recipe: chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Not having baked since the holidays, I was missing my right, red mixer and the satisfaction of pulling a delicious baked good hot out of my oven.  While I don't believe there needs to be a real occasion to bake, I also didn't want to have a full batch of dessert hanging around our house. 

Last Friday I was invited to a dinner party of sorts, gathering a number of old friends and colleagues together for an evening. I knew dinner would be covered and decided to bring a homemade dessert.  Cookies seemed like the way to go for the large group who were sure to be moving and mingling about.  A search through the "Cookies" tag in my Google Reader turned up this recipe which seemed like a good bet.

They turned out light, not too sweet and, as promised, chewy in the center.  I don't know if these will end up a go-to cookie recipe but, they were delicious and very easy to put together.  In fact, I whipped up the batch at about 7:45 in the morning as G sat next to me in his high chair eating breakfast. By the time he had finished eating, the third tray was in the oven.

 Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Source: Adapted from Allrecipes.com)

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon (my addition)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional; I omitted)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used half semi-sweet and half white chips)

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.

3. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  Yield: 5 dozen.

After a dozen had completely cooled, I was setting up for a photo when a dimple handed cookie monster snuck into my frame.  Caught!

Not even the littlest person can resist the scent of cookies fresh out of the oven :)