At some point we’re queens for a day, all of us. My dog is currently the drama queen, sulking on her bed in the giant plastic cone we’re now forcing her to wear since she chewed her stitches out. My neighbor Sammy was recently crowned valedictorian of her high school class, and she’s thrilled. And my gorgeous sis will undoubtedly have a shot at prom queen, or princess, or whatever they call it these days, when she wears what must be the only dress in the entire world purchased by a mother/daughter pair as multigenerational party attire: first, my 16-year-old sister will wear it to her prom, then, our mother will wear it to her 40th high school reunion. Will wonders never cease?
But today, I don’t feel very queenlike at all. I feel totally uninspired. In fact, I just came across a photo I took last year, which pretty much sums up how I feel about this project today:
As Mary Engelbreit would say, I think I need to snap out of it.
So I baked cookies. I meant to make these with a sample of the dried Goji berries I got in Chicago, but took one taste and thought better of it. I should know better than to put a product that advertises its healthful qualities into a cookie.
Recipe for Everything Oatmeal Cookies
Recipe 110 of 365
I firmly believe that the dude on the top of the Quaker Oats container has the best recipe for oatmeal cookies – and changing the butter/sugar/egg ratio is sacrilege. You’ll find the basis for this recipe under the lid (as “Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies”), but what his recipe doesn’t say is that it’s almost infinitely alterable – I add whole wheat, a variety of baking spices, and anything else I think might go well in a cookie. Here’s a great version.
My friend Peter’s grandmother used to send him oatmeal cookies in college packed in an empty Quaker Oats container, so the other students wouldn’t raid his cookie stash. Brillliant!
TIME: 20 minutes
MAKES: about 3 dozen cookies
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 packed cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground green cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or chunks
1 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup toasted coconut
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats
In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed for about 3 minutes. With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, blending until incorporated between additions and scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary, and then add the vanilla.
Meanwhile, combine the flours, baking soda, cardamom, and salt together in a mixing bowl and whisk to blend.
Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and mix on low speed until the flour is just incorporated. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
Use an ice cream scoop to portion the cookies out onto the baking sheets, about 12 per sheet, and bake until golden brown at the edges and set in the center, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely and repeat with remaining dough.
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