I bring treats to work every Tuesday. Almost always cookies — because cookies are easy to eat and grab on the go. One of the women I work with hates chocolate, so I made these — incorporating all good things (peanut butter! oatmeal! white chocolate!) besides chocolate. Hope all of my American readers had a great holiday weekend!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies
Recipe source: averiecooks.com
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Yield: 22 to 24 cookies

1/2 c unsalted butter
1/3 c creamy peanut butter
1 c light brown sugar, packed
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 c old fashioned whole oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 c white chocolate chips
1/2 c peanut butter chips

1. Preheat oven to 325F. In a medium-sized microwave safe bowl, melt the butter and peanut butter together. This step did not take long on my microwave – about 30-45 seconds. Watch it carefully!
2. Add the brown and white sugar to the melted butter and peanut butter mixture and stir. Set this aside so it can cool to room temperature.
3. Add the egg + yolk, add the vanilla extract, and stir.
4. Add the flour, oats, baking soda and stir.
5. Add in the white chocolate chips and peanut butter chips; stir.
6. Roll out 1-1/2 Tablespoon-sized balls of dough and place onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. These cookies will spread a little bit, so space them about 2 inches apart.
7. Bake about 10-12 minutes. Note: I baked mine for 15 minutes because I wanted to be sure that they were cooked. If you like underdone cookies, bake for less time. Cool the cookies on wire racks.

Makes about 24 cookies.

If you need a last-minute idea for your BBQ or 4th of July party, here are some ideas! Hope you’re all having a great summer!

1. Bomb Pop Cupcakes
2. Corn on the Cob Cupcakes
3. American Flag Cake
4. American Landmark Cupcakes
5. Sparkler Cupcakes
6. Ants at a Picnic Cupcakes
7. Sno-Cone Cupcakes
8. 4th of July Cake
9. 4th of July Mini Cupcakes
10. Watermelon Cupcakes
11. Red & Blue Poke Cake
12. Patriotic Punch
13. Patriotic Star Cookies
14. Red White & Blue Cupcakes

Okay 4th of July party people, you want something easy easy easy easy easy to make? These are for you! You can impress all of your friends and family with these pretty cupcakes and secretly be saying to yourself, “pfft, I could have made ’em in my sleep.” I used a boxed cake mix for these because boxed cake mixes are reliable, simple, and universally loved.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Red White & Blue Cupcakes
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1 box white cake mix (plus the required oil + eggs)
Red and blue food coloring (I used AmeriColor Super Red and Wilton gel for the blue)
1 batch of buttercream icing (my favorites are listed here; or you can use store-bought icing)
Decorations (optional; I used little sugar flags made by Wilton)

1. Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners and preheat oven according to boxed cake mix instructions.
2. Make cupcake batter according to directions on the box.
3. Divide the batter into three bowls; use the food coloring to dye one batch of batter red, the other blue, and leave one batch alone.
4. Spoon a few tablespoons of red batter into each cupcake liner; then a few tablespoons of white batter; then a few tablespoons of blue batter. You could do the reverse as well, starting with the blue batter and ending with the red. It’s up to you.
5. Bake the cupcakes according to the directions on the box. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely on wire racks.
6. Ice the cupcakes however you’d like. I used a large star tip — then I topped each cupcake with a flag decoration and/or red, white, and blue sprinkles.