Recipe: The Best Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

I know everyone has a "best ever" chocolate chip cookie recipe, but here's one that I honestly think makes the best cookies I have ever tried. It's very basic, yet produces the most satisfying cookies -- chewy but not overly buttery, thick and substantial, with a subtle oatmealy texture (not to mention the most delicious raw dough! ...a couple bites can't hurt, right?). It originally came to me on a hand-written recipe card from a high school friend's cabin kitchen. I've tweaked it over the years, reducing the butter and sugar to make for a healthier cookie. I've made dozens of batches of these and probably will for years to come.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

• 0.5 cup butter or margarine (softened by briefly microwaving)
• 0.5 cup brown sugar
• 0.75 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs

In a large mixing bowl, beat the above ingredients together until they are light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix the following dry ingredients, then stir them into the wet ingredients:

• 2.25 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 0.5 tsp salt

Finally, stir in:

• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Drop (approximately 24-30 cookies) onto two ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes.

Note: These cookies will be on the pale side when you take them out of the oven -- they should look almost undercooked, as they will harden further as they cool. Don't bake them for longer than 10-12 min or you'll have hard cookies rather than chewy ones!

Hope you like these cookies as much as I do. For chewier cookies try increasing the butter to 0.75 cup (the original recipe asked for 1 cup).

Do you have a go-to cookie recipe?