Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

My daughters love making cookies with me. I like to think it is because we are spending time together and learning math through application. But perhaps they are more results oriented than I care to admit.  Regardless, we do enjoy it and are always looking for excuses to bake.  A few months ago, my preschooler and I decided to make cookies for her class picnic.  She loves oatmeal for breakfast, and often requests it as an after school snack.  I was surprised when she objected to my suggestion of oatmeal raisin cookies. Evidently she has become anti-raisin because "they stick in my teeth". However, she suggested using chocolate chips instead. I tinkered with the recipe on the Quaker Oats canister and the result was quite a hit with the entire class.  

You will need:

1/2 cup plus 6 tblsps unsalted butter (almost 2 sticks)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 and 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups of old fashioned oats (I never use quick, I prefer the texture of the old fashioned)

1 and 1/4 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make sure the butter is nice and soft. Put it in a mixer with the sugars, until it is well combined. Add the  eggs and the vanilla. 

Mix together the flour, soda, salt and oats in a separate bowl. Add to the wet mixture. Toss in the chocolate chips. Stir until just nicely blended. Don't stir too much! Over stirring will make them tough. 

Line the cookie sheet with a silpat mat. Trust me on this- they are worth the investment. (See my previous post on the topic.) 

For the next part, I use a small ice cream scoop, the kind that you squeeze.  The scoop really helps keep the size uniform so that the cookies bake evenly. Scoop a ball of dough with the ice cream scooper. This next part is optional, but it makes the cookies look very nice. With clean, wet hands, roll the dough ball in your palms until it is smooth and even. Then put it on the cookie tray lined with the silpat mat and smoosh it a little bit flat with your hand. Bake for 9-15 minutes- this really depends on the size of your cookies and then oven. If it is a teaspoon size ball of dough, it will run closer to 9 minutes. The ice cream scoop ones will be more like 12, and really big cookies are about 15 minutes. 

Once the cookies are lightly browned, remove from the oven. Cool on a cookie rack.