choccy-oatey cookies.

First, I need to brag a little bit about the cute apron above, made by my mom for me for Christmas. I've wanted a cute apron forever, and lo, I got 2 for Christmas! One full apron from Andy and one half/bistro apron from Mom. I love wearing them! My mom is a great seamstress and I usually run to her whining when I can't get my project to look the way I want it to. I hope I sew 1/2 as good as she does, someday! Aprons rock.

Tonight Andy had a craving for cookies and I had a hankering to do some baking. I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen's website, which ALWAYS delivers. How does she do it? These cookies are de-licious. I also found out that she bakes in a kitchen about the same size as mine, which is encouraging but means I can't complain anymore :(.

You can link to her recipe here:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/11/oatmeal-chocolate-chip-and-pecan-cookies/

Using only what I had in the kitchen meant that I omitted the pecans and orange zest. I also used steel-cut oats instead of rolled oats, which made weird little air holes when the cookies were baked. It didn't affect the flavor. I also didn't have flour so I used the Buttermilk Pancake & Baking Mix from Trader Joe's, which works just fine. I'd recommend using flour though. All this said, her cookies look prettier than mine so if you're feeling iffy about the recipe, go to her site and look at how beautiful they can be.

Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip and Pecan Cookies

By Katy Sparks with Andrea Strong, from deb @ SmittenKitchen.com

Makes about 3 dozen cookies
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground clove

1 cup quick-cooking oats

2 cups chopped pecans

2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment or a Silpat (rubber nonstick baking mat). Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla, and beat until well mixed, about 3 minutes. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove in a separate bowl. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter with the mixer on low speed. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the second half. Stir in the oats, pecans, orange zest, and chocolate chips. Drop the dough, by the tablespoon, onto the cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on a rack. Store at room temperature in a cookie jar or other airtight container.

UPDATE!

I made these cookies again - and they turned out much better! Highly recommended! They look MUCH different than the ones above. I trust that people will trust Smitten Kitchen's pictures over mine, lest I give her yummy cookies a bad name. I can't remember what I did differently - I think I chilled the dough and I cooked them less so they were more gooey.