I have a strange collection of little booklet-style cookbooks. Some are from the 40's or 50's. Some are the kind of cookbook that you could write away for off the back of a packet of baking soda. Some were clearly made and sold as a fund raiser for local community or church groups. In all, I'd say I have somewhere around 20 of these little gems. One of them is from the 1995 graduating class fund raiser from my law school. It contains, not just cheesy law-school humour, but cheesy, college student recipes in spades. Some are good. A lot of them use offensive amounts of mayonnaise or Velveeta. But one of the recipes has served as the basis for 12 years of amazing chocolate chip cookies for me.
In 12 years, I don't know that I've managed to stick to the recipe entirely even once, but the results have always been stellar. The trick, in my opinion, is the ground oatmeal which replaces half the flour. It makes for a cookie that tastes like a marriage between an chewy oatmeal cookie and a chocolate chip cookie. Perfect!
The current incarnation looks something like this:
- 1 cup butter, soft
- 1/4 cup vanilla sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 2 1/2 cups rolled oats (whizzed into flour in your blender)
- a splash of milk
- 1 heaping cup walnuts
- 12 oz bag chocolate chips (minus a few chips to eat while you're cooking)
- 1 cup dried cherries
Whip butter and sugars together on high in a stand mixer until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. mix in eggs and vanilla. Sift together salt, cinnamon, flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and mix in to the butter mixture. If the dough is a little stiff (this will depend on the size of your eggs and the state of your brown sugar) add a little splash (maybe a tablespoon or two) of milk. Mix in the nuts, chocolate and cherries.
Drop by heaping teaspoons full onto a cookie sheet and bake in a 350F oven for approximately 10 minutes - until the edges of the cookies begin to turn a golden brown colour. Remove from oven and let cool on sheets for a few minutes before transferring to cooling racks.
I am so glad you left me a message, and that you are back...but no one can blame a girl for letting her new one take presidence! Babies! Awwwww.....
Big hugs,
Rachael
Posted by: Rachael | December 13, 2007 at 11:58 PM
Effectivement, ils sont superbes ces cookies!
Posted by: Lisanka | December 14, 2007 at 12:30 AM
Those cookies look great! Thanks for sharing your recipe with us...
Cheers,
Rosa
Posted by: Rosa | December 14, 2007 at 01:37 AM
It looks so good! That oozing chocolate is to die for.
I'm tagging the recipe!
Posted by: Patricia Scarpin | December 14, 2007 at 07:00 AM
That cookie looks so yummy!
I was wondering about the vanilla sugar. Is that regular granulated sugar with vanilla or powered sugar with vanilla?
Posted by: darbunk | December 14, 2007 at 01:08 PM
omg, chewy chocolatey paradise...thanks so much, I'll have to try it sometime!
Posted by: alldoneup | December 14, 2007 at 01:32 PM
Besides mayo and Velveeta, I find that older cookbooks [and especially cookbooklets] really love margarine. That's a deal breaker for me.
Posted by: Terry B | December 14, 2007 at 03:48 PM
darbunk - I make my own vanilla sugar by keeping a jar full of granulated sugar into which I slip several vanilla beans split lengthwise.
Posted by: lyn | December 15, 2007 at 08:33 PM
Hi! I'm Brooke, and I was wondering if you could do me a favor. It is quite a challenge. I have spoken with countless food-blog owners, asking if they think a dessert of this type is possible, and all have been stumped. My question is:
My mother's birthday is coming up, and since she loves it when I bake, I really want to make her some kind of special dessert for her birthday party. The problem is that both her a I are allergic to:
sugar
yeast
fruit (except for green apples, pears, mangoes, and apricots)
fruit juice
vegetable juice
peanuts
vinegar
dairy
artificial colors
artificial flavoring
soda
tomatoes
cucumbers
pasta
gluten
If there is ANYTHING special or yummy you can think of for me to make for her, I would GREATLY appreciate it, as I said, I am down to my last hope!
Any suggestions would be a lifesaver!
Thank you!
Posted by: brooke | December 27, 2007 at 12:26 PM
I made these cookies over christmas holidays (substituting chopped pecans for the walnuts, as i has some left over from my thanksgiving baking), and they were a big hit!
Thanks for the recipe!
Posted by: Buck | January 07, 2008 at 12:13 AM
Absolutely beautiful! I'll have to try this soon. Thank you for the recipe!
Posted by: Sorina | January 07, 2008 at 09:52 AM
I have a cousin who did this too -- exchange some of the flour for ground up oats! I'm sure this tastes wonderful...your picture is certainly tempting! :)
Posted by: joey | January 09, 2008 at 12:50 AM
Finally baked your cookie recipe and they are absolutely fabulous - a worthy amalgamation of oatmeal-raisin and choc chip cookies. So good, in fact, that my BF forbade me to share any with the guys at work. The greedy gus wants them all for himself! This is now the new benchmark for cookies in our home. Thank you so much for sharing. I enjoy your thoughts, writing and high standards.
Posted by: Tamara | January 11, 2008 at 11:43 PM
I baked these yesterday for my child's school's bake sale- I had to do it without the nuts but they are still just amazing! I thought my family would finish them before I ever got them to the school. Really, a wonderful cookie.
Posted by: Hilary | May 19, 2008 at 07:47 AM