Look what you did to him!

When I was doing what I do and trolling for ideas on Pinterest, today's adventure popped out at me. I love an apple pie with a cheddar crust. While many people seem to think that is strange, I was raised eating apple pastries with a bit of cheese so this excursion sound good and right to me.

Apple Gouda Oatmeal Cookies

Makes 24 cookies

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla OR 1 tablespoon dark rum

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon powdered ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup golden raisins

1 medium-sized apple (about 10 ounces)

4 ounces Gouda cheese, finely chopped (about 1 cup)

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Whisk the olive oil and egg together in a glass measuring cup until completely combined. Whisk in the vanilla or rum. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, ginger, baking powder, salt, and oats. Stir in the raisins.

Peel and core the apple. Use the coarse side of a grater to grate it directly into the flour. (You should have 1 1/2 to 2 cups of shredded apple.) Stir in the apple and the chopped Gouda.

Add the liquids from the measuring cup and stir just until everything is moistened. The dough will be loose and clumpy. Drop in large spoonfuls on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 17 minutes, or until the cookies are golden. They will be very soft still. Let them cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to cooling racks to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

My only qualm with this dish is just the baking time really, but that really can't be helped. I probably should have left the raisins out for my own personal taste buds <stupid raisins, get out of my cookie!>, but as this was shaping up to not be a sweet ,desserty cookie, I figured that they would be welcome in a more savory bite sized food. Though as I think about it further now, I don't really like raisins unless they are in a bread pudding or carrot or broccoli salad. Ah, well, too late now.

These are good. While they don't seem to have a long shelf life, I definitely like the flavor (well, not the raisins, but they aren't too strong) and the texture (again, not the raisins, why did I think it would be ok?).

Husband enjoyed the novelty of them as well as the flavor and was happy o have them to take along on our adventures to SDCC and beyond. Yes, there is a beyond...it is called going the family cottage on Crystal Lake (Not THAT Crystal Lake).

Until the next snack cookie...


**Today's title is from Friday the 13th as I am headed to my own Crystal Lake next week.**