Some people take smoke breaks

I take bake breaks.

I'd been wanting an oatmeal cookie for the past few days, and today the NEED to have one escalated to the point where I gave in and mixed up a batch of dough. I made Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, swapping the ratios of the white and brown sugars and using milk chocolate chips because they were in the kitchen  and I didn't want to run into the basement to get the right kind. Most of the dough was scooped into balls and put into the freezer for later. Of the six that I did bake, I wish I had remembered to sprinkle a bit of vanilla salt on them, but they are still REALLY good.

Did you see "still"? Yes! I managed to not eat them all! (yet) Pictured above is how I chose to enjoy them- an ice cream sandwich cradling a small scoop of Jeni's (of course) Honey Vanilla Bean ice cream. Salty-sweet heaven! I can't wait to try this with their upcoming Bananas & Honey.

I also made use of the crockpot today (that lonely appliance that doesn't get much love around here), brewing up a batch of unsweetened applesauce. I've never made it before, but it seemed pretty simple. There were (still are) a ton of Winesap apples lingering in the crisper that needed to be used, and this seemed like the healthiest option. Read: not a baked good.

All I did was take:

• 8 apples- peeled, cored, sliced
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar 
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• Toss all ingredients in a crockpot and let simmer for a few hours on low

It smells and tastes delicious. At first it didn't seem like it was doing anything, but after awhile they started to break down. Most recipes I found online called for 1/2 cup of sugar or more, but since I prefer unsweetened, I went with only a tablespoon. Next time I might omit it altogether. I wish I had tried this sooner! Once this batch is gone, I can start working with those remaining apples.