Warm Your Heart with Excellent Cookies

Hi there!

I hope you’re feeling on-top-of-the-world.

We actually have some rain this morning.

It’s glisteny, shimmery, Winnie-the-Pooh blustery.

I’m generally not an I-LOVE-the-rain person.

But we so desperately need it.

And since I was able to sneak my dog out for a walk early before the rain, I say “bring it on!” (As long as it stops before our second walk.)

Dreary days call out for certain comforts.

Is there anything more heartwarming than a stack of cookies?

Well, of course there is: a stack of books, a bowl of jellybeans, a pile of puppies, a smile just for you, a knot of kittens, a peep of baby chicks (yes, that’s what a group of chickens is called—adorable!).

But cookies have to rank in there somewhere.

I’ve had this recipe for years.

It was given to me by a supervisor at the publishing company where I worked.

The paper it’s written on is yellow with age and stained with spills of vanilla.

It is a feature element in a story I wrote that I’m querying to agents at the moment.

In my story, the recipe is called “I’ve Always Wanted” cookies and has undergone some tweaking.

Today’s super-simple recipe is called “Excellent.”

Fun factoid: At my wedding, my husband’s best man made a toast to the cookie. That’s how good it is!

EXCELLENT COOKIES

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup salad oil (I use grapeseed oil, but canola or vegetable oil would work just fine)

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 bag chocolate chips (dark, milk, mini, chunks—anything is good)

½ cup oatmeal (old-fashioned, not quick-cooking)

2 cups crushed cornflakes (You can also use crispy rice cereal or granola)

Optional:

1 cup nuts (I use chopped walnuts)

½ cup sweetened coconut flakes or shredded

(I always add in the optional ingredients. I’ve also made these cookies with pretzels, raisins, dried cranberries, toffee bits.)

What to do:

• Mix sugars, eggs, vanilla and salad oil. (I like to use a stand mixer, but you can do this by hand, too. But it becomes a very stiff dough!)

• Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt (you can use a fork if you don’t have a sifter or strainer). After sifting, add the dry ingredients slowly to your “wet” mixture. Mix well.

• Mix in the chocolate chips. Then the nuts (if you’re using them), then the oatmeal. Here’s where you add in the coconut and any other optional ingredients. Mix in the cornflakes last because they’re delicate. (If you’re doing this by hand, you’ll discover muscles you didn’t know you had. If you’re using a stand-mixer, it might “jump” a bit. Just put your hand on top of it.)

• Drop cookies by teaspoon or ice-cream scoop onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake one sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes. Cookies are done when they don’t look shiny in the center. (They’re best when they’re soft in the middle.) Remove from oven to rest for a few minutes before transferring each cookie to a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper or a wire rack.

While one cookie sheet is in the oven, I make up the second cookie sheet.

Happy cookie-ing!

~gail

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