt
8 ounces butter (at room temperature)
1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
10 diced medjool dates (pits removed)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place racks so oven is divided into thirds.
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
3. Whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, spices and salt in a bowl and set aside.
4. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the peanut butter, butter, sugar and brown sugar together on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, and beat for a minute after each addition. Add the vanilla, turn mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients only until just blended. Add the peanuts and dates and mix for thirty seconds.
5. Cover and refrigerate dough for two hours. (Chilling the dough helps to get more evenly shaped cookies.) Once dough is chilled, scoop up with a tablespoon and roll into a ball in your hand and place on baking sheet approximately two inches apart.
6. Bake for 13-15 minutes. The cookies should be golden in color and just firm around the edges. Allow to cool and firm for a few minutes on the baking sheets, then move to a cooling rack when they are able to be handled and allow to complete their cooling.