Cookie Time: Chewy Oatmeal cookies

Finally, it’s cookie time! For no particular reason I find that I don’t make cookies at any other time of year than Christmas. I’m not sure why, it’s not as if I don’t like cookies, oh….no. I am a cookie monger. I’m always afraid when I make a batch of cookies that someone will notice that double the recipe only yielded ½ the amount.

So, I hope you don’t mind if I induge in a little “cookie trip” and share some of my favorite cookie recipes and one or two new experiements. Lemmie know if you have anything outstanding that I should try. Don’t hold out on me now.

A few little tips on cookies I’d like to throw out there:

- Chill your dough at least 2 hrs before cooking, you get a much more controlled "spreading"

- It really pays to stick to butter or shortning when it calls for it, not margarine if at all possible. Just once, try it, and you’ll probably find that elusive crispy outside & soft chewy inside you love or that crunch that you’ve been hoping for.

- And most importantly.....eating obsessive amounts of cookie dough will not kill you. That's just some rumor started by the greedy teacher of yours who wanted to swipe all the left overs for herself. Snitch away, my friend!

Now let's get on with it: First up, Chewy oatmeal cookies:

½ c butter
1/2 c brown sugar
¼ c sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla or almond essence
1 c flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ tsp cinn
1 ½ c oats
½ cup of walnuts or raisins (in a perfect world I like to use ½ c of walnuts & ¼ c raisins)

Whisk together flour, b.soda, salt, & cinn in a bowl. Cream together butter & sugars till well blended in a large bowl, beat in egg & vanilla, mix in dry ingr till well mixed. Add raisins &/or nuts. Chill for at least 2 hrs in fridge. Make 1 ½ inch balls & place on baking tray, flatten out a little (leave about 1 inch space between cookies). Bake at 170 for 8-10 min. They should still be pretty soft & doughy in the middle (if you really like them chewy)

For upper-duper chewy cookies cool on the baking tray for 5 min. The less time they spend on the baking tray after coming out of the oven the crispier they’ll be. But I don't think you want to exceed 5 min.

Sorry, I don’t have the exact amount of cookies these make. (I ate too many before I counted them!) But it’s somewhere around 24 cookies. I prefer smallish cookies so that I can eat more & be in denail. Plus you can give your kids more. Plus I think they ought to be dolled out sparingly and if you can help it w/ some milk, cocoa or eggnoggie-nog. Happy Baking Time!