Degree of difficulty: easy
Time: 20 minutes to measure out ingredients, 10 minutes to bake each batch
Serves: many
What is there to say about a well-made oatmeal chocolate chip cookie except that it's amazingly delicious as a wrap-up to a meal. Add a little fruit and it's even semi-healthy, right?
These cookies will be part of a picnic lunch I'm preparing for an autumn leaf excursion to the mountains of North Carolina. Since I'll be in SC visiting my mom, it's a perfect chance to get one with nature and enjoy the explosion of golds and reds.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light or dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 12 ounce bag chocolate chips (chunk variety is great)
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together.
Using a mixer, whip butter and sugar together, add eggs, vanilla.
Add dry ingredients, a little at a time.
By hand, stir in the oats and chocolate chips, and nuts if desired.
Place a heaping tablespoonful of batter onto greased cookie sheet, spacing about 3 inches apart so they won't stick together when baking, and press down with back of spoon to form 1/2 inch thick rounds.
Bake (one cookie sheet at a time) for 8 to 10 minutes total--6 minutes on middle rack, a couple minutes on top rack. If you're new to cookie baking, watch the first batch carefully to get your timing right. Remove the sheet to a rack and let stand until the cookies firm up slightly, about 2 minutes. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool.
These cookies will keep in an airtight container for several days and they freeze well. But nothing's better than a cookie straight from the oven when the chocolate's still gooey and semi-molten. Oh man.
Suggested soundtrack: Marvin Gaye's "When A Man Loves A Woman," my preference over Percy Sledge
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