Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

When I got home from work this afternoon it was cold and rainy. Perfect cookie weather! I decided to make a double batch and then skip dinner.

I got down my cookbook and selected the Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie recipe. Oh yeah! (This is another AllRecipes find.)

I took four sticks of margarine and softened them, still in their paper wrappers, for 20 seconds in the microwave. I don't know if this is a good, safe idea or not (in other words, don't blame me if your apartment burns down) but it worked for me today.

Then I added the sugar and brown sugar.

Things were going well and I was sure the house was going to smell wonderful when my husband got home. I grabbed four eggs out of the fridge and got crackin'.

But then Bryan got home before I was expecting him. And I got surprised and dropped the egg I had been cracking into the batter. Oops!

Please note, this step is optional.

Before I knew it I was scooping dough onto my baking trays.

Thinking maybe I should have dinner after all, I filled two cookie dough containers with extra dough. I put one in the freezer, and one in the fridge. So we will have fresh, hot cookies whenever we want for some time. Watch out hips... here it comes!

Here are my cookies just after taking them out of the oven. Now, I know what you're thinking, "They're not done! Put those poor anemic cookies back into your oven."

But let me explain: The recipe says to leave them there for five minutes before removing them to the cooling racks. And I'm not certain, but I think this is what makes them so chewy and texturally pleasing. They do not turn out a lovely brown color, but the bottoms don't burn either, and that's a plus, right?

Can't wait to bake up a double batch of these yourself? Here is the recipe exactly as I followed it this afternoon (with the optional dropping the egg into the batter step excluded):

Ingredients:

• 2 cups butter (or margarine), softened
• 2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 6 cups quick-cooking oats
• 2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Stir in the quick oats, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!