Cooking web notes

Loaded Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Mom baked all the time as I was growing up on the farm and we had dessert every evening with supper.  To her way of thinking ~ a meal was not complete without dessert.  When we had company she went over the top with a sweet ending.  Mom baked a multitude of fruit pies, cream pies, tarts, cakes and cookies for us to enjoy.

Our farm house

Mom and I, circa 1950

On the farm, “dinner” was served at noon.  Especially during the summer, with many workers helping with the crops on our farm and my grandparents’ also, my mother and grandmother served huge meals for “dinner.”  Physical labor consumed many calories on the farm and a welcome “dinner” provided energy and a short rest. 

The table was laden with several varieties of meat, always fried or mashed potatoes, fresh vegetables from the garden, casseroles, homemade pickles, fresh bread or rolls, fried sweet corn (my favorite), most generally pies for dessert and sweet tea to wash it all down.  There was a LOT of food and Mom and Grandma definitely spent many hours in the kitchen during those days.

Then times changed ~ we moved to Louisville ~ Mom usually only made dessert when we had dinner guests.  Going back to the “dinner-supper” thing; I remember to this day when Dad informed me after moving to Louisville that “dinner” was now called “lunch” and “supper” was now called “dinner.”  Huh?????   But then I drank “pop” in Ohio, a “soft drink” in Louisville, a “soda” up here and don’t remember what it was called when Bill and I lived in Missouri and Germany (beer!)

I generally only make dessert when the “kids” or others are here.  There are always cookies in the cookie jar though and through the summer, they’re store bought.  But come this time of year, I love to bake cookies and enjoy one every morning with a cup of coffee and so does Bill.  There’s nothing like the aroma in the air as they’re baking and these cookies are loaded with good things for a nearly perfect cookie!  Hope you try them!

Loaded Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

½ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1½ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup dried cherries

1 cup chocolate chip chunks

1 cup flaked coconut

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until smooth and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

Stir into butter and sugar mixture.

Add remaining ingredients and combine well.

Place cookies 2” apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake for approximately 12 minutes until edges are golden.

Allow them to rest on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a rack for cooling. 

Makes 5 dozen

Pam’s note:  For a thicker cookie, refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes before baking cookies.  They make take a while longer to bake with the chilled dough.

Two questions for all you great folks out there:

Is it supper or dinner at your house?

Do you usually have dessert after the meal?

Be sure to enter the $65 CSN giveaway I posted on Sept. 15^th!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog, at My Kind of Cooking for her great recipes and cookbook giveaway.  She’s judging again today at the Clay County Fair in Iowa.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 17, 2011 at 5:38 AM and is filed under Cherries, Chocolate, Coconut, Cookies, Farm house/Pickerington, Oats. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response.