Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Earlier this year I discovered a site, JoyofBaking.com, that I have come to rely on for all types of baking recipes. I've made quite a few of their recipes at this point, and have not been disappointed. In fact, their Lemon Tart recipe still stands as my favorite dessert of the Summer of 2009.

I visited JoyofBaking.com again recently looking for a good oatmeal cookie recipe. Earlier this summer I received a 5-pound bag of oats from my CSA. I've slowly been working through it (including bringing it to Maine and back on vacation), but I'm finding now that fall weather is descending upon New England, I'm finding a lot of great recipes that call for oats. One warning (which really applies to any cookie recipe using butter) - I over-softened the butter in this batch, so the final product spread more than it should have. One other note... forgot to take a picture of the final product! (Possibly related to my butter error? No, never....):

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
From JoyofBaking.com

1 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped (optional)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 t pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground cinnamon
3-cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet; other options are white or dark chocolate chips, dried cranberries, cherries, or raisins)

To toast nuts: Preheat oven to 350 and toast nuts 8-10 minutes until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and chop into pieces. Set aside.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth (about 2-3 minutes). Add the egg and vanilla exract and beat to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat until incorporated. Stir in the nuts, oats, and dried cranberries or chocolate chips.

For large cookies, use 1/4 cup of batter and space the cookies about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Then wet your hand and flatten the cookies slightly with your fingers so they are about 1/2 inch thick. Bake the cookies for about 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees, or until light golden brown around the edges but still soft and a little wet in the centers. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 20-24 large cookies

Lobster?

I picked up my 7/15 CSA share... and promptly drove it to Maine for vacation with my family. Considering we had 8 adults and 4 children sharing a small kitchen, I don't actually know where all the week five produce and goodies went. I do know for certain that the five pound bag of local oats was cooked into oatmeal on more than one cool, crisp, lakeside morning (extra good drizzled with local maple syrup, which we picked up on our way out of town at our regular location - the barber shop down the street. How much more small town Vermont can you get?).

The mesclun greens appeared in a few salads, as did the bunch of carrots, sugar snap peas and red and purple peppers.

The purple peppers, by the way, were unlike any pepper I have tasted. The flesh was even more crisp than usual, and the flavor had a subtle bite to it. I've been putting recent purple peppers into chicken salads and soups.

One of these mesclun salads during our vacation appeared alongside our annual Maine lobster boil, joining my mom's homemade bread (nothing makes me wish I was still a kid living at home more than my mom's fresh baked bread) and corn on the cob.

Week six produce arrived while I was vacationing in Maine, so my friend picked it up and enjoyed the haul (aside from a slab of bleu cheese, which she was kind enough to deliver back to me, and we have been devouring ever since). Check out her photo of week six on her blog, Lou-la-la.