Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesn’t love a good cookie? Warm, gooey, filled with yummy stuff and ready for a good dunk in a cold glass of milk.  I love cookies but I’m not a huge chocolate fan (sorry – it’s not a character flaw, just not my favorite). I don’t mind some chocolate in cookies but sometimes there is so much chocolate, the cookie is simply lost so I am always looking for great cookies that I can balance flavors in.   I’m big on symmetry and balance in general and for cooking and find that the balance of flavors is a critical part of making a dish successful.  Too much of one flavor or ingredient can ruin a dish and overpower everything else.  That’s where this specific cookie was born. 

Most oatmeal cookies have raisins and these were decent cookies with raisins but I decided to see how it was with chocolate chips.  In addition to replacing raisins with chocolate chips, I also tried regular sized semi-sweet chips and mini semi-sweet chips and the mini chips won hands down.  Better distribution of chocolate throughout each cookie and a better balance of flavors.   The other thing about balance is the size of the cookie.  I use a small ice cream scoop for each cookie to ensure every cookie is consistent and cooks evenly.  The other thing I do to make a great cookie is about five minutes before the cookies are done, I give the sheet pan a good whack on the oven or counter which cuts down on the puff and makes a denser cookie.  I don’t like hockey puck or meatball shaped cookies – if you do, just omit this step.  Either way, these are great cookies. It’s just a preference.

This is an easy cookie to make and every time I’ve made them, they don’t last.  Offices, parties, neighbors, family…gone in less than 24hrs.  But if you happen to make yours last more than a day, keep them in an airtight container and they will last for almost a week.  You can also make the dough, portion it out and freeze individually on a sheet tray.  Once they are frozen you can put them in a zip top bag and pull out anytime you need a cookie!   

Ingredients

1 stick   Butter plus six tbs, room temperature

¾ cup    Light brown sugar, firmly packed

½ cup    Granulated sugar

2            Eggs

1 tsp      Pure vanilla extract

1 ½ cup All-purpose flour

1 tsp      Baking soda

½ tsp     Salt

1 cup     Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 cups   Old fashion oats (I like Quaker)

Directions

Heat oven to 350.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, mix butter and both sugars until creamed.  Add eggs and vanilla and once combined, add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until combined.  Add oats, slowly, and then chocolate chips.

Using a small ice cream scoop (mine is about a 3 tbs measure), place each amount onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Bake for approximately 10 – 12 minutes until light brown (depending on your oven) and the edges are just starting to show some color. If you want a denser cookie, about five minutes before they are done, give the pan a good whack to deflate the cookies.

Transfer to a rack and cool.