The votes are in and the majority requested Grandma's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies! They are a family favorite, a small group favorite, a church favorite, an office favorite... and well who doesn't like cookies...?!
I'll go through some of the major steps to baking, similar to the way
Meg does it (hope you don't mind me copying!). The full recipe will be in photos at the bottom.
So first, get out all your ingredients.
Set out the butter ahead of time so that its soft when you beat them.
After creaming the butter and sugars, beat in eggs and vanilla.
Mix dry ingredients separately,
Then gradually add flour mixture in and mix
Reuse that bowl for combining the oats, coconut and chocolate chips. The recipe calls for nuts and optional chocolate chips, but I switch that around- chocolate chips are a must for me (and I usually add more than just two cups)!
** When measuring out the oats, it may seem like a lot compared to the flour, but DON'T SKIMP ON OATS! All six cups (or 3 if halving) are necessary! Otherwise (yes I have learned from experience!) you'll have flat runny cookies!
You could use your mixer to add in the oats, coconut and chocolate, but I like to mix them by hand to make sure the chips don't get broken up. But either way will work.
If you're like me, at this point you'll have to just try a smidgen of dough just to make sure you're on the right track. If you're like Adam, you will take one whole cookie's worth of dough to make sure you're on the right track ;)
Before scooping it out, I'll usually put the dough in the fridge to firm up a bit- 15-20 min should be enough.
In our family, the bigger the better so I take nice big drops for each (~2 tablespoons?). I used to roll them by hand, but I think they actually come out better when you simply scoop them up- they still come out very circular and cook a bit better... I'm not sure why.
Make sure to leave plenty of space between them! They get pretty greedy as they bake.
Recipe says 10-12 but it's usually right at 12 minutes for me.
The oven rings and you take a peek... At this point, my mother would say "hmm, needs a few more minutes" and I would almost always agree with her...
However, now being married into Adam's family, my way of thinking has drastically changed. My father-in-law explains the family cookie theory quiet well: you must take out the cookies early, BEFORE they have finished baking because as they are cooling, they always cook a little more on the sheet!
I know, sounds a little crazy, and will be tough to do if you're not used to it, but it's produces much softer, yummier, melt in your mouth cookies - trust me!!
Let cook/cool on the sheet 3-4 minutes after removing from the oven. Getting them off the baking sheet is probably the toughest and most delicate part of the whole process, but with practice you'll get the hang of it. Just ease a thin spatula around all the edges and with small delicate passes, scoop up one cookie at a time and place on a cooling rack. Remember- they taste just as good even if they don't come off in one piece ;)
And here's the recipe, beautifully written by Adam's Grandma:
{This is a LARGE recipe! Yes, it calls for 2 cups of butter!}
........before................. after................ right after....
The BEST part of making these cookies is saving the dough and freezing it for later.
The recipe is HUGE and makes about 5 dozen large cookies, so you'll almost always want to save some.
So while the first batch is cooking, continue scooping more cookies onto separate cookie sheet to place in the freezer. In less than one hour, they will be frozen enough to throw into a ziplock bag. At anytime, frozen dough balls can be placed on a cookie sheet, thrown into a pre-heated oven, and you can have freshly baked cookies in 15 minutes!!
and anyone can do it...!
Enjoy!
