Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter or margarine (2 sticks)
1 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1.5 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda or baking powder (I use powder)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
12 oz. package of dark chocolate chips (I use Chipits)
1.25 cups quick-cooking rolled oats (I use Quaker Quick Oats)
Setup: I have a mixing bowl with stirring spoon, 1/2 teaspoon and 1 teaspoon measuring spoons (can get away with just the 1/2), 1/4 and 1/2 and 1 cup measuring cups (can get away with just the 1/4), two standard size cookie sheets, and (optional) a small spoon, medium bowl, and two medium (the size up from teacup) plates. One of the plates is where I place measuring spoons after use, egg shells, and I measure things out above it so I don't make a mess on the countertop. I start with all my ingredients out, and put them away after use.
Cream butter/margarine with sugar in mixing bowl. (Mix them together, stirring vigorously, until you have a homogeneous mixture. Since my butter is right out of the fridge and fairly hard, I like to put the butter on one of the plates, microwave it for 30 seconds or until it starts to melt, then put it in the bowl and mix it with the sugar.)
Beat in eggs and vanilla. (Mix until homogeneous.)
Stir together flour, soda, salt, and cinnamon. (I do this in the small bowl, using a small spoon. I start with the non-flour stuff, stirring until it looks mixed, then add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until mixed after each 1/2 cup.)
Gradually stir into creamed mixture. (Add the flour and stuff into the butter and stuff. Add a little, stir until you can't see powder, repeat until all the flour mix is in and your dough looks homogeneous.)
Add chocolate chips and rolled oats. (Stir until thoroughly mixed. Make sure to scrape any non-mixed ingredients off the side of the bowl and mix them in with the main mixture.)
Drop by tablespoons onto cookie sheets, bake in 375 degree F oven for 12 to 14 minutes, makes about 4 dozen. (I totally change this part of the recipe. I drop by double-tablespoons onto cookie sheets. I fit about a dozen cookies per cookie sheet this way, and the batch makes a total of two dozen cookies. Don't worry about using every last drop of the dough, but be sure that you've grabbed every last chip in the dough. Since my oven isn't big enough to accommodate two cookies sheets on the top shelf at the same time, I put one in, then fill the second cookie sheet and clean up the counter. I find if I start the oven right as I start, it's ready very close to when I'm ready to put the first sheet in, and the first sheet will be done very close to when I'm done cleaning up. I leave the sheets in for 12 to 12.5 minutes. Visually, you can tell they're ready if the top is white but there's a thin brown ring around the outside edge of the cookie. When you take them out, let them cool, and flip them over, there will be a little colour on the bottom, but not a lot.)
The cookies made by this recipe are soft but with a crisp exterior, and have a fair amount of flavour to them. They aren't lumpy - you can barely tell the oats are in there. I like throwing them in Tupperware and sealing it as soon as they're cool, to keep them fresh. They do tend to crumble a little when eaten, so be prepared for crumbs. When I made them in grad school, people from all four floors of residence would come running to me to get some. One guy in the actuarial studies program even called me "Mom", perhaps foreshadowing my future endeavours as a mangina.
Up next: a Quebecois recipe, tarte au sucre - sugar pie (also from France, and parts of the midwest US where it's called sugar cream pie). It should be called easy pie, because it's the easiest recipe you'll ever bake.