Thankfully, another weekend is upon us. Today is Good Friday and many people across the country have the day off. Hikes and bicycle rides, with social distancing in check; may be on the agenda for families across America as the Easter holiday comes and goes with large gatherings not able to be enjoyed now.
I hope we all will be blessed with a few days of sunshine and fair winds. We have the gift of time to enjoy the miracles of Mother Nature. My husband Bill and I are grateful to own several acres of mature forest and over the years of maintaining its magnificence we and our dogs have molded well travelled paths throughout. We are extremely blessed to be able to open our mudroom door and enter the realm of nature.
However, I know many public parks and trails are unavailable to man or beast during this world pandemic. This reality induces us to yank up our boots, throw on our capes and reach deep into our top hats. We search with great hope and a bit of desperation to pull out a magic that enables us to entertain ourselves and our children, at little or no cost to perilously empty wallets and pantrys, in our own backyards.
So, with outdoor sun kissed activities in mind (or indoor picnics with all the lights on and the picnic blanket and basket taking center stage) these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies will bring a just sweet enough, delicious, chewey delight to your days.
Oatmeal Chcoate Chip Cookies
Makes 48 large, chewey, scrumptious cookies. This recipe can be halved easily for 24 cookies of the same scrumptiousness.
4 1/2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 1/2 cups unpacked light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup (2 sticks) room temperature butter
1 TB pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup quick oats
1 cup chocolate chips (we prefer dark chocolate chips)
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugars and vanilla extract until well mixed. Add the eggs and beat until light and fluffy.
Add the flour, oats, salt and baking powder. Beat until well mixed. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and mix until well blended. The dough will be stiff.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Using a table spoon (the soup spoon kind) scoop up a spoonful of dough and form a rough round scoop of dough. Evenly place 12 scoops of cookie dough on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes. The top of the cookies will be light brown and the centers will appear doughy. The cookies will be done…do not overbake. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and let cookies cool for a minute on the cookie sheet. Remove the cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
OR…you can take delicious advantage of still warm from the oven, generously plump chewey cookies. That’s what we do. And we wouldn’t do it any other way.
These cookies travel well…in picnic or Easter baskets, lunch boxes or backpacks. They freeze well too. But they usually don’t last that long around here !!! ENJOY
MANY BLESSINGS…