Oatmeal Cookies

It must be fall because I can’t stop making cookies!

These oatmeal cookies are among my family’s favorites. We eat them for snacks and we eat them for breakfast. Hey, it’s oatmeal, right?

They are really very good.



Oatmeal Cookies

(Adapted from Colorado Cache)

This recipe makes 4 to 6 dozen, depending on the size of your cookies and how much dough you eat while making them.

3 eggs, well beaten
1 C. raisins (I often substitute dried cherries or craisins.)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 C. butter
1 C. brown sugar
1 C. white sugar
2 ½ C. white flour
(I substitute 1 C. of whole wheat pastry flour.
That alone justifies a third cookie, don’t you think?)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
2 C. oatmeal
(Here I substitute ½ C. of toasted wheat germ.
More nutrients means less guilt!)
¾ chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine eggs, raisins and vanilla and let stand for one hour, covered with plastic wrap. Cream together butter and sugars. Add flour, salt, cinnamon and soda to sugar mixture. Mix well. Blend in egg-raisin mixture, oatmeal, wheat germ and chopped nuts. (Your dough will be quite stiff.)

Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet, or roll into small balls and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned.

Cool. Consume in abundance.

Kitty Cookies

Kitty Cookies , originally uploaded by Margaret in Minnesota.

Here’s one for next year—spooky but delicious “Black Cat Cookies”.

(My girls call them “kitty cookies”. They’re not so intimidating that way.)

We make them on All Hallows’ Eve afternoon and I hand them out to the moms & dads that evening. It’s but a small perk, I figure, for schlepping alongside those little goblins. Plus they’re good—chewy, and chocolaty, and candy corny too.

Enjoy.

“Kitty Cookies”

(Makes 2 dozen)

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
24 wooden craft sticks
48 candy corn candies
24 red-hot candies

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Place 3 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets.

2. Insert a wooden stick into each cookie. Flatten with a glass dipped in sugar. Pinch top of cookie to form ears. For whiskers, press a fork twice into each cookie. Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are set. Remove from the oven; immediately press on candy corn for eyes and red hots for noses. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Note: The big box store that I visited to purchase supplies for these cookies did not carry red hots and I did not feel making another trip. Feeling very clever indeed, I bought a bag of Skittles and used the red ones instead. (What did I do with the rest of the Skittles? You don’t need to know.)

Also, it pays to read the directions thoroughly. For my first batch, I added the eyes and nose before baking the cookies. Goodness, what a fright! The poor little kitties’ eyes melted clean out of their sockets. No, do not go this route. Put the candy in after the cookies come out of the oven, like you’re supposed to.