The Ultimate Oatmeal Cookie

I have finally cracked the baking dry spell.

The real beginning of this drought occurred several weeks ago when Josh's office drastically reduced in size. I sort of lost my momentum and wasn't sure if the smaller, and busier, crowd would care to try my creations. Now that work is back to normal though, and the people who are in the office are as starving as ever, I think I can get back to baking with a receptive audience.

Saturday afternoon I found myself alone for the first time in months. Now that Josh is out of school we spend most time together so this was a strange phenomenon and I cannot say I enjoyed it very much. I did decide to bake to pass the time but once I opened up my fridge, the reality of its contents hit me. I had nothing, nothing to bake with. Normally I would curl up with a good book and forget the whole idea but I was at a loss for things to do that afternoon so somewhere in my vast collection of untried recipes I had to find one that fit the sparse cupboard parameters.

Enter oatmeal cookies. I think these are perhaps the most versatile and comforting of all cookies. Very few people do not like oatmeal and, so long as I don't add raisins, they are always well received.

This recipe was really good. I substituted a chopped up Cadbury White Chocolate Dream Bar for the white chips. I would definitely grease the cookie sheet regardless of the 1 cup of butter in the recipe though because my cookies stuck just enough to be annoying. The flavor and the chewiness were fantastic and Josh was quite upset when they ended up living at A & J's house instead of the leftovers coming home with us.

White Chocolate Butterscotch Oatmeal Chippers
(Adapted from Canadian Living)
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
8 tablespoons shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1/3 cup toffee bits
Preheat oven to 350.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, coconut, baking soda and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg, making sure to scrape down the bowl. Beat in vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
Using a wooden spoon, stir in the white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, pecans and toffee bits.
Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, drop the dough onto parchment lined baking sheets.
Bake until the bottoms are golden, about 10-12 minutes. Remove and let sit on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes about 48 cookies.