Cookie Recipe

Susie, over at Uh Oh Now Look has asked for a Blog Cookie Recipe Exchange to help get into the Christmas Spirit.

I will post the recipe for cookies I make year round.

Oatmeal Cookies

pre-heat oven to 350^o
lightly grease cookie sheets before and between batches

Mix together in large bowl and set aside:

3 cups Old-Fashioned Oats
3 cups Quick Oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Options can include any of the following:
Stir them in now.

2 cups chocolate chips
2 cups raisins
2 cups dried cranberries
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

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In another bowl:

Beat together Well with mixer on Medium:

1 cup margarine
1/2 cup shortening
1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 and 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons vanilla

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Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture.
Stir well.  I use a strong arm and a sturdy spoon.
I have never tried to use a dough hook on the mixer because I don’t have one.

Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets.  I use a cookie scoop to get them to look alike and pretty for gift giving.

Bake until edges are a bit golden, 11-15 minutes.
Ovens may vary.
Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then use a spatula to move them to a cooling rack.

Frequently Asked Questions include:
Do I have to have both the two kinds of oats?  YES
Can I use all margarine or all shortening? NO
My flour in the cupboard is self-rising.  Can I use that?  NO
My husband has high blood pressure.  Can I skip the salt?  NO
Can this be altered for diabetics?  I don’t know, I’ve never tried to.  Perhaps a specialty recipe would be better.

I have been baking these cookies since I earned my badge for cooking in Girl Scouts.
The recipe has been changed about as much as it can be and still be yummy the way I want them to taste.  Different ovens over the years add a bit of flavor, but that’s about it.

Update: Saturday 17Dec05
Someone sent me an e-mail asking “What is a cookie scoop?”

Best I can tell you is there is one just like the one I use right over at Crate and Barrel
and that is the same price I paid for mine at The Garlic Press in downtown Normal many years ago.
Hope this helps!

Most years, baking cookies would not be a problem for me.  I am quite the baker.  In fact, I was paid to be The Baker at a cafeteria for 3 years, at least until my hands and shoulders gave out and I had to have an operation for carpal tunnel syndrome.

However, today was a big day.  Our old stove has been dying for months now.  I did a major clean-up awhile back, complete with a metal pick to clear out the holes where the gas burns.
It only bought us some time.
Thanksgiving was very questionable with the oven and all the baking and roasting needing to be done.  We managed to have a fine feast, but I knew our days were numbered.

One morning last week, when I bent over to put a clean dish into the cabinet beside the stove, I could smell the gas.  I checked to make sure all the knobs were in proper position Off.  They were.
This means the appliance could be getting dangerous to use.

We decided to take SEARS up on an offer of 0% interest for a year, and last Saturday all three of us went stove shopping.
They all look alike to me.  None have all the features we want in a single unit, so we settled on a GE, black and white, with a storage drawer on the bottom.
I don’t understand the design of the burners at all.
It seems stupidity avoidance er um, User Safety, is the main idea, being able to clean it easily is next, with getting hot and actually cooking something in a timely fashion coming along maybe later.

Anyways, the stove got delivered today by two big men who worked together like four hands with one mind, and not a wasted movement nor cross word between them.  The old stove got taken out, and I swept up the mess of crumbs quickly because the dolly was already coming back in the front door.
From the time the truck pulled up in front of the house to the time it pulled away was 23 minutes.

While I was waiting for the delivery, I went looking for my favorite cookie recipe.  Sometimes I make it other times of the year, but we like it especially at Christmastime.
It has dates and sugar cooked together on top of the stove, and oats and nuts, and is pressed into a pan to make bar cookies.
I looked all over, and I cannot find the recipe!
I checked the flour company’s website.  There are many recipes, but not the one I want, so I left a message and my e-mail address.  Maybe someone there could take pity on me, because I don’t trust my memory to try to bake any good ones.

After I gave up on the recipe, I went looking for a picture of me taken a couple years ago with my mountains of baked goodies spread across the table in front of me.  I had sent out reprints of the photo in Christmas cards, and I got good responses, but it has not ever been on the blog.
I looked all over and I cannot find the picture!

So along with my great upper of a new stove, I have two downers because of absentmindedness.  Saying “it’ll turn up” is small consolation when I really want to be doing things with my blog because I don’t have to be doing writing anywheres else.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll get some pictures.

Meanwhile, there’s a frozen pizza initiating our centerpiece of the kitchen.

Tonight, right after we eat, Husband and I have to be going to a meeting longstanding for the second Wednesday of the month.
It managed to slip my mind yet again.
He calls it the Oh Shit meeting because I always forget until supper of the proper Wednesday.
~~love and Huggs, Diane