For the love of cookies

When I was in 8th grade, one of my childhood best friends came to live with our family the last half of the school year. She and I were inseparable- swimming for hours, harassing my brother and making way too many batches of cookies. Weekly, I think my poor mom opened the fridge only to find she never had butter or eggs. Our kitchen was constantly covered in a faint layer of flour and one could smell baked chocolate chips cookies from down the street! My mom would come home to find the beaters in the sink, licked to perfection! "You shouldn't eat raw cookie dough," she'd warn, "you'll get salminila!" So what did I do? I hid the cookie dough. In my room. Under my bed. And every night I'd reach under there and scoop out a little bit of heaven. For however long that cookie dough lasted, I'd nibble nightly. And I lived to tell... a little raw cookie dough never hurt me!

I believe this is where my obsession with desserts stems. It originally started from the back of the Tollhouse Chocolate Chip package- the standard chocolate chip cookie recipe. Then I started dating Bryan and tasted his mom's recipe, which truly are the best cookies I've ever had. Hint, the secret is half whole wheat flour/ half regular flour! But once in a while I just craved more. A heartier cookie. One I could eat instead of dinner. And thus I discovered Clementine's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies... a sturdy, oaty, oohey-gooey cookie. Like homemade stew on a chilled night, this cookie encompasses it all. Just the other night I made a batch, baked them a few minutes short, added a huge ball of Trader's French Vanilla ice cream on top and voila... holiday heaven!! Not that I eat them only around holidays... it's that I eat twice as much around this season :) With the leftover dough, I roll them in tablespoon balls and freeze them in a ziplock. That way when we have friends stop by, or I need a lil sweet treat, I just pop 'em in the oven!

Try 'em and let me know what you think! Don't forget to lick the beaters:)

Clementine's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

yields: 5 dozen 2 inch cookies

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar (dark is best)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

3 cups oats, uncooked

1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy and lightened in color. Add vanilla and egg, and mix on low speed until incorporated. Stir flour with baking soda, salt, and spices; add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Stir in oats. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts (optional). Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8-9 minutes for chewy cookie, 10-13 minutes for a crisp cookie. Enjoy!