It is officially Cold out. To be precise, it was -10° when I started writing this at 7:28 AM and the high today was 11°. Balmy.
It's also day 3 of winter break. Hurray! There's nothing more peaceful and productive than 11 straight days indoors with two small children... Which reminds me of one of my favorite sayings: INSANITY IS HEREDITARY - You Get It From Your Kids.
Thank God for cookies. I find that eating them regularly makes the cold and snow slightly more bearable, although it also makes my pants slightly less wearable... And baking them is a good way to pass the time, especially since my younger son loves to cook foods, both real and pretend.
As I've gotten more years of parenting under my belt, I've gotten savvier about letting the kids help - here are my two big advances:
1. Putting a big baking sheet down underneath the whole set up to contain the flour, sugar, etc. So much easier to clean than the flour and/or the counter.
2. Instead of having the kids fill the measuring cup or teaspoon and dump it directly into the bowl which usually leads to wildly incorrect amounts - a bit of a no-no in baking, I now set up a larger measuring cup for them to dump it into so that I can adjust as needed before it goes into the mixing bowl.
I wanted to use oats because they're so comforting and hearty. And chocolate is a must, in my opinion. I also like nuts in my cookies, especially when they're pecans.
I turned to one of my favorite cookie sources - the Williams Sonoma Cookies cookbook. I also have their Soup and Breakfast books. I like them because all the recipes are good - sophisticated without being fancy or unnecessarily complicated, and the pictures always make me hungry.
In the case of these cookies, there's not much to 'em. You just melt butter, beat eggs, chop nuts, measure flour, sugar, oats, choco chips and mix it all together. Then let it chill for a bit.
Scoop out a spoonful and drop it into the greased tray (that's why these are called "drop" cookies.) Then smush them down with a spoon or spatula or your hand before you put them into the oven.
Take them out, scoop them off, cool enough to avoid burning your tongue, and eat.
-- print recipe --
Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Slightly adapted from the Oatmeal Cookies recipe in Williams Sonoma Cookies cookbook
Makes about 3 dozen cookies
Ingredients
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) organic butter
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 1 large egg, lightly beaten (try to find pasture-raised from a farm near you)
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 tsp baking soda
* 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
* 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
* 1/2 cup chocolate chips
* 1/3 cup chopped pecans (sub in walnuts if you prefer them)
Directions
1. Melt the butter over low heat then remove from heat and beat in the sugar until blended. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until blended.
2. Stir the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture then stir in the oats, nuts and chocolate chips until combined. Cover and put in the fridge for an hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease two baking sheets (don't skimp!) Drop rounded spoonfuls of the cookie batter onto the cookie sheets roughly 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart. Flatten each ball of dough a bit with a metal spatula or your palm. Bake the cookies until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool a bit before eating.
Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Slightly adapted from the Oatmeal Cookies recipe in Williams Sonoma Cookies cookbook
Makes about 3 dozen cookies
Ingredients
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) organic butter
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 1 large egg, lightly beaten (try to find pasture-raised from a farm near you)
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 tsp baking soda
* 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
* 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
* 1/2 cup chocolate chips
* 1/3 cup chopped pecans (sub in walnuts if you prefer them)
Directions
1. Melt the butter over low heat then remove from heat and beat in the sugar until blended. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until blended.
2. Stir the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture then stir in the oats, nuts and chocolate chips until combined. Cover and put in the fridge for an hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease two baking sheets (don't skimp!) Drop rounded spoonfuls of the cookie batter onto the cookie sheets roughly 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart. Flatten each ball of dough a bit with a metal spatula or your palm. Bake the cookies until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool a bit before eating.
You might also like:
- Coconut Almond Chocolate Chunk Cookies (grain and gluten-free)
- Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Mandarin Orange Coconut Cookies (vegan yet delicious)
3 comments:
When do you add the chocolate chips ?
Hi Roshan, the chocolate chips go in with the oats and nuts.
Thanks Eve .... That's what I thought - and did. They were delicious - a great dessert for your maple glazed meatloaf. Thank you so much - love your blog. Your mother in law knows my husband Fazl .... From way back. Take care.
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