Snickerdoodles

Makes about 4 dozen

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, and soda. Shape dough into balls.
Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake about 8 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

Soft Shortbread

Being of Scottish descent, it is more or less required of us to like shortbread...but then again, with a recipe like this, what's not to like?!
I adapted several other recipes to create this one, and I like it because it is sweet and crumbly, but doesn't completely fall apart, and doesn't get hard if it sits out overnight...honestly I don't know it might get hard if it sat out for two nights...it's never lasted that long for us!

1 1/4 c white flour (this is one of those rare recipes where I actually use plain white flour)
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c room-temperature butter (don't try to microwave it to soften it, you have to let it just sit out for a few hours so that it's an even consistency through the cube)

Mix flour and sugar together. Cut in butter until mixture is relatively even and crumbly--no large chunks. With your hands, smoosh it together into one large ball.
Pat or roll the ball on a cookie sheet so that it's about 1/2 inch thick (a little thicker is ok, but too thin will get crusty). Shape into a circle and cut wedges, or shape into a rectangle and cut blocks (I prefer to cut blocks). If you have room, use the knife to gently scoot the pieces apart from each other (they don't need much room, but will stick together if they don't have some space).
Bake at 325 for about 20 minutes.
If pieces were not separated prior to baking, re-cut with a knife while still hot.
Let cool on the pan for at least 5 minutes before attempting to eat. 10 minutes is better, but it's really hard to wait that long.

Breakfast Bars

My husband and son don't like to eat when they first get up. However, by the time they are ready to eat, it's time to head out the door to school...so there were a lot of mornings with just grabbing a piece of toast or something. I knew they needed a more solid breakfast option, because then by mid-morning they were both getting the munchies and snacking on unhealthy things, leading them to not be hungry for the good lunches I worked to make. It was a vicious cycle, and it needed to end...so I came up with these!
This recipe is vague on purpose--it is intended to be high-protein and the saturated fats and whole grains make it filling, but the specific ingredients can easily be adapted for your preferences and needs.

I don't measure anything in this recipe, and it's never quite the same twice. Amounts here are estimates, but feel free to interpret them loosely...
1 stick (1/2cup) butter (or coconut oil, or peanut butter)
2/3 cup brown sugar (or other sweetener of choice)
2ish cups rolled, cracked, or sprouted grain, or leftover hot cereal (cracked wheat, sprouted wheat, rolled oats, 10grain cereal, leftover cream of wheat, etc)
1 Tbs cinnamon (add with flour or sugar)
1-2 eggs
1 or 1 1/2 cups milk (I use powdered and add extra powder for the extra protein)
2ish cups whole wheat flour
1/2-1 cup fruit, dried fruit, or nuts (raisins, craisins, chopped apples, walnuts, etc)
1/2 cup leftover mashed potatos or potato flakes/pearls (potato gives a feeling of fullness)
optional additions: protein powder, cod liver oil, etc

In a large saucepan over med heat, melt butter and brown sugar until dissolved. Add raw grains and some liquid (to soften grains). Stir until well moistened. Add dry ingredients (and additional wet ingredients if/as needed) until the mixture is about the consistency of cookie dough.
Dump the big blob into a 9x13 pan and spread it out evenly. Bake at 300 for about 30 min, or until it turns a bit golden. It should still be soft, but not mooshy.

Variations:
apple craisin oatmeal is one of my favorites
pumpkin raisin might be good! just add some canned pumpkin
raisin walnut
???
whatever you love best!