Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup butter, margarine, or shortening (best results: 1/2 c. margarine and 1/2 c. shortening)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups quick oats
• 1 cup (half a bag) chocolate chips (At least)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together margarine and/or shortening, sugar and brown sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla, then mix in baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix in flour and then the oats. Finally, mix in the chocolate chips. Spoon onto baking pan in approximately tablespoon-sized balls of dough. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

Number Of Servings: Makes about 2-3 dozen (but don't worry, it can easily be doubled!)

Preparation Time: About half an hour

Yet another chocolate chip cookie recipe:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 cup (2 1/2 sticks) unsweetened butter (softened)
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 cup unsifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
3 cups uncooked oats
1 bag (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans or walnut chips

Preheat oven to 375°F. Beat butter, sugar and brown sugar until creamy. Mix in vanilla and egg. Stir flour with baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Stir in oats. Mix in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 9 minutes for chewy cookies, 10 to 11 minutes for crisp cookies. Allow to stand on cookie sheets for 1 minute before removing to finish cooling. Makes approx. 5 dozen if rounded tablespoons are used. I usually end up with about 3 dozen cookies of various (large) sizes, requiring an extra minute or two on the baking time.

Notes:

This recipe uses more butter than most, if you aren't careful (the butter should be soft, but not too soft) you'll end up with flat cookies. Do it anyway. Don't use margarine or vegetable shortening. Trust me.

The baking times are very approximate, in my opinion the cookies should still be a bubbly, gooey, buttery mess in the middle when they come out of the oven.

I like spices. Lots of 'em. Not everyone does though. It may be advisable to cut the nutmeg and cinnamon in half if your taste buds are easily overwhelmed. Same goes for the vanilla. Remember, no recipe is set in stone (or at least none should be), feel free to experiment. In fact I recommend experimenting, it's what makes cooking and baking fun.

I do not recommend using instant oats, uncooked regular oats give the best texture.

Eating too many of these things will probably kill you. I'd guess there's somewhere around 400 Calories per cookie the way I make them. All that butter...Mmmmmmm.

Nutmeg isn't just for eggnog, dammit!

This is the world famous recipe, revealed here for the first time in all its glory...

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 c. light brown sugar
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 3 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 3 c. old-fashioned oats
• 12 oz. package of chocolate chips

Cream together the butter and sugars. Add the vanilla and eggs to the creamed mixture and combine. Stir in flour, baking soda, and cinnamon until combined completely. Stir in oats and chocolate chips. Make large dough balls approximately 3" in diameter and smash flat, placing them on a cookie sheet. Bake at 450^o for about 10 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to brown. You now have gigantico restaurant style cookies.

You may notice that your dough doesn't look like average cookie dough, and other aspects of this recipe may seem a little odd. For an explanation of this, see How to Bake a Cookie which doesn't come out as hard as a rock.