Trail Mix Muffin Cookies

These cookies are baked in mini-muffin tins. They are very delicate when they come out of the oven, but firm up as they cool. They are great for lunch boxes and backpacks. They are oatmeal cookies dressed up with whatever fruit, nuts and/or baking chips you like. It is a great way to use up small amounts of this and that left over after baking projects. One of my favorites is white chocolate chips + dried cranberries + chopped pecans. Chopped peanuts + mini M&Ms + raisins is another good one. If you don't have self-rising flour, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt for each cup of all-purpose flour.

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 30
• Yields: 5 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 1  cup granulated sugar
• 1  cup  firmly packed brown sugar
• 1  cup butter, melted
• 2  eggs
• 1  tablespoon vanilla
• 2  cups self-rising flour
• 1 1⁄2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1  teaspoon cinnamon
• 3  cups  chopped  nuts (any combination) or 3  cups  dried fruit (any combination) or 3  cups  baking  chips (any combination)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*F; Spray a 24-muffin mini muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the melted butter and the two sugars and mix at medium speed until well blended; add the eggs and vanilla and continue mixing until the batter looks smooth and creamy.
3. In another large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats and cinnamon; pour the batter over the dry ingredients and mix at low speed until well blended; stir in the 3 cups of fruit/nut/chips.
4. Fill each muffin cup with batter (a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop is perfect for this).
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are brown and the tops look dry.
6. Allow muffin cookies to cool for a few minutes before loosening with a knife and gently removing to a rack.
7. If you try to remove them too soon, they will crumble!
8. Repeat steps 4 to 6 until all the dough is used.
9. Rinse muffin tin and re-spray with cooking spray between each batch.