Cookie Sunday

Megan called today and she was in the middle of making cookies. I would much, much rather make cookies than study or clean or work... so by the end of the phone call, I had pulled out my mixer, 3 cookbooks, and a counter full of ingredients. It was almost like Megan and I were cooking together - a fun, long-distance girly cook-chat. We basically have identical tastes in terms of food so I stole her idea to make oatmeal cookies with dark chocolate chips. Christie needs a treat for the office, so my last sweets recipe for the weekend:

Oatmeal Cookies
From Better Homes and Gardens' New Cook Book Special Edition
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 tsp ground cloves (optional)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and if desired, cinnamon and cloves. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Stir in rolled oats.

2. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 F oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

For Oatmeal-Chip Cookies: Prepare as above, except after stirring in oats, stir in 1 cup semisweet chocolate, butterscotch-flavored, or peanut butter-flavored pieces and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans.

Cook's note: I used dark chocolate chips, omitted nuts, used Splenda instead of white sugar, and only had 1 cup of all-purpose flour so I wheat flour for the remaining 3/4 cup. The cookies still turned out great and took 10 minutes in my oven. They were a bit more crumbly than other cookies, probably due to using too much wheat flour.