Yummy Eats: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal cookies + chocolate chips = Mmm. I love oatmeal cookies, but I can't stand raisins. Why would you ruin a perfectly lovely cookie by adding in a grape in disguise? I'm haunted by this question on a daily basis. Truly, it boggles my mind.

I found this recipe on the inside of the lid of my Quaker old fashioned oats. It calls for raisins, but raisins are the devil, so I swapped them for chocolate chips. The result is perfection.

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (for my high altitude friends: increase flour to 1-3/4 cups and bake as directed)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 cups Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Things to note: In my experience, oatmeal cookies burn quick, so it's important to watch them in those crucial final minutes of baking. Depending on your oven, and the size of your "rounded tablespoonfuls", the cook time varies. My cookies tend to be on the larger side, so I cook for the full 10 minutes. I like my oatmeal cookies chewy (really, who doesn't?), so instead of waiting for the tops to brown, I check the sides. Once the sides near the bottom of the cookies have browned, I pull them out. Last thing, I love nutmeg and if you happen to have any around, add a dash (only a dash!) to create another dimension the wonderful mash of flavors in this cookie.

The recipe said you could make 4 dozen, but I call bull. The most I have ever squeezed out of a batch was 30 cookies. But, like I said, I tend to make each cookie a bit bigger.

Educate yourself on the topic in this post:

•  Quaker website for the original recipe plus other goodies: http://www.quakeroats.com/cooking-and-recipes/content/recipes/recipe-detail.aspx?recipeid=474